Science Communication a New Frontier of Researcher's Job

In the world of communication, nobody can be out of the fray! Since many years science communication and more in general the ability of a researcher to communicate his/her work to founding agency, policy makers, entrepreneurs and public at large, starts to be a fundamental skill of the researchers job. This skill is needed and requested to access funds and successfully disseminate the research outcome, as well as to engage society in understanding science and its benefits. Moreover, due to the large decrease of research funds and of people starting scientific carrier, researchers must be in the front line to promote the scientific culture in order to invert the dreadful trend of last years. Where are we and where are we going to? We try to answer such questions introducing successful models that can be used without huge overloads for our job. This paper reports on the experience of one of the largest and oldest project in Europe of the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions European Researchers' Night and describes how this project followed the evolution in science communication

Commissioning of the DAΦNE beam test facility

Abstract The DAΦNE Beam Test Facility (BTF) is a beam transfer line optimized for the production of electron or positron bunches, in a wide range of multiplicities and down to single-electron mode, in the energy range between 50 and 800 MeV . The typical pulse duration is 10 ns and the maximum repetition rate is 50 Hz . The facility design has been optimized for detector calibration purposes. The BTF has been successfully commissioned in February 2002 and started operation in the same year in November. The schemes of operation, the commissioning results, as well as the first users' experience are reported here

Il corsivo

The Editor in chief and the Assistant editor in chief of the journal AIB studi leave the editorial board after five years of strenuous and passionate work. They say goodbye to the readers, thank the editorial team, and greet their successors.Il direttore e il vice direttore della rivista AIB studi, che dopo cinque anni lasciano l’incarico, inviano un saluto ai lettori e un ringraziamento ai collaboratori, nonché l’augurio di un buon lavoro al nuovo direttore e al nuovo vice direttore

Measurement of the thermal expansion coefficient of an Al-Mg alloy at ultra-low temperatures

We describe a result coming from an experiment based on an Al-Mg alloy (~ 5% Mg) suspended bar hit by an electron beam and operated above and below the termperature of transition from superconducting to normal state of the material. The amplitude of the bar first longitudinal mode of oscillation, excited by the beam interacting with the bulk, and the energy deposited by the beam in the bar are the quantities measured by the experiment. These quantities, inserted in the equations describing the mechanism of the mode excitation and complemented by an independent measurement of the specific heat, allow us to determine the linear expansion coefficient of the material.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figure

Acceleration of Functional Maturation and Differentiation of Neonatal Porcine Islet Cell Monolayers Shortly In Vitro Cocultured with Microencapsulated Sertoli Cells

The limited availability of cadaveric human donor pancreata as well as the incomplete success of the Edmonton protocol for human islet allografts fasten search for new sources of insulin the producing cells for substitution cell therapy of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (T1DM). Starting from isolated neonatal porcine pancreatic islets (NPIs), we have obtained cell monolayers that were exposed to microencapsulated monolayered Sertoli cells (ESCs) for different time periods (7, 14, 21 days). To assess the development of the cocultured cell monolayers, we have studied either endocrine cell phenotype differentiation markers or c-kit, a hematopoietic stem cell marker, has recently been involved with growth and differentiation of β-cell subpopulations in human as well as rodent animal models. ESC which were found to either accelerate maturation and differentiation of the NPIs β-cell phenotype or identify an islet cell subpopulation that was marked positively for c-kit. The insulin/c-kit positive cells might represent a new, still unknown functionally immature β-cell like element in the porcine pancreas. Acceleration of maturation and differentiation of our NPI cell monolayers might generate a potential new opportunity to develop insulin-producing cells that may suite experimental trials for cell therapy of T1DM

Knowledge of HIV infection and ways of its transmission: a knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and practices (KABP) survey among a sample of students at the “Magna Graecia”, University of Catanzaro

Background. Continuous spreading of HIV infection may be due to a lack of knowledge, especially among young people. Methods. We decided to assess  knowledge of HIV infection and risk factors in a sample of students at the “Magna Graecia” University of Catanzaro, using an anonymous multiple-choice questionnaire. Results. An anonymous multiple-choice questionnaire was administered in December 2015. Two hundred and sixty-six students responded (216 attending the medical school and 50 attending School of Law). Knowledge of HIV infection was scarce in a significant percentage of students who practice behaviours at risk for acquisition of HIV infection and STDs (sexually transmitted diseases) in general. Conclusion. This study shows that preventative and informative campaigns are urgently needed in earlier stage of adolescence to avoid acquisition of HIV infection and other STD

The future search for low-frequency axions and new physics with the FLASH resonant cavity experiment at Frascati National Laboratories

We present a proposal for a new experiment, the FINUDA magnet for Light Axion SearcH (FLASH), a large resonant-cavity haloscope in a high static magnetic field which is planned to probe new physics in the form of dark matter (DM) axions, scalar fields, chameleons, hidden photons, as well as high frequency gravitational waves (GWs). Concerning the QCD axion, FLASH will search for these particles as the DM in the mass range (0.49-1.49) ueV, thus filling the mass gap between the ranges covered by other planned searches. A dedicated Microstrip SQUID operating at ultra-cryogenic temperatures will amplify the signal. The frequency range accessible overlaps with the Very High Frequency (VHF) range of the radio wave spectrum and allows for a search in GWs in the frequency range (100-300) MHz. The experiment will make use of the cryogenic plant and magnet of the FINUDA experiment at INFN Frascati National Laboratories near Rome (Italy); the operations needed to restore the functionalities of the apparatus are currently underway. We present the setup of the experiment and the sensitivity forecasts for the detection of axions, scalar fields, chameleons, hidden photons, and GWs