Bragg gravity-gradiometer using the 1^1S0_0-3^3P1_1 intercombination transition of 88^{88}Sr

We present a gradiometer based on matter-wave interference of alkaline-earth-metal atoms, namely $^{88}$Sr. The coherent manipulation of the atomic external degrees of freedom is obtained by large-momentum-transfer Bragg diffraction, driven by laser fields detuned away from the narrow $^1$S$_0$-$^3$P$_1$ intercombination transition. We use a well-controlled artificial gradient, realized by changing the relative frequencies of the Bragg pulses during the interferometer sequence, in order to characterize the sensitivity of the gradiometer. The sensitivity reaches $1.5 \times 10^{-5}$ s$^{-2}$ for an interferometer time of 20 ms, limited only by geometrical constraints. We observed extremely low sensitivity of the gradiometric phase to magnetic field gradients, approaching a value 10$^{5}$ times lower than the sensitivity of alkali-atom based gradiometers. An efficient double-launch technique employing accelerated red vertical lattices from a single magneto-optical trap cloud is also demonstrated. These results highlight strontium as an ideal candidate for precision measurements of gravity gradients, with potential application in future precision tests of fundamental physics.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure

Octodrine: New Questions and Challenges in Sport Supplements

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. (CC BY 4.0).Background: Octodrine is the trade name for Dimethylhexylamine (DMHA), a central nervous stimulant that increases the uptake of dopamine and noradrenaline. Originally developed as a nasal decongestant in the 1950’s, it has recently been re-introduced on the market as a pre-workout and ‘fat-burner’ product but its use remains unregulated. Our work provides the first observational cross-sectional analytic study on Octodrine as a new drug trend and its associated harms after a gap spanning seven decades. Methods: A comprehensive multilingual assessment of literature, websites, drug fora and other online resources was carried out with no time restriction in English, German, Russian and Arabic. Keywords included Octodrine’s synonyms and chemical isomers. Results: Only five relevant publications emerged from the literature search, with most of the available data on body building websites and fora. Since 2015, Octodrine has been advertised online as “the next big thing” and “the god of stimulants,” with captivating marketing strategies directed at athletes and a wider cohort of users. Reported side-effects include hypertension, dyspnoea and hyperthermia. Conclusions: The uncontrolled use of Octodrine, its physiological and psychoactive effects raise serious health implications with possible impact on athletes and doping practices. This new phenomenon needs to be thoroughly studied and monitored.Peer reviewe

Orientus ishidae (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae): biology, direct damage and preliminary studies on apple proliferation infection in apple orchard

The mosaic leafhopper, Orientus ishidae (Matsumura), is an Asian species widespread in Europe that can cause leaf damage in wild trees and transmit disease phytoplasmas to grapevines. Following an O. ishidae outbreak reported in 2019 in an apple orchard in northern Italy, the biology and damage caused by this species to apples were investigated during 2020 and 2021. Our studies included observations on the O. ishidae life cycle, leaf symptoms associated to its trophic activity, and its capability to acquire "Candidatus Phytoplasma mali," a causal agent of Apple Proliferation (AP). The results indicate that O. ishidae can complete the life cycle on apple trees. Nymphs emerged between May and June, and adults were present from early July to late October, with the peak of flight between July and early August. Semi-field observations allowed for an accurate description of leaf symptoms that appeared as a distinct yellowing after a one-day exposure. In field experiments, 23% of the leaves were found damaged. In addition, 16-18% of the collected leafhoppers were found carrying AP phytoplasma. We conclude that O. ishidae has the potential to be a new apple tree pest. However, further studies are required to better understand the economic impact of the infestations

Vibrational calling signals improve the efficacy of pheromone traps to capture the brown marmorated stink bug

Halyomorpha halys (Stål, 1855), the brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB), is an invasive species that has become a key agricultural pest in its invaded range. Commercial traps available for BMSB monitoring rely on male produced aggregation pheromones as lure, with two possible shortcomings: trap spillover and low detection precision. In this study, we assessed if vibrational signals can increase the attractiveness of pheromone traps by testing the optimized vibration-based lure (Female Song 2, FS2) associated with a specifically designed trap (i.e., the vibrotrap). We evaluated the efficacy of this bimodal trap (i.e., pheromones + vibrations) on females, males and nymphs in controlled conditions (greenhouse) and in the field, in two sites at the margin of two commercial vineyards. In the field, bimodal vibrotraps were compared to three unimodal (i.e., only pheromone) trap types. Both experiments showed that the vibrotrap is highly attractive for BMSB, and the optimized FS2 signal significantly improved its effectiveness. Even though FS2 was selected to target males, the number of trapped females increased as well. Overall, the presented findings show a feasible improvement to future commercial BMSB traps through the synergic use of semiophysicals and semiochemicals. Further research is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of vibrotraps for both early detection and mass trapping

Coupling computational vibrational models and experimental biotremology to develop a green pest control strategy against the greenhouse whitefly Trialeurodes vaporariorum

In applied biotremology, vibrational signals or cues are exploited to manipulate the target species behaviour. To develop an efficient pest control strategy, other than a detailed investigation into the pest biology and behaviour, the role of the substrate used to transmit the signal is an important feature to be considered, since it may affect vibrations spreading and effective signal transmission and perception. Therefore, we used a multi-disciplinary approach to develop a control technique against the greenhouse whitefly, Trialeurodes vaporariorum. First, an ad hoc vibrational disruptive noise has been developed, based on the acquired knowledge about the mating behaviour and vibrational communication of the mated species. Subsequently, we employed finite-element models to investigate a growing tomato plant response to the aforesaid noise. Modelling how vibrations spread along the plant allowed us to set up a greenhouse experiment to assess the efficacy in terms of insect population of the vibrational treatment, which was administrated through vibrational plates. The green methodology applied in this study represents an innovative, environmentally sound alternative to the usage of synthetic pesticides

Enhancement of the Biological and Mechanical Performances of Sintered Hydroxyapatite by Multiple Ions Doping

In the present work, hydroxyapatite (HA) nanoparticles doped with Mg2+, Sr2+, and Zn2+ ions are developed by wet neutralization method and then sintered at 1,250°C to obtain bulk consolidated materials. Physicochemical and microstructural analyses show that the presence of doping ions in the HA structure induced the formation of βTCP as secondary phase, during the sintering process, and we found that this effect is depending on the stability of the various doping ions in the hydroxyapatite lattice itself. We also found that the formation of βTCP as secondary phase, in turn, confines the grain growth of HA induced by the high-temperature sintering process, thus leading to a strong increase of the flexural strength of the bulk materials, according to Hall-Petch-like law. Furthermore, we found that the doping ions enter also in the structure of the βTCP phase; besides the grain growth confinement, also the solubility and ion release ability of the final materials were enhanced. In addition to ameliorate the mechanical performance, the described phenomena also activate multiple biofunctionalities: (i) ability to upregulate various genes involved in the osteogenesis, as obtained by human adipose stem cells culture and evaluated by array technology; (ii) enhanced resistance to the adhesion and proliferation of Gram+ and Gram– bacterial strains. Hence, our results open a perspective for the use of sintered multiple ion-doped HA to develop ceramic biodevices, such as plates, screws, or other osteosynthesis media, with enhanced strength, osteointegrability, and the ability to prevent post-surgical infections

Impact of Improvement in Walking Speed on Hospitalization and Mortality in Females with Cardiovascular Disease

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the principal cause of death in women. Walking speed (WS) is strongly related with mortality and CVD. The rate of all-cause hospitalization or death was assessed in 290 female outpatients with CVD after participation in a cardiac rehabilitation/secondary prevention program (CR/SP) and associated with the WS maintained during a moderate 1 km treadmill-walk. Three-year mortality rates were 57%, 44%, and 29% for the slow (2.1 ± 0.4 km/h), moderate (3.1 ± 0.3 km/h), and fast (4.3 ± 0.6 km/h) walkers, respectively, with adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) of 0.78 (p = 0.24) and 0.55 (p = 0.03) for moderate and fast walkers compared to the slow walkers. In addition, hospitalization or death was examined four to six years after enrollment as a function of the change in the WS of 176 patients re-assessed during the third year after baseline. The rates of hospitalization or death were higher across tertiles of reduced WS, with 35%, 50%, and 53% for the high (1.5 ± 0.3 km/h), intermediate (0.7 ± 0.2 km/h), and low tertiles (0.2 ± 0.2 km/h). Adjusted HRs were 0.79 (p = 0.38) for the intermediate and 0.47 (p = 0.02) for the high tertile compared to the low improvement tertile. Improved walking speed was associated with a graded decrease in hospitalization or death from any cause in women undergoing CR/SP

Survey of transfemoral amputee experience and priorities for the user-centered design of powered robotic transfemoral prostheses

BACKGROUND: Transfemoral amputees experience a complex host of physical, psychological, and social challenges, compounded by the functional limitations of current transfemoral prostheses. However, the specific relationships between human factors and prosthesis design and performance characteristics have not yet been adequately investigated. The present study aims to address this knowledge gap. METHODS: A comprehensive single-cohort survey of 114 unilateral transfemoral amputees addressed a broad range of demographic and clinical characteristics, functional autonomy, satisfaction and attitudes towards their current prostheses, and design priorities for an ideal transfemoral prosthesis, including the possibility of active assistance from a robotic knee unit. The survey was custom-developed based on several standard questionnaires used to assess motor abilities and autonomy in activities of daily living, prosthesis satisfaction, and quality of life in lower-limb amputees. Survey data were analyzed to compare the experience (including autonomy and satisfaction) and design priorities of users of transfemoral prostheses with versus without microprocessor-controlled knee units (MPKs and NMPKs, respectively), with a subsequent analyses of cross-category correlation, principal component analysis (PCA), cost-sensitivity segmentation, and unsupervised K-means clustering applied within the most cost-sensitive participants, to identify functional groupings of users with respect to their design priorities. RESULTS: The cohort featured predominantly younger (< 50 years) traumatic male amputees with respect to the general transfemoral amputee population, with pronounced differences in age distribution and amputation etiology (traumatic vs. non-traumatic) between MPK and NMPK groups. These differences were further reflected in user experience, with MPK users reporting significantly greater overall functional autonomy, satisfaction, and sense of prosthesis ownership than those with NMPKs, in conjunction with a decreased incidence of instability and falls. Across all participants, the leading functional priorities for an ideal transfemoral prosthesis were overall stability, adaptability to variable walking velocity, and lifestyle-related functionality, while the highest-prioritized general characteristics were reliability, comfort, and weight, with highly variable prioritization of cost according to reimbursement status. PCA and user clustering analyses revealed the possibility for functionally relevant groupings of prosthesis features and users, based on their differential prioritization of these features—with implications towards prosthesis design tradeoffs. CONCLUSIONS: This study’s findings support the understanding that when appropriately prescribed according to patient characteristics and needs in the context of a proactive rehabilitation program, advanced transfemoral prostheses promote patient mobility, autonomy, and overall health. Survey data indicate overall stability, modularity, and versatility as key design priorities for the continued development of transfemoral prosthesis technology. Finally, observed associations between prosthesis type, user experience, and attitudes concerning prosthesis ownership suggest both that prosthesis characteristics influence device acceptance and functional outcomes, and that psychosocial factors should be specifically and proactively addressed during the rehabilitation process. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12984-021-00944-x

UNet and MobileNet CNN-based model observers for CT protocol optimization: comparative performance evaluation by means of phantom CT images

Purpose: The aim of this work is the development and characterization of a model observer (MO) based on convolutional neural networks (CNNs), trained to mimic human observers in image evaluation in terms of detection and localization of low-contrast objects in CT scans acquired on a reference phantom. The final goal is automatic image quality evaluation and CT protocol optimization to fulfill the ALARA principle. Approach: Preliminary work was carried out to collect localization confidence ratings of human observers for signal presence/absence from a dataset of 30,000 CT images acquired on a PolyMethyl MethAcrylate phantom containing inserts filled with iodinated contrast media at different concentrations. The collected data were used to generate the labels for the training of the artificial neural networks. We developed and compared two CNN architectures based respectively on Unet and MobileNetV2, specifically adapted to achieve the double tasks of classification and localization. The CNN evaluation was performed by computing the area under localization-ROC curve (LAUC) and accuracy metrics on the test dataset. Results: The mean of absolute percentage error between the LAUC of the human observer and MO was found to be below 5% for the most significative test data subsets. An elevated inter-rater agreement was achieved in terms of S-statistics and other common statistical indices. Conclusions: Very good agreement was measured between the human observer and MO, as well as between the performance of the two algorithms. Therefore, this work is highly supportive of the feasibility of employing CNN-MO combined with a specifically designed phantom for CT protocol optimization programs