A high sensitivity tool for geophysical applications: A geometrically locked Ring Laser Gyroscope

This work demonstrates that a middle size ring laser gyroscope (RLG) can be a very sensitive and robust instrument for rotational seismology, even if it operates in a quite noisy environment. The RLG has a square cavity, $1.60\times 1.60$ m$^2$, and it lies in a plane orthogonal to the Earth rotational axis. The Fabry-Perot optical cavities along the diagonals of the square were accessed and their lengths were locked to a reference laser. Through a quite simple locking circuit, we were able to keep the sensor fully operative for 14 days. The obtained long term stability is of the order of 3~nanorad/s and the short term sensitivity close is to 2~nanorad/s$\cdot$Hz$^{-1/2}$. These results are limited only by the noisy environment, our laboratory is located in a building downtown.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, 25 reference

ESA SENTINEL 2 IMAGERY AND GBGEOAPP: INTEGRATED TOOLS FOR THE DEOSAI NATIONAL PARK MANAGEMENT PLAN

Deosai plateau, in the Gilgit-Baltistan Province of Pakistan, for its average elevation of 4,114 meters, is the second highest plateau in the world after Changtang Tibetan Plateau. Two biogeographically important mountain ranges merge in Deosai: the Himalayan and Karakorum–Pamir highlands. The Deosai National Park, with its first recognition in 1993, encompasses an area of about 1620 km2, with the altitude ranging from 3500 to 5200 meters a.s.l. It is known and visited by tourists for the presence of brown bear, but a large number of species of fauna and flora leave, and can be seen during the summer season. This high-altitude ecosystem is particularly fragile and can be considered a sentinel for the effects of climate changes. Due to its geographic position and high altitude, the area of Deosai has never been studied in all its ecosystem components, producing high resolution maps. The first land cover map of Deosai with 10 meters of resolution is discussed in this study. This map has been obtained from Sentinel-2 imagery and improved through the new tool developed in this study: the GBGEOApp. This application for mobile has been done with three main ambitions: the validation of the new land cover map, its improvement with land use information, and the collection of new data in the field. On the basis of the results, the use of the GBGEOApp, as a tool for validation and increasing of environmental data collection, seems to be completely applicable involving the local technicians in a process of data sharing

Delving into the reducing effects of the GABAB positive allosteric modulator, KK-92A, on alcohol-related behaviors in rats

Recent studies have demonstrated the ability of the positive allosteric modulator (PAM) of the GABAB receptor (GABAB PAM), KK-92A, to suppress operant alcohol self-administration and reinstatement of alcohol seeking in selectively bred Sardinian alcohol-preferring (sP) rats. The present study was designed to scrutinize the suppressing effects of KK-92A on alcohol-related behaviors; to this end, four separate experiments were conducted to address just as many new research questions, some of which bear translational value. Experiment 1 found that 7-day treatment with KK-92A (0, 5, 10, and 20 mg/kg, intraperitoneally [i.p.]) effectively reduced alcohol intake in male sP rats exposed to the home-cage 2-bottle "alcohol (10% v/v) vs. water" choice regimen with 1 hour/day limited access, extending to excessive alcohol drinking the ability of KK-92A to suppress operant alcohol self-administration. Experiment 2 demonstrated that the ability of KK-92A to reduce lever-responding for alcohol was maintained also after acute, intragastric treatment (0, 20, and 40 mg/kg) in female sP rats trained to lever-respond for 15% (v/v) alcohol under the fixed ratio 5 schedule of reinforcement. In Experiment 3, acutely administered KK-92A (0, 5, 10, and 20 mg/kg, i.p.) dampened alcohol-seeking behavior in female sP rats exposed to a single session under the extinction responding schedule. Experiment 4 used a taste reactivity test to demonstrate that acute treatment with KK-92A (0 and 20 mg/kg, i.p.) did not alter either hedonic or aversive reactions to a 15% (v/v) alcohol solution in male sP rats, ruling out that KK-92A-induced reduction of alcohol drinking and self-administration could be due to alterations in alcohol palatability. Together, these results enhance the behavioral pharmacological profile of KK-92A and further strengthen the notion that GABAB PAMs may represent a novel class of ligands with therapeutic potential for treating alcohol use disorder

Near real-time analysis of active distribution networks in a Digital Twin framework. A real case study

The growth of distributed generation and the need of increasing Distribution Network (DN) resilience is encouraging Distribution System Operators (DSO) to increase awareness about the real-time status of the network as well as to actively manage flexible energy resources for improving system performances. In this context, Digital Twin (DT) is an enabling technology for a low-cost distributed framework that supports DN management. DT in the power system can be exploited taking advantage of the successful experiences in other sectors (e.g., smart manufacturing and building automation). This article presents a real case study of a DT development and its integration with an existing DN. The DT system architecture is based on the recent standards whilst main DT components have been originally developed, enabling near real-time services such as data collection, state estimation, and flexibility calculator. The individual performances of the integrated tools and the reliability of DT were tested and validated during one month of continuous operation. During the operation, good service continuity and accuracy performances were reported. Results from the flexibility calculator show the effectiveness of the proposed strategies that can improve the energy efficiency of the DN by increasing local self-consumption of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) production

Trimethyl chitosan hydrogel nanoparticles for progesterone delivery in neurodegenerative disorders

Progesterone is a sex hormone which shows neuroprotective effects in different neurodegenerative disorders, including Parkinson’s disease, stroke, and Alzheimer’s disease. However, the pharmacokinetic limitations associated with the peripheral administration of this molecule highlight the need for more efficient delivery approaches to increase brain progesterone levels. Since the nose-to-brain administration of mucoadhesive hydrogel nanoparticles is a non-invasive and convenient strategy for the delivery of therapeutics to the central nervous system, in this work, progesterone-loaded hydrogel nanoparticle formulations have been prepared, characterized, and tested in vivo. Nanoparticles, loaded with different progesterone concentrations, have been obtained by polyelectrolyte complex formation between trimethyl chitosan and sodium alginate, followed by ionotropic gelation with sodium tripolyphosphate as a cross-linking agent. All formulations showed a mean diameter ranging from 200 nm to 236 nm, a polydispersity index smaller than 0.23, and a high progesterone encapsulation efficiency (83–95%). The zeta potential values were all positive and greater than 28 mV, thus ensuring nanoparticles stability against aggregation phenomena as well as interaction with negative sialic residues of the nasal mucosa. Finally, in vivo studies on Sprague–Dawley male rats demonstrated a 5-fold increase in brain progesterone concentrations compared to basal progesterone level after 30 min of hydrogel nanoparticle inhalation

Repeated administration of the GABAB receptor positive modulator BHF177 decreased nicotine self-administration, and acute administration decreased cue-induced reinstatement of nicotine seeking in rats

Abstract: Rationale $\gamma$-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) is the major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain and is implicated in the modulation of central reward processes. Acute or chronic administration of GABA$_B$ receptor agonists or positive modulators decreased self-administration of various drugs of abuse. Furthermore, GABA$_B$ receptor agonists inhibited cue-induced reinstatement of nicotine- and cocaine-seeking behavior. Because of their fewer adverse side effects compared with GABA$_B$ receptor agonists, GABA$_B$ receptor positive modulators are potentially improved therapeutic compounds for the treatment of drug dependence compared with agonists. Objectives and methods: We examined whether the acute effects of the GABA$_B$ receptor positive modulator N-[(1R,2R,4S)-bicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-yl]-2-methyl-5-[4-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]-4-pyrimidinamine (BHF177) on nicotine self- administration and food-maintained responding under a fixed-ratio 5 schedule of reinforcement were maintained after repeated administration. The effects of acute BHF177 administration on cue-induced nicotine- and food-seeking behavior, a putative animal model of relapse, were also examined. Results: Repeated administration of BHF177 for 14 days decreased nicotine self-administration, with small tolerance observed during the last 7 days of treatment, whereas BHF177 minimally affected food-maintained responding. Acute BHF177 administration dose-dependently blocked cue-induced reinstatement of nicotine-, but not food-, seeking behavior after a 10-day extinction period. Conclusions: These results showed that BHF177 selectively blocked nicotine self-administration and prevented cueinduced reinstatement of nicotine seeking, with minimal effects on responding for food and no effect on cue-induced reinstatement of food seeking. Thus, GABA$_B$ receptor positive modulators could be useful therapeutics for the treatment of different aspects of nicotine dependence by facilitating smoking cessation by decreasing nicotine intake and preventing relapse to smoking in humans

New Dihydrothiazole Benzensulfonamides: Looking for Selectivity toward Carbonic Anhydrase Isoforms I, II, IX, and XII

In the present study we investigated the structure-activity relationships of a new series of 4-[(3-ethyl-4-aryl-2,3-dihydro-1,3-thiazol-2-ylidene)amino]benzene-1-sulfonamides (EMAC10101a-m). All synthesized compounds, with the exception of compound EMAC10101k, preferentially inhibit off-target hCA II isoform. Within the series, compound EMAC10101d, bearing a 2,4-dichorophenyl substituent in position 4 of the dihydrothiazole ring, was the most potent and selective toward hCA II with an inhibitory activity in the low nanomolar range

Measuring Gravito-magnetic Effects by Multi Ring-Laser Gyroscope

We propose an under-ground experiment to detect the general relativistic effects due to the curvature of space-time around the Earth (de Sitter effect) and to rotation of the planet (dragging of the inertial frames or Lense-Thirring effect). It is based on the comparison between the IERS value of the Earth rotation vector and corresponding measurements obtained by a tri-axial laser detector of rotation. The proposed detector consists of six large ring-lasers arranged along three orthogonal axes. In about two years of data taking, the 1% sensitivity required for the measurement of the Lense-Thirring drag can be reached with square rings of 6 $m$ side, assuming a shot noise limited sensitivity ($20 prad/s/\sqrt{Hz}$). The multi-gyros system, composed of rings whose planes are perpendicular to one or the other of three orthogonal axes, can be built in several ways. Here, we consider cubic and octahedron structures. The symmetries of the proposed configurations provide mathematical relations that can be used to study the stability of the scale factors, the relative orientations or the ring-laser planes, very important to get rid of systematics in long-term measurements, which are required in order to determine the relativistic effects.Comment: 24 pages, 26 Postscript figure

Measurement of the atmospheric muon depth intensity relation with the NEMO Phase-2 tower

The results of the analysis of the data collected with the NEMO Phase-2 tower, deployed at 3500 m depth about 80 km off-shore Capo Passero (Italy), are presented. Cherenkov photons detected with the photomultipliers tubes were used to reconstruct the tracks of atmospheric muons. Their zenith-angle distribution was measured and the results compared with Monte Carlo simulations. An evaluation of the systematic effects due to uncertainties on environmental and detector parameters is also included. The associated depth intensity relation was evaluated and compared with previous measurements and theoretical predictions. With the present analysis, the muon depth intensity relation has been measured up to 13 km of water equivalent.Comment: submitted to Astroparticle Physic