Bound state approach to the QCD coupling at low energy scales

We exploit theoretical results on the meson spectrum within the framework of a Bethe-Salpeter (BS) formalism adjusted for QCD, in order to extract an ``experimental'' coupling \alpha_s^{exp}(Q^2) below 1 GeV by comparison with the data. Our results for \alpha_s^{exp}(Q^2) exhibit a good agreement with the infrared safe Analytic Perturbation Theory (APT) coupling from 1 GeV down to 200 MeV. As a main result, we claim that the combined BS-APT theoretical scheme provides us with a rather satisfactory correlated understanding of very high and low energy phenomena.Comment: Revised version, to appear on Physical Review Letters. 7 pages, 2 figures, Revte

QCD coupling below 1 GeV from quarkonium spectrum

In this paper we extend the work synthetically presented in Ref.[1] and give theoretical details and complete tables of numerical results. We exploit calculations within a Bethe-Salpeter (BS) formalism adjusted for QCD, in order to extract an ``experimental'' strong coupling \alpha_s^{exp}(Q^2) below 1 GeV by comparison with the meson spectrum. The BS potential follows from a proper ansatz on the Wilson loop to encode confinement and is the sum of a one-gluon-exchange and a confinement terms. Besides, the common perturbative strong coupling is replaced by the ghost-free expression \alpha_E(Q^2) according to the prescription of Analytic Perturbation Theory (APT). The agreement of \alpha_s^{exp}(Q^2) with the APT coupling \alpha_E(Q^2) turns out to be reasonable from 1 GeV down to the 200 MeV scale, thus confirming quantitatively the validity of the APT prescription. Below this scale, the experimental points could give a hint on the vanishing of \alpha_s(Q^2) as Q approaches zero. This infrared behaviour would be consistent with some lattice results and a ``massive'' generalization of the APT approach. As a main result, we claim that the combined BS-APT theoretical scheme provides us with a rather satisfactory correlated understanding of very high and rather low energy phenomena from few hundreds MeV to few hundreds GeV.Comment: Preliminary revision. Typos corrected, comments and references adde

Occurrence of different Canine distemper virus lineages in Italian dogs

This study describes the sequence analysis of the H gene of 7 Canine distemper virus (CDV) strains identified in dogs in Italy between years 2002-2012. The phylogenetic analysis showed that the CDV strains belonged to 2 clusters: 6 viruses were identified as Arctic-like lineage and 1 as Europe 1 lineage. These data show a considerable prevalence of Arctic-like-CDVs in the analysed dogs. The dogs and the 3 viruses more recently identified showed 4 distinctive amino acid mutations compared to all other Arctic CDV

Polarization Asymmetry In The Photodisintegration Of The Deuteron

The reaction ²(γ,p)n has been studied using a monochromatic and polarized gamma ray beam at energies E(γ)=19.8, 29.0, 38.6, and 60.8 MeV. The beam of an intensity ∼4×10⁵ γ/sec was obtained by Compton back scattering of mode-locked laser light off electron bunches in the Adone storage ring. Photoneutron yields were measured at nine neutron angles thetan≃15, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120, 135, 150, and 165 deg in the center of mass (c.m.) for E(γ)=19.8, 29.0, and 38.6 MeV, and at thetan≃30, 60, 90, 120, and 150 deg c.m. for E(γ)=60.8 MeV. The polarization independent component Iₒ(theta) of the differential cross section and the polarization dependent component PI₁(theta) were deduced and the angular distribution of the azimuthal asymmetry factor Σ(theta)=I₁(theta)/Iₒ(theta) was obtained. An extensive comparison with theory has been carried out and the inclusion of corrections due to meson exchange currents and to Δ-isobar configurations have been shown to be mandatory at energies E(γ)≳40 MeV. Theoretical and experimental implications of intermediate energy deuteron photo- disintegration studies are discussed in some detail

Prevalence and clinical features of celiac disease in a cohort of italian children with autism spectrum disorders

Background: Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are a heterogeneous group of neurodevelopmental conditions whose etiopathogenesis derives from a complex interaction between genetic liability and environmental factors. In this framework, mounting evidence suggests that immune system dysfunction could be a risk factor contributing to the development of ASD in at least a subpopulation of individuals. In particular, some studies suggest an association between celiac disease (CD)—a long‐term autoimmune disorder that primarily affects the small intestine triggered by the ingestion of gluten—and ASD, while others hypothesized a random link. This investigation aimed to evaluate the prevalence of CD in a large sample of school‐aged children with ASD and to characterize their clinical profile. Methods: Medical records of 405 children with ASD aged 5–11 years (mean age: 7.2 years; SD: 1.8 years) consecutively referred to a tertiary‐care university hospital between January 2014 and December 2018 were reviewed; among them, 362 had carried out serological testing for CD. Results: Nine patients with positive CD serology were identified, eight of which satisfied the criteria for CD diagnosis. The estimated CD prevalence in ASD children was 2.18% (95% CI, 0.8–3.7), which was not statistically different (1.58%; p = 0.36) from that of an Italian population, matched for age range, considered as a control group (95% CI, 1.26–1.90). Three out of the eight ASD patients with CD did not have any symptoms suggestive of CD. Conclusions: Our findings did not show a higher prevalence of CD in ASD children than in the control population, but could suggest the utility of routine CD screening, given its frequent atypical clinical presentation in this population

Digital detection of exosomes by interferometric imaging

Exosomes, which are membranous nanovesicles, are actively released by cells and have been attributed to roles in cell-cell communication, cancer metastasis, and early disease diagnostics. The small size (30–100 nm) along with low refractive index contrast of exosomes makes direct characterization and phenotypical classification very difficult. In this work we present a method based on Single Particle Interferometric Reflectance Imaging Sensor (SP-IRIS) that allows multiplexed phenotyping and digital counting of various populations of individual exosomes (>50 nm) captured on a microarray-based solid phase chip. We demonstrate these characterization concepts using purified exosomes from a HEK 293 cell culture. As a demonstration of clinical utility, we characterize exosomes directly from human cerebrospinal fluid (hCSF). Our interferometric imaging method could capture, from a very small hCSF volume (20 uL), nanoparticles that have a size compatible with exosomes, using antibodies directed against tetraspanins. With this unprecedented capability, we foresee revolutionary implications in the clinical field with improvements in diagnosis and stratification of patients affected by different disorders.This work was supported by Regione Lombardia and Fondazione Cariplo through POR-FESR, project MINER (ID 46875467); Italian Ministry of Health, Ricerca Corrente. This work was partially supported by The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (grant #113E643). (Regione Lombardia; 46875467 - Fondazione Cariplo through POR-FESR, project MINER; Italian Ministry of Health, Ricerca Corrente; 113E643 - Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey)Published versio

Per una ridefinizione del modello turistico nazionale. Spunti di riflessioni a partire dalle criticità emerse durante il Covid-19

The new emergency we are facing with current spread of coronavirus impos-es restrictions in everyday life and mobility across different territories and countries; we are globally compelled to face mutual problems, re-gardless of unilateral positions and this is giving strength to globalization just when a crisis of the globalized world model seemed to be consolidat-ing. Even modern tourism in the pre-pandemic economic and political situation was building a path of progressive quantitative growth and showing positive signs even in the most difficult moments of the recent international economic crisis. However, global tourism is now displaying an overall weakness as never happened in the pasts and it is starting fea-turing negative data and forecasts showing how this emergency is affect-ing a substantial portion of the Italian economy, which has reached 13,2% of GDP in 2018 with subsequent significant meaning also in terms of employment. Although it is difficult to foresee future tourism developments, this paper wants to suggest a reflection on the possible scenarios that could be configured out in the medium term, starting from considerations on the role that the national corporate system in tourism has played within the Italian supply chain

Evaluation of carcass quality, body and pulmonary lesions detected at the abattoir in heavy pigs subjected or not to tail docking

BackgroundNowadays, body and tail lesions and respiratory disease are some of the greatest problems affecting the health and welfare of pigs. The aim of the study was to measure the prevalence of pleurisy, bronchopneumonia (enzootic pneumonia like lesions) and lesions on tail and body of heavy pigs subjected or not to tail docking through the inspection in Italian abattoirs. Additionally, the effect of tail docking and season was investigated on carcass quality (weight, % of lean meat, and Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) classification). For this purpose, a total 17.256 carcasses belonging to 171 batches from 103 farms were inspected in an Italian abattoir between 2019 and 2022. Enzootic pneumonia (EP) like lesions were scored according to the Madec and Derrien method, while pleurisy was scored using the Italian Slaughterhouse pleuritic evaluation system (SPES). For the tail and body, the lesions were scored according to Welfare Quality. The lesion score index (LSI) was calculated for each area. Data were analysed using a general linear model (GLM) including tail caudectomy, season and distance of the farm from the abattoir.ResultsThe warm season increased the percentage of lesions in carcasses in all parts of the body observed (P < 0.0001). The presence of undocked tail increased the LSI of the tail (P < 0.0001). The percentage of limbs lesions with score 2 and limbs LSI increase with increasing duration of transport (coef. = 0.003, P < 0.001; coef. = 0.008, P < 0.001; respectively). The hot carcass weight and the percentage of carcasses included in the PDO were higher in batches with docked tails (P = 0.027; P < 0.001, respectively), while the percentage of lean meat was higher in batches with undocked tails (P < 0.001). There was a negative correlation between the percentage of carcasses included in PDO and the LSI of tail (r = - 0.422; P < 0.001).ConclusionsIn conclusion, the presence of the undocked tail and the warm season can be considered risk factors for the prevalence of tail lesions, while long transport can increase limb lesions. Furthermore, the carcass weight and meat quality were negatively influenced by tail lesions

Towards a Universal Method for the Stable and Clean Functionalization of Inert Perfluoropolymer Nanoparticles : Exploiting Photopolymerizable Amphiphilic Diacetylenes

Highly fluorinated materials are being widely investigated due to a number of peculiar properties, which are potentially useful for various applications, including use as lubricants, anti-adhesive films, and substitutes for biological fluids for biomedical utilization. However, at present such potential is still poorly exploited. One of the major drawbacks that hampers the rapid development of nanoscale fluoro-hybrid devices is the remarkable inertness of perfluoropolymeric materials that lack reactive functionalities, as they do not offer any functional groups that can be employed to covalently anchor organic molecules on their surface. In this paper, a convenient method for the stable biofunctionalization of strongly unreactive perfluoropolymer nanoparticles (PnPs) is reported. PnPs are easily coated with newly synthesized asymmetric diacetylenic monomer compounds (ADMs), thanks to PnP's high propensity to interact with hydrophobic moieties. Once monomerically adsorbed onto PnPs, such suitably designed ADMs enable the formation of a robust polymeric shell around the perfluoroelastomer core via a clean UV-promoted localized photopolymerization. Given the peculiar optical characteristics of PnPs, the coating of the particles can be monitored step by step using light scattering, which also allows estimation of the fraction of reacted monomers by competitive adsorption with smaller particles. The potential of this method for the biofunctionalization of PnPs is demonstrated with representative proteins and carbohydrates. Among them, the extension to avidin-biotin technology may broaden the scope and applicability of this strategy to potentially a large number of molecules of biomedical interest. Making the unreactive reactive: A smart method for the biofunctionalization of strongly inert perfluoropolymer nanoparticles (PnPs) is presented, using a stable coating with novel diacetylenic compounds followed by clean UV photopolymerization to generate reactive functionalities on the PnP surface. This method further allows fine tuning of the amount of conjugated biomolecules, which can be sensitively and straightforwardly quantified