The association of genetic predisposition to depressive symptoms with non-suicidal and suicidal self-Injuries

Non-suicidal and suicidal self-injury are very destructive, yet surprisingly common behaviours. Depressed mood is a major risk factor for non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), suicidal ideation and suicide attempts. We conducted a genetic risk prediction study to examine the polygenic overlap of depressive symptoms with lifetime NSSI, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts in a sample of 6237 Australian adult twins and their family members (3740 females, mean age\ua0=\ua042.4\ua0years). Polygenic risk scores for depressive symptoms significantly predicted suicidal ideation, and some predictive ability was found for suicide attempts; the polygenic risk scores explained a significant amount of variance in suicidal ideation (lowest p\ua0=\ua00.008, explained variance ranging from 0.10 to 0.16\ua0%) and, less consistently, in suicide attempts (lowest p\ua0=\ua00.04, explained variance ranging from 0.12 to 0.23\ua0%). Polygenic risk scores did not significantly predict NSSI. Results highlight that individuals genetically predisposed to depression are also more likely to experience suicidal ideation/behaviour, whereas we found no evidence that this is also the case for NSSI

Contribution of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) among patients <15 years hospitalized with severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) in Milan, 2014-2017

Aim: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections may range from cold to severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) and are responsible for substantial pediatric morbidity. We describe the results of RSV molecular detection in respiratory samples collected from children <15 years hospitalized with SARI in Milan (Italy) during four consecutive years. Method: From January 1st, 2014, to December 31st, 2017, 3013 respiratory samples (2826 upper-respiratory-tract [UTR] and 187 lower-respiratory-tract [LTR] specimens) collected from as many children <15 years hospitalized with SARI at an University hospital in Milan were analysed. After DNA/RNA extraction, samples were tested by a multiplex real-time PCR to detect RSV and other respiratory viruses. Results: 571 (19%) respiratory samples tested RSV-positive. RSV-positivity rate by sample type was similar (URT vs LRT: 19.2% vs 14.4%; p=0.09). The median age of RSV-positive cases was 6.6 months (inter-quartile range: 17.2 months); 52.2% were males. 62.2% (355/571) of RSV-positive samples were identified in children <1 year and 12.4% (71/571) in those <1 month. RSV was detected throughout the study period; 59.2% (338/571) cases were identified during seasonal peaks (December-February). In 49.9% (285/571) of RSV-positive samples at least another virus (mainly Rhinovirus: 45.9%) was detected, particularly (60%; 171/285) in samples collected from children >1 year. Conclusions: Accordingly to other studies, RSV was detected in 19% of hospitalized-SARI cases <15 years, mainly in children <1 year and in December-February. Sampling of upper or lower airways resulted in similar RSV-positivity rate. Routine molecular testing to detect RSV is warranted to improve clinical management of pediatric patients

Beating noise with abstention in state estimation

We address the problem of estimating pure qubit states with non-ideal (noisy) measurements in the multiple-copy scenario, where the data consists of a number N of identically prepared qubits. We show that the average fidelity of the estimates can increase significantly if the estimation protocol allows for inconclusive answers, or abstentions. We present the optimal such protocol and compute its fidelity for a given probability of abstention. The improvement over standard estimation, without abstention, can be viewed as an effective noise reduction. These and other results are exemplified for small values of N. For asymptotically large N, we derive analytical expressions of the fidelity and the probability of abstention, and show that for a fixed fidelity gain the latter decreases with N at an exponential rate given by a Kulback-Leibler (relative) entropy. As a byproduct, we obtain an asymptotic expression in terms of this very entropy of the probability that a system of N qubits, all prepared in the same state, has a given total angular momentum. We also discuss an extreme situation where noise increases with N and where estimation with abstention provides a most significant improvement as compared to the standard approach

Epidemiological and molecular characteristics of HPEV infection in children<6 months hospitalized with symptoms of sepsie-like illness, northen Italy, 2015-2018

BACKGROUND. Human parechoviruses (HPeVs) are widespread pathogens belonging to the Picornaviridae family and currently divided into 19 genotypes. HPeV infections can be associated with severe clinical manifestations, such as sepsis-like illness, particularly in youngest children. The epidemiological and molecular characteristics of HPeV infections observed in children <6 months hospitalized with symptoms of sepsis-like illness were investigated. METHODS. From January 1st, 2015, to December 31st, 2018, clinical samples (cerebrospinal fluid samples and/or blood samples) were collected for diagnosis of HPeV infection from 193 patients (median age: 21 days, range: 1 day - 6 months) hospitalized with symptoms of sepsis-like illness, in two hospitals of Northern Italy. HPeV-RNA was detected by real-time RT-PCR (target 5\u2019UTR) and a portion of HPeV VP3/VP1 junction (nt. 2159\u20132458) was sequenced for typing and molecular characterization. RESULTS. 14% (27/193) of patients with symptoms of sepsis-like illness tested HPeV-positive. 26/27 (96.3%) HPeV-cases were <3 months and 20/27 (74.1%) <1 month. HPeV-positive cases were detected throughout the study period, mainly (12/27; 44.4%) during the summertime (June-August). 17/27 (63%) HPeV-positive samples were molecularly characterized: 16 resulted HPeV-3 and 1 HPeV-5. CONCLUSIONS. HPeV infection was identified in 14% of children <6 months with symptoms of sepsis-like illness. Almost all HPeV infections were detected in children <3 months and mainly during the summertime; almost all molecularly characterized HPeV belonged to type 3. Including HPeV molecular detection in routine diagnostic tests would allow estimating the burden of HPeV infection and improving clinical management of pediatric patients

Site localization of Cd impurities in sapphire

By combining first-principles electronic structure calculations and existing time-differential gamma-gamma perturbed-angular-correlation experiments we studied the site localization, the local environment, and the electronic structure of Cd impurities in sapphire (alpha-Al2O3) single crystals in different charged states. The ab initio calculations were performed with the full-potential augmented plane wave plus local orbitals method and the projector augmented wave method. Comparing the calculated electric-field-gradient tensor at the Cd nuclei in the alpha-Al2O3 host lattice and the corresponding available experimental values, we have seen that it is equally possible for Cd to replace an Al atom (in a negative charge state) or to be placed in an interstitial site (in a neutral charge state). To finally address the issue of the Cd impurity localization, we performed formation energy calculations. These results have shown that Cd placed in the substitutional Al site, in the negatively charged state, is the most probable configuration.Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas (CONICET)Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas (CONICET) [PIP 0002]CNPqCNPqCAPESCAPESFAPESPFAPES

Reduction of microorganisms in marinated poultry breast using oregano essential oil and power ultrasound

Marinated chicken meat is an ideal substrate for the growth of microorganisms. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of high-intensity ultrasound on the microbial flora of chicken meat marinated in oregano oil. Three concentrations of oregano oil (0%, 0.1%, and 0.3%) and two types of marination (traditional and highintensity ultrasound) were tested. Microorganisms were enumerated immediately after marination and on 7, 14, and 21 days of chilled storage. Marination in oregano oil resulted in significant differences (P<0.05) in the numbers of anaerobic, lactic acid bacteria, and mesophiles. Ultrasound with 0.1% OEO did not show any effect on the three types of bacteria. The treatment with 0.3% oregano oil and ultrasound had the greatest effect on controlling microbial growth. Therefore, a combination of ultrasound and oregano oil is the most appropriate option for reducing the growth of mesophilic, anaerobic, and lactic acid bacteria in vacuum-packed marinated chicken breasts during chilled storage

Phase transitions for suspension flows

This paper is devoted to study thermodynamic formalism for suspension flows defined over countable alphabets. We are mostly interested in the regularity properties of the pressure function. We establish conditions for the pressure function to be real analytic or to exhibit a phase transition. We also construct an example of a potential for which the pressure has countably many phase transitions.Comment: Example 5.2 expanded. Typos corrected. Section 6.1 superced the note "Thermodynamic formalism for the positive geodesic flow on the modular surface" arXiv:1009.462

A stroll through the loop-tree duality

The Loop-Tree Duality (LTD) theorem is an innovative technique to deal with multi-loop scattering amplitudes, leading to integrand-level representations over a Euclidean space. In this article, we review the last developments concerning this framework, focusing on the manifestly causal representation of multi-loop Feynman integrals and scattering amplitudes, and the definition of dual local counter-terms to cancel infrared singularities