Isotopic shift measured with a spin-orbit wave packet

High precision measurements of isotopic shifts in noble gases can provide a very good test of relativistic and quantum electrodynamic effects. In our experiment, we measured the isotopic shift between 36Ar and 40Ar for the 3s23p5 (2P3/2 → 2P1/2) transition for singly ionized argon atoms. We measured the shift by implementing a Ramsey scheme using two ultra-short (~ 6fs) laser pulses. The first laser pulse excites the system in a coherent superposition of the aforementioned states. This superposition leads to a spinorbit wave packet whose dynamics can be investigated by applying a second delayed probe pulse. In order to increase the precision of a measurement, we modified a Mach-Zehnder interferometer, to introduce a long time delay of 3.97ns between the two pulses. To detect the ions of different argon isotopes we used a reaction microscope spectrometer (REMI). The isotopic shift is found to be (1.22 ± 0.10) x 10-7eV and it is the first time it has been measured for this transition to the best of our knowledge

Lipidemic profile changes over a two-year intervention period : who benefited most from the Feel4Diabetes program?

Identification of participants' characteristics who benefited most from large community-based intervention studies may guide future prevention initiatives in order to maximize their effectiveness. The current study aimed to examine the socio-demographic, anthropometric, and behavioral characteristics, as well as the health and eating perceptions of those who improved their lipidemic profile, in the Feel4Diabetes early screening and prevention program. In the present analyses, 1773 adults from families at high risk for developing type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) were enrolled, receiving either the standard care or the more intensive intervention, and 33.3-55.2% of them improved one or more of their lipidemic indices by >5%. Women, people living in Southeastern Europe, coming from two-parent families, having higher financial security, educational level and better diet quality were associated with a 27-64% higher likelihood for benefiting from the program regarding one or more of their lipidemic profile indices. Participants who were overweight or obese (especially with central obesity), employed, with prolonged sedentary behavior, prone to emotional eating and perceiving their weight status as lower than their actual weight were 24-43% less likely to have benefited. These findings should guide future interventions, prioritizing regions in greater need, and being tailor-made to specific population characteristics in order to further improve their effectiveness

Facile and cost-efficient development of PMMA-based nanocomposites with custom-made hydrothermally-synthesized ZnO nanofillers

Over the past few years polymer nanocomposites have attracted considerable interest within the scientific community because they not only combine several alluring properties such as low weight, cost-efficiency and ease-of-formability, but mainly because they possess multi-faceted, multi-functional capabilities suitable for a wide range of applications, especially in the area of printed electronics. In this work, a two-step study was performed with the aim of developing ZnO/poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) nanocomposites. The first step of the study encompassed the development of a facile, low-cost hydrothermal methodology to synthesize customized ZnO-nanostructures of controllable morphology and the detailed examination of the role of the materials used on the final shape and size of the produced nanostructures. The second step included studies to optimize the embedding of the produced nanostructures into PMMA matrices, mostly concentrating on the role of the solvent. The produced ZnO/PMMA nanocomposites were coated onto Si-based interdigitated electrode devices to explore their electrical characteristics and assess their potential to be employed for sensing applications. © 2018 Elsevier B.V

LiK B1Π potential: combining short and long-range data

We present spectroscopic measurements of the long range states of the 6Li40K molecule near its Li(42S1/2) + K(42P3/2) asymptote which in combination with existing data in the short range lead to the full characterization of the B1Π potential with high spectroscopic resolution. This survey was conducted in the context of identifying a suitable pathway for the efficient two-photon transfer to the absolute ro-vibronic ground state of 6Li40K heteronuclear dimers.Published versio

Active case finding of pulmonary TB in a European refugee camp: lessons learnt from Oinofyta hosting site in Greece

Objectives: To report on an active case finding (ACF) intervention that took place in the migrant camp of Oinofyta, Greece, upon suspicion of active TB transmission. Methods: Upon diagnosis of 3 TB cases among camp residents, an ACF intervention among contacts was implemented. All camp residents were offered two-step screening, that is tuberculin skin testing (TST) followed by chest X-ray in case of positive TST (defined as ≥5 mm). Results: 336 of 379 (89%) camp residents underwent TST testing, of whom 110 (33%) exhibited a positive skin reaction. The rate of positive TST results was particularly high in the elderly and significantly higher in adults than in children. Differences by sex or nationality were not observed. Of the 110 cases with positive TST, only 75 underwent chest X-ray, resulting in the detection of one pulmonary TB case in an adult woman. Conclusions: In the given intervention context, two-step ACF proved to be operationally cumbersome, with many residents lost to follow-up and a high Number Needed to Screen. Simpler ACF designs should be pilot-tested in similar settings in the future, and blanket screening of all camp residents should be reconsidered. Conclusions drawn by these exercises should pave the way for adopting a comprehensive, context-specific and evidence-based national strategy on TB in migrants. © 2021 John Wiley & Sons Lt

Singlet Pathway to the Ground State of Ultracold Polar Molecules

10.1103/PhysRevLett.124.133203PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS1241

Singlet pathway to the ground state of ultracold polar molecules

We demonstrate a two-photon pathway to the ground state of 6Li40K molecules that involves only singlet-to-singlet optical transitions. We start from a molecular state which contains a significant admixture from the singlet ground state potential by selecting the Feshbach resonance for molecule association. With the only contributing singlet state to the molecular state being fully stretched and with control over the lasers polarization we address a sole hyperfine component of the excited A1Σ+ potential without resolving its hyperfine structure. This scheme ensures access to only one ground state hyperfine component with sufficient Franck-Condon factors and moderate laser powers for both coupling transitions. Its implementation results in large and balanced Rabi frequencies, a favourable condition for the coherent transfer to the ground state. We perform dark resonance spectroscopy to precisely determine the transition frequencies of the states involved. The strong dipolar nature of 6Li40K is revealed by Stark spectroscopy, as it is necessary for the study of dipolar interactions in an optical lattice.Published versio

Lipidemic profile changes over a two-year intervention period: Who benefited most from the feel4diabetes program?

Identification of participants’ characteristics who benefited most from large community-based intervention studies may guide future prevention initiatives in order to maximize their effectiveness. The current study aimed to examine the socio-demographic, anthropometric, and behavioral characteristics, as well as the health and eating perceptions of those who improved their lipidemic profile, in the Feel4Diabetes early screening and prevention program. In the present analyses, 1773 adults from families at high risk for developing type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) were enrolled, receiving either the standard care or the more intensive intervention, and 33.3–55.2% of them improved one or more of their lipidemic indices by >5%. Women, people living in Southeastern Europe, coming from two-parent families, having higher financial security, educational level and better diet quality were associated with a 27–64% higher likelihood for benefiting from the program regarding one or more of their lipidemic profile indices. Participants who were overweight or obese (especially with central obesity), employed, with prolonged sedentary behavior, prone to emotional eating and perceiving their weight status as lower than their actual weight were 24–43% less likely to have benefited. These findings should guide future interventions, prioritizing regions in greater need, and being tailor-made to specific population characteristics in order to further improve their effectiveness. © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland