Measurement of the Bottom-Strange Meson Mixing Phase in the Full CDF Data Set

We report a measurement of the bottom-strange meson mixing phase \beta_s using the time evolution of B0_s -> J/\psi (->\mu+\mu-) \phi (-> K+ K-) decays in which the quark-flavor content of the bottom-strange meson is identified at production. This measurement uses the full data set of proton-antiproton collisions at sqrt(s)= 1.96 TeV collected by the Collider Detector experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron, corresponding to 9.6 fb-1 of integrated luminosity. We report confidence regions in the two-dimensional space of \beta_s and the B0_s decay-width difference \Delta\Gamma_s, and measure \beta_s in [-\pi/2, -1.51] U [-0.06, 0.30] U [1.26, \pi/2] at the 68% confidence level, in agreement with the standard model expectation. Assuming the standard model value of \beta_s, we also determine \Delta\Gamma_s = 0.068 +- 0.026 (stat) +- 0.009 (syst) ps-1 and the mean B0_s lifetime, \tau_s = 1.528 +- 0.019 (stat) +- 0.009 (syst) ps, which are consistent and competitive with determinations by other experiments.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, Phys. Rev. Lett 109, 171802 (2012

Fattori di rischio associati alla nascita pretermine e prime competenze linguistiche rilevate con il MacArthur

La ricerca si \ue8 proposta di esaminare, mediante il questionario \u201cIl Primo Vocabolario del Bambino\u201d (PVB) le prime competenze lessicali e morfosintattiche di 70 bambini nati pretermine di peso molto basso, privi di danni neurologici, a 30 mesi di et\ue0 corretta. Si \ue8 voluto indagare l\u2019influenza dei fattori di rischio biologici e sociali su tali competenze e la relazione tra queste ultime e il QI. I risultati principali hanno mostrato che le performance lessicali, morfosintattiche e cognitive medie si collocano all\u2019interno di un range normale. Tuttavia, il 20% dei bambini ha uno sviluppo lessicale a rischio (<10\ub0 percentile), il 15% non usa funtori e pronomi nelle frasi e ha un QI <85. L\u2019analisi dei fattori di rischio biologici e sociali ha messo in luce che vi sono dei sottogruppi con uno sviluppo linguistico e cognitivo meno avanzato e, in alcuni casi, a rischio: i fattori risultati significativi sono quelli connessi a un\u2019elevata immaturit\ue0 neonatale (peso <1000g, et\ue0 gestazionale <31 settimane) che, soprattutto se associati al sesso maschile, determinano una minor produzione di parole e frasi e uno stile prevalentemente telegrafico indipendentemente dal livello di istruzione dei genitori. Lo sviluppo lessicale, morfosintattico e cognitivo sono risultati tra loro correlati

Are early grammatical and phonological working memory abilities affected by preterm birth?

There have been few investigations of the effects of very immature preterm birth on specific linguistic competencies and phonological working memory at preschool age. Study 1 aimed to investigate early grammatical abilities in very immature healthy preterms, taking into account their cognitive development and biological and social factors. The linguistic and cognitive differences found between preterms and fullterms led to investigate in Study 2 the role of phonological working memory on preterms\u2019 grammatical development. Very immature preterm birth resulted to affect grammatical, cognitive and phonological working memory abilities until 42 months, leading to persisting difficulties in comparison with fullterms, albeit not severe deficits. Tight relations between phonological working memory and grammar were found both in preterms and fullterms, that highlights the reciprocal support of these abilities in development. A partial compensatory effect by the maternal level of education on preterms\u2019 grammatical and cognitive abilities was also found

Early relations between lexical and grammatical development in very immature Italian preterms

This study aimed to investigate early lexical and grammatical development and their relations in a sample of very immature healthy preterms, in order to assess whether their linguistic development was typical, at risk or atypical. The effects of biological factors and parental level of education on preterms' linguistic development were also investigated. Seventy-three Italian preterms and 22 Italian fullterms (control sample) were assessed at 2;6 with an Italian test of repetition of sentences (TRF). Their mothers completed the Italian version of the MacArthur questionnaire (PVB). Our results showed that most of the preterm sample displayed a typical development, compared with the fullterms, with lexicon and grammar within the normal range and a normal relation between these competencies. However, preterms characterized by an extremely low birthweight (ELBW), a very low gestational age and male gender were at risk, with slight delays in the lexicon and grammar, but still retaining the normal relation between the two

Active and inactive renin and kidney function in young subjects with different predisposition to develop essential hypertension

Renal and cardiac function were measured in 65 offspring of hypertensive parents (OHP) and in 56 offspring of normotensive parents (ONP). In two additional groups of 24 OHP and 42 ONP plasma renin activity (PRA) and plasma active (PRAC), inactive (PRIC) and total (PRTC) concentration were measured. OHP had significantly higher renal plasma flow (p less than 0.01), glomerular filtration rate (p less than 0.02) and 24-hour urinary output than ONP, while PRA was lower (p less than 0.01). The measurements of the different forms of renin gave the following results: PRIC and PRTC were lower in OHP than in ONP, but the only statistically significant difference concerns PRIC (p less than 0.025). A possible interpretation of these findings is that a primary increased tubular ion and water reabsorption might be the cause of the kidney function pattern seen in OHP

LATTE FORMULATO STANDARD E LATTE FORMULATO A PROTEINE PARZIALMENTE IDROLIZZATE PER L’ALIMENTAZIONE DEI NEONATI PRETERMINE A CONFRONTO CON LATTE MATERNO

Presentazione di uno studio clinico randomizzato sulla tolleranza e sugli esiti auxologici di un latte a proteine parzialmente idrolizzate a confronto con un latte standard e con il latte materno in neonati pretermine (n=37)