A Mission to Mars: Prediction of GCR Doses and Comparison with Astronaut Dose Limits

Long-term human space missions such as a future journey to Mars could be characterized by several hazards, among which radiation is one the highest-priority problems for astronaut health. In this work, exploiting a pre-existing interface between the BIANCA biophysical model and the FLUKA Monte Carlo transport code, a study was performed to calculate astronaut absorbed doses and equivalent doses following GCR exposure under different shielding conditions. More specifically, the interface with BIANCA allowed us to calculate both the RBE for cell survival, which is related to non-cancer effects, and that for chromosome aberrations, related to the induction of stochastic effects, including cancer. The results were then compared with cancer and non-cancer astronaut dose limits. Concerning the stochastic effects, the equivalent doses calculated by multiplying the absorbed dose by the RBE for chromosome aberrations (“high-dose method”) were similar to those calculated using the Q-values recommended by ICRP. For a 650-day mission at solar minimum (representative of a possible Mars mission scenario), the obtained values are always lower than the career limit recommended by ICRP (1 Sv), but higher than the limit of 600 mSv recently adopted by NASA. The comparison with the JAXA limits is more complex, since they are age and sex dependent. Concerning the deterministic limits, even for a 650-day mission at solar minimum, the values obtained by multiplying the absorbed dose by the RBE for cell survival are largely below the limits established by the various space agencies. Following this work, BIANCA, interfaced with an MC transport code such as FLUKA, can now predict RBE values for cell death and chromosome aberrations following GCR exposure. More generally, both at solar minimum and at solar maximum, shielding of 10 g/cm$^2$ Al seems to be a better choice than 20 g/cm$^2$ for astronaut protection against GCR

Regularized and Opposite spin-scaled functionals from M{\o}ller-Plesset adiabatic connection -- higher accuracy at lower cost

Non-covalent interactions (NCIs) play a crucial role in biology, chemistry, material science, and everything in between. To improve pure quantum-chemical simulations of NCIs, we propose a methodology for constructing approximate correlation energies by combining an interpolation along the M{\o}ller adiabatic connection (MP AC) with a regularization and spin-scaling strategy applied to MP2 correlation energies. This combination yields $c_{\rm os}\kappa_{\rm os}$-SPL2, which exhibits superior accuracy for NCIs compared to any of the individual strategies. With the $N^4$ formal scaling, $c_{\rm os}\kappa_{\rm os}$-SPL2, is competitive or often outperforms more expensive dispersion-corrected double hybrids for NCIs.The accuracy of $c_{\rm os}\kappa_{\rm os}$-SPL2 particularly shines for anionic halogen bonded complexes, where it surpasses standard dispersion-corrected DFT by a factor of 3 to 5.Comment: 12 pages + 5 SI, 8 figures + 6 S

Learning from Nature: Pregnancy Changes the Expression of Inflammation-Related Genes in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis

Pregnancy is associated with reduced activity of multiple sclerosis (MS). However, the biological mechanisms underlying this pregnancy-related decrease in disease activity are poorly understood

Nuclear model developments in FLUKA for present and future applications

The FLUKAS code [1–3] is used in research laboratories all around the world for challenging applications spanning a very wide range of energies, projectiles and targets. FLUKAS is also extensively used for in hadrontherapy research studies and clinical planning systems. In this paper some of the recent developments in the FLUKAS nuclear physics models of relevance for very different application fields including medical physics are presented. A few examples are shown demonstrating the effectiveness of the upgraded code

The Long-Baseline Neutrino Experiment: Exploring Fundamental Symmetries of the Universe

The preponderance of matter over antimatter in the early Universe, the dynamics of the supernova bursts that produced the heavy elements necessary for life and whether protons eventually decay --- these mysteries at the forefront of particle physics and astrophysics are key to understanding the early evolution of our Universe, its current state and its eventual fate. The Long-Baseline Neutrino Experiment (LBNE) represents an extensively developed plan for a world-class experiment dedicated to addressing these questions. LBNE is conceived around three central components: (1) a new, high-intensity neutrino source generated from a megawatt-class proton accelerator at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, (2) a near neutrino detector just downstream of the source, and (3) a massive liquid argon time-projection chamber deployed as a far detector deep underground at the Sanford Underground Research Facility. This facility, located at the site of the former Homestake Mine in Lead, South Dakota, is approximately 1,300 km from the neutrino source at Fermilab -- a distance (baseline) that delivers optimal sensitivity to neutrino charge-parity symmetry violation and mass ordering effects. This ambitious yet cost-effective design incorporates scalability and flexibility and can accommodate a variety of upgrades and contributions. With its exceptional combination of experimental configuration, technical capabilities, and potential for transformative discoveries, LBNE promises to be a vital facility for the field of particle physics worldwide, providing physicists from around the globe with opportunities to collaborate in a twenty to thirty year program of exciting science. In this document we provide a comprehensive overview of LBNE's scientific objectives, its place in the landscape of neutrino physics worldwide, the technologies it will incorporate and the capabilities it will possess.Comment: Major update of previous version. This is the reference document for LBNE science program and current status. Chapters 1, 3, and 9 provide a comprehensive overview of LBNE's scientific objectives, its place in the landscape of neutrino physics worldwide, the technologies it will incorporate and the capabilities it will possess. 288 pages, 116 figure

Perinatal care in SARS-CoV-2 infected women: the lesson learnt from a national prospective cohort study during the pandemic in Italy

Background: Despite the growing importance given to ensuring high-quality childbirth, perinatal good practices have been rapidly disrupted by SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. This study aimed at describing the childbirth care provided to infected women during two years of COVID-19 emergency in Italy. Methods: A prospective cohort study enrolling all women who gave birth with a confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection within 7 days from hospital admission in the 218 maternity units active in Italy during the periods February 25, 2020-June 30, 2021, and January 1-May 31, 2022. Perinatal care was assessed by evaluating the prevalence of the following indicators during the pandemic: presence of a labour companion; skin-to-skin; no mother-child separation at birth; rooming-in; breastfeeding. Logistic regression models including women' socio-demographic, obstetric and medical characteristics, were used to assess the association between the adherence to perinatal practices and different pandemic phases. Results: During the study period, 5,360 SARS-CoV-2 positive women were enrolled. Overall, among those who had a vaginal delivery (n = 3,574; 66.8%), 37.5% had a labour companion, 70.5% of newborns were not separated from their mothers at birth, 88.1% were roomed-in, and 88.0% breastfed. These four indicators showed similar variations in the study period with a negative peak between September 2020 and January 2021 and a gradual increase during the Alpha and Omicron waves. Skin-to-skin (mean value 66.2%) had its lowest level at the beginning of the pandemic and gradually increased throughout the study period. Among women who had a caesarean section (n = 1,777; 33.2%), all the indicators showed notably worse outcomes with similar variations in the study period. Multiple logistic regression analyses confirm the observed variations during the pandemic and show a lower adherence to good practices in southern regions and in maternity units with a higher annual number of births. Conclusions: Despite the rising trend in the studied indicators, we observed concerning substandard childbirth care during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Continued efforts are necessary to underscore the significance of the experience of care as a vital component in enhancing the quality of family-centred care policies

Heterogeneity of prodromal Parkinson symptoms in siblings of Parkinson disease patients

A prodromal phase of Parkinson’s disease (PD) may precede motor manifestations by decades. PD patients’ siblings are at higher risk for PD, but the prevalence and distribution of prodromal symptoms are unknown. The study objectives were (1) to assess motor and non-motor features estimating prodromal PD probability in PD siblings recruited within the European PROPAG-AGEING project; (2) to compare motor and non-motor symptoms to the well-established DeNoPa cohort. 340 PD siblings from three sites (Bologna, Seville, Kassel/Goettingen) underwent clinical and neurological evaluations of PD markers. The German part of the cohort was compared with German de novo PD patients (dnPDs) and healthy controls (CTRs) from DeNoPa. Fifteen (4.4%) siblings presented with subtle signs of motor impairment, with MDS-UPDRS-III scores not clinically different from CTRs. Symptoms of orthostatic hypotension were present in 47 siblings (13.8%), no different to CTRs (p = 0.072). No differences were found for olfaction and overall cognition; German-siblings performed worse than CTRs in visuospatial-executive and language tasks. 3/147 siblings had video-polysomnography-confirmed REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD), none was positive on the RBD Screening Questionnaire. 173/300 siblings had <1% probability of having prodromal PD; 100 between 1 and 10%, 26 siblings between 10 and 80%, one fulfilled the criteria for prodromal PD. According to the current analysis, we cannot confirm the increased risk of PD siblings for prodromal PD. Siblings showed a heterogeneous distribution of prodromal PD markers and probability. Additional parameters, including strong disease markers, should be investigated to verify if these results depend on validity and sensitivity of prodromal PD criteria, or if siblings’ risk is not elevated

Distributions of secondary particles in proton and carbon-ion therapy: a comparison between GATE/Geant4 and FLUKA Monte Carlo codes.

Monte Carlo simulations play a crucial role for in-vivo treatment monitoring based on PET and prompt gamma imaging in proton and carbon-ion therapies. The accuracy of the nuclear fragmentation models implemented in these codes might affect the quality of the treatment verification. In this paper, we investigate the nuclear models implemented in GATE/Geant4 and FLUKA by comparing the angular and energy distributions of secondary particles exiting a homogeneous target of PMMA. Comparison results were restricted to fragmentation of (16)O and (12)C. Despite the very simple target and set-up, substantial discrepancies were observed between the two codes. For instance, the number of high energy (>1 MeV) prompt gammas exiting the target was about twice as large with GATE/Geant4 than with FLUKA both for proton and carbon ion beams. Such differences were not observed for the predicted annihilation photon production yields, for which ratios of 1.09 and 1.20 were obtained between GATE and FLUKA for the proton beam and the carbon ion beam, respectively. For neutrons and protons, discrepancies from 14% (exiting protons-carbon ion beam) to 57% (exiting neutrons-proton beam) have been identified in production yields as well as in the energy spectra for neutrons

Observation of long ionizing tracks with the ICARUS T600 first half-module

F. Arneodo, B. Bade"ek, A. Badertscher, B. Baiboussinov, M. Baldo Ceolin, G. Battistoni, B. Bekman, P. Benetti, E. Bernardini, M. Bischofberger, A. Borio di Tigliole, R. Brunetti, A. Bueno, E. Calligarich, M. Campanelli, C. Carpanese, D. Cavalli, F. Cavanna, P. Cennini, S. Centro, A. Cesana, C. Chen, D. Chen, D.B. Chen, Y. Chen, D. Cline, Z. Dai, C. De Vecchi, A. Dabrowska, R. Dolfini*, M. Felcini, A. Ferrari, F. Ferri, Y. Ge, A. Gigli Berzolari, I. Gil-Botella, K. Graczyk, L. Grandi, K. He, J. Holeczek, X. Huang, C. Juszczak, D. Kie"czewska, J. Kisiel, T. Koz"owski, H. Kuna-Ciska", M. Laffranchi, J. Łagoda, Z. Li, F. Lu, J. Ma, M. Markiewicz, A. Martinez de la Ossa, C. Matthey, F. Mauri, D. Mazza, G. Meng, M. Messina, C. Montanari, S. Muraro, S. Navas-Concha, M. Nicoletto, G. Nurzia, S. Otwinowski, Q. Ouyang, O. Palamara, D. Pascoli, L. Periale, G. Piano Mortari, A. Piazzoli, P. Picchi, F. Pietropaolo, W. P ! o"ch"opek, T. Rancati, A. Rappoldi, G.L. Raselli, J. Rico, E. Rondio, M. Rossella, A. Rubbia, C. Rubbia, P. Sala, D. Scannicchio, E. Segreto, F. Sergiampietri, J. Sobczyk, J. Stepaniak, M. Szeptycka, M. Szleper, M. Szarska, M. Terrani, S. Ventura, C. Vignoli, H. Wang, M. W ! ojcik, J. Woo, G. Xu, Z. Xu, A. Zalewska, J. Zalipska, C. Zhang, Q. Zhang, S. Zhen, W. Zipper a INFN Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, s.s. 17bis Km 18+910, Assergi (L'Aquila), Italy b Institute of Experimental Physics, Warsaw University, Warszawa, Poland c Institute for Particle Physics, ETH H . onggerberg, Z . urich, Switzerland Dipartimento di Fisica e INFN, Universit " a di Padova, via Marzolo 8, Padova, Italy Dipartimento di Fisica e INFN, Universit " a di Milano, via Celoria 16, Milano, Italy f Institute of Physics, University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland Dipartimento di Fisica e INFN, Universit " a di Pavia, via Bassi 6, Pavia, Italy Dpto de F!isica Te ! orica y del Cosmos & C.A.F.P.E., Universidad de Granada, Avda. Severo Ochoa s/n, Granada, Spain Dipartimento di Fisica e INFN, Universit " a dell'Aquila, via Vetoio, L'Aquila, Italy CERN, CH-1211 Geneva 23, Switzerland Politecnico di Milano (CESNEF), Universit " a di Milano, via Ponzio 34/3, Milano, Ital

Metabolite and lipoprotein profiles reveal sex-related oxidative stress imbalance in de novo drug-naive Parkinson's disease patients

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the neurological disorder showing the greatest rise in prevalence from 1990 to 2016. Despite clinical definition criteria and a tremendous effort to develop objective biomarkers, precise diagnosis of PD is still unavailable at early stage. In recent years, an increasing number of studies have used omic methods to unveil the molecular basis of PD, providing a detailed characterization of potentially pathological alterations in various biological specimens. Metabolomics could provide useful insights to deepen our knowledge of PD aetiopathogenesis, to identify signatures that distinguish groups of patients and uncover responsive biomarkers of PD that may be significant in early detection and in tracking the disease progression and drug treatment efficacy. The present work is the first large metabolomic study based on nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) with an independent validation cohort aiming at the serum characterization of de novo drug-naive PD patients. Here, NMR is applied to sera from large training and independent validation cohorts of German subjects. Multivariate and univariate approaches are used to infer metabolic differences that characterize the metabolite and the lipoprotein profiles of newly diagnosed de novo drug-naive PD patients also in relation to the biological sex of the subjects in the study, evidencing a more pronounced fingerprint of the pathology in male patients. The presence of a validation cohort allowed us to confirm altered levels of acetone and cholesterol in male PD patients. By comparing the metabolites and lipoproteins levels among de novo drug-naive PD patients, age- and sex-matched healthy controls, and a group of advanced PD patients, we detected several descriptors of stronger oxidative stress