Dynamical Aspects of Lie--Poisson Structures

Quantum Groups can be constructed by applying the quantization by deformation procedure to Lie groups endowed with a suitable Poisson bracket. Here we try to develop an understanding of these structures by investigating dynamical systems which are associated with this bracket. We look at $SU(2)$ and $SU(1,1)$, as submanifolds of a 4--dimensional phase space with constraints, and deal with two classes of problems. In the first set of examples we consider some hamiltonian systems associated with Lie-Poisson structures and we investigate the equations of the motion. In the second set of examples we consider systems which preserve the chosen bracket, but are dissipative. However in this approach, they survive the quantization procedure.Comment: 17 pages, figures not include

On Reduced Time Evolution for Initially Correlated Pure States

A new method to deal with reduced dynamics of open systems by means of the Schr\"odinger equation is presented. It allows one to consider the reduced time evolution for correlated and uncorrelated initial conditions.Comment: accepted in Open Sys. Information Dy

Trends of influenza B during the 2010–2016 seasons in 2 regions of north and south Italy: The impact of the vaccine mismatch on influenza immunisation strategy

Influenza A and B viruses are responsible for respiratory infections, representing globally seasonal threats to human health. The 2 viral types often co-circulate and influenza B plays an important role in the spread of infection. A 6-year retrospective surveillance study was conducted between 2010 and 2016 in 2 large administrative regions of Italy, located in the north (Liguria) and in the south (Sicily) of the country, to describe the burden and epidemiology of both B/Victoria and B/Yamagata lineages in different healthcare settings. Influenza B viruses were detected in 5 of 6 seasonal outbreaks, exceeding influenza A during the season 2012–2013. Most of influenza B infections were found in children aged ≤ 14 y and significant differences were observed in the age-groups infected by the different lineages. B/Victoria strains prevailed in younger population than B/Yamagata, but also were more frequently found in the community setting. Conversely, B/Yamagata viruses were prevalent among hospitalized cases suggesting their potential role in the development of more severe disease. The relative proportions of viral lineages varied from year to year, resulting in different lineage-level mismatch for the B component of trivalent influenza vaccine. Our findings confirmed the need for continuous virological surveillance of seasonal epidemics and bring attention to the adoption of universal influenza immunization program in the childhood. The use of tetravalent vaccine formulations may be useful to improve the prevention and control of the influenza burden in general population

Assessing the effects of local contexts on the mobility choices of university students in Campania region in Italy

The mobility of university students in Italy has been framed as a phenomenon linked to so-called intellectual migrations and as a subset of the historical and consolidated internal migration path explained in terms of South–North trajectory. This study describes the most important mobility trajectories of students across macro-areas and disciplinary fields, and then evaluates, using a multilevel logistic regression model, the factors that encouraged student cohort, who were enrolled in a degree program in the academic years 2014–2015, to move elsewhere from the Campania region. Beyond fixed and interaction effects related to the students’ personal characteristics, the model included possible random effects linked to the high schools attended by the students to capture the possible influence of the local context on migration choices

Two seas for one great diversity: Checklist of the marine heterobranchia (Mollusca; Gastropoda) from the Salento Peninsula (South-East Italy)

The Salento peninsula is a portion of the Italian mainland separating two distinct Mediterranean basins, the Ionian and the Adriatic seas. Several authors have studied the marine Heterobranchia (Mollusca, Gastropoda) fauna composition living in the Ionian Sea, but to date further knowledge regarding this interesting group of mollusks is still needed. Recent studies have corroborated the peculiarity of the Mediterranean Sea showing high levels of endemism and cryptic diversity. On the other hand, marine sea slugs have been revealed to be important indicators of the marine ecosystem's health, due to their species-specific diet that consist of a vast variety of sessile and benthic invertebrates. A baseline study of the marine Heterobranchia diversity is therefore a necessary step to reveal the hidden diversity and to monitor the possible presence of alien species. The present study shows results from approximately 600 scientific dives carried out during a nine-year period in all of the main submarine habitats of the studied area, while accounting for the marine Heterobranchia from both the Ionian and Adriatic Seas. With this contribution, the list of marine Heterobranchia inhabiting the Salento Peninsula rises to 160. Furthermore, it also reports, for the first time, the presence of one alien species and three new records for Italian waters. Ecological notes and geographical distribution for each added species are provided together with animal iconography, consisting mainly of in situ photographs, for species identification

Double quantization

In a quantum gravity theory, it is expected that the classical notion of spacetime disappears, leading to a quantum structure with new properties. A possible way to take into account these quantum effects is through a noncommutativity of spacetime coordinates. In the literature, there is not a clear way to describe at the same time a noncommutativity of spacetime and the phase-space noncommutativity of quantum mechanics. In this paper we address this issue by constructing a Drinfel''d twist in phase space which deals with both quantizations. This method can be applied to a noncommutativity which involves only space, leaving time aside. We apply our construction to the so-called ?-Minkowski and R?3 noncommutative spaces. © 2022 authors. Published by the American Physical Society

Nonlinear gravitational waves and their polarization

Vacuum gravitational fields invariant for a non Abelian Lie algebra generated by two Killing fields whose commutator is light-like are analyzed. It is shown that they represent nonlinear gravitational waves obeying to two nonlinear superposition laws. The energy and the polarization of this family of waves are explicitely evaluated.Comment: 9 pages. LateX. Minor correction

A wire-loop technique for implantation of an iliac branched device in a patient with previous surgery for a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm

We described a modified technique for implanting a bridging stent-graft into an iliac branched device. A 79-year-old male who had received aortobiiliac synthetic graft surgery for a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm six months earlier was admitted to our unit for treatment of a left common iliac aneurysm involving the origin of the hypogastric artery. A standard technique was unsuccessful at implanting the bridging stent-graft, and therefore a wire-loop guidewire over the graft bifurcation was used to stabilize the contralateral sheaths and to complete the implantation. © Turkish Society of Radiology 2012

Fourteen years’ clinical experience and the first million babies protected with human live-attenuated vaccine against rotavirus disease in Italy

Rotavirus (RV) causes up to half of hospital and community acute gastroenteritis (AGE) cases in young children in Italy. Two RV vaccines, available since 2006, are human RV (HRV) and human bovine RV (HBRV). This report looks back at the implementation of RV vaccination with HRV in Italy, and at HRV current and future perspectives. Initial regional policies led to national implementation by 2018, after scientific societies’ disease awareness efforts. Following vaccination, RV hospitalizations declined significantly, and cost savings were observed. The two-dose HRV vaccine is easily administered during compulsory vaccine visits, helping increase coverage. Intussusception, a serious event in children <1 year, was reported in Italy with a rate of 33–40 per 100,000 infants. RV vaccination presents a low increased risk of intussusception after the first dose, estimated at 0.6 cases per 100,000 doses in Italy in 2019. Parents should be aware of the intussusception risk and symptoms to ensure prompt treatment. It is widely recognized that the vaccination benefits (large numbers of RV hospitalizations prevented) outweigh the risk. HRV introduction in Italy was supported by epidemiologic burden studies, healthcare provider opinions, and congress debates, which significantly contributed to implementation of RV universal routine infant vaccination in Italy

Behavioral and clinical characteristics of people receiving medical care for HIV infection in an outpatient facility in Sicily, Italy

Aim: The authors examined a cohort of HIV-positive outpatients at the AIDS Center of Palermo University in Italy in order to identify factors related to the frequency of their visits to the outpatient facility for health care services. Methods: Two hundred and twenty-four HIV-infected subjects were enrolled in the study. Demographic and HIV disease characteristics were recorded and assessed with the number of days accessed to our outpatients unit in univariate and multivariate analyses. The potential relationship with immunological status was also analyzed stratifying the patients into groups according to their CD4+ T-cell counts ( 65500 vs, \u2c2500/mm3, and 65200 vs < 200/mm3). Results: Both univariate and multivariate analyses showed that duration of antiretroviral therapy, \u2c25 years and hypertension were significantly associated with a CD4+ T-cell count of, \u2c2500/mm3, whereas geographic origin (Africa) was associated with a CD4+ T-cell count of, \u2c2200/mm3. Mean number of days the patients sought access to day-care services for laboratory tests was negatively associated with CD4+ T-cell count. Conclusion: Patients with low CD4+ T-cell counts showed higher use of health care services, demonstrating how early HIV diagnosis can help to reduce health care costs. The CD4+ T-cell cut-off of 200 cells emphasizes the importance of identifying and managing HIV infection among hard-to-reach groups like vulnerable migrants. In our sle, the illegal status of immigrants does not influence the management of their HIV/AIDS condition, but the lack of European health card that documents the current antiretroviral status, could interfere with the efforts to eradicate AIDS. A better understanding of the major determinants of HIV treatment costs has led to appropriate large-scale actions, which in turn has increased resources and expanded intervention programs. Further guidance should be offered to hard-to-reach groups in order to improve early AIDS diagnosis, and procedures for identifying and managing these vulnerable subjects should be made available to care commissioners and service providers