eta - eta prime Mixing -From electromagnetic transitions to weak decays of charm and beauty hadrons

It has been realized for a long time that knowing the eta and eta^prime wave functions in terms of quark and gluon components probes our understanding of non-perturbative QCD dynamics. Great effort has been given to this challenge -- yet no clear picture has emerged even with the most recent KLOE data. We point out which measurements would be most helpful in arriving at a more definite conclusion. A better knowledge of these wave functions will significantly help to disentangle the weight of different decay subprocesses in semi-leptonic decays of D+, Ds^+ and B+ mesons. The resulting insights will be instrumental in treating even non-leptonic B transitions involving eta and eta^prime and their CP asymmetries; thus they can sharpen the case for or against New Physics intervening there.Comment: 22 pages, 4 figures; it matches published versio

Challenges in Paediatric Clinical Trials: How to Make It Feasible

The number of paediatric clinical trials in EU has remarkably increased in the last decade in response to the implementation of the new Paediatric Regulation and incentives aiming to define the need of child-specific drug development. Nevertheless, the gap between the number of paediatric and adult-randomised controlled trials is still substantial in almost every major clinical specialty. Economic, ethical, technological, geographical and cultural factors can influence the paediatric drug development and can represent the challenges to be faced for a smooth conduction of a paediatric clinical trial. The need for trials and paediatric patient’s engagement to commensurate with the approved paediatric investigation plans is so high that it is crucial to correctly address key factors. Particular care should be taken to develop well-designed studies, with efficient management plans, experienced administrative and healthcare personnel, awareness of socio-cultural features of the geographic areas involved and good communication with patients and their families in order to ensure ‘trial preparedness’. A case study on a multinational paediatric clinical trial, presented within the recently ended research project ‘DEferiprone Evaluation in Paediatrics (DEEP)’, was reported to exemplify some of the challenges encountered by the authors and the actions taken to overcome them

Has immigration really led to an increase in crime in Italy?

Immigration has been a key topic in Italy's election campaign, with several candidates arguing that the flow of people into the country during the migration crisis has increased the risk of crime. But has immigration really generated more crime in Italy? Drawing on data from the Italian National Institute of Statistics, Donato Di Carlo, Julia Schulte-Cloos and Giulia Saudelli illustrate that crime rates across Italian regions and the share of crimes committed by foreigners have both fallen significantly over the last decade

Effects of transcranial alternating current stimulation on repetitive finger movements in healthy humans

Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) is a noninvasive neurophysiological technique that can entrain brain oscillations. Only few studies have investigated the effects of tACS on voluntary movements. We aimed to verify whether tACS, delivered over M1 at beta and gamma frequencies, has any effect on repetitive finger tapping as assessed by means of kinematic analysis. Eighteen healthy subjects were enrolled. Objective measurements of repetitive finger tapping were obtained by using a motion analysis system. M1 excitability was assessed by using single-pulse TMS and measuring the amplitude of motor-evoked potentials (MEPs). Movement kinematic measures and MEPs were collected during beta, gamma, and sham tACS and when the stimulation was off. Beta tACS led to an amplitude decrement (i.e., progressive reduction in amplitude) across the first ten movements of the motor sequence while gamma tACS had the opposite effect. The results did not reveal any significant effect of tACS on other movement parameters, nor any changes in MEPs. These findings demonstrate that tACS modulates finger tapping in a frequency-dependent manner with no concurrent changes in corticospinal excitability. The results suggest that cortical beta and gamma oscillations are involved in the motor control of repetitive finger movements

Clinical, Histological and Trichoscopic Correlations in Scalp Disorders

Trichoscopy is the term coined for the dermoscopic imaging of scalp and hair. This diagnostic technique, simple and noninvasive, can be used as a handy bedside tool for the diagnosis and follow-up of hair and scalp disorders. It allows the recognition of morphologic structures not visible by the naked eye and provides the clinician with a range of dermoscopic findings necessary for differential diagnosis. Trichoscopy observation can be broadly grouped as interfollicular patterns and follicular patterns. Recently, a third mixed class, called the follicular plus interfollicular pattern, has been introduced. Some of these features are specific to a certain scalp disease, while others can be found in many hair disorders. Although studies suggest that the use of trichoscopy can improve clinical accuracy, further investigation is needed. This review provides update information on the trichoscopic features of the most common scalp disorders, striving to show a histopathological and clinical correlation

Multi-Mycotoxin Analysis in Durum Wheat Pasta by Liquid Chromatography Coupled to Quadrupole Orbitrap Mass Spectrometry

A simple and rapid multi-mycotoxin method for the determination of 17 mycotoxins  simultaneously  is  described  in  the  present  survey  on  durum  and  soft  wheat  pasta  samples.  Mycotoxins included in the study were those mainly reported in cereal samples: ochratoxin-A  (OTA), aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), zearalenone (ZON), deoxynivalenol (DON), 3-and 15-acetyl-deoxynivalenol  (3-AcDON and 15-AcDON), nivalenol (NIV), neosolaniol (NEO), fusarenon-X, (FUS-X), T-2 toxin  (T-2) and HT-2 toxin (HT-2), fumonisin B1 and B2 (FB1 and FB2), and four emerging mycotoxins:  three  enniatins  (ENA,  ENA1,  and  ENB),  and  beauvericin  (BEA).  Twenty-nine  samples  were  analyzed to provide an overview on mycotoxin presence: 27 samples of durum wheat pasta, and  two samples of baby food. Analytical results concluded that trichothecenes showed the highest  incidence, mainly DON, NIV, and HT-2 toxin, followed by ZON and ENB, while NEO, FUS-X, OTA,  AFB1, and FUM were not detected in any sample. The highest contents corresponded to ENB and  ranged from 91.15μg/kg to 710.90 μg/kg

Expression profiling of miRNA-145 and miRNA-338 in serum and sputum of patients with COPD, asthma, and asthmaâCOPD overlap syndrome phenotype

Background and objectives: A new phenotype with overlapping characteristics between asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) called asthmaâCOPD overlap syndrome (ACOS) is emerging among inflammation diseases. To date, there is no agreement on specific criteria to define this syndrome, and the current guidelines are insufficient to classify the analogy and differences between overlap and COPD or asthma phenotypes. It would be necessary to identify new biomarkers able to identify these diseases clearly. Thus, the aim of this study was to identify a serum and supernatant of sputum microRNA (miRNA) expression profile of miRNA-145 and miRNA-338 in patients with asthma (n=13), COPD (n=31), and ACOS (n=8) and controls (n=7). Methods: The expression was evaluated using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). For statistical analysis, the ANOVA test, KruskalâWallis test, MannâWhitney U-test, and Spearmanâs rank correlation were used. Results: The main finding of this work is that the expression of miRNA-338 is higher in the supernatant of different obstructive diseases than in peripheral blood, while miRNA-145 is higher only in the supernatant of asthma patients. The expression of both selected miRNAs is higher in the supernatant of asthma and COPD patients than in controls. Conclusion: Differences in sputum miRNA expression profile were observed between patients with ACOS and asthma or COPD, which underline the potential role of miRNA as a biomarker that is able to discriminate patients with ACOS, asthma, and COPD