An interprofessional, intercultural, immersive short-term study abroad program: public health and service systems in rome

The purpose of this paper is to describe a short-term study abroad program that exposes engineering and nursing undergraduate students from the United States and Italy to an intercultural and interprofessional immersion experience. Faculty from Purdue University and Sapienza Università di Roma collaborated to design a technical program that demonstrates the complementary nature of engineering and public health in the service sector, with Rome as an integral component of the program. Specifically, the intersection of topics including systems, reliability, process flow, maintenance management, and public health are covered through online lectures, in-class activities and case study discussions, field experiences, and assessments. Herein, administrative issues such as student recruitment, selection, and preparation are elucidated. Additionally, the pedagogical approach used to ensure constructive alignment among the program goals, the intended learning outcomes, and the teaching and learning activities is described. Finally, examples of learning outcomes resulting from this alignment are provided

Muon g-2 and B Anomalies from Dark Matter

In light of the recent result of the muon g−2 experiment and the update on the test of lepton flavor universality RK published by the LHCb Collaboration, we systematically study for the first time a set of models with minimal field content that can simultaneously give (i) a thermal dark matter candidate; (ii) large loop contributions to b→sℓℓ processes able to address RK and the other B anomalies; (iii) a natural solution to the muon g−2 discrepancy through chirally enhanced contributions. Moreover, this type of model with heavy particles and chiral enhancement can evade the strong limits from direct searches but can be tested at present and future colliders and direct-detection searches

Systematic approach to B-physics anomalies and t-channel dark matter

We study renormalizable models with minimal field content that can provide a viable dark matter candidate through the standard freeze-out paradigm and, simultaneously, accommodate the observed anomalies in semileptonic B-meson decays at one loop. Following the hypothesis of minimality, this outcome can be achieved by extending the particle spectrum of the Standard Model either with one vectorlike fermion and two scalars or two vectorlike fermions and one scalar. The dark matter annihilations are mediated by t-channel exchange of other new particles contributing to the B anomalies, thus resulting in a correlation between flavor observables and dark matter abundance. Again based on minimality, we assume the new states to couple only with left-handed muons and second and third generation quarks. Besides an ad hoc symmetry needed to stabilize the dark matter, the interactions of the new states are dictated only by gauge invariance. We present here for the first time a systematic classification of the possible models of this kind, according to the quantum numbers of the new fields under the Standard Model gauge group. Within this general setup we identify a group of representative models that we systematically study, applying the most updated constraints from flavor observables, dedicated dark matter experiments, and LHC searches of leptons and/or jets and missing energy, and of disappearing charged tracks

Petrological characterization of the Cenozoic igneous rocks of the Tafresh area, central Urumieh-Dokhtar Magmatic Arc (Iran)

We report a petrographic and whole-rock geochemical characterization of the Cenozoic volcanic rocks cropping out in the Tafresh area of the central Urumieh-Dokhtar Magmatic Arc of Iran. The investigated rocks range mainly from basaltic andesite to dacite, and are considered to be genetically linked by (mostly) closed-system evolutionary processes involving fractionation of ferromagnesian minerals and plagioclase first, then of plagioclase and lesser amphibole (plus minor clinopyroxene) and finally of plagioclase with lesser alkali feldspar and minor amphibole. These represent a typical calcalkaline series emplaced in a subduction-related setting, producing the observed LILE-enriched and HFSE-depleted geochemical signature. The basaltic andesite compositions likely derived from an unsampled hydrous primitive melt equilibrated in a spinel-bearing metasomatized peridotite source, evolving at shallow to moderate crustal depths.Additional lithotypes cropping out in the Tafresh area include much rarer strongly evolved leucocratic rocks and evolved rocks with adakitic signature. The first are thought to derive from crustal anatexis of a meta-sedimentary source, whereas the latter are interpreted as the product of the melting of a meta-mafic source rock with residual garnet and amphibole. The association of magmatic rocks pointing to all such different petrogenetic processes in a relatively limited area is strongly suggestive of emplacement in a post-collisional stage

Triggers for atrial fibrillation. the role of anxiety

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most widely recognized arrhythmia. Systemic arterial hypertension, diabetes, obesity, heart failure, and valvular heart diseases are major risk factors for the onset and progression of AF. Various studies have emphasized the augmented anxiety rate among AF patients due to the poor quality of life; however, little information is known about the possibility of triggering atrial fibrillation by anxiety. +e present review sought to underline the possible pathophysiological association between AF and anxiety disorders and suggests that anxiety can be an independent risk factor for AF, acting as atrigger, creating an arrhythmogenic substrate, and modulating the autonomic nervous system.+e awareness of the role of anxietydisorders as a risk factor for AF may lead to the development of new clinical strategies for the management of AF

Status of Charcoal Canker on Oak Trees at a Site of Community Importance: Case Study of the Relict Castelfidardo Forest (SIC Area IT520008, Castelfidardo, AN, Italy)

Oaks are dominant and key tree species in Mediterranean forest ecosystems. However, in recent decades, oak forests have been heavily impacted by oak decline, a worldwide phenomenon exacerbated by climate change. The charcoal disease agent Biscogniauxia mediterranea is involved in the decline of Mediterranean oak formations in a variety of contexts. Here, we investigated the impact and role of B. mediterranea in the decline of oaks in Castelfidardo Forest, a relict wood of the late Holocene and a Site of Community Importance. We established five plots within which we recorded tree positions, any symptoms and signs of decline, association of B. mediterranea to declining trees, and deadwood and associated mycota. Of 471 oaks inspected, 7.0% showed brownish exudates on the stems, 46.9% showed epicormic shoots along the main trunk, and 24.4% showed black carbonaceous stromata on diseased branches and trunks. The decline was most severe for Quercus cerris, which comprised plots #4 and #5, at 50.0% (81/162 trees) and 29.0% (33/114), respectively; then for Quercus robur for plot #3, at 40.0% (38/95); and finally for Quercus pubescens for plots #1 and #2, at 13.7% (7/51) and 12.3% (6/49), respectively. Bark tissues were collected from trees with charcoal cankers and taken to the laboratory for microscopic examination and identification by mycological and molecular methods. This investigation revealed a close association between oaks with pronounced reduction of vitality and incidence of B. mediterranea. Deadwood was equally distributed among the five plots, and was heavily colonized by Basidiomycota. The high incidence of the charcoal canker pathogen B. mediterranea appeared to be related to environmental stresses. However, the absence of silvicultural management, high competition among physiologically mature trees, and the geographic isolation of this residual forest may have predisposed oaks to decline

PATZ Attenuates the RNF4-mediated Enhancement of Androgen Receptor-dependent Transcription *

PATZ is a transcriptional repressor affecting the basal activity of different promoters, whereas RNF4 is a transcriptional activator. The association of PATZ with RNF4 switches the activation to repression of selected basal promoters. Because RNF4 interacts also with the androgen receptor (AR) functioning as a coactivator and, in turn, RNF4 associates with PATZ, we investigated whether PATZ functions as an AR coregulator. We demonstrate that PATZ does not influence directly the AR response but acts as an AR corepressor in the presence of RNF4. Such repression is not dependent on histone deacetylases. A mutant RNF4 that does not bind PATZ but enhances AR-dependent transcription is not influenced by PATZ, demonstrating that the repression by PATZ occurs only upon binding to RNF4. We also demonstrate that RNF4, AR, and PATZ belong to the same complex in vivo also in the presence of androgen, suggesting that repression is not mediated by the displacement of RNF4 from AR. Finally, we show that the repression of endogenous PATZ expression by antisense expression plasmids in LNCaP cells results in a stronger androgen response. Our findings demonstrate that PATZ is a novel AR coregulator that acts by modulating the effect of a coactivator. This could represent a novel and more general mechanism to finely tune the androgen response