Measurement of D+^{+} meson production in p-Pb collisions with the ALICE detector

The main goal of the experimental programs on ultra-relativistic heavy ion collisions at the LHC is the production and characterization of the Quark Gluon Plasma (QGP), a phase of nuclear matter in which strongly interacting constituents (quarks and gluons) are deconfined. Heavy quarks are considered effective probes of the properties of the QGP as they are created on a short time scale, with respect to that of the QGP, and subsequently interact with it. Moreover, for a proper assessment of the characteristics of the matter produced in heavy-ion collisions, it is important to disentangle the final state effects due to the formation of a QGP from the initial state effects due to the fact that nuclei are present in the colliding system. Both initial and final state effects may lead to qualitatively similar phenomena in the observables of interest. The measurement of charmed meson production in proton-nucleus collisions allows to assess initial state effects present in nuclear collisions, under the assumption that an extended deconfined medium is not created in this kind of interactions. The nuclear modification factor of $D$ mesons in p-Pb collisions ($R_{\rm pPb}$) is essential for a complete understanding of the modification of $D$ mesons momentum distributions observed in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$= 2.76 TeV, which is interpreted as due to the $c$-quark energy loss in the medium. In addition, some of the results obtained from high-multiplicity p-Pb collisions at LHC, such as the ridge structure in the two-particle correlation function, turned out to be unexpected, and have been interpreted in terms of final state effects such as hydrodynamic flow. These aspects make a study of charmed meson production in p-Pb collisions as a function of the event multiplicity of great interest.Comment: PhD thesis, Universita\^a degli Studi di Torin

Outpatient medicine: a comparison between low and high resource system settings

openBackground. In India, oltre al sistema sanitario nazionale, vi sono molte Organizzazioni Non-governative (ONG) non-profit come l’Institute for Indian Mother and Child (IIMC) operante principalmente a Calcutta e nelle aree circostanti. In tali contesti, vi sono differenze nella gestione del paziente, inteso come trattamento della patologia e della persona nella sua totalità, rispetto ai paesi ad alte risorse, come l’Italia dove il sistema sanitario fornisce servizi con modalità differenti. Scopo. Confrontare due esperienze sperimentate in setting di ambulatorio di medicina generale nelle basse e nelle alte risorse. Metodi. Studio osservazionale comparativo prospettico. I dati sono stati raccolti da un unico operatore in due diversi setting a basse e ad alte risorse. Il contesto a basse risorse si riferisce a Calcutta, Dhaki e dintorni, ed è stato frequentato durante un'esperienza di volontariato medico nel settembre 2022. Quello ad alte risorse si riferisce ad Abano, frequentato nel maggio 2023, e ad Albignasego, dove sono stati registrati i dati riferiti a luglio 2022 utilizzando il software Junior Bit 7. Per la raccolta dei dati è stato utilizzato un format predefinito in grado di raccogliere tutte le informazioni cliniche e non, relative a tutti i pazienti visitati (o contattati telefonicamente). Risultati. Sono stati analizzati i dati di 2.078 pazienti, di cui 1.208 nel setting a basse risorse (58% del totale) e 870 nei setting ad alte risorse. Sono state riscontrate grandi differenze in tutti i parametri studiati. Il numero di pazienti visitati al giorno è significativamente diverso nei due setting considerati. In India il numero di pazienti visitati in orario lavorativo era in media più del doppio rispetto all'Italia. Inoltre, in India l'accessibilità è risultata carente e il follow-up quasi assente, mentre in Italia i pazienti avevano l'opportunità di essere seguiti nel tempo. Le patologie dermatologiche (quasi il 30% dei casi era affetto da tinea), così come le malattie infettive e respiratorie, sono state le condizioni cliniche più comuni riscontrate nel setting a basse risorse. Queste ultime sono state riscontrate anche nel setting ad alte risorse in proporzioni differenti. L’utilizzo del servizio di counselling (consulenza medica, intesa come consigli e risoluzione di dubbi) è stato rilevante nel setting ad alte risorse, mentre era quasi assente in India. Infine, in India è stato registrato un gran numero di prescrizioni di farmaci antifungini, antiparassitari, antibiotici e soprattutto antistaminici, mentre nei setting italiani era comune la prescrizione di visite specialistiche, esami diagnostici e test di approfondimento. Conclusioni. Ci sono significative differenze tra il setting indiano e quello italiano comparati nello studio. Ad un maggior numero di visite mediche/die non è necessariamente associata una migliore gestione sanitaria e il carico di malattie infettive è certamente maggiore in India, con ripercussioni sulle prescrizioni mediche. Nel setting a basse risorse le terapie prescritte dovrebbero essere sottoposte a una scelta più accurata e basata su fondamenti scientifici. La qualità dei servizi sanitari forniti nel setting indiano sembra essere più bassa e un’implementazione informatica della professione medica migliorerebbe questo aspetto e favorirebbe una maggiore accessibilità sanitaria con possibili risvolti sulla salute pubblica nelle zone rurali del paese. È certamente importante la presenza di organizzazioni non-profit che, come IIMC, facilitano l’accessibilità sanitaria ai cittadini che altrimenti nei setting a basse risorse non avrebbero la possibilità di curarsi.Background. In India, in addition to the national health care system, there are many non-profit Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) such as the Institute for Indian Mother and Child (IIMC) operating mainly in Kolkata and surrounding areas. In such settings, there are differences in the patient management, understood as the treatment of the disease and the whole person, compared to high-resource countries such as Italy where the health system provides services in different ways. Aim. Compare two experiences tested in general practice settings in low and high resource settings. Methods. Prospective comparative observational study. Data were collected by a single operator in two different settings with low and high resources. The low-resource setting refers to Kolkata, Dhaki, and surrounding areas, and was visited during a medical volunteering experience in September 2022. The high-resource setting refers to Abano, visited in May 2023, and Albignasego, where data referred to July 2022 were obtained using the Junior Bit 7 software. A predefined format was used for data collection, capable of capturing all clinical and non-clinical information pertaining to all the patients visited (or contacted by phone). Results. The data of 2.078 patients were analyzed, with 1.208 in the low-resource setting (58% of the total) and 870 in the high-resource settings. Significant differences were observed in all the studied parameters. The number of patients visited per day by physicians in the two considered settings was significantly different. In India, the number of patients seen during working hours was on average more than twice as high as in Italy. Additionally, in India, there was a lack of accessibility and almost no follow-up, whereas in Italy, patients had the opportunity to be monitored over time. Dermatological problems (almost 30% of cases had tinea), as well as infectious and respiratory diseases, were the most common clinical conditions found in the low-resource setting. These conditions were also found in the high-resource settings with different proportions. The utilization of counselling services (medical consultations providing advice and addressing doubts) was relevant in high-resource setting, while was almost absent in India. Furthermore, there was a high number of prescriptions for antifungal, antiparasitic, antibiotic, and especially antihistamine medications in India, while it was common to prescribe specialized visits, diagnostic examinations, and further tests in Italian settings. Conclusions. There are significant differences between the Indian and Italian settings that were addressed in the study. A higher number of medical visits per day is not necessarily associated with better healthcare management, and the burden of infectious diseases is certainly higher in India, leading to specific patterns in medical prescriptions. In low-resource settings, prescribed therapies should be more carefully chosen and based on scientific basis. The quality of healthcare services provided in the Indian setting appears to be lower, and the implementation of information technology in the medical profession would improve this aspect, promoting greater healthcare accessibility with potential implications for public health in rural areas of the country. The presence of non-profit organizations, such as IIMC, that facilitate healthcare access for individuals who would otherwise not have the opportunity to receive treatment in low-resource settings, is certainly important

Breakfast clubs: Starting the day in a positive way

Breakfast clubs are widely promoted as having a beneficial impact on children’s behavior at the start of the school day, which can be conducive to their learning within the classroom. However, the few available studies that have considered the impact of breakfast club attendance on children’s behavior have yielded mixed results and no studies to date have directly observed children’s behavior within the breakfast club setting. Using a combination of real-time observation and filmed breakfast club footage, the aims of the current study were to: (1) devise a set of observational criteria appropriate for use in the breakfast club setting; (2) investigate the occurrence of both positive and negative behaviors. A sample of 30 children aged between 3 and 11 years were recruited from 3, opportunistically sampled primary school breakfast clubs in the North East of England, UK. The behaviors they displayed within the breakfast club setting on two separate days were observed and coded for subsequent analysis. Results of the investigation showed that children’s behavior could be classified into three positive and three negative behavioral categories. Using these categories to code children’s behavior as they engaged in breakfast club showed that children displayed more positive than negative behaviors within the breakfast club setting and this was the case regardless of the type of activity (i.e., quiet or boisterous) children were involved in. Findings are discussed in relation to breakfast club policy, implementation, and evaluation

A Faust-Built Mobile Vocoder Instrument

The growth of increasingly powerful mobiles devices and their ubiquity opens up more and more possibilities in the creation of New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIMEs). However, since smartphones were not conceived for musical purposes, they are affected by some limitations. This work aims to develop a mobile version of a vocoder using the Faust programming language, in order to test the limits and opportunities offered by smartphones in creating a portable version of such an old musical effect. Both a custom app and purpose-designed phone case prototype were developed. The vocoder app presents a clear reconstruction of the words, via the quite pleasant and well-known timbre. However, some difficulties were encountered in the development process. In particular, some mobile devices are not powerful enough to handle a high level of polyphony

The effect of breakfast cereal consumption on adolescents' cognitive performance and mood

The aim of the current study was to investigate the effect of breakfast consumption on cognitive performance and mood in adolescents, and any interaction that breakfast consumption might have with cognitive load. The rationale for this approach was that the beneficial effects of any intervention with regard to cognitive function may be more readily apparent when more demands are placed on the system. Furthermore, as skipping breakfast is particularly prevalent within this age group, thus, we focused on adolescents who habitually skip breakfast. Cognitive load was modulated by varying the level of difficulty of a series of cognitive tasks tapping memory, attention, and executive functions. Mood measured with Bond-Lader scales (1974) as well as measures of thirst, hunger, and satiety were recorded at each test session both at baseline and after the completion of each test battery. Forty adolescents (mean age = 14:2) participated in this within-subjects design study. According to treatment, all participants were tested before and after the intake of a low Glycaemic index breakfast (i.e., a 35 g portion of AllBran and 125 ml semi-skimmed milk) and before and after no breakfast consumption. Assessment time had two levels: 8.00 am (baseline) and 10.45 am. The orders of cognitive load tasks were counterbalanced. Overall it appeared that following breakfast participants felt more alert, satiated, and content. Following breakfast consumption, there was evidence for improved cognitive performance across the school morning compared to breakfast omission in some tasks (e.g., Hard Word Recall, Serial 3's and Serial 7's). However, whilst participants performance on the hard version of each cognitive task was significantly poorer compared to the corresponding easy version, there was limited evidence to support the hypothesis that the effect of breakfast was greater in the more demanding versions of the tasks. © 2013 Defeyter and Russo

FIGARO: reinForcement learnInG mAnagement acRoss the computing cOntinuum

The widespread adoption of Artificial Intelligence applications to analyze data generated by Internet of Things sensors leads to the development of the edge computing paradigm. Deploying applications at the periphery of the network effectively addresses cost and latency concerns associated with cloud computing. However, it generates a highly distributed environment with heterogeneous devices, opening the challenges of how to select resources and place application components. Starting from a state-of-the-art design-time tool, we present in this paper a novel framework based on Reinforcement Learning, named FIGARO (reinForcement learnInG mAnagement acRoss the computing cOntinuum). It handles the runtime adaptation of a computing continuum environment, dealing with the variability of the incoming load and service times. To reduce the training time, we exploit the design-time knowledge, achieving a significant reduction in the violations of the response time constraint

A Faust Implementation of Coupled Finite Difference Schemes

Physical models using finite difference schemes (FDS) are typically implemented using mutable data structures. The FDS library of the Faust programming language, where such data structures are not available, is instead based on a cellular automaton approach. This paper proposes a mechanism by which multiple one-dimensional FDS based on the Faust FDS library approach can be coupled together. The coupling is achieved by composing the various FDS algorithms in parallel and modifying the Faust FDS library routing to calculate the connection forces. The mechanism is demonstrated by coupling multiple stiff string models to a bridge, modeled as an ideal damped bar

Associative and repetition priming with the repeated masked prime technique: No priming found

Wentura and Frings (2005) reported evidence of subliminal categorical priming on a lexical decision task, using a new method of visual masking in which the prime string consisted of the prime word flanked by random consonants and random letter masks alternated with the prime string on successive refresh cycles. We investigated associative and repetition priming on lexical decision, using the same method of visual masking. Three experiments failed to show any evidence of associative priming, (1) when the prime string was fixed at 10 characters (three to six flanking letters) and (2) when the number of flanking letters were reduced or absent. In all cases, prime detection was at chance level. Strong associative priming was observed with visible unmasked primes, but the addition of flanking letters restricted priming even though prime detection was still high. With repetition priming, no priming effects were found with the repeated masked technique, and prime detection was poor but just above chance levels. We conclude that with repeated masked primes, there is effective visual masking but that associative priming and repetition priming do not occur with experiment-unique prime-target pairs. Explanations for this apparent discrepancy across priming paradigms are discussed. The priming stimuli and prime-target pairs used in this study may be downloaded as supplemental materials from mc.psychonomic-journals.org/content/supplemental. © 2009 The Psychonomic Society, Inc