Search for Subsolar-Mass Binaries in the First Half of Advanced LIGO's and Advanced Virgo's Third Observing Run

We report on a search for compact binary coalescences where at least one binary component has a mass between 0.2  M_{⊙} and 1.0  M_{⊙} in Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo data collected between 1 April 2019 1500 UTC and 1 October 2019 1500 UTC. We extend our previous analyses in two main ways: we include data from the Virgo detector and we allow for more unequal mass systems, with mass ratio q≥0.1. We do not report any gravitational-wave candidates. The most significant trigger has a false alarm rate of 0.14  yr^{-1}. This implies an upper limit on the merger rate of subsolar binaries in the range [220-24200]  Gpc^{-3} yr^{-1}, depending on the chirp mass of the binary. We use this upper limit to derive astrophysical constraints on two phenomenological models that could produce subsolar-mass compact objects. One is an isotropic distribution of equal-mass primordial black holes. Using this model, we find that the fraction of dark matter in primordial black holes in the mass range 0.2  M_{⊙}<m_{PBH}<1.0  M_{⊙} is f_{PBH}≡Ω_{PBH}/Ω_{DM}≲6%. This improves existing constraints on primordial black hole abundance by a factor of ∼3. The other is a dissipative dark matter model, in which fermionic dark matter can collapse and form black holes. The upper limit on the fraction of dark matter black holes depends on the minimum mass of the black holes that can be formed: the most constraining result is obtained at M_{min}=1  M_{⊙}, where f_{DBH}≡Ω_{DBH}/Ω_{DM}≲0.003%. These are the first constraints placed on dissipative dark models by subsolar-mass analyses.

A firearm double homicide committed by a paranoid neigh- bor: a psychopathological study

Serious mental illness is associated with a higher risk of violent interpersonal behavior. Characteristic traits denoting a psychopatho-logical picture such as schizophrenia, depression, a borderline, or narcissistic, antisocial, or paranoid personality disorder, are frequently observed in the personality of those who have committed one or more murders. For example, mass murderers are affected by a delusional syndrome with a persecution fixation, that develops in a subject with a paranoid, anacastic personality disorder. An abnormal mental frame-work develops as a consequence of continual experiences interpreted as traumatic. We present a complex case regarding a double murder whose vic-tims were shot by a 50-year-old neighbor, who underwent a psychiatric evaluation for the assessment of criminal responsibility. In the light of the historical reconstruction of his relation sensitive delusional mindset that triggered the final reaction, his life history, the "key event" and the "triggering environment" (constant conflictual and dysfunctional rela-tions with others) led to the violence. The correct understanding of the reported case demands investigation not only of the clinical, diagnostic and psychodiagnostic aspects, but also of the perpetrator-victim/s, their relational context and the situation where the crime evolves, in order to be able to reconstruct the event in a meaningful manner.

From doctor to incendiary nun: the importance of analysing the pathways of trauma

Childhood traumatic experiences have often been associated with the development of severe psychiatric disorders or, at least, with serious impairment in the victims' developing personality. Emotional abuse and neglect can cause gradual damage to Self-image and to models of self-in-relation to Others. We report a case of a woman who underwent psychiatric evaluations for marriage annulment. The issues were the as-sessment of the outcomes of early psychic trauma and the examination of the remaining individual capacities from a judicial standpoint. The examiners found that the memories of the woman's history of childhood abuse had become integrated into her personality organization. The spheres most strongly influenced were those of psycho-sexual/affective maturation and a dysfunctional bond with religion. Psychodiagnostic evaluation diagnosed a Borderline Personality Disorder. The complexity of the case suggests the need of a multi-dimen-sional analysis by an interdisciplinary team including experts in legal medicine, forensic psychiatry and psychology as well as clinical crimi-nology.

Nuclear Charge Radii of the Nickel Isotopes ^{58-68,70}Ni

Collinear laser spectroscopy is performed on the nickel isotopes ^{58-68,70}Ni, using a time-resolved photon counting system. From the measured isotope shifts, nuclear charge radii R_{c} are extracted and compared to theoretical results. Three ab initio approaches all employ, among others, the chiral interaction NNLO_{sat}, which allows an assessment of their accuracy. We find agreement with experiment in differential radii δ⟨r_{c}^{2}⟩ for all employed ab initio methods and interactions, while the absolute radii are consistent with data only for NNLO_{sat}. Within nuclear density functional theory, the Skyrme functional SV-min matches experiment more closely than the Fayans functional Fy(Δr,HFB).

Targeted whole exome sequencing and Drosophila modelling to unveil the molecular basis of primary ovarian insufficiency

STUDY QUESTION

Can a targeted whole exome sequencing (WES) on a cohort of women showing a primary ovarian insufficiency (POI) phenotype at a young age, combined with a study of copy number variations, identify variants in candidate genes confirming their deleterious effect on ovarian function?

SUMMARY ANSWER

This integrated approach has proved effective in identifying novel candidate genes unveiling mechanisms involved in POI pathogenesis.

WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY

POI, a condition occurring in 1% of women under 40 years of age, affects women’s fertility leading to a premature loss of ovarian reserve. The genetic causes of POI are highly heterogeneous and several determinants contributing to its prominent oligogenic inheritance pattern still need to be elucidated.

STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION

WES screening for pathogenic variants of 41 Italian women with non-syndromic primary and early secondary amenorrhoea occurring before age 25 was replicated on another 60 POI patients, including 35 French and 25 American women, to reveal statistically significant shared variants.

PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS

The Italian POI patients’ DNA were processed by targeted WES including 542 RefSeq genes expressed or functioning during distinct reproductive or ovarian processes (e.g. DNA repair, meiosis, oocyte maturation, folliculogenesis and menopause). Extremely rare variants were filtered and selected by means of a Fisher Exact test using several publicly available datasets. A case-control Burden test was applied to highlight the most significant genes using two ad-hoc control female cohorts. To support the obtained data, the identified genes were screened on a novel cohort of 60 Caucasian POI patients and the same case-control analysis was carried out. Comparative analysis of the human identified genes was performed on mouse and Drosophila melanogaster by analysing the orthologous genes in their ovarian phenotype, and two of the selected genes were fruit fly modelled to explore their role in fertility.

MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE

The filtering steps applied to search for extremely rare pathogenic variants in the Italian cohort revealed 64 validated single-nucleotide variants/Indels in 59 genes in 30 out of 41 screened women. Burden test analysis highlighted 13 ovarian genes as being the most enriched and significant. To validate these findings, filtering steps and Burden analysis on the second cohort of Caucasian patients yielded 11 significantly enriched genes. Among them, AFP, DMRT3, MOV10, FYN and MYC were significant in both patient cohorts and hence were considered strong candidates for POI. Mouse and Drosophila comparative analysis evaluated a conserved role through the evolution of several candidates, and functional studies using a Drosophila model, when applicable, supported the conserved role of the MOV10 armitage and DMRT3 dmrt93B orthologues in female fertility.

LARGE SCALE DATA

The datasets for the Italian cohort generated during the current study are publicly available at ClinVar database (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/clinvar/): accession numbers SCV001364312 to SCV001364375.

LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION

This is a targeted WES analysis hunting variants in candidate genes previously identified by different genomic approaches. For most of the investigated sporadic cases, we could not track the parental inheritance, due to unavailability of the parents’ DNA samples; in addition, we might have overlooked additional rare variants in novel candidate POI genes extracted from the exome data. On the contrary, we might have considered some inherited variants whose clinical significance is uncertain and might not be causative for the patients’ phenotype. Additionally, as regards the Drosophila model, it will be extremely important in the future to have more mutants or RNAi strains available for each candidate gene in order to validate their role in POI pathogenesis.

WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS

The genomic, statistical, comparative and functional approaches integrated in our study convincingly support the extremely heterogeneous oligogenic nature of POI, and confirm the maintenance across the evolution of some key genes safeguarding fertility and successful reproduction. Two principal classes of genes were identified: (i) genes primarily involved in meiosis, namely in synaptonemal complex formation, asymmetric division and oocyte maturation and (ii) genes safeguarding cell maintenance (piRNA and DNA repair pathways).

STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S)

This work was supported by Italian Ministry of Health grants ‘Ricerca Corrente’ (08C621_2016 and 08C924_2019) provided to IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, and by ‘Piano Sostegno alla Ricerca’ (PSR2020_FINELLI_LINEA_B) provided by the University of Milan; M.P.B. was supported by Telethon-Italy (grant number GG14181). There are no conflicts of interest.

Constraints on Cosmic Strings Using Data from the Third Advanced LIGO-Virgo Observing Run

We search for gravitational-wave signals produced by cosmic strings in the Advanced LIGO and Virgo full O3 dataset. Search results are presented for gravitational waves produced by cosmic string loop features such as cusps, kinks, and, for the first time, kink-kink collisions. A template-based search for short-duration transient signals does not yield a detection. We also use the stochastic gravitational-wave background energy density upper limits derived from the O3 data to constrain the cosmic string tension Gμ as a function of the number of kinks, or the number of cusps, for two cosmic string loop distribution models. Additionally, we develop and test a third model that interpolates between these two models. Our results improve upon the previous LIGO-Virgo constraints on Gμ by 1 to 2 orders of magnitude depending on the model that is tested. In particular, for the one-loop distribution model, we set the most competitive constraints to date: Gμ≲4×10^{-15}. In the case of cosmic strings formed at the end of inflation in the context of grand unified theories, these results challenge simple inflationary models.

Constraints on Cosmic Strings Using Data from the Third Advanced LIGO-Virgo Observing Run

We search for gravitational-wave signals produced by cosmic strings in the Advanced LIGO and Virgo full O3 dataset. Search results are presented for gravitational waves produced by cosmic string loop features such as cusps, kinks, and, for the first time, kink-kink collisions. A template-based search for short-duration transient signals does not yield a detection. We also use the stochastic gravitational-wave background energy density upper limits derived from the O3 data to constrain the cosmic string tension Gμ as a function of the number of kinks, or the number of cusps, for two cosmic string loop distribution models. Additionally, we develop and test a third model that interpolates between these two models. Our results improve upon the previous LIGO-Virgo constraints on Gμ by 1 to 2 orders of magnitude depending on the model that is tested. In particular, for the one-loop distribution model, we set the most competitive constraints to date: Gμ≲4×10^{-15}. In the case of cosmic strings formed at the end of inflation in the context of grand unified theories, these results challenge simple inflationary models.

Ab Initio Computation of Charge Densities for Sn and Xe Isotopes

We present the first ab initio calculations for open-shell nuclei past the tin isotopic line, focusing on Xe isotopes as well as doubly magic Sn isotopes. We show that, even for moderately hard interactions, it is possible to obtain meaningful predictions and that the NNLO_{sat} chiral interaction predicts radii and charge density distributions close to the experiment. We then make a new prediction for ^{100}Sn. This paves the way for ab initio studies of exotic charge density distributions at the limit of the present ab initio mass domain, where experimental data is becoming available. The present study closes the gap between the largest isotopes reachable by ab initio methods and the smallest exotic nuclei accessible to electron scattering experiments.

Quantum Backaction on kg-Scale Mirrors: Observation of Radiation Pressure Noise in the Advanced Virgo Detector

The quantum radiation pressure and the quantum shot noise in laser-interferometric gravitational wave detectors constitute a macroscopic manifestation of the Heisenberg inequality. If quantum shot noise can be easily observed, the observation of quantum radiation pressure noise has been elusive, so far, due to the technical noise competing with quantum effects. Here, we discuss the evidence of quantum radiation pressure noise in the Advanced Virgo gravitational wave detector. In our experiment, we inject squeezed vacuum states of light into the interferometer in order to manipulate the quantum backaction on the 42 kg mirrors and observe the corresponding quantum noise driven displacement at frequencies between 30 and 70 Hz. The experimental data, obtained in various interferometer configurations, is tested against the Advanced Virgo detector quantum noise model which confirmed the measured magnitude of quantum radiation pressure noise.

GW190521: A Binary Black Hole Merger with a Total Mass of 150 M_{⊙}

On May 21, 2019 at 03:02:29 UTC Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo observed a short duration gravitational-wave signal, GW190521, with a three-detector network signal-to-noise ratio of 14.7, and an estimated false-alarm rate of 1 in 4900 yr using a search sensitive to generic transients. If GW190521 is from a quasicircular binary inspiral, then the detected signal is consistent with the merger of two black holes with masses of 85_{-14}^{+21}  M_{⊙} and 66_{-18}^{+17}  M_{⊙} (90% credible intervals). We infer that the primary black hole mass lies within the gap produced by (pulsational) pair-instability supernova processes, with only a 0.32% probability of being below 65  M_{⊙}. We calculate the mass of the remnant to be 142_{-16}^{+28}  M_{⊙}, which can be considered an intermediate mass black hole (IMBH). The luminosity distance of the source is 5.3_{-2.6}^{+2.4}  Gpc, corresponding to a redshift of 0.82_{-0.34}^{+0.28}. The inferred rate of mergers similar to GW190521 is 0.13_{-0.11}^{+0.30}  Gpc^{-3} yr^{-1}.

Factors associated with high-risk pregnancy: role of environmental contaminants, Brazil

Introduction

The Região Metropolitana da Baixada Santista (RMBS) is considered as a region with the worst maternal and child mortality rates in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Besides this, RMBS has the worst rates of environmental contamination. High-Risk Pregnancy is one of the factors that lead to a higher chance of morbidity and mortality of the mother and fetus binomial.

Objective

Evaluate the relationship between exposure to environmental contaminants and high-risk pregnancy.

Methodology

Case-control study, using a probabilistic sample composed of 402 pregnant women divided into with and without high-risk pregnancy. The instrument used was a self-administered questionnaire and secondary data on contaminated areas obtained from the Environmental Company of the State of São Paulo. Descriptive analysis, Chi-square test, univariate and multiple logistic regression analysis were performed. The participants were also georeferenced by place of residence.

Results

It was observed an association, by chi-square test between high-risk pregnancy and age over 35 years (p &lt; 0.05), use of insecticide (p &lt; 0.001), consumption of foods packed in plastics (p = 0.050) and manipulation with oil paint (p = 0.002). The final multiple logistic regression model demonstrated that those who live in contaminated areas are 2 times more likely to have a risk pregnancy (OR = 1.993; 95%CI: 1.02; 3.90), as well as identified as jointly important risk factors for pregnancy: working in health services (OR = 3.97 (95%CI: 1.00; 16.09)), use of insecticide (OR = 3.45 (95%CI: 1.66; 7.16)) and use of oil paint (OR = 6.96 (95%CI: 1.38; 35.09)).

Conclusions

Environmental contaminants play an important role in pregnancy, and mitigating measures are needed to improve the environment and reduce high-risk pregnancy in RMBS.

Key messages

Exposure to the environmental contaminants is an important rik factor in the pregnancy. The Região Metropolitana da Baixada Santista (RMBS) is considered as a region with the worst maternal and child mortality rates in the state of São Paulo, Brazil.

Some reflections on the issue of homicide-suicide prompted by a case series of forensic psychology assessments

From the criminologic standpoint, as a crime committed against a psychological background of depression, homicide-suicide is a "dual death" whose significance transcends the specificity of the two events taken singly. Although diametrically opposite phenomena, in fact they share the same pulsions, to be found in aggressiveness, or the desire to eliminate the tensions underlying it. From this perspective, various attempts have been made to classify the homicide-suicide phenomenon, which have indicated that those who, through homicide, deprive themselves of their primary source of gratification may then decide to commit suicide as a result of this unbearable loss. Therefore, suicide post-homicide is a marker of the importance of the bond between the murderer and the victim. Indeed, some Authors have confirmed that the strong attachment between the two increases the likelihood of suicide of the former after the death of the latter; that the crime develops in a relational context featuring abuse and maltreatments; that it also stems from the fear of betrayal and the loss of an object that escapes all attempts to possess it, and that in many cases the destruction of the object through the crime is followed by the self-destruction of the criminal.

Increasing the Astrophysical Reach of the Advanced Virgo Detector via the Application of Squeezed Vacuum States of Light

Current interferometric gravitational-wave detectors are limited by quantum noise over a wide range of their measurement bandwidth. One method to overcome the quantum limit is the injection of squeezed vacuum states of light into the interferometer's dark port. Here, we report on the successful application of this quantum technology to improve the shot noise limited sensitivity of the Advanced Virgo gravitational-wave detector. A sensitivity enhancement of up to 3.2±0.1  dB beyond the shot noise limit is achieved. This nonclassical improvement corresponds to a 5%-8% increase of the binary neutron star horizon. The squeezing injection was fully automated and over the first 5 months of the third joint LIGO-Virgo observation run O3 squeezing was applied for more than 99% of the science time. During this period several gravitational-wave candidates have been recorded.

Search for Subsolar Mass Ultracompact Binaries in Advanced LIGO's Second Observing Run

We present a search for subsolar mass ultracompact objects in data obtained during Advanced LIGO's second observing run. In contrast to a previous search of Advanced LIGO data from the first observing run, this search includes the effects of component spin on the gravitational waveform. We identify no viable gravitational-wave candidates consistent with subsolar mass ultracompact binaries with at least one component between 0.2  M_{⊙}-1.0  M_{⊙}. We use the null result to constrain the binary merger rate of (0.2  M_{⊙}, 0.2  M_{⊙}) binaries to be less than 3.7×10^{5}  Gpc^{-3} yr^{-1} and the binary merger rate of (1.0  M_{⊙}, 1.0  M_{⊙}) binaries to be less than 5.2×10^{3}  Gpc^{-3} yr^{-1}. Subsolar mass ultracompact objects are not expected to form via known stellar evolution channels, though it has been suggested that primordial density fluctuations or particle dark matter with cooling mechanisms and/or nuclear interactions could form black holes with subsolar masses. Assuming a particular primordial black hole (PBH) formation model, we constrain a population of merging 0.2  M_{⊙} black holes to account for less than 16% of the dark matter density and a population of merging 1.0  M_{⊙} black holes to account for less than 2% of the dark matter density. We discuss how constraints on the merger rate and dark matter fraction may be extended to arbitrary black hole population models that predict subsolar mass binaries.

Quasifree Neutron Knockout from ^{54}Ca Corroborates Arising N=34 Neutron Magic Number

Exclusive cross sections and momentum distributions have been measured for quasifree one-neutron knockout reactions from a ^{54}Ca beam striking on a liquid hydrogen target at ∼200  MeV/u. A significantly larger cross section to the p_{3/2} state compared to the f_{5/2} state observed in the excitation of ^{53}Ca provides direct evidence for the nature of the N=34 shell closure. This finding corroborates the arising of a new shell closure in neutron-rich calcium isotopes. The distorted-wave impulse approximation reaction formalism with shell model calculations using the effective GXPF1Bs interaction and ab initio calculations concur our experimental findings. Obtained transverse and parallel momentum distributions demonstrate the sensitivity of quasifree one-neutron knockout in inverse kinematics on a thick liquid hydrogen target with the reaction vertex reconstructed to final state spin-parity assignments.

Ab Initio Optical Potentials and Nucleon Scattering on Medium Mass Nuclei

We derive ab initio optical potentials from self-consistent Green's function theory and compute the elastic scattering of neutrons off oxygen and calcium isotopes. The comparison with scattering data is satisfactory at low scattering energies. The method is benchmarked against the no-core shell model with continuum calculations, showing that virtual excitations of the target are crucial to predict proper fragmentation and absorption at higher energies. This is a significant step toward deriving optical potentials for medium mass nuclei and complex many-body systems in general.

Dawning of the N=32 Shell Closure Seen through Precision Mass Measurements of Neutron-Rich Titanium Isotopes

A precision mass investigation of the neutron-rich titanium isotopes ^{51-55}Ti was performed at TRIUMF's Ion Trap for Atomic and Nuclear science (TITAN). The range of the measurements covers the N=32 shell closure, and the overall uncertainties of the ^{52-55}Ti mass values were significantly reduced. Our results conclusively establish the existence of the weak shell effect at N=32, narrowing down the abrupt onset of this shell closure. Our data were compared with state-of-the-art ab initio shell model calculations which, despite very successfully describing where the N=32 shell gap is strong, overpredict its strength and extent in titanium and heavier isotones. These measurements also represent the first scientific results of TITAN using the newly commissioned multiple-reflection time-of-flight mass spectrometer, substantiated by independent measurements from TITAN's Penning trap mass spectrometer.

Quasifree (p, 2p) Reactions on Oxygen Isotopes: Observation of Isospin Independence of the Reduced Single-Particle Strength

Quasifree one-proton knockout reactions have been employed in inverse kinematics for a systematic study of the structure of stable and exotic oxygen isotopes at the R^{3}B/LAND setup with incident beam energies in the range of 300-450  MeV/u. The oxygen isotopic chain offers a large variation of separation energies that allows for a quantitative understanding of single-particle strength with changing isospin asymmetry. Quasifree knockout reactions provide a complementary approach to intermediate-energy one-nucleon removal reactions. Inclusive cross sections for quasifree knockout reactions of the type ^{A}O(p,2p)^{A-1}N have been determined and compared to calculations based on the eikonal reaction theory. The reduction factors for the single-particle strength with respect to the independent-particle model were obtained and compared to state-of-the-art ab initio predictions. The results do not show any significant dependence on proton-neutron asymmetry.

Type of surgical treatment and recurrence of oral leukoplakia: A retrospective clinical study

BACKGROUND

Oral leukoplakia (OL) is the most typical potentially malignant disorder of the oral mucosa. We aimed to evaluate the clinical outcome of oral leukoplakia treated with several types of lasers and with the use of quantic molecular resonance (QMR) lancet, in terms of recurrence rate.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Eighty-seven previously untreated OL (52 occurring in females and 35 in males, mean age of 59.4 ± 13.9 years) were consecutively submitted to surgical treatment at University Hospital of Parma, Italy, and Hospital de Valongo, Portugal, (1999 to 2012). Interventions were subclassified into 5 groups according to the instrument used for the surgical removal of OL (cold blade - 17; Nd:YAG 1064nm laser - 14; Er:YAG 2940nm laser - 33; CO2 10600nm laser - 15; and QMR scalpel - 8). The mean follow-up period after treatment was 21.6 months (range 1-151 months). The outcome of treatment was scored through the same clinical protocol in the two participating units. Statistical analysis were carried by univariate analysis using chi-square test (or Pearson's test when appropriate).

RESULTS

Recurrences were observed in 24 cases of OL (27.6%). Malignant transformation occurred in one patient (1.1%) after a period of 35 months. Statistical comparison of the 5 surgical treatment modalities showed no differences in clinical outcomes nor in the recurrence rate of OL. However, when Er:YAG laser group was compared with traditional scalpel, a significantly better outcome in cases treated with Er:YAG laser (P = 0.015) was highlighted.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results suggests that Er:YAG laser could be a promising option for the treatment of OL.

Prognostic factors in Merkel cell carcinoma patients undergoing sentinel node biopsy

INTRODUCTION

Debate remains about prognostic factors in primary Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC). We investigated clinicopathological factors as determinants of survival in patients with MCC submitted to sentinel node biopsy.

METHODS

Sixty-four consecutive patients treated for a primary MCC were identified from a prospectively maintained database at Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan. Time to events outcome were described by product limit estimators and proportional hazards model was used to investigate the association between outcome and potential predictors.

RESULTS

The most common site of primary tumor was lower limbs (56.3%). The size of primary lesion was ≤2 cm in 67.2% of cases. Presence of residual disease after the diagnostic surgical excision was observed in 28% of cases. All patients received sentinel node biopsy (SNB) and a SN positivity was detected in 26.6%. The median follow up was 78 months. Disease recurrence occurred in 17 patients (26.6%). In the SN negative group 10 recurrences occurred (21.3%), whereas 7 (41.2%) were found in SN positive one. Nine patients SN negative (19.1%) died of disease and 3 (17.6%) among SN positive. SN status was not associated with survival (p = 0.78). Neither age, gender, size and site of primary tumor resulted predictors of patients' outcome. The presence of residual tumor in the specimen of the wide local excision, after the diagnostic surgical excision, was the only variable associated with survival (p = 0.03).

CONCLUSIONS

Presence of residual tumor in the specimen of the wide local excision is the main prognostic factor in MCC patients.

Radii and Binding Energies in Oxygen Isotopes: A Challenge for Nuclear Forces

We present a systematic study of both nuclear radii and binding energies in (even) oxygen isotopes from the valley of stability to the neutron drip line. Both charge and matter radii are compared to state-of-the-art ab initio calculations along with binding energy systematics. Experimental matter radii are obtained through a complete evaluation of the available elastic proton scattering data of oxygen isotopes. We show that, in spite of a good reproduction of binding energies, ab initio calculations with conventional nuclear interactions derived within chiral effective field theory fail to provide a realistic description of charge and matter radii. A novel version of two- and three-nucleon forces leads to considerable improvement of the simultaneous description of the three observables for stable isotopes but shows deficiencies for the most neutron-rich systems. Thus, crucial challenges related to the development of nuclear interactions remain.

Probing the N=32 Shell Closure below the Magic Proton Number Z=20: Mass Measurements of the Exotic Isotopes ^{52,53}K

The recently confirmed neutron-shell closure at N=32 has been investigated for the first time below the magic proton number Z=20 with mass measurements of the exotic isotopes (52,53)K, the latter being the shortest-lived nuclide investigated at the online mass spectrometer ISOLTRAP. The resulting two-neutron separation energies reveal a 3 MeV shell gap at N=32, slightly lower than for 52Ca, highlighting the doubly magic nature of this nuclide. Skyrme-Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov and ab initio Gorkov-Green function calculations are challenged by the new measurements but reproduce qualitatively the observed shell effect.

Patterns of neglect dissociation

Extinction in the visual, tactile and auditory modality, and visual, tactile and motor neglect were investigated in 40 right brain-damaged (RBD) and 50 left brain-damaged (LBD) patients. The presence of neglect was assessed with reference to the performance of 50 control patients. Visual neglect was only found in RBD patients and its severity could vary from one test to another. Tactile neglect was much rarer and it occurred with lesions in either hemisphere. Five cases of motor neglect were found in patients with right parietal damage. Both extinction and neglect could be present either confined to I modality or involving 2 or more. The assumption that extinction always represents an attenuated form of neglect was challenged by the finding of 1 patient with visual neglect but no visual extinction and of3 patients with extinction in all modalities and no sign of neglect. Exploration of contralateral space would appear to be a process monitored by mechanisms decentralized at the level of the single modality rather than by a supramodal supervisor.

Isotopic chains around oxygen from evolved chiral two- and three-nucleon interactions

We extend the formalism of self-consistent Green's function theory to include three-body interactions and apply it to isotopic chains around oxygen for the first time. The third-order algebraic diagrammatic construction equations for two-body Hamiltonians can be exploited upon defining system-dependent one- and two-body interactions coming from the three-body force, and, correspondingly, dropping interaction-reducible diagrams. The Koltun sum rule for the total binding energy acquires a correction due to the added three-body interaction. This formalism is then applied to study chiral two- and three-nucleon forces evolved to low momentum cutoffs. The binding energies of nitrogen, oxygen, and fluorine isotopes are reproduced with good accuracy and demonstrate the predictive power of this approach. Leading order three-nucleon forces consistently bring results close to the experiment for all neutron rich isotopes considered and reproduce the correct driplines for oxygen and nitrogen. The formalism introduced also allows us to calculate form factors for nucleon transfer on doubly magic systems.

Atypical odontalgia: an up-to-date view

Atypical odontalgia (AO) is a little known chronic pain condition. It usually presents as pain in a site where a tooth was endodontically treated or extracted, in the absence of clinical or radiographic evidence of tooth pathology. It is a rare clinical challenge for most clinicians, which leads to the patients being referred to several specialists and sometimes undergoing unnecessary surgical procedures. The pain mechanisms involved in AO are far from clear, and numerous potential mechanisms have been suggested. Currently, the most accredited hypothesis is that AO is a neuropathic pain condition caused by deafferentation. The differential diagnosis of AO remains difficult, because it shares symptoms with many others pathologies affecting this area. Patients have difficulties accepting the AO diagnosis and treatment. As a result, they frequently change physicians, and may potentially also receive several invasive treatments, usually resulting in an aggravation of the pain. Although some patients do get complete pain relief following treatment, for most patients the goal should be to achieve adequate pain management. Currently, most management is based on expert opinion and case reports. More research and high quality randomized controlled trials are needed in order to develop evidence-based treatments, currently based on expert opinion or carried over from other neuropathic pain conditions in the orofacial region.

Limited asymmetry dependence of correlations from single nucleon transfer

Single nucleon pickup reactions were performed with a 18.1 MeV/nucleon (14)O beam on a deuterium target. Within the coupled reaction channel framework, the measured cross sections were compared to theoretical predictions and analyzed using both phenomenological and microscopic overlap functions. The missing strength due to correlations does not show significant dependence on the nucleon separation energy asymmetry over a wide range of 37 MeV, in contrast with nucleon removal data analyzed within the sudden-eikonal formalism.

Sonographic measurement of the umbilical cord area and the diameters of its vessels during pregnancy

The objective was to determine the cross-sectional area of the umbilical cord, its diameter and the diameter of its vessels to establish a reference curve for these parameters during pregnancy, through a prospective cross-sectional study, including 2,310 low-risk pregnancies between 12 and 40 weeks' gestation. Means and standard deviations (SDs), plus the 10th, 50th and 90th percentiles for each measurement were calculated using polynomial regression analysis. Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis and Wilcoxon tests were used for statistical analysis. These parameters increased significantly with gestational age. The area of the cord also varied significantly with parity. Their new reference curves for low risk pregnancies were calculated using polynomial regression, and an almost linear increase in values was found up to 32 weeks of pregnancy, tending to stabilise from then onwards. The regression equation of the umbilical cord area according to gestational age (GA) was: -1.417 + 0.3026*GA-0.008*GA(2) + 0.000007*GA(3) and the degree of adjustment (R(2)) was 0.89.

Application of poly-L-lactide screws in flat foot surgery: histological and radiological aspects of bio-absorption of degradable devices

The flat foot in childhood is a condition frequently observed in orthopedic practice but it is still debated when and in which patients surgical corrective treatment is appropriate; recently, the application of poly-L-lactic-acid (PLLA) screws was proposed. The present study investigates a group of 33 patients treated with PLLA expansion endorthesis in order to evaluate the deformity correction. Clinical and radiological outcomes in patients were correlated with: a) morphological characterization of screws both before and after being removed from patients, when necessary; b) histological and bio-molecular evaluation of degradation processes of the implants, focusing attention on the correlation between the cellular cohort involved in inflammatory reaction and the bio-absorption degree of PLLA screws. Deformity correction was mostly achieved, with minimal need of screw removal; the results obtained clearly show the occurrence of chronic rather than acute inflammation in removed screw specimens. At the histological level, after biomaterial implantation, the sequence of events occurring in the surrounding tissues ultimately ends in the formation of foreign body giant cells (FBGCs) at the tissue/material interface; but the mechanisms which influence the fate of screw implants, i.e. the resolution of acute inflammation rather than the progression towards chronic inflammation, are of crucial importance for biodegradable materials like "polylactic acid". In fact, the FBGC response ensures a long-term mechanism which eliminates the foreign material from the body, but at the same time the implications of prolonged FBGC responses, which generate negative side effects, could significantly impede the healing progress.

Sub-Rayleigh optical vortex coronagraphy

We introduce a new optical vortex coronagraph (OVC) method to determine the angular distance between two sources when the separation is sub-Rayleigh. We have found a direct relationship between the position of the minima and the source angular separation. A priori knowledge about the location of the two sources is not required. The superresolution capabilities of an OVC, equipped with an ℓ = 2 N-step spiral phase plate in its optical path, were investigated numerically. The results of these investigations show that a fraction of the light, increasing with N, from the secondary source can be detected with a sub-Rayleigh resolution of at least 0.1 λ/D.

Predictive modeling of cardiovascular complications in incident hemodialysis patients

The administration of hemodialysis (HD) treatment leads to the continuous collection of a vast quantity of medical data. Many variables related to the patient health status, to the treatment, and to dialyzer settings can be recorded and stored at each treatment session. In this study a dataset of 42 variables and 1526 patients extracted from the Fresenius Medical Care database EuCliD was used to develop and apply a random forest predictive model for the prediction of cardiovascular events in the first year of HD treatment. A ridge-lasso logistic regression algorithm was then applied to the subset of variables mostly involved in the prediction model to get insights in the mechanisms underlying the incidence of cardiovascular complications in this high risk population of patients.

Images of asteroid 21 Lutetia: a remnant planetesimal from the early Solar System

Images obtained by the Optical, Spectroscopic, and Infrared Remote Imaging System (OSIRIS) cameras onboard the Rosetta spacecraft reveal that asteroid 21 Lutetia has a complex geology and one of the highest asteroid densities measured so far, 3.4 ± 0.3 grams per cubic centimeter. The north pole region is covered by a thick layer of regolith, which is seen to flow in major landslides associated with albedo variation. Its geologically complex surface, ancient surface age, and high density suggest that Lutetia is most likely a primordial planetesimal. This contrasts with smaller asteroids visited by previous spacecraft, which are probably shattered bodies, fragments of larger parents, or reaccumulated rubble piles.

Lovastatin-induced cholesterol depletion affects both apical sorting and endocytosis of aquaporin-2 in renal cells

Vasopressin causes the redistribution of the water channel aquaporin-2 (AQP2) from cytoplasmic storage vesicles to the apical plasma membrane of collecting duct principal cells, leading to urine concentration. The molecular mechanisms regulating the selective apical sorting of AQP2 are only partially uncovered. In this work, we investigate whether AQP2 sorting/trafficking is regulated by its association with membrane rafts. In both MCD4 cells and rat kidney, AQP2 preferentially associated with Lubrol WX-insoluble membranes regardless of its presence in the storage compartment or at the apical membrane. Block-and-release experiments indicate that 1) AQP2 associates with detergent-resistant membranes early in the biosynthetic pathway; 2) strong cholesterol depletion delays the exit of AQP2 from the trans-Golgi network. Interestingly, mild cholesterol depletion promoted a dramatic accumulation of AQP2 at the apical plasma membrane in MCD4 cells in the absence of forskolin stimulation. An internalization assay showed that AQP2 endocytosis was clearly reduced under this experimental condition. Taken together, these data suggest that association with membrane rafts may regulate both AQP2 apical sorting and endocytosis.

Role of long-range correlations in the quenching of spectroscopic factors

We consider the proton and neutron quasiparticle orbits around the closed-shell (56)Ni and (48)Ca isotopes. It is found that large model spaces (beyond the capability of shell model applications) are necessary for predicting the quenching of spectroscopic factors. The particle-vibration coupling is identified as the principal mechanism. Additional correlations--due to configuration with several particle-hole excitations--are estimated using shell model calculations and generate an extra reduction which is < or approximately equal to 4% for most quasiparticle states. The theoretical calculations nicely agree with (e, e'p) and inverse kinematics knockout experiments. These results open a new path for a microscopic understanding of the shell model.