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We study entanglement created between two isolated qubits by interaction with entangled-photon pairs obtained by parametric down-conversion of a laser pump field. The induced entanglement is quantified using the mixed state Concurrence proposed by Wootters et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 78, 5022 (1997)]. A universal value of qubit-entanglement, which is independent on the photon-pair wavefunction is identified to leading order in the qubit–field interaction and the pump field amplitude. The qubit entanglement decreases at higher laser pump intensities due to interference between the entangled photon pairs, which creates excitations in the qubit system. Maximal Concurrence is produced by only generating coherences between the ground and the highest excited qubit states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, Italy has been one of the most affected countries in Europe and the second for number of deaths. In this commentary, we discuss some lessons that we learned as health-care providers working in a large public hospital during the pandemic, with a special focus on the importance of infection containment and early diagnosis, the role of swab, serological tests, home isolation and individual protection devices, and the available therapies and management indications to better face a possible new outbreak in the near future. These comments should stimulate a more diffused, efficient, and efficacious management of COVID-19 patients, also reducing the number of admissions to hospital emergency departments and the related spread of the infection.

In ciliates, diffusible cell type-specific pheromones regulate cell growth and mating phenomena acting competitively in both autocrine and heterologous fashion. In Euplotes species, these signaling molecules are represented by species-specific families of structurally homologous small, disulfide-rich proteins, each specified by one of a series of multiple alleles that are inherited without relationships of dominance at the mat-genetic locus of the germinal micronuclear genome, and expressed as individual gene-sized molecules in the somatic macronuclear genome. Here we report the 85-amino acid sequences and the full-length macronuclear nucleotide coding sequences of two pheromones, designated Ef-1 and Ef-2, isolated from the supernatant of a wild-type strain of a psychrophilic species of Euplotes, E. focardii, endemic to Antarctic coastal waters. An overall comparison of the determined E. focardii pheromone and pheromone-gene structures with their homologs from congeneric species provides an initial picture of how an evolutionary increase in the complexity of these structures accompanies Euplotes speciation.

Unilateral chronic maxillary sinusitis is a possible complication of odontogenic disease or dental treatment and is mainly due to the development of an oroantral fistula (OAF). The management of chronic maxillary sinusitis of dental origin (CMSDO) requires a combined treatment via endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) and intraoral surgical treatment of the odontogenic source. The aim of this study is to present the results of our university hospital unit in the treatment and follow-up of a case series of 34 patients treated with a combined surgical approach for CMSDO due to OAF. All patients were treated with ESS combined with an intraoral approach. No intraoperative or immediate postoperative complications were observed; nasal synechia was found in 3 patients (8.82%). The overall success rate after the primary intervention was 94.12%; recurrence was observed in 2 cases (5.88%), both were suffering from diabetes mellitus and were tobacco smokers. Our results confirm that simultaneous surgery with a combination of an intraoral and endoscopic approach can be considered the best strategy for the long-term restoration of normal sinonasal homeostasis in selected patients with chronic odontogenic sinusitis and OAF, guaranteeing an effective treatment with minimal complications in the short and long term.

On March 10, 2020, Italy went into lockdown due to the Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic. The World Health Organization highlighted how the lockdown had negative consequences on psychological well-being, especially for children. The present study aimed to investigate parental correlates of children’s emotion regulation during the COVID-19 lockdown. Within the Social Cognitive Theory framework, a path model in which parenting self-efficacy and parental regulatory emotional self-efficacy mediated the relationship between parents’ psychological distress and both children’s emotional regulation, and children’s lability/negativity, was investigated. A total of 277 parents of children aged from 6 to 13 years completed an online survey that assessed their psychological distress, regulatory emotional self-efficacy, and parenting self-efficacy. Parents reported also children’s emotional regulation and lability/negativity. A structural equation model (SEM) using MPLUS 8.3 was tested. Results showed that the hypothesized model exhibited excellent fit, chi-square (83) = 140.40, p < 0.01, RMSEA = 0.05, CFI = 0.97, TLI = 0.96, SRMR = 0.04. The influences of parents’ psychological distress and parents’ regulatory emotional self-efficacy on children’s emotional regulation and lability/negativity were mediated by parenting self-efficacy. The mediation model was invariant across children’s biological sex and age, and geographical residence area (high risk vs. low risk for COVID-19). Results suggested how parents’ beliefs to be competent in managing parental tasks might be a protective factor for their children’s emotional well-being. Implications for intervention programs are discussed.

We report the finding of the SARS-CoV-2 genome in the corpse of an exhumed infected person, one month after her death. The viral gene targets were still present in her lungs and heart, however, the virus was no longer alive. Infectious risks from human corpses should be considered.

Abstract Background The evolution in the surgical and diagnostic procedures, the attention to women’s preferences, the case mix, and differences in professional practices may lead to a variability in the quality of breast cancer clinical pathway. To catch and manage this variability it is important to use valid measures. The aim of this paper is to examine the concurrent validity of the breast-conserving surgery (BCS) indicator and to provide evidence to guide the quality improvement process. Methods The BCS indicator was calculated using hospital discharge records (HDRs) and was validated against surgical registry (SR) data in a random sample of 336 women undergoing breast cancer surgery in 2012 in two Tuscan teaching hospitals. The concurrent validity of BCS was examined by cross-tabulating patients using the ICD-9 CM codes for breast surgery obtained from the two data sources. Results The analysis, carried out involving breast cancer professionals, highlighted that the large majority of interventions coded as “mastectomies” in HDRs are in fact reconstructing procedures, including nipple-sparing, skin-sparing and skin-reducing mastectomies in SR. These results led us to refine the old algorithm, that calculates the proportion of breast-conserving surgery over the total number of breast interventions, and reclassify breast cancer surgical procedures into three categories: conservative, reconstructive and traditional mastectomy. Based on this new classification algorithm, the percentages of (I) reconstructive interventions were 16% at Florence TH and 38.3% at Pisa TH; (II) breast-conserving interventions were respectively 72.8 and 52.1%; and (III) mastectomies 11.2 and 9.6%. After adjusting for age in a logistic regression model, the percentages of reconstructive interventions at Florence and Pisa were respectively 22 and 34% and those of breast-conserving interventions 63 and 53%. Conclusions Our results indicate that breast cancer care indicators should be refined by distinguishing reconstructive procedures (nipple/skin-sparing surgery with implant or breast tissue expander insertion) from traditional mastectomy. The involvement of breast care professionals in the choice of indicators proved to be crucial to capture the up-to-date breast cancer surgical practice and inform the quality improvement process.

In the ciliate Euplotes raikovi, a 631-amino acid Er-MAPK1 protein kinase was found to localize in nucleoli of the transcriptionally active nucleus (macronucleus) and act as a key component of an autocrine, cell-growth promoting self-signaling mechanism. While its 283-amino acid N-terminal domain includes all the structural specificities of the mitogen-activated protein kinases required for a catalytic function, the 348-amino acid C-terminal domain is structurally unique with undetermined functions. By expressing the two Er-MAPK1 domains tagged with the green fluorescent protein in mammalian fibroblasts, the yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe and the ciliate Tetrahymena thermophila, evidence was obtained that the C-terminal domain contains all the sequence information responsible for the Er-MAPK1 subcellular localization. However, in fibroblasts and S. pombe this information determined a nucleolar localization of the GFP-tagged C-terminal domain, and a ciliary localization in T. thermophila. In the light of these findings, the Er-MAPK1 localization in E. raikovi was re-examined via immunoreactions and shown to be ciliary besides that nuclear, as is the case for the mammalian intestinal cell kinase with which the Er-MAPK1 N-terminal domain shares a strong sequence identity and a catalytic function.

Thermal energy storage (TES) systems for concentrated solar power plants are essential for the convenience of renewable energy sources in terms of energy dispatchability, economical aspects and their larger use. TES systems based on the use of concrete have been demonstrated to possess good heat exchange characteristics, wide availability of the heat storage medium and low cost. Therefore, the purpose of this work was the development and characterization of a new concrete-based heat storage material containing a concrete mix capable of operating at medium–high temperatures with improved performance. In this work, a small amount of shape-stabilized phase change material (PCM) was included, thus developing a new material capable of storing energy both as sensible and latent heat. This material was therefore characterized thermally and mechanically and showed increased thermal properties such as stored energy density (up to +7%, with a temperature difference of 100 °C at an average operating temperature of 250 °C) when 5 wt% of PCM was added. By taking advantage of these characteristics, particularly the higher energy density, thermal energy storage systems that are more compact and economically feasible can be built to operate within a temperature range of approximately 150–350 °C with a reduction, compared to a concrete-only based thermal energy storage system, of approximately 7% for the required volume and cost.

We prove a conjecture of Udo Riese about the minimal ring of definition for principal series Weil characters of SL 2 (F p) , for p an odd prime. More precisely, we show that the (p + 1) / 2 -dimensional Weil characters can be realized over the ring of integers of Q (ε p) , where ε = (− 1) (p − 1) / 2 , and we provide explicit integral models over these quadratic rings. We do so by studying the Galois action on the integral models of Weil characters recently discovered by Yilong Wang. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: This paper aimed to explore psychological functioning and mental representations in mothers of preterm infants during the child's hospitalization in a Neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).Methods: A sample including 62 mothers of premature infants (gestational age < 37 weeks) was recruited in a NICU. According to the gestational age at the time of delivery, we considered two groups: Group A included mothers whose children were born before 32 weeks of pregnancy; Group B included mothers whose children were born at or after 32 weeks of pregnancy.Within one week of childbirth, mothers were administered two self-report questionnaires: the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). When their infants' medical conditions became stable, the Clinical Interview for Parents of High-Risk Infants (CLIP) was administered to mothers.Results: The results showed high levels of depression and anxiety in both groups of mothers, with higher state anxiety scores in Group A than Group B. Besides, a series of hierarchical regression analyses were conducted with STAI, EPDS, and gestational age as predictors on the CLIP scores. Results indicated that EPDS scores predicted CLIP scores on parental self-image, support system, and readiness for discharge (p < 0.001); moreover, the interaction among depression, anxiety, and gestational age predicted the CLIP dimension of feeling of mutual recognition (p < 0.005).Conclusions: These findings suggested that a premature birth and the child's hospitalization might exert a negative effect on the mothers' emotional state, their perception of parental self-image and, consequently, the early bond with the child—independent from the infants' gestational age at the time of the preterm delivery. The data underlined the importance of involving NICU nurses and clinicians in order to optimize the care for mothers immediately after the preterm birth and during the infant's hospitalization, taking into account psychological needs of mothers of both very preterm and moderately preterm infants.