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International researchers put to evidence a worrying decrease in science disciplines' role in many countries, especially in the European Community and a poor quality in scientific competences, as issues of TIMMS (trends in international mathematics and science study) and PISA (programme for international student assessment) have proved, together with a low interest concerning science knowledge of young people. According to our experience, the most important school-related factor in raising student achievement is the quality of the teacher. We investigated Italian pre-service teachers' scientific competences and their mind conceptions about teaching models/styles, students' learning, role of teacher and role of science in daily life. The aim of our research outlined in the present paper is to: (1) improve motivation, learning and pupils' attitudes in science education; (2) develop a critical thinking, stimulate intuition and creativity; and (3) increase scientific literacy in the community. We designed flexible materials, paths and courses within cooperation involving different institutions. The findings of this work concerning both pre-service and in-service teachers' training are: increased awareness about conceptual knots related to scientific concepts; more sensitiveness and attention to students' involvement; reflection about the effectiveness of daily school work-increased awareness about meta-cognition and cooperative learning. (Contains 1 figure.)

We present a science centre established in Genoa on an agreement between Municipality of Genoa and Department of Physics of University of Genoa. The aim is to offer children, young people and community an opportunity to approach science in a playful way. The centre staffs guide the visitors through the exhibits, attracting their interests towards the most amusing aspects of the phenomena. According to the principles of constructivism, kids and children are encouraged to handle objects, play with geometrical shapes, observe materials collected from natural and human environment and make "discoveries", and students can take advantage of the visit and from the exhibits to study in depth a specific topic afterwards in their class, thus preventing the aridity of a purely formal presentation of the discipline, while a general public can realize how much science affects people's lives, enjoy its fun aspects and meet scientists during special events. (Contains 11 figures.)

The Geant4 electromagnetic (EM) physics sub-packages are a component of LHC experiment simulations. During long shutdown 2 for LHC, these packages are under intensive development and we report progress of EM physics in Geant4 versions 10.5 and 10.6, which includes faster computation, more accurate EM models, and extensions to the validation suite. New approaches are developed to simulate radiation damage for silicon vertex detectors and for configuration of multiple scattering per detector region. Improvements in user interfaces developed for low-energy and the Geant4-DNA project are used also for LHC simulation optimisation.

We report on developments of the Geant4 electromagnetic physics sub-libraries of Geant4 release 10.4 and beyond. Modifications are introduced to the models of photoelectric effect, bremsstrahlung, gamma conversion, single and multiple scattering. The theory-based Goudsmit-Saunderson model of electron/positron multiple scattering has been recently reviewed and a new improved version, providing the most accurate results for scattering of electrons and positrons, was made available. The updated interfaces, models and configurations have already been integrated into LHC applications and may be useful for any type of simulations.

As part of a comprehensive study of X-ray emission from planetary surfaces and in particular the planet Mercury, we have measured fluorescent radiation from a number of planetary analog rock samples using monochromatized synchrotron radiation provided by the BESSY II electron storage ring. The experiments were carded out using a purpose built X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometer chamberdevelopedbythePhysikalisch-TechnischeBundesanstalt, Germany's national metrology institute. The XRF instrumentation is absolutely calibrated and allows for reference-free quantitation of rock sample composition, taking into account secondary photon- and electron-induced enhancement effects. The fluorescence data, in turn, have been used to validate a planetary fluorescence simulation tool based on the GEANT4 transport code. This simulation can be used as a mission analysis tool to predict the time-dependent orbital XRF spectral distributions from planetary surfaces throughout the mapping phase.

The Low Energy Electromagnetic package of the Geant4 toolkit incorporates a component for the simulation of atomic relaxation of elements with atomic number between 6 and 100. This process is triggered by the creation of a vacancy in the atomic shell occupancy as a result of an incident particle interaction with an atom of the target material. X-ray fluorescence and Auger electron emission result from the relaxation cascade. The availability of a model handling the atomic relaxation in Geant4 extends the applicability of the simulation toolkit to experimental use cases concerning the investigation of material properties through their characteristic X-ray or Auger emission. It is also relevant to precise simulation applications, like microdosimetry or the design and optimization of detectors based on nanotechnology. The key features of the software development process, the software architecture and design, and the implementation details of the physics model are described. Index Terms--Auger electron, Geant4, Monte Carlo, simulation, X-ray fluorescence.

Background: Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is a prion affection that typically produces a rapidly progressive dementia with different neurologic and extra-neurologic manifestations., Aim: To characterize clinical, imaging and electroencephalography findings in patients with a probable CJD., Patients and Methods: A case series study of patients admitted in the Neurology department at a public hospital, between 2014 and 2019. Demographic, clinical, imaging, and electroencephalographic data of patients with probable CJD were analyzed., Results: Seventeen patients aged 63 ± 11 years (53% women) with a probable CJD were gathered. The incidence was 4.7 cases/year per million inhabitants. Twenty four percent of patients had a family history of CJD. The median time between the onset of symptoms and the hospital admission was three months with a survival of four months. The most common clinical manifestations were an amnesic syndrome in 88%, myoclonus in 76%, frontal syndrome and ataxia in 71%. Brain MRI was abnormal in all patients. The preponderant finding was the involvement of the caudate nucleus in 82% of cases. In the EEG, 94% of patients had abnormalities. All had a theta-delta slowing as a base rhythm. The pseudo-periodic pattern was observed in the 29% and status epilepticus in 18%., Conclusions: In this group of patients we observed the heterogeneity of the clinical manifestations of the disease, the frequent imaging and electroencephalographic alterations and the short evolution time leading to death.