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Art experience is not solely the observation of artistic objects, but great relevance is also placed on the environment in which the art experience takes place, often in museums and galleries. Interestingly, in the last few years, the introduction of some forms of virtual reality (VR) in museum contexts has been increasing. This has solicited enormous research interest in investigating any eventual differences between looking at the same artifact either in a real context (e.g. a museum) and in VR. To address such a target, a neuroaesthetic study was performed in which electroencephalography (EEG) and autonomic signals (heart rate and skin conductance) were recorded during the observation of the Etruscan artifact “Sarcophagus of the Spouses”, both in the museum and in a VR reproduction. Results from EEG analysis showed a higher level of the Workload Index during observation in the museum compared to VR (p = 0.04), while the Approach–Withdrawal Index highlighted increased levels during the observation in VR compared to the observation in the museum (p = 0.03). Concerning autonomic indices, the museum elicited a higher Emotional Index response than the VR (p = 0.03). Overall, preliminary results suggest a higher engagement potential of the museum compared to VR, although VR could also favour higher embodiment than the museum.

In quantum fluids, the quantisation of circulation forbids the diffusion of a vortex swirling flow seen in classical viscous fluids. Yet, a quantum vortex accelerating in a superfluid may lose its energy into acoustic radiation, in a similar way an electric charge decelerates upon emitting photons. The dissipation of vortex energy underlies central problems in quantum hydrodynamics, such as the decay of quantum turbulence, highly relevant to systems as varied as neutron stars, superfluid helium and atomic condensates. A deep understanding of the elementary mechanisms behind irreversible vortex dynamics has been a goal for decades, but it is complicated by the shortage of conclusive experimental signatures. Here, we address this challenge by realising a programmable quantum vortex collider in a planar, homogeneous atomic Fermi superfluid with tunable inter-particle interactions. We create on-demand vortex configurations and monitor their evolution, taking advantage of the accessible time and length scales of our ultracold Fermi gas. Engineering collisions within and between vortex-antivortex pairs allows us to decouple relaxation of the vortex energy due to sound emission and interactions with normal fluid, i.e. mutual friction. We directly visualise how the annihilation of vortex dipoles radiates a sound pulse in the superfluid. Further, our few-vortex experiments extending across different superfluid regimes suggest that fermionic quasiparticles localised inside the vortex core contribute significantly to dissipation, opening the route to exploring new pathways for quantum turbulence decay, vortex by vortex., Comment: 7+9 pages, 4+7 figures

Purpose Auditory selective attention (ASA) is crucial to focus on significant auditory stimuli without being distracted by irrelevant auditory signals and plays an important role in language development. The present study aimed to investigate the unique contribution of ASA to the linguistic levels achieved by a group of cochlear implanted (CI) children. Methods Thirty-four CI children with a median age of 10.05 years were tested using both the “Batteria per la Valutazione dell’Attenzione Uditiva e della Memoria di Lavoro Fonologica nell’età evolutiva-VAUM-ELF” to assess their ASA skills, and two Italian standardized tests to measure lexical and morphosyntactic skills. A regression analysis, including demographic and audiological variables, was conducted to assess the unique contribution of ASA to language skills. Results The percentages of CI children with adequate ASA performances ranged from 50 to 29.4%. Bilateral CI children performed better than their monolateral peers. ASA skills contributed significantly to linguistic skills, accounting alone for the 25% of the observed variance. Conclusions The present findings are clinically relevant as they highlight the importance to assess ASA skills as early as possible, reflecting their important role in language development. Using simple clinical tools, ASA skills could be studied at early developmental stages. This may provide additional information to outcomes from traditional auditory tests and may allow us to implement specific training programs that could positively contribute to the development of neural mechanisms of ASA and, consequently, induce improvements in language skills.

Down syndrome (DS) is a genetically-based disease based on the trisomy of chromosome 21 (Hsa21). DS is characterized by intellectual disability in association with several pathological traits among which early aging and altered motor coordination are prominent. Physical training or passive exercise were found to be useful in counteracting motor impairment in DS subjects. In this study we used the Ts65Dn mouse, a widely accepted animal model of DS, to investigate the ultrastructural architecture of the medullary motor neuron cell nucleus taken as marker of the cell functional state. Using transmission electron microscopy, ultrastructural morphometry, and immunocytochemistry we carried out a detailed investigation of possible trisomy-related alteration(s) of nuclear constituents, which are known to vary their amount and distribution as a function of nuclear activity, as well as the effect of adapted physical training upon them. Results demonstrated that trisomy per se affects nuclear constituents to a limited extent; however, adapted physical training is able to chronically stimulate pre-mRNA transcription and processing activity in motor neuron nuclei of trisomic mice, although to a lesser extent than in their euploid mates. These findings are a step towards understanding the mechanisms underlying the positive effect of physical activity in DS.

Objectives: The present study aimed to investigate in a group of elderly CI users working memory and attention, conventionally considered as predictors of better CI performance and to try to disentangle the effects of these cognitive domains on speech perception, finding potential markers of cognitive decline related to audiometric findings. Methods Thirty postlingually deafened CI users aged >60 underwent an audiological evaluation followed by a cognitive assessment of attention and verbal working memory. A correlation analysis was performed to evaluate the associations between cognitive variables while a simple regression investigated the relationships between cognitive and audiological variables. Comparative analysis was performed to compare variables on the basis of subjects’ attention performance. Results: Attention was found to play a significant role in sound field and speech perception. Univariate analysis found a significant difference between poor and high attention performers, while regression analysis showed that attention significantly predicted recognition of words presented at Signal/Noise +10. Further, the high attention performers showed significantly higher scores than low attentional performers for all working memory tasks. Conclusion: Overall findings confirmed that a better cognitive performance may positively contribute to better speech perception outcomes, especially in complex listening situations. WM may play a crucial role in storage and processing of auditory-verbal stimuli and a robust attention may lead to better performance for speech perception in noise. Implementation of cognitive training in auditory rehabilitation of CI users should be investigated in order to improve cognitive and audiological performance in elderly CI users.

At the interface between two fluid layers in relative motion, infinitesimal fluctuations can be exponentially amplified, inducing vorticity and the breakdown of the laminar flow. This process, known as the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability, is responsible for many familiar phenomena observed in the atmosphere, and the oceans, as well as in astrophysics, and it is one of the paradigmatic routes to turbulence in fluid mechanics. While in classical hydrodynamics the instability is ruled by universal scaling laws, to what extent universality emerges in quantum fluids is yet to be fully understood. Here, we shed light on this matter by triggering the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability in atomic superfluids across widely different regimes, ranging from weakly-interacting bosonic to strongly-correlated fermionic pair condensates. Upon engineering two counter-rotating flows with tunable relative velocity, we observe how their contact interface develops into an ordered circular array of quantized vortices, which loses stability and rolls up into clusters in close analogy with classical Kelvin-Helmholtz dynamics. We extract the instability growth rates by tracking the position of individual vortices and find that they follow universal scaling relations, predicted by both classical hydrodynamics and a microscopic point-vortex model. Our results connect quantum and classical fluids revealing how the motion of quantized vortices mirrors the interface dynamics and open the way for exploring a wealth of out-of-equilibrium phenomena, from vortex-matter phase transitions to the spontaneous emergence of two-dimensional quantum turbulence .

The mild oxidative stress induced by low doses of gaseous ozone (O3) activates the antioxidant cell response through the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), thus inducing beneficial effects without cell damage. Mitochondria are sensitive to mild oxidative stress and represent a susceptible O3 target. In this in vitro study, we investigated the mitochondrial response to low O3 doses in the immortalized, non-tumoral muscle C2C12 cells; a multimodal approach including fluorescence microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and biochemistry was used. Results demonstrated that mitochondrial features are finely tuned by low O3 doses. The O3 concentration of 10 μg maintained normal levels of mitochondria-associated Nrf2, promoted the mitochondrial increase of size and cristae extension, reduced cellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and prevented cell death. Conversely, in 20 μg O3-treated cells, where the association of Nrf2 with the mitochondria drastically dropped, mitochondria underwent more significant swelling, and ROS and cell death increased. This study, therefore, adds original evidence for the involvement of Nrf2 in the dose-dependent response to low O3 concentrations not only as an Antioxidant Response Elements (ARE) gene activator but also as a regulatory/protective factor of mitochondrial function.

Background: Forest therapy is the clinical application of Shinrin-Yoku, also known as forest bathing. Specifically, the term Shinrin-Yoku refers to what is known as “a bath in the air of the forest”, which is carried out by walking and observing the landscapes of nature. In recent years, ecopsychology has become increasingly interested in the use of forest therapy as a credible, eco-sustainable, and easily adaptable treatment. The idea is to borrow the typical techniques of mindfulness and apply them to environmental contexts to verify if this leads to a better physical and mental well-being of the individual. Given the few contexts in which forest therapy is applied, this article aims to investigate, through a review of available literature, the applications of forest therapy existing in various severe or mild disorders in order to understand if this technique can represent a credible alternative to traditional treatments, and consequently arouse the interest of future experimental research in different contexts. Methods: A systematic review was conducted using the PRISMA 2020 guidelines that allowed us to identify n = 7 unique papers to be included in our analysis. Results: Forest therapy has been shown to be an effective treatment for improving a range of psychological and physiological parameters in college students, the elderly, women with postmenopausal insomnia, patients with alcoholism syndrome, patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), patients with chronic widespread pain, and psychiatric patients. Conclusion: The analyzed studies are not yet able to tell us if forest therapy is better than traditional treatments. However, the effectiveness demonstrated in the studies provides empirical evidence of the credibility of forest therapy and leads to new scenarios for more eco-sustainable, versatile, affordable, and adaptable therapies according to the needs of the patients.

Serum samples from eight participants during the XV winter-over at Concordia base (Antarctic expedition) collected at defined time points, including predeparture, constituted the key substrates for a specific metabolomics study. To ascertain acute changes and chronic adaptation to hypoxia, the metabolic profiles of the serum samples were analyzed using NMR spectroscopy, with principal components analysis (PCA) followed by partial least squares and orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analyses (PLS-DA and OPLS-DA) used as supervised classification methods. Multivariate data analyses clearly highlighted an adaptation period characterized by an increase in the levels of circulating glutamine and lipids, mobilized to supply the body energy needs. At the same time, a reduction in the circulating levels of glutamate and N-acetyl glycoproteins, stress condition indicators, and proinflammatory markers were also found in the NMR data investigation. Subsequent pathway analysis showed possible perturbations in metabolic processes, potentially related to the physiological adaptation, predominantly found by comparing the baseline (at sea level, before mission onset), the base arrival, and the mission ending collected values.

The literature indicates a variety of factors that contribute to adolescent well-being: among these, the parent–adolescent relationship has a key role. The present article offered an overview of studies on parent–adolescent relationships across diverse family forms, not limited to the traditional family but also including “non-traditional” and “modern” families. To do so, this article described the evolution of the concept of family over the last fifty years and traced the significant family variables that guarantee adolescent well-being. Additionally, this article discussed the changes that occurred in family research, shifting from studies that considered only the family structure to more recent studies that investigated family processes and contextual factors. Overall, the reviewed studies indicated that the quality of parent–adolescent relationship, the interparental conflict and the consequent spillover effect on the child subsystem, and the changes in the economic situation following parental separation/divorce override the effect of the family structure. Finally, this article pointed out the need to examine, in the future research, adolescent well-being across diverse families by adopting more fine-grained methodologies, collecting data from the entire family system, and using a multi-method assessment to obtain a more ecological view of family complexity.

Around forty years have passed since the first pioneering works have introduced the possibility of using quantum physics to strongly enhance communications safety. Nowadays Quantum Cryptography, and in particular, Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) exited the physics laboratories to become commercial technologies that increasingly trigger the attention of States, military forces, banks, and private corporations. This work takes on the challenge of bringing QKD closer to a consumer technology: optical fibers deployed and used by telecommunication companies of different States have been used to realize a quantum network, the first-ever connecting three different countries. This pushes towards the necessary coexistence of QKD and classical communications on the same infrastructure, which currently represents a main limit of this technology. Our network connects Trieste to Rijeka and Ljubljana via a trusted node in Postojna; a key rate of over 3 kbps has been achieved in the shortest link, and a 7-hour long measurement has demonstrated the system stability and reliability. Finally, the network has been used for a public demonstration of QKD at the G20 Digital Ministers' Meeting in Trieste. The reported experimental results, together with the significant interest that one of the most important events of international politics has attracted, showcase the maturity of the QKD technology bundle, placing it in the spotlight for consumer applications in the near term., Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures

Poetry elicits emotions, and emotion is a fundamental component of human ontogeny. Although neuroaesthetics is a rapidly developing field of research, few studies focus on poetry, and none address its different modalities of fruition (MOF) of universal cultural heritage works, such as the Divina Commedia (DC) poem. Moreover, alexithymia (AX) resulted in being a psychological risk factor during the Covid-19 pandemic. The present study aims to investigate the emotional response to poetry excerpts from different cantica (Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso) of DC with the dual objective of assessing the impact of both the structure of the poem and MOF and that of the characteristics of the acting voice in experts and non-experts, also considering AX. Online emotion facial coding biosignal (BS) techniques, self-reported and psychometric measures were applied to 131 literary (LS) and scientific (SS) university students. BS results show that LS globally manifest more JOY than SS in both reading and listening MOF and more FEAR towards Inferno. Furthermore, LS and SS present different results regarding NEUTRAL emotion about acting voice. AX influences listening in NEUTRAL and SURPRISE expressions. DC’s structure affects DISGUST and SADNESS during listening, regardless of participant characteristics. PLEASANTNESS varies according to DC’s structure and the acting voice, as well as AROUSAL, which is also correlated with AX. Results are discussed in light of recent findings in affective neuroscience and neuroaesthetics, suggesting the critical role of poetry and listening in supporting human emotional processing.

IntroductionThe present study aimed to evaluate the effects of the Active Communication Education (ACE) program on the social/emotional impacts of hearing loss (HL) in a group of older adults with a cochlear implant (CI).DesignProspective cohort study design, with a “within-subject” control procedure.Study SampleTwenty adults over-65 post-lingually deafened CI users. All subjects were required to be native Italian speakers, to have normal cognitive level, have no significant psychiatric conditions and/or diagnosed incident dementia, and used CI for at least 9 months.Materials and MethodsTwenty participants were assessed using the Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly (HHIE), the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), and the Speech, Spatial, and Qualities of Hearing Scale (SSQ) before, during, and after ACE program, with a one and 6-month follow up. The cognitive and audiological evaluation was carried out before commencing the ACE program.ResultsThe ACE program had a positive impact by reducing HL’s social/emotional effects. Participants benefited from a rehabilitative approach by improving multilevel skills: comprehension of audiological and hearing dimensions, acquisition of communicative, pragmatic and problem-solving strategies, and interaction and sharing of experiences with peers.ConclusionAlthough targeting the older adults with moderate HL, the ACE program also seemed to benefit older adult CI users. An improvement in social and emotional adaptation to hearing difficulties can, in turn, significantly promote optimal use of CI in the older adults, thereby possibly reducing the risk of losing motivation and engagement in device use and in rehabilitation protocols.

Cognitive reserve (CR), the brain's ability to cope with brain pathology to minimize symptoms, could explain the heterogeneity of outcomes in neuropsychiatric disorders, however it is still rarely investigated in schizophrenia. Indeed, this study aims to classify CR in this disorder and evaluate its impact on neurocognitive and socio-cognitive performance and daily functioning. A group of 106 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia was enrolled and assessed in these aereas: neurocognition, Theory of Mind (ToM) and daily functioning. A composite CR score was determined through an integration of the intelligence quotient and education and leisure activities. CR profiles were classified with a two-step cluster analysis and differences among clusters were determined with an analysis of variance (ANOVA). The cluster analysis was identified with three CR profiles characterized, respectively, by high, medium and low CR. ANOVA analysis showed significant differences on neurocognition, ToM and daily functioning between the clusters: people with higher CR reached significantly superior scores. This study suggests that greater general cognitive resources could act as a buffer against the effect of brain pathology, allowing patients to have a better cognitive performance, social outcome and quality of life.

Broadband, quantum-engineered, quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) are the most powerful chip-scale sources of optical frequency combs (FCs) across the mid-infrared and the terahertz (THz) frequency range. The inherently short intersubband upper state lifetime spontaneously allows mode proliferation, with large quantum efficiencies, as a result of the intracavity four-wave mixing. QCLs can be easily integrated with external elements or engineered for intracavity embedding of nonlinear optical components and can inherently operate as quantum detectors, providing an intriguing technological platform for on-chip quantum investigations at the nanoscale. The research field of THz FCs is extremely vibrant and promises major impacts in several application domains crossing dual-comb spectroscopy, hyperspectral imaging, time-domain nanoimaging, quantum science and technology, metrology and nonlinear optics in a miniaturized and compact architecture. Here, we discuss the fundamental physical properties and the technological performances of THz QCL FCs, highlighting the future perspectives of this frontier research field.

The neurophysiological analysis of cooperation has evolved over the past 20 years, moving towards the research of common patterns in neurophysiological signals of people interacting. Social physiological compliance (SPC) and hyperscanning represent two frameworks for the joint analysis of autonomic and brain signals, respectively. Each of the two approaches allows to know about a single layer of cooperation according to the nature of these signals: SPC provides information mainly related to emotions, and hyperscanning that related to cognitive aspects. In this work, after the analysis of the state of the art of SPC and hyperscanning, we explored the possibility to unify the two approaches creating a complete neurophysiological model for cooperation considering both affective and cognitive mechanisms We synchronously recorded electrodermal activity, cardiac and brain signals of 14 cooperative dyads. Time series from these signals were extracted, and multivariate Granger causality was computed. The results showed that only when subjects in a dyad cooperate there is a statistically significant causality between the multivariate variables representing each subject. Moreover, the entity of this statistical relationship correlates with the dyad’s performance. Finally, given the novelty of this approach and its exploratory nature, we provided its strengths and limitations.

We investigate ultracold collisions in a novel mixture of $^6$Li and $^{53}$Cr fermionic atoms, discovering more than 50 interspecies Feshbach resonances via loss spectroscopy. Building a full coupled-channel model, we unambiguously characterize the $^{6}$Li-$^{53}$Cr scattering properties and yield predictions for other isotopic pairs. In particular, we identify various Feshbach resonances that enable the controlled tuning of elastic $s$- and $p$-wave $^{6}$Li-$^{53}$Cr interactions. Our studies thus make lithium-chromium mixtures emerge as optimally-suited platforms for the experimental search of elusive few- and many-body regimes of highly-correlated fermionic matter, and for the realization of a new class of ultracold polar molecules possessing both electric and magnetic dipole moments., Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, 4 tables

We report on the realization of a novel degenerate mixture of ultracold fermionic lithium and chromium atoms. Based on an all-optical approach, with an overall duty-cycle of about 13 seconds, we produce large and degenerate samples of more than 2$\times 10^5$ $^6$Li atoms and $10^5$ $^{53}$Cr atoms, with both species exhibiting normalized temperatures of about $T/T_{F}$=0.25. Additionally, through the exploitation of a crossed bichromatic optical dipole trap, we can controllably vary the density and degree of degeneracy of the two components almost independently, and widely tune the lithium-to-chromium density ratio. Our $^{6}$Li-$^{53}$Cr Fermi mixture opens the way to the investigation of a variety of exotic few- and many-body regimes of quantum matter, and it appears as an optimally-suited system to realize ultracold paramagnetic polar molecules, characterized by both electric and magnetic dipole moments. Ultimately, our strategy also provides an efficient pathway to produce dipolar Fermi gases, or spin-mixtures, of ultracold $^{53}$Cr atoms., 14 pages, 5 figures

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A mesoscopic system of a few particles exhibits behaviors that strongly differ from those of a macroscopic system. While in a macroscopic system phase transitions are universal, a change in the state of a mesoscopic system depends on its specific properties, like the number of particles, to the point that changes of state can be disfavored for specific magic numbers. A transition that has no counterpart in the macroscopic world is orientational melting, in which localized particles with long-range repulsive interactions forming a two-dimensional crystal become delocalized in common circular or elliptical trajectories. Orientational melting has been studied extensively with computer simulations and witnessed in a few pioneering experiments. However, a detailed experimental investigation fully revealing its non-universal nature has been missing so far. Here we report the observation of orientational melting in a two-dimensional ensemble of up to 15 ions with repulsive Coulomb interaction. We quantitatively characterize orientational melting, and compare the results with a Monte Carlo simulation to extract the particles kinetic energy. We demonstrate the existence of magic numbers, and control locally the occurrence of melting by adding a pinning impurity. Our system realizes a fully-controllable experimental testbed for studying the thermodynamics of small systems, and our results pave the way for the study of quantum phenomena in systems of delocalized ions, from the emergence of quantum fluctuations and quantum statistics, to the control of multi-shell quantum rotors., Comment: 6+4 pages, 4+4 figures

This study investigated the psychological characteristics of online learning on Italian students with and without hearing loss (HL) and on their parents, who were forced into isolation during the Covid-19 pandemic. An online survey collected information on socio-demographic data and opinions concerning online learning from 61 children (mean age 11; 25 males, 36 females), including 43 with HL and also from their parents; additionally, school wellbeing and anxiety were assessed. The results showed that, in both the student and parent groups, no significant effect of HL on school wellbeing and anxiety was found. Additionally, in parents, State Anxiety was significantly higher than Trait Anxiety, suggesting one possible impact of lockdown on psychological wellbeing. Differences due to HL were observed and discussed in correlation analyses. The Authors believe that this study is the first contribution to the psychological evaluation of the impact of online learning on families with hearing-impaired children, from the perspective of a successful, inclusive didactic.

Exploration of specific brain areas involved in verbal working memory (VWM) is a powerful but not widely used tool for the study of different sensory modalities, especially in children. In this study, for the first time, we used electroencephalography (EEG) to investigate neurophysiological similarities and differences in response to the same verbal stimuli, expressed in the auditory and visual modality during the n-back task with varying memory load in children. Since VWM plays an important role in learning ability, we wanted to investigate whether children elaborated the verbal input from auditory and visual stimuli through the same neural patterns and if performance varies depending on the sensory modality. Performance in terms of reaction times was better in visual than auditory modality ( p = 0.008) and worse as memory load increased regardless of the modality ( p p = 0.021), along the midline ( p = 0.003), and on the left hemisphere ( p = 0.003). Differences in the effects of the two modalities were seen only in gamma band in the parietal cortices ( p = 0.009). The values of a brainwave-based engagement index, innovatively used here to test children in a dual-modality VWM paradigm, varied depending on n-back task level ( p = 0.001) and negatively correlated ( p = 0.002) with performance, suggesting its computational effectiveness in detecting changes in mental state during memory tasks involving children. Overall, our findings suggest that auditory and visual VWM involved the same brain cortical areas (frontal, parietal, occipital, and midline) and that the significant differences in cortical activation in theta band were more related to memory load than sensory modality, suggesting that VWM function in the child’s brain involves a cross-modal processing pattern.

BackgroundAfter a year from the emergence of COVID-19 in February 2020, between March and May 2021 Italy faced its third wave of infections. Previous studies have shown that in the first phases of the pandemic certain factors had a protective effect against distress. However, little is known regarding the role of possible protective variables after prolonged pandemic situa-tions.Material and methods454 Italian adults were asked questions regarding the intensity of mental states and emotions experienced, the perceived usefulness of lockdown, the feeling of living a normal life, and the coping strategies implemented to face the pandemic.ResultsOur findings indicate that the presence of acceptance attitudes toward restrictive measures and the implementation of rec-reational activities helped participants face a prolonged pandemic with positive emotions.ConclusionsThese results extend previous findings about the impact of several behavioral variables on individuals’ mental states and emotions experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy.

We study the onset of dissipation in an atomic Josephson junction between Fermi superfluids in the molecular Bose-Einstein condensation limit of strong attraction. Our simulations identify the critical population imbalance and the maximum Josephson current delimiting dissipationless and dissipative transport, in quantitative agreement with recent experiments. We unambiguously link dissipation to vortex ring nucleation and dynamics, demonstrating that quantum phase slips are responsible for the observed resistive current. Our work directly connects microscopic features with macroscopic dissipative transport, providing a comprehensive description of vortex ring dynamics in three-dimensional inhomogeneous constricted superfluids at zero and finite temperatures., Comment: To be published in PRL

A gas junction In superconductors, electrons form a macroscopic wave function that has a definite phase. If two superconductors with different wave function phases are placed in contact with each other through an insulating link, a current will flow through this so-called Josephson's junction without any external voltage. Luick et al. and Kwon et al. observed an analogous phenomenon in a setup that involved two reservoirs of superfluid Fermi gases. Both groups measured the so-called current-phase relation: the dependence of the magnitude of the current on the relative phase. By tuning an external magnetic field, they were able to study how the interactions between fermions affected the nature of the superfluid state. Science , this issue p. 89 , p. 84

Computer-assisted cognitive remediation (CACR) is a computer-based rehabilitation treatment aimed at improving cognition and at developing strategies that can be applied to various functional areas. Different protocols are currently used with great variability over the intensity and duration of treatments. In this study, we evaluated the effects of a brief and intensive CACR training (i.e., 15 sessions for 3 weeks) on cognitive domains, as well as the durability of cognitive gains and their generalization to functional areas, 3 months after CACR training. Thirty-eight patients with schizophrenia were recruited and assessed for psychopathology, cognitive performance, and functioning before the rehabilitative intervention. Patients were reassessed for cognition after CACR rehabilitation. Moreover, a subsample of 13 patients was evaluated for cognition and functioning 3 months after CACR completion. Results show significant improvements in multiple cognitive domains after CACR. Furthermore, 3 months after CACR completion, significant improvements were also detected in executive functions and daily functioning. This study suggests that a brief and intense CACR training is effective on cognitive and functional domains and that it could be feasible and affordable for health care services, thus offering patients the best options for fulfilling recovery goals.

During February and March 2020, the Italian government decided to provide guidelines in order to counter the spreading of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Several studies have shown that the first Lockdown deeply affected the psychological well-being of the individuals, but the role of possible protective variables is currently not known. In the present study we aimed to investigate the impact of several behavioral variables on individuals’ mental states and emotions experienced during the first Lockdown in Italy. Participants were 172 Italian adults and they were asked to answer several questions regarding the intensity of mental states and emotions experienced, the perceived usefulness of lockdown, the feeling of living a normal life, and the coping strategies implemented to face the pandemic. Results showed that, during the first wave of COVID-19 in Italy, only the perceived usefulness of lockdown positively affected people’s emotions. This result suggests that a better communication of the experimental findings supporting the political decisions made, and behavioral measures shaped to increase people’s commitment to the proposed rules are crucial in order to enhance people’s wellbeing. While this result is limited to the first wave and the first lockdown, future research should assess the role of rule acceptance and coping strategies in subsequent waves of COVID-19, and consequent partial or total lockdowns., Psychology Hub, Vol. 39 No. 1 (2022): Special Issue Effect of Covid-19 pandemic: vulnerability and resources. Part 2

Unilateral hearing loss constitutes a field of growing interest in the scientific community. In fact, this kind of patients represent a unique and physiological way to investigate how neuroplasticity overcame unilateral deafferentation by implementing particular strategies that produce apparently next- to- normal hearing behavioural performances. This explains why such patients have been underinvestigated for a long time. Thanks to the availability of techniques able to study the cerebral activity underlying the mentioned behavioural outcomes, the aim of the present research was to elucidate whether different electroencephalographic (EEG) patterns occurred in unilateral hearing loss (UHL) children in comparison to normal hearing (NH) controls during speech-in-noise listening. Given the intrinsic lateralized nature of such patients, due to the unilateral side of hearing impairment, the experimental question was to assess whether this would reflect a different EEG pattern while performing a word in noise recognition task varying the direction of the noise source. Results showed a correlation between the period of deafness and the cortical activity asymmetry toward the hearing ear side in the frontal, parietal and occipital areas in all the experimental conditions. Concerning alpha and beta activity in the frontal and central areas highlighted that in the NH group, the lateralization was always left-sided during the Quiet condition, while it was right-sided in noise conditions; this evidence was not, however, detected also in the UHL group. In addition, focusing on the theta and alpha activity in the frontal areas (Broca area) during noise conditions, while the activity was always left-lateralized in the NH group, it was ipsilateral to the direction of the background noise in the UHL group, and of a weaker extent than in NH controls. Furthermore, in noise conditions, only the UHL group showed a higher theta activity in the temporal areas ipsilateral to the side where the background noise was directed to. Finally, in the case of bilateral noise (background noise and word signal both coming from the same two sources), the theta and alpha activity in the frontal areas (Broca area) was left-lateralized in the case of the NH group and lateralized towards the side of the better hearing ear in the case of the UHL group. Taken together, this evidence supports the establishment of a particular EEG pattern occurrence in UHL children taking place in the frontal (Broca area), temporal and parietal lobes, probably physiologically established in order to deal with different sound and noise source directions.

Quantum entanglement is one of the most extraordinary effects in quantum physics, with many applications in the emerging field of quantum information science. In particular, it provides the foundation for quantum key distribution (QKD), which promises a conceptual leap in information security. Entanglement-based QKD holds great promise for future applications owing to the possibility of device-independent security and the potential of establishing global-scale quantum repeater networks. While other approaches to QKD have already reached the level of maturity required for operation in absence of typical laboratory infrastructure, comparable field demonstrations of entanglement-based QKD have not been performed so far. Here, we report on the successful distribution of polarization-entangled photon pairs between Malta and Sicily over 96 km of submarine optical telecommunications fiber. We observe around 257 photon pairs per second, with a polarization visibility above 90%. Our results show that QKD based on polarization entanglement is now indeed viable in long-distance fiber links. This field demonstration marks the longest-distance distribution of entanglement in a deployed telecommunications network and demonstrates an international submarine quantum communication channel. This opens up myriad possibilities for future experiments and technological applications using existing infrastructure., peer-reviewed

We experimentally demonstrate a multi-mode interferometer comprising a Bose-Einstein condensate of $^{39}$K atoms trapped in a harmonic potential, where the interatomic interaction can be cancelled exploiting Feshbach resonances. Kapitza-Dirac diffraction from an optical lattice coherently splits the BEC in multiple momentum components equally spaced that form different interferometric paths, closed by the trapping harmonic potential. We investigate two different interferometric schemes, where the recombination pulse is applied after a full or half oscillation in the confining potential. We find that the relative amplitudes of the momentum components at the interferometer output are sensitive to external forces, through the induced displacement of the harmonic potential with respect to the optical lattice. We show how to calibrate the interferometer, fully characterize its output and discuss perspective improvements., Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures

A large repulsion between particles in a quantum system can lead to their localization, as it happens for the electrons in Mott insulating materials. This paradigm has recently branched out into a new quantum state, the orbital-selective Mott insulator, where electrons in some orbitals are predicted to localize, while others remain itinerant. We provide a direct experimental realization of this phenomenon, that we extend to a more general flavour-selective localization. By using an atom-based quantum simulator, we engineer SU(3) Fermi-Hubbard models breaking their symmetry via a tunable coupling between flavours, observing an enhancement of localization and the emergence of flavour-dependent correlations. Our realization of flavour-selective Mott physics opens the path to the quantum simulation of multicomponent materials, from superconductors to topological insulators., Comment: Main Text: 5 pages, 4 figures. Supplementary Material: 6 pages, 6 figures

We report the experimental realization of a new kind of optical lattice for ultra-cold atoms where arbitrarily large separation between the sites can be achieved without renouncing to the stability of ordinary lattices. Two collinear lasers, with slightly different commensurate wavelengths and retroreflected on a mirror, generate a superlattice potential with a periodic "beat-note" profile where the regions with large amplitude modulation provide the effective potential minima for the atoms. To prove the analogy with a standard large spacing optical lattice we study Bloch oscillations of a Bose Einstein condensate with negligible interactions in the presence of a small force. The observed dynamics between sites separated by ten microns for times exceeding one second proves the high stability of the potential. This novel lattice is the ideal candidate for the coherent manipulation of atomic samples at large spatial separations and might find direct application in atom-based technologies like trapped atom interferometers and quantum simulators., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures

Smartphone misuse, also known as Nomophobia is the fear of not being able to consult your own mobile phone, of not being connected or traceable. During the Italian lockdown caused by COVID-19, while the use of technology was the fundamental basis of adaptation for smart working, school and professional training, leading to a change in the population's lifestyle, smartphone dependency caused impaired social relationships. To date, the impact of smartphone dependency in men and women is unclear. We conducted this study with the hypothesis that a period of lockdown fosters the growth of a pathological use of the cell phone different in women and men.The purpose of this work is to investigate gender differences in the level of smartphone dependency in teens and adults during the COVID-19 lockdown period.The NoMobilePhobia-Questionnaire (NMP-Q) was presented online to 1264 participants between the ages of 15 and 67.The results show no significant main effects for the two factors taken into account (Gender and Age of participants). However, the significant interaction shows that female participants reported on average higher scores on NMP-Q than males, [FOne of the "positive" aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic is the use of the Internet and smartphones, and our analysis aimed to document the frequency of use in the Italian context with the NMP-Q. However, we can also conclude that this research is relevant because it can give us a glimpse of the relationship between dependency and mental issues. The results reveal the risk in some of the Italian population of developing forms of smartphone dependency, especially in circumstances that prohibit direct social interactions.

Background: Nomophobia (no-mobile-phobia or Disconnection Syndrome) is the fear of not being able to consult your mobile phone, not being connected or traceable. This is an addiction to excessive smartphone usage related to the constant need to consult it to view notifications and updates. Like other forms of addiction, nomophobia is associated with excessive behaviors that lead to an increasing use of the phone to the point where it cannot do without it and the need to take it with it to any place or circumstance. The fear of not being connected consequently evokes reactions of excessive anxiety with specific physiological related (e.g., breathlessness, sweating, tremor, heart acceleration, sweating etc.). Nomophobia, however, is not included in anxiety disorders but is part of the pathological addictions to which it responds adequately. In fact, there are many behavioral and emotional analogies with other forms of addiction (including gambling) so the hypothesis that the abuse of the smartphone should be categorized as a real addiction can be accepted. The dependencies associated with the Internet and technologies that can be defined Dependencies 2.0, include the smartphone. During the Italian lockdown caused by COVID-19, the use of technologies has been the fundamental basis of adaptation for smart working, school and professional training, which has led to a change in the population lifestyle. Objective: The purpose of this work is to document the level of smartphone dependence that has occurred during the COVID-19 lockdown period. Material and Methods: The NoMobilePhobia-Questionnaire (NMP-Q) was presented online to 1264 participants between the ages of 15 and 60. With regard to the selection of participants, approximately between the ages of 15 and 60, we used the method of random numbers: in fact, one participant for every hundred inhabitants was chosen in a randomized way. Finally, it was necessary for all participants to have access to the Internet. These dynamics have been acquitted in order to give us a valid representative sample. Results: The results show no significant main effects for the two factors taken into account (Gender and Age of participants). However the significant interaction shows that female participants reported on average higher scores on NoMobilePhobia-Questionnaire (NMP-Q) than males , for the younger age group (15 to 44), while for those over the age of 44, the average highest scores were for male participants. The main effects of the "Sex" factor [F(1,1256)= 3.179 and p=0.75] and "Age_class" [F(4,1253)=1.82 and p=0.12] are not significant; the interaction between the Sex-Age_class factors is significant with F(4,1253) =7.06 and p

Tobacco addiction is one of the biggest health emergencies in the world, Antismoking Public Service Announcements (PSAs) represent the main public tool against smoking; however, smoking-related cues (SCs) often included in PSAs can trigger ambiguous cerebral reactions that could impact the persuasiveness and efficacy of the antismoking message. This study aimed to investigate the electroencephalographic (EEG) response in adult smokers and non-smokers during the exposure to SCs presented in antismoking PSAs video, in order to identify eventual neurophysiological features of SCs' 'boomerang effect' elicited in smokers. EEG frontal Alpha asymmetry and frontal Theta were analyzed in 92 adults (30 no smokers, 31 low smokers, 31 high smokers) from EEG recorded during the vision of 3 antismoking PSAs, statistical analysis was conducted using ANOVA. Main results showed a significant interaction between smoking cue condition (Pre and Post) and smoking habit (in particular for female heavy smokers) for the frontal Alpha asymmetry. Since the relative higher right frontal Alpha activity is associated with approach towards a stimulus, it is suggested that the relative left frontal Alpha increase in response to SCs might reflect an appetitive approach in response to it. In the light of the Incentive Sensitization Theory, this pattern can be interpreted as a neurophysiological signal in response to SCs that could undermine the message's effectiveness contributing to the maintenance of the addiction.

BackgroundAbnormal placentation plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of obstetric morbidity in antiphospholipid antibodies syndrome (APS). Placenta is the main target of aPL in obstetric APS, inducing placental thrombosis, inflammatory response and placental dysfunction.Standard treatment for APS patients during pregnancy includes low-dose aspirin (LDA) plus low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) and, in refractory cases, additional therapies such as hydroxychloroquine (HCQ).A systematic review of the literature has found five main pathological lesions in the placenta of APS patients: placental infarction, decidual vasculopathy, decidual inflammation, increase of syncytial knots due to syncytiotrophoblast death, and decrease in vasculosyncytial membranes.ObjectivesTo analyze placental histology in a group of 23 spontaneously conceived pregnancies in patients with definite APS prospectively followed in a single Italian reference center.MethodsWe analyzed 25 placenta in 23 spontaneously conceived pregnancies in patients with definite APS prospectively followed in the ‘Pregnancy at risk’ multidisciplinary outpatient clinics at San Raffaele Hospital, Milan, Italy from January 2017 to May 2021. During each trimester of gestation, ultrasonography with Uterine artery Doppler velocimetry was performed. Histological analysis of the placenta was carried out after delivery and placental tissues were examined for the main aforementioned histopathological findings. Statistical relations among clinical and ultrasound evaluations during each trimester, therapeutic approach and placental histology were performed.Results19/25 (76%) patients had primary APS, while 6 patients had APS secondary to SLE. All patients were treated with LDA and LMWH. HCQ was added in a group of patients with concomitant systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) or in refractory APS. Mean placental weight was 441 ± 129 grams. Histological analysis of placental tissues revealed increased syncytial knots in 17/25 (68%) placenta, decreased vasculosyncytial membranes in 11/25 (44%), infarction in 8/25 (32%), presence of macrophages and decidual inflammation in 2/25 (8%), and atherosis or reduction of spiral arteries remodelling in 3/25 (12%) placenta. Moreover, we observed at least 2 concomitant placental lesions in 12/25 (48%) placentas.No statistical association between mean UtA-PI values and the number and type of placental lesions described at the histologic analysis were observed. We found a positive correlation between mean titer of aCL IgG, aβ2GPI IgG, aPS/PT IgM and/or aPS/PT IgG and number of placental lesions, and a significant association between aPS/PT IgM and/or IgG mean titer and presence of infarcted areas at placental histology. Moreover, in the placenta of patients treated with HCQ we did not observe any decidual inflammation at histology.ConclusionIn our study we found some important clinical-pathological correlations between placental histology, clinical evaluations, ultrasound assessments and treatment received during pregnancy. Specifically, it is tempting to speculate that HCQ may have beneficial effects on pregnancy by decreasing the risk of deciduitis in patients with APS.Further studies on larger numbers of placenta in APS patients will be needed to confirm our findings.References[1]Viall CA, Chamley LW. Histopathology in the placentae of women with antiphospholipid antibodies: A systematic review of the literature. Autoimmun Rev. 2015 May;14(5):446-71.Disclosure of InterestsNone declared

BackgroundOur study supports that treatment with glucocorticoids at medium-high doses during pregnancy adversely affects pregnancy outcome with an increased risk of both APO and birth of SGA infants. These data can be related to a direct role of the drug in determining maternal-fetal outcome and to the presence of an incomplete control over disease activity. The comparison between pregnancies followed before 2010 and since 2010 conducted in our study shows that the introduction of drugs such as hydroxychloroquine and azathioprine from the beginning of the pregnancy can reduces the frequency of APO in general. These medications could represent a safety therapeutic strategy both for the mother and for the fetus in order to control autoimmune disease during pregnancy and minimize the occurrence of complications. Further studies on larger numbers of placenta in APS patients will be needed to confirm our findings.ObjectivesTo investigate whether treatment in SLE patients during pregnancy may influence the occurrence of APO events and, in particular, the birth of SGA infants.MethodsWe performed a monocentric observational study in SLE pregnant patients prospectively followed at the ‘Pregnancy at risk’ multidisciplinary outpatient clinics at San Raffaele Hospital, Milan, Italy from January 2003 to June 2021. We collected data from 79 pregnancies in 58 patients with a diagnosis of SLE.Results13/79 (16%) pregnancies ended in a spontaneous abortion. In the other 66/79 (84%) APOs occurred in 29/66 (44%) pregnancies. 17 of the 66 (26%) pregnancies that did not end in spontaneous abortion ended with the birth of SGA infants. Glucocorticoid treatment at medium-high doses (e.i. prednisone ≥ 5 mg) was associated to an increased risk for APO (OR 4.431, p-value 0.018) and for the birth of SGA infants (OR 4.401, p-value 0.019). Preterm delivery (7/43, 16% versus 7/23, 30%), hypertension and/or preeclampsia (4/43, 9% versus 5/23, 22%) were observed with low incidence in pregnancy followed since 2010 than before 2010, even if without reaching statistical significance.ConclusionOur study supports that treatment with glucocorticoids at medium-high doses during pregnancy adversely affects pregnancy outcome with an increased risk of both APO and birth of SGA infants. These data can be related to a direct role of the drug in determining maternal-fetal outcome and to the presence of an incomplete control over disease activity. The comparison between pregnancies followed before 2010 and since 2010 conducted in our study shows that the introduction of drugs such as hydroxychloroquine and azathioprine from the beginning of the pregnancy can reduces the frequency of APO in general. These medications could represent a safety therapeutic strategy both for the mother and for the fetus in order to control autoimmune disease during pregnancy and minimize the occurrence of complications. Further studies on larger numbers of placenta in APS patients will be needed to confirm our findings.References[1]Moroni, G. & Ponticelli, C. Pregnancy in women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Eur. J. Intern. Med. 32, 7–12 (2016).[2]Palmsten, K., Simard, J. F., Chambers, C. D. & Arkema, E. V. Medication use among pregnant women with systemic lupus erythematosus and general population comparators. Rheumatol. (United Kingdom) 56, 561–569 (2017).Disclosure of InterestsNone declared