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SiC MOSFETs have already replaced silicon-based device in power applications, even if some technological issues are still not solved. Among others, the complex traps distribution at SiC/SiO2 interface is of foremost importance. Interface traps affect the overall device behavior, modifying channel mobility and introducing hysteresis. In this work, the capacitance behavior, when the Drain terminal is floating, is studied through numerical analysis. The effects of traps distribution and its properties on such curves has been studied along with temperature effects. Experimental curves are carried out at various temperatures and compared to the same trends of numerical results.

SiC MOSFETs have already replace silicon-based device in power applications, even if some technological issues are still not solved. The most important of them is related to the complex traps distribution at SiC/SiO2 interface. Interface traps affect the overall device behavior, modifying channel mobility and introducing hysteresis. In this work experimental C-V and I-V curves are carried out on various commercial SiC MOSFET at different temperatures. The focus is the comparison of hysteresis arising in trench and planar SiC MOSFETs.

Children and adolescents with neurodevelopmental disorders generally show adaptive, cognitive and motor skills impairments associated with behavioral problems, i.e., alterations in attention, anxiety and stress regulation, emotional and social relationships, which strongly limit their quality of life. This narrative review aims at providing a critical overview of the current knowledge in the field of serious games (SGs), known as digital instructional interactive videogames, applied to neurodevelopmental disorders. Indeed, a growing number of studies is drawing attention to SGs as innovative and promising interventions in managing neurobehavioral and cognitive disturbs in children with neurodevelopmental disorders. Accordingly, we provide a literature overview of the current evidence regarding the actions and the effects of SGs. In addition, we describe neurobehavioral alterations occurring in some specific neurodevelopmental disorders for which a possible therapeutic use of SGs has been suggested. Finally, we discuss findings obtained in clinical trials using SGs as digital therapeutics in neurodevelopment disorders and suggest new directions and hypotheses for future studies to bridge the gaps between clinical research and clinical practice.

This manuscript introduces a compact electrothermal model for SiC power MOSFETs that can be easily scaled to devices of different voltage ratings. The model is implemented as a subcircuit containing mainly SPICE native components. Both the static and dynamic performance can be tuned by adjusting a small set of parameters. The model is validated on 1.7 kV-60 A-rated devices.

SND@LHC is a compact and stand-alone experiment designed to perform measurements with neutrinos produced at the LHC in the pseudo-rapidity region of ${7.2 < \eta < 8.4}$. The experiment is located 480 m downstream of the ATLAS interaction point, in the TI18 tunnel. The detector is composed of a hybrid system based on an 830 kg target made of tungsten plates, interleaved with emulsion and electronic trackers, also acting as an electromagnetic calorimeter, and followed by a hadronic calorimeter and a muon identification system. The detector is able to distinguish interactions of all three neutrino flavours, which allows probing the physics of heavy flavour production at the LHC in the very forward region. This region is of particular interest for future circular colliders and for very high energy astrophysical neutrino experiments. The detector is also able to search for the scattering of Feebly Interacting Particles. In its first phase, the detector will operate throughout LHC Run 3 and collect a total of 250 $\text{fb}^{-1}$., Comment: 57 pages. To be published in JINST

Background A Covid-19 outbreak developed in Lombardy, Veneto and Emilia-Romagna (Italy) at the end of February 2020. Fear of an imminent saturation of available ICU beds generated the notion that rationing of intensive care resources could have been necessary. Results In order to evaluate the impact of Covid-19 on the ICU capacity to manage critically ill patients, we performed a retrospective analysis of the first 2 weeks of the outbreak (February 24–March 8). Data were collected from regional registries and from a case report form sent to participating sites. ICU beds increased from 1545 to 1989 (28.7%), and patients receiving respiratory support outside the ICU increased from 4 (0.6%) to 260 (37.0%). Patients receiving respiratory support outside the ICU were significantly older [65 vs. 77 years], had more cerebrovascular (5.8 vs. 13.1%) and renal (5.3 vs. 10.0%) comorbidities and less obesity (31.4 vs. 15.5%) than patients admitted to the ICU. PaO2/FiO2 ratio, respiratory rate and arterial pH were higher [165 vs. 244; 20 vs. 24 breath/min; 7.40 vs. 7.46] and PaCO2 and base excess were lower [34 vs. 42 mmHg; 0.60 vs. 1.30] in patients receiving respiratory support outside the ICU than in patients admitted to the ICU, respectively. Conclusions Increase in ICU beds and use of out-of-ICU respiratory support allowed effective management of the first 14 days of the Covid-19 outbreak, avoiding resource rationing.

Objectives To assess the extent to which food items are a source of extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) -producing Escherichia coli (ESBL-Ec) and ESBL-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae (ESBL-Kp) for humans in five European cities. Methods We sampled 122 human polluted (hp)-environments (sewers and polluted rivers, as a proxy of human contamination) and 714 food items in Besancon (France), Geneva (Switzerland), Sevilla (Spain), Tubingen (Germany) and Utrecht (The Netherlands). A total of 254 ESBL-Ec and 39 ESBL-Kp isolates were cultured. All genomes were fully sequenced to compare their sequence types (ST) and core genomes, along with the distribution of blaESBL genes and their genetic supports (i.e. chromosome or plasmid). Results Sequence data revealed that ESBL-Ec and ESBL-Kp isolates from hp-environments were genetically different from those contaminating food items. ESBL-Ec ST131 was widespread in the hp-environment (21.5% of the isolates) but absent from the food items tested. ESBL-Ec ST10 was in similar proportions in hp-environments and food items (15 and 10 isolates, respectively) but mostly carried reservoir-specific blaESBL. blaCTX-M-1 and blaSHV-12 predominated in food-related E. coli isolates (32% and 34% of the isolates, respectively), whereas blaCTX-M-15 and blaCTX-M-27 predominated in isolates from hp-environments (52% and 15% of the isolates, respectively). Conclusions We found a very limited connection between ESBL-Ec and ESBL-Kp populations retrieved in food items and from hp-environments and blaESBL. This suggests that human-to-human contamination, rather than the food chain, is possibly the most frequent route of ESBL-Ec and ESBL-Kp transmission in high-income countries.

This chapter is about the use of innovative statistical methodologies for the design of robust and reliable power modules (PM), based on the inclusion of device characteristics and their inevitable spread among components from the same manufacturing lot, as well as unbalances associated with module layout and interconnections.

Phantom Phone Signal (PPS) refers to the false perception of a mobile phone ringing, vibrating and blinking, when in fact it did not. A recent literature about PPS is growing, parallel to an increasing interest about its possible psychopathological implications. The present review aims to synthesize the current knowledge about the phenomenon, and to present a conceptual framework that integrates PPS as a putative index of psychopathology. Furthermore, we propose possible directions for further research. The phenomenon seems highly prevalent, irrespective of age and gender, although estimates are still inconsistent. We have analysed possible factors associated to PPS, disentangling them in person-related (i.e. characteristics of individuals who experience PPS) and phone use-related factors (i.e., time spent using the phone, time of the mobile in vibrating mode, the carrying location of the device, average number of call/message in a day, etc). Literature regarding the association between PPS and mental illness is limited, as most of the samples are not clinical and too sectorial. Preliminary data suggest that anxiety/depression and stress-related problems seem to be the psychopathological background favouring the experience of PPS. Despite PPS is a common phenomenon, it usually do not seem to significantly impact the people's quality of life. However, they deserve attention, given the huge diffusion of phone mobiles, particularly in children and adolescents, as it may be an index for emotional or stress-related difficulties. Future studies are needed to better clarify its frequency and its possible impact on everyday life. Studies in clinical samples may further clarify its psychopathological implications.

Italy was a participating country in the People’s Health Movement multi-centred action-research project (Civil Society Engagement for Health for All). The Italian team, a collective named Grup-pa, undertook several participatory action-research activities including, in a first phase, a mapping of groups active in fields linked to the social determination of health and health promotion, through individual and collective interviews. In a second phase, three public workshops, structured around the exchange of practices, focused on key themes emerged from phase one.A major construct originated from this work, centred around the co-construction of experiential knowledge on health as a commons, has been named ‘health commons practices’. The focus on practices is not merely strategic (producing synergies and alliances), but inherently political (conceiving participation as a value) and connected to health and staying healthy (as individuals; as a community).The construct of ‘health commons practices’ is meant to make visible an area of ongoing transformations in new spaces created by movements and in more traditional actions in defence of existing public services, addressing health as a socio-political issue. In this essay, we sketch the reflection around six keywords that are central to it: commons, care, technology, efficacy, sustainability, institution.

The exponential increase in cases of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM), particularly in developing countries, is combined with the progressive failure of healthcare facilities to provide adequate assistance.

The monophyletic family Zhangsolvidae comprises stout‐bodied brachyceran flies with a long proboscis and occurring only in the Cretaceous, originally known in shale from the Early Cretaceous Laiyang Formation (Fm.) in China (Zhangsolva Nagatomi and Yang), subsequently from limestones of the Early Cretaceous Crato Fm. of Brazil. Cratomyoides Wilkommen is synonymized with Cratomyia Mazzarolo and Amorim, both from the Crato Fm.; Cratomyiidae is synonymized with Zhangsolvidae. Two genera and three species of Zhangsolvidae are described: Buccinatormyia magnifica Arillo, Peñalver and Pérez‐de la Fuente, gen. et sp.n. and B. soplaensis Arillo, Peñalver and Pérez‐de la Fuente, sp.n., in Albian amber from Las Peñosas Fm. in Spain; and Linguatormyia teletacta Grimaldi, gen. et sp.n., in Upper Albian–Lower Cenomanian amber from Hukawng Valley in Myanmar. Buccinatormyia soplaensis and Linguatormyia teletacta are unique among all Brachycera, extant or extinct, by their remarkably long, flagellate antennae, about 1.6× the body length in the latter species. A phylogenetic analysis of 52 morphological characters for 35 taxa is presented, 11 taxa being Cretaceous species, which supports placement of the family within Stratiomyomorpha, although not to any particular family within the infraorder.

The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake. The name of the seventh author was incorrectly listed as Gabriella Maria Casella De Angelis, when it is actually Gabriella Maria Cusella De Angelis. The correct information is as shown above. The original article was corrected.

The mouse excisional dorsal full-thickness wound model with a silicon splint fixed on the skin has been widely used to mimic human wound healing. However, the method cannot accurately quantify dermal remodeling, since the initial point of epithelialization on the wound surface is unclear. To overcome this limitation, we have developed a novel mouse excisional wound model to assess the degree of epithelial extension and regeneration, using a plastic ring-shaped splint fixed beneath the surrounding epidermal tissue. At the end of the experiment, tissue samples were fixed in formalin, the splint was excised, and paraffin sections were prepared. Splint holes, corresponding to the prior location of the splint, were evident on the tissue cross-sections, and the epidermis above the holes was considered the initial excision site. The epidermal contraction and epithelial regeneration, as independent essential tissue alterations in wound healing, could be distinguishable and quantified. Compared with previous splint models, this method provides an accurate evaluation of epidermal processes in wound healing, and can be a platform to assess the effects of various wound healing factors. J. Cell. Physiol. 232: 1225–1232, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. The mouse excisional dorsal full-thickness wound model with a silicon splint fixed on the skin has been widely used to mimic human wound healing. However, the method cannot accurately quantify dermal remodeling, since the initial point of epithelialization on the wound surface is unclear. To overcome this limitation, we have developed a novel mouse excisional wound model to assess the degree of epithelial extension and regeneration, using a plastic ring-shaped splint fixed beneath the surrounding epidermal tissue. At the end of the experiment, tissue samples were fixed in formalin, the splint was excised, and paraffin sections were prepared. Splint holes, corresponding to the prior location of the splint, were evident on the tissue cross-sections, and the epidermis above the holes was considered the initial excision site. The epidermal contraction and epithelial regeneration, as independent essential tissue alterations in wound healing, could be distinguishable and quantified. Compared with previous splint models, this method provides an accurate evaluation of epidermal processes in wound healing, and can be a platform to assess the effects of various wound healing factors. J. Cell. Physiol. 232: 1225–1232, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

This paper investigates the effect of negative gate bias voltage (VGS) on the avalanche breakdown robustness of commercial state-of-the-art silicon carbide (SiC) power MOSFETs. The device’s ability to withstand energy dissipation during avalanche regime is a connoting figure of merit for all applications requiring load dumping and/or benefiting from snubber-less converter design. The superior material properties of SiC material means that SiC MOSFETs even at 1200V exhibit significant intrinsic avalanche robustness.

After the first mainshock of the 2016 Central Italy seismic sequence, several Italian Institutions (under the umbrella of the Italian Center for Seismic Microzonation; http://www.centromicrozonazionesismica.it) conducted a preparatory survey to seismic microzonation of the Amatrice municipality, badly affected by the Mw 6.0 Amatrice earthquake of August 24. Despite the difficulties due to the heavily damaged investigated area and the winter weather condition, a large amount of different data were gathered in a very short time: (i) geological and geomorphological surveys (field trip and photo-geological interpretation), (ii) geophysical measurements (noise single-station and arrays, geoelectric, seismic refraction, MASW), and (iii) continuous seismic recordings from temporary network. In particular, 35 seismic stations were installed from half-September to early-December in an area of 170 km2, equipped with both velocimeter and accelerometer. They recorded thousands of earthquakes, including the Mw 6.5 of October 30, 2016; the continuous data will be organized in the EIDA repository (http://www.orfeuseu.org/data/eida) through the INGV EIDA-node. The sites selection was performed according to the following criteria: representativeness of the geological conditions of 26 hamlets that experienced a damage level greater than VII MCS degree, optimization of the network geometry for array analysis, redundancy of bedrock reference sites, safety and accessibility. The photo-geology and the field investigations allowed the realization of a detailed geological-technical map of the area, characterized by peculiar features, namely the distinction between bedrock and Quaternary deposits (alluvial deposits and terraces, alluvial fans, landslides) and morpho-structural features (faults, folds, bedding attitude). Preliminary results allowed also the evaluation of the velocity models that show surface shear wave velocities (Vs) ranging from 200 m/s to 600 m/s. Data analysis of seismic recordings (earthquakes and noise) indicate peculiar amplification effect in several hamlets and in the village of Amatrice itself, even though the correlation with geology is not always straightforward.

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Aircraft structures, likely to be subjected to bird strike, have to satisfy a series of requirements defined in terms of structural resistance. One of the most critical areas of the aircraft is the leading edge of the wing. The main requirements states that birds should not penetrate the leading edge of a wing or, in case of penetration, no critical damage should be induced to the front spar. Certification for bird strike is mainly achieved by experimental test, but numerical simulations provide an invaluable tool to evaluate designs and to reduce the cost of the experimental programme. However, numerical simulations must be able to predict very large structural deformations, including the case of complete bird’s penetration of the aircraft leading edge. In a collaborative research project between universities and industrial partners, an aircraft wing leading edge structures with a fiber-metal laminate (FML) skin was designed with the help of finite element analysis, subsequently built, and then subjected to bird strike tests. The study was driven by the industrial demand to improve the design rules necessary for the preliminary evaluation of the structural response of a leading edge of a new aircraft, when subject to bird strike. Several configuration of a one-bay component of a typical wing leading edge was prepared and tested at Alenia plant. Various materials, lay-up distribution and boundary conditions were investigated. Analysis of the suitable sensor distribution was also additionally performed for the best possible numerical correlation approach. The numerical finite element simulations were performed using the commercial explicit integration code MSc/Dytran. The paper describes the basic assumptions of the analyses, i.e. bird properties, composite failure modes, and the way in which the simulations have been carried out in an industrial environment. Preliminary numerical simulations were able to predict that the bird did not penetrate the leading edge skin. The simulations included the leading edge and the structure supporting the test article. The final correlation between numerical and experimental showed that good correlation was achieved, in terms of global structural behaviour of the test article, confirming the validity of the approach.

Durban, South Africa

Cystatin B was first described as an inhibitor of the cysteine family of proteases. Its biochemical properties have been studied in depth, the crystal structure of the protein has been determined and its enzymatic activity characterized. However, evidence from the literature suggests that cystatin B has alternative functions in addition to the inhibition of proteases. In this review we will discuss the results obtained from a number of laboratories, which detail such novel biological roles for cystatin B. In particular, we will discuss some of the pathologies involving the absence or presence of the protein. We will briefly summarize the function and structure of the protein, its possible involvement in tumoural growth and apoptosis, neurodegenerative diseases and immune response. The expression and cellular localization of cystatin B will be analyzed in different cell types and in developing rat cerebellum. The pattern will be matched to the expression of newly identified proteins that specifically interact with cystatin B. On the basis of all the experimental evidence we aim to propose a cytoplasmic function for cystatin B not necessarily related to its anti-protease activity.

Three epidemiologically independent Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates, representative of the first VIM-1 metallo-beta-lactamase producers detected at three different hospitals in northern Italy, were investigated to determine their genomic relatedness and to compare the structures of the genetic supports for the VIM-1 determinants. The three isolates, all of serotype O11, appeared to be clonally related according to the results of genotyping by macrorestriction analysis of genomic DNA by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and random amplification of polymorphic DNA. Investigation of the genetic support for the bla(VIM-1) determinant revealed that it was carried on identical or almost identical integrons (named In70.2 and In70.3) located within a conserved genomic context. The integrons were structurally related to In70 and In110, two plasmid-borne bla(VIM-1)-containing integrons from Achromobacter xylosoxidans and Pseudomonas putida isolates, respectively, from the same geographic area (northern Italy) and were found to be inserted close to the res site of a Tn5051-like transposon, different from any of those described previously, that was apparently carried on the bacterial chromosome. The present findings suggest that the three VIM-1-producing isolates are members of the same clonal complex which have been spreading in hospitals in northern Italy since the late 1990s and point to a common ancestry of their bla(VIM-1)-containing integrons.

We have investigated the intranuclear distribution of High-mobility group proteins I/Y by means of immunofluorescent staining employing a variety of cell lines. Confocal scanning laser microscopy analysis revealed that High-mobility group proteins I/Y are present in an intranuclear fibrogranular network and mitotic chromosomes. In Caski, C4I, Flow 2002, and K562 cell lines, High-mobility group proteins I/Y were absent from nucleoli, whereas in HeLa cells they were present in this nuclear domain. Double immunolabeling studies showed that High-mobility group proteins I/Y co-localize with other key nuclear components such as NuMA, SC-35, and TAF(II)70. Nuclear reactivity for High-mobility group proteins I/Y dramatically decreased in apoptotic nuclei of HL-60 human leukemia cells. Our morphological data correlate well with previous biochemical and functional findings obtained by other investigators, who have demonstrated multiple roles for this class of polypeptides. However, they point to the likelihood that High-mobility group proteins I/Y are involved in as yet unidentified functions, most likely in the speckle domains of the nucleus. They also show that conceivably these proteins are also involved in apoptosis.

The Cornell University Life Sciences Core Laboratories Center (CLC) provides an array of genomics, proteomics, imaging and informatics shared research resources and services to the university community and to outside investigators. The CLC includes fee-for-service research, technology testing and development, and educational components. The Center has seven core facilities, including genomics (DNA sequencing, genotyping, and microarrays), epigenomics, proteomics and mass spectrometry, microscopy and imaging, bioinformatics, bio-IT, and advanced technology assessment. The CLC is part of a New York State designated Center for Advanced Technology in Life Science Enterprise. The mission of the CLC is to promote research in the life sciences with advanced technologies in a shared resource environment. Use of the CLC resources and services is steadily increasing due to the growth in the number and types of cores in the center, to the expansion of existing services and the implementation of new core technologies, and to the coordinated integration and synergy of services between the CLC cores. Multidisciplinary support for multi-functional instrument platforms is implemented by integrated operations of the CLC core facilities. Investigators are offered coordinated project consultations with the directors and staff of all relevant cores during the design, data production and analysis phases of their projects. The CLC is involved in establishing and supporting multidisciplinary research projects that involve both intercampus initiatives and multi-institutional collaborations. With a concentration of advanced instrumentation and expertise in their applications, the CLC is a key resource for life sciences research.