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The 188Re radioisotope represents a useful radioisotope for the preparation of radiopharmaceuticals for therapeutic applications, particularly because of its favorable nuclear properties. The nuclide decay pattern is through the emission of a principle beta particle having 2.12 MeV maximum energy, which is enough to penetrate and destroy abnormal tissues, and principle gamma rays (Eγ=155 keV), which can efficiently be used for imaging and calculations of radiation dose. 188Re may be conveniently produced by 188W/188Re generator systems. The challenges related to the double neutron capture reaction route to provide only modest yield of the parent 188W radionuclide indeed have been one of the major issues about the use of 188Re in nuclear medicine. Since the specific activity of 188W used in the generator is relatively low (

Following preliminary feasibility studies which started at Legnaro National Laboratories (LNL) in 2011, the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN) research activities are underway aiming at the alternative, accelerator-driven, Mo99/Tc99m production routes. One of the most promising approaches is to use 100Mo-enriched (i.e., >99%) molybdenum metallic targets, bombarded with high-beam-current, high-energy proton cyclotrons. In order to get a comprehensive map of radionuclides expected, a detailed theoretical investigation has been carried out using the TALYS-TENDL 2012 excitation functions extended up to (p,6n), (p,p5n), and (p,2p4n) levels. A series of quality parameters have thus been calculated both at the end of beam (EOB) and at longer times. Results point out that accelerator-99Mo is of limited interest for a possible massive production because of the quite low specific activity with respect to reactor-99Mo. Accelerator-Tc99m quality parameters (i.e., radionuclidic purity (RNP), isotopic purity (IP), and specific activities) calculated are instead quite close to the generator-Tc. Calculations at 15, 20, and 25 MeV have thus been performed to assess the best operative irradiation condition for Tc99m production while minimizing both the short-lived and long-lived Tc contaminant radionuclides. Although present in minimum quantities, Tc contaminants may indeed have an impact either on the pharmaceutical labeling procedures or on contributing to patient radiation dose during the diagnostic procedures.

At Legnaro laboratories of the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN), a feasibility study has started since 2011 related to accelerated-based direct production of by the 100Mo(p,2n) reaction. Both theoretical investigations and some recent preliminary irradiation tests on 100Mo-enriched samples have pointed out that both the / ratio and the specific activity will be basically different in the final accelerator-produced Tc with respect to generator-produced one, which might affect the radiopharmaceutical procedures. The aim of this work was to evaluate the possible impact of different / isomeric ratios on the preparation of different Tc-labeled pharmaceutical kits. A set of measurements with , eluted from a standard 99Mo/ generator, was performed, and results on both radiochemical purity and stability studies (following the standard quality control procedures) are reported for a set of widely used pharmaceuticals (i.e., -Sestamibi, -ECD, -MAG3, -DTPA, -MDP, -HMDP, -nanocolloids, and -DMSA). These pharmaceuticals have been all reconstituted with either the first [O4]− eluate obtained from a 99Mo/ generator (coming from two different companies) or eluates after 24, 36, 48, and 72 hours from last elution. Results show that the radiochemical purity and stability of these radiopharmaceuticals were not affected up to the value of 11.84 for the / ratio.

Radar studies of the plasma irregularities produced by meteoroid ablation provide a powerful diagnostic probe of the Earth's atmosphere. This role is especially important as an inexpensive route for studying several atmospheric processes in comparison with other remote sensing techniques or satellite measurements. Ozone concentration has been indirectly measured in the upper mesosphere/lower thermosphere region by the BLM (Bologna-Lecce-Modra) Forward Scatter (FS) meteor radar by the detection of meteoroids interacting with the Earth's atmosphere. Results of variations of mesospheric ozone concentration at different height levels and time scales were deduced in 1992-2000 from the cumulative duration distributions of overdense echoes. Data of the BLM radar obtained in the last millennium decade confi rm the existence of a secondary ozone layer at atmospheric heights of 85-90 km and show a gradual yearly depletion of the ozone content, similarly to the decrease measured in the eighties by the Solar Mesosphere Explorer (SME) satellite throughout consecutive years (Rusch et al., 1990). Radio observations show in addition large seasonal variations at middle latitudes where the abundance at a secondary ozone maximum at 85-90 km is found to be as much as a factor of two higher in spring months than that in summer months.

We investigate the quantum phases of hard-core dipolar bosons confined to a square lattice in a bilayer geometry. Using exact theoretical techniques, we discuss the many-body effects resulting from the pairing of particles across layers at finite density, including a novel pair supersolid, superfluid and solid phases. These results are of direct relevance to experiments with polar molecules and atoms with large magnetic dipole moments trapped in optical lattices.

Many-particle entanglement is a key resource for achieving the fundamental precision limits of a quantum sensor 1 . Optical atomic clocks 2 , the current state of the art in frequency precision, are a rapidly emerging area of focus for entanglement-enhanced metrology 3-6 . Augmenting tweezer-based clocks featuring microscopic control and detection 7-10 with the high-fidelity entangling gates developed for atom-array information processing 11,12 offers a promising route towards making use of highly entangled quantum states for improved optical clocks. Here we develop and use a family of multi-qubit Rydberg gates to generate Schrödinger cat states of the Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) type with up to nine optical clock qubits in a programmable atom array. In an atom-laser comparison at sufficiently short dark times, we demonstrate a fractional frequency instability below the standard quantum limit (SQL) using GHZ states of up to four qubits. However, because of their reduced dynamic range, GHZ states of a single size fail to improve the achievable clock precision at the optimal dark time compared with unentangled atoms 13 . Towards overcoming this hurdle, we simultaneously prepare a cascade of varying-size GHZ states to perform unambiguous phase estimation over an extended interval 14-17 . These results demonstrate key building blocks for approaching Heisenberg-limited scaling of optical atomic clock precision., (© 2024. This is a U.S. Government work and not under copyright protection in the US; foreign copyright protection may apply.)

Background: The integration of positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) holds promise for advancing diagnostic imaging capabilities. The METRICS project aims to develop cyclotron-driven production of 52 Mn for PET/MRI imaging., Results: Using the 52 Cr(p,n) 52 Mn reaction, we designed chromium metal targets via Spark Plasma Sintering and developed a separation procedure for isolating 52 Mn. Labeling tests were conducted with traditional chelators (i.e. S-2-(4-Isothiocyanatobenzyl)-1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane tetraacetic acid) and the 1.4-dioxa-8-azaspiro[4.5]decane-8- carbodithioate ligand to produce radioactive complexes suitable for PET/MRI applications. Our methodology yielded high-quality 52 Mn suitable for PET radiopharmaceuticals and PET/MRI imaging. Preliminary studies on phantom imaging using microPET and clinical MRI demonstrated the efficacy of our approach., Conclusions: The developed technology offers a promising avenue for producing 52 Mn and enhancing PET/MRI imaging capabilities. Further in vivo investigations are warranted to evaluate the potential advantages of this hybrid imaging technique., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Enterococci are considered valuable sentinel Gram-positive bacteria for monitoring vancomycin antibiotic resistance due to their widespread presence and characteristics. The use of antimicrobials in farming animals has a role in the increasing of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) and the anthropogenic transformation of the landscape has forced wildlife into greater contact with humans and their livestock. The transmission of resistant bacteria by their meat products is a significant contributor to AMR development. The present study aimed to assess the prevalence of vancomycin resistant Enterococci spp. In antimicrobial-treated farmed pigs meat and in antimicrobial-free wild boars meat. A total of 341 Enterococci were isolated from 598 pork meat samples (57 %) and 173 Enterococci were isolated from 404 wild boar meat samples (42.8 %). Data found showed that low-resistance was detected more in wild boars meat Enterococci (52.6 %) than in pork meat once (48.4 %). However, the prevalence of resistance genes was at low level (33.9 % in pork meat Enterococci and 4.4 % in wild boar meat ones) and the only gene found was vanC1/C2 , related to intrinsic AMR. Normally, Enterococci persist in the normal intestinal flora of animals including humans. However, the presence of resistance genes was frequently linked to the detection of pathogenic genes, mostly gelE in pork meat isolates and asa1 in wild boars meat isolates. Pathogenic bacteria can cause severe infections in human that can become more risky if associated to the presence of AMR. Pathogenic bacteria were characterized and a high presence of E. gallinarum and E. casseliflavus was found. Given the growing interest in wild game meat consumption the monitoring of AMR in these matrices is essential. Further surveillance studies are needed to fully evaluate the emergence and spread of vancomycin-resistant Enterococci (VRE) and pathogenic Enterococci from animal-derived food to humans, including the role of wildlife in this phenomenon. Giving the higher interest in wild animals meat consumption, it is important to better evaluate the spread of AMR phenomenon in the future and intensify hygienic control of wild animals derived food., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 The Authors.)

We describe group B Streptococcus linked to disease in farmed pigs and wild porcupines in Italy. Occurrence in pigs was attributed to transmission from nonpasteurized bovine milk whey. Antimicrobial-resistance profiles in isolates from porcupines suggest no common source of infection. Our findings expand the known host range for group B Streptococcus disease.

Second-generation Anticoagulant Rodenticides (ARs) can be critical for carnivores, due to their widespread use and impacts. However, although many studies explored the impacts of ARs on small and mesocarnivores, none assessed the extent to which they could contaminate large carnivores in anthropized landscapes. We filled this gap by exploring spatiotemporal trends in grey wolf (Canis lupus) exposure to ARs in central and northern Italy, by subjecting a large sample of dead wolves (n = 186) to the LC-MS/MS method. Most wolves (n = 115/186, 61.8 %) tested positive for ARs (1 compound, n = 36; 2 compounds, n = 47; 3 compounds, n = 16; 4 or more compounds, n = 16). Bromadiolone, brodifacoum and difenacoum, were the most common compounds, with brodifacoum and bromadiolone being the ARs that co-occurred the most (n = 61). Both the probability of testing positive for multiple ARs and the concentration of brodifacoum, and bromadiolone in the liver, systematically increased in wolves that were found at more anthropized sites. Moreover, wolves became more likely to test positive for ARs through time, particularly after 2020. Our results underline that rodent control, based on ARs, increases the risks of unintentional poisoning of non-target wildlife. However, this risk does not only involve small and mesocarnivores, but also large carnivores at the top of the food chain, such as wolves. Therefore, rodent control is adding one further conservation threat to endangered large carnivores in anthropized landscapes of Europe, whose severity could increase over time and be far higher than previously thought. Large-scale monitoring schemes for ARs in European large carnivores should be devised as soon as possible., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Pleuromutilins (tiamulin and valnemulin) are often used to treat swine dysentery due to recurrent resistance to macrolides and lincosamides. Recently, reduced susceptibility of B. hyodysenteriae to pleuromutilin has been reported. 536 strains of B. hyodysenteriae were isolated from symptomatic pigs weighing 30-150 kg in northern Italy between 2005 and 2022. B. hyodysenteriae was isolated by standard methods and confirmed by PCR. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) to doxycycline, lincomycin, tiamulin, tylosin, tylvalosine and valnemulin was evaluated according to CLSI procedures and MIC data were reported as MIC 50 and MIC 90. The temporal trend of the MIC values was evaluated by dividing the data into two groups (2005-2013 and 2014-2022). Comparison of the distribution in frequency classes in the two periods was performed using Pearson's chi-squared test (p < 0.01). MIC 50 was close to the highest values tested for lincomycin and tylosin, while MIC 90 was close to the highest values tested for all antibiotics. 71.7% of the strains were susceptible to tylvalosin, while 75%-80.4% had reduced susceptibility to valnemulin and tiamulin, respectively. The difference in the distribution of MIC classes was statistically significant in the two periods for doxycycline, tiamulin, tylvalosin and valnemulin, and more MIC classes above the epidemiological cut-off were observed in 2014-2022 compared with 2005-2013. The evaluation of the trends during the period considered shows a decreasing rate of wild-type strains with MIC values below the epidemiological cut-off over time and confirms the presence of resistant strains in northern Italy., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The cross-sections of the 48 Ti(p,x) 47 Sc, 46c Sc, 44m Sc, 44g Sc, 43 Sc, and 48 V nuclear reactions were measured from 18 to 70 MeV, with particular attention to 47 Sc production. Enriched 48 Ti powder was deposited on an aluminum backing and the obtained targets were characterized via elastic backscattering spectroscopy at the INFN-LNL. Targets were exposed to low-intensity proton irradiation using the stacked-foils technique at the ARRONAX facility. Activated samples were measured using γ-spectrometry; the results were compared with the data int he literature and the theoretical TALYS-based values. A regular trend in the new values obtained from the different irradiation runs was noted, as well as a good agreement with the literature data, for all the radionuclides of interest: 47 Sc, 46c Sc, 44m Sc, 44g Sc, 43 Sc, and 48 V. 47 Sc production was also discussed, considering yield and radionuclidic purity, for different 47 Sc production scenarios.

The development of scalable, high-fidelity qubits is a key challenge in quantum information science. Neutral atom qubits have progressed rapidly in recent years, demonstrating programmable processors 1,2 and quantum simulators with scaling to hundreds of atoms 3,4 . Exploring new atomic species, such as alkaline earth atoms 5-7 , or combining multiple species 8 can provide new paths to improving coherence, control and scalability. For example, for eventual application in quantum error correction, it is advantageous to realize qubits with structured error models, such as biased Pauli errors 9 or conversion of errors into detectable erasures 10 . Here we demonstrate a new neutral atom qubit using the nuclear spin of a long-lived metastable state in 171 Yb. The long coherence time and fast excitation to the Rydberg state allow one- and two-qubit gates with fidelities of 0.9990(1) and 0.980(1), respectively. Importantly, a large fraction of all gate errors result in decays out of the qubit subspace to the ground state. By performing fast, mid-circuit detection of these errors, we convert them into erasure errors; during detection, the induced error probability on qubits remaining in the computational space is less than 10 -5 . This work establishes metastable 171 Yb as a promising platform for realizing fault-tolerant quantum computing., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.)

We analyze the propagation of excitons in a d-dimensional lattice with power-law hopping ∝1/r^{α} in the presence of dephasing, described by a generalized Haken-Strobl-Reineker model. We show that in the strong dephasing (quantum Zeno) regime the dynamics is described by a classical master equation for an exclusion process with long jumps. In this limit, we analytically compute the spatial distribution, whose shape changes at a critical value of the decay exponent α&#95;{cr}=(d+2)/2. The exciton always diffuses anomalously: a superdiffusive motion is associated to a Lévy stable distribution with long-range algebraic tails for α≤α&#95;{cr}, while for α>α&#95;{cr} the distribution corresponds to a surprising mixed Gaussian profile with long-range algebraic tails, leading to the coexistence of short-range diffusion and long-range Lévy flights. In the many-exciton case, we demonstrate that, starting from a domain-wall exciton profile, algebraic tails appear in the distributions for any α, which affects thermalization: the longer the hopping range, the faster equilibrium is reached. Our results are directly relevant to experiments with cold trapped ions, Rydberg atoms, and supramolecular dye aggregates. They provide a way to realize an exclusion process with long jumps experimentally.

The recent expansion of the habitat of several wildlife species, comprising anthropized areas, is a relevant risk factor for many zoonotic diseases and should be considered in national and regional sanitary monitoring systems. We evaluated adult intestinal Taenia spp. parasites isolated from wild carnivores and cystic larval forms isolated from wild mammals analysed at the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia ed Emilia-Romagna (IZSLER) as part of the regional wildlife sanitary surveillance plan. Then, we assessed parasite species through molecular analysis (multiplex PCR followed by ribosomal 12S subunit gene sequencing) in order to update the epidemiological situation on Taeniids infection in the Emilia-Romagna wildlife, reporting the prevalence of each isolated species. The most commonly isolated species was Taenia serialis , which we detected in both wolves and foxes as definitive hosts and in roe deer as intermediate host. More attention on the distribution of Taeniids in wildlife should be paid, considering their potential zoonotic role: several Taenia spp. ( Taenia solium , Taenia multiceps , Taenia serialis , Taenia brauni , Taenia glomerulatus ) are known for causing coenurosis in humans, with possible severe or fatal outcomes., (© 2023 The Authors.)

In recent years, the growth of wild ungulates has increased the focus on their health monitoring. In particular, the health status of wild boars is relevant for the economic impact on the pig industry. The Emilia-Romagna region activated a wildlife monitoring plan to better evaluate the health status of the wild boar population. Between 2011 and 2021, samples of found dead and hunted wild boar have been examined for trichinellosis, tuberculosis, brucellosis, african swine fever, classical swine fever, Aujeszky's disease, swine vesicular disease, and swine influenza A. Trichinella britovi was identified in 0.001% of the examined wild boars; neither M. bovis nor M. tuberculosis were found in M. tuberculosis complex positive samples; 2.3% were positive for Brucella suis ; 29.4% of the sera were positive for Aujeszky's disease virus; and 0.9% of the samples were positive for swine influenza A virus. With an uncertain population estimate, the number of animals tested, the number of positives, and the sampling method do not allow us to make many inferences but suggest the need to implement and strengthen the existing surveillance activity, as it seems to be the only viable alternative for safeguarding animal and human health.

The realization of isotopically enriched Ti targets for nuclear cross-section measurements requires particular attention, from the starting material preparation up to the deposition technique. In this work, a cryomilling process was developed and optimized, aimed at reducing the size of 49,50 Ti metal sponge as provided by the supplier (size up to 3 mm), to the optimal size of 10 µm, to fit the High Energy Vibrational Powder Plating technique used for target manufacturing. The optimization of the cryomilling protocol and the HIVIPP deposition using nat Ti material was thus performed. The scarce amount of the enriched material to be treated (about 150 mg), the need to obtain a non-contaminated final powder and a uniform target thickness of about 500 µg/cm 2 were taken into account. The 49,50 Ti materials were then processed and 20 targets of each isotope were manufactured. Both powders and the final Ti targets produced were characterized by SEM-EDS analysis. The amount of Ti deposited was measured by weighing, indicating reproducible and homogeneous targets, with an areal density of 468 ± 110 µg/cm 2 for 49 Ti ( n = 20) and 638 ± 200 µg/cm 2 for 50 Ti ( n = 20). The uniformity of the deposited layer was also confirmed by the metallurgical interface analysis. The final targets were used for the cross section measurements of the 49 Ti( p ,x) 47 Sc and 50 Ti( p ,x) 47 Sc nuclear reaction routes aimed at the production of the theranostic radionuclide 47 Sc.

All-to-all interacting, disordered quantum many-body models have a wide range of applications across disciplines, from spin glasses in condensed-matter physics over holographic duality in high-energy physics to annealing algorithms in quantum computing. Typically, these models are abstractions that do not find unambiguous physical realizations in nature. Here we realize an all-to-all interacting, disordered spin system by subjecting an atomic cloud in a cavity to a controllable light shift. Adjusting the detuning between atom resonance and cavity mode, we can tune between disordered versions of a central-mode model and a Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick model. By spectroscopically probing the low-energy excitations of the system, we explore the competition of interactions with disorder across a broad parameter range. We show how disorder in the central-mode model breaks the strong collective coupling, making the dark-state manifold cross over to a random distribution of weakly mixed light-matter, 'grey', states. In the Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick model, the ferromagnetic finite-sized ground state evolves towards a paramagnet as disorder is increased. In that regime, semi-localized eigenstates emerge, as we observe by extracting bounds on the participation ratio. These results present substantial steps towards freely programmable cavity-mediated interactions for the design of arbitrary spin Hamiltonians., Competing Interests: Competing interestsThe authors declare no competing interests., (© The Author(s) 2023.)