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Captive and free-ranging wild bears can carry and transmit several zoonotic pathogens. A review of nearly 90 years of scientific publications concerning confirmed and potential zoonotic diseases that can be present in any of the eight species of bears in the world was conducted. The findings were organized amongst the following disease sections: bacterial, viral, protozoal, mycotic, helminth and arthropod-borne. The most commonly reported pathogens of concern were of parasitic (Trichinella, Toxoplasma) and bacterial (Francisella, Brucella) origin.

$\gamma p \rightarrow K^+ \Lambda$ differential cross sections and recoil polarisation data from threshold for extremely forward angles are presented. The measurements were performed at the BGOOD experiment at ELSA, utilising the high angular and momentum resolution forward spectrometer for charged particle identification. The data discriminates between conflicting results in the world data set and enable extraction of the cross section as the minimum momentum transfer to the recoiling hyperon is approached., Comment: 12 pages (including a 2 page appendix), 14 figures

In some recent papers, the so called ( H , ρ ) -induced dynamics of a system S whose time evolution is deduced adopting an operatorial approach, borrowed in part from quantum mechanics, has been introduced. Here, H is the Hamiltonian for S , while ρ is a certain rule applied periodically (or not) on S . The analysis carried on throughout this paper shows that, replacing the Heisenberg dynamics with the ( H , ρ ) -induced one, we obtain a simple, and somehow natural, way to prove that some relevant dynamical variables of S may converge, for large t , to certain asymptotic values. This cannot be so, for finite dimensional systems, if no rule is considered. In this case, in fact, any Heisenberg dynamics implemented by a suitable hermitian operator H can only give an oscillating behavior. We prove our claims both analytically and numerically for a simple system with two degrees of freedom, and then we apply our general scheme to a model describing a biological system of bacteria living in a two-dimensional lattice, where two different choices of the rule are considered.

Il suinetto da latte arrosto è un piatto tradizionale della Sardegna ampiamente consumato in tutta l’isola e molto apprezzato dai turisti. Purtroppo, a causa della recrudescenza della peste suina africana (PSA) nell’isola, è stata vietata l’esportazione di carni suine fresche e/o prodotti derivati. Alcune precauzioni necessarie per ottenere il permesso di esportare i prodotti a base di carne di maiale sono contenute nel provvedimento attuativo del Programma straordinario di eradicazione della PSA 2015-2017 emanato dal Governo Regionale. Una di queste consiste nel trattamento termico di precottura della carne fino al raggiungimento di una temperatura di 80 °C in tutta la massa. L’esportazione della carne di maiale rappresenta un’importante opportunità economica per gli operatori sardi del settore, fortemente interessati alla dimostrazione dell’efficacia e applicabilità del trattamento termico per garantire la sicurezza e la qualità dei loro prodotti. Lo scopo di questo studio era quello di valutare, mensilmente, da 0 a 150 giorni, la shelf-life dei campioni di carne trattati termicamente e conservati sottovuoto a 4 °C. Pertanto, cinque mezzene di suinetto, per punto di campionamento, sono state analizzate da un punto di vista microbiologico (conta di batteri patogeni e dannosi) e chimico (perossidazione lipidica), prima del completamento della cottura. Dopo 40 min in forno a 210 °C, è stato eseguito test di accettabilità sensoriale, per valutare il gradimento dei consumatori. I risultati ottenuti consentono di concludere che, la contaminazione microbica post-processo non ha determinato un decadimento della qualità e dell’accettabilità sensoriale del prodotto, fino a 150 giorni di shelf-life. I risultati evidenziano la necessità di prendere in considerazione l’applicazione di un trattamento post-letale per ridurre la contaminazione microbica.

The γ p → K + Σ 0 differential cross section at extremely forward angles was measured at the BGOOD experiment. A three-quarter drop in strength over a narrow range in energy and a strong dependence on the polar angle of the K + in the centre-of-mass of the reaction is observed at a centre-of-mass energy of 1900 MeV. Residing close to multiple open and hidden strangeness thresholds, the structure appears consistent with meson-baryon threshold effects which may contribute to the reaction mechanism.

We propose an extended version of quantum dynamics for a certain system S , whose evolution is ruled by a Hamiltonian H, its initial conditions, and a suitable set ρ of rules, acting repeatedly on S . The resulting dynamics is not necessarily periodic or quasi-periodic, as one could imagine for conservative systems with a finite number of degrees of freedom. In fact, it may have quite different behaviors depending on the explicit forms of H, ρ as well as on the initial conditions. After a general discussion on this (H, ρ)-induced dynamics, we apply our general ideas to extend the classical game of life, and we analyze several aspects of this extension.

The results of an experimental trial, carried out using a specifically prepared microbial starter, in an automated pilot plant, are presented. The microbial starter was composed by Lb. pentosus strains. The automatized process was compared with natural fermentation in plastic vats, as control. Relevant process parameters, chemico-physical determinations, instrumental texture, and microbiological analyses were carried out to monitor the fermentation process. Driving the process in controlled conditions resulted in a more rapid acidification, pH reaching lower values than the control. In controlled conditions, inoculated lactobacilli carried out a fast colonization supplanting more rapidly spoilage microflora. In started samples, yeasts number increased until reaching 5 log at 60 days, keeping this value constant until the end of the trials, while, in control batches, their growth was more rapid, reaching 5 log from 15 to 30 days, but their number decreased to 3 log at 90 days. The two processes produced olives with comparable texture profile. However, olives coming from the controlled process resulted debittered in 3 months (descriptive sensory analyses and oleuropein quantification in HPLC), while naturally fermented olives resulted not yet debittered at the end of the trial (180 days). Slight differences were found in few other sensory descriptors. Our results showed that, along with the use of effective autochthonous microbial starters, the innovation of processing plants is the next step towards the shortening of the processing time and the safety assurance of the product, while retaining the sensory quality of naturally fermented olives, using an environmentally friendly technology.

The BGO-OD experiment at the ELSA accelerator facility uses an energy tagged bremstrahlung photon beam to investigate the excitation structure of the nucleon. The setup consists of a highly segmented BGO calorimeter surrounding the target, with a particle tracking magnetic spectrometer at forward angles. BGO-OD is ideal for investigating low momentum transfer processes due to the acceptance and high momentum resolution at forward angles. In particular, this enables the investigation of strangeness photoproduction where t-channel exchange mechanisms play an important role. This also allows access to a kinematic region where extended, molecular structure may manifest in reaction mechanisms. The extensive strangeness photoproduction programme includes the photoproduction of neutral and charged kaons using both hydrogen and deuterium targets.

The existence of a new force beyond the Standard Model is compelling because it could explain several striking astrophysical observations which fail standard interpretations. We searched for the li ...

The BGO-OD experiment at the ELSA accelerator facility uses an energy tagged bremstrahlung photon beam to investigate the excitation spectrum of the nucleon. The setup consists of a highly segmented BGO calorimeter surrounding the target, with a particle tracking magnetic spectrometer at forward angles. BGO-OD is ideal for investigating the photoproduction of hadrons of non-zero strangeness. The high momentum resolution at forward angles covers a kinematic region where t-channel exchange mechanisms play a dominant role. Access to this low momentum transfer region also allows the investigation of degrees of freedom not derived from constituent quark models, for example, the role of (vector) meson - baryon interactions and dynamically generated states in photoproduction reactions. Data taking for the first part of an extensive physics programme is complete and preliminary results and ongoing analysis are presented. (Less)

Ricotta salata is a whey protein cheese produced in Sardinia that in the last decades has been linked to several recalls and in 2012 to a severe human listeriosis outbreak. Contamination of ricotta salata with Listeria monocytogenes mainly occurs during post-process handling and generally origins from the processing environment. The application of water bath heat treatment in vacuum packed ricotta salata is a possible strategy to control L. monocytogenes superficial contamination. The objective of the present study was to select a heat treatment able to inactivate L. monocytogenes count of at least 5 log. Nine temperature time combinations, 75 °C, 85 °C and 90 °C applied for 15 min, 25 min and 40 min each were tested in ricotta wheels artificially contaminated with a mixture of 5 L. monocytogenes strains. Inactivation was assessed respectively one day and 30 days after heat treatment. The efficacy of treatments was evaluated based on the reduction in L. monocytogenes counts, on the impact on sensory properties and on the cost of the treatment. Two out of nine treatment combinations, i.e. 85 °C for 40 min and 90 °C for 40 min, were effective in reducing L. monocytogenes contamination level of 5 log. No significant difference was observed in sensory properties after the heat treatments. Therefore both combinations are eligible to conduct a successive study aimed to extend the shelf-life of ricotta salata up to several months.

Starters are widely used for driving food fermentations faster and more safely. Recently, the use of natural autochthonous microbiota is being reappraised for obtaining products with peculiar and unique characteristics. The aim of this study was to investigate, by DGGE and REP-PCR(GTG) 5 , the microbial dynamics and intra-species biodiversity of Tonda di Cagliari table olives inoculated with a mix of autochthonous Lactobacillus pentosus strains (SIE) or a single Lactobacillus plantarum strain (SSL), taking spontaneous fermentation (NF) as control. Furthermore, the sensory quality of the three fermentations trials was evaluated by Descriptive Analysis. Among 316 isolates, 289 were identified as Lactobacillus pentosus , and only 31, coming exclusively from batches SSL, as Lactobacillus plantarum . The predominance of L. pentosus can be explained by their better adaptation to the olive fermentation environment with respect to L. plantarum selected strain inoculated in SSL fermentations. Using the culture independent approaches, differences in the fermentation processes were shown only during the first months of fermentation, and several Gram negative species, not frequently isolated in these ecosystems ( Thalassomonas agarivorans , non-fermentative bacteria, and the cyanobacteria Chroococcidiopsis ), were identified. Autochthonous starter SIE, compared to SSL, produced olives more similar, in sensory attributes, to the naturally fermented ones.

We have searched for a light vector boson U, the possible carrier of a "dark force", with the KLOE detector at the DA Phi NE e(+)e(-) collider, motivated by astrophysical evidence for the presence of dark matter in the Universe. Using e(+)e(-) collisions collected with an integrated luminosity of 239.3 pb(-1), we look for a dimuon mass peak in the reaction e(+)e(-) -> mu(+)mu(-)gamma, corresponding to the decay U -> mu(+)mu(-). We find no evidence for a U vector boson signal. We set a 90% CL upper limit for the mixing parameter squared between the photon and the U boson of 1.6 x 10(-5) to 8.6 x 10(-7) for the mass region 520 < m(U) < 980 MeV.

The muon anomalous magnetic moment is one of the most precisely measured quantities in particle physics and a persistent discrepancy of about 3 σ between standard model (SM) prediction and the experimental measurement has been observed. The leading order contribution aμhlo is actually the main source of uncertainty in the theoretical evaluation of the muon anomaly. It is obtained by a dispersion integral using the precision measurement of hadronic cross section. The KLOE experiment at the DAΦNE ϕ−factory in Frascati was the first to exploit Initial State Radiation (ISR) processes to obtain the e+e−→π+π−(γ) cross section below 1 GeV, that accounts for most (70%) of the leading order contribution to the muon anomaly. In year 2005 and 2008 the KLOE-collaboration has published two measurements of the π+π− cross section with the photon in the initial state emitted at small angle, and an independent measurement with the photon emitted at large angle was finalized in year 2011. These measurements were normalized using luminosity from Bhabha. In the last years, a new analysis of KLOE data has been performed for obtaining the pion form factor directly from the bin-by-bin π+π−γ to μ+μ−γ ratio. We present the results of this new measurement, showing the comparison with our previous measurements, and its impact on the hadronic contribution to the muon anomaly.

We have carried out a new direct search for the CP violating decay K-S -> 3 pi(0) with 1.7 fb(-1) of e(+)e(-) collisions collected by the KLOE detector at the Phi-factory DA Phi NE. We have searched for this decay in a sample of about 5.9 x 10(8) KSKL events tagging the K-S by means of the K-L interaction in the calorimeter and requiring six prompt photons. With respect to our previous search, the analysis has been improved by increasing of a factor four the tagged sample and by a more effective background rejection of fake K-S tags and spurious clusters. We find no candidates in data and simulated background samples, while we expect 0.12 standard model events. Normalizing to the number of K-S -> 2 pi(0) events in the same sample, we set the upper limit on BR(K-S -> 3 pi(0))

The ratio R-eta = Gamma(eta -> pi(+)pi(-)gamma)/Gamma(eta -> pi(+)pi(-)pi(0)) has been measured by analysing 22 million phi -> eta gamma decays collected by the KLOE experiment at DANE, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 558 pb(-1). The eta -> pi(+)pi(-)gamma proceeds both via the rho resonant contribution, and possibly a non-resonant direct term, connected to the box anomaly. Our result, R-eta = 0.1856 +/- 0.0005(stat)+/- 0.0028(syst), points out a sizable contribution of the direct term to the total width. The di-pion invariant mass for the eta -> pi(+)pi(-)gamma decay could be described in a model-independent approach in terms of a(-) single free parameter, alpha. The determined value of the parameter alpha is alpha = (1.32 +/- 0.08(stat-0.09syst)(+0.10) +/- 0.02(theo)) GeV-2. 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The new BGO-OD experiment at the electron accelerator ELSA, of the University of Bonn, is designed to study the reaction dynamics of nucleon excitations in meson photoproduction. It consists of a central BGO calorimeter with a magnetic spectrometer in forward direction. The physics programme includes the measurement of polarisation observables using linearly and circularly polarised photon beams. Linear polarisation is obtained by coherent bremsstrahlung off a diamond crystal, and circular polarisation is obtained via bremsstrahlung from longitudinally polarised electrons. The degree of linear polarisation is determined from the bremsstrahlung spectrum itself. To determine the polarisation of the circularly polarised photon beam, the polarisation of the electron beam is measured by a Moller polarimeter. As a preliminary consistency check, the (linear) polarisation observable, Σ, was compared to world data for π^0 and η photoproduction. To determine the degree of circular polarisation, a Moller polarimeter was setup and first measurements of the electron beam polarisation performed.

BGO-OD is a new meson photoproduction experiment at the ELSA facility of Bonn University. It aims at the investigation of non strange and strange baryon excitations, and is especially designed to be able to detect weekly bound meson-baryon type structures. The setup for the BGO-OD experiment is presented, the characteristics of the photon beam and the detector performances are shown and the initial experimental program is discussed.

A measurement of the vector to pseudoscalar conversion decay $\phi \to \pi^0 e^+e^-$ with the KLOE experiment is presented. A sample of $\sim 9500$ signal events was selected from a data set of 1.7 fb$^{-1}$ of $e^+e^-$ collisions at $\sqrt{s} \sim m_{\phi}$ collected at the DA$\Phi$NE $e^+e^-$ collider. These events were used to obtain the first measurement of the transition form factor $| F_{\phi \pi^0}(q^2) |$ and a new measurement of the branching ratio of the decay: $\rm{BR}\,(\phi \to \pi^0 e^+e^-) = (\,1.35 \pm 0.05^{\,\,+0.05}_{\,\,-0.10}\,) \times 10 ^{-5}$. The result improves significantly on previous measurements and is in agreement with theoretical predictions., Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures; matches published version

BGO-OD is a newly commissioned experiment to investigate the internal structure of the nucleon, using an energy tagged bremsstrahlung photon beam at the ELSA electron facility. The setup consists of a highly segmented BGO calorimeter surrounding the target, with a particle tracking magnetic spectrometer at forward angles. BGO-OD is ideal for investigating meson photoproduction. The extensive physics programme for open strangeness photoproduction is introduced, and preliminary analysis presented., 6 pages, 4 figures. Proceedings for the 10th International Workshop on the Physics of Excited Nucleons (NSTAR2015)

The recent interest in a light gauge boson in the framework of an extra U(1) symmetry motivates searches in the mass range below 1 GeV. We present a search for such a particle, the dark photon, in e + e − → U γ , U → π + π − based on 28 million e + e − → π + π − γ events collected at DAΦNE by the KLOE experiment. The π + π − production by initial-state radiation compensates for a loss of sensitivity of previous KLOE U → e + e − , μ + μ − searches due to the small branching ratios in the ρ – ω resonance region. We found no evidence for a signal and set a limit at 90% CL on the mixing strength between the photon and the dark photon, e 2 , in the U mass range between 527 and 987 MeV . Above 700 MeV this new limit is more stringent than previous ones.

Using 1.6 fb−1 of e + e − → ϕ → ηγ data collected with the KLOE detector at DAΦNE, the Dalitz plot distribution for the η → π + π − π 0 decay is studied with the world’s largest sample of ∼ 4.7 · 106 events. The Dalitz plot density is parametrized as a polynomial expansion up to cubic terms in the normalized dimensionless variables X and Y . The experiment is sensitive to all charge conjugation conserving terms of the expansion, including a gX 2 Y term. The statistical uncertainty of all parameters is improved by a factor two with respect to earlier measurements.

Subsistence and mobility strategies of hunter-gatherers in the Mediterranean Basin during the transition from the late Pleistocene to the early Holocene have been the object of few studies, even though its karst coastal regions have high densities of prehistoric sites. One such area is the territory of the Conca d’Oro in NW Sicily, which has numerous sites with faunal remains testifying to economies mainly based on hunting of terrestrial ungulates and on the regular consumption of molluscs. This paper presents results from the study of faunal remains from cave sites occupied by hunter-gatherers in the late Pleistocene and early Holocene, and of isotope analyses on shells of marine molluscs collected for food and on collagen from the bones of the hunter-gatherers buried in these caves. The mollusc assemblages are dominated by inter-tidal rocky shore species of the genera Patella and Osilinus , which from 16 to 9 kyrs cal BP were the principal marine resources exploited by the hunter-gatherers of the Conca d’Oro. Oxygen isotope analyses on shells of Osilinus turbinatus show that in the late Pleistocene the exploitation of marine molluscs at the Addaura caves, relatively close to the shoreline, was restricted to late autumn and winter, while at Grotta Niscemi, which is further inland, these resources were exploited less intensively but for longer in the year, from autumn to the early spring. The data from the shells (both isotope and biometrical) suggest that late Pleistocene hunter-gatherers spent the coldest months of the year close to the coast, moving inland in late spring and for the summer. In the early Holocene, by contrast, marine molluscs were exploited longer during the year, attesting to a change in mobility strategies and, probably, frequent moves within more restricted territories. Carbon and nitrogen isotopes in human bone collagen from Grotta Addaura Caprara and Grotta della Molara show that marine foods were marginal in the diets of both late Pleistocene and early Holocene hunter-gatherers. Overall, the data indicate that the territory of the Conca d’Oro hunter-gatherers probably extended from the coastal plain to the upland areas during the late Pleistocene, but became more restricted in the early Holocene. This model might have broader application to hunter-gatherer settlement systems in other karst coastal areas of the Mediterranean.

Beam asymmetry and differential cross section for the reaction gamma+p->eta+p were measured from production threshold to 1500 MeV photon laboratory energy. The two dominant neutral decay modes of the eta meson, eta->2g and eta->3pi0, were analyzed. The full set of measurements is in good agreement with previously published results. Our data were compared with three models. They all fit satisfactorily the results but their respective resonance contributions are quite different. The possible photoexcitation of a narrow state N(1670) was investigated and no evidence was found., 18 pages, 14 figures, 4 tables Submitted to EPJA

International audience; Meson photoproduction with polarized photons has proved to be a powerful tool to identify contributions of baryon resonances that are not evident in the differential cross-sections. It provides information that are complementary to those extracted using pion-nucleon scattering data. Extensive results have been produced in the past on beam asymmetries by the Graal collaboration for η and $\pi ^0$ on the proton. New results are now available for the same reactions on the quasi-free neutron and for the K+ photoproduction on the proton. Contributions from hitherto undetected baryon resonances may be important to understand the results.

Using a Deuterium target, the GRAAL experiment has collected meson photoproduction data. The data have been analysed in the quasi free regime. The results of the quasi free process on the proton reproduce quite well the results previously obtained with a Hydrogen target. The preliminary results on the quasi free neutron for π0 and η photoproduction are presented and discussed.

Beam asymmetries and hyperon recoil polarizations for the reactions γp → K +Λ and γp → K +Σ0 have been measured from the threshold production to 1500MeV with the GRAAL facility located at the ESRF in Grenoble. These results complement the database for the beam asymmetry, covering for the first time the production threshold region. Recent theoretical analyses are presented for which the beam asymmetry data bring interesting new information and allow to better determine some resonance parameters. Most importantly, these results strengthen the need of a new D13 state around 1900MeV.

Disintegration of C-12 nuclei by tagged photons of 700-1500 MeV energy at the GRAAL facility has been studied by means of the LAGRAN gamma E detector with a wide angular acceptance. The energy and momentum distributions of produced neutrons and protons as well as their multiplicity distributions were measured and compared with corresponding distributions calculated with the RELDIS model based on the intranuclear cascade and Fermi break-up models. It was found that eight fragments are created on average once per about 100 disintegration events, while a complete fragmentation of C-12 into 12 nucleons is observed typically only once per 2000 events. Measured multiplicity distributions of produced fragments are well described by the model. The measured total photoabsorption cross section on C-12 in the same energy range is also reported. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

We report on new measurements of the beam asymmetry for. photoproduction on protons and neutrons in hydrogen and deuterium targets from the GRAAL Collaboration. The beam asymmetry values are extracted from the reaction threshold (E-gamma = 1.1 GeV in the free nucleon kinematics) up to 1.5 GeV of incoming photon energy. For the first time both the radiative and the three-pion decay channels are simultaneously investigated on the free proton. Results from the two decay channels are in agreement, leading to the world's most precise measurements of the beam asymmetry for omega photoproduction off free protons. First experimental results on the deuteron allow the extraction of the Sigma beam asymmetry on quasifree nucleons. The beam asymmetry angular distributions obtained for the free and the quasifree kinematics show the same behavior, similar to the findings in pseudoscalar meson photoproduction reactions. First results of the beam asymmetry on the quasifree neutrons are presented, showing different strengths and angular distributions from the results on the proton target.

"We have carried out a new direct search for the CP violating decay KS→3π0 with 1.7 fb−1 of e+e− collisions collected by the KLOE detector at the Φ-factory DAΦ NE. We have searched for this decay in a sample of about 5.9×108KSKL events tagging the KS by means of the KL interaction in the calorimeter and requiring six prompt photons. With respect to our previous search, the analysis has been improved by increasing of a factor four the tagged sample and by a more effective background rejection of fake KS tags and spurious clusters. We find no candidates in data and simulated background samples, while we expect 0.12 standard model events. Normalizing to the number of KS→2π0 events in the same sample, we set the upper limit on BR(KS→3π0)⩽2.6×10−8 at 90% C.L., five times lower than the previous limit. We also set the upper limit on the η000 parameter, |η000|⩽0.0088 at 90% C.L., improving by a factor two the latest direct measurement.. . . "

We searched for evidence of a Higgsstrahlung process in a secluded sector, leading to a final state with a dark photon U and a dark Higgs boson h', with the KLOE detector at DAFNE. We investigated the case of h' lighter than U, with U decaying into a muon pair and h' producing a missing energy signature. We found no evidence of the process and set upper limits to its parameters in the range 2m_mu, Comment: 16 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Physics Letters B

This paper describes the Monte Carlo simulation developed specifically for the VCS experiments below pion threshold that have been performed at MAMI and JLab. This simulation generates events according to the (Bethe-Heitler + Born) cross section behaviour and takes into account all relevant resolution-deteriorating effects. It determines the `effective' solid angle for the various experimental settings which are used for the precise determination of photon electroproduction absolute cross section., Comment: 24 pages, 6 figures, to be published in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, A One author added