University of Bari Aldo Moro
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Study of light-meson resonances decaying to K S0 Kπ in the B → (K S0 Kπ)K channels
No full textA study is presented of B+→KS0K-π+K+ and B+→KS0K+π-K+ decays based on the analysis of proton-proton collision data collected with the LHCb detector at center-of-mass energies of 7, 8 and 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9 fb-1. The KS0Kπ invariant-mass distributions of both B+ decay modes show, in the m(KS0Kπ)<1.85 GeV mass region, large activity which is resolved using an amplitude analysis. A simple model, where JPC amplitudes are described by multiple Breit-Wigner functions with appropriate angular distributions, provides a good description of the experimental data. In this approach a complex mixture of JPC=0-+, 1++ and 1+- amplitudes is observed that is dominated by η(1405), η(1470), η(1760), f1(1285), f1(1420) and h1(1405) resonances. The KS0Kπ Dalitz plots are dominated by asymmetric crossing K∗K̄ bands which are different for the two B+ decay modes. This is due to a different interference pattern between the 1++ and 1+- amplitudes in the two channels. Branching fractions are measured for each resonant contribution
Selective mitophagy activation and protein aggregate accumulation in MTMR5/SBF1-deficient fibroblasts
No full textAims: Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 4B3 (CMT4B3) is a rare autosomal recessive neuropathy caused by biallelic MTMR5/SBF1 variants, which encode a catalytically inactive myotubularin involved in phosphoinositide metabolism and autophagy regulation. This study investigates the impact of MTMR5/SBF1 dysfunction on autophagy and mitophagy in patient-derived fibroblasts and examines the relationship between protein aggregates and autophagic machinery. Materials and methods: Fibroblasts from a CMT4B3 patient with compound heterozygous MTMR5/SBF1 mutations were compared with a healthy control. Autophagic flux was analyzed via LC3B and SQSTM1; mitophagy was assessed through PINK1 and PRKN recruitment and by quantifying mitophagosomes and autolysosomes under mitochondrial stress. Protein aggregates were visualized using Proteostat and tested for colocalisation with autophagic structures. Key findings: CMT4B3 fibroblasts showed normal basal macroautophagy but failed to increase autophagy in response to mitochondrial stress or protein aggregates. Conversely, mitophagy was strongly activated via the PINK1-PRKN pathway. Significance: These results reveal an uncoupling between mitophagy and macroautophagy, indicating that MTMR5/SBF1 mutations modify autophagic selectivity. Our findings provide new mechanistic insights into the pathogenesis of CMT4B3 and highlight the value of patient-derived fibroblasts for studying selective autophagy defects
Unveiling Face Recognition Challenges and Awareness in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Insights from the Italian Famous Face Test (IT-FFT)
Get PDFAccurate face recognition is crucial for navigating social interactions. While neurotypical individuals generally show no issues with face processing, persons with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) often exhibit impairments in this area. This study explores the extent of these face recognition deficits in autistic adults, focusing on their ability to identify famous faces, along with the awareness (metacognition) of their face recognition skills. Using the Italian Famous Face Test (IT-FFT) and the Prosopagnosia Index-20 (PI-20), to compare face recognition performance and self-awareness of face recognition abilities between 50 non-autistic and 49 individuals diagnosed with level 1 ASD. Autistic people had significantly lower face identification scores and greater difficulties recognizing famous faces than non-autistic participants. Additionally, autistic individuals reported more face recognition challenges on the PI-20, highlighting their awareness of these deficits. These findings suggest that face recognition impairments in ASD extend to famous faces and underscore the importance of further research to explore targeted interventions aimed at improving different aspects of face recognition in autistic people
Conflitti armati e danni ambientali: la nuova prospettiva costituzionale
No full textIl contributo si sofferma sulla dimensione costituzionale del rapporto tra i conflitti armati e i danni alla salute umana, ambientale e animale. Si sostiene che, dopo la revisione dell'art. 9 Cost., vi sono ulteriori limiti alla gestione dei conflitti bellici da parte dell'Italia, rafforzativi del "ripudio della guerra" di cui all'art. 11 Cost., specie in considerazione della implicita costituzionalizzazione dell'approccio olistico alla tutela del Pianeta, c.d. One Hearth-One Healt
Disregolazione emotiva, profilo cognitivo e percezione corporea: il ruolo delle dimensioni trans-diagnostiche nei disturbi psichiatrici in adolescenza.
No full textL’adolescenza è infatti una finestra evolutiva durante la quale in un tempo relativamente piccolo avvengono molteplici cambiamenti non solo di natura fisica ed ormonale ma anche relativa alle capacità di adattamento agli stress ambientali che può frequentemente condurre a slatentizzare problematiche della sfera psichiatrica e psicopatologica in soggetti più o meno predisposti. Come supportato anche dalla letteratura scientifica emergente, nell’età evolutiva e adolescenziale ancor più che nell’età adulta risulta fondamentale studiare il ruolo di fattori dimensionali trans-diagnostici. In particolare, le loro associazioni nell’ambito di specifiche entità nosografiche e categoriali modulano l’espressività clinica determinando univoci e particolari fenotipi psicopatologici. Il presente lavoro di tesi raccoglie i dati di sperimentazioni cliniche sul ruolo di tre fondamentali fattori dimensionali: la disregolazione emotiva, il profilo cognitivo e la percezione dell’immagine corporea. Il primo studio ha come obiettivo valutare, in un campione di pazienti di sesso femminile con disturbi internalizzanti e comportamento suicidario, la correlazione e l’eventuale ruolo predittivo del profilo cognitivo sulle dimensioni della disregolazione emotiva. Il principale risultato dello studio sottolinea il possibile ruolo predittivo dei profili cognitivi disomogenei a scapito delle funzioni esecutive (Delta IAG-ICC) sulla disregolazione emotiva che sottolinea quanto clinicamente osservato circa il fatto che qualcosa di neurobiologicamente determinato, ovvero il profilo cognitivo, se disomogeneo a scapito di peggiori capacità di pianificazione e memoria di lavoro può indurre peggiori capacità di regolazione emotiva come fattore di rischio di comportamento suicidario. Il secondo studio va a valutare come si caratterizzano i disturbi depressivi in adolescenza in sottogruppi di pazienti nate femmine alla nascita a seconda che sperimentino o meno una condizione di disforia di genere. In particolare, a parità di sintomi internalizzanti (misurati mediante la YSR) ed in assenza di differenze significative nella regolazione emotiva (misurate dalla DERS), emergono livelli significativi di introversione sociale nel campione con disforia di genere che risultano predittivi, in questo sottogruppo, dei sintomi internalizzanti. In ultimo, attraverso l’utilizzo del metodo statistico della Network Analysis che fornisce una visione più dinamica di come i sintomi clinici e le varie dimensioni trans-diagnostiche si muovono insieme a caratterizzare i vari profili fenotipici dei disturbi psichiatrici, è stato indagato un campione clinico complessivo di pazienti afferiti alla U.O.C. di Neuropsichiatria Infantile per sintomi internalizzati, e successivamente suddiviso in sottogruppi per presenza/assenza di Disforia di Genere. La analisi di network effettuata fa emergere il ruolo centrale delle alterazioni della percezione dell’immagine corporea ed in particolare di come nel gruppo di pazienti con disforia di genere il ruolo centrale della scarsa accettazione dell’immagine corporea è evidente, a differenza del gruppo di pazienti senza disforia di genere dove il ruolo centrale è assunto dai bassi livelli di protection corporea che è strettamente correlato con i comportamenti autolesivi.In sintesi, è possibile dunque concludere che il profilo dimensionale caratterizzante determinati quadri clinici assume un ruolo fondamentale sia al fine di stabilire il rischio evolutivo sia per un lavoro terapeutico più efficace e mirato.Adolescence is an evolutionary window during which in a relatively short time multiple changes occur not only about physical and hormonal nature but also relating to the ability to adapt to environmental stress which can frequently lead to the appearance of psychiatric and psychopathological problems in more sensitive or predisposed subjects. As also supported by the emerging scientific literature, in developmental and adolescent age, even more than in adulthood, it is essential to study the role of trans-diagnostic dimensional factors. In particular, their associations among specific nosographic and categorical entities modulate their clinical expressiveness, determining unique and particular psychopathological phenotypes. This thesis collects data from clinical trials on the role of three fundamental dimensional factors: emotional dysregulation, the cognitive profile and the body perception. The first study aims to evaluate how depressive disorders in adolescence are characterized in subgroups of patients born female at birth depending on whether or not they experience a condition of gender dysphoria. In particular, with the same internalizing symptoms (measured by the YSR) and in the absence of significant differences in emotional regulation (measured by the DERS), significant levels of social introversion emerge in the sample with gender dysphoria which are predictive, in this subgroup, of internalizing symptoms. The second study evaluates, in a sample of female patients with internalizing disorders and suicidal behavior, the correlation and possible predictive role of the cognitive profile on the dimensions of emotional dysregulation. The main result of the study underlines the possible predictive role of non-homogeneous cognitive profiles with less executive functions (Delta IAG-ICC) on emotional dysregulation which underlines what has been clinically observed regarding the fact that the cognitive profile, if non-homogeneous for worse planning skills and working memory can induce worse emotional regulation skills as a risk factor for suicidal behavior. Finally, through the use of the statistical method of Network Analysis which provides a more dynamic vision of how clinical symptoms, and the various trans-diagnostic dimensions move together to characterize the various phenotypic profiles of psychiatric disorders, a clinical sample for internalized symptoms was investigated, and subsequently divided into subgroups for presence/absence of Gender Dysphoria. The network analysis carried out highlights the central role of alterations in the perception of body image and in particular how in the group of patients with gender dysphoria the central role of poor acceptance of body image is evident, unlike the group of patients without gender dysphoria where the central role is assumed by low levels of bodily protection which is closely correlated with self-harming behaviors. In summary, it is therefore possible to conclude that the dimensional profile characterizing certain clinical pictures plays a fundamental role both in order to establish the evolutionary risk and for more effective and targeted therapeutic work
Women's Domestic Burden and Gendered Fertility Intentions in Italy: The Role of Parity and Child's Sex
No full textIn Italy, the unequal distribution of household chores persists, disproportionately affecting women and potentially discouraging fertility intentions. This study explores the relationship between women’s domestic burden and reproductive intentions, and how this relationship varies between men and women, depending on the parity achieved and the sex of the child (or children) they already had. The paper relies on data from 2016 ISTAT Survey on Families and Social Subjects. The results find this association only for women (and not for men), and particularly for those working and residing in the Centre-North. Interestingly, unlike previous findings, as the childless women’s domestic burden grows, it correlates negatively with their intention to enter motherhood. For mothers, the correlation is somewhat reversed: notably, among mothers with one child, there’s a discernible trend where fertility intentions positively align with increasing household burdens, driven by mothers of one daughter. This suggests a potential preference among traditional mothers of a daughter for having another child, while the more egalitarian, i.e., less burdened ones, seem content with the current family size after having a daughter
Elbaite, the neotype material from the Rosina pegmatite, San Piero in Campo, Elba island, Italy
Get PDFElbaite, Na(Li1.5Al1.5)Al6(Si6O18)(BO3)3(OH)3(OH), is a mineral species of the tourmaline su-
pergroup. A formal description of the neotype elbaite material, approved by the International Miner-
alogical Association’s Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification (IMA-CNMNC),
is presented in this study. Elbaite occurs in the Rosina pegmatite, San Piero in Campo, Elba is-
land, Italy (42°44′51.35′N, 10°12′38.02′E). Crystals show euhedral habitus, are up to 1.5 cm in
length, and are colorless with a vitreous luster, conchoidal fracture, and white streak. Elbaite has a
Mohs hardness of approximately 7, has a calculated density of 3.04 g cm−3, and is uniaxial nega-
tive. It has trigonal symmetry, space group R3m, a=15.8117(2) Å, c=7.0937(1) Å, V=1535.89(4) Å3
,
and Z=3. The crystal structure was refined to R1=2.12 % using 1783 unique reflections col-
lected with MoKα X-ray intensity data. Crystal–chemical analysis resulted in the empirical formula
X(Na0.71 0.28Ca0.01) 1.00Y(Al1.77Li1.16Mn2+
0.06Fe2+
0.01) 3.00ZAl6.00[T(Si5.94B0.06) 6.00O18](BO3)3V(OH)3
W[(OH)0.48F0.23O0.29] 1.00.
The neotype elbaite originates from a nearly colorless crystal with a black to dark-green base. Chemical
analysis shows a transition from Mn-rich schorl in darker areas to chemically homogeneous elbaite in lighter re-
gions, with Fe and Mn contents decreasing significantly due to a (Li +Al) substitution. In the Rosina pegmatite,
tourmaline is the primary boron mineral, increasing in abundance toward the core. Its composition reflects the
pegmatite’s geochemical evolution, with rising Li and Cs contents in deeper zones. Early crystallization of bi-
otite, sekaninaite, and Fe-rich schorl removed Mg, Ti, and Fe from the system, allowing later-stage tourmaline
to evolve into Fe-free, Mn-rich fluor-elbaite. The present elbaite crystals formed in cavities in the pegmatite’s
deeper sections. Low Mn and F contents resulted from spessartine and lepidolite crystallization, respectively. As
a result, tourmaline near cavities evolved into homogeneous, nearly colorless elbaite prisms
GRB 221009A: Observations with LST-1 of CTAO and Implications for Structured Jets in Long Gamma-Ray Bursts
No full textGRB 221009A is the brightest gamma-ray burst (GRB) observed to date. Extensive observations of its afterglow emission across the electromagnetic spectrum were performed, providing the first strong evidence of a jet with a nontrivial angular structure in a long GRB. We carried out an extensive observation campaign in very-high-energy (VHE) gamma rays with the first Large-Sized Telescope of the future Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory starting on 2022 October 10, about 1 day after the burst. A dedicated analysis of the GRB 221009A data is performed to account for the different moonlight conditions under which data were recorded. We find an excess of gamma-like events with a statistical significance of 4.1 sigma during the observations taken 1.33 days after the burst, followed by background-compatible results for the later days. The results are compared with various models of afterglows from structured jets that are consistent with the published multiwavelength data but entail significant quantitative and qualitative differences in the VHE emission after 1 day. We disfavor models that imply VHE flux at 1 day considerably above 10(-11) erg cm(-2) s(-1). Our late-time VHE observations can help disentangle the degeneracy among the models and provide valuable new insight into the structure of GRB jets
Response of Hard-Bottom Macro-Zoobenthos to the Transition of a Mediterranean Mariculture Fish Plant (Mar Grande of Taranto, Ionian Sea) into an Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) System
No full textThis study investigates the effects on hard-bottom macro-zoobenthic communities of converting a mariculture plant into an Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) system. This study was conducted from 2018 to 2021 in the semi-enclosed Mar Grande basin of Taranto (northern Ionian Sea), on a facility located 600 m off the coastline, with a production capacity of 100 tons per year of seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax) and seabream (Sparus aurata). The results from seasonal sampling performed in a treatment site, where bioremediators (filter-feeding invertebrates such as sponges, polychaetes, mussels, and macroalgae) were deployed, and a control site without bioremediators were compared. Before the IMTA installation, the hard substrates under the cages were sparsely inhabited, with significant sediment coverage. By 2021, the treatment site exhibited revitalized and more diverse macro-zoobenthic communities, with species richness increasing from 83 taxa in 2018 to 104 taxa, including notable growth in sponges, annelids, mollusks, and bryozoans. In contrast, the control site showed no substantial changes in biodiversity over the same period. Biodiversity indices, including Shannon and Margalef indices, improved significantly at the treatment site, particularly during summer months, highlighting a more resilient and balanced benthic environment. Taxonomic distinctness (delta+) and multivariate analyses (PERMANOVA, PCO) confirmed significant spatial and temporal shifts in community structure at the treatment site, driven by IMTA implementation. SIMPER analysis identified key taxa contributing to these changes, which played a pivotal role in structuring the community. The emergence of filter feeders, predators, and omnivores at the treatment site suggests enhanced nutrient cycling and trophic complexity, while the decline in opportunistic species further supports improved environmental conditions. These findings demonstrate the potential of IMTA to promote recovery and sustainable mariculture practices, also offering a comprehensive understanding of its positive effects on hard-bottom benthic community dynamics
Enhancing Non-Negative Matrix Factorization Interpretability with Fuzzy Representations
No full textAlthough many approaches exist to reduce dimensionality, many of them compromise the explainability of the reasoning. Non-negative Matrix factorization, while interpretable to some degree, returns numerical results that could not be easy to understand. Our goal is to suggest an approach that simplifies computational complexity by reducing dimensionality while preserving the explainability of this process. This work introduces a framework that combines fuzzy representations with Non-negative Matrix Factorization (NMF) to improve its inter-pretability. By fuzzifying the factor matrices, descriptions that use linguistic expressions and their fuzzy values are generated, describing latent factors, samples, and clusters in the reduced space. This approach enhances the semantic understanding of the patterns and groups identified by NMF. The proposed framework is applied to acoustic data from a pilot study on bipolar disorder, a condition characterized by alternating mood states. Acoustic features extracted from patients' voices are analyzed using the proposed method, which describes the semantics of the identified latent factors, the samples, and the clustered data in natural language. This representation makes it easier for domain experts to understand the automatic process