Probing coherent quantum thermodynamics using a trapped ion.

Quantum thermodynamics is aimed at grasping thermodynamic laws as they apply to thermal machines operating in the deep quantum regime, where coherence and entanglement are expected to matter. Despite substantial progress, however, it has remained difficult to develop thermal machines in which such quantum effects are observed to be of pivotal importance. In this work, we demonstrate the possibility to experimentally measure and benchmark a genuine quantum correction, induced by quantum friction, to the classical work fluctuation-dissipation relation. This is achieved by combining laser-induced coherent Hamiltonian rotations and energy measurements on a trapped ion. Our results demonstrate that recent developments in stochastic quantum thermodynamics can be used to benchmark and unambiguously distinguish genuine quantum coherent signatures generated along driving protocols, even in presence of experimental SPAM errors and, most importantly, beyond the regimes for which theoretical predictions are available (e.g., in slow driving).

A hierarchical cluster analysis of the psycological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Italian severe asthma patients.

INTRODUCTION: In the context of COVID-19 pandemic, a consistent medical concern raised among severe asthma patients, though the studies excluded an increased risk of severe disease as well as an increased susceptibility.The aim of the study was to apply the Psychological General Well-Being Index (PGWBI) questionnaire to severe asthmatics during the COVID-19 pandemic and to evaluate the data with a hierarchical cluster analysis. METHODS: 114 severe asthmatics were asked to respond anonymously to the PGWBI questionnaire. The patients underwent a lung functional test, fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) measurement, Asthma Control Test (ACT), and Asthma Control Questionnaire (ACQ6). A hierarchical cluster analysis was performed using an agglomerative approach and complete linkage to evaluate the results. RESULTS: The study population predominantly included female (60%), middle-aged patients, with normal lung function parameters, mild signs of airway, and satisfactory asthma control. The PGWBI score (82.46 ± 16.53) of the study population showed a good state of psychological well-being and was similar to that of a representative sample of healthy adult Italian subjects. Thus, Hierarchical cluster analysis identified 3 groups of patients: Cluster 1 (32%), Cluster 2 (64%), and Cluster 3 (4%). Whilst the Cluster 2 patients' PGWBI score fell within the normal range, the Cluster 1 patients had a significantly lower total score (68.57 ± 7.2; p < 0.05), suggesting moderate distress. The Cluster 3 patients presented a total score markedly low. CONCLUSION: Although the majority of the severe asthma patients studied demonstrated good mental well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic, some did indeed show moderate to severe psychological distress.

Testosterone positively regulates vagina NO-induced relaxation: an experimental study in rats.

PURPOSE: Female sexual response involves a complex interplay between neurophysiological mechanisms and the nitric oxide (NO)-mediated relaxation of clitoris and vagina. The aim of this study was to evaluate sex steroids regulation of the relaxant pathway in vagina, using a validated animal model. METHODS: Subgroups of OVX Sprague-Dawley rats were treated with 17ß-estradiol, testosterone, or testosterone and letrozole, and compared with a group of intact animals. Masson's trichrome staining was performed for morphological evaluation of the distal vaginal wall, in vitro contractility studies investigated the effect of OVX and in vivo treatments on vaginal smooth muscle activity. RNA from vaginal tissue was analyzed by semi-quantitative RT-PCR. RESULTS: Immunohistochemical analysis showed that OVX induced epithelial and smooth muscle structural atrophy, testosterone and testo + letrozole increased the muscle bundles content and organization without affecting the epithelium while 17ß-estradiol mediated the opposite effects. In vitro contractility studies were performed on noradrenaline pre-contracted vaginal strips from each experimental group. Acetylcholine (0.001-10 µM) stimulation induced a concentration-dependent relaxation, significantly reduced by NO-synthase inhibitor L-NAME and by guanylate cyclase inhibitor ODQ. OVX resulted in a decreased responsiveness to acetylcholine, restored by testosterone, with or without letrozole, but not by 17ß-estradiol. OVX sensitivity to the NO-donor SNP was higher than in the control. Vardenafil, a PDE5 inhibitor, enhanced SNP effect in OVX + testosterone as well as in control, as supported by RNA expression analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrates that testosterone improves the NO-mediated smooth muscle vaginal cells relaxation confirming its role in maintaining the integrity of muscular relaxant machinery.

Treatment potential of LPCN 1144 on liver health and metabolic regulation in a non-genomic, high fat diet induced NASH rabbit model.

PURPOSE: Low free testosterone (T) level in men is independently associated with presence and severity of Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH). The histological and molecular effects of oral testosterone prodrug LPCN 1144 treatment on hepatic fibrosis and NASH features are unknown. A metabolic syndrome-induced NASH model in rabbits consuming high fat diet (HFD) has been previously used to assess treatment effects of injectable T on hepatic fibrosis and NASH features. Here we present results on LPCN 1144 in this HFD-induced, NASH preclinical model. METHODS: Male rabbits were randomly assigned to five groups: regular diet (RD), HFD, HFD + 1144 vehicle (HFD + Veh), HFD + 1144 (1144), and HFD + 1144 + α-tocopherol (1144 + ALPHA). Rabbits were sacrificed after 12 weeks for liver histological, biochemical and genetic analyses. Histological scores were obtained through Giemsa (inflammation), Masson's trichrome (steatosis and ballooning), and Picrosirius Red (fibrosis) staining. RESULTS: Compared to RD, HFD and HFD + Veh significantly worsened NASH features and hepatic fibrosis. Considering HFD and HFD + Veh arms, histological and biomarker features were not significantly different. Both 1144 and 1144 + ALPHA arms improved mean histological scores of NASH as compared to HFD arm. Importantly, percentage of fibrosis was improved in both 1144 (p < 0.05) and 1144 + ALPHA (p = 0.05) treatment arms vs. HFD. Both treatment arms also reduced HFD-induced inflammation and fibrosis mRNA markers. Furthermore, 1144 treatments significantly improved HFD-induced metabolic dysfunctions. CONCLUSIONS: Histological and biomarker analyses demonstrate that LPCN 1144 improved HFD-induced hepatic fibrosis and NASH biochemical, biomolecular and histochemical features. These preclinical findings support a therapeutic potential of LPCN 1144 in the treatment of NASH and of hepatic fibrosis.

Quantum Coherence and Ergotropy.

Constraints on work extraction are fundamental to our operational understanding of the thermodynamics of both classical and quantum systems. In the quantum setting, finite-time control operations typically generate coherence in the instantaneous energy eigenbasis of the dynamical system. Thermodynamic cycles can, in principle, be designed to extract work from this nonequilibrium resource. Here, we isolate and study the quantum coherent component to the work yield in such protocols. Specifically, we identify a coherent contribution to the ergotropy (the maximum amount of unitarily extractable work via cyclical variation of Hamiltonian parameters). We show this by dividing the optimal transformation into an incoherent operation and a coherence extraction cycle. We obtain bounds for both the coherent and incoherent parts of the extractable work and discuss their saturation in specific settings. Our results are illustrated with several examples, including finite-dimensional systems and bosonic Gaussian states that describe recent experiments on quantum heat engines with a quantized load.

Clinical and imaging selection for CT guided - fluoroscopy 0203 disk treatment.

Low Back Pain (LBP) is the most common spine disease and it is the most common cause of absence from work in developed countries. At lumbar level, the natural history of herniated disc is characterized by a disappearance of clinical symptoms in up to 60% with conservative treatment through simple rest for about 6 weeks and reduction of the disk heniation revealed by CT or MR scans within eight to nine months after the onset of back pain. Surgery is considered the treatment of choice for extruded, migrated and free fragment herniated disk associated to clinical symptomatology of cono-cauda syndrome, progressive foot droop and hyperalgic radiculopathy. patients with a small or contained herniated disk, without any benefit from conservative medical treatment, can be candidates for one of minimally invasive percutaneous techniques, whose outcome, though, depends on the characteristics of hernia itself and on the chosen technique. The aim of this paper is to discuss about O2-O3 treatment for symptomatic not extruded herniated disk at lumbar level, highlighting about indication inclusion exclusion criteria and our results.

Cutaneous sensitization to aziridine preceding the onset of occupational asthma.

We describe a 47-year-old non-atopic woman, working as a spray painter in a tannery for 23 years, with a 16-year history of cutaneous symptoms and a subsequent 2-year history of asthmatic symptoms after exposure to aerosol and vapour of polyfunctional aziridine (PFA) at work. To confirm the occupational origin of the dermatitis and asthma we performed a skin prick test with PFA and a specific inhalation challenge (SIC) with PFA. Prick test with PFA elicited an immediate positive skin reaction. She developed an immediate asthmatic reaction upon SIC with PFA. The onset of occupational dermatitis before asthma is consistent with the hypothesis that the sensitization to PFA was triggered in the skin. The observation that the reactions elicited in skin and airways upon exposure to PFA exhibited the same time course, suggests a similar mechanism at both sites. Thus, the avoidance of both skin and airway exposure to PFA should be recommended in workplace hygiene practice.

Relevance of TH2 Markers in the Assessment and Therapeutic Management of Severe Allergic Asthma: A Real-Life Perspective.

BACKGROUND: Although blood eosinophils are currently recognized as the main clinical marker of TH2-type inflammation, their relevance in identifying asthma severity remains a matter of debate. METHODS: Our retrospective real-life study on severe asthmatics included in the NEONet Italian database aimed to investigate the relevance of blood eosinophil count and fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) in the clinical assessment of severe asthma and their role as potential predictors of responsiveness to anti-IgE therapy. The cut-off values chosen were 300 eosinophils/mm3 and FeNO of 30 ppm. RESULTS: We evaluated 132 adult patients. No significant differences were observed between the groups (high and low baseline eosinophil counts) in terms of demographic data, total IgE, lung function, patient-reported outcomes, or nasal comorbidities. The Asthma Control Test score and Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire scores were poorer in patients with FeNO ≥30 ppb than in patients with FeNO <30 ppb. In the high FeNO subgroup, more frequent hospital admissions and a higher number of working days lost in the previous year were registered. A combined score including both eosinophils and FeNO did not improve the accuracy of the individual parameters. In the high-eosinophil subgroup, the proportion of responders to omalizumab was greater and increased at each follow-up time point. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings show that blood eosinophil count is not an unequivocal marker of asthma severity, whereas a higher FeNO level is associated with more frequent hospital admissions and more working days lost. Blood eosinophils seem to act as a predictor of response to omalizumab.

The response of the algae Fucus virsoides (Fucales, Ochrophyta) to Roundup® solution exposure: A metabolomics approach.

Glyphosate, as a broad-spectrum herbicide, is frequently detected in water and several studies have investigated its effects on several freshwater aquatic organisms. Yet, only few investigations have been performed on marine macroalgae. Here, we studied both the metabolomics responses and the effect on primary production in the endemic brown algae Fucus virsoides exposed to different concentration (0, 0.5, 1.5 and 2.5 mg L-1) of a commercial glyphosate-based herbicide, namely Roundup®. Our results show that Roundup® significantly reduced quantum yield of photosynthesis (Fv/Fm) and caused alteration in the metabolomic profiles of exposed thalli compared to controls. Together with the decrease in the aromatic amino acids (phenylalanine and tyrosine), an increase in shikimate content was detected. The branched-amino acids differently varied according to levels of herbicide exposure, as well as observed for the content of choline, formate, glucose, malonate and fumarate. Our results suggest that marine primary producers could be largely affected by the agricultural land use, this asking for further studies addressing the ecosystem-level effects of glyphosate-based herbicides in coastal waters.

Quantum work statistics and resource theories: Bridging the gap through Rényi divergences.

The work performed on or extracted from a nonautonomous quantum system described by means of a two-point projective-measurement approach is a stochastic variable. We show that the cumulant generating function of work can be recast in the form of quantum Rényi-α divergences, and by exploiting the convexity of this cumulant generating function, derive a single-parameter family of bounds for the first moment of work. Higher order moments of work can also be obtained from this result. In this way, we establish a link between quantum work statistics in stochastic approaches and resource theories for quantum thermodynamics, a theory in which Rényi-α divergences take a central role. To explore this connection further, we consider an extended framework involving a control switch and an auxiliary battery, which is instrumental to reconstructing the work statistics of the system. We compare and discuss our bounds on the work distribution to findings on deterministic work studied in resource-theoretic settings.

A regional assessment of cumulative impact mapping on Mediterranean coralligenous outcrops.

In the last decade, the 'Cumulative Pressure and Impact Assessment' (CPIA) approach emerged as a tool to map expected impacts on marine ecosystems. However, CPIA assumes a linear response of ecosystems to increasing level of cumulative pressure weighting sensitivity to different anthropogenic pressures through expert judgement. We applied CPIA to Mediterranean coralligenous outcrops over 1000 km of the Italian coastline. Extensive field surveys were conducted to assess the actual condition of coralligenous assemblages at varying levels of human pressure. As pressure increased, a clear shift from bioconstructors to turf-dominated assemblages was found. The linear model originally assumed for CPIA did not fit the actual relationship between expected cumulative impact versus assemblage degradation. A log-log model, instead, best fitted the data and predicted a different map of cumulative impact in the study area able to appreciate the whole range of impact scenarios. Hence, the relative importance of different drivers in explaining the observed pattern of degradation was not aligned with weights from the expert opinion. Such findings stress the need for more incisive efforts to collect empirical evidence on ecosystem-specific responses to human pressure in order to refine CPIA predictions.

Intravenous lipid infusion and total plasma fatty acids positively modulate plasma acylated ghrelin in vivo.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Ghrelin is a gastric orexigenic hormone whose activating acylation plays a relevant role in the regulation of energy balance. Nutritional modulators of ghrelin acylation and plasma acylated ghrelin (AG) concentration remain however largely undefined. We aimed at investigating whether circulating free fatty acids (FFA) contribute to regulate plasma AG and its ratio (AG/TG) to total hormone (TG). METHODS: Plasma FFA, TG, AG and AG/TG were measured in a primary outpatient care setting in a community-based population cohort of 850 individuals (age 54 ± 10 years, M/F: 408/442) from the North-East Italy MoMa study. 150-min intravenous lipid infusions in rodents (10% lipids, 600 µl/h) were used to investigate the potential causal role of FFA in the regulation of plasma ghrelin profile. RESULTS: Plasma FFA were associated positively with AG and AG/TG while negatively with TG (P < 0.01). Associations between FFA, AG and AG/TG remained statistically significant (P < 0.02) in multiple regression analysis including HOMA insulin resistance and metabolic confounders, and both AG and AG/TG but not TG increased through plasma FFA quartiles (P < 0.01). Consistent with these findings, intravenous lipid infusion with plasma FFA elevation caused elevations of AG and AG/TG (P < 0.05) with no TG modifications. CONCLUSIONS: The current findings demonstrate a novel role for circulating FFA availability to up-regulate plasma AG, which could involve FFA-induced stimulation of ghrelin acylation.

Drop-out rate among patients treated with omalizumab for severe asthma: Literature review and real-life experience.

BACKGROUND: In patients with asthma, particularly severe asthma, poor adherence to inhaled drugs negatively affects the achievement of disease control. A better adherence rate is expected in the case of injected drugs, such as omalizumab, as they are administered only in a hospital setting. However, adherence to omalizumab has never been systematically investigated. The aim of this study was to review the omalizumab drop-out rate in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and real-life studies. A comparative analysis was performed between published data and the Italian North East Omalizumab Network (NEONet) database. RESULTS: In RCTs the drop-out rate ranged from 7.1 to 19.4 %. Although the reasons for withdrawal were only occasionally reported, patient decision and adverse events were the most frequently reported causes. In real-life studies the drop-out rate ranged from 0 to 45.5 %. In most cases lack of efficacy was responsible for treatment discontinuation. According to NEONet data, 32 % of treated patients dropped out, with an increasing number of drop outs observed over time. Patient decision and lack of efficacy accounted for most treatment withdrawals. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment adherence is particularly crucial in patients with severe asthma considering the clinical impact of the disease and the cost of non-adherence. The risk of treatment discontinuation has to be carefully considered both in the experimental and real-life settings. Increased knowledge regarding the main reasons for patient withdrawal is important to improve adherence in clinical practice.