Italian midwives in Europe: a qualitative study on the experiences of professional migration.

Aim: To explore the reasons for Italian midwives' decision to migrate, and their lived professional and emotional experiences. Methods: A descriptive phenomenological study was conducted recruiting Italian midwives who were working abroad in European countries. We offered a telephone or web interview. Two researchers conducted, audio-recorded, and fully transcribed the interviews and other two researchers, independently, performed a content analysis. Results: Thirty-two midwives having professional experiences in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Switzerland, and Spain were interviewed. Five themes emerged: 1) Education, 2) Migration decision-making, 3) Professional experience abroad, 4) Midwives' perceptions of their role, 5) Satisfaction versus desire to return. Our findings show a general dissatisfaction with Italian job opportunities in terms both of access to employment and work conditions. This scenario is complicated by the status of the professional midwifery in Italy. Conclusion: Stakeholders should ensure that the migration of Italian midwives is not synonymous with dispersion but is a channel of professional growth and mutual exchange.

Psycho-social characteristics in patients with discopathy: Quality of Life, coping strategy and mood state.

The pathologies of the musculoskeletal apparatus are the most common cause of chronic diseases, with a huge impact on people and society. Scientific literature has discovered how experiencing chronic pain directly affects peoples' well-being, lifestyle, social relationships and can also cause psychological distress. The present study aims to investigate pain experience in patients with hernias or protrusions of the cervical and lumbosacral tract on a sample of 120 patients, recruited from patients of Poliambulatorio Oberdan, medical centre in Brescia (Italy) specialized in physical rehabilitation and CT-guided oxygen ozone therapy. In a bio-psychosocial perspective, the research aimed to investigate how the perception of pain, the mood state associated with it, the coping strategies adopted and the quality of life differ according to each patient's gender and to the more or less prolonged use of pain medication. The data were collected by means of medical and psychological anamnestic interviews and self-report tests (WHOQOL-BREF, COPE-NVI, POMS). The quantitative analysis, carried out through SPSS 25 (2017) software, showed how functional impairment of one's autonomy (walking, driving) affects mood states. In particular, the female sample expressed a more deflected mood, despite the greater use of relational and/or transcendent support (coping strategies) compared to men. The study suggests that the greater impairment of the moods of women can be attributed both to the caregiving role they play, which often results in a greater fatigue and difficulties in redefining this role following the algic condition, and more general differences in the expression of suffering, which, on a cultural level, sees men emotionally coerced. The analysis also shows how taking pain medication for a long period of time has a negative impact on the quality of life. The results suggest that the patients treated with analgesic therapy tend to adopt avoidant coping styles, which usually escalate into postponement of the time when dealing with a stressful situation and, if used in the long run, may lead to worsening health condition.

Estimated costs attributable to events of "out-of-temperature" in the stockpiling of hexavalent vaccines occurring in Italy.

BACKGROUND: Antigens contained in vaccines are inherently unstable biologically; such a characteristic is conferred by their three-dimensional structure. Preserving the ability of the vaccines to protect against disease is necessary to ensure the supervision and monitoring of all steps of the cold chain. DTPa-HBV-IPV/Hib vaccine (Infanrix hexaTM, GSK Vaccines, Belgium) is designed to prevent disease due to diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (DTP), hepatitis B virus (HBV), poliomyelitis and Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib); it was first licensed for use in Europe in 2000 and is currently licensed in at least 95 countries. Since October 2013, more than 102 million doses of GSK's DTPa-HBV-IPV/Hib vaccine have been distributed globally, with nearly 15 million doses distributed in Italy. DTPa-HBV-IPV/Hib components are stable up to a temperature of 25°C for 72 hours. Lacking of officially approved stability data may generate some concern in case of cold chain accidents. METHODS: An analysis based on collected data was carried out to estimate potential costs attributable to events of "out-of-temperature" in the stockpiling of hexavalent vaccines occurring in Italy in 2014. RESULTS: The analysis, based on real data, documented that the loss for the National Health Service (NHS) was in the range of 100,000 - 400,000 euros in one year. However, the amount of money that in principle could have been lost would have ranged between nearly half and one million euros/year. CONCLUSIONS: A substantial loss of money was avoided thanks to the availability of officially approved stability data for GSK's DTPa-HBV-IPV/Hib vaccine.

Human sperm sex chromosome disomy and sperm DNA damage assessed by the neutral comet assay.

STUDY QUESTION: Is there an association between human sperm sex chromosome disomy and sperm DNA damage? SUMMARY ANSWER: An increase in human sperm XY disomy was associated with higher comet extent; however, there was no other consistent association of sex chromosome disomies with DNA damage. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY: There is limited published research on the association between sex chromosome disomy and sperm DNA damage and the findings are not consistent across studies. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, AND DURATION: We conducted a cross-sectional study of 190 men (25% ever smoker, 75% never smoker) from subfertile couples presenting at the Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Clinic from January 2000 to May 2003. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS: Multiprobe fluorescence in situ hybridization for chromosomes X, Y and 18 was used to determine XX, YY, XY and total sex chromosome disomy in sperm nuclei using an automated scoring method. The neutral comet assay was used to measure sperm DNA damage, as reflected by comet extent, percentage DNA in the comet tail, and tail distributed moment. Univariate and multiple linear regression models were constructed with sex chromosome disomy (separate models for each of the four disomic conditions) as the independent variable, and DNA damage parameters (separate models for each measure of DNA damage) as the dependent variable. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE: Men with current or past smoking history had significantly greater comet extent (µm: regression coefficients with 95% CI) [XX18: 15.17 (1.98, 28.36); YY18: 14.68 (1.50, 27.86); XY18: 15.41 (2.37, 28.45); Total Sex Chromosome Disomy: 15.23 (2.09, 28.38)], and tail distributed moment [XX18: 3.01 (0.30, 5.72); YY18: 2.95 (0.24, 5.67); XY18: 3.04 (0.36, 5.72); Total Sex Chromosome Disomy: 3.10 (0.31, 5.71)] than men who had never smoked. In regression models adjusted for age and smoking, there was a positive association between XY disomy and comet extent. For an increase in XY disomy from 0.56 to 1.47% (representing the 25th to 75th percentile), there was a mean increase of 5.08 µm in comet extent. No other statistically significant findings were observed. LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION: A potential limitation of this study is that it is cross-sectional. Cross-sectional analyses by nature do not lend themselves to inference about directionality for any observed associations; therefore we cannot determine which variable is the cause and which one is the effect. A small sample size may be a further limitation. Comparison of these findings to other studies is limited due to methodological differences. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS: Although consistent associations across sex chromosome disomies or DNA damage measures were not observed, this study highlights the need to explore etiologies of sperm DNA damage and sex chromosome disomy to better understand the potential mechanistic overlaps between the two. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTERESTS: This work was supported by NIOSH Grant T42 OH008416, and NIH/NIEHS Grants ES 009718, ES 000002, and R01 ES017457. During the study M.E.M. was affiliated with the Department of Environmental Health at the Harvard School of Public Health. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: N/A.

Collective pairing of resonantly coupled microcavity polaritons.

We consider the possible phases of microcavity polaritons tuned near a bipolariton Feshbach resonance. We show that, as well as the regular polariton superfluid phase, a "molecular" superfluid exists, with (quasi-)long-range order only for pairs of polaritons. We describe the experimental signatures of this state. Using variational approaches we find the phase diagram (critical temperature, density, and exciton-photon detuning). Unlike for ultracold atoms, the molecular superfluid is not inherently unstable, and our phase diagram suggests it is attainable in current experiments.

Dose-related Mutagenic and Clastogenic Effects of Benzo[b]fluoranthene in Mouse Somatic Tissues Detected by Duplex Sequencing and the Micronucleus Assay.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are common environmental pollutants that originate from the incomplete combustion of organic materials. We investigated the clastogenicity and mutagenicity of benzo[ b ]fluoranthene (BbF), one of 16 priority PAHs, in MutaMouse males after a 28-day oral exposure. BbF causes robust dose-dependent increases in micronucleus frequency in peripheral blood, indicative of chromosome damage. Duplex Sequencing (DS), an error-corrected sequencing technology, reveals that BbF induces dose-dependent increases in mutation frequencies in bone marrow (BM) and liver. Mutagenicity is increased in intergenic relative to genic regions, suggesting a role for transcription-coupled repair of BbF-induced DNA damage. At higher doses, the maximum mutagenic response to BbF is higher in liver, which has a lower mitotic index but higher metabolic capacity than BM; however, mutagenic potency is comparable between the two tissues. BbF induces primarily C:G>A:T mutations, followed by C:G>T:A and C:G>G:C, indicating that BbF metabolites mainly target guanines and cytosines. The mutation spectrum of BbF correlates with cancer mutational signatures associated with tobacco exposure, supporting its contribution to the carcinogenicity of combustion-derived PAHs in humans. Overall, BbF's mutagenic effects are similar to benzo[ a ]pyrene, a well-studied mutagenic PAH. Our work showcases the utility of DS for effective mutagenicity assessment of environmental pollutants. Synopsis: We used Duplex Sequencing to study the mutagenicity of benzo[ b ]fluoranthene across the mouse genome. Dose-dependent changes in mutation frequency and spectrum quantify its role in PAH-induced carcinogenicity.

Density instabilities in a two-dimensional dipolar Fermi gas.

We study the density instabilities of a two-dimensional gas of dipolar fermions with aligned dipole moments. The random phase approximation (RPA) for the density-density response function is never accurate for the dipolar gas, and so we incorporate correlations beyond RPA via an improved version of the Singwi-Tosi-Land-Sjölander scheme. In addition to density-wave instabilities, our formalism captures the collapse instability that is expected from Hartree-Fock calculations but is absent from RPA. Crucially, we find that when the dipoles are perpendicular to the layer, the system spontaneously breaks rotational symmetry and forms a stripe phase, in defiance of conventional wisdom.

Frictionless flow in a binary polariton superfluid.

We study the properties of a binary microcavity polariton superfluid coherently injected by two lasers at different momenta and energies. The crossover from the supersonic to the subsonic regime, where motion is frictionless, is described by evaluating the linear response of the system to a weak defect potential. We show that the coupling between the two components requires that either both components flow without friction or both scatter against the defect, though scattering can be small when the two fluids are weakly coupled. By analyzing the drag force exerted on a defect, we give a recipe to experimentally address the crossover from the supersonic to the subsonic regime.

Control and ultrafast dynamics of a two-fluid polariton switch.

We investigate the cross interactions in a two-component polariton quantum fluid coherently driven by two independent pumping lasers tuned at different energies and momenta. We show that both the hysteresis cycles and the on-off threshold of one polariton signal can be entirely controlled by a second polariton fluid. Furthermore, we study the ultrafast switching dynamics of a driven polariton state, demonstrating the ability to control the polariton population with an external laser pulse, in less than a few picoseconds.

Bose-Einstein condensation of exciton polaritons.

Phase transitions to quantum condensed phases--such as Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC), superfluidity, and superconductivity--have long fascinated scientists, as they bring pure quantum effects to a macroscopic scale. BEC has, for example, famously been demonstrated in dilute atom gas of rubidium atoms at temperatures below 200 nanokelvin. Much effort has been devoted to finding a solid-state system in which BEC can take place. Promising candidate systems are semiconductor microcavities, in which photons are confined and strongly coupled to electronic excitations, leading to the creation of exciton polaritons. These bosonic quasi-particles are 10(9) times lighter than rubidium atoms, thus theoretically permitting BEC to occur at standard cryogenic temperatures. Here we detail a comprehensive set of experiments giving compelling evidence for BEC of polaritons. Above a critical density, we observe massive occupation of the ground state developing from a polariton gas at thermal equilibrium at 19 K, an increase of temporal coherence, and the build-up of long-range spatial coherence and linear polarization, all of which indicate the spontaneous onset of a macroscopic quantum phase.