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C Carraro

Publications and source records attributed to C Carraro.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Search for laser-induced formation of antihydrogen atoms.

Antihydrogen can be synthesized by mixing antiprotons and positrons in a Penning trap environment. Here an experiment to stimulate the formation of antihydrogen in the n = 11 quantum state by the introduction of light from a CO2 continuous wave laser is described. An overall upper limit of 0.8% with 90% C.L. on the laser-induced enhancement of the recombination has been found. This result strongly suggests that radiative recombination contributes negligibly to the antihydrogen formed in the experimental conditions used by the ATHENA Collaboration.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2006

Evidence for the production of slow antiprotonic hydrogen in vacuum.

We present evidence showing how antiprotonic hydrogen, the quasistable antiproton (p)-proton bound system, has been synthesized following the interaction of antiprotons with the molecular ion H2+ in a nested Penning trap environment. From a careful analysis of the spatial distributions of antiproton annihilation events, evidence is presented for antiprotonic hydrogen production with sub-eV kinetic energies in states around n=70, and with low angular momenta. The slow antiprotonic hydrogen may be studied using laser spectroscopic techniques.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2006

Soy isoflavones, lactobacilli, Magnolia bark extract, vitamin D3 and calcium. Controlled clinical study in menopause.

AIM: Affective and behavioural disorders possibly concomitant to the vasomotor menopausal symptoms worsen quality of life. A rational formulation containing soy isoflavones (60 mg), lactobacilli (500 millions spores), calcium (141 mg) and vitamin D3 (5 microg) was added of Magnolia bark extract (60 mg) and magnesium (50 mg) (Estromineral serena, ES). The Magnolia extract active principles interact with GABA system and exhibit a sedative central action. Magnesium intervenes in enzymatic reactions of the energetic metabolism and protects the bone integrity. Aim of this controlled study was to compare the clinical activity and safety of ES versus calcium+vitamin D3 (Ca+D) in menopause. METHODS: A controlled, randomised, multicentre study was carried out in symptomatic menopausal women with sleep or mood alterations. Women received 1 tablet/day of ES or Ca+D for 24 weeks. Symptoms during the treatment and final judgements on efficacy and acceptability were evaluated. RESULTS: Eighty-nine women (44 ES and 45 Ca+D, mean age 53.8 years, in menopause since 56.6 months) participated to the study. Flushing, nocturnal sweating, palpitations, insomnia, asthenia, anxiety, mood depression, irritability, vaginal dryness, dyspareunia, and libido loss, significantly decreased in severity and frequency during ES versus Ca+D treatment even since the fourth week. Woman wellbeing (good/very good 66.7% vs 20%) judgement on efficacy (72.7% vs 17.1%) and acceptability (93.9% vs 31.4%) were significantly better for ES. CONCLUSIONS: The controlled study showed the efficacy of Magnolia extract and magnesium on psycho-affective and sleep disturbances in menopause, in addition to the effects of isoflavones on vasomotor symptoms. A global natural approach to menopause with ES evidenced its therapeutic usefulness and safety.

Calcium↗
PubMed2005

New source of dense, cryogenic positron plasmas.

We have developed a new method, based on the ballistic transfer of preaccumulated plasmas, to obtain large and dense positron plasmas in a cryogenic environment. The method involves transferring plasmas emanating from a region with a low magnetic field (0.14 T) and relatively high pressure (10(-9) mbar) into a 15 K Penning-Malmberg trap immersed in a 3 T magnetic field with a base pressure better than 10(-13) mbar. The achieved positron accumulation rate in the high field cryogenic trap is more than one and a half orders of magnitude higher than the previous most efficient UHV compatible scheme. Subsequent stacking resulted in a plasma containing more than 1.2 x 10(9) positrons, which is a factor 4 higher than previously reported. Using a rotating wall electric field, plasmas containing about 20 x 10(6) positrons were compressed to a density of 2.6 x 10(10) cm(-3). This is a factor of 6 improvement over earlier measurements.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

Spatial distribution of cold antihydrogen formation.

Antihydrogen is formed when antiprotons are mixed with cold positrons in a nested Penning trap. We present experimental evidence, obtained using our antihydrogen annihilation detector, that the spatial distribution of the emerging antihydrogen atoms is independent of the positron temperature and axially enhanced. This indicates that antihydrogen is formed before the antiprotons are in thermal equilibrium with the positron plasma. This result has important implications for the trapping and spectroscopy of antihydrogen.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2004

Three-dimensional annihilation imaging of trapped antiprotons.

We demonstrate three-dimensional imaging of antiprotons in a Penning trap, by reconstructing annihilation vertices from the trajectories of the charged annihilation products. The unique capability of antiparticle imaging has allowed, for the first time, the observation of the spatial distribution of the particle loss in a Penning trap. The radial loss of antiprotons on the trap wall is localized to small spots, strongly breaking the azimuthal symmetry expected for an ideal trap. Our observations have important implications for detection of antihydrogen annihilations.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2004

Accumulation of polychlorinated biphenyls in sediments of the Venice Lagoon and the industrial area of Porto Marghera.

Sediment cores, collected at seven sites in the Venice Lagoon and within the canals of the industrial area were analyzed for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in order to assess the chronology of pollution and its present trends. The surficial concentration of PCBs is very high (more than 2049 microg kg(-1)) only in the Brentella Canal, probably due to a very recent contaminating episode. Very high values downcore (up to 41,639 microg kg(-1)) can be found in different parts of the industrial area, especially in the canals Lusore-Brentelle and Salso. Lagoon samples are much less contaminated (2.7-123 microg kg(-1)), being influenced only occasionally by polluted sediments resuspended from the canals. Sediment chronology shows that the delivery of contaminants peaked in the 1970s-early 1980s, decreasing since at most sites. Congener profiles distinguish PCBs in two main categories: heavy congeners characterize a baseline pollution, probably due to a large variety of sources within the lagoon system, whereas a mixture of light PCBs was discharged into the canals Brentella and Salso.

Environmental Monitoring↗
PubMed2003

Positron plasma diagnostics and temperature control for antihydrogen production.

Production of antihydrogen atoms by mixing antiprotons with a cold, confined, positron plasma depends critically on parameters such as the plasma density and temperature. We discuss nondestructive measurements, based on a novel, real-time analysis of excited, low-order plasma modes, that provide comprehensive characterization of the positron plasma in the ATHENA antihydrogen apparatus. The plasma length, radius, density, and total particle number are obtained. Measurement and control of plasma temperature variations, and the application to antihydrogen production experiments are discussed.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2002

Production and detection of cold antihydrogen atoms.

A theoretical underpinning of the standard model of fundamental particles and interactions is CPT invariance, which requires that the laws of physics be invariant under the combined discrete operations of charge conjugation, parity and time reversal. Antimatter, the existence of which was predicted by Dirac, can be used to test the CPT theorem-experimental investigations involving comparisons of particles with antiparticles are numerous. Cold atoms and anti-atoms, such as hydrogen and antihydrogen, could form the basis of a new precise test, as CPT invariance implies that they must have the same spectrum. Observations of antihydrogen in small quantities and at high energies have been reported at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and at Fermilab, but these experiments were not suited to precision comparison measurements. Here we demonstrate the production of antihydrogen atoms at very low energy by mixing trapped antiprotons and positrons in a cryogenic environment. The neutral anti-atoms have been detected directly when they escape the trap and annihilate, producing a characteristic signature in an imaging particle detector.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2001

Formation of alkanethiol monolayer on Ge(111).

Alkanethiols, CH3(CH2)(n-1)SH, are shown to react readily with HF-treated Ge(111) surface at room temperature to form a high-quality monolayer. The resulting films are characterized by using contact angle analysis (CAA), atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE), and high-resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy (HREELS). The octanethiol and octadecanethiol films on Ge(111) both exhibit 101 degrees and 40 degrees water and hexadecane contact angles, respectively. These values indicate that the thiol surface coverage is relatively high, and that the films possess a high degree of orientational ordering. The angle-resolved XPS analysis supports that thiols are bound to the Ge surface by Ge-S bonds at the monolayer/Ge interface. The film thickness values obtained by XPS and SE agree well with the earlier reported values on alkyl monolayers on Ge(111) prepared by Grignard reaction. On the basis of HREEL spectra taken after thermal annealing steps, the monolayers are found to be thermally stable up to 450 K. The thermal stability provides further evidence that thiols are covalently bonded to Ge(111).

Journal Article↗
PubMed2001

Accumulation of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans in sediments of the Venice Lagoon and the industrial area of Porto Marghera.

Two sediment cores collected from the central Venice Lagoon and five from the canals of the nearby industrial area were studied in order to assess the temporal evolution of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and dibenzofurans (PCDFs) delivery and present trends. The most polluted site is C12, in the Brentella Canal, with a total equivalent (TEQ) concentration of 2858 and 64,130 ng kg-1 at the surface and at 18-20 cm depth, respectively. High values can be also found in the Nord Industrial Canal and in the Salso Canal: 3000 and 2500 ng kg-1, respectively. Lagoon samples are much less contaminated, with TEQ downcore maxima of 22 and 53 ng kg-1, being influenced by pollutants stored in sediments of the canals only occasionally. Sediment chronology, based on 210Pb and 137Cs activity-depth profiles, shows that the highest fluxes occurred in the 1970s and early 1980s, and that pollution is now decreasing. Homologue profiles can distinguish PCDD/Fs from different sources: combustion for octachlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin (OCDD) and stripping of VCM for octachlorinated dibenzofuran (OCDF) alone, whereas several activities carried out in the past within the industrial area can be responsible of the overall contamination by furans.

Benzofurans↗
PubMed2001

[The STF Project: Female Tumor Screening].

A pilot study has been carried out to evaluate women's compliance to a screening program for cervical cancer. The study, initiated in 1994, was performed in conjunction with the ACRO project of the CNR by the Italian National Health Institute, in collaboration with La Sapienza University of Rome and the National Institute for Cancer Research in Genoa. A preliminary telephone survey was carried out on a sample of 400 women (200 in Rome and 200 in Genoa) to assess, among other factors, their attitude towards the screening program. Afterwards, an ad hoc advertising campaign was launched and 21,827 women, randomly chosen from the register office's lists, were sent a personal invitation to participate in the screening. Most women showed interest in attending the screening program at the interview, but the percentages of participation were low (25.7% in Genoa and 27.3% in Rome). On the other hand, a high percentage of women who participated in the screening had already had a Pap test in the previous three years (Genoa, 73%; Rome, 76%). The recruiting techniques that were used in this study, and that are commonly used, do not seem to reach the core of the target population for cervical screening, i.e. women who have never had a Pap test or who had a Pap test more than 5 years earlier. New methods of recruiting aimed at categories at risk and based more on direct contacts need to be developed.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon-DNA adducts in cervical smears of smokers and nonsmokers.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to detect polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon-DNA (PAH-DNA) adducts in single cervical cells collected during a routine Papanicolaou smear and to relate this carcinogen exposure dose marker to smoking habit. METHODS: An immunohistochemical assay, using a polyclonal antiserum raised against benzo[a]pyrene diol epoxide-DNA adducts, was performed to evaluate PAH-DNA adducts in cervical cells collected from 16 volunteers who smoked at least 20 cigarettes/day and 16 nonsmokers. RESULTS: The mean adduct level, determined as relative staining intensity by an optical density image analyzer, was significantly higher in smokers compared to nonsmokers (AOD x 1000 +/- SD = 98 +/- 32 and 73 +/- 25, respectively) (P = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrate that this immunohistochemical assay, much simpler than other methodologies used to evaluate PAH-DNA adducts in cervical tissue, is sufficiently sensitive for quantitative adduct evaluation in single epithelial cervical cells, as already verified for other exfoliated material. This work thus confirms that tobacco smoke is a risk factor for genotoxic damage generation in cervical cells and indicates a procedure likely adaptable to a large population screening.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Plasma interleukin-1 beta and tumor necrosis factor concentrations in obsessive-compulsive disorders.

Plasma interleukin-1 beta (Il-1 beta) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) concentrations were measured twice, at a 48-hour interval, in 27 drug-free obsessive-compulsive patients (12 women and 15 men) and in 27 sex-age-matched healthy controls. Il-1 beta and TNF-alpha concentrations were significantly lower in patients than in controls, whereas there were no differences in either group between men and women, between the samples of the two days, or, in the patients, between those who had and those who had not been previously treated with psychopharmacologic drugs.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

Noradrenergic receptor sensitivity in obsessive compulsive disorder: II. Cortisol response to acute clonidine administration.

Sensitivity of pre-synaptic alpha-2- and post-synaptic alpha-1- and beta-adrenoceptors was investigated in 15 patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and in 15 age- and sex-matched healthy controls, by measuring cortisol responses to saline administration and to inhibition by clonidine (clon), a noradrenergic receptor agonist. Basal values of cortisol and responses to administration of saline and of clon were the same in patients and controls.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

Noradrenergic receptor sensitivity in obsessive-compulsive disorders: I. Growth hormone response to clonidine stimulation.

In 15 patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and in 15 healthy controls postsynaptic alpha-2-adrenoceptor sensitivity was examined by measuring the growth hormone (GH) response to growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) and to clonidine stimulation. Basal values of GH and somatomedin-C (SMD-C) and mean GH responses to GHRH were the same in patients and controls, thus suggesting that a peripheral pathology of the somatotropic axis should not be present. GH responses to clonidine stimulation were blunted in patients suggesting that post-synaptic alpha-2-adrenoceptors are subsensitive, possibly due to higher than normal noradrenergic secretion.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Interictal mood and personality disorders in temporal lobe epilepsy and juvenile myoclonic epilepsy.

BACKGROUND: Mood disorders have been described as the commonest psychiatric disorders in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy. Secondary depression in temporal lobe epilepsy could be interpreted either as an adjustment reaction to a chronic disease or as a limbic dysfunction. To clarify this issue, a controlled study of psychiatric disorders was conducted in different forms of epileptic and non-epileptic chronic conditions. METHODS: Twenty outpatients with temporal lobe epilepsy, 18 outpatients with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy--a primary generalised seizure disorder--20 matched type I diabetic patients, and 20 matched normal controls were assessed by a structured interview (SADS) and by self rating scales (Beck depression inventory (BDI) and the state and trait anxiety scales STAIX1 and STAIX2). RESULTS: Sixteen (80%) patients with temporal lobe epilepsy fulfilled the criteria for a psychiatric diagnosis at the SADS interview with a significantly higher frequency than patients with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (22%) and diabetic patients (10%) (P < 0.0001). The most frequent disorder in temporal lobe epilepsy was a mood disorder: 11 (55%) patients with temporal lobe epilepsy had depression compared with three patients with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy and two diabetic patients (P < 0.001). Eight patients with temporal lobe epilepsy with an affective disorder also had a comorbid personality or anxiety disorder. Patients with temporal lobe epilepsy scored significantly higher on BDI, STAIX1, and STAIX2 than the three control groups (P < 0.001, P < 0.01, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with temporal lobe epilepsy have a higher incidence of affective and personality disorders, often in comorbidity, than patients with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy and diabetic patients suggesting that these psychiatric disorders are not an adjustment reaction to a chronic disease but rather reflect a limbic dysfunction.

Adult↗