| 1. |
- Abdellaoui, G., et al.
(author)
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Meteor studies in the framework of the JEM-EUSO program
- 2017
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In: Planetary and Space Science. - : Elsevier. - 0032-0633 .- 1873-5088. ; 143, s. 245-255
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We summarize the state of the art of a program of UV observations from space of meteor phenomena, a secondary objective of the JEM-EUSO international collaboration. Our preliminary analysis indicates that JEM-EUSO, taking advantage of its large FOV and good sensitivity, should be able to detect meteors down to absolute magnitude close to 7. This means that JEM-EUSO should be able to record a statistically significant flux of meteors, including both sporadic ones, and events produced by different meteor streams. Being unaffected by adverse weather conditions, JEM-EUSO can also be a very important facility for the detection of bright meteors and fireballs, as these events can be detected even in conditions of very high sky background. In the case of bright events, moreover, exhibiting some persistence of the meteor train, preliminary simulations show that it should be possible to exploit the motion of the ISS itself and derive at least a rough 3D reconstruction of the meteor trajectory. Moreover, the observing strategy developed to detect meteors may also be applied to the detection of nuclearites, exotic particles whose existence has been suggested by some theoretical investigations. Nuclearites are expected to move at higher velocities than meteoroids, and to exhibit a wider range of possible trajectories, including particles moving upward after crossing the Earth. Some pilot studies, including the approved Mini-EUSO mission, a precursor of JEM-EUSO, are currently operational or in preparation. We are doing simulations to assess the performance of Mini-EUSO for meteor studies, while a few meteor events have been already detected using the ground-based facility EUSO-TA.
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| 2. |
- Abdellaoui, G., et al.
(author)
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First observations of speed of light tracks by a fluorescence detector looking down on the atmosphere
- 2018
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In: Journal of Instrumentation. - : IOP PUBLISHING LTD. - 1748-0221. ; 13
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- EUSO-Balloon is a pathfinder mission for the Extreme Universe Space Observatory onboard the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM-EUSO). It was launched on the moonless night of the 25(th) of August 2014 from Timmins, Canada. The flight ended successfully after maintaining the target altitude of 38 km for five hours. One part of the mission was a 2.5 hour underflight using a helicopter equipped with three UV light sources (LED, xenon flasher and laser) to perform an inflight calibration and examine the detectors capability to measure tracks moving at the speed of light. We describe the helicopter laser system and details of the underflight as well as how the laser tracks were recorded and found in the data. These are the first recorded laser tracks measured from a fluorescence detector looking down on the atmosphere. Finally, we present a first reconstruction of the direction of the laser tracks relative to the detector.
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| 3. |
- Fornaro, M., et al.
(author)
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MULTIMORBIDITY AND PROMIS HEALTH OUTCOMES IN PATIENTS WITH IDIOPATHIC INFLAMMATORY MYOPATHIES : DATA FROM A LARGE, GLOBAL E-SURVEY (COVAD STUDY)
- 2023
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In: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. - : HighWire Press. - 0003-4967 .- 1468-2060. ; 82:Suppl. 1, s. 942-943
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Journal article (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Background: Prevalence of comorbidities and their impact on health outcomes in Idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIMs) is limited.Objectives: This study aimed to explore the prevalence of multimorbidity in patients with IIMs, other autoimmune rheumatic diseases (AIRDs) and Healthy controls (HCs). We further explore the impact of comorbidities on patients’ physical, mental, and social health assessed by the Patient-Reported Outcome Measurement Information System (PROMIS instruments).Methods: Data for this study were acquired from the COVAD 2 e-survey hosted by a study group consisting of 167 collaborators in 110 countries. Basic multimorbidity (BM) was defined as the co-occurrence of two or more comorbidities in an individual, while complex multimorbidity (CM) signified the co-occurrence of 3 or more chronic conditions affecting 3 or more different organ systems. PROMIS global physical health (PGP), mental health (PGM), fatigue 4a (F4a) and physical function short form (SF10) were analysed using descriptive statistics and linear regression models. Hierarchical Clustering on Principal Components was performed to outline the grouping.Results: Of 10740 complete respondents, 1558 IIMs, 4591 AIRDs and 3652 HCs were analysed. Individuals with IIMs exhibited high burden of any comorbidity (OR: 1.62 vs AIRDs and 2.95 vs HCs,p<0.01), BM (OR 1.66 vs AIRDs and 3.52 vs HCs,p<0.01), CM (OR: 1.69 vs AIRDs and 6.23 vs HCs,p<0.01), and mental health disorders (MHDs) (OR 1.33 vs AIRDs and 2.63 vs HCs,p<0.01).IIM patients with comorbidities (and MHDs) had worse physical function (low PGP, PGM, SF10 and higher F4a scores, all p<0.001). Worse physical function (PGP) was predicted by age (0.35; 0.030), active disease (-1.51; <0.001), BM (-1.11; <0.001), and MHDs (-1.47; <0.001). PGM was impacted by age (0.51; 0.004), active disease (-1.34, <0.001), BM (-0.75; 0.001) and MHDs (-2.22; <0.001). Determinants of SF10a were age (-3.86; <0.001), active disease (-7.03, <0.001), female (2.85, <0.001), BM (-2.95; <0.001) and MHDs (-2.37; <0.001). Fatigue (F4a) was impacted by age (-0.96, <0.001), active disease (1.45, <0.001), country human development index (0.95; 0.036), BM (1.11; <0.001); and MHDs (2.17; <0.001).Four distinct clusters (Figure 1A, Table 1) were identified i.e., cluster 0: lower burden of comorbidities and good health status; cluster 1: older patients, whit higher burden of comorbidities and poor health status, cluster 2: patients with higher prevalence of MHDs, lower PGP and PGM; and higher F4a scores; and lastly Cluster 3 that comprised older patients with an average burden of comorbidities and overall good health status according to PROMIS scores.Dermatomyositis, anti-synthetase syndrome, necrotizing autoimmune myopathy were similarly represented in all clusters, whilst inclusion body myositis and polymyositis were more predominant in clusters 1 (40.6% and 17.2%) and 3 (32 % and 17.5%), while overlap myositis was more represented in cluster 2 (25.6%) and 0 (32.7%) (Figure 1B).Conclusion: Patients with IIMs have a higher burden of comorbidities that adversely impact physical and mental health, calling for optimized approaches for holistic patient management.
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| 4. |
- Barrillon, P., et al.
(author)
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The EUSO@TurLab project in the framework of the JEM-EUSO program
- 2023
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In: Experimental astronomy. - : Springer Nature. - 0922-6435 .- 1572-9508. ; 55:2, s. 569-602
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The EUSO@TurLab project aims at performing experiments to reproduce Earth UV emissions as seen from a low Earth orbit by the planned missions of the JEM-EUSO program. It makes use of the TurLab facility, which is a laboratory, equipped with a 5 m diameter and 1 m depth rotating tank, located at the Physics Department of the University of Turin. All the experiments are designed and performed based on simulations of the expected response of the detectors to be flown in space. In April 2016 the TUS detector and more recently in October 2019 the Mini-EUSO experiment, both part of the JEM-EUSO program, have been placed in orbit to map the UV Earth emissions. It is, therefore, now possible to compare the replicas performed at TurLab with the actual images detected in space to understand the level of fidelity in terms of reproduction of the expected signals. We show that the laboratory tests reproduce at the order of magnitude level the measurements from space in terms of spatial extension and time duration of the emitted UV light, as well as the intensity in terms of expected counts per pixel per unit time when atmospheric transient events, diffuse nightlow background light, and artificial light sources are considered. Therefore, TurLab is found to be a very useful facility for testing the acquisition logic of the detectors of the present and future missions of the JEM-EUSO program and beyond in order to reproduce atmospheric signals in the laboratory.
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
- Pirkis, Jane, et al.
(author)
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Suicide numbers during the first 9-15 months of the COVID-19 pandemic compared with pre-existing trends : An interrupted time series analysis in 33 countries
- 2022
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In: eClinicalMedicine. - : Elsevier. - 2589-5370. ; 51
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background Predicted increases in suicide were not generally observed in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the picture may be changing and patterns might vary across demographic groups. We aimed to provide a timely, granular picture of the pandemic's impact on suicides globally. Methods We identified suicide data from official public-sector sources for countries/areas-within-countries, searching websites and academic literature and contacting data custodians and authors as necessary. We sent our first data request on 22nd June 2021 and stopped collecting data on 31st October 2021. We used interrupted time series (ITS) analyses to model the association between the pandemic's emergence and total suicides and suicides by sex-, age-and sex-by-age in each country/area-within-country. We compared the observed and expected numbers of suicides in the pandemic's first nine and first 10-15 months and used meta-regression to explore sources of variation. Findings We sourced data from 33 countries (24 high-income, six upper-middle-income, three lower-middle-income; 25 with whole-country data, 12 with data for area(s)-within-the-country, four with both). There was no evidence of greater-than-expected numbers of suicides in the majority of countries/areas-within-countries in any analysis; more commonly, there was evidence of lower-than-expected numbers. Certain sex, age and sex-by-age groups stood out as potentially concerning, but these were not consistent across countries/areas-within-countries. In the meta-regression, different patterns were not explained by countries' COVID-19 mortality rate, stringency of public health response, economic support level, or presence of a national suicide prevention strategy. Nor were they explained by countries' income level, although the meta-regression only included data from high-income and upper-middle-income countries, and there were suggestions from the ITS analyses that lower-middle-income countries fared less well. Interpretation Although there are some countries/areas-within-countries where overall suicide numbers and numbers for certain sex- and age-based groups are greater-than-expected, these countries/areas-within-countries are in the minority. Any upward movement in suicide numbers in any place or group is concerning, and we need to remain alert to and respond to changes as the pandemic and its mental health and economic consequences continue. Copyright (C) 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
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| 7. |
- Bisconti, F, et al.
(author)
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Mini-EUSO engineering model : Tests in open-sky condition
- 2019
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In: 36th International Cosmic Ray Conference, ICRC 2019. - : Sissa Medialab Srl.
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Mini-EUSO is a UV telescope that will look downwards to the Earth’s atmosphere onboard the International Space Station. With the design of the ultra-high energy cosmic ray fluorescence detectors belonging to the JEM-EUSO program, it will make the first UV map of the Earth by observing atmospheric phenomena such as transient luminous events, sprites and lightning, as well as meteors and bioluminescence from earth. Diffused light from laser shots from the ground, which mimic the fluorescence light emitted by Nitrogen molecules when extensive air showers pass through the atmosphere, can be used to verify the capability of this kind of detector to observe ultra-high energy cosmic rays. To validate the electronics and the trigger algorithms developed for Mini-EUSO, a scaled down version of the telescope with 1:9 of the original focal surface and a lens of 2.5 cm diameter has been built. Tests of the Mini-EUSO engineering model have been made in laboratory and in open sky condition. In this paper, we report results of observations of the night sky, which include the detection of stars, meteors, a planet and a rocket body reflecting the sunlight. Interesting results of the observation of city lights are also reported.
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| 8. |
- Bisconti, F., et al.
(author)
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Pre-flight qualification tests of the Mini-EUSO telescope engineering model
- 2022
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In: Experimental astronomy. - : Springer Nature. - 0922-6435 .- 1572-9508. ; 53:1, s. 133-158
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Mini-EUSO is part of the JEM-EUSO program and operates on board the International Space Station (ISS). It is a UV-telescope with single-photon counting capability looking at nighttime downwards to the Earth through a nadir-facing UV-transparent window. As part of the pre-flight tests, the Mini-EUSO engineering model, a telescope with 1/9 of the original focal surface and a lens of 2.5 cm diameter, has been built and tested. Tests of the Mini-EUSO engineering model have been made in laboratory and in open-sky conditions. Laboratory tests have been performed at the TurLab facility, located at the Physics Department of the University of Turin, equipped with a rotating tank containing different types of materials and light sources. In this way, the configuration for the observation of the Earth from space was emulated, including the Mini-EUSO trigger schemes. In addition to the qualification and calibration tests, the Mini-EUSO engineering model has also been used to evaluate the possibility of using a JEM-EUSO-type detector for applications such as observation of space debris. Furthermore, observations in open-sky conditions allowed the studies of natural light sources such as stars, meteors, planets, and artificial light sources such as airplanes, satellites reflecting the sunlight, and city lights. Most of these targets could be detected also with Mini-EUSO. In this paper, the tests in laboratory and in open-sky conditions are reported, as well as the obtained results. In addition, the contribution that such tests provided to foresee and improve the performance of Mini-EUSO on board the ISS is discussed.
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| 9. |
- Casolino, M, et al.
(author)
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Mini-EUSO experiment to study UV emission of terrestrial and astrophysical origin onboard of the International Space Station
- 2019
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In: 36th International Cosmic Ray Conference, ICRC 2019. - : Sissa Medialab Srl.
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Mini-EUSO will observe the Earth in the UV range (300 - 400 nm) offering the opportunity to study a variety of atmospheric events such as Transient Luminous Events (TLEs), meteors and marine bioluminescence. Furthermore it aims to search for Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECR) above 1021 eV and Strange Quark Matter (SQM). The detector is expected to be launched to the International Space Station in August 2019 and look at the Earth in nadir mode from the UV-transparent window of the Zvezda module of the International Space Station. The instrument comprises a compact telescope with a large field of view (44?), based on an optical system employing two Fresnel lenses for light collection. The light is focused onto an array of 36 multi-anode photomultiplier tubes (MAPMT), for a total of 2304 pixels and the resulting signal is converted into digital, processed and stored via the electronics subsystems on-board. In addition to the main detector, Mini-EUSO contains two ancillary cameras[4] for complementary measurements in the near infrared (1500 - 1600 nm) and visible (400 - 780 nm) range and also a 8 × 8 SiPM imaging array.
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| 10. |
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| 11. |
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| 12. |
- Miyamoto, H, et al.
(author)
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Space debris detection and tracking with the techniques of cosmic ray physics
- 2019
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In: 36th International Cosmic Ray Conference, ICRC 2019. - : Sissa Medialab Srl.
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Space Debris (SD) consist of non-operational artificial objects orbiting around the Earth, which could possibly damage space vehicles, such as the International Space Station (ISS) or other manned spacecrafts. The vast majority of such objects are cm-sized, not catalogued and usually the tracking data are not precise enough. Here we present the feasibility study of SD detection and tracking with techniques usually employed in cosmic-ray physics. For this purpose, we have evaluated the possibility of using Mini-EUSO, a space-borne fluorescence telescope to be deployed on the ISS, to track SD illuminated by the Sun. By means of ESAF (EUSO Simulation and analysis Framework) simulation and by developing the trigger algorithms, we estimated the minimum size and maximum distances of detectable SD. We then studied the number of possible SD detections using an ESA software called MASTER (Meteoroid and SD Terrestrial Environment Reference). With the Mini-EUSO Engineering Model (Mini-EUSO EM), we performed some measurements to estimate the reflectance of the most common SD materials and to demonstrate the ability of Mini-EUSO to detect SD events. We also performed some tests in open-sky conditions, identifying and tracking fast-moving objects. In particular, the detection of a rocket body allowed us to confirm the simulation outcomes predictions and the expected performance of the detector.
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| 13. |
- Miyamoto, H., et al.
(author)
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The Euso@turlab : Test of mini-EUSO engineering model
- 2019
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In: Proceedings of Science. - : Sissa Medialab Srl.
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The TurLab facility is a laboratory, equipped with a 5 m diameter and 1 m depth rotating tank, located in the Physics Department of the University of Turin. Originally, it was mainly built to study systems of different scales where rotation plays a key role in the fluid behavior such as in atmospheric and oceanic flows. In the past few years the TurLab facility has been used to perform experiments related to the observation of Extreme Energy Cosmic Rays (EECRs) from space using the fluorescence technique. For example, in the case of the JEM-EUSO mission, where the diffuse night brightness and artificial light sources can vary significantly in time and space inside the Field of View of the telescope. The Focal Surface of Mini-EUSO Engineering Model (Mini-EUSO EM) with the level 1 (L1) and 2 (L2) trigger logics implemented in the Photo-Detector Module (PDM) has been tested at TurLab. Tests related to the possibility of using an EUSO-like detector for other type of applications such as Space Debris (SD) monitoring and imaging detector have also been pursued. The tests and results obtained within the EUSO@TurLab Project on these different topics are presented.
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| 14. |
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| 15. |
- Sen, P, et al.
(author)
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Vaccine hesitancy decreases in rheumatic diseases, long-term concerns remain in myositis: a comparative analysis of the COVAD surveys
- 2023
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In: Rheumatology (Oxford, England). - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1462-0332 .- 1462-0324. ; 62:10, s. 3291-3301
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- ObjectiveCOVID-19 vaccines have a favorable safety profile in patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases (AIRDs) such as idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIMs); however, hesitancy continues to persist among these patients. Therefore, we studied the prevalence, predictors and reasons for hesitancy in patients with IIMs, other AIRDs, non-rheumatic autoimmune diseases (nrAIDs) and healthy controls (HCs), using data from the two international COVID-19 Vaccination in Autoimmune Diseases (COVAD) e-surveys.MethodsThe first and second COVAD patient self-reported e-surveys were circulated from March to December 2021, and February to June 2022 (ongoing). We collected data on demographics, comorbidities, COVID-19 infection and vaccination history, reasons for hesitancy, and patient reported outcomes. Predictors of hesitancy were analysed using regression models in different groups.ResultsWe analysed data from 18 882 (COVAD-1) and 7666 (COVAD-2) respondents. Reassuringly, hesitancy decreased from 2021 (16.5%) to 2022 (5.1%) (OR: 0.26; 95% CI: 0.24, 0.30, P < 0.001). However, concerns/fear over long-term safety had increased (OR: 3.6; 95% CI: 2.9, 4.6, P < 0.01). We noted with concern greater skepticism over vaccine science among patients with IIMs than AIRDs (OR: 1.8; 95% CI: 1.08, 3.2, P = 0.023) and HCs (OR: 4; 95% CI: 1.9, 8.1, P < 0.001), as well as more long-term safety concerns/fear (IIMs vs AIRDs – OR: 1.9; 95% CI: 1.2, 2.9, P = 0.001; IIMs vs HCs – OR: 5.4 95% CI: 3, 9.6, P < 0.001). Caucasians [OR 4.2 (1.7–10.3)] were likely to be more hesitant, while those with better PROMIS physical health score were less hesitant [OR 0.9 (0.8–0.97)].ConclusionVaccine hesitancy has decreased from 2021 to 2022, long-term safety concerns remain among patients with IIMs, particularly in Caucasians and those with poor physical function.
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| 16. |
- Sun, Vivian Z., et al.
(author)
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Overview and Results From the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover's First Science Campaign on the Jezero Crater Floor
- 2023
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In: Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets. - : John Wiley and Sons Inc. - 2169-9097 .- 2169-9100. ; 128:6
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Mars 2020 Perseverance rover landed in Jezero crater on 18 February 2021. After a 100-sol period of commissioning and the Ingenuity Helicopter technology demonstration, Perseverance began its first science campaign to explore the enigmatic Jezero crater floor, whose igneous or sedimentary origins have been much debated in the scientific community. This paper describes the campaign plan developed to explore the crater floor's Máaz and Séítah formations and summarizes the results of the campaign between sols 100–379. By the end of the campaign, Perseverance had traversed more than 5 km, created seven abrasion patches, and sealed nine samples and a witness tube. Analysis of remote and proximity science observations show that the Máaz and Séítah formations are igneous in origin and composed of five and two geologic members, respectively. The Séítah formation represents the olivine-rich cumulate formed from differentiation of a slowly cooling melt or magma body, and the Máaz formation likely represents a separate series of lava flows emplaced after Séítah. The Máaz and Séítah rocks also preserve evidence of multiple episodes of aqueous alteration in secondary minerals like carbonate, Fe/Mg phyllosilicates, sulfates, and perchlorate, and surficial coatings. Post-emplacement processes tilted the rocks near the Máaz-Séítah contact and substantial erosion modified the crater floor rocks to their present-day expressions. Results from this crater floor campaign, including those obtained upon return of the collected samples, will help to build the geologic history of events that occurred in Jezero crater and provide time constraints on the formation of the Jezero delta.
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