Directed and elliptic flows of neutrons and light charged particles were measured for the reaction 197 Au+ 197 Au at 400 MeV/nucleon incident energy within the ASY-EOS experimental campaign at the GSI laboratory. The detection system consisted of the Large Area Neutron Detector LAND, combined with parts of the CHIMERA multidetector, of the ALADIN Time-of-flight Wall, and of the Washington-University Microball detector. The latter three arrays were used for the event characterization and reaction-plane reconstruction. In addition, an array of triple telescopes, KRATTA, 2 was used for complementary measurements of the isotopic composition and flows of light charged particles.From the comparison of the elliptic flow ratio of neutrons with respect to charged particles with UrQMD predictions, a value γ = 0.72 ± 0.19 is obtained for the power-law coefficient describing the density dependence of the potential part in the parametrization of the symmetry energy. It represents a new and more stringent constraint for the regime of supra-saturation density and confirms, with a considerably smaller uncertainty, the moderately soft to linear density dependence deduced from the earlier FOPI-LAND data. The densities probed are shown to reach beyond twice saturation.

Porcine circovirus 3 (PCV-3) has emerged as a potential threat for swine industry, being consistently reported in the presence of several clinical signs all around the world.Recently, its presence in wild boar has been demonstrated at high prevalence. This evidence is surprising since the lower density of wild populations might not be expected to sustain such efficient viral transmission. Porcine circoviruses were proven to exhibit a certain plasticity in the host tropism and were detected in unrelated species, like mice, dogs and ruminants. However, if this scenario applies also to wild animals remains to be established. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the presence of PCV-3 in wild ungulates other than wild boar and in related hematophagous ectoparasites. One hundred and nine animals were sampled from different hilly and mountain areas of Friuli Venezia Giulia, including 9 chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra), 17 red deer (Cervus elaphus), 4 mouflons (Ovis musimon), 50 roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) and 29 wild boars (Sus scrofa). Additionally, host-matched ectoparasites were collected when present. Porcine circovirus 3 was diagnosed using molecular techniques and sequencing. This study results confirmed the high PCV-3 occurrence in wild boar and reported for the first time its presence, at low prevalence, in chamois and roe deer. Moreover, two ticks (Ixodes ricinus), one of which non-engorged, collected from PCV-3 negative roe deer, tested PCV-3 positive. The genetic characterization of some of the strains collected from non-swine hosts allowed to prove that, albeit clearly part of PCV-3 species, they were genetically unique, demonstrating the absence of among-samples contamination and thus confirming the actual presence of PCV-3 genome in these new hosts. Therefore, this study highlights an unexpected broad PCV-3 distribution and circulation in the wild, rising further questions on porcine circoviruses infectious cycle, epidemiology and origin, which will deserve additional investigations.

Traditional credit rating models, adopted by financial institutions to assess the credit risk of a company, adopt a purely financial perspective, and often fail to properly assess small and medium enterprises. On the other hand, buyers usually assess suppliers by means of comprehensive vendor ratings, considering a broad range of operational performance. This paper investigates whether financial and vendor ratings can be integrated into a supply chain credit rating model that jointly considers financial indicators of the supplier and its operational evaluation provided by buyers; the paper also investigates the benefits and the challenges of such a model for all the stakeholders involved (buyers, suppliers, financial institutions, and technology providers), adopting the lenses of the stakeholder theory. We adopted both multiple case studies and an iterative focus group, involving representatives from suppliers, buyers, financial institutions, and technology providers. The results confirm the potential value of such an integrated rating, mainly for strategic suppliers, showing the expected benefits for all stakeholders and highlighting the potential challenges to face.

40 Ca+ 40,48 Ca, 46 Ti reactions at 25 MeV/A have been studied using the 4π CHIMERA detector. An isospin effect on the competition between incomplete fusion and dissipative binary reaction mechanisms has been observed. The probability of producing a compound system is observed to be lower in the case of N≈Z colliding systems as compared to the case of reactions induced on the more neutron rich 48 Ca target. Predictions based on CoMD-II calculations show that the competition between fusion-like and dissipative reactions, for the selected centrality, can strongly constraint the parameterization of symmetry energy and its density dependence in the nuclear equation of state.Pacs: 21.65. Ef, 21.65.Mn, 25.70.Jj, 25.70.Lm Collisions between heavy ions with different neutronproton asymmetries offer a unique opportunity to study the equation of state (EOS) of asymmetric nuclear matter [1][2][3][4]. Accessing the density dependence of the symmetry energy has recently attracted the interest of the community due to its implications in both nuclear physics and astrophysics of neutron stars [2,5,6]. The isotopic composition of fragments produced in multifragmentation phenomena is being extensively studied at intermediate beam energies (E/A=20-100 MeV) bearing important information on the symmetry energy [7]. One aspect not yet fully investigated is represented by the effect of the isospin asymmetry on the fate of hot nuclear systems. The combined effects of the symmetry energy and of the repulsive Coulomb interaction can significantly affect the reaction mechanism and the rate of production of hot compound nuclei in heavy-ion reactions at low and intermediate energies [8][9]. The isospin N/Z-asymmetry can also play an important role in opening different decay channels for a hot nuclear system once this has been produced. In this respect, the limiting temperature of a nucleus is expected to depend on both its mass and its isotopic composition [10][11][12]. Experimentally, the observation of small isotopic effects on the temperatures of projectile spectators in relativistic heavy-ion collisions have been interpreted as a signal of no isospin dependence of nuclear limiting temperatures [13]. At lower beam energies, a mass and N/Z-asymmetry dependence in limiting temperatures have been explored by studying the population of the Giant Dipole Resonance (GDR) at high excitation energies [14]. A small difference in the limiting GDR excitation energy has been observed when comparing a symmetric N~Z system to a neutron rich system [15]. All these findings stimulate attempts to link N/Z effects on measured observables to the nuclear symmetry energy and its density dependence in the equation of state.In this work we explore isospin effects in heavy residue (HR) remnants produced in incomplete fusion reactions between projectile and targets with different N/Z asymmetries. The results on the competition between incomplete fusion and binary dissipative mechanisms are compared to simulations performed with a microscopic mode...

The genus Circovirus includes several species and mostly causes asymptomatic infections. Porcine circovirus 2 (PCV-2) and, with increasing evidence, Porcine circovirus 3 (PCV-3), have been associated with different clinical conditions all over the world. In 2019, a new porcine circovirus (PCV-4) was identified from diseased animals in China. Because of the lessons learned from PCV-2 and PCV-3, it appears mandatory to investigate the actual distribution of this new virus and its potential association with clinical outcomes. To this purpose, an exploratory study to detect PCV-4 by molecular methods was performed in Italy and Spain by testing more than 300 samples of different types (serum and tissues), collected from both healthy and diseased pigs and wild boar as well. All samples, independently from the country, type, health status and host, tested PCV-4 negative. Therefore, no evidence of PCV-4 presence was found in Italy and Spain through this exploratory study. Considering the dense pig trade among European countries, its presence in the continent can similarly be considered unlikely. The reasons behind the restricted PCV-4 distribution compared to other porcine circoviruses will require further investigations. Careful surveillance might nevertheless be important since prompt recognition of PCV-4 would allow the implementation of effective countermeasures to prevent its spreading and potential economic losses.

No abstract

Measurements of 9 Be + α resonant scattering have been performed using the thick-target approach with a 4 He gas volume and a large-area silicon strip detector. 9 Be beam energies in the range 12 to 21.4 MeV were used to measure the 13 C excitation energy spectrum between 13.2 and 16.2 MeV. An R-matrix analysis has been performed to characterize the spins and widths of 13 C resonances, some of which have been proposed to be associated with a 3α + n molecular band.

Porcine circovirus 2 (PCV-2) is one of the most impactful and widespread pathogens of the modern swine industry. Unlike other DNA viruses, PCV-2 is featured by a remarkable genetic variability, which has led to the emergence and recognition of different genotypes, some of which (PCV-2a, 2b, and 2d) have alternated over time. Currently, PCV-2d is considered the most prevalent genotype, and some evidence of differential virulence and vaccine efficacy have been reported. Despite the potential practical relevance, the data on PCV-2 epidemiology in Italy are quite outdated and do not quantify the actual circulation of this genotype in Italy. In the present study, 82 complete ORF2 sequences were obtained from domestic pigs and wild boars sampled in Northern Italy in the period 2013–2018 and merged with those previously obtained from Italy and other countries. A combination of phylogenetic, haplotype network, and phylodynamic analyses were used to genotype the collected strains and evaluate the temporal trend and the spatial and host spread dynamics. A rising number of PCV-2d detections was observed in domestic pigs, particularly since 2013, reaching a detection frequency comparable to PCV-2b. A similar picture was observed in wild boars, although a lower sequence number was available. Overall, the present study demonstrates the extreme complexity of PCV-2 molecular epidemiology in Italy, the significant spread across different regions, the recurrent introduction from foreign countries, and the frequent occurrence of recombination events. Although a higher viral flux occurred from domestic to wild populations than vice versa, wild boars seem to maintain PCV-2 infection and spread it over relatively long distances.