Coherent Phonons in Antimony: An Undergraduate Physical Chemistry Solid-State Ultrafast Laser Spectroscopy Experiment

Ultrafast laser pump-probe spectroscopy is an important and growing field of physical chemistry that allows the measurement of chemical dynamics on their natural time scales, but undergraduate laboratory courses lack examples of such spectroscopy and the interpretation of the dynamics that occur. Here we develop and implement an ultrafast pump-probe spectroscopy experiment for the undergraduate physical chemistry laboratory course at the University of California Berkeley. The goal of the experiment is to expose students to concepts in solid-state chemistry and ultrafast spectroscopy via classic coherent phonon dynamics principles developed by researchers over multiple decades. The experiment utilizes a modern high-repetition-rate 800 nm femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser, split pulses with a variable time delay, and sensitive detection of transient reflectivity signals using the lock-in technique. The experiment involves minimal intervention from students and is therefore easy and safe to implement in the laboratory. Students first perform an intensity autocorrelation measurement on the femtosecond laser pulses to obtain their temporal duration. Then, students measure the pump-probe reflectivity of a single-crystal antimony sample to determine the period of coherent phonon oscillations initiated by an ultrafast pulse excitation, which is analyzed by fitting to a sine wave. Students who completed the experiment in-person obtained good experimental results, and students who took the course remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic were provided with the data they would have obtained during the experiment to analyze. Evaluation of student written and oral reports reveals that the learning goals were met, and that students gained an appreciation for the field of ultrafast laser-induced chemistry. © 2022 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.

Approcci e pratiche di youth work in Italia e nelle aree marginalizzate del Sud. Legami di continuità tra pratiche e politiche giovanili, sociali e educative

The paper analyzes youth work approaches from the perspective of youth policies with the aim of deepening the links with social and educational policies. At an empirical level, the analysis is conducted through a focus group with national youth workers and two case studies of organizations active in vulnerable contexts. The results highlight the relevance of continuity on synchronic multi-actors network and diachronic relationships, increased by the Covid19 emergency. © 2021, SAGE Publications Ltd. All rights reserved.

IMPLEMENTATION AND SHORT-TERM ADVERSE EVENTS OF ANTI-SARSCOV-2 VACCINES IN INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE PATIENTS: AN INTERNATIONAL WEB-BASED SURVEY

Introduction: Pivotal anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccines clinical trials did not include patients with immune-mediated conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). We aimed to describe the implementation of anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccines among IBD patients, patients' concerns before vaccination and side-effect profile of the anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccines using real-world data. Methods: An anonymous web-based self-completed survey was distributed in 36 European countries between June and July 2021. The results of patients' characteristics, concerns, vaccination status and side-effect profile were analysed using descriptive statistics and logistic regression. Results: Among the 3272 IBD patients completing the survey (0.1% of the IBD European population), 79.6% had received at least one dose of anti-SARS-CoV- 2 vaccine, and 71.7% had completed the vaccination process. Most of the patients (70.6%) were vaccinated with the Pfizer-BioNTech (BNT162b2) vaccine. Patients over 60 years old had a significantly higher rate of vaccination (OR 2.98, 95% CI 2.20-4.03, p<0.001). Patients' main concerns before vaccination were the possibility of having worse vaccine-related adverse events due to their IBD (24.6%), having an IBD flare after vaccination (21.1%) and reduced vaccine efficacy due to IBD or associated immunosuppression (17.6%). After the first dose of the vaccine, 72.4% had local symptoms at the injection site and 51.4% had systemic symptoms (5 patients had non-specified thrombosis). Adverse events were less frequent after the second dose of the vaccine and in older patients. When comparing with previous studies from the general population, the IBD patients answering the survey did not seem to have increased side effects (table 1). Only a minority of the patients were hospitalized (0.3%), needed a consultation (3.6%) or had to change IBD therapy (13.4%) after anti- SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. Conclusion: Although IBD patients raised concerns about the safety and efficacy of anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, the implementation of vaccination in those responding to our survey was high and the adverse events were comparable to the general population, with minimal impact on their IBD. (Table Presented)

Telemedicine in IBD patients: Results of a national survey of the Italian IBD patients' association (AMICI Onlus)

Background: Telemedicine is one of the major changes that clinicians have encountered over the past decade;in particular during the COVID-19 pandemic, televisits were rapidly implemented to guarantee patients' assistance, with the intention of Health Care Providers (HCPs) to continue to use them beyond the pandemic. The aim of our national survey was to evaluate the current usage of telemedicine for IBD patients from their perspective, investigating patients' impressions about telemedicine and factors affecting them through a Machine Learning (ML) analysis. Methods: In March 2021, the Italian IBD patients' association (AMICI Onlus) distributed to their members -through its mailing list and on social media platforms -an anonymous online questionnaire investigating the use of telemedicine. Socio-demographic and IBD characteristics were collected;the usage, patients' satisfaction and trust of telemedicine were assessed through Likert scales. ML tools -Decision Trees (DT) and Random Forest (RF) -were applied to identify the determinants of patient's perceptions about telemedicine;the produced RF ranking displays two indicators: %IncMSE and IncNodePurity. Results: Nine hundred and seventy-eight IBD patients (women 58.9%) from every Italian region completed the questionnaire. Among the respondents, 87 (8.9%) personally had a telemedicine experience;153 reported that their Centre performed a telemedicine service during the COVID-19 pandemic (24.2% televisits, 39.2% e-mails, 24.8% phone-calls, 3.9 % dedicated website, 7.9% others). Overall, 707 (72.3%) would trust a telemedicine service, 760 (77.7%) would like to have it also with another HCP (e.g., nutritionist, psychologist) and 778/961 (81%) would like to use telemedicine in the future (17 did not answer to this specific question);792 (81%) stated they thought useful to have the possibility to use telemedicine and 847 (86.6%) would like their Centre to offer them this facility. Considering this last question as the output at the DT, the variable which have been found to influence the most this patients' willingness is patient's perception of the usefulness of telemedicine in treating their disease, since it represented the root of the tree explaining the results. The RF rankings confirmed that this variable influenced the most patients' perception with the highest levels of %IncMSE and IncNodePurity(Figure 1). Conclusion: The practice of telemedicine in the management of IBD patients has not been very relevant throughout Italy so far (less than 10%), but more than four every five respondents would like to use telemedicine. Machine learning analysis shows that the perceived usefulness of telemedicine service is the key point for patients who would like it was a part of usual clinical practice.

DETERMINANTS OF COVID-19 VACCINE HESITANCY IN PATIENTS WITH INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE (IBD): RESULTS OF A NATIONAL SURVEY OF THE ITALIAN IBD PATIENTS’ ASSOCIATION (AMICI ONLUS)

Background and aim: Vaccine hesitancy, the delay in acceptance or refusal of vaccination despite its availability, threatens the control of infectious diseases. COVID-19 vaccination has been recommended by national and international organizations in patients with Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD). The aim of the study was to evaluate COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in a population of Italian patients with IBD. Materials and methods: In February 2021 an online questionnaire focused on COVID-19 vaccine was proposed to a representative sample of Italian IBD patients. Socio-demographic characteristics, IBD features, lifestyle, perception of COVID-19, general attitude towards vaccinations and to COVID-19 vaccines were investigated. Patients were divided into willing, hesitant and refusive towards COVID-19 vaccine. The hesitation reasons were investigated. The associations between baseline characteristics and willingness (determinants) were evaluated by calculating crude and adjusted Odds Ratio (AdjOR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results: A total of 1252 surveys were collected. 1005 (80.3%), 222 (18.1%) and 33 (2.63%) patients were defined as willing, hesitant and refusive, respectively. The baseline characteristics are shown below. Concerns for vaccine adverse effects constituted the main reason for refusal (73.4%) (Figure). 49.1% of hesitant patients reported that presence of IBD exerted an influence on their answer. Among the patients willing to be vaccinated whenever possible, 78.2% (786) thought that their IBD represented a valid motivation to access vaccination with priority. Willingness to COVID-19 vaccine was significantly associated with adherence to previous vaccinations (AdjOR 17.6;95% CI: 11.4-27.2), male gender (1.68 95%;CI: 1.16-2.43), graduation degree (1.48;95%;CI: 1.03-2.13), perceived higher risk of COVID-19 becaues of IBD (1.47;95% CI: 1.05-2.08), alcohol intake (1.69;95% CI: 1.16-2.45). Conversely, the hesitancy was significantly associated with complementary and alternative medicine use (0.58;95% CI: 0.36-0.92). 54.5% of patients were under the impression to have a higher risk of COVID-19 and 31.8% to have a more severe course due to their IBD. (figure presented) Conclusions: Most IBD patients would accept COVID-19 vaccines, although one in five was hesitant, primarily due to fear of adverse events. Knowledge of determinants and reasons for COVID-19 vaccination acceptance or refusal could be key in developing targeted communication strategies to fight vaccine hesitancy, also in the future for general vaccinations.

Creativity in Virtual Teams: A Review and agenda for Future Research

as communication technology capabilities have improved and the globalization of the workforce has resulted in distributed teams, organizations have been shifting towards virtual teams and virtual meetings over the last decade. This trend has been accelerated with current work-from-home orders due to COVID-19. Even though virtual collaboration has, in the past, been the focus of multiple studies, there are some surprising gaps in our knowledge. For instance, there are few empirical studies examining the impact of virtual devices and tools on creative problem-solving. While there is a substantial body of research on electronic brainstorming and the use of virtual tools for idea generation, less is known about earlier processes such as problem construction or later processes such as idea evaluation and idea selection. Furthermore, as a dynamic process, creativity and innovation is heavily influenced by the people engaged in the process and their collaborative environment, yet there is a gap in the literature regarding the type of virtual tools used in the process (i.e., audio + video vs. audio alone, or the use of file-sharing technologies). In this paper, we will review the current literature on virtual teams, virtual meetings, and creativity. We will then explore theoretical frameworks such as media richness theory that can help us understand how virtuality and virtual tools may influence team creativity across the dynamic range of the creative problem-solving process. Finally, given the limited research in the domain of virtual team creativity we provide questions to help guide future research. Research questions will help identify those areas where virtual teams may be beneficial for creativity and areas where virtual teams may be likely to perform less effectively on creative tasks. © 2021 Roni Reiter-Palmon et al., published by Sciendo 2021.

HEALTH EMERGENCY AND ITS IMPACT ON THE (ALREADY) DIFFICULT WORK-LIFE BALANCE

The essay examines the impact of the legislative measures enacted in Italy to face the health emergency on work conditions. In the regime of social distancing, with the concomitant closure of the schools, workers confronted with increasing difficulties in balancing private life and professional sphere. The essay focuses on the legislative response to this problem and to the consequences of this crisis on working women.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease Management During the COVID-19 Outbreak: The Ten Do's and Don'ts from the ECCO-COVID Taskforce.

Our knowledge of COVID-19 is changing and evolving rapidly, with novel insights and recommendations, almost on a daily basis. It behooves the medical community to provide updated information on a regular basis, on best practice to facilitate optimal care of infected patients and on appropriate advice for the general population. This is particularly important in the case of patients with chronic conditions, such as inflammatory bowel disease [IBD]. In this review, we have compiled existing evidence on the impact of COVID-19 in IBD patients and provide guidance on the most appropriate care to adopt during the pandemic. Our review highlights that IBD, per se, is not a risk factor for COVID-19. However, all IBD patients with symptoms should be tested for SARS-CoV-2 and the procedures for disease management should be carefully adapted: [i] in SARS-CoV-2-positive IBD patients, medical treatments should be re-evaluated [with a particular focus on corticosteroids] always with the purpose of treating active disease and maintaining remission; [ii] non-urgent surgeries and endoscopic procedures should be postponed for all patients; [iii] online consultancy should be implemented; and [iv] hospitalization and surgery should be limited to life-threatening situations.