Connecting Dissipation and Phase Slips in a Josephson Junction between Fermionic Superfluids.

We study the emergence of dissipation in an atomic Josephson junction between weakly coupled superfluid Fermi gases. We find that vortex-induced phase slippage is the dominant microscopic source of dissipation across the Bose-Einstein condensate-Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer crossover. We explore different dynamical regimes by tuning the bias chemical potential between the two superfluid reservoirs. For small excitations, we observe dissipation and phase coherence to coexist, with a resistive current followed by well-defined Josephson oscillations. We link the junction transport properties to the phase-slippage mechanism, finding that vortex nucleation is primarily responsible for the observed trends of conductance and critical current. For large excitations, we observe the irreversible loss of coherence between the two superfluids, and transport cannot be described only within an uncorrelated phase-slip picture. Our findings open new directions for investigating the interplay between dissipative and superfluid transport in strongly correlated Fermi systems, and general concepts in out-of-equilibrium quantum systems.

Time-Resolved Observation of Competing Attractive and Repulsive Short-Range Correlations in Strongly Interacting Fermi Gases.

We exploit a time-resolved pump-probe spectroscopic technique to study the out-of-equilibrium dynamics of an ultracold two-component Fermi gas, selectively quenched to strong repulsion along the upper branch of a broad Feshbach resonance. For critical interactions, we find the rapid growth of short-range anticorrelations between repulsive fermions to initially overcome concurrent pairing processes. At longer evolution times, these two competing mechanisms appear to macroscopically coexist in a short-range correlated state of fermions and pairs, unforeseen thus far. Our work provides fundamental insights into the fate of a repulsive Fermi gas, and offers new perspectives towards the exploration of complex dynamical regimes of fermionic matter.

Repulsive Fermi Polarons in a Resonant Mixture of Ultracold

We employ radio-frequency spectroscopy to investigate a polarized spin mixture of ultracold ^{6}Li atoms close to a broad Feshbach scattering resonance. Focusing on the regime of strong repulsive interactions, we observe well-defined coherent quasiparticles even for unitarity-limited interactions. We characterize the many-body system by extracting the key properties of repulsive Fermi polarons: the energy E_{+}, the effective mass m^{*}, the residue Z, and the decay rate Γ. Above a critical interaction, E_{+} is found to exceed the Fermi energy of the bath, while m^{*} diverges and even turns negative, thereby indicating that the repulsive Fermi liquid state becomes energetically and thermodynamically unstable.

Family relations and psychosocial risk in families with an obese adolescent.

The aim of the present study is a comparison of family relations in families with an obese adolescent and families with a normal-weight adolescent. Particularly, we studied the parents' and children's perceptions of some crucial areas of their relationship, e.g., communication, support, and some factors of "psychosocial risk" for the adolescents. We compared 30 family triads each with an obese child and 30 family triads each with a normal-weight child. We used a questionnaire aimed to evaluate some crucial variables of family functioning such as communication, family climate, support and satisfaction. A multivariate analysis of variance yielded no difference between obese and nonobese adolescents concerning communication with their mothers and fathers and concerning support given and received from them. In particular, analysis indicated no difference between parents of obese adolescents and parents of normal-weight adolescents regarding openness and problems in communication. As a protective factor against psychosocial risk, in both the samples the relationship with the mother arises as relevant, but, for the nonobese adolescents, both support and communication with this parent were important, whereas for the obese adolescents only support seemed to be really important. The results are discussed with respect to this approach which considered the family as the unit of analysis both from a theoretical and a methodological point of view.

Body-size estimation by obese subjects.

The present aim was to explore the body-image perception of a group of 60 hospitalized obese subjects, aged between 25 and 50 years, undergoing a weight loss treatment and 60 normal-weight persons. The 1978 modified version of the Askevold perception test by Allamani, Marasco, Michele, and Morandi was given. This nonverbal test is aimed at evaluating subjects' perception of the dimensions of different parts of the body by exploiting their projection into space. Each body area (head, the thoracic area, the abdominal area, and the pelvic area) perceived by a subject was calculated using a specifically designed software program (AREA.BASIC2); the same program was used to calculate actual body area. After obtaining the percentage deviation index for each individual [(perceived area/real area) x 100], mean values were analyzed. Obese subjects significantly underestimated the four body areas, unlike the normal weight subject who largely overestimated the abdominal and pelvic areas.

Weight loss and psychopathology: a three-cluster MMPI typology.

The present study investigated the effects of a treatment, including diet, exercise, and psychoeducational groups, on the severity of the psychopathology of obese subjects. The 120 subjects (60 male and 60 female), aged 20 to 50 years, were hospitalised for about two months. The mean Body Mass Index (BMI) at the start was 40.9 (SD = 5.3) and at the end 34.3 (SD = 5.5). The MMPI and clinical interview were administered to the subjects. The aims of the study were to see if there was change between the beginning and the end of treatment and to individuate groups of subjects homogeneous for the severity of the psychopathology at the start of treatment and to relate the severity to changes, whether worsening or improving, at the end of treatment. A multivariate analysis of variance showed significant change in scores on the psychological variables after treatment. Cluster analysis divided the patients into three groups with different severity of psychopathology. There were significant decreases on Hypochondriasis, Depression, and Social Introversion. Scores of the subjects with the most severe psychopathological traits changed most.

Systemic perspective on obesity in childhood: a preliminary study on power interactions between mother and child.

33 mother-child dyads with an obese child (aged 9 to 12 years) and a similar control group were studied. The power interaction was used as an indicator of the style of the relationship between mother and child. To analyse the interactions the model of Watzlawick, Beavin, and Jackson was used because it considers three different possible situations of complementarity, symmetry, and parallelism. A revised version of the Scoresby Relationship Style Inventory was given. Analysis showed that dyads with obese children differ in some ways from the control dyads. These differences include the mother's dominant position in the relationship and the tendency of the obese child to avoid conflict and symmetry and to adopt a "one-down' complementary position. We conclude it is important to improve the study of childhood obesity from a systemic perspective and to extend this analysis to other aspects of the complex familial picture to prevent overweight or to maintain it within reasonable limits thereby avoiding more serious complications.