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In this work, we present the design of an ultra-fast IR (InfraRed) detector for the search of astronomical transients. Time-domain astronomy is a field in continuous growth in the last years, with interest in detectors with nanosecond performance, in order to observe potential fast transients with the time scale of GRBs (Gamma Ray Bursts) and FRBs (Fast Radio Bursts). An ultra-fast temporal detector based on HgCdTe photoconductors is under development in Italy, at the Frascati National Laboratory of the National Institute of Nuclear Physics, by tests at SINBAD, the DAFNE infrared beamline. The detector will be used for mid-IR observations together with a ground-based reflecting telescope or launched on a scientific balloon.

Ozone is a very reactive gas that is toxic to the respiratory system. However, under controlled conditions, it can be therapeutically useful in several human diseases. An unfavourable combination of factors (ozone is one of the worst troposphere pollutants) and past misuse have led to misgivings about ozonetherapy. However, basic and clinical work developed over the past 10 years has clarified the fundamental mechanisms of action of ozone in biology and medicine. Interestingly, judicious doses of ozone dissolved in blood trigger a cascade of well-defined chemical compounds acting on multiple cellular targets according to well-known molecular, biochemical and pharmacological pathways. Ozonetherapy is proving to be very useful in age-related macular degeneration, ischaemic and infectious diseases, and in wound healing disorders, where conventional medicine has failed. Critical evaluation of the potential therapeutic utility of this simple, inexpensive medical application by national and international health authorities is warranted and may lead to clinical benefit for a large proportion of the world's population.

Although ozone therapy has been used as an alternative medical approach for four decades, it has encountered scepticism, if not outright objection, by orthodox medicine. This prejudice is not unjustified because ozone therapy often has been used without rational basis or appropriate controls. With the advent of precise medical ozone generators, it is now possible to evaluate some mechanisms of action and possible toxicity. In contrast with the respiratory tract, human blood exposed to appropriate ozone concentrations is able to tame its strong oxidant properties and neither acute nor chronic side effects have ensued in millions of patients treated with ozonated autohaemotherapy. This paper summarises studies aimed at clarifying biological effects, defining any possible damage, the therapeutic window, and suitable doses able to express therapeutic activity. Although an unfashionable and unpopular approach, it is hoped that orthodox medicine will help to critically assess the validity of ozone therapy.

The Outreach Cosmic Ray Activities (OCRA) project was created in 2018 within the Italian Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN) to offer a platform for all outreach activities focusing on cosmic rays within the institute. OCRA now counts 22 of the institute’s divisions all over Italy as members. The project offers activities both for students and teachers. The one activity common to all local groups is the participation in the yearly International Cosmic Day, organized by DESY, inviting high school students to carry out hands-on measurements of the cosmic ray flux and learn about the related physics background. Two students from each division are then selected to participate in the annual OCRA science camp, a three-day full immersion into the life of a physicist. For both teachers and students, the OCRA website https://web.infn.it/OCRA/, offers a series of online laboratories designed both to be used by students individually but also to be offered in the classroom by teachers. A section dedicated to teachers provides ample material to help bring these laboratories to the classroom. The online materials were presented in a course for teachers in spring 2021. In addition to the national efforts, there are also local initiatives of the OCRA member groups: workshops and secondments, science competitions and the development of new detectors for outreach activities offer a multitude of possibilities for students to engage with our researchers and to explore the world of cosmic rays. This article provides an overview on all activities offered by OCRA with a particular focus on the 2022 science camp.

The background induced by the high penetration power of the radiation is the main limiting factor of the current radio-guided surgery (RGS). To partially mitigate it, a RGS with β + -emitting radio-tracers has been suggested in literature. Here we propose the use of β − -emitting radio-tracers and β − probes and discuss the advantage of this method with respect to the previously explored ones: the electron low penetration power allows for simple and versatile probes and could extend RGS to tumours for which background originating from nearby healthy tissue makes probes less effective. We developed a β − probe prototype and studied its performances on phantoms. By means of a detailed simulation we have also extrapolated the results to estimate the performances in a realistic case of meningioma, pathology which is going to be our first in-vivo test case. A good sensitivity to residuals down to 0.1 ml can be reached within 1 s with an administered activity smaller than those for PET-scans thus making the radiation exposure to medical personnel negligible.

The advent of high performance microcontrollers equipped with analog and digital peripherals, makes the design of a complete particle detector and a relative acquisition system on a single microcontroller chip possible. The existence of a world wide data infrastructure such as the internet, allows for the conception of a distributed network of cheap detectors able to elaborate and send data as well as to respond to setting commands. The internet infrastructure enables the distribution of the absolute time, with precision of a few milliseconds, to all devices independently of their physical location, when the sky view is accessible it possible to use a GPS module to reach synchronization of tens of nanoseconds. These devices can be far apart from each other and their relative distance can range from a few meters to thousands of kilometers. This allows for the design of a crowdsourcing experiment of citizen science, based on the use of many small scintillation-based particle detectors to monitor the high energetic cosmic ray and the radiation environment.

Owing to diabetes, atherosclerosis, and ageing, there are several million patients undergoing skin lesions degenerated into infected ulcers with very little tendency to heal and implying a huge socioeconomical cost. Previous medical experience has shown that the daily application of ozonated oil eliminates the infection and promotes a rapid healing. The purpose of the study is the optimization of the antimicrobial effect of ozonated oils by testing in vitro four bacterial species and one yeast without or in the presence of different amounts of human serum. The results obtained suggest that a gentle and continuous removal of debris and exudate is an essential condition for the potent bactericidal effect of ozonated oils. In fact, even small amounts of human serum inactivate ozone derivatives and protect bacteria. The application of ozonated oil preparations is very promising in a variety of skin and mucosal infections. Moreover, ozonated oils are far less expensive than antibiotic preparations.

A radio-guided surgery technique exploiting β− emitters is under development. It aims at a higher target-to-background activity ratio implying both a smaller radiopharmaceutical activity and the possibility of extending the technique to cases with a large uptake of surrounding healthy organs. Such technique requires a dedicated intraoperative probe detecting β- radiation. A first prototype has been developed relying on the low density and high light yield of the diphenylbutadiene doped para-therphenyl organic scintillator. The scintillation light produced in a cylindrical crystal, 5 mm in diameter and 3 mm in height, is guided to a photo-multiplier tube by optical fibres. The custom readout electronics is designed to optimize its usage in terms of feedback to the surgeon, portability and remote monitoring of the signal. Tests show that with a radiotracer activity comparable to those administered for diagnostic purposes the developed probe can detect a 0.1 ml cancerous residual of meningioma in a few seconds.

The aim of this review is to elucidate the biochemical, molecular, immunological, and pharmaceutical mechanisms of action of ozone dissolved in biological fluids. Studies performed during the last two decades allow the drawing of a comprehensive framework for understanding and recommending the integration of ozone therapy for spinal pain. An in-depth screening of primary sources of information online - via SciFinder Scholar, Google Scholar, and Scopus databases as well as Embase, PubMed, and the Cochrane Database of Systemic Reviews - was performed. In this review, the most significant papers of the last 25 years are presented and their proposals critically evaluated, regardless of the bibliometric impact of the journals. The efficacy of standard treatments combined with the unique capacity of ozone therapy to reactivate the innate antioxidant system is the key to correcting the oxidative stress typical of chronic inflammatory diseases. Pain pathways and control systems of algesic signals after ozone administration are described. This paper finds favors the full insertion of ozone therapy into pharmaceutical sciences, rather than as either an alternative or an esoteric approach.