A CNN Adaptive Model to Estimate PM10 Monitoring

In this work we introduce a model for studying the distribution and control of atmospheric pollution from PM10. The model is based on the use of a cellular neural network (CNN) and more precisely on the integration of the mass-balance equation; at the same time it simulates the scenario regarding a planar grid describing the whole studied area (the city of Palermo) by means of a CNN and a set of Bayesian networks. The CNN allows us to define a grid system whose dynamic evolution is a redefinition of the diffusion equation that considers contributions coming from near cells for each element of the grid. Dynamics of each cell is influenced by meteorological effects and by parameters related t…

BIOFILM GENES PRESENCE, BIOFILM ANALYSIS AND ANTIMICROBIAL PEPTIDES ACTIVITY AGAINST STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS OF ANIMAL ORIGIN

The Palermo (Sicily) seismic cluster of September 2002, in the seismotectonic framework of the Tyrrhenian Sea-Sicily border area

The northern coast of Sicily and its offshore area represent a hinge zone between a sector of the Tyrrhenian
 Basin, characterized by the strongest crustal thinning, and the sector of the Sicilian belt which has emerged. This
 hinge zone is part of a wider W-E trending right-lateral shear zone, which has been affecting the Maghrebian
 Chain units since the Pliocene. Seismological and structural data have been used to evaluate the seismotectonic
 behavior of the area investigated here. Seismological analysis was performed on a data set of about 2100 seismic
 events which occurred between January 1988 and October 2002 in the Southern Tyrrhenian Sea. This paper
 focuses…

Curcumin derivatives as inhibitors of Gram positive and Gram negative biofilm formation

Fragments of β-thymosin from the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus as potential antimicrobial peptides against staphylococcal biofilms.

The immune mediators in echinoderms can be a potential source of novel antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) applied toward controlling pathogenic staphylococcal biofilms that are intrinsically resistant to conventional antibiotics. The peptide fraction5 kDa from the cytosol of coelomocytes of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus (5-CC) was tested against a group of Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogen reference strains. The 5-CC of P. lividus was active against all planktonic-tested strains but also showed antibiofilm properties against staphylococcal strains. Additionally, we demonstrated the presence of three small peptides in the 5-CC belonging to segment 9-41 of a P. lividusβ-thymosin. The…

Pyrrolomycins as novel agents against staphylococcal biofilms

Dietary intake and major food sources of polyphenols in people with type 2 diabetes: The TOSCA.IT Study

Purpose: Proper evaluation of polyphenols intake at the population level is a necessary step in order to establish possible associations with health outcomes. Available data are limited, and so far no study has been performed in people with diabetes. The aim of this work was to document the intake of polyphenols and their major food sources in a cohort of people with type 2 diabetes and in socio-demographic subgroups. Methods: We studied 2573 men and women aged 50–75 years. Among others, anthropometry was measured by standard protocol and dietary habits were investigated by food frequency questionnaire (EPIC). The intake of polyphenols was evaluated using US Department of Agriculture and Ph…

Stafilococchi: causa di mastite

Staphylococcus aureus è un batterio che può provocare mastite. Negli ultimi anni sono stati isolati Stafilococchi resistenti a molti degli antibiotici usati in terapia. Il presente lavoro ha lo scopo di caratterizzare gli Stafilococchi circolanti in Sicilia per prevenire la diffusione di batteri patogeni resistenti

A ML Estimator of the Correlation Dimension for Left-hand Truncated Data Samples

— A maximum-likelihood (ML) estimator of the correlation dimension d 2 of fractal sets of points not affected by the left-hand truncation of their inter-distances is defined. Such truncation might produce significant biases of the ML estimates of d 2 when the observed scale range of the phenomenon is very narrow, as often occurs in seismological studies. A second very simple algorithm based on the determination of the first two moments of the inter-distances distribution (SOM) is also proposed, itself not biased by the left-hand truncation effect. The asymptotic variance of the ML estimates is given. Statistical tests carried out on data samples with different sizes extracted from populatio…

Relazioni tra sismicita’ e tettonica nel margine settentrionale della Sicilia

Italian cancer figures, report 2014: Prevalence and cure of cancer in Italy

This Report intends to estimate the total number of people still alive in 2010 after cancer diagnosis in Italy, regardless of the time since diagnosis, and to project these estimates to 2015. This study is also aimed to estimate the number of already cured cancer patients, whose mortality rates have become undistinguishable from that of the general population of the same age and sex.The study took advantage of the information from the AIRTUM database, which included 29 Cancer Registries (covering 21 million people, 35% of the Italian population). A total of 1,624,533 cancer cases diagnosed between 1976 and 2009 contributed to the study. For each registry, the observed prevalence was calcula…

Worldwide comparison of ovarian cancer survival: Histological group and stage at diagnosis (CONCORD-2)

Abstract Objective Ovarian cancer comprises several histological groups with widely differing levels of survival. We aimed to explore international variation in survival for each group to help interpret international differences in survival from all ovarian cancers combined. We also examined differences in stage-specific survival. Methods The CONCORD programme is the largest population-based study of global trends in cancer survival, including data from 60 countries for 695,932 women (aged 15–99years) diagnosed with ovarian cancer during 1995–2009. We defined six histological groups: type I epithelial, type II epithelial, germ cell, sex cord-stromal, other specific non-epithelial and non-sp…

Fractal dimension confidence interval estimation of epicentral distributions

Estimates of the fractal dimension of hypocentral distributions require evaluating the range of independent variables in which fractal parameters exhibit a power law. Systematic and accidental errors are produced mainly by the subjective selection of this range, the insufficiency of data sets as well as by hypocenter mislocations. Therefore it is very important to determine the confidence intervals which are associated with fractal dimension estimates. The effects of various sources of errors are studied using different geometric clusters of epicenters, which have been synthetically generated using a multicluster algorithm with different hierarchical levels, so as to reproduce some characte…

Wavelet correlation filter for wide-angle seismic data

A new filtering technique for single-fold wide-angle reflection/refraction seismic data is presented. The technique is based on the wavelet decomposition of a set of adjacent traces followed by coherence analysis. The filtering procedure consists of three steps. In the first, a wavelet decomposition of traces into different detail levels is performed. In the second, the coherence attributes for each level are evaluated by calculating cross-correlation functions of detail portions contained in a space–time moving window. Finally, the filtered traces are obtained as a weighted reconstruction of the trace details. Each weight is obtained from the coherence-attributes distribution estimated in …

GENETICS AND BIOFILM ANALYSIS ON STRAINS OF E.COLI ISOLATED FROM ANIMALS WITH DIARRHOEIC PROBLEMS

Southern-Tyrrhenian seismicity in space-time-magnitude domain

An analysis is conducted on a catalogue containing more than 2000 seismic events
 occurred in the southern Tyrrhenian Sea between 1988 and October 2002, as an attempt
 to characterise the main seismogenetic processes active in the area in space, time and magnitude domain by means of the parameters of phenomenological laws.
 
 We chose to adopt simple phenomenological models, since the low number of data did
 not allow to use more complex laws.
 
 The two main seismogenetic volumes present in the area were considered for the purpose
 of this work. The first includes a nearly homogeneous distribution of hypocentres in a
 NW steeply dipping layer as far as a…

Antibiofilm activity of a novel pyrrolomycin against staphylococcal biofilms of veterinary interest

Sex differences in food choices, adherence to dietary recommendations and plasma lipid profile in type 2 diabetes

Background and aims Diabetic women have a more adverse plasma lipid profile than men. Sex differences in dietary habits may play a role, but are little investigated. The study evaluates the quality of diet, adherence to the nutritional recommendations of the Diabetes and Nutrition Study Group and their relation with plasma lipid in men and women with diabetes. Methods and results We studied 2573 people, aged 50–75, enrolled in the TOSCA.IT study (clinicaltrials.gov; NCT00700856). Plasma lipids were measured centrally. Diet was assessed with a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. Women had a more adverse plasma lipid profile than men. Women consumed significantly more legumes, veg…