A high precision calorimeter for hunting the sterile neutrino in the SOX experiment

Abstract A thermal calorimetric apparatus was designed, built and calibrated for measuring the activity of the artificial 144 Ce —144 Pr antineutrino source. This measurement will be performed at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso in Italy, just before the source insertion in the tunnel under the Borexino detector and a precision better than 1% is required for a disappearance technique measurement in the SOX (Short distance neutrino Oscillation with BoreXino) project. In this work the apparatus is described and the most important results from the calibration measurements are shown, where the final precision of few per thousand is demonstrated.

Increase in transmitted resistance to non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors among newly diagnosed HIV-1 infections in Europe

Background: One out of ten newly diagnosed patients in Europe was infected with a virus carrying a drug resistant mutation. We analysed the patterns over time for transmitted drug resistance mutations (TDRM) using data from the European Spread program.Methods: Clinical, epidemiological and virological data from 4317 patients newly diagnosed with HIV-1 infection between 2002 and 2007 were analysed. Patients were enrolled using a pre-defined sampling strategy.Results: The overall prevalence of TDRM in this period was 8.9% (95% CI: 8.1-9.8). Interestingly, significant changes over time in TDRM caused by the different drug classes were found. Whereas nucleoside resistance mutations remained con…

Spontaneous bilateral tubal pregnancy in a nulliparous woman. Laparoscopic diagnosis and treatment

A 34 year-old nulliparous woman was referred to our Department, complaining of vaginal bleeding and intermittent lower abdominal cramping. serum level of β-hCG was 4954 IU/L. Transvaginal ultrasound examination revealed no gestational sac in the uterine cavity and a right adnexal mass, suggestive of ectopic pregnancy; left adnexal area appeared regular. At laparoscopy, the presence of an ectopic pregnancy was confirmed in the right tube; on the left side, surprisingly, there was an intact infundibular ectopic pregnancy. Right tuba was removed; considering the condition of nulliparous of the patient, we decided to perform a linear salpingostomy. Histologic exam confirmed the diagnosis of spo…

Association of kidney disease measures with risk of renal function worsening in patients with type 1 diabetes

Background Albuminuria has been classically considered a marker of kidney damage progression in diabetic patients and it is routinely assessed to monitor kidney function. However, the role of a mild GFR reduction on the development of stage ≥3 CKD has been less explored in type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) patients. Aim of the present study was to evaluate the prognostic role of kidney disease measures, namely albuminuria and reduced GFR, on the development of stage ≥3 CKD in a large cohort of patients affected by T1DM. Methods A total of 4284 patients affected by T1DM followed-up at 76 diabetes centers participating to the Italian Association of Clinical Diabetologists (Associazione Medici D…

IN TEMA DI SINDROME DA INTESTINO CORTO: Dati preliminari da una casistica nazionale multicentrica

La Sindrome da Intestico Corto (SIC) è la più frequente causa di insufficienza intestinale in età pediatrica. Allo scpo di conoscere al meglio il decorso, il trattamento e l'outcome di questi pazienti gli Autori hanno iniziato uno Studio retrospettivo nazionale sulla Sindrome da Intestino Corto e in questa sede vengono riportati i primi dati preliminari della ricerca.

Transmission of HIV Drug Resistance and the Predicted Effect on Current First-line Regimens in Europe

Transmitted human immunodeficiency virus drug resistance in Europe is stable at around 8%. The impact of baseline mutation patterns on susceptibility to antiretroviral drugs should be addressed using clinical guidelines. The impact on baseline susceptibility is largest for nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors.

E-learning in radiology: an Italian multicentre experience.

Objective: The aim of this study was to design, deliver and evaluate an e-learning teaching programme for post-graduate radiodiagnostics training that would involve various post-graduate schools throughout Italy. Materials and methods: All of the Directors of Italian post-graduate schools of radiodiagnostics were sent an e-mail on 27 September 2010 informing them of our willingness to set up an e-learning project for the academic year 2010-2011 in the form of single-subject teaching seminars. The proposed subjects were the semeiotics of the various organs and apparatuses in the context of "Urgent/Emergency Pathology". After having received registrations, a calendar of lessons was planned to…

Prevalence of acquired resistance mutations in a large cohort of perinatally infected HIV-1 patients

Une cause rare d’opacités alvéolaires : maladie de Waldenström à localisation pulmonaire

Resume Introduction Les localisations pulmonaires de la maladie de Waldenstrom sont rares. Observation Nous rapportons le cas d’une femme de 71 ans presentant une toux chronique, associee a des opacites alveolaires disseminees persistantes apres plusieurs antibiotherapies. L’examen clinique etait normal. Le diagnostic de maladie de Waldenstrom etait suspecte devant un pic monoclonal de type IgM (immunoglobuline M) a l’electrophorese des proteines plasmatiques avec immunofixation et la presence d’une population B monoclonale a l’immunophenotypage du lavage broncho-alveolaire. Ce diagnostic etait confirme par le resultat de la biopsie osteomedullaire. La patiente etait traitee par chimiothera…

Caractérisation de l’anémie hémolytique auto-immune associée aux hémopathies lymphoïdes à partir du registre des hémopathies malignes de Côte d’Or

Introduction L’anemie hemolytique auto-immune (AHAI) est une cytopenie auto-immune (CAI) caracterisee par une destruction des globules rouges par des auto-anticorps diriges contre certains de leurs antigenes de surface. Son incidence est estimee entre 1 et 3/100 000 personnes-annees (PA). Les AHAI a auto-anticorps chauds sont les plus frequentes et les formes secondaires, observees dans la moitie des cas, ont tendance a augmenter avec l’âge, notamment en association aux hemopathies malignes. Les donnees de la litterature reposent cependant sur de faibles cohortes ou des centres tertiaires, avec un possible biais de recrutement. L’objectif de notre etude est de decrire la frequence de l’AHAI…

Diagnosis of mechanical unbalance for double cage induction motor load in time-varying conditions based on motor vibration signature analysis

This paper investigates the detectability of mechanical unbalance in double cage induction motor load using motor vibration signature analysis technique. Rotor imbalances induce specific harmonic components in electrical, electromagnetical, and mechanical quantities. Harmonic components characteristic of this category of rotor faults, issued from vibration signals analysis, are closely related to rotating speed of the rotor, which complicates its detection under non-stationary operating conditions of the motor. Firstly, experimental results were performed first under healthy and mechanical load unbalance cases, for different load levels under steady-state operating conditions to evaluate th…

Caractérisation de la thrombopénie immunologique associée aux hémopathies lymphoïdes à partir du registre des hémopathies malignes de Côte d’Or

Introduction Le purpura thrombopenique immunologique (PTI) est une cytopenie auto-immune (CAI) caracterisee par une diminution de la duree de vie des plaquettes liee a la fois a leur destruction peripherique par les macrophages spleniques et a un defaut de production medullaire. Son incidence est estimee entre 3 et 4/100 000 personnes-annees (PA). S’il est le plus souvent primaire, il est associe dans 15–20 % des cas a d’autres maladies auto-immunes ou a des hemopathies malignes. Pour ces dernieres, les associations les plus frequentes sont rapportees avec la leucemie lymphoide chronique (LLC), la leucemie a grands lymphocytes T granuleux (LGL) et le lymphome de Hodgkin (LH) mais les donnee…

Analisi di manufatti lignei provenienti dal Museo Diocesano di Palermo tramite Spettrometria di massa ToF-SIMS

Treatment-associated polymorphisms in protease are significantly associated with higher viral load and lower CD4 count in newly diagnosed drug-naive HIV-1 infected patients

Background: The effect of drug resistance transmission on disease progression in the newly infected patient is not well understood. Major drug resistance mutations severely impair viral fitness in a drug free environment, and therefore expected to revert quickly. Compensatory mutations, often already polymorphic in wild-type viruses, do not tend to revert after transmission. While compensatory mutations increase fitness during treatment, their presence may also modulate viral fitness and virulence in absence of therapy and major resistance mutations. We previously designed a modeling technique that quantifies genotypic footprints of in vivo treatment selective pressure, including both drug …

Advanced Monitoring of Rotor Broken Bar in Double Squirrel Cage Induction Machines Based on Wavelet Analysis

The diagnosis of induction machine faults is commonly realized through Motor Current Signature Analysis (MCSA), i.e. by classical spectrum analysis of the input currents. In case of large or double cage induction motors, rotor broken bars fault detection based on sideband current components may fail due to the presence of inter bar currents that reduce the degree of rotor asymmetry, leading to reduced relevance of these spectral components. But inter bar currents produce core vibrations in the axial direction, which can be detected using vibration analysis techniques, in order to overcome the limits of the classical MCSA for these purposes. In this paper, an advanced use of the Discrete wav…

A calorimeter for the precise determination of the activity of the 144Ce-144Pr anti-neutrino source in the SOX experiment

We describe the design and the performance of a high precision thermal calorimeter, whose purpose was the measurement of the total activity of the 144Ce-144Pr anti-neutrino source of the SOX (Short distance neutrino Oscillation with BoreXino) experiment. SOX aimed at the search for eV-scale sterile neutrinos by means of the Borexino detector at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso in Italy and of a very powerful artificial anti-neutrino source located at 8.51 m from the detector center. In order to obtain the required sensitivity, the activity of the source (approximately 150 kCi) had to be known at 1% precision. In this work we report the design of the experimental apparatus and the res…

Isotopic effect on the kinetics of a closed unstirred Belousov-Zhabotinsky medium