showing 36 of ~574560 from 574555 documents
Development of natural and synthetic compounds as kinase inhibitors targeting cancer cells and cancer stem cells
2023
Preliminary data revealing efficacy of Streptococcus salivarius K12 (SSK12) in Periodic Fever, Aphthous stomatitis, Pharyngitis, and cervical Adeniti…
2023
ObjectiveTo evaluate the potential role of Streptococcus salivarius K12 (SSK12) in controlling febrile flares in patients with Periodic Fever, Aphthous stomatitis, Pharyngitis, and cervical Adenitis (PFAPA) syndrome. Further aims were to assess the impact of SSK12 on (i) flare duration, (ii) variation in the degree of the highest body temperature during flares, (iii) steroid-sparing effect, and (iv) change of PFAPA accompanying symptoms before and after SSK12 introduction.Patients and methodsThe medical charts from 85 pediatric patients with PFAPA syndrome (49 males and 36 females) enrolled in the AIDA registry and treated with SSK12 for a median period of 6.00 ± 7.00 months in the period b…
New indole and 7-azaindole derivatives as protein kinase inhibitors
2023
A Hybrid AHP Approach and GIS-Based Methods as Fundamental Tools in the SECAP’s Decision-Making Process
2023
Adapting to climate change and mitigating its impacts are the main challenges for cities today. One objective that the European Commission has set in recent decades is reducing climate change inaction, and several political actions have been implemented. Among these actions, the Covenant of Mayors led to the development and adoption of Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans (SECAPs) by many cities worldwide. A challenge that local authorities must face during the development of a SECAP is the identification of the policies to be included in the plan. This paper presents a case study to show the validity of using a hybrid analytic hierarchy process (AHP) approach and various geographic …
Genomic Signature in Evolutionary Biology: A Review
2023
Organisms are unique physical entities in which information is stored and continuously processed. The digital nature of DNA sequences enables the construction of a dynamic information reservoir. However, the distinction between the hardware and software components in the information flow is crucial to identify the mechanisms generating specific genomic signatures. In this work, we perform a bibliometric analysis to identify the different purposes of looking for particular patterns in DNA sequences associated with a given phenotype. This study has enabled us to make a conceptual breakdown of the genomic signature and differentiate the leading applications. On the one hand, it refers to gene …
Trends in Autism Spectrum-Related Motherhood Research: A Bibliometric Study
2023
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by difficulties in socialization. The amount of scientific research results on motherhood related to ASD has grown exponentially; however, there are no bibliometric studies in this field. Objective: This article aimed to analyze scientific research on motherhood related to the autism spectrum published in WoS. Articles on motherhood related to ASD were retrieved from the Web of Science (WoS). The advanced search interface used was “Title of the article, Abstract, Keywords”. The analysis and visualization of the selected documents and their data were performed using a wide range of tools and software such as MS Ex…
Digital Twin framework for automated fault source detection and prediction for comfort performance evaluation of existing non-residential Norwegian b…
2023
Numerous buildings fall short of expectations regarding occupant satisfaction, sustainability, or energy efficiency. In this paper, the performance of buildings in terms of occupant comfort is evaluated using a probabilistic model based on Bayesian networks (BNs). The BN model is founded on an in-depth anal- ysis of satisfaction survey responses and a thorough study of building performance parameters. This study also presents a user-friendly visualization compatible with BIM to simplify data collecting in two case studies from Norway with data from 2019 to 2022. This paper proposes a novel Digital Twin approach for incorporating building information modeling (BIM) with real-time sensor data…
Search for the semi-leptonic decays $\Lambda_c^+ \to \Lambda \pi^+ \pi^- e^+ \nu_e$ and $\Lambda_c^+ \to p K_S^0 \pi^- e^+ \nu_e$
2023
We search for the semi-leptonic decays $\Lambda_c^+ \to \Lambda \pi^+ \pi^- e^+ \nu_e$ and $\Lambda_c^+ \to p K_S^0 \pi^- e^+ \nu_e$ in a sample of 4.5 $\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$ of $e^{+}e^{-}$ annihilation data collected in the center-of-mass energy region between 4.600 GeV and 4.699 GeV by the BESIII detector at the BEPCII. No significant signals are observed, and the upper limits on the decay branching fractions are set to be $\mathcal{B}(\Lambda_c^+ \to \Lambda \pi^+ \pi^- e^+ \nu_e)<3.9\times10^{-4}$ and $\mathcal{B}(\Lambda_c^+ \to p K_S^0 \pi^- e^+ \nu_e)<3.3\times10^{-4}$ at the 90% confidence level, respectively.
Shrinkage efficiency bounds: An extension
2023
Hansen (2005) obtained the efficiency bound (the lowest achievable risk) in the p-dimensional normal location model when p≥3, generalizing an earlier result of Magnus (2002) for the one-dimensional case (p=1). The classes of estimators considered are, however, different in the two cases. We provide an alternative bound to Hansen's which is a more natural generalization of the one-dimensional case, and we compare the classes and the bounds.
Early adulthood and current physical activity and their association with symptoms of pelvic floor disorders in middle-aged women : an observational s…
2023
Objective To investigate associations of early and middle adulthood physical activity (PA) with symptoms of pelvic floor disorders (PFD), i.e., stress urinary incontinence (SUI), urge urinary incontinence (UUI), fecal incontinence (FI), constipation or defecation difficulties (CDD), and feeling of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) among middle-aged women. Design A cross-sectional, observational study with retrospective PA assessment. Setting University Research Laboratory. Sample A random population sample of 1098 47-to-55-year-old Finnish women. Methods Early adulthood PA, current PA, and demographical and gynaecological variables were assessed using self-report questionnaires. Logistic regressi…
Extending existential feeling through sensory substitution
2023
AbstractIn current philosophy of mind, there is lively debate over whether emotions, moods, and other affects can extend to comprise elements beyond one’s organismic boundaries. At the same time, there has been growing interest in the nature and significance of so-called existential feelings, which, as the term suggests, are feelings of one’s overall being in the world. In this article, I bring these two strands of investigation together to ask: can the material underpinnings of existential feelings extend beyond one’s skull and skin? To begin, I introduce and adopt a componential-systemic view of extended affectivity. In doing so, I specify the vehicle externalist criteria for extension em…
Strong Coupling of Coherent Phonons to Excitons in Semiconducting Monolayer MoTe$_2$
2023
The coupling of the electron system to lattice vibrations and their time-dependent control and detection provides unique insight into the non-equilibrium physics of semiconductors. Here, we investigate the ultrafast transient response of semiconducting monolayer 2$H$-MoTe$_2$ encapsulated with $h$BN using broadband optical pump-probe microscopy. The sub-40-fs pump pulse triggers extremely intense and long-lived coherent oscillations in the spectral region of the A' and B' exciton resonances, up to $\sim$20% of the maximum transient signal, due to the displacive excitation of the out-of-plane $A_{1g}$ phonon. Ab-initio calculations reveal a dramatic rearrangement of the optical absorption of…
A Survey on LoRa for Smart Agriculture: Current Trends and Future Perspectives
2023
This paper provides a survey on the adoption of LoRa in the agricultural field, and reviews state-of-the-art solutions for Smart Agriculture, analyzing the potential of this technology in different infield applications. In particular, we consider four reference scenarios, namely irrigation systems, plantation and crop monitoring, tree monitoring, and livestock monitoring, which exhibit heterogeneous requirements in terms of network bandwidth, density, sensors’ complexity, and energy demand, as well as latency in the decision process. We discuss how LoRa-based solutions can work in these scenarios, analyzing their scalability, interoperability, network architecture, and energy-efficiency. Fi…
Impacts of volcanic hazards on rural communities and adaptative strategies: A case study of the Virunga Volcanic Province (Democratic Republic of Con…
2023
co auteur étranger; International audience; Active volcanoes are a continuous threat for several regions worldwide and cause socio-economic and environmental issues, including the Virunga Volcanic Province (D.R. Congo). There, more than 2 million people are permanently exposed to the hazards of the most active volcanoes in Africa: Nyiragongo and Nyamulagira. However, there is a clear lack of information regarding the impacts of these hazards and how they may be affected by social vulnerability. In this study, a household survey based on semi-structural interviews was performed for rural communities in Virunga. This research aims to (i) investigate the impacts of volcanic hazards on rural co…
Centriolar satellites expedite mother centriole remodeling to promote ciliogenesis
2023
Centrosomes are orbited by centriolar satellites, dynamic multiprotein assemblies nucleated by Pericentriolar material 1 (PCM1). To study the requirement for centriolar satellites, we generated mice lacking PCM1, a crucial component of satellites. Pcm1−/− mice display partially penetrant perinatal lethality with survivors exhibiting hydrocephalus, oligospermia, and cerebellar hypoplasia, and variably expressive phenotypes such as hydronephrosis. As many of these phenotypes have been observed in human ciliopathies and satellites are implicated in cilia biology, we investigated whether cilia were affected. PCM1 was dispensable for ciliogenesis in many cell types, whereas Pcm1−/− multiciliated…
Assessing the Effect of the Economy for the Common Good System on Business Performance
2023
Extant literature has pointed to organizational hybridity to lever sustainable business transformation. Moreover, some authors hold that there is a possible trade-off between sustainability and performance. However, there is still little empirical evidence on the impact that such sustainability-driven hybridization systems have on performance. Thus, the present study’s main goal is to fill this gap by providing empirical evidence on the impact of the implementation of the Economy for the Common Good, as a sustainability-driven organizational system, on business performance. To do so, the authors relied on a sample of 206 businesses from five European countries. Then, the authors follo…
Prognostic role of soluble PD-1 and BTN2A1 in overweight melanoma patients treated with nivolumab or pembrolizumab: finding the missing links in the …
2023
Individual response to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) is currently unpredictable in patients with melanoma. Recent findings highlight a striking improvement in the clinical outcomes of overweight/obese patients treated with ICIs, which seems driven, at least in part, by programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1)-mediated T-cell dysfunction. A putative role of butyrophilins (BTNs) is under investigation as a novel mechanism of cancer immune evasion and obesity-associated inflammation. This study investigates the role of baseline plasma levels of soluble PD-1 (sPD-1), soluble programmed cell death ligand 1 (sPD-L1), BTN2A1 (sBTN2A1), BTN3A1 (sBTN3A1), along with body mass index (BMI), as pr…
The Italian endemic forest plants: an annotated inventory and synthesis of knowledge
2023
Background and aims – Forests are among the most threatened ecosystems worldwide, and endemic plants are often a vulnerable component of the flora of a given territory. So far, however, understory forest endemics of southern Europe have received little attention and are poorly known for several aspects. Material and methods – We developed the first list of native vascular plants that are restricted to Italian forests. Available information on taxonomy, regional distribution, ecology, biology, functional traits, and conservation status was collected for each taxon, allowing to identify major knowledge gaps and calculate baseline statistics. Key results – The list includes 134 taxa, most of w…
$\mathrm{morphofit}$: An automated galaxy structural parameters fitting package
2023
In today's modern wide-field galaxy surveys, there is the necessity for parametric surface brightness decomposition codes characterised by accuracy, small degree of user intervention, and high degree of parallelisation. We try to address this necessity by introducing $\mathrm{morphofit}$, a highly parallelisable $\mathrm{Python}$ package for the estimate of galaxy structural parameters. The package makes use of wide-spread and reliable codes, namely $\mathrm{SExtractor}$ and $\mathrm{GALFIT}$. It has been optimised and tested in both low-density and crowded environments, where blending and diffuse light makes the structural parameters estimate particularly challenging. $\mathrm{morphofit}$ …
Coupling of ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic spin dynamics in Mn$_{2}$Au/NiFe thin-film bilayers
2023
We investigate magnetization dynamics of Mn$_{2}$Au/Py (Ni$_{80}$Fe$_{20}$) thin film bilayers using broadband ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) and Brillouin light scattering spectroscopy. Our bilayers exhibit two resonant modes with zero-field frequencies up to almost 40 GHz, far above the single-layer Py FMR. Our model calculations attribute these modes to the coupling of the Py FMR and the two antiferromagnetic resonance (AFMR) modes of Mn2Au. The coupling-strength is in the order of 1.6 T$\cdot$nm at room temperature for nm-thick Py. Our model reveals the dependence of the hybrid modes on the AFMR frequencies and interfacial coupling as well as the evanescent character of the spin waves th…
Recycling mussel shells as secondary sources in green construction materials: a preliminary assessment
2023
This paper reports the development of novel green bio-composite mortars obtained by reusing mussel shells, a waste from the fish canning industry, as recycled aggregate, used for the first time in total substitution to the traditional sand. It suggests that this is a valid alternative to their usual disposal in landfills because the organic matter is potentially dangerous to humans and the environment. Different waste-based cementitious mixes were tested and compared to a traditional OPC mortar. The manufacturing process was performed at ambient conditions (20 °C, 65% RH) with highly sustainable results and consisted of simple operative steps reproducible in a real building site. The engine…
Torture and Maltreatment in Prison: A Medico-Legal Perspective
2023
The maltreatment and torture of prisoners constitute a global problem. Methods of maltreatment are classified as the psychological and the physical, and physical methods inevitably lead to psychological sequelae. Our review offers an analysis from the medico-legal perspective of the literature on the torture and physical and sexual abuse experienced by prisoners and their psychological sequelae and aims to investigate the medico-legal issues of investigating maltreatment in prison so as to suggest methodologies and updated approaches for dealing with such cases in a forensic context. We performed a comprehensive literature search of peer-reviewed publications (articles and reviews), researc…
Advances in High-Energy-Resolution CdZnTe Linear Array Pixel Detectors with Fast and Low Noise Readout Electronics
2023
Radiation detectors based on Cadmium Zinc Telluride (CZT) compounds are becoming popular solutions thanks to their high detection efficiency, room temperature operation, and to their reliability in compact detection systems for medical, astrophysical, or industrial applications. However, despite a huge effort to improve the technological process, CZT detectors’ full potential has not been completely exploited when both high spatial and energy resolution are required by the application, especially at low energies (<10 keV), limiting their application in energy-resolved photon counting (ERPC) systems. This gap can also be attributed to the lack of dedicated front-end electronics whic…
Innovative Approaches for Organizing an Inclusive Optics and Photonics Conference in Virtual Format
2023
The COVID pandemic is forcing the renewal of scientific conferences, offering opportunities to introduce technological and inclusive developments. Our analysis focuses on the implementation of inclusive practices for female and early-career researchers in a virtual scientific conference. This organization approach was applied in the XIII Spanish Optical Meeting (RNO2021), which was also characterized by avatars interacting in an online metaverse. The effectiveness of inclusive policies and novel technological tools was evaluated using the participation data and a post-conference survey. Our study reveals the high impact of inclusive actions and a strong interest in the scientific community …
Small-scale mobility fostering the interaction networks of Patagonian (Argentina) hunter-gatherers during the Late Holocene: Perspectives from stront…
2023
During the Late Holocene, hunter-gatherer interaction networks significantly grew in intensity and extension across Patagonia. Although this growth is evidenced by the increased flow of exotic items across the region, the mechanisms behind these strengthening social networks remain unclear. Since evidence suggests that some individuals might have performed long-distance trips, this article aims to address the potential relationship between these individuals and the flows of exotic items in North Patagonia. We analyzed 54 enamel teeth for strontium isotopes and reconstructed their probable mobility using mixed-effect models and isotope-based geographic assignments. We inferred population and…
DL_Track : Automated analysis of muscle architecture from B-mode ultrasonography images using deep learning
2023
B-mode ultrasound is commonly used to image musculoskeletal tissues, but one major bottleneck is data analysis. Manual analysis is commonly deployed for assessment of muscle thickness, pennation angle and fascicle length in muscle ultrasonography images. However, manual analysis is somewhat subjective, laborious and requires thorough experience. We provide an openly available algorithm (DL_Track) to automatically analyze muscle architectural parameters in ultrasonography images or videos of human lower limb muscles.
 We trained two different neural networks (classic U-net [Ronneberger et al., 2021] and U-net with VGG16 [Simonyan & Zisserman, 2015] pretrained encoder) one to detect …
Which Landscape for Which Community? Opportunities and Pitfalls in the Application of the European Landscape Convention in Uncollaborative Context
2023
L’articolo, diviso in due sezioni principali, si propone di valutare le possibili ambiguità nell'applicazione dei principi della Convenzione Europea del Paesaggio in Italia. La prima sezione propone un quadro teorico, analizzando le relazioni tra i termini "ambiente", "territorio" e "paesaggio". L'attenzione si concentra sulle conseguenze che le diverse prospettive aprono sia a livello valoriale che operativo, oltre a trattare i tentativi di definizione. L'idea di comunità viene messa in discussione e vengono analizzate alcune sfide teoriche e pratiche legate al coinvolgimento e alla partecipazione nei processi di pianificazione del paesaggio. Nella seconda parte dell’articolo, il rapporto …
Effects of Lithium Source and Content on the Properties of Li-Rich Layered Oxide Cathode Materials
2023
Lithium-rich layered oxide (LLO) are considered high-capacity cathode materials for next-generation lithium-ion batteries. In this study, LLO cathode materials were synthesized via the hydroxide coprecipitation method followed by a two-step lithiation process using different lithium contents and lithium sources. The effects of lithium content and lithium source on structure and electrochemical performance were investigated. This study demonstrated the clear impact of Li/TM ratio on electrochemical performance. Lower Li/TM ratio reduced the irreversible capacity loss in the first cycle and provided better cycling stability among all samples. The best results exhibited an initial discharge ca…
Human-centricity in AI governance : A systemic approach
2023
Human-centricity is considered a central aspect in the development and governance of artificial intelligence (AI). Various strategies and guidelines highlight the concept as a key goal. However, we argue that current uses of Human-Centered AI (HCAI) in policy documents and AI strategies risk downplaying promises of creating desirable, emancipatory technology that promotes human wellbeing and the common good. Firstly, HCAI, as it appears in policy discourses, is the result of aiming to adapt the concept of human-centered design (HCD) to the public governance context of AI but without proper reflection on how it should be reformed to suit the new task environment. Second, the concept is mainl…
How Organizational Resources and Managerial Features Affect Business Performance: An Analysis in the Greek Wine Industry
2023
Despite the growing interest of the wine industry in quality and environmental certifications and the influence of these standards on positioning in international markets, scholarly research has paid proportionally limited attention to the link between winery export intensity and the adoption of internationally recognized standards. This study aims to analyze which factors make an organizational model performant, and to verify the impact of the adoption of third-party certifications on the export performance by using the resource-based view (RBV) theory as a theoretical lens. Findings show that younger wineries are more oriented towards the adoption of voluntary quality and environmental ce…
Electrochemical oxo-functionalisation of cyclic alkanes and alkenes using nitrate and oxygen
2023
Abstract Direct functionalization of C(sp3)–H bonds allows a fast, synthetic access to valuable products, starting from simple petrochemicals. Chemical transformation of inactivated methylene groups, however, remains challenging for organic synthesis. Here, we present a general electrochemical method for the oxidation of C(sp3)–H and C(sp2)–H bonds, in which cyclic alkanes and (cyclic) olefins are converted into cycloaliphatic ketones as well as aliphatic (di)carboxylic acids. This resource-friendly method is based on nitrate salts in a dual role as anodic mediator and supporting electrolyte, which can be fully recovered and recycled. Reduction of molecular oxygen as cathodic counter reacti…
Life Cycle Assessment of Luminescent Solar Concentrators Integrated into a Smart Window
2023
Energies : open-access journal of related scientific research, technology development and studies in policy and management 16(4), 1869 (2023). doi:10.3390/en16041869
High-Performance PCR for Alleles Discrimination of Chromo-Helicase-DNA Binding Protein (CHD1) Gene in Bird Sexing
2023
Genetic analyses aiming at assessing the presence of specific sequences or alleles are often carried out by PCR. Sexing of most birds is nowadays based on PCR with “universal” primers and relies on the assessment of the presence of the sex-linked CHD1-Z and -W alleles. The entire workflow is relatively time-consuming, especially for batch analyses, whereas methods that allow carrying out the entire procedure in a short time are highly desirable. The only method for outdoor analyses reported so far relies on LAMP; however; it fails to work properly in Procellariiformes. Besides improving the LAMP test; we have developed a PCR-based DNA amplification procedure (named high-performance PCR); wh…
First Evidence of Axial Shape Asymmetry and Configuration Coexistence in $^{74}$Zn: Suggestion for a Northern Extension of the $N=40$ Island of Inver…
2023
International audience; The excited states of $N=44$$^{74}$Zn were investigated via $\gamma$-ray spectroscopy following $^{74}$Cu $\beta$ decay. By exploiting $\gamma$-$\gamma$ angular correlation analysis, the $2_2^+$, $3_1^+$, $0_2^+$ and $2_3^+$ states in $^{74}$Zn were firmly established. The $\gamma$-ray branching and $E2/M1$ mixing ratios for transitions de-exciting the $2_2^+$, $3_1^+$ and $2_3^+$ states were measured, allowing for the extraction of relative $B(E2)$ values. In particular, the $2_3^+ \to 0_2^+$ and $2_3^+ \to 4_1^+$ transitions were observed for the first time. The results show excellent agreement with new microscopic large-scale shell-model calculations, and are disc…
Aortic valve and vascular calcium score in pre-TAVI CT: correlation with early post-procedural complications
2023
Abstract Purpose The aim of our study was to evaluate the prevalence of early complications after Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) and their correlation with the Calcium Score (CS) of the aortic valve, aorta and ilio-femoral arteries derived from pre-procedural computed tomography (CT). Materials and methods We retrospectively reviewed 226 patients (100 males, mean age 79.4 ± 6.7 years) undergoing 64-slice CT for pre-TAVI evaluation from January 2018 to April 2021. The population was divided into CS quartiles. Results Overall, 173 patients underwent TAVI procedure, of whom 61% presented paravalvular leak after the procedure, 28% presented bleeding or vascular complications, 25…
Optical performance of a new design of trifocal intraocular lens based on the Devil's diffractive lens
2023
In this work, we propose a new diffractive trifocal intraocular lens design with focus extension, conceived to provide a high visual performance at intermediate distances. This design is based on a fractal structure known as the "Devil's staircase". To assess its optical performance, numerical simulations have been performed with a ray tracing program using the Liou-Brennan model eye under polychromatic illumination. The simulated through the focus visual acuity was the merit function employed to test its pupil-dependence and its behavior against decentering. A qualitative assessment of the multifocal intraocular lens (MIOL) was also performed experimentally with an adaptive optics visual s…