38,035 research outputs found
Patterns of infections in older patients acutely admitted to medical wards: data from the REPOSI register
11N/Apartially_openopenRossio, Raffaella; Ardoino, Ilaria; Franchi, Carlotta; Nobili, Alessandro; Mannuccio Mannucci, Pier; Peyvandi, Flora; Biolo, G.; Zanetti, M.; Guadagni, M; Zaccari, M.; Chiuch, M.Rossio, Raffaella; Ardoino, Ilaria; Franchi, Carlotta; Nobili, Alessandro; Mannuccio Mannucci, Pier; Peyvandi, Flora; Biolo, G.; Zanetti, M.; Guadagni, M; Zaccari, M.; Chiuch, M
Mild malformations of cortical development in sleep-related hypermotor epilepsy due to KCNT1 mutations
open14siMutations in the sodium-activated potassium channel gene KCNT1 have been associated with nonlesional sleep-related hypermotor epilepsy (SHE). We report the co-occurrence of mild malformation of cortical development (mMCD) and KCNT1 mutations in four patients with SHE. Focal cortical dysplasia type I was neuropathologically diagnosed after epilepsy surgery in three unrelated MRI-negative patients, periventricular nodular heterotopia was detected in one patient by MRI. Our findings suggest that KCNT1 epileptogenicity may result not only from dysregulated excitability by controlling Na+K+ transport, but also from mMCD. Therefore, pathogenic variants in KCNT1 may encompass both lesional and nonlesional epilepsies.openRubboli G.; Plazzi G.; Picard F.; Nobili L.; Hirsch E.; Chelly J.; Prayson R.A.; Boutonnat J.; Bramerio M.; Kahane P.; Dibbens L.M.; Gardella E.; Baulac S.; Moller R.S.Rubboli, G.; Plazzi, G.; Picard, F.; Nobili, L.; Hirsch, E.; Chelly, J.; Prayson, R. A.; Boutonnat, J.; Bramerio, M.; Kahane, P.; Dibbens, L. M.; Gardella, E.; Baulac, S.; Moller, R. S
Modeling the broadband persistent emission of magnetars
In this paper, we discuss our first attempts to model the broadband
persistent emission of magnetars within a self consistent, physical scenario.
We present the predictions of a synthetic model that we calculated with a new
Monte Carlo 3-D radiative code. The basic idea is that soft thermal photons
(e.g. emitted by the star surface) can experience resonant cyclotron
upscattering by a population of relativistic electrons threated in the twisted
magnetosphere. Our code is specifically tailored to work in the
ultra-magnetized regime; polarization and QED effects are consistently
accounted for, as well different configurations for the magnetosphere. We
discuss the predicted spectral properties in the 0.1-1000 keV range, the
polarization properties, and we present the model application to a sample of
magnetars soft X-ray spectra.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures, to be published in Advances in Space Research.
Proceedings of the conference "Frontieres of Space Astrophysics, Neutron
Stars & Gamma Ray Bursts", Cairo/Alexandria, 30 March- 4 April 200
The religious hermeneutics of Gerhard Oberhammer and the investigation of the philosophical traditions of India
Gerhard Oberhammer (1929-), austriacki indolog i filozof religii, stworzył systemowy wykład transcendentalnej hermeneutyki religii, służący dogłębnym analizom i interpretacjom tego zjawiska. Wypracowana przez Oberhammera sieć pojęć współtworzących teoretyczne podstawy hermeneutyki religii/religijności, służy fenomenologiczno-egzystencjalnym analizom tak zuniwersalizowanego fenomenu religijnego doświadczenia, jak i sposobu, w jaki się on "wydarza" w swoich konkretyzacjach w określonych tradycjach religijnych. W trzech częściach niniejszego artykułu znalazły się, odpowiednio: intelektualna biografia Oberhammera, zarys systemu transcendentalnej hermeneutyki religii oraz możliwe pola jej zastosowania w odniesieniu do filozoficznych tradycji Indii.Gerhard Oberhammer (1929-), the Austrian Indologist and philosopher of religion, developed the transcendental hermeneutics of religion as an in-depth analysis of the phenomenon of religiosity. One of its themes is a religious experience in a comparative perspective. In order to conduct the phenomenological-existential analysis of what religious experience is and how it happens, Oberhammer develops a network of notions, which jointly create a coherent system of religious hermeneutics. The notion of the “encounter” (Begegnung), interpreted as a universally essential dimension of religious experience, explains the event of experiencing transcendence by the subject and is pivotal to the system. The introductory part of the article is meant to sketch the intellectual biography of Gerhard Oberhammer, with the aim to provide concise information about the profile of the thinker. In the second part the outline of the system of the transcendental hermeneutics of religion will be introduced, in a wider context of possible affinities to other thinkers. Lastly, the applicability of the hermeneutics to philosophical traditions of India will be considered
The use of ultrasound in clinical setting for children affected by NAFLD. is it safe and accurate?
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become over the last decade the most common form of chronic liver disease in children and adults. Thus, establishing the diagnosis of NAFLD is of utmost importance and represents a major challenge as the disease is generally silent and the current gold standard for diagnosis is an invasive liver biopsy, a procedure that is not suitable for screening purposes. Many non-invasive diagnostic tools have been evaluated so far. Recently the utility of ultrasonography for non-invasive diagnosis and estimation of hepatic steatosis has been demonstrated in a large prospective pediatric study
Pediatric liver diseases: current challenges and future perspectives
Chronic liver diseases in children represent a rising problem with significant effects on public health. In fact, several pediatric liver diseases are precursors of adult chronic hepatopathies, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. The prevalence of liver diseases in children is unknown. In the USA, every year, 15,000 children are hospitalized for liver diseases, but these disorders continue to be under-recognized or diagnosed late. The main reason is due to the frequent absence of symptoms in the vast majority of liver diseases, especially in the early stages. In the last few decades several advances have been made in understanding the pathogenesis of liver diseases, permitting the discovery of new therapeutic targets to treat liver diseases, thus improving the natural history of these disorders. In this article we discuss the most recent advances in the understanding of the pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment of the most frequent pediatric liver diseases
Restframe I-band Hubble diagram for type Ia supernovae up to redshift z ~0.5
We present a novel technique for fitting restframe I-band light curves on a
data set of 42 Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia). Using the result of the fit, we
construct a Hubble diagram with 26 SNe from the subset at 0.01< z<0.1. Adding
two SNe at z~0.5 yields results consistent with a flat
Lambda-dominated``concordance universe''
()=(0.25,0.75). For one of these, SN 2000fr, new near
infrared data are presented. The high redshift supernova NIR data are also used
to test for systematic effects in the use of SNe Ia as distance estimators. A
flat, Lambda=0, universe where the faintness of supernovae at z~0.5 is due to
grey dust homogeneously distributed in the intergalactic medium is disfavoured
based on the high-z Hubble diagram using this small data-set. However, the
uncertainties are large and no firm conclusion may be drawn. We explore the
possibility of setting limits on intergalactic dust based on B-I and B-V colour
measurements, and conclude that about 20 well measured SNe are needed to give
statistically significant results. We also show that the high redshift
restframe I-band data points are better fit by light curve templates that show
a prominent second peak, suggesting that they are not intrinsically
underluminous.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A (01/04/2005
Relevance of the weak equivalence principle and experiments to test it: lessons from the past and improvements expected in space
Tests of the Weak Equivalence Principle (WEP) probe the foundations of
physics. Ever since Galileo in the early 1600s, WEP tests have attracted some
of the best experimentalists of any time. Progress has come in bursts, each
stimulated by the introduction of a new technique: the torsion balance, signal
modulation by Earth rotation, the rotating torsion balance. Tests for various
materials in the field of the Earth and the Sun have found no violation to the
level of about 1 part in 1e13. A different technique, Lunar Laser Ranging
(LLR), has reached comparable precision. Today, both laboratory tests and LLR
have reached a point when improving by a factor of 10 is extremely hard. The
promise of another quantum leap in precision rests on experiments performed in
low Earth orbit. The Microscope satellite, launched in April 2016 and currently
taking data, aims to test WEP in the field of Earth to 1e-15, a 100-fold
improvement possible thanks to a driving signal in orbit almost 500 times
stronger than for torsion balances on ground. The `Galileo Galilei' (GG)
experiment, by combining the advantages of space with those of the rotating
torsion balance, aims at a WEP test 100 times more precise than Microscope, to
1e-17. A quantitative comparison of the key issues in the two experiments is
presented, along with recent experimental measurements relevant for GG. Early
results from Microscope, reported at a conference in March 2017, show
measurement performance close to the expectations and confirm the key role of
rotation with the advantage (unique to space) of rotating the whole spacecraft.
Any non-null result from Microscope would be a major discovery and call for
urgent confirmation; with 100 times better precision GG could settle the matter
and provide a deeper probe of the foundations of physics.Comment: To appear: Physics Letters A, special issue in memory of Professor
Vladimir Braginsky, 2017. Available online:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.physleta.2017.09.02
SALT: a Spectral Adaptive Light curve Template for Type Ia Supernovae
We present a new method to parameterize Type Ia Supernovae (SN Ia)
multi-color light curves. The method was developed in order to analyze the
large number of SN Ia multi-color light curves measured in current
high-redshift projects. The technique is based on empirically modeling SN Ia
luminosity variations as a function of phase, wavelength, a shape parameter,
and a color parameter. The model is trained with a sample of well measured
nearby SN Ia and then tested with an independent set of supernovae by building
an optimal luminosity distance estimator combining the supernova rest-frame
luminosity, shape parameter and color reconstructed with the model. The
distances we measure using B- and V-band data show a dispersion around the
Hubble line comparable or lower than obtained with other methods. With this
model, we are able to measure distances using U- and B-band data with a
dispersion around the Hubble line of 0.16 +- 0.05.Comment: Accepted in A&A, June 23, 2005 (printer friendly replacement version,
includes language corrections
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