Dutch National Report: CrossJustice. Knowledge, Advisory and Capacity Building. Information tool for Criminal Procedural Rights in Judicial Cooperation

Criminal Justice: Legitimacy, accountability, and effectivit

Using wireless point-to-point connections to improve volcano monitoring: a feasibility study of the WiMAX technology applied to the Campi Flegrei volcanic area (Southern Italy)

In the tex

Using WiMAX technology to improve volcano monitoring: the WEIRD System

IEEE 802.16 standards (IEEE, 2004; IEEE, 2005), commonly known as WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access Forum), is one of the most promising broadband wireless access technology for next generation all-IP networks. This access technology allows reaching high bit rate and covering large areas with a single Base Station (BS). Thanks to these features, IEEE 802.16 opens the way for the use and the introduction of wireless technologies in particular emergency scenarios, like volcano monitoring. Active volcano surveillance is based prevalently on the analysis of geophysical and geochemical parameters gathered by monitoring networks. Of all, seismology is one of the most useful methods for volcano monitoring. In fact, several types of seismic signals, e.g. volcano-tectonic earthquakes (VT), long-period events (LP), volcanic tremor, can occur before and during an eruption. The analysis and interpretation of these seismic signals are a very important task for the volcanic eruption forecasting (Scarpa and Tilling, 1996). WiMAX technology can be applied to provide broadband wireless access in volcano monitoring scenarios, in order to solve all the problems that today limit the possibility to realize a real-time and accurate monitoring of volcanoes activities in emergency situations. In particular, this paper focus on a novel solution, designed within the IST FP6 EU WEIRD (WiMAX Extension to Isolated Research Data networks) Integrated Project, to perform volcano monitoring using the features offered by IEEE 802.16 networks in order to improve transmission of data acquired by temporary seismic stations deployed during emergencies. Tests performed on field demonstrate the advantages offered by the use of WiMAX compared with other commonly used technologies

BioPARR:A software system for estimating the rupture potential index for abdominal aortic aneurysms

An abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a permanent and irreversible dilation of the lower region of the aorta. It is a symptomless condition that, if left untreated, can expand until rupture. Despite ongoing efforts, an efficient tool for accurate estimation of AAA rupture risk is still not available. Furthermore, a lack of standardisation across current approaches and specific obstacles within computational workflows limit the translation of existing methods to the clinic. This paper presents BioPARR (Biomechanics based Prediction of Aneurysm Rupture Risk), a software system to facilitate the analysis of AAA using a finite element analysis based approach. Except semi-automatic segmentation of the AAA and intraluminal thrombus (ILT) from medical images, the entire analysis is performed automatically. The system is modular and easily expandable, allows the extraction of information from images of different modalities (e.g. CT and MRI) and the simulation of different modelling scenarios (e.g. with/without thrombus). The software uses contemporary methods that eliminate the need for patient-specific material properties, overcoming perhaps the key limitation to all previous patient-specific analysis methods. The software system is robust, free, and will allow researchers to perform comparative evaluation of AAA using a standardised approach. We report preliminary data from 48 cases

Author Correction: The mTORC1/4E-BP1 axis represents a critical signaling node during fibrogenesis

Correction to: Nature Communications https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-07858-8, published online 2 January 2019

Polyglutamine expansion affects huntingtin conformation in multiple Huntington's disease models

Conformational changes in disease-associated or mutant proteins represent a key pathological aspect of Huntington's disease (HD) and other protein misfolding diseases. Using immunoassays and biophysical approaches, we and others have recently reported that polyglutamine expansion in purified or recombinantly expressed huntingtin (HTT) proteins affects their conformational properties in a manner dependent on both polyglutamine repeat length and temperature but independent of HTT protein fragment length. These findings are consistent with the HD mutation affecting structural aspects of the amino-terminal region of the protein, and support the concept that modulating mutant HTT conformation might provide novel therapeutic and diagnostic opportunities. We now report that the same conformational TR-FRET based immunoassay detects polyglutamine-and temperaturedependent changes on the endogenously expressed HTT protein in peripheral tissues and post-mortem HD brain tissue, as well as in tissues from HD animal models. We also find that these temperatureand polyglutamine-dependent conformational changes are sensitive to bona-fide phosphorylation on S13 and S16 within the N17 domain of HTT. These findings provide key clinical and preclinical relevance to the conformational immunoassay, and provide supportive evidence for its application in the development of therapeutics aimed at correcting the conformation of polyglutamine-expanded proteins as well as the pharmacodynamics readouts to monitor their efficacy in preclinical models and in HD patients

Phosphorylation of huntingtin at residue T3 is decreased in Huntington’s disease and modulates mutant huntingtin protein conformation

Posttranslational modifications can have profound effects on the biological and biophysical properties of proteins associated with misfolding and aggregation. However, their detection and quantification in clinical samples and an understanding of the mechanisms underlying the pathological properties of misfolding- and aggregation-prone proteins remain a challenge for diagnostics and therapeutics development. We have applied an ultrasensitive immunoassay platform to develop and validate a quantitative assay for detecting a posttranslational modification (phosphorylation at residue T3) of a protein associated with polyglutamine repeat expansion, namely Huntingtin, and characterized its presence in a variety of preclinical and clinical samples. We find that T3 phosphorylation is greatly reduced in samples from Huntington\u2019s disease models and in Huntington\u2019s disease patients, and we provide evidence that bona-fide T3 phosphorylation alters Huntingtin exon 1 protein conformation and aggregation properties. These findings have significant implications for both mechanisms of disease pathogenesis and the development of therapeutics and diagnostics for Huntington\u2019s disease

Radar Evidence of Subglacial Liquid Water on Mars

Strong radar echoes from the bottom of the martian southern polar deposits are interpreted as being due to the presence of liquid water under 1.5 km of ice

La Corte di giustizia al crocevia tra effettività del mandato d'arresto e inviolabilità dei diritti fondamentali. Nota a Corte di giustizia, cause riunite C‑404/15 e C‑659/15 PPU, Aranyosi e Căldăraru

Con la pronuncia in commento, la Corte di giustizia dell'Unione europea ammette deroghe al principio del mutuo riconoscimento al fine di garantire il rispetto del divieto di trattamenti inumani e degradanti. Per scongiurare il rischio che la consegna nello Stato di emissione di un mandato d'arresto europeo possa sottoporre il ricercato a condizioni detentive contrarie all'art. 3 CEDU e all'art. 4 della Carta dei diritti fondamentali, i giudici di Lussemburgo elaborano un'inedita procedura di emergenza che, imponendo speciali obblighi di informazione al giudice dello Stato richiesto, giunge financo a riconoscere la facoltà di rifiutare l'esecuzione del mandato qualora un rischio siffatto non possa essere escluso in "tempi ragionevoli". Dopo aver ricostruito il contesto giurisprudenziale in cui tale sentenza si colloca, il contributo si sofferma sulle problematiche ricadute della decisione sul piano del diritto interno, evidenziando i più rilevanti dubbi interpretativi che essa solleva