Memory effects in a Markov chain dephasing channel

We study a dephasing channel with memory, modelled by a Markov chain. We show that even weak memory effects have a detrimental impact on the performance of quantum error correcting schemes designed for uncorrelated errors. We also discuss an alternative scheme that takes advantage of memory effects to protect quantum information.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, NIC@QS proceeding

Su alcuni lemmi greci che compaiono in Lach. 278.29 e Lach. 279.2 = D. 10.1.13 (Gai. 4. ad l. duod. tab.)

EnThe essay focuses on the examination of some Greek lemmata that appear in D. 10.1.13 (Gai. 4 ad l. duod. tab.). The investigation, aimed at the restitution of two places in the fragment from the fourth book of Gaius's commentary on the XII Tables, was conducted using the parallel tradition of the passage found in two manuscripts of the Corpus of the Gromatics, the Wolfenbüttel, Herzog-August-Bibliothek, Guelf. 105 Gud. lat. 2° (Gudianus) [Gg], datable to the third quarter of the 9th century, and the Palatinus latinus 1564 [Gp], as well as the occurrences of the lemmata in question in other sources of manuscript tradition. Thus, it was proposed to amend 'ὀρύττῃ' with 'ὀρυγῇ', while it was believed that no safer conclusion could be reached for the alternative between 'τάφος' and 'τάφρος'.DeDer Aufsatz untersucht einige griechische Lemmata, die in D. 10.1.13 (Gai. 4 ad l. duod. tab.) vorkommen. Die Untersuchung zielt auf die Restitution zweier Stellen aus dem vierten Buch des Gaius-Kommentars zu den XII. Tafeln. Sie ist von Parallelüberlieferungen der Passage in zwei Handschriften des Corpus der Feldmesser geleitet (der Wolfenbütteler, Herzog-August-Bibliothek, Guelf. 105 Gud. lat. 2° [Gudianus] [Gg], datierbar auf das dritte Viertel des 9. Jahrhunderts, und der Palatinus latinus 1564 [Gp]) und beleuchtet auch das Vorkommen der fraglichen Lemmata in anderen handschriftlich überlieferten Quellen. Es wird vorgeschlagen, ‚ὀρύττῃ' durch ‚ὀρυγῇ' zu ergänzen. Hingegen glaubt man nicht, für die Alternative zwischen ‚τάφος' und ‚τάφρος' sicherere Schlüsse ziehen zu können

The principle servitus in faciendo consistere nequit and the category of real burden in the roman tradition

La presente ricerca si sofferma sul principio servitus in faciendo consistere nequit in diritto romano e nella tradizione romanistica. Attraverso l’analisi delle fonti romane la refectio parietis nella servitus oneris ferendi è stata ricondotta all’archetipo dell’onere reale. I giureconsulti romani, dunque, considerarono ammissibili situazioni in cui un facere poteva costituire il contenuto di un diritto reale ove arrecasse una utilitas obiettiva. Alla luce di queste considerazioni l’analisi è proseguita con un breve excursus relativo all’onere reale nel diritto intermedio. La tematica è stata poi esaminata tenendo presenti le conquiste della Rivoluzione francese in tema di diritti reali trasfuse nel Code civil, nei codici degli Stati preunitari, nel primo Codice civile, in quello attualmente vigente e nei codici europei che sulla materia seguono il modello francese. Si è dimostrato, quindi, come il principio servitus in faciendo consistere nequit, lungi dall’essere una consolidata regola derivante dal diritto romano, costituisca invece un dogma, insieme a quello del numerus clausus dei diritti reali, che si è sviluppato a seguito delle rivendicazioni dei rivoluzionari francesi tese all’affermazione della pienezza del diritto di proprietà. Peraltro, attraverso l’analisi di alcune importanti sentenze, è stato dimostrato come una parte della giurisprudenza avesse ricondotto determinati casi alla categoria degli oneri reali. Per concludere, si è dunque sottolineato come in determinate situazioni, e sempre tenendo ben presente il limite costituito dall’utilitas, sia possibile ammettere onera in faciendo ogni qual volta la prassi lo richieda.The present research focuses on the principle servitus in faciendo consistere nequit in Roman law and in the Roman tradition. Through the analysis of Roman sources, the refectio parietis in the servitus oneris ferendi has been traced back to an archetype of land burden. The Roman jurisprudence, therefore, considered admissible situations in which a facere could constitute the content of a real right in the event that it brought an objective utilitas. In light of these considerations, the analysis continued with a brief excursus on the real burden in the medieval law. The issue was then examined keeping in mind the achievements of the French Revolution concerning real rights transfused in the Code civil, in the codes of the italian pre-unification States, in the first Civil Code, in the current one and in the European codes that follow the French model. It has been shown, therefore, that the principle servitus in faciendo consists nequit, far from being a consolidated rule deriving from Roman law, constitutes instead a dogma, together with that of the numerus clausus of real rights, which developed as a result of the claims of French revolutionaries aimed at affirming the fullness of ownership. Moreover, through the analysis of some landmark judgments, it has been demonstrated how a part of the jurisprudence had brought certain cases back to the category of real burdens. To conclude, it was therefore stressed that in certain situations, and always keeping in mind the limit constituted by utilitas, it is possible to admit onera in faciendo whenever the practice requires it

First-line treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia with nilotinib: critical evaluation.

The therapeutic landscape of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) has changed dramatically in the last decade. In particular, the availability of imatinib mesylate, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor targeting BCR-ABL, has led to profound and durable remissions in the majority of patients. However, a couple of issues have emerged and partially obscured this scenario. First, it has become clear that a significant proportion of patients either present with primary resistance to imatinib or develop secondary resistance sooner or later during treatment. Second, although the drug is generally well tolerated, a percentage of patients eventually cease treatment because of toxicity. Bearing this in mind, second-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors have been introduced, including nilotinib. Phase I and II studies indicate remarkable activity for this compound in CML cases resistant to imatinib, including some of those carrying BCR-ABL1 mutants. More recently, two Phase II studies and a III randomized Phase clinical trial demonstrated the superiority of nilotinib compared with imatinib in terms of complete cytogenetic and major molecular responses, which are two relevant surrogate measures of long-term survival in CML. In this paper, we review the most relevant data on nilotinib as first-line treatment for CML, and discuss the rationale for its routine use, as well as some possible future perspectives for CML patients

Pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic influence of N-palmitoylethanolamine, arachidonyl-2′-chloroethylamide and WIN 55,212-2 on the anticonvulsant activity of antiepileptic drugs against audiogenic seizures in DBA/2 mice

We evaluated the effects of ACEA (selective cannabinoid (CB)1 receptor agonist), WIN 55,212-2 mesylate (WIN; non-selective CB1 and CB2 receptor agonist) and N-palmitoylethanolamine (PEA; an endogenous fatty acid of ethanolamide) in DBA/2 mice, a genetic model of reflex audiogenic epilepsy. PEA, ACEA or WIN intraperitoneal (i.p.) administration decreased the severity of tonic-clonic seizures. We also studied the effects of PEA, WIN or ACEA after co-administration with NIDA-41020 (CB1 receptor antagonist) or GW6471 (PPAR-α antagonist) and compared the effects of WIN, ACEA and PEA in order to clarify their mechanisms of action. PEA has anticonvulsant features in DBA/2 mice mainly through PPAR-α and likely indirectly on CB1 receptors, whereas ACEA and WIN act through CB1 receptors. The co-administration of ineffective doses of ACEA, PEA and WIN with some antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) was examined in order to identify potential pharmacological interactions in DBA/2 mice. We found that PEA, ACEA and WIN co-administration potentiated the efficacy of carbamazepine, diazepam, felbamate, gabapentin, phenobarbital, topiramate and valproate and PEA only also that of oxcarbazepine and lamotrigine whereas, their co-administration with levetiracetam and phenytoin did not have effects. PEA, ACEA or WIN administration did not significantly influence the total plasma and brain levels of AEDs; therefore, it can be concluded that the observed potentiation was only of pharmacodynamic nature. In conclusion, PEA, ACEA and WIN show anticonvulsant effects in DBA/2 mice and potentiate the effects several AEDs suggesting a possible therapeutic relevance of these drugs and their mechanisms of action

Exosomal shuttling of miR-126 in endothelial cells modulates adhesive and migratory abilities of chronic myelogenous leukemia cells

BACKGROUND: Recent findings indicate that exosomes released from cancer cells contain microRNAs (miRNAs) that may be delivered to cells of tumor microenvironment. RESULTS: To elucidate whether miRNAs secreted from chronic myelogenous leukemia cells (CML) are shuttled into endothelial cells thus affecting their phenotype, we first analysed miRNAs content in LAMA84 exosomes. Among the 124 miRNAs identified in LAMA84 exosomes, we focused our attention on miR-126 which was found to be over-overexpressed in exosomes compared with producing parental cells. Transfection of LAMA84 with Cy3-labelled miR-126 and co-culture of leukemia cells with endothelial cells (EC) confirmed that miR-126 is shuttled into HUVECs. The treatment of HUVECs with LAMA84 exosomes for 24 hours reduced CXCL12 and VCAM1 expression, both at the mRNA and protein level, and negatively modulated LAMA84 motility and cells adhesion. Transfection in HUVECs of miR-126 inhibitor reversed the decrease of CXCL12 and restored the motility and adhesion of LAMA84 cells while the over-expression of miR-126, showed opposite effects. CONCLUSION: Our results show that the miR-126 shuttled by exosomes is biologically active in the target cells, and support the hypothesis that exosomal miRNAs have an important role in tumor-endothelial crosstalk occurring in the bone marrow microenvironment, potentially affecting disease progression

The Challenge of Planning Conservation Strategies in Threatened Seascapes: Understanding the Role of Fine Scale Assessments of Community Response to Cumulative Human Pressures

Assessing the distribution and intensity of human threats to biodiversity is a prerequisite for effective spatial planning, harmonizing conservation purposes with sustainable development. In the Mediterranean Sea, the management of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) is rarely based on explicit consideration of the distribution of multiple stressors, with direct assessment of their effects on ecosystems. This gap limits the effectiveness of protection and is conducive to conflicts among stakeholders. Here, a fine scale assessment of the potential effects of different combinations of stressors (both land- and marine-based) on vulnerable rocky habitats (i.e. lower midlittoral and shallow infralittoral) along 40 km of coast in the western Mediterranean (Ionian Sea) has been carried out. The study area is a paradigmatic example of socio-ecological interactions, where several human uses and conservation measures collide. Significant differences in the structure of assemblages according to different combinations of threats were observed, indicating distinct responses of marine habitats to different sets of human pressures. A more complex three-dimensional structure, higher taxon richness and \u3b2-diversity characterized assemblages subject to low versus high levels of human pressure, consistently across habitats. In addition, the main drivers of change were: closeness to the harbour, water quality, and the relative extension of beaches. Our findings suggest that, although efforts to assess cumulative impacts at large scale may help in individuating priority areas for conservation purposes, the fact that such evaluations are often based on expert opinions and not on actual studies limits their ability to represent real environmental conditions at local scale. Systematic evaluations of local scale effects of anthropogenic drivers of change on biological communities should complement broad scale management strategies to achieve effective sustainability of human exploitation of marine resources

An In-Silico Pipeline for Rapid Screening of DNA Aptamers against Mycotoxins: The Case-Study of Fumonisin B1, Aflatoxin B1 and Ochratoxin A

Aptamers are single-stranded oligonucleotides selected by SELEX (Systematic Evolution of Ligands by EXponential Enrichment) able to discriminate target molecules with high affinity and specificity, even in the case of very closely related structures. Aptamers have been produced for several targets including small molecules like mycotoxins; however, the high affinity for their respective target molecules is a critical requirement. In the last decade, the screening through computational methods of aptamers for their affinity against specific targets has greatly increased and is becoming a commonly used procedure due to its convenience and low costs. This paper describes an in-silico approach for rapid screening of ten ssDNA aptamer sequences against fumonisin B1 (FB1, n = 3), aflatoxin B1 (AFB1, n = 2) and ochratoxin A (OTA, n = 5). Theoretical results were compared with those obtained by testing the same aptamers by fluorescent microscale thermophoresis and by magnetic beads assay for their binding affinity (KD) revealing a good agreement

Radiomics and artificial intelligence in malignant uterine body cancers: Protocol for a systematic review

IntroductionUterine body cancers (UBC) are represented by endometrial carcinoma (EC) and uterine sarcoma (USa). The clinical management of both is hindered by the complex classification of patients into risk classes. This problem could be simplified through the development of predictive models aimed at treatment tailoring based on tumor and patient characteristics. In this context, radiomics represents a method of extracting quantitative data from images in order to non-invasively acquire tumor biological and genetic information and to predict response to treatments and prognosis. Furthermore, artificial intelligence (AI) methods are an emerging field of translational research, with the aim of managing the amount of data provided by the various -omics, including radiomics, through the process of machine learning, in order to promote precision medicine.ObjectiveThe aim of this protocol for systematic review is to provide an overview of radiomics and AI studies on UBCs.Methods and analysisA systematic review will be conducted using PubMed, Scopus, and the Cochrane Library to collect papers analyzing the impact of radiomics and AI on UBCs diagnosis, prognostic classification, and clinical outcomes. The PICO strategy will be used to formulate the research questions: What is the impact of radiomics and AI on UBCs on diagnosis, prognosis, and clinical results? How could radiomics or AI improve the differential diagnosis between sarcoma and fibroids? Does Radiomics or AI have a predictive role on UBCs response to treatments? Three authors will independently screen articles at title and abstract level based on the eligibility criteria. The risk of bias and quality of the cohort studies, case series, and case reports will be based on the QUADAS 2 quality assessment tools