Integration-by-parts identities and differential equations for parametrised Feynman integrals

Integration-by-parts (IBP) identities and differential equations are the primary modern tools for the evaluation of high-order Feynman integrals. They are commonly derived and implemented in the momentum-space representation. We provide a different viewpoint on these important tools by working in Feynman-parameter space, and using its projective geometry. Our work is based upon little-known results pre-dating the modern era of loop calculations: we adapt and generalise these results, deriving a very general expression for sets of IBP identities in parameter space, associated with a generic Feynman diagram, and valid to any loop order, relying on the characterisation of Feynman-parameter integrands as projective forms. We validate our method by deriving and solving systems of differential equations for several simple diagrams at one and two loops, providing a unified perspective on a number of existing results.Comment: 22 pages + appendices, 4 figure

A tutela jurídico-penal e a responsabilidade do alienador nos casos de alienação parental

A Alienação Parental é um fenômeno comum nos processos de divórcio em que são discutidas as responsabilidades parentais. Diante do conflito, um dos genitores, que não aceita o fim da relação, utiliza a prole como meio de vingança para atingir o ex-companheiro. O sujeito alienador, que também poderá ser aquele que tem a criança sob sua guarda e/ou vigilância, familiar ou não, e exerce algum tipo de influência sob ela em virtude de uma relação de confiança ou proximidade, agirá de forma a afastar o menor de um dos genitores, o genitor alienado. A criança é uma vítima frágil que estará envolvida em um jogo de manipulações, do qual resultarão danos significativos ao seu desenvolvimento psicológico com efeitos que poderão ser verificados a longo prazo. O conflito levará ao afastamento do menor de um dos genitores, algo que, dependendo do grau da alienação, será difícil de reverter. O prejuízo causado à criança é de dimensão irreparável, a qual precisa ter resguardado o seu melhor interesse, precisando os genitores agirem de acordo com as responsabilidades parentais que incluem o dever de conduzi-la de forma a resguardar o sadio crescimento do menor, física e psicologicamente. É preciso haver por parte do ordenamento jurídico português mecanismos que possam auxiliar os magistrados no momento de identificar a ocorrência da Alienação Parental. Já no ordenamento jurídico brasileiro, a existência de dispositivos penais que levassem a responsabilidade do alienador pelos danos psicológicos causados ao menor. Assim, mostram-se necessárias algumas adaptações legislativas, tanto no direito brasileiro como no direito português, que conduzam à uma eficaz resposta ao alienador para que esse tipo de comportamento não seja tão recorrente em litígios envolvendo menores. É direito do menor conviver com ambos os genitores para que tenha um crescimento sadio, entretanto o alienador busca o afastamento deste do genitor alienado ferindo tal direito, e perante o melhor interesse do menor, quando os atos de alienação forem fortemente prejudiciais o convívio com o alienador já não é benéfico para a criança. Desta forma, defende-se que seja adotada a responsabilidade do alienador tanto na esfera cível como penal, considerando a necessidade do caso em concreto diante dos danos a ele causados.Parental Alienation is a common phenomenon in divorce processes in which parental responsibilities are discussed. Facing conflict, one of the parents, the one who does not accept the end of the relationship, uses the offspring as a mean of revenge in order to reach their former companion. The alienating person who may also be the one who has the child under his custody and/or vigilance, familiar or not, and exerts some kind of influence under his due to a confident even close relationship, will act in order of talking the infant away from one of his parents, the alienated parent. The child is a fragile victim who will be involved in a manipulation game, from which significant damages to their psychological development will be the result, with effects that can be verified in the long term. The conflict will lead to the separation of the infant from one of the parents, fact that depending on the degree of alienation will be difficult to reverse. The harm caused to the child is of irreparable size, which must have preserved its best interest, requiring the parents to act according to the parental responsibilities, which includes the duty to conduct it in order to safeguard the healthy growth of the infant, physically and psychologically. It is necessary to have on behalf of the Portuguese Legal Order, mechanisms that can assist the magistrates in the moment of identifying the occurrence of Parental Alienation. Yet in the Brazilian Legal System, the existence of criminal provisions that place the responsibility on the alienator for the psychological damages caused to the infant. Thus, some legislative adaptations, in Brazilian Law as in the Portuguese Law, are necessary that will lead to an effective response to the alienator so that this type of behavior is not so recurrent in disputes involving infants. It is a right of the infant to live with both parents in order to have a healthy growth. However, the alienator seeks the alienation of the alienated parent, harming such right, and in the best interest of the infant, when the acts of alienation are strongly detrimental to the relationship, the Alienator is no longer beneficial to the child. In this way, it is defended that the liability of the alienator be adopted both in the civil and criminal spheres, considering the necessity of the concrete case in facing damages caused to him

“Beyond being analysts of doom”: scientists on the frontlines of climate action

What happens when scientists become activists? In this paper, we discuss the principles, commitments and experiences of Scientist Rebellion (SR), a movement of scientists, academics, and researchers committed to activism, advocacy and non-violent civil disobedience against the (in)actions of governments, corporations and other institutions, including academic ones. In sharing experiences from the frontlines of direct actions with SR along with the perspectives from individual scientists, coming from a variety of geographical locations, and a range of academic levels and disciplines, we reflect on the need to transgress the boundaries of a system of knowledge production and education that is effectively reproducing the very structures that have led us into climate and ecological crises. This article provides a reflective and critical engagement with Scientist Rebellion, drawing on a range of interviews with activists, as well as material from and about Scientist Rebellion. We conclude with a reflection on the relation between scientists and their institutions, as well as a mobilizing plea to the scientific community to take action.Peer Reviewe

An accurate and time-efficient deep learning-based system for automated segmentation and reporting of cardiac magnetic resonance-detected ischemic scar

Background and objectives: Myocardial infarction scar (MIS) assessment by cardiac magnetic resonance provides prognostic information and guides patients' clinical management. However, MIS segmentation is time-consuming and not performed routinely. This study presents a deep-learning-based computational workflow for the segmentation of left ventricular (LV) MIS, for the first time performed on state-of-the-art dark-blood late gadolinium enhancement (DB-LGE) images, and the computation of MIS transmurality and extent.Methods: DB-LGE short-axis images of consecutive patients with myocardial infarction were acquired at 1.5T in two centres between Jan 1, 2019, and June 1, 2021. Two convolutional neural network (CNN) mod-els based on the U-Net architecture were trained to sequentially segment the LV and MIS, by processing an incoming series of DB-LGE images. A 5-fold cross-validation was performed to assess the performance of the models. Model outputs were compared respectively with manual (LV endo-and epicardial border) and semi-automated (MIS, 4-Standard Deviation technique) ground truth to assess the accuracy of the segmentation. An automated post-processing and reporting tool was developed, computing MIS extent (expressed as relative infarcted mass) and transmurality.Results: The dataset included 1355 DB-LGE short-axis images from 144 patients (MIS in 942 images). High performance (> 0.85) as measured by the Intersection over Union metric was obtained for both the LV and MIS segmentations on the training sets. The performance for both LV and MIS segmentations was 0.83 on the test sets.Compared to the 4-Standard Deviation segmentation technique, our system was five times quicker ( <1 min versus 7 +/- 3 min), and required minimal user interaction. Conclusions: Our solution successfully addresses different issues related to automatic MIS segmentation, including accuracy, time-effectiveness, and the automatic generation of a clinical report.(c) 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Mapping from below: mappatura partecipata della rete ciclabile e delle sue criticit\ue0 nella citt\ue0 di Padova

In numerose citt\ue0 europee si stanno sperimentando progetti \u201cdal basso\u201d che vedono il coinvolgimento di studenti e cittadini, rendendoli attori in grado di creare e condividere informazione geografica, mediante gli approcci del Public Participatory GIS (PPGIS) e della Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI). In questo contesto si inserisce la ricerca \u201cPISTE riCICLABILI\u201d, progetto innovativo dell\u2019Universit\ue0 di Padova che, esplorando la dimensione spaziale della ciclabilit\ue0 a livello cittadino, ha i seguenti obiettivi: la mappatura partecipata delle criticit\ue0 della rete ciclabile cittadina e l\u2019implementazione di un geoportale opensource dove raccogliere e condividere le segnalazioni georeferenziate. La raccolta delle informazioni spaziali si \ue8 basata su mappe cartacee e mediante l\u2019uso di geo-app per smartphone. Quest\u2019ultima prevede l\u2019utilizzo di Geographical Open Data Kit (GeoODK), che permette di inviare le segnalazioni, corredate di informazione geografica, ad un server. I dati raccolti vengono cos\uec aggregati, esportati, rielaborati e resi consultabili mediante un sistema WebGIS realizzato tramite piattaforma opensource Lizmap. I risultati preliminari, prodotto di una partecipazione in costante aumento, vedono 329 punti raccolti. Elaborando tali dati \ue8 stato possibile avere un primo quadro sulle problematiche pi\uf9 sentite riguardo la ciclabilit\ue0 e la loro dimensione spaziale

Autoimmune vertigo: an update on vestibular disorders associated with autoimmune mechanisms

The role of the immune system in mediating cochleovestibular pathologies has received increasing attention in recent years. Autoimmune vertigo may be an invalidating condition and may worsen the quality of life of affected patients, especially in the cases of delayed diagnosis. Since the etiopathogenesis is still not clear, also the treatment is not yet completely delineated. According to the clinical presentation, autoimmune vertigo can present as an isolated disorder or in association with systemic autoimmune diseases. The main feature in autoimmune vertigo is the presence of an abnormal immune response, in either absence or presence of systemic autoimmune disease, directed against delicate components of the inner ear. This may determine a functional or anatomical alteration, with an inflammatory reaction often devastating for hearing and balance. Being the exact pathogenesis unknown, the diagnosis of autoimmune vertigo is based either on clinical criteria or on a positive response to steroids. The earlier the diagnosis is made, the sooner the therapy can be installed, giving a chance to the recovery of inner ear damages. Corticosteroids represent the most effective and universally accepted treatment, even if other immunomodulatory drugs are now having a more extensive use

In vitro evaluation of TAT-OP1 osteogenic properties and prospects for in vivo applications.

So far, osteogenic protein 1 (OP1) is biotechnologically produced and approved for the treatment of human lumbar spine fusion and long bone non-union fractures. When combined with the TAT sequence, it has been demonstrated in vitro to be easily taken up by PC12 neuronal cells and to acquire its biological activity after intracellular refolding. In this study, TAT-OP1 was shown to be a useful strategy to efficiently drive denatured OP1 into mouse MC3T3E1 pre-osteoblasts. The correct in vitro protein refolding was verified by the activation of the BMP cascade, while the osteogenic potential of OP1 was demonstrated by increased expression of alkaline phosphatase, osteonectin and osteocalcin

Poly-\u3b5-caprolactone composite scaffolds for bone repair

Synthetic biomaterials combined with cells and osteogenic factors represent a promising approach for the treatment of a number of orthopedic diseases, such as bone trauma and congenital malformations. To guarantee optimal biological properties, bone substitutes are prepared with a 3D structure and porosity grade functional to drive cell migration and proliferation, diffusion of factors, vascularization and cell waste expulsion. In this study, synthetic hydroxyapatite (HA) or rat bone extracellular matrix (BP) were examined in an effort to optimize the mechanical properties and osteogenic activity of poly-\u3b5-caprolactone scaffolds prepared with alginate threads (PCL-AT). Using rabbit bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (rMSCs), the effects of PCL composite substrates on cell adhesion, growth and osteogenic differentiation were evaluated. Micro-CT analysis and scanning electron microscopy evidenced that porous PCL scaffolds containing HA or BP acquire a trabecular bone-like structure with interconnected pores homogenously distributed and are characterized by a pore diameter of approximately 10 \u3bcm (PCL-AT-BP) or ranging from 10 to 100 \u3bcm. Although the porosity grade of both PCL-AT-HA and PCL-AT-BP promoted optimal conditions for the cell growth of rMSCs at the early phase, the presence of BP was crucial to prolong the cell viability at the late phase. Moreover, a precocious expression of Runx2 (at 7 days) was observed in PCL-AT-BP in combination with osteogenic soluble factors suggesting that BP controls better than HA the osteogenic maturation process in bone substitutes

1,4,5,6-Tetrahydropyrrolo[3,4-c]pyrazoles:Identification of a potent aurora kinase inhibitor with a favorable antitumor kinase inhibition profile

The optimization of a series of 5-phenylacetyl 1,4,5,6-tetrahydropyrrolo[3, 4-c]pyrazole derivatives toward the inhibition of Aurora kinases led to the identification of compound 9d. This is a potent inhibitor of Aurora kinases that also shows low nanomolar potency against additional anticancer kinase targets. Based on its high antiproliferative activity on different cancer cell lines, favorable chemico-physical and pharmacokinetic properties, and high efficacy in in vivo tumor models, compound 9d was ultimately selected for further development.</p