Overlap Fluctuations from Random Overlap Structures

We investigate overlap fluctuations of the Sherrington-Kirkpatrick mean field spin glass model in the framework of the Random Over- lap Structure (ROSt). The concept of ROSt has been introduced recently by Aizenman and coworkers, who developed a variational approach to the Sherrington-Kirkpatrick model. We propose here an iterative procedure to show that, in the so-called Boltzmann ROSt, Aizenman-Contucci (AC) polynomials naturally arise for almost all values of the inverse temperature (not in average over some interval only). The same results can be obtained in any ROSt, including therefore the Parisi structure. The AC polynomials impose restric- tions on the overlap fluctuations in agreement with Parisi theory.Comment: 18 page

Organization and evolution of synthetic idiotypic networks

We introduce a class of weighted graphs whose properties are meant to mimic the topological features of idiotypic networks, namely the interaction networks involving the B-core of the immune system. Each node is endowed with a bit-string representing the idiotypic specificity of the corresponding B cell and a proper distance between any couple of bit-strings provides the coupling strength between the two nodes. We show that a biased distribution of the entries in bit-strings can yield fringes in the (weighted) degree distribution, small-worlds features, and scaling laws, in agreement with experimental findings. We also investigate the role of ageing, thought of as a progressive increase in the degree of bias in bit-strings, and we show that it can possibly induce mild percolation phenomena, which are investigated too.Comment: 13 page

La virt\uf9 sta nel mezzo (e nel confronto). Questioni di metodo per i production studies televisivi e mediali

In recent years some previously hidden or ignored fields of media production and distribution have been mapped by many research efforts. Ethnographical methods (as participant observation and in-depth interviews) have been widely employed, together with production documents and promotional materials. Building on the international debate and on some investigations done in the field of contemporary Italian TV production and distribution, this essay wants to raise some methodological issues involving the data collection and the professionals-informants status. The intricacies of access, the effectiveness of involving the \u201cmiddle-management\u201d and the need to triangulate the sources will be especially addressed

Congenital Lung Malformations: Shifting from Open to Thoracoscopic Surgery.

Background Over the years the need for surgical treatment, timing of intervention, and the type of surgical approach have been discussed, but the treatment of congenital lung malformations remains controversial. The aim of this study was to compare the thoracotomy approach with the thoracoscopic technique by evaluating different surgical outcomes (duration of surgery, postoperative hospital stay, and complications). Methods All patients operated from January 2011 to March 2015 for suspected congenital cystic lung were included in the study. Patients treated for congenital lobar emphysema and tracheobronchial neoplasms were excluded from the study. Results In the analyzed period, 31 asymptomatic patients were treated: 18 lung resections were performed with thoracotomy (Group A) and 13 with the thoracoscopic approach (Group B). No significant differences were observed between the age and weight at surgery, length of the procedures, complications, and the need for postoperative intensive care between the two groups. The postoperative hospital stay in Group A was twice that for Group 2 ( p = 0.0009). Conclusion Comparing thoracoscopic surgery with the traditional open approach, we confirmed the superiority of minimally invasive treatment in terms of postoperative hospital stay. Common technical recommendations can help pediatric centers to develop the thoracoscopic approach for the treatment of congenital pulmonary malformations

Organs on chip approach: A tool to evaluate cancer-immune cells interactions

In this paper we discuss the applicability of numerical descriptors and statistical physics concepts to characterize complex biological systems observed at microscopic level through organ on chip approach. To this end, we employ data collected on a micro uidic platform in which leukocytes can move through suitably built channels toward their target. Leukocyte behavior is recorded by standard time lapse imaging. In particular, we analyze three groups of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC): heterozygous mutants (in which only one copy of the FPR1 gene is normal), homozygous mutants (in which both alleles encoding FPR1 are loss-of-function variants) and cells from ‘wild type’ donors (with normal expression of FPR1). We characterize the migration of these cells providing a quantitative con rmation of the essential role of FPR1 in cancer chemotherapy response. Indeed wild type PBMC perform biased random walks toward chemotherapy-treated cancer cells establishing persistent interactions with them. Conversely, heterozygous mutants present a weaker bias in their motion and homozygous mutants perform rather uncorrelated random walks, both failing to engage with their targets. We next focus on wild type cells and study the interactions of leukocytes with cancerous cells developing a novel heuristic procedure, inspired by Lyapunov stability in dynamical systems

Moderate hypofractionated radiotherapy after prostatectomy for cancer patients: toxicity and clinical outcome

Background: After radical prostatectomy (RP) radiotherapy (RT) plays a role, both as adjuvant or salvage treatment. If negative features are present such as extracapsular extension, seminal vesicle invasion, lymph invasion, and positive surgical margins, RT after RP reduces the risk of recurrence, although it is associated with an increased risk of acute and late toxicities. An intensified RT delivered in a shortened time could improve clinical outcome and be safely combined with hormonal therapy (HT). The aim of this study was to determine the acute and late toxicities associated with hypofractionated RT and to assess the impact of the addition of HT to RT in high-risk prostate cancer (PC) patients on overall response and toxicity. Materials and methods: Sixty-four PC patients undergoing RP were included in this retrospective study. All patients were recommended to receive adjuvant or salvage RT. Prescription doses were 62.5 Gy in 25 fractions to prostate bed, 56.25 Gy in 25 fractions to seminal vesicles bed, and 50 Gy in 25 fractions to pelvis if indicated. HT was administered to patients with additional adverse pathologic features including Gleason score >7, prostate-specific antigen >20 ng/mL before surgery, or prostate-specific antigen with rapid doubling time after relapse or nodal involvement. After completion of RT, patients were observed after 4 weeks, and then followed-up every 3\u20136 months. Acute and late toxicities were assessed using Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events v4 and Radiation Therapy Oncology Group scale, respectively. Results: For acute toxicity, only grade 1 gastrointestinal and genitourinary toxicities were detected in 17% and 11% of patients, respectively. As regards late toxicity, only 5% of the patients developed grade 1 gastrointestinal adverse event; grade 1, grade 2, and grade 3 genitourinary toxicity was recorded in 5%, 3.3%, and 3.3% of patients, respectively. Two and 5 years overall survival were 98% and 96%, respectively. The curves stratified for treatment show a slight difference between patients receiving RT or RT+HT, but the differences did not reach statistical significance (p=0.133). Conclusion: In patients with PC undergoing RP, hypofractionated RT may contribute to achieve a high overall survival with an acceptable toxicity profile. Combination of RT and HT is also well tolerated and efficacious

Cancer-driven dynamics of immune cells in a microfluidic environment

Scope of the present work is to frame into a rigorous, quantitative scaffold - stemmed from stochastic process theory - two sets of experiments designed to infer the spontaneous organization of leukocytes against cancer cells, namely mice splenocytes vs. B16 mouse tumor cells, and embedded in an "ad hoc" microfluidic environment developed on a LabOnChip technology. In the former, splenocytes from knocked out (KO) mice engineered to silence the transcription factor IRF-8, crucial for the development and function of several immune populations, were used. In this case lymphocytes and cancer cells exhibited a poor reciprocal exchange, resulting in the inability of coordinating or mounting an effective immune response against melanoma. In the second class of tests, wild type (WT) splenocytes were able to interact with and to coordinate a response against the tumor cells through physical interaction. The environment where cells moved was built of by two different chambers, containing respectively melanoma cells and splenocytes, connected by capillary migration channels allowing leucocytes to migrate from their chamber toward the melanoma one. We collected and analyzed data on the motility of the cells and found that the first ensemble of IRF-8 KO cells performed pure uncorrelated random walks, while WT splenocytes were able to make singular drifted random walks, that, averaged over the ensemble of cells, collapsed on a straight ballistic motion for the system as a whole. At a finer level of investigation, we found that IRF-8 KO splenocytes moved rather uniformly since their step lengths were exponentially distributed, while WT counterpart displayed a qualitatively broader motion as their step lengths along the direction of the melanoma were log-normally distributed