Quantum Internet: from Communication to Distributed Computing!

In this invited paper, the authors discuss the exponential computing speed-up achievable by interconnecting quantum computers through a quantum internet. They also identify key future research challenges and open problems for quantum internet design and deployment.Comment: 4 pages, three figures, invited pape

Farmacovigilanza e reazioni avverse nella sperimentazione clinica dei farmaci

Durante tutte le fasi di sviluppo di un farmaco, dalla pre-clinica alla clinica, un aspetto che viene scrupolosamente valutato è la “SAFETY”, ovvero la non tossicità e tollerabilità del farmaco in questione. Sebbene, infatti, i farmaci siano autorizzati all’immissione in commercio (AIC) soltanto quando ne venga accertata una determinata sicurezza, ciò non garantisce una totale assenza di rischio per il paziente. Nessun farmaco può considerarsi completamente sicuro, ma risulta tale quando il rischio di comparsa di reazioni avverse è ritenuta accettabile. Infatti, una terapia farmacologica è Giustificata soltanto se i benefici attesi sono superiori ai potenziali rischi. La vita di un farmaco è garantita dalla dimostrazione di efficacia e dalla valutazione del profilo di sicurezza durante tutto il ciclo di vita: • nel corso dello sviluppo pre-clinico e clinico; • dopo la sua commercializzazione. Gli studi clinici pre-marketing forniscono informazioni abbastanza esaurienti sull’efficacia dei farmaci, ma per svariate ragioni non possono garantire dati adeguati relativamente alla sicurezza del loro impiego e alle possibili reazioni avverse. La fase pre-marketing, quindi, non è sufficiente a garantire la protezione della salute pubblica. A tal proposito, la storia dei farmaci ed in particolar modo il ritiro di molti di questi dal commercio, nonostante la valutazione del profilo di sicurezza nella fase pre-marketing, testimonia come questa fase non sia ancora sufficiente a garantire una sicurezza completa del farmaco ma presenta dei limiti e delle problematiche ancora aperte. Gli studi clinici, spesso non riescono a dare informazioni importanti sulle reazioni gravi avverse rare, sulla tossicità cronica, sull’utilizzo del farmaco in popolazioni speciali (bambini, donne, anziani o donne in gravidanza) o sulle interazioni tra più farmaci. Pertanto, l’attività di sorveglianza post-marketing è importante per consentire una precoce individuazione di reazioni avverse inattese e/o gravi

Gopīnāth Kavirāj e la scienza solare

This paper outlines the richness and complexity of Gopīnāth Kavirāj’s (1887-1976) contribution to the Indological studies, in particular in the field of Tantric studies. Kavirāj was at the same time an important academic scholar acknowledged both in India and in the West, a traditional paṇḍit and a Tantric sādhaka. These three experiences were inextricably connected: for him the only valuable knowledge was the one that allows spiritual achievements. The focus is in particular on sūrya-vijñāna (solar science), a nearly unkown technique to materialize objects seemingly from nothing, strictly connected to Kavirāj’s guru, Viśuddhānand Paramhaṃs. In my opinion Kavirāj’s treatment of sūrya-vijñāna is an interesting example of the link between sādhanā world and critical thought in his work

"Pride and Prejudice" on the Page and on the Screen: Literary Narrative, Literary Dialogue and Film Dialogue

This study explores the similarities and differences in content between the dialogic and narrative parts in Jane Austen\u2019s Pride and Prejudice, and between the novel\u2019s dialogues and those in its 1940 and 2005 film adaptations. These four datasets were semantically tagged and compared to one another by using qualitative and quantitative methods. The findings show how, in covering conceptual areas largely complementary to those of the narrative, the dialogues in the novel perform various communicative functions. The investigation also points to how dialogues are adapted to the semiotic needs and goals of its film adaptation

Territorial Governance for Sustainable Development: A Multi-Level Governance Analysis in the Italian Context

The United Nations’ 2030 Agenda is known for its holistic and global dimension, as demonstrated by the saying “no one left behind”. However, local governments still struggle to take tangible actions and to reallocate resources for implementing Sustainability Strategies. With the aim to improve multi-level governance for sustainable development with complex and cross-sectoral policies, the research investigates how much Regional Sustainable Development Strategies (RSDS) and public authorities’ structures are mutually consistent. Starting from the existing governance framework at the regional and local levels (Province and Metropolitan City), the study analyzes: the organizational structures/functions of the public institutions and the integration between their competences and the RSDS targets. The case study is the Lombardy Region in Italy. The analyses were conducted through a review of key legislations and regulations, and the introduction of a homogeneous reading grid that identifies the principal “Invariant Functional Macro Areas” (IFMA) of local authorities. The paper highlights the structural weakness in implementing and localizing EU Strategic Agendas and examines the extent to which public offices are currently structured to adequately address the RSDS challenges. The research shows how sectoral fragmentation of competence can collide with the holistic layout of sustainability: new integrated approaches are needed to strengthen cross-sectoral dialogue and cooperation within and between public institutional bodies

Influence of insulating materials on green building rating system results

This paper analyzes the impact of a change in the thermal insulating material on both the energy and environmental performance of a building, evaluated through two different green building assessment methods: Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) and Istituto per l'innovazione e Trasparenza degli Appalti e la Compatibilità Ambientale (ITACA). LEED is one of the most qualified rating systems at an international level; it assesses building sustainability thanks to a point-based system where credits are divided into six different categories. One of these is fully related to building materials. The ITACA procedure derives from the international evaluation system Sustainable Building Tool (SBTool), modified according to the Italian context. In the region of Umbria, ITACA certification is composed of 20 technical sheets, which are classified into five macro-areas. The analysis was developed on a residential building located in the central Italy. It was built taking into account the principles of sustainability as far as both structural and technical solutions are concerned. In order to evaluate the influence of thermal insulating material, different configurations of the envelope were considered, replacing the original material (glass wool) with a synthetic one (expanded polystyrene, EPS) and two natural materials (wood fiber and kenaf). The study aims to highlight how the materials characteristics can affect building energy and environmental performance and to point out the different approaches of the analyzed protocols

Partitioning approach for large wind farms: active power control for optimizing power reserve

© 2018 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.Nowadays, large wind farms are expected to guarantee stability of the electrical grid contributing with ancillary services, such as frequency support. To this end, wind farm controllers must set the power generation of each turbine to compensate generation and demand imbalances. With the aim of optimizing primary frequency support, this paper proposes a partitioning approach to split large wind farms into several disjoint subsets of turbines according to the wake propagations through the wind farm. The partitioning problem is solved as a mixed-integer multi-objective optimization problem stated to maximize the strength of the coupling among the turbines due to the wake effect. Thus, no additional information sharing related to the wake propagations needs to be considered between the subsets. Different control tasks are assigned to the local controller of each subset, such that the total power generated meets the power demanded by the grid while the power reserve for enhancing primary frequency support is maximized. Finally, as an application of the proposed model, a decentralized wind farm control strategy is designed and compared with a centralized approach.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Oxidative Stress as a predictor of cardiovascular events in coronari artery disease patients

Abstract Background: Enhanced oxidative stress has been associated with atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease (CAD). However, the predictive value of circulating oxidative stress biomarkers for cardiovascular events (CE) in patients with CAD has remained poorly understood. Aim: To assess the prognostic significance of reactive oxygen metabolites, estimated as index of oxidative stress in serum samples by means of a commercial kit (ROMs, Diacron, Italy) on the rate of mortality and major adverse CE (MACE) in CAD. Methods: A study of 93 consecutive patients with angiographically documented CAD (75 males, age: 68?10 years, mean?SD) was made during a mean follow-up of 66 months until the occurrence of one of the following CE: cardiac and all cause death, non-fatal myocardial infarction and coronary revascularization [percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) and coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG)]. Patient data were retrospectively collected from the Institute\u27s electronic databank that saves demographic, clinical, instrumental and follow-up data of all patients admitted to our department. Results: The Kaplan-Meier survival estimates showed a significantly worst outcome in patients presenting elevated ROM level (>75th percentile, corresponding to 481 AU) (log rank=11, 7.5, 5.1; p<0.001, p<0.01, p<0.05 for cardiac and all cause death and MACEs, respectively). In a multivariate Cox regression model, elevated oxidative stress remained a significant predictor of cardiac and all cause death [hazard ratio (HR) 3.9, 95% confidence interval, 95% (CI) 1.4-11.1, p=0.01; HR=2.6, 95% CI 1.1-6.2, p=0.02) and MACE (HR=1.8, 95% CI 1.1-3.1, p=0.03)]. Conclusions: The estimation of ROMs may represent an additional prognostic tool in the assessment of CE in CAD patients

INTERAZIONE TRA RITUXIMAB E VACCINO ANTINFLUENZALE IN PAZIENTI CON ARTRITE REUMATOIDE O LINFOMA NON HODGKIN

I pazienti affetti da tumore o artrite reumatoide sono maggiormente esposti ad infezioni a causa della loro condizione immunologica alterata e dall'indispensabile trattamento con farmaci corticosteroidi o immunosoppressori. Si valuta, pertanto, la necessità di effettuare la vaccinazione antinfluenzale in questi soggetti già di per sè immunodepressi in cura con l'anticorpo monoclonale Rituximab. Questo nuovo farmaco, bloccando i linfociti B, mira alla radice della malattia, sia dell'artrite reumatoide causata dall'erronea produzione di anticorpi contro i tessuti delle articolazioni, sia del tumore caratterizzato dalla proliferazione di linfociti alterati. Studi recenti hanno dimostrato l'effettivo vantaggio dell'impiego del rituximab, in quanto presenta pochi effetti tossici e di minor intensità rispetto alle terapie tradizionali e anche se in alcuni casi può diminuire l'efficacia della vaccinazione antinfluenzale, questa rimane tuttavia da consigliare