Deformed Harry Dym and Hunter-Zheng Equations

We study the deformed Harry Dym and Hunter-Zheng equations with two arbitrary deformation parameters. These reduce to various other known models in appropriate limits. We show that both these systems are bi-Hamiltonian with the same Hamiltonian structures. They are integrable and belong to the same hierarchy corresponding to positive and negative flows. We present the Lax pair description for both the systems and construct the conserved charges of negative order from the Lax operator. For the deformed Harry Dym equation, we construct the non-standard Lax representation for two special classes of values of the deformation parameters. In general, we argue that a non-standard description will involve a pseudo-differential operator of infinite order.Comment: Latex file, 15 page

A lambda/plasmid Cre/lox hybrid vector for large genomic (18kb) fragment insertions and fungal genomic library construction

We have previously constructed lambda/plasmid hybrid vectors designed for both fungal cDNA and genomic library construction (Brunelli and Pall, 1994 Fungal Genet. Newslet. 41:63-65). The genomic library inserts, however, were limited to about 11 kb in size due to the size limitations of lambda packaging. We have constructed a similar vector that has three advantages over these earlier hybrid vectors, as discussed further below. The plasmid pBARGEM7-2 (Pall and Brunelli, 1993. Fungal Genet. Newslet. 40:59-61) was modified by inserting a stuffer sequence into the BamHI site of the polylinker. The stuffer sequence was about 6 kb and can be cut out with BamHI, yielding two BamHI fragments of about 4.5 kb and 1.5 kb. The 4.5 kb fragment contains the lacZ gene, producing very blue colonies (or plaques in lambda) on Xgal medium

New plasmid and lambda/plasmid hybrid vectors and a Neurospora crassa genomic library containing the bar selectable marker and the Cre/lox site-specific recombination system for use in filamentous fungi

In the previous Fungal Genetics Newsletter, we described a series of plasmid vectors constructed carrying the bar gene as a selectable marker for use in filamentous fungi (Pall and Brunelli 1993 Fungal Genetics Newsl. 40:59-63; Pall 1993 Fungal Genetics Newsl. 40:58). In this note, we describe an additional plasmid expression vector carrying this selectable marker and the construction of four llambda/plasmid hybrid vectors carrying the bar gene within plasmid inserts that can excise by Cre/lox-mediated excision. A Neurospora crassa genomic library constructed in one of these lambda/plasmid hybrid vectors is also described below

A series of six compact fungal transformation vectors containing polylinkers with multiple unique restriction sites

In comparison with transformation vectors available for use in E. coli or yeast, there has been relatively little development of vectors for use in filamentous fungi. For example, expression yeast vectors carrying polylinkers flanked by promoters and terminators are available for various uses but such vectors have not been in the public domain for researchers working with filamentous fungi

Insights and Next Challenges for the Italian Educational System to Teach Sustainability in a Global Context

Education is recognized as a dimension in which a more sustainable future can be promoted and supported. It is described both as a specific goal under the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and as a goal within other SDGs. Since sustainability can be taught at all levels of education, students progressively acquire a variable knowledge of these issues and find academic, professional and social contexts in which they are expected to implement this knowledge. Italian universities could gradually adapt to incorporate this knowledge through specific courses, the integration of sustainability in learning programs, and the promotion of sustainable behaviors. This offers a unique opportunity to integrate sustainability in didactic activities and in the whole academic environment, presenting the university as a model for a more sustainable life. The same path can be followed by other institutions engaged in lifelong learning and improving general education and sustainability literacy. This essay presents a general diagnosis of the current situation in the global and national integration of sustainability in education, the level of knowledge of Italian students and teaching staff about sustainability, why this knowledge should be enhanced, and how lifelong learning can harmoniously continue the process to achieve such integration

Adversarially-Trained Tiny Autoencoders for Near-Sensor Continuous Structural Health Monitoring

Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) systems are increasingly employed in many civil structures such as buildings, tunnels and viaducts. Typical installations consist of sensors that gather information and send it to a central computing unit, which then periodically analyzes the incoming data and produces an assessment of the structure conditions. To avoid the transmission of a huge amount of raw data and reduce latency in the detection of structural anomalies, recent works focus on moving computation on the sensor nodes. This work shows that a small autoencoder, which fits the tiny 2 MB memory of a typical microcontroller used for SHM sensor nodes can achieve very competitive accuracy in detecting structural anomalies as well as vehicle passage on bridges by leveraging adversarial training based on generative adversarial networks (GANs). We improve accuracy over state-of-the-art algorithms in two use-cases on real-standing buildings: i) predicting anomalies on a bridge (+7.4%) and ii) detecting vehicles on a viaduct (2.30 x )

Enhancing structural health monitoring with vehicle identification and tracking

Traffic load monitoring and structural health monitoring (SHM) have been gaining increasing attention over the last decade. However, most of the current installations treat the two monitoring types as separated problems, thereby using dedicated installed sensors, such as smart cameras for traffic load or accelerometers for Structural Health Monitoring (SHM). This paper presents a new framework aimed at leveraging the data collected by a SHM system for a second use, namely, monitoring vehicles passing on the structure being monitored (a viaduct). Our framework first processes the raw three-axial acceleration signals through a series of transformations and extracts its energy. Then, an anomaly detection algorithm is used to detect peaks from 90 installed sensors, and a linear regression together with a simple threshold filters out false detection by estimating the speed of the vehicles. Initial results in conditions of moderate traffic load are promising, demonstrating the detection of vehicles and realistic characterization of their speed. Moreover, a k-means clustering analysis distinguishes two groups of peaks with statistically different features such as amplitude and damping duration that could be likely associated with heavy vehicles and cars, respectively

Does the revised cardiac risk index predict cardiac complications following elective lung resection?

Background: Revised Cardiac Risk Index (RCRI) score and Thoracic Revised Cardiac Risk Index (ThRCRI) score were developed to predict the risks of postoperative major cardiac complications in generic surgical population and thoracic surgery respectively. This study aims to determine the accuracy of these scores in predicting the risk of developing cardiac complications including atrial arrhythmias after lung resection surgery in adults. Methods: We studied 703 patients undergoing lung resection surgery in a tertiary thoracic surgery centre. Observed outcome measures of postoperative cardiac morbidity and mortality were compared against those predicted by risk. Results: Postoperative major cardiac complications and supraventricular arrhythmias occurred in 4.8% of patients. Both index scores had poor discriminative ability for predicting postoperative cardiac complications with an area under receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of 0.59 (95% CI 0.51-0.67) for the RCRI score and 0.57 (95% CI 0.49-0.66) for the ThRCRI score. Conclusions: In our cohort, RCRI and ThRCRI scores failed to accurately predict the risk of cardiac complications in patients undergoing elective resection of lung cancer. The British Thoracic Society (BTS) recommendation to seek a cardiology referral for all asymptomatic pre-operative lung resection patients with > 3 RCRI risk factors is thus unlikely to be of clinical benefit

Local structural studies of Ba1−x_{1-x}Kx_xFe2_2As2_2 using atomic pair distribution function analysis

Systematic local structural studies of Ba$_{1-x}$K$_x$Fe$_2$As$_2$ system are undertaken at room temperature using atomic pair distribution function (PDF) analysis. The local structure of the Ba$_{1-x}$K$_x$Fe$_2$As$_2$ is found to be well described by the long-range structure extracted from the diffraction experiments, but with anisotropic atomic vibrations of the constituent atoms ($U_{11}$ = $U_{22} \ne U_{33}$). The crystal unit cell parameters, the FeAs$_4$ tetrahedral angle and the pnictogen height above the Fe-plane are seen to show systematic evolution with K doping, underlining the importance of the structural changes, in addition to the charge doping, in determining the properties of Ba$_{1-x}$K$_x$Fe$_2$As$_2$

Caesarean section on maternal request: an Italian comparative study on patients’ characteristics, pregnancy outcomes and guidelines overview

In recent years, the rate of caesarean sections has risen all over the world. Accordingly, efforts are being made worldwide to understand this trend and to counteract it effectively. Several factors have been identified as contributing to the selection of caesarean section (CS), especially an obstetricians’ beliefs, attitudes and clinical practices. However, relatively few studies have been conducted to understand the mechanisms involved, to explore influencing factors and to clearly define the risks associated with the caesarean section on maternal request (CSMR). This comparative study was conducted to elucidate the factors influencing the choice of CSMR, as well as to compare the associated risks of CSMR to CS for breech presentation among Italian women. From 2015 to 2018, a total of 2348 women gave birth by caesarean section, of which 8.60% (202 women) chose a CSMR. We found that high educational attainment, use of assisted reproductive technology, previous operative deliveries and miscarriages within the obstetric history could be positively correlated with the choice of CSMR in a statistically significant way. This trend was not confirmed when the population was stratified based on patients’ characteristics, obstetric complications and gestational age. Finally, no major complications were found in patients that underwent CSMR. We believe that it is essential to evaluate patients on a case-by-case basis. It is essential to understand the personal experience, to explain the knowledge available on the subject and to ensure a full understanding of the risks and benefits of the medical practice to guarantee the patients not only their best scientific preparation but also human understanding