I papiri matematici del Medio Regno

A form of thought in the pure state stripped of the garb of words, mathematics embodies in an essential manner, with numbers and operations, the logical structures of those who have created it. Hence it can represent a source of insight into a lost civilisation. This study has essentially two objectives: to sketch out a compendium of the mathematical themes and techniques known in the Egypt of the Middle Kingdom, and to deduce from these as much information as possible on the Egyptian mentality. The mathematical evidence is tackled here from a dual viewpoint: as the tools of an empirical science of calculation, and also as emblematic of a mode of conceiving mathematics as an instrument of knowledge in the sense of being a reflection of the established order. The evidence throws up the fact that mathematics is not conceived as an abstract science, but rather as the practical preliminary tool of a physics understood as measurement of the quantities and the greatness of the visible world. The role which it plays in the cognitive process is not independent, but always connected with questions of a philosophical nature. It is therefore a practical science in the sense in which the Egyptians understood it, that is an instrument for understanding nature: a science at the service of theology

Attribution of recent temperature behaviour reassessed by a neural-network method

Abstract Attribution studies on recent global warming by Global Climate Model (GCM) ensembles converge in showing the fundamental role of anthropogenic forcings as primary drivers of temperature in the last half century. However, despite their differences, all these models pertain to the same dynamical approach and come from a common ancestor, so that their very similar results in attribution studies are not surprising and cannot be considered as a clear proof of robustness of the results themselves. Thus, here we adopt a completely different, non-dynamical, data-driven and fully nonlinear approach to the attribution problem. By means of neural network (NN) modelling, and analysing the last 160 years, we perform attribution experiments and find that the strong increase in global temperature of the last half century may be attributed basically to anthropogenic forcings (with details on their specific contributions), while the Sun considerably influences the period 1910–1975. Furthermore, the role of sulphate aerosols and Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation for better catching interannual to decadal temperature variability is clarified. Sensitivity analyses to forcing changes are also performed. The NN outcomes both corroborate our previous knowledge from GCMs and give new insight into the relative contributions of external forcings and internal variability to climate

Radiocarbon Dating in Late-Roman and Medieval Contexts: An Archaeological Excavation in the Center of Florence, Italy

A series of samples for radiocarbon dating were collected in 2005 from the Biblioteca Magliabechiana archaeological excavation area in the center of Florence, Italy, in a project directed by the Dipartimento di Archeologia e Storia delle Arti of the University of Siena, in cooperation with the Soprintendenza per i Beni Architettonici e per il Paesaggio per le province di Firenze e Prato. This area is located near the Uffizi Galleries, close to the Roman town, the Arno River and one of its former tributaries. The area is peculiar for the Florentine urban context because it was free from urban development until the 12th century AD. The exposed stratigraphy showed the presence of several layers composed of natural sediments, partly the result of historical floods. Here, we report a series of 14C measurements on charcoal and seed samples collected on this excavation. 14C dating has been performed in the LABEC laboratory in Florence, on the accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) beam line of the AMS-IBA 3MV Tandetron accelerator. We also had the opportunity to compare the 14C dates obtained with several series of samples previously collected in nearby archaeological areas. Results were consistent with the data obtained previously and, moreover, offer interesting new aspects to the interpretation of the archaeological findings

Frontal brain asymmetries as effective parameters to assess the quality of audiovisual stimuli perception in adult and young cochlear implant users

How is music perceived by cochlear implant (CI) users? This question arises as "the next step" given the impressive performance obtained by these patients in language perception. Furthermore, how can music perception be evaluated beyond self-report rating, in order to obtain measurable data? To address this question, estimation of the frontal electroencephalographic (EEG) alpha activity imbalance, acquired through a 19-channel EEG cap, appears to be a suitable instrument to measure the approach/withdrawal (AW index) reaction to external stimuli. Specifically, a greater value of AW indicates an increased propensity to stimulus approach, and vice versa a lower one a tendency to withdraw from the stimulus. Additionally, due to prelingually and postlingually deafened pathology acquisition, children and adults, respectively, would probably differ in music perception. The aim of the present study was to investigate children and adult CI users, in unilateral (UCI) and bilateral (BCI) implantation conditions, during three experimental situations of music exposure (normal, distorted and mute). Additionally, a study of functional connectivity patterns within cerebral networks was performed to investigate functioning patterns in different experimental populations. As a general result, congruency among patterns between BCI patients and control (CTRL) subjects was seen, characterised by lowest values for the distorted condition (vs. normal and mute conditions) in the AW index and in the connectivity analysis. Additionally, the normal and distorted conditions were significantly different in CI and CTRL adults, and in CTRL children, but not in CI children. These results suggest a higher capacity of discrimination and approach motivation towards normal music in CTRL and BCI subjects, but not for UCI patients. Therefore, for perception of music CTRL and BCI participants appear more similar than UCI subjects, as estimated by measurable and not self-reported parameters

A time-varying SIRD model for dynamic vaccination strategies against COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated how the optimal allocation of the limited doses of vaccine available represents one of the main useful measures to mitigate the transmission of the infection and reduce the mortality associated with it, especially at an early stage of the pandemic. The use of a compartmental model allows us to understand which population groups to vaccinate and to what extent to act depending on the type of health or social objective to be achieved

Detection of infliximab, adalimumab, and anti-drug antibodies: Development and validation of new monotest, automated assays on multiparametric instrument

Objective: To convert manual ELISA kits to fully automated immunoassays that quantify serum drug levels and anti-drug antibodies levels of infliximab and adalimumab (CHORUS Promonitor kits). Desing and methods: CHORUS Promonitor INFLIXIMAB, CHORUS Promonitor ADALIMUMAB, CHORUS Promonitor ANTI-INFLIXIMAB, and CHORUS Promonitor ANTI-ADALIMUMAB kits were compared with the corresponding Promonitor kits to determine sensitivity and specificity of the assays. For the automated assays, the entire procedure -from samples dilution to final readouts-was performed by CHORUS TRIO instrument (DIESSE, Italy). Residual human serum samples from clinical laboratory investigations and samples resulting from the addition of specific drugs (IFX or ADL) or anti-drug antibodies (anti-IFX or anti-ADL) were used for the characterization and validation of the tests. Results: CHORUS Promonitor kits showed an excellent agreement (Cohen's coefficient = 1) with the Promonitor kits and were linear within predefined ranges. All assays were accurate and repeatable, as an acceptable variability were observed within runs, between runs, lots, and instruments. No difference in detecting the reference drug or biosimilars emerged. Conclusion: During preclinical development, these kits resulted as sensitive, specific, accurate, and able to quantify either the reference drug or the corresponding biosimilars. All these features support their use in clinical practice for therapeutic drug monitoring of patients with inflammatory diseases under treatment with IFX or ADL

An Updated Algorithm Integrated With Patient Data for the Differentiation of Atypical Nevi From Early Melanomas: the idScore 2021

Introduction: It is well known that multiple patient-related risk factors contribute to the development of cutaneous melanoma, including demographic, phenotypic and anamnestic factors. Objectives: We aimed to investigate which MM risk factors were relevant to be incorporated in a risk scoring-classifier based clinico-dermoscopic algorithm. Methods: This retrospective study was performed on a monocentric dataset of 374 atypical melanocytic skin lesions sharing equivocal dermoscopic features, excised in the suspicion of malignancy. Dermoscopic standardized images of 258 atypical nevi (aN) and 116 early melanomas (eMM) were collected along with objective lesional data (i.e., maximum diameter, specific body site and body area) and 7 dermoscopic data. All cases were combined with a series of 10 MM risk factors, including demographic (2), phenotypic (5) and anamnestic (3) ones. Results: The proposed iDScore 2021 algorithm is composed by 9 variables (age, skin phototype I/II, personal/familiar history of MM, maximum diameter, location on the lower extremities (thighs/legs/ ankles/back of the feet) and 4 dermoscopic features (irregular dots and globules, irregular streaks, blue gray peppering, blue white veil). The algorithm assigned to each lesion a score from 0 to 18, reached an area under the ROC curve of 92% and, with a score threshold ≥ 6, a sensitivity (SE) of 98.2% and a specificity (SP) of 50.4%, surpassing the experts in SE (+13%) and SP (+9%).Conclusions: An integrated checklist combining multiple anamnestic data with selected relevant dermoscopic features can be useful in the differential diagnosis and management of eMM and aN exhibiting with equivocal features

Flu and Covid-19: is there adherence to vaccination in target groups?

In Italy, the flu vaccine is recommended and free for target groups (adults≥60 years old, fragile people, healthcare workers, pregnant women). During the 2020/2021 flu season, an increased vaccination coverage (+6,9%) was observed compared to the previous season, also due to the Covid-19 pandemic. We aimed to investigate how strong the adherence to the flu vaccine was by the vulnerable groups and assess if the Covid-19 vaccination campaign may have influenced the rate of flu vaccines

Exploring the Susceptibility to Multiple Primary Tumors in Patients with Differentiated Thyroid Cancer

Purpose: It was demonstrated that differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) patients may develop multiple primary tumors (MPT) during follow-up. Many studies showed an association between reduced telomere length and cancer phenotype; in particular, the short telomeres were associated with the development of a primary tumor. However, the role of altered telomere length in MPT development has not yet been demonstrated. The aim of this study was to evaluate the possible correlation between a short telomere length in blood leukocytes and the risk of developing MPT in DTC patients. Patients and Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 167 DTC patients followed up for a median of 13.6 years. Our control group was represented by 105 healthy subjects without any thyroid disease or present or past history of tumors. Our study groups, age-matched, were evaluated for the relative telomere length measured in leukocytes of peripheral venous blood. Results: The relative telomere length (RTL) was significantly different in healthy subjects compared to the total group of differentiated thyroid cancer patients [p < 0.0001]. Shorter telomeres length was observed in DTC patients with (n = 32) and without (n = 135) MPT compared to healthy subjects (p < 0.0001 and p = 0.0002, respectively). At multivariate analysis, the parameters independently associated with the presence of MPT were RTL [OR: 0.466 (0.226-0.817), p = 0.018] and the familial DTC [OR: 2.949 (1.142-8.466), p = 0.032]. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest a role of the relative telomere length in predicting MPT development in DTC patients. Our results contribute to increasing the knowledge of the genetic mechanisms underlying MPT development in DTC patients, considering relative telomere length as a possible prognostic marker