A probabilistic analysis of selected notions of iterated conditioning under coherence

It is well known that basic conditionals satisfy some desirable basic logical and probabilistic properties, such as the compound probability theorem. However checking the validity of these becomes trickier when we switch to compound and iterated conditionals. Herein we consider de Finetti's notion of conditional both in terms of a three-valued object and as a conditional random quantity in the betting framework. We begin by recalling the notions of conjunction and disjunction among conditionals in selected trivalent logics. Then we analyze the notions of iterated conditioning in the frameworks of the specific three-valued logics introduced by Cooper-Calabrese, by de Finetti, and by Farrel. By computing some probability propagation rules we show that the compound probability theorem and other important properties are not always preserved by these formulations. Then, for each trivalent logic we introduce an iterated conditional as a suitable random quantity which satisfies the compound prevision theorem as well as some other desirable properties. We also check the validity of two generalized versions of Bayes' Rule for iterated conditionals. We study the p-validity of generalized versions of Modus Ponens and two-premise centering for iterated conditionals. Finally, we observe that all the basic properties are satisfied within the framework of iterated conditioning followed in recent papers by Gilio and Sanfilippo in the setting of conditional random quantities

GASTRIC METASTASES ORIGINATING FROM OCCULT BREAST LOBULAR CARCINOMA: DIAGNOSTIC AND THERAPEUTIC PROBLEMS

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is the most frequent malignant tumour to metastasize into the gastrointestinal tract in female and is second only to malignant melanoma. Nevertheless gastrointestinal metastases arising from breast cancer are quite rare. The upper gastrointestinal tract is more frequently involved and lobular infiltrating carcinoma has a greater predilection compared to the ductal type. CASE PRESENTATION: The authors describe the case of a 70 years old woman with a preoperative diagnosis of gastric undifferentiated medullary--type carcinoma, which was the first manifestation of an occult breast carcinoma. The primary site of carcinoma was identified with the use of a panel of selected immunohistochemical markers. CONCLUSION: Our goal in this case report is to increase the awareness of surgeons and clinicians to rule out the possibility of mammary origin in circumstance of gastric cancer occurring in female, even in patients without a previous or concurrent history of breast carcinoma. Although not a particularly common event, it is, nevertheless, reported in the literature. The differentiation between primary gastric carcinoma and metastatic breast carcinoma is essential for planning the correct therapeutic approach, in order to avoid the patient unnecessary surgery

Effect of task failure on intermuscular coherence measures in synergistic muscles

The term "task failure" describes the point when a person is not able to maintain the level of force required by a task. As task failure approaches, the corticospinal command to the muscles increases to maintain the required level of force in the face of a decreased mechanical efficacy. Nevertheless, most motor tasks require the synergistic recruitment of several muscles. How this recruitment is affected by approaching task failure is still not clear. The increase in the corticospinal drive could be due to an increase in synergistic recruitment or to overlapping commands sent to the muscles individually. Herein, we investigated these possibilities by combining intermuscular coherence and synergy analysis on signals recorded from three muscles of the quadriceps during dynamic leg extension tasks. We employed muscle synergy analysis to investigate changes in the coactivation of the muscles. Three different measures of coherence were used. Pooled coherence was used to estimate the command synchronous to all three muscles, pairwise coherence the command shared across muscle pairs and residual coherence the command peculiar to each couple of muscles. Our analysis highlights an overall decrease in synergistic command at task failure and an intensification of the contribution of the nonsynergistic shared command

On the hierarchical use of colourants in a 15th century book of hours

An illuminated Book of Hours (in use in Chalon-sur-Sa\uf4ne) currently owned by the Museo Civico di Arte Antica and displayed in the prestigious Palazzo Madama in Torino (Italy) was investigated by means of optical microscopy, fibre optic reflectance spectroscopy, fibre optic molecular fluorimetry, X-ray fluorescence spectrometry and Raman spectroscopy. The aim of the scientific survey was to expand the knowledge of the manuscript itself and on the materials and techniques employed by Antoine the Lonhy, the versatile itinerant artist who decorated the book in the 15th century. The focus was to reveal the original colourants and to investigate the pigments used in rough retouches which were visible in some of the miniatures. The investigation was carried out in situ by portable instruments according to a non-invasive analytical sequence previously developed. It was evident that the use of different pigments by the master was ruled, at least partially, by a hierarchical scheme in which more precious materials were linked to the most important characters or details in the painted scene

Effects of Parvovirus B19 In Vitro Infection on Monocytes from Patients with Systemic Sclerosis: Enhanced Inflammatory Pathways by Caspase-1 Activation and Cytokine Production

Parvovirus B19 (B19V) has been proposed as a triggering agent for some autoimmune diseases including systemic sclerosis (SSc). In this study, we investigated whether B19V infection in vitro differently activates inflammatory pathways, including those dependent on caspase-1 activation, in monocytes from patients with SSc and healthy controls. We showed that B19V can infect both THP-1 cells and primary monocytes but is not able to replicate in these cells. B19V infection increases the production of tumor necrosis factor-\u3b1 and induces NLRP3-mediated caspase-1 activation in both THP-1 cells differentiated with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate and in monocytes from patients with SSc but not from healthy controls. B19V infection was sufficient for THP-1 to produce mature IL-1\u3b2. Monocytes from patients with SSc required an additional stimulus, here represented by lipopolysaccharides, to activate cytokine genes. Following B19V infection, however, lipopolysaccharide-activated monocytes from patients with SSc strongly increased the production of IL-1\u3b2 and tumor necrosis factor-\u3b1. Altogether, these data suggest that viral components might potentiate the response to endogenous and/or exogenous toll-like receptor 4 ligands in monocytes from patients with SSc. The B19V-mediated activation of inflammatory pathways in monocytes might contribute to the disease progression and/or development of specific clinical phenotypes

Two-colour generation in a chirped seeded Free-Electron Laser

We present the experimental demonstration of a method for generating two spectrally and temporally separated pulses by an externally seeded, single-pass free-electron laser operating in the extreme-ultraviolet spectral range. Our results, collected on the FERMI@Elettra facility and confirmed by numerical simulations, demonstrate the possibility of controlling both the spectral and temporal features of the generated pulses. A free-electron laser operated in this mode becomes a suitable light source for jitter-free, two-colour pump-probe experiments

Assessing Sleep Habits in Italian Community-Dwelling Adolescents: Psychometric Properties of the School Sleep Habits Survey Scales

Background. In the field of adolescent sleep research, different sleep surveys have been implemented; however, psychometric properties of these instruments have been investigated only minimally. Methods. In order to assess the psychometric properties of the Sleep-Wake Problems Behaviour Scale (SWP), the Sleepiness Scale (SLS), and the Morningness/Eveningness Questionnaire (ME), a moderately large sample of community-dwelling Italian adolescents (N = 778; 59.8% female; mean age = 15.77 years) was administered the Italian translation of the School Sleep Habits Survey. Results. Internal consistency estimates values were satisfactory for all measures; dimensionality analyses suggested a unidimensional structure for SWP, SLS and ME, respectively. Goodness-of-fit statistics for the one-factor model of the SLS, SWP, and ME scale items were adequate for all measures. Non -redundant taxometric analysis results consistently suggested a dimensional latent structure for the SLS, SWP, and ME, respectively. Conclusion. Our findings supported the use of the SLS, SWP, and ME total scores as measures of sleepiness, sleep-wake problem, and morningness/eveningness, at least among Italian community -dwelling adolescents, and encourage practitioners to rely on the conventional percentiles in order to interpret the SLS, SWP, and ME total scores

The effect of social media communication on consumer perceptions of brands

Researchers and brand managers have limited understanding of the effects social media communication has on how consumers perceive brands. We investigated 504 Facebook users in order to observe the impact of firm-created and user-generated social media communication on brand equity, brand attitude and purchase intention by using a standardized online survey throughout Poland. To test the conceptual model, we analyzed 60 brands across three different industries: non-alcoholic beverages, clothing and mobile network operators. When analyzing the data, we applied the structural equation modeling technique to both investigate the interplay of firm-created and user-generated social media communication and examine industry-specific differences. The results of the empirical studies showed that user-generated social media communication had a positive influence on both brand equity and brand attitude, whereas firm-created social media communication affected only brand attitude. Both brand equity and brand attitude were shown to have a positive influence on purchase intention. In addition, we assessed measurement invariance using a multi-group structural modeling equation. The findings revealed that the proposed measurement model was invariant across the researched industries. However, structural path differences were detected across the models

Bridging pro-inflammatory signals, synaptic transmission and protection in spinal explants in vitro

Multiple sclerosis is characterized by tissue atrophy involving the brain and the spinal cord, where reactive inflammation contributes to the neurodegenerative processes. Recently, the presence of synapse alterations induced by the inflammatory responses was suggested by experimental and clinical observations, in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis mouse model and in patients, respectively. Further knowledge on the interplay between pro-inflammatory agents, neuroglia and synaptic dysfunction is crucial to the design of unconventional protective molecules. Here we report the effects, on spinal cord circuits, of a cytokine cocktail that partly mimics the signature of T lymphocytes sub population Th1. In embryonic mouse spinal organ-cultures, containing neuronal cells and neuroglia, cytokines induced inflammatory responses accompanied by a significant increase in spontaneous synaptic activity. We suggest that cytokines specifically altered signal integration in spinal networks by speeding the decay of GABAA responses. This hypothesis is supported by the finding that synapse protection by a non-peptidic NGF mimetic molecule prevented both the changes in the time course of GABA events and in network activity that were left unchanged by the cytokine production from astrocytes and microglia present in the cultured tissue. In conclusion, we developed an important tool for the study of synaptic alterations induced by inflammation, that takes into account the role of neuronal and not neuronal resident cells

Implementation of Radio-Frequency Deflecting Devices for Comprehensive High-Energy Electron Beam Diagnosis

In next-generation light sources, high-brightness electron beams are used in a free-electron laser configuration to produce light for use by scientists and engineers in numerous fields of research. High-brightness beams are described for such light sources as having low transverse and longitudinal emittances, high peak currents, and low slice emittance and energy spread. The optimal generation and preservation of such high-brightness electron beams during the acceleration process and propagation to and through the photon-producing element is imperative to the quality and performance of the light source. To understand the electron beam's phase space in the accelerating section of a next-generation light source machine, we employed radio-frequency cavities operating in a deflecting mode in conjunction with a magnetic spectrometer and imaging system for both low (250 MeV) and high (1.2 GeV) electron energies. This high-resolution, high-energy system is an essential diagnostic for the optimization and control of the electron beam in the FERMI light source generating fully transversely and longitudinally coherent light in the VUV to soft x-ray wavelength regimes. This device is located at the end of the linear accelerator in order to provide the longitudinal phase space nearest to the entrance of the photon-producing beam-lines. Here, we describe the design, fabrication, characterization, commissioning, and operational implementation of this transverse deflecting cavity structure diagnostic system for the high-energy (1.2 GeV) regime