Studying the coincidence excess between EXPLORER and NAUTILUS during 1998

The coincidences between EXPLORER and NAUTILUS during 1998 (Astone et al. 2001) are more deeply studied. It is found that the coincidence excess is greater in the ten-day period 7-17 September 1998 and it occurs at the sidereal hour 4, when the detectors axes are perpendicular to the Galactic Disk. The purpose of this paper is to bring our results with the GW detectors to the attention of scientists working in the astrophysical field, and ask them whether are they aware of any special phenomenon occurring when EXPLORER and NAUTILUS showed a coincidence excess.Comment: 5 pages, 7 figures, submitted to A &

Commissioning ATLAS and CMS with top quarks

The large ttbar production cross-section at the LHC suggests the use of top quark decays to calibrate several critical parts of the detectors, such as the trigger system, the jet energy scale and b-tagging.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures. Talk given at `V Workshop Italiano sulla Fisica pp a LHC', Perugia, Italy, 30 January - 2 February 200

Clearance of human papillomavirus related anal condylomas after oral and endorectal multistrain probiotic supplementation in an HIV positive male: A case report.

Abstract Go to: Introduction: Here we present the case of a 56-year-old human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected man with multiple anal condylomas and positivity for human papilloma virus (HPV) 18 on anal brushing. Biopsies of the anal mucosa led to the diagnosis of Bowen's disease and a subsequent pelvic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan evidenced multiple reactive lymphoadenopathies and large intra-anal condylomas. The patient was treated with a complete excision of Bowen's lesion and with a 4 months course of supplementation with a high concentration multistrain probiotic formulation administered orally and by rectal instillation with the purpose to reduce local inflammation and to enhance local mucosal immunity. Go to: Conclusion: An MRI performed at the end of the supplementation period evidenced the clearance of the anal condylomas previously described and no evidence of residual lymphadenopathies. Trials are therefore required to confirm this therapeutic possibility and for a better understanding of the mechanisms by which this specific probiotic formulation interacts with local epithelium when administered by the anal route

Polysaccharide antigen-glycolipid conjugate vaccines

The present invention relates to the field of synthesizing and biologically evaluating of a novel class of carbohydratebased vaccines. The new vaccines consist of a multi- modular structure which allows applying the vaccine to a whole variety of pathogenes. This method allows preparing vaccines against all pathogens expressing immunogenic carbohydrate antigens. As conjugation of antigenic carbohydrates to proteins is not required the conjugate vaccine is particularly heat stable. No refrigeration is required, a major drawback of protein-based vaccines

Review article: liver transplantation for HCC. Treatment options on the waiting list

The most widely adopted criteria to admit and maintain patients with HCC and cirrhosis in the waiting list for liver transplantation are the Milano criteria, consisting in the presence of a single tumour ≤ 5 cm in diameter or up to three tumours, none exceeding 3 cm in diameter. Since the average time to transplantation has become longer than 10-12 months in most European and American Centers, the exclusion from the list during the waiting period due to increase of the neoplasm over the established criteria is not uncommon at present. It is mandatory, therefore, to seek an effective therapeutic strategy for patients with HCC waiting for transplantation. Surgical resection and eventual subsequent salvage transplantation seems a cost-effective strategy in resectable HCC. In unresectable neoplasms both transarterial chemoembolization and percutaneous ablation techniques are currently used and one or the other are chosen according to individual applicability, limitations and specific risks. However, although positive trends were reported, no definitive evidence has been produced so far about their efficacy in increasing patient's survival and decreasing tumour recurrence rates after transplantation. Adult-to-adult living donor liver transplantation is one possible way to shorten the waiting list, but this strategy involves important ethical implications. At present it appears justified to take it into consideration only if the waiting time for cadaveric OLT is expected to exceed 7 months. A more general and definitive attempt to overcome problems related to long waiting times for patients with HCC and relatively preserved hepatic function has been introduced in the USA very recently and consists in prioritizing patients with HCC. However, the overall efficacy of this approach will be established only in some years

Direct-current stimulation of posterior tibial nerve modulates the Soleus H-reflex amplitude

Introduction: Several studies demonstrated that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCs) is a promising non-invasive tool able to modulate the excitability of several CNS structures. Its effect is usually facilitatory when using anodal polarity and inhibitory for the cathodal one. In most studies, DC stimulation was applied on cortical or spinal structures, while little is known about its effect on peripheral nerves fibres. This research aims at highlighting such effect. Methods: In twenty subjects, electrical stimulation of the posterior tibial nerve (1 ms current pulses, 1 shock every 9 s) was used to elicit the H-re\ufb02ex in the Soleus muscle. Once the H-re\ufb02ex amplitude was stable for at least 15 min, DCs (either cathodal or anodal) was applied proximally to the same nerve for 10 min, looking for changes in re\ufb02ex amplitude. Then, the H-re\ufb02ex was measured for 30 further minutes, looking for after-effects. Results: Cathodal DCs induced a significant increase of the H-re\ufb02ex amplitude (about +35%) with respect to the control value. In this configuration the after-effect lasted about 25 min. Anodal DCs induced instead a significant decrease (about -25%) of the re\ufb02ex amplitude. A significant after-effect was observed for just about 5 min. Discussion: This study shows that DCs applied to a peripheral nerve is able to elicit neuromodulation. Its polarity dependence suggests a local change in the excitability of nerve fibres rather than a central modulation of the spinal re\ufb02ex circuit. Moreover it is worth to note that the polarity dependence was opposite to what found for tDCS

Direct current stimulation modulates the excitability of the sensory and motor fibres in the human posterior tibial nerve, with a long-lasting effect on the H-reflex

Several studies demonstrated that transcutaneous direct current stimulation (DCS) may modulate central nervous system excitability. However, much less is known about how DC affects peripheral nerve fibres. We investigated the action of DCS on motor and sensory fibres of the human posterior tibial nerve, with supplementary analysis in acute experiments on rats. In forty human subjects, electric pulses at the popliteal fossa were used to elicit either M-waves or H-reflexes in the Soleus, before (15 min), during (10 min) and after (30 min) DCS. Cathodal or anodal current (2 mA) was applied to the same nerve. Cathodal DCS significantly increased the H-reflex amplitude; the post-polarization effect lasted up to ~ 25 min after the termination of DCS. Anodal DCS instead significantly decreased the reflex amplitude for up to ~ 5 min after DCS end. DCS effects on M-wave showed the same polarity dependence but with considerably shorter after-effects, which never exceeded 5 min. DCS changed the excitability of both motor and sensory fibres. These effects and especially the long-lasting modulation of the H-reflex suggest a possible rehabilitative application of DCS that could be applied either to compensate an altered peripheral excitability or to modulate the afferent transmission to spinal and supraspinal structures. In animal experiments, DCS was applied, under anaesthesia, to either the exposed peroneus nerve or its Dorsal Root, and its effects closely resembled those found in human subjects. They validate therefore the use of the animal models for future investigations on the DCS mechanisms

Increasing the bandwidth of resonant gravitational antennas: The case of Explorer

Resonant gravitational wave detectors with an observation bandwidth of tens of hertz are a reality: the antenna Explorer, operated at CERN by the ROG collaboration, has been upgraded with a new read-out. In this new configuration, it exhibits an unprecedented useful bandwidth: in over 55 Hz about its frequency of operation of 919 Hz the spectral sensitivity is better than 10^{-20} /sqrt(Hz) . We describe the detector and its sensitivity and discuss the foreseable upgrades to even larger bandwidths.Comment: 4 pages- 4 figures Acceted for publication on Physical Review Letter

Role of Lefty in the anti tumor activity of human adult liver stem cells

Recent studies demonstrated that factors derived from embryonic stem cells inhibit the tumorigenicity of a variety of cancer cell lines. Embryonic stem cell-secreted Lefty, an inhibitor of Nodal-signalling pathway, was implicated in reprogramming cancer cells. Whether adult stem cells exhibited similar properties has not been explored. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether the conditioned medium (CM) derived from adult stem cells influence in vitro and in vivo tumor growth by a Nodal-dependent pathway. In particular we compared the anti-tumor effect of CM from human liver stem cells (HLSC) with that of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSC). We found that HLSC-CM inhibited the in vitro growth and promoted apoptosis in HepG2 cells that expressed a deregulated Nodal pathway. The effect of HLSC-CM was related to the presence of Lefty A in the CM of HLSC. Silencing Lefty A in HLSC or Lefty A blockade with a blocking peptide abrogated the anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic effect of HLSC-CM. Moreover, the administration of human recombinant Lefty A protein mimicked the effect of HLSC-CM indicating that Nodal pathway is critical for the growth of HepG2. At variance of HLSC, bone marrow-derived MSC did not express and release Lefty A and the MSC-CM did not exhibited an anti-tumor activity in vitro, but rather stimulated proliferation of HepG2. In addition, the intra-tumor administration of HLSC-CM was able to inhibit the in vivo growth of HepG2 hepatoma cells implanted subcutaneously in SCID mice. At variance, HLSC-CM derived from Lefty A silenced HLSC was unable to inhibit tumor growth. In conclusion, the results of present study suggest that Lefty A may account for the tumor suppressive activity of HLSC as a result of an inhibition of the Nodal-signalling pathway by a mechanism similar to that described for embryonic stem cells