Translational and transdisciplinary approach to the human papilloma virus – Preliminary evidence from the Italian “HPV board: a future without papilloma virus” project

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is considered to be one of the viral infections associated with cancers and other diseases. HPV is detected asymptomatically in the oral mucosa. The presence of human papillomavirus in the oral mucosa appears to be closely associated with a series of benign and malign oral lesions. The aim of this paper is to report the Italian experience in applying translational protocols, using new technologies and multidisciplinary strategies in Human Papilloma virus detection and treatment. The “HPV board: a future without papilloma virus” project was born, promoted by CNEL (Italian Council of Economics and Labor) with the collaboration of numerous scientific societies to commonly approach to public knowledge of HPV-related oral lesions and their clinical management. The preliminary results are related to the assessment of the proof-of-concept of this new project. More in details, “HPV Board” is a project that plans the presence of a working group, made up of otolaryngologists, dentists, oral and maxillofacial surgeons, in close contact with gynecologists, oncologists and pediatricians; this working group manages to combine very transversal skills, in order to promote primary prevention projects, early diagnosis and adequate therapies. The “HPV BOARD” project will give the opportunity to increase the attention of patients and doctors on the early diagnosis of oncological diseases dependent on infection by the infectious agent HPV. In this panorama, dentists will have the role of “first sentinel” of public health because oral health is an indicator, too often overlooked, for the prevention of numerous diseases

Search for antihelium in cosmic rays

The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) was flown on the space shuttle Discovery during flight STS-91 in a 51.7 degree orbit at altitudes between 320 and 390 km. A total of 2.86 * 10^6 helium nuclei were observed in the rigidity range 1 to 140 GV. No antihelium nuclei were detected at any rigidity. An upper limit on the flux ratio of antihelium to helium of < 1.1 * 10^-6 is obtained.Comment: 18 pages, Latex, 9 .eps figure

Protons in near earth orbit

The proton spectrum in the kinetic energy range 0.1 to 200 GeV was measured by the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) during space shuttle flight STS-91 at an altitude of 380 km. Above the geomagnetic cutoff the observed spectrum is parameterized by a power law. Below the geomagnetic cutoff a substantial second spectrum was observed concentrated at equatorial latitudes with a flux ~ 70 m^-2 sec^-1 sr^-1. Most of these second spectrum protons follow a complicated trajectory and originate from a restricted geographic region.Comment: 19 pages, Latex, 7 .eps figure

Delayed diagnosis of coeliac disease increases cancer risk

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An investigation of sleeper voids using a flexible track model integrated with railway multi-body dynamics

This article describes a flexible track system model (FTSM) that represents the track structure for a typical ballasted track, taking into account the flexibility of the rails, the sleeper mass and the resilience of the pad/fastening elements, as well as the ballast support stiffness condition. The detailed track model is integrated into a commercial railway vehicle dynamics software, thus allowing for any vehicle to be simulated onto the flexible track while at the same time taking into account the detailed calculation of the non-linear wheel—rail contact interaction. As an example, the application of the FTSM to the study of hanging sleepers, with respect to the UK Railway Group Standard limits, is presented. This example shows the impact of forces because of hanging sleepers on the vehicle and on the track, and attempts at quantifying the damage made to the track components for the specific conditions simulated

Proposta di una procedura automatizzata per guidare le P.A. nell\u2019efficientamento energetico, economico e ambientale delle strutture esistenti e operanti sul territorio

Viene presentato il risultato dello studio condotto presso l\u2019Universit\ue0 degli Studi di Genova per conto del Comune di Cogorno (Ge) in tema di riqualificazione energetica, ambientale ed economica delle strutture esistenti sul territorio dei comuni italiani di medie e piccole dimensioni. Si propone un simulatore in grado di offrire un supporto decisionale agli amministratori locali nelle scelte di riqualificazione delle strutture esistenti senza aggravio di costi a priori per lo studio preventivo di fattibilit\ue0. A smart tool to guide P.A.s\u2019 local authorities towards energetic, economic and environmental optimization of existing buildings The paper presents the study conducted by the University of Genoa with the City of Cogorno (Ge) in terms of upgrading the energy, environmental and economic efficiency of existing buildings present in Italian municipalities of medium and small size. An easily usable simulator can provide a quick and accurate decision support for local administrators