4,981 research outputs found
Capital flows, long term bond yields and fiscal stance : the Eurozone policy trilemma
The paper aims at estimating the existence of a trilemma in the Eurozone, i.e., to assess to what extent the net capital flows, the volatility of bond yields and the fiscal stance are strictly linked to each other constraining countriesâ ability to manage the internal policy goals. The existence of constraints on policy alternatives is estimated for 11 Eurozone countries from 2002 till 2012. The sample is then divided into pre- (2002â2008) and post-crisis (2009â2012) periods. A further division between the PIIGS and the non-PIIGS is then applied. The results show the validity of the trilemma for the whole Euro area and for the whole period but with some distinction between the pre- and post-crisis periods and between the PIIGS and the non-PIIGS countries. The existence of the trilemma underlines the presence of national constraints and suggests, for the future of the Eurozone, to push towards centralized fiscal policy instruments.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Cochlear Implant Results in Older Adults with Post-Lingual Deafness: The Role of âTop-Downâ Neurocognitive Mechanisms
To date, no clear specific cognitive predictors of speech perception outcome in older adult cochlear implant (CI) users have yet emerged. The aim of this prospective study was to increase knowledge on cognitive and clinical predictors of the audiological outcome in adult cochlear implant users. A total of 21 patients with post-lingual deafness, who were candidates for cochlear implantation, were recruited at the Department of Ear, Nose and Throat, University of Torino (Italy) and subjected to a pre-operatory neuropsychological assessment (T0) and an audiological examination after 12 months of implantation (T12). Patients who, at T12, had a 60 dB verbal recognition above 80%, were younger (z = â2.131, p = 0.033) and performed better in the Verbal Semantic Fluency Test at T0 (z = â1.941, p = 0.052) than subjects who had a 60 dB verbal recognition at T12 below 80%. The most significant predictors of the CI audiological outcome at T12 were age (ÎČ = â0.492, p = 0.024) and patientsâ TMT-A performance at baseline (ÎČ = â0.486, p = 0.035). We conclude that cognitive processing speed might be a good predictor of the level of speech understanding in older adult patients with CI after one year of implantation
A Cylindrical GEM Inner Tracker for the BESIII experiment at IHEP
The Beijing Electron Spectrometer III (BESIII) is a multipurpose detector
that collects data provided by the collision in the Beijing Electron Positron
Collider II (BEPCII), hosted at the Institute of High Energy Physics of
Beijing. Since the beginning of its operation, BESIII has collected the world
largest sample of J/{\psi} and {\psi}(2s). Due to the increase of the
luminosity up to its nominal value of 10^33 cm-2 s-1 and aging effect, the MDC
decreases its efficiency in the first layers up to 35% with respect to the
value in 2014. Since BESIII has to take data up to 2022 with the chance to
continue up to 2027, the Italian collaboration proposed to replace the inner
part of the MDC with three independent layers of Cylindrical triple-GEM (CGEM).
The CGEM-IT project will deploy several new features and innovation with
respect the other current GEM based detector: the {\mu}TPC and analog readout,
with time and charge measurements will allow to reach the 130 {\mu}m spatial
resolution in 1 T magnetic field requested by the BESIII collaboration. In this
proceeding, an update of the status of the project will be presented, with a
particular focus on the results with planar and cylindrical prototypes with
test beams data. These results are beyond the state of the art for GEM
technology in magnetic field
Paradigm Shift in Gastric Cancer Prevention: Harnessing the Potential of Aristolochia olivieri Extract
Gastric cancer, particularly adenocarcinoma, is a significant global health concern. Environmental risk factors, such as Helicobacter pylori infection and diet, play a role in its development. This study aimed to characterize the chemical composition and evaluate the in vitro antibacterial and antitumor activities of an Aristolochia olivieri Colleg. ex Boiss. Leavesâ methanolic extract (AOME). Additionally, morphological changes in gastric cancer cell lines were analyzed. AOME was analyzed using HPLC-MS/MS, and its antibacterial activity against H. pylori was assessed using the broth microdilution method. MIC and MBC values were determined, and positive and negative controls were included in the evaluation. Anticancer effects were assessed through in vitro experiments using AGS, KATO-III, and SNU-1 cancer cell lines. The morphological changes were examined through SEM and TEM analyses. AOME contained several compounds, including caffeic acid, rutin, and hyperoside. The extract displayed significant antimicrobial effects against H. pylori, with consistent MIC and MBC values of 3.70 ± 0.09 mg/mL. AOME reduced cell viability in all gastric cancer cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Morphological analyses revealed significant ultrastructural changes in all tumor cell lines, suggesting the occurrence of cellular apoptosis. This study demonstrated that AOME possesses antimicrobial activity against H. pylori and potent antineoplastic properties in gastric cancer cell lines. AOME holds promise as a natural resource for innovative nutraceutical approaches in gastric cancer management. Further research and in vivo studies are warranted to validate its potential clinical applications
Ageing test of the ATLAS RPCs at X5-GIF
An ageing test of three ATLAS production RPC stations is in course at X5-GIF,
the CERN irradiation facility. The chamber efficiencies are monitored using
cosmic rays triggered by a scintillator hodoscope. Higher statistics
measurements are made when the X5 muon beam is available. We report here the
measurements of the efficiency versus operating voltage at different source
intensities, up to a maximum counting rate of about 700Hz/cm^2. We describe the
performance of the chambers during the test up to an overall ageing of 4 ATLAS
equivalent years corresponding to an integrated charge of 0.12C/cm^2, including
a safety factor of 5.Comment: 4 pages. Presented at the VII Workshop on Resistive Plate Chambers
and Related Detectors; Clermont-Ferrand October 20th-22nd, 200
Current trends on subtotal petrosectomy with cochlear implantation in recalcitrant chronic middle ear disorders AttualitĂ in tema di petrosectomia subtotale con impianto cocleare nelle patologie croniche dellorecchio medio recalcitranti
Obiettivo. Stabilire la sicurezza ed efficacia dellâintervento di petrosectomia subtotale con
posizionamento di impianto cocleare nei pazienti affetti da patologia cronica dellâorecchio
medio refrattaria a precedenti trattamenti chirurgici.
Metodi. Ă stato svolto uno studio retrospettivo multicentrico riguardante quei pazienti af-
fetti da patologie croniche dellâorecchio medio recalcitranti, sottoposti a petrosectomia
subtotale con posizionamento di impianto cocleare. Le informazioni sono state raccolte dai database di 11 centri di riferimento di III livello in
Italia. A complemento, Ăš stata svolta una revisione della piĂč recente letteratura.
Risultati. Nello studio sono stati inclusi 55 pazienti con un follow-up medio di 44 mesi. Il colesteatoma ha rappresentato la piĂč comune pato-
logia ricorrente dellâorecchio medio e il 50,9% dei pazienti aveva una cavitĂ aperta. Lâ80% dei pazienti Ăš stato sottoposto ad una chirurgia a
singolo stadio. Sette pazienti hanno mostrato complicanze post-operatorie, di cui un caso di espianto.
Conclusioni. Lâintervento di petrosectomia subtotale con posizionamento di impianto cocleare rappresenta una tecnica chirurgica di riferimento per la gestione dei pazienti affetti da otite media cronica recalcitrante. Lâintervento chirurgico a singolo stadio Ăš la strategia piĂč
frequentemente raccomandata. Il follow-up ottimale Ăš ancora ad oggi oggetto di dibattito. Sono richiesti ulteriori studi per stabilire il ruolo di questo intervento nei pazienti pediatrici.Objective. To establish the safety and effectiveness of subtotal petrosectomy with cochlear implantation in patients affected by chronic middle ear disorders to refractory to previous surgical treatments. Methods. A multicentre, retrospective study was conducted on patients affected by recalcitrant chronic middle ear disorders who underwent cochlear implantation in combination with subtotal petrosectomy. Patientsâ details were collected from databases of 11 Italian tertiary referral centres. Additionally, a review of the most updated literature was carried out. Results. 55 patients were included with a mean follow-up time of 44 months. Cholesteatoma was the most common middle ear recurrent pathology and 50.9% of patients had an open cavity. 80% of patients underwent a single stage surgery. One case of explantation for device failure was reported among the 7 patients with post-operative complications. Conclusions. Subtotal petrosectomy with cochlear implantation is a benchmark for management of patients with recalcitrant chronic middle ear disorders. A single stage procedure is the most recommended strategy. Optimal follow-up is still debated. Further studies are required to investigate the role of this surgery in paediatric patients
AMYLOIDOSIS AND INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE: FACT OR MITH?
Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), which includes both Crohn's Disease (CD) and Ulcerative Colitis (UC), is a chronic idiopathic inflammatory disorder affecting the gastrointestinal tract. Extraintestinal manifestations (EIM) are common in patients with IBD, and occur in 6-47% of patients with CD or UC. EIM can involve organs other than the gastrointestinal tract such as skin, eyes, joints, biliary tract and kidneis. Renal and urinary involvement particularly occurs in 4-23% of patients with IBD. Among the renal complications of IBD, seconfary amyloidosis (AA-type, AAA) is a rare but serious complication. renal amyloidosis has been proven to be the most common lethal manifestation of IBD-associated amyloidosis, since renal involvement rapidly leads to end-stage renal failure. A few studies suggest that AAA is more prevalent in CD than in UC, mainly occurring in male patients with an extensive long-lasting and penetrating ddisease pattern. The therapeutic approaches of IBD-associated AAA are based both on control of the chronic inflammatory process that causes the production and storage of serum amyloid A (SAA), which is a precursor of the amyloid, as well as on destabilizing amyloid fibrils so that they can no longer maintain their pleated sheet configuration; however, in patients with end-stage renal disease, the only therapeutic options still available are hemodyalisis and renal transplantation. Whether effective treatment exists for AAA remain controversial
1H-NMR based serum metabolomics highlights different specific biomarkers between early and advanced hepatocellular carcinoma stages
The application of non-targeted serum metabolomics profiling represents a noninvasive tool to identify new clinical biomarkers and to provide early diagnostic differentiation, and insight into the pathological mechanisms underlying hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) progression. In this study, we used proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (1H-NMR) Spectroscopy and multivariate data analysis to profile the serum metabolome of 64 HCC patients, in early (n = 28) and advanced (n = 36) disease stages. We found that1H-NMR metabolomics profiling could discriminate early from advanced HCC patients with a cross-validated accuracy close to 100%. Orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) showed significant changes in serum glucose, lactate, lipids and some amino acids, such as alanine, glutamine, 1-methylhistidine, lysine and valine levels between advanced and early HCC patients. Moreover, in early HCC patients, Kaplan\u2013Meier analysis highlighted the serum tyrosine level as a predictor for overall survival (OS). Overall, our analysis identified a set of metabolites with possible clinical and biological implication in HCC pathophysiology
Plasminogen activation triggers transthyretin amyloidogenesis in vitro
Systemic amyloidosis is a usually fatal disease caused by extracellular accumulation of abnormal protein fibers, amyloid fibrils, derived by misfolding and aggregation of soluble globular plasma protein precursors. Both WT and genetic variants of the normal plasma protein transthyretin (TTR) form amyloid, but neither the misfolding leading to fibrillogenesis nor the anatomical localization of TTR amyloid deposition are understood. We have previously shown that, under physiological conditions, trypsin cleaves human TTR in a mechano-enzymatic mechanism that generates abundant amyloid fibrils in vitro. In sharp contrast, the widely used in vitro model of denaturation and aggregation of TTR by prolonged exposure to pH 4.0 yields almost no clearly defined amyloid fibrils. However, the exclusive duodenal location of trypsin means that this enzyme cannot contribute to systemic extracellular TTR amyloid deposition in vivo. Here, we therefore conducted a bioinformatics search for systemically active tryptic proteases with appropriate tissue distribution, which unexpectedly identified plasmin as the leading candidate. We confirmed that plasmin, just as trypsin, selectively cleaves human TTR between residues 48 and 49 under physiological conditions in vitro. Truncated and full-length protomers are then released from the native homotetramer and rapidly aggregate into abundant fibrils indistinguishable from ex vivo TTR amyloid. Our findings suggest that physiological fibrinolysis is likely to play a critical role in TTR amyloid formation in vivo. Identification of this surprising intersection between two hitherto unrelated pathways opens new avenues for elucidating the mechanisms of TTR amyloidosis, for seeking susceptibility risk factors, and for therapeutic innovation
Determination of the b quark mass at the M_Z scale with the DELPHI detector at LEP
An experimental study of the normalized three-jet rate of b quark events with
respect to light quarks events (light= \ell \equiv u,d,s) has been performed
using the CAMBRIDGE and DURHAM jet algorithms. The data used were collected by
the DELPHI experiment at LEP on the Z peak from 1994 to 2000. The results are
found to agree with theoretical predictions treating mass corrections at
next-to-leading order. Measurements of the b quark mass have also been
performed for both the b pole mass: M_b and the b running mass: m_b(M_Z). Data
are found to be better described when using the running mass. The measurement
yields: m_b(M_Z) = 2.85 +/- 0.18 (stat) +/- 0.13 (exp) +/- 0.19 (had) +/- 0.12
(theo) GeV/c^2 for the CAMBRIDGE algorithm. This result is the most precise
measurement of the b mass derived from a high energy process. When compared to
other b mass determinations by experiments at lower energy scales, this value
agrees with the prediction of Quantum Chromodynamics for the energy evolution
of the running mass. The mass measurement is equivalent to a test of the
flavour independence of the strong coupling constant with an accuracy of 7
permil.Comment: 24 pages, 10 figures, Accepted by Eur. Phys. J.
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