111 research outputs found
Prospects for Gamma-Ray Bursts detection by the Cherenkov Telescope Array
The first Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) catalog presented by the Fermi-Large Area
Telescope (LAT) collaboration includes 28 GRBs, detected above 100 MeV over the
first three years since the launch of the Fermi mission. However, more than 100
GRBs are expected to be found over a period of six years of data collection
thanks to a new detection algorithm and to the development of a new LAT event
reconstruction, the so-called "Pass 8." Our aim is to provide revised prospects
for GRB alerts in the CTA era in light of these new LAT discoveries. We focus
initially on the possibility of GRB detection with the Large Size Telescopes
(LSTs). Moreover, we investigate the contribution of the Middle Size Telescopes
(MSTs), which are crucial for the search of larger areas on short post trigger
timescales. The study of different spectral components in the prompt and
afterglow phase, and the limits on the Extragalactic background light are
highlighted. Different strategies to repoint part of - or the entire array -
are studied in detail.Comment: In Proceedings of the 34th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC
2015), The Hague, The Netherland
Prospects for Gamma-Ray Bursts detection by the Cherenkov Telescope Array
The first Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) catalog presented by the Fermi-Large Area
Telescope (LAT) collaboration includes 28 GRBs, detected above 100 MeV over the
first three years since the launch of the Fermi mission. However, more than 100
GRBs are expected to be found over a period of six years of data collection
thanks to a new detection algorithm and to the development of a new LAT event
reconstruction, the so-called "Pass 8." Our aim is to provide revised prospects
for GRB alerts in the CTA era in light of these new LAT discoveries. We focus
initially on the possibility of GRB detection with the Large Size Telescopes
(LSTs). Moreover, we investigate the contribution of the Middle Size Telescopes
(MSTs), which are crucial for the search of larger areas on short post trigger
timescales. The study of different spectral components in the prompt and
afterglow phase, and the limits on the Extragalactic background light are
highlighted. Different strategies to repoint part of - or the entire array -
are studied in detail
Monitoring the reproductive in captive bred female ball pythons (P. regius) by ultrasound evaluation and noninvasive analysis of faecal reproductive hormone (progesterone and 17b estradiol) metabolites trends
Comparison of quantitative muscle ultrasound and whole-body muscle MRI in facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy type 1 patients
Introduction: Muscle ultrasound is a fast, non-invasive and cost-effective examination that can identify structural muscular changes by assessing muscle thickness and echointensity (EI) with a quantitative analysis (QMUS). To assess applicability and repeatability of QMUS, we evaluated patients with genetically confirmed facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy type 1 (FSHD1), comparing their muscle ultrasound characteristics with healthy controls and with those detected by MRI. We also evaluated relationships between QMUS and demographic and clinical characteristics. Materials and methods: Thirteen patients were included in the study. Clinical assessment included MRC sum score, FSHD score and The Comprehensive Clinical Evaluation Form (CCEF). QMUS was performed with a linear transducer scanning bilaterally pectoralis major, deltoid, rectus femoris, tibialis anterior and semimembranosus muscles in patients and healthy subjects. For each muscle, we acquired three images, which were analysed calculating muscle EI by computer-assisted grey-scale analysis. QMUS analysis was compared with semiquantitative 1.5 T muscle MRI scale. Results: All muscles in FSHD patients showed a significant increased echogenicity compared to the homologous muscles in healthy subjects. Older subjects and patients with higher FSHD score presented increased muscle EI. Tibialis anterior MRC showed a significant inverse correlation with EI. Higher median EI was found in muscles with more severe MRI fat replacement. Conclusions: QMUS allows quantitative evaluation of muscle echogenicity, displaying a tight correlation with muscular alterations, clinical and MRI data. Although a confirmation on larger sample is needed, our research suggests a possible future application of QMUS in diagnosis and management of muscular disorders
A multicenter randomized phase 4 trial comparing sodium picosulphate plus magnesium citrate vs. polyethylene glycol plus ascorbic acid for bowel preparation before colonoscopy. The PRECOL trial
Background: Adequate bowel preparation before colonoscopy is crucial.
Unfortunately, 25% of colonoscopies have inadequate bowel cleansing. From
a patient perspective, bowel preparation is the main obstacle to colonoscopy.
Several low-volume bowel preparations have been formulated to provide
more tolerable purgative solutions without loss of efficacy.
Objectives: Investigate efficacy, safety, and tolerability of Sodium
Picosulphate plus Magnesium Citrate (SPMC) vs. Polyethylene Glycol
plus Ascorbic Acid (PEG-ASC) solutions in patients undergoing
diagnostic colonoscopy.
Materials and methods: In this phase 4, randomized, multicenter, twoarm trial, adult outpatients received either SPMC or PEG-ASC for bowel
preparation before colonoscopy. The primary aims were quality of bowel
cleansing (primary endpoint scored according to Boston Bowel Preparation
Scale) and patient acceptance (measured with six visual analogue scales). The
study was open for treatment assignment and blinded for primary endpoint
assessment. This was done independently with videotaped colonoscopies
reviewed by two endoscopists unaware of study arms. A sample size of 525
patients was calculated to recognize a difference of 10% in the proportion of
successes between the arms with a two-sided alpha error of 0.05 and 90%
statistical power.
Results: Overall 550 subjects (279 assigned to PEG-ASC and 271 assigned
to SPMC) represented the analysis population. There was no statistically
significant difference in success rate according to BBPS: 94.4% with
PEG-ASC and 95.7% with SPMC (P = 0.49). Acceptance and willing to
repeat colonoscopy were significantly better for SPMC with all the scales.
Compliance was less than full in 6.6 and 9.9% of cases with PEG-ASC and
SPMC, respectively (P = 0.17). Nausea and meteorism were significantly more
bothersome with PEG-ASC than SPMC. There were no serious adverse events
in either group.
Conclusion: SPMC and PEG-ASC are not different in terms of efficacy, but
SPMC is better tolerated than PEG-ASC. SPMC could be an alternative to lowvolume PEG based purgative solutions for bowel preparation
SANI-Severe Asthma Network in Italy: a way forward to monitor severe asthma
Even if severe asthma (SA) accounts for 5-10% of all cases of the disease, it is currently a crucial unmet need, owing its difficult clinical management and its high social costs. For this reason several networks, focused on SA have been organized in some countries, in order to select these patients, to recognize their clinical features, to evaluate their adherence, to classify their biological/clinical phenotypes, to identify their eligibility to the new biologic therapies and to quantify the costs of the disease. Aim of the present paper is to describe the ongoing Italian Severe Asthma Network (SANI). Up today 49 centres have been selected, widespread on the national territory. Sharing the same diagnostic protocol, data regarding patients with SA will be collected and processed in a web platform. After their recruitment, SA patients will be followed in the long term in order to investigate the natural history of the disease. Besides clinical data, the cost/benefit evaluation of the new biologics will be verified as well as the search of peculiar biomarker(s) of the disease
The Botanical Record of Archaeobotany Italian Network - BRAIN: a cooperative network, database and website
Con autorización de la revista para autores CSIC[EN] The BRAIN (Botanical Records of Archaeobotany Italian Network) database and network was developed by the cooperation of archaeobotanists working on Italian archaeological sites. Examples of recent research including pollen or other plant remains in analytical and synthetic papers are reported as an exemplar reference list. This paper retraces the main steps of the creation of BRAIN, from the scientific need for the first research cooperation to the website which has a free online access since 2015.Peer reviewe
Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector
A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements
Search for gravitational-lensing signatures in the full third observing run of the LIGO-Virgo network
Gravitational lensing by massive objects along the line of sight to the source causes distortions of gravitational wave-signals; such distortions may reveal information about fundamental physics, cosmology and astrophysics. In this work, we have extended the search for lensing signatures to all binary black hole events from the third observing run of the LIGO--Virgo network. We search for repeated signals from strong lensing by 1) performing targeted searches for subthreshold signals, 2) calculating the degree of overlap amongst the intrinsic parameters and sky location of pairs of signals, 3) comparing the similarities of the spectrograms amongst pairs of signals, and 4) performing dual-signal Bayesian analysis that takes into account selection effects and astrophysical knowledge. We also search for distortions to the gravitational waveform caused by 1) frequency-independent phase shifts in strongly lensed images, and 2) frequency-dependent modulation of the amplitude and phase due to point masses. None of these searches yields significant evidence for lensing. Finally, we use the non-detection of gravitational-wave lensing to constrain the lensing rate based on the latest merger-rate estimates and the fraction of dark matter composed of compact objects
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