Directional TGV-based image restoration under Poisson noise

We are interested in the restoration of noisy and blurry images where the texture mainly follows a single direction (i.e., directional images). Problems of this type arise, for example, in microscopy or computed tomography for carbon or glass fibres. In order to deal with these problems, the Directional Total Generalized Variation (DTGV) was developed by Kongskov et al. in 2017 and 2019, in the case of impulse and Gaussian noise. In this article we focus on images corrupted by Poisson noise, extending the DTGV regularization to image restoration models where the data fitting term is the generalized Kullback–Leibler divergence. We also propose a technique for the identifica-tion of the main texture direction, which improves upon the techniques used in the aforementioned work about DTGV. We solve the problem by an ADMM algorithm with proven convergence and subproblems that can be solved exactly at a low computational cost. Numerical results on both phantom and real images demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach

Primary gas thermometry by means of laser-absorption spectroscopy: Determination of the Boltzmann constant

We report on a new optical implementation of primary gas thermometry based on laser absorption spectrometry in the near infrared. The method consists in retrieving the Doppler broadening from highly accurate observations of the line shape of the R(12) $\nu_{1} + 2 \nu_{2}^{\phantom{1}0} + \nu_{3}$ transition in CO$_{2}$ gas at thermodynamic equilibrium. Doppler width measurements as a function of gas temperature, ranging between the triple point of water and the gallium melting point, allowed for a spectroscopic determination of the Boltzmann constant with a relative accuracy of $\sim1.6\times10^{-4}$.Comment: Submitted to Physical Review Letter

Immunology of human rickettsial diseases.

Among human rickettsial diseases caused by micro-organisms of the genus Rickettsia (Order Rickettsiales; Family Rickettsiaceae), transmitted to human hosts through arthropod vectors, Mediterranean Spotted Fever, or Boutonneuse Fever, and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever are considered to be important infectious diseases due to continued prevalence in the developed world, and potentially fatal outcome in severe cases. Proliferation of rickettsiae, at the site of the tick bite, results in focal epidermal and dermal necrosis (tache noire). Rickettsiae then spread via lymphatic vessels to the regional lymph nodes, and, via the bloodstream, to skin, brain, lungs, heart, liver, spleen and kidneys. The pathogen invades and proliferates in the endothelial cells of small vessels, target cells of rickettsial infection, destroying them, and spreading the infection to the endothelia of the vascular tree. The damage of the endothelium, and the subsequent endothelia dysfunction, is followed by the activation of acute phase responses, with alteration in the coagulation and in the cytokine network, together with a transient immune dysregulation, characterized by the reduction in peripheral CD4+ T lymphocytes

Antimicrobial resistance genotypes and phenotypes of Campylobacter jejuni isolated in Italy from humans, birds from wild and urban habitats, and poultry

Campylobacter jejuni, a common foodborne zoonotic pathogen, causes gastroenteritis worldwide and is increasingly resistant to antibiotics. We aimed to investigate the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genotypes of C. jejuni isolated from humans, poultry and birds from wild and urban Italian habitats to identify correlations between phenotypic and genotypic AMR in the isolates. Altogether, 644 C. jejuni isolates from humans (51), poultry (526) and wild- and urban-habitat birds (67) were analysed. The resistance phenotypes of the isolates were determined using the microdilution method with EUCAST breakpoints, and AMR-associated genes and single nucleotide polymorphisms were obtained from a publicly available database. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing showed that C. jejuni isolates from poultry and humans were highly resistant to ciprofloxacin (85.55% and 76.47%, respectively), nalidixic acid (75.48% and 74.51%, respectively) and tetracycline (67.87% and 49.02%, respectively). Fewer isolates from the wild- and urban-habitat birds were resistant to tetracycline (19.40%), fluoroquinolones (13.43%), and quinolone and streptomycin (10.45%). We retrieved seven AMR genes (tet (O), cmeA, cmeB, cmeC, cmeR, blaOXA-61 and blaOXA- 184) and gyrA-associated point mutations. Two major B-lactam genes called blaOXA-61 and blaOXA-184 were prevalent at 62.93% and 82.08% in the poultry and the other bird groups, respectively. Strong correlations between genotypic and phenotypic resistance were found for fluoroquinolones and tetracycline. Compared with the farmed chickens, the incidence of AMR in the C. jejuni isolates from the other bird groups was low, confirming that the food-production birds are much more exposed to antimicrobials. The improper and overuse of antibiotics in the human population and in animal husbandry has resulted in an increase in antibiotic-resistant infections, particularly fluoroquinolone resistant ones. Better understanding of the AMR mechanisms in C. jejuni is necessary to develop new strategies for improving AMR programs and provide the most appropriate therapies to human and veterinary populations

Variety of mutual-visibility problems in graphs

If $X$ is a subset of vertices of a graph $G$, then vertices $u$ and $v$ are $X$-visible if there exists a shortest $u,v$-path $P$ such that $V(P)\cap X \subseteq \{u,v\}$. If each two vertices from $X$ are $X$-visible, then $X$ is a mutual-visibility set. The mutual-visibility number of $G$ is the cardinality of a largest mutual-visibility set of $G$ and has been already investigated. In this paper a variety of mutual-visibility problems is introduced based on which natural pairs of vertices are required to be $X$-visible. This yields the total, the dual, and the outer mutual-visibility numbers. We first show that these graph invariants are related to each other and to the classical mutual-visibility number, and then we prove that the three newly introduced mutual-visibility problems are computationally difficult. According to this result, we compute or bound their values for several graphs classes that include for instance grid graphs and tori. We conclude the study by presenting some inter-comparison between the values of such parameters, which is based on the computations we made for some specific families.Comment: 23 pages, 4 figures, original pape

Late onset of hypoxemia due to a pulmonary arteriovenous malformation during selective estrogen receptor modulator therapy.

A76-year-old woman with unexplained hypoxemia and severe exertional dyspnea was admitted to our department. The symptoms had appeared during tamoxifen therapy after resection of breast carcinoma; history revealed recurrent upper gastrointestinal bleeding, epistaxis, and a granddaughter deceased because of a cerebral arteriovenous malformation. Chest computed tomography scan showed the presence of a highly vascularized nodule in the right lower lobe. Right pulmonary artery angiography demonstrated a large pulmonary arteriovenous malformation (PAVM) (Online Video 1) with massive right-to-left shunt (A, B, C; Online Video 2); this confirmed the diagnosis of hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (1). The arrows point to the right upper pulmonary vein. We decided to percutaneously close the PAVM. An occlusion test was performed before the procedure (D); O2 saturation rose from 87% to 96%. The PAVM was subsequently closed using a vascular occlusion device (E) with complete abolishment of the right-to-left shunt (F; Online Video 3). It is likely that selective estrogen receptor modulator therapy may have been responsible for the enlargement of the PAVM in our patient (2)

Comparison between off-resonance and electron Bernstein waves heating regime in a microwave discharge ion sourcea)

A microwave discharge ion source (MDIS) operating at the Laboratori Nazionali del Sud of INFN, Catania has been used to compare the traditional electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) heating with an innovative mechanisms of plasma ignition based on the electrostatic Bernstein waves (EBW). EBW are obtained via the inner plasma electromagnetic-to-electrostatic wave conversion and they are absorbed by the plasma at cyclotron resonance harmonics. The heating of plasma by means of EBW at particular frequencies enabled us to reach densities much larger than the cutoff ones. Evidences of EBW generation and absorption together with X-ray emissions due to high energy electrons will be shown. A characterization of the discharge heating process in MDISs as a generalization of the ECR heating mechanism by means of ray tracing will be shown in order to highlight the fundamental physical differences between ECR and EBW heating

Microbiome and PCOS: State-of-art and future aspects

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a complex and heterogeneous endocrine disease. The hypothesis that alterations in the microbiome are involved in the genesis of PCOS has been postulated. Aim of this review is to summarize the available literature data about the relationship between microbiome and PCOS. A search on PubMed and Medline databases was performed from inception to November 20Most of evidence has focused on the connection of intestinal bacteria with sex hormones and insulin-resistance: while in the first case, a relationship with hyperandrogenism has been described, although it is still unclear, in the second one, chronic low-grade inflammation by activating the immune system, with increased production of proinflammatory cytokines which interfere with insulin receptor function, causing IR (Insulin Resistance)/hyperinsulinemia has been described, as well as the role of gastrointestinal hormones like Ghrelin and peptide YY (PYY), bile acids, interleukin-22 and Bacteroides vulgatus have been highlighted. The lower genital tract mi-crobiome would be affected by changes in PCOS patients too. The therapeutic opportunities include probiotic, prebiotics and synbiotics, as well as fecal microbiota transplantation and the use of IL-22, to date only in animal models, as a possible future drug. Current evidence has shown the involvement of the gut microbiome in PCOS, seen how humanized mice receiving a fecal transplant from women with PCOS develop ovarian dysfunction, immune changes and insulin resistance and how it is capable of disrupting the secondary bile acid biosynthesis. A future therapeutic approach for PCOS may involve the human administration of IL-22 and bile acid glycodeoxycholic acid

Intentional coronary revascularization versus conservative therapy in patients after peripheral artery revascularization due to critical limb ischemia : the INCORPORATE trial

INCORPORATE trial was designed to evaluate whether default coronary-angiography (CA) and ischemia-targeted revascularization is superior compared to a conservative approach for patients with treated critical limb ischemia (CLI). Registered at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT03712644) on October 19, 2018.Severe peripheral artery disease is associated with increased cardiovascular risk and poor outcomes.INCORPORATE was an open-label, prospective 1:1 randomized multicentric trial that recruited patients who had undergone successful CLI treatment. Patients were randomized to either a conservative or invasive approach regarding potential coronary artery disease (CAD). The conservative group received optimal medical therapy alone, while the invasive group had routine CA and fractional flow reserve-guided revascularization. The primary endpoint was myocardial infarction (MI) and 12-month mortality.Due to COVID-19 pandemic burdens, recruitment was halted prematurely. One hundred eighty-five patients were enrolled. Baseline cardiac symptoms were scarce with 92% being asymptomatic. Eighty-nine patients were randomized to the invasive approach of whom 73 underwent CA. Thirty-four percent had functional single-vessel disease, 26% had functional multi-vessel disease, and 90% achieved complete revascularization. Conservative and invasive groups had similar incidences of death and MI at 1 year (11% vs 10%; hazard ratio 1.21 [0.49-2.98]). Major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) trended for hazard in the Conservative group (20 vs 10%; hazard ratio 1.94 [0.90-4.19]). In the per-protocol analysis, the primary endpoint remained insignificantly different (11% vs 7%; hazard ratio 2.01 [0.72-5.57]), but the conservative approach had a higher MACCE risk (20% vs 7%; hazard ratio 2.88 [1.24-6.68]).This trial found no significant difference in the primary endpoint but observed a trend of higher MACCE in the conservative arm