Planar master integrals for the two-loop light-fermion electroweak corrections to Higgs plus jet production

We present the analytic calculation of the planar master integrals which contribute to compute the two-loop light-fermion electroweak corrections to the production of a Higgs boson in association with a jet in gluon-gluon fusion. The complete dependence on the electroweak-boson mass is retained. The master integrals are evaluated by means of the differential equations method and the analytic results are expressed in terms of multiple polylogarithms up to weight four.Comment: 21 pages, ancillary file

Sharing Cultural Heritage: the Clavius on the Web Project

In the last few years the amount of manuscripts digitized and made available on the Web has been constantly increasing. However, there is still a considarable lack of results concerning both the explicitation of their content and the tools developed to make it available. The objective of the Clavius on the Web project is to develop a Web platform exposing a selection of Christophorus Clavius letters along with three different levels of analysis: linguistic, lexical and semantic. The multilayered annotation of the corpus involves a XML-TEI encoding followed by a tokenization step where each token is univocally identified through a CTS urn notation and then associated to a part-of-speech and a lemma. The text is lexically and semantically annotated on the basis of a lexicon and a domain ontology, the former structuring the most relevant terms occurring in the text and the latter representing the domain entities of interest (e.g. people, places, etc.). Moreover, each entity is connected to linked and non linked resources, including DBpedia and VIAF. Finally, the results of the three layers of analysis are gathered and shown through interactive visualization and storytelling techniques. A demo version of the integrated architecture was developed

Beyond the “Pain Matrix,” inter-run synchronization during mechanical nociceptive stimulation

Pain is a complex experience that is thought to emerge from the activity of multiple brain areas, some of which are inconsistently detected using traditional fMRI analysis. One hypothesis is that the traditional analysis of pain-related cerebral responses, by relying on the correlation of a predictor and the canonical hemodynamic response function (HRF)- the general linear model (GLM)- may under-detect the activity of those areas involved in stimulus processing that do not present a canonical HRF. In this study, we employed an innovative data-driven processing approach- an inter-run synchronization (IRS) analysis- that has the advantage of not establishing any pre-determined predictor definition. With this method we were able to evidence the involvement of several brain regions that are not usually found when using predictor-based analysis. These areas are synchronized during the administration of mechanical punctate stimuli and are characterized by a BOLD response different from the canonical HRF. This finding opens to new approaches in the study of pain imaging

Node detection using high-dimensional fuzzy parcellation applied to the insular cortex

Several functional connectivity approaches require the definition of a set of regions of interest (ROIs) that act as network nodes. Different methods have been developed to define these nodes and to derive their functional and effective connections, most of which are rather complex. Here we aim to propose a relatively simple “one-step” border detection and ROI estimation procedure employing the fuzzy c-mean clustering algorithm. To test this procedure and to explore insular connectivity beyond the two/three-region model currently proposed in the literature, we parcellated the insular cortex of 20 healthy right-handed volunteers scanned in a resting state. By employing a high-dimensional functional connectivity-based clustering process, we confirmed the two patterns of connectivity previously described. This method revealed a complex pattern of functional connectivity where the two previously detected insular clusters are subdivided into several other networks, some of which are not commonly associated with the insular cortex, such as the default mode network and parts of the dorsal attentional network. Furthermore, the detection of nodes was reliable, as demonstrated by the confirmative analysis performed on a replication group of subjects

How do morphological alterations caused by chronic pain distribute across the brain? A meta-analytic co-alteration study

It was recently suggested that in brain disorders neuronal alterations does not occur randomly, but tend to form patterns that resemble those of cerebral connectivity. Following this hypothesis, we studied the network formed by co-altered brain regions in patients with chronic pain. We used a meta-analytical network approach in order to: i) find out whether the neuronal alterations distribute randomly across the brain; ii) find out (in the case of a non-random pattern of distribution) whether a disease-specific pattern of brain co-alterations can be identified and characterized in terms of altered areas (nodes) and propagation links between them (edges); iii) verify whether the co-alteration pattern overlaps with the pattern of functional connectivity; iv) describe the topological properties of the co-alteration network and identify the highly connected nodes that are supposed to have a pre-eminent role in the diffusion timing of neuronal alterations across the brain. Our results indicate that: i) gray matter (GM) alterations do not occur randomly; ii) a symptom-related pattern of structural co-alterations can be identified for chronic pain; iii) this co-alteration pattern resembles the pattern of brain functional connectivity; iv) within the co-alteration network a set of highly connected nodes can be identified.This study provides further support to the hypothesis that neuronal alterations may spread according to the logic of a network-like diffusion suggesting that this type of distribution may also apply to chronic pain. Keywords: Chronic pain, Neuronal alterations, Pathoconnectomics, Co-alteration network, Network analysis, Voxel-based morphometr

Case Report: Crossing a rugged road in a primary immune regulatory disorder

over the last decades, Inborn errors of immunity (IEI) characterized by an immune dysregulatory picture, isolated or combined with infections, have been increasingly identified and referred as primary immune regulatory disorders (PIRD). PIRD diagnosis may be difficult due to heterogeneity of time onset, sequence of clinical manifestations and laboratory abnormalities. moreover, the dissection of a PIRD vs. a secondary immunodeficiency (SID) might be a real challenge since the same indications for immunosuppressant treatments might represent per se a PIRD clinical expression. here we report a female patient with a history of recurrent respiratory and urinary tract infections since early infancy and a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis in adulthood. after poor response to several biologicals she was treated with rituximab and sent to immunology referral for a severe hypogammaglobulinemia. clinical and immunological features matched a diagnosis of common variable immunodeficiency and when IgG replacement therapy and antibiotic prophylaxis were added a good infectious control was obtained. hh next generation sequencing analysis has revealed a novel heterozygous VUS in the IKBKB gene (c.1465A > G; p.Ser489Gly). functional analysis has shown a reduced capacity of B lymphocytes and CD4 positive T cells in inducing I kappa B alpha degradation, with negative impact on NF-kB pathway. due to recurrent infections attributed to a common condition in childhood and to an exclusive autoimmunity-centered approach in adulthood, both diagnosis and suitable treatment strategies have suffered a significant delay. to reduce the diagnostic delay, pediatricians, general practitioners and specialists should be aware of IEI and the challenges to differentiate them from SID. furthermore, genetic characterization and functional analysis may contribute to a personalized approach, in a perspective of targeted or semi-targeted therapy

The Evolutionary Scenario of Pediatric Unclassified Primary Antibody Deficiency to Adulthood

background: unclassified primary antibody deficiency (unPAD) is a relatively novel inborn error of immunity (IEI) condition that can vary with time to more defined entities. since long-term follow-up (FU) studies are scarce, we aimed to provide insight into the evolutionary clinical and immunological scenario of unPAD children to adulthood and identification of biomarkers of primary immune deficiency (PID) persistence. methods: a total of 23 pediatric unPAD patients underwent clinical and immunological FU for a mean time of 14 years (range 3-32 years, median 16 years). results: UnPAD diagnosis may change over time. at the last FU, 10/23 (44%) children matched the diagnosis of transient hypogammaglobulinemia of infancy and 13/23 (56%) suffered from a persistent PID. In detail, an unPAD condition was confirmed in 7/23 (30%) patients, whereas 3/23 (13%), 2/23 (9%), and 1/23 (4%) were reclassified as common variable immunodeficiency, selective IgA deficiency, and isolated IgM deficiency, respectively. Low IgA, low specific antibody response to pneumococcus, and lower respiratory tract infections at diagnosis were independently associated with IEI persistence. conclusions: long-term monitoring of unPAD patients is required to define their outcome and possible evolution towards a definitive IEI diagnosis

Node Detection Using High-Dimensional Fuzzy Parcellation Applied to the Insular Cortex

Several functional connectivity approaches require the definition of a set of regions of interest (ROIs) that act as network nodes. Different methods have been developed to define these nodes and to derive their functional and effective connections, most of which are rather complex. Here we aim to propose a relatively simple “one-step” border detection and ROI estimation procedure employing the fuzzy c-mean clustering algorithm. To test this procedure and to explore insular connectivity beyond the two/three-region model currently proposed in the literature, we parcellated the insular cortex of 20 healthy right-handed volunteers scanned in a resting state. By employing a high-dimensional functional connectivity-based clustering process, we confirmed the two patterns of connectivity previously described. This method revealed a complex pattern of functional connectivity where the two previously detected insular clusters are subdivided into several other networks, some of which are not commonly associated with the insular cortex, such as the default mode network and parts of the dorsal attentional network. Furthermore, the detection of nodes was reliable, as demonstrated by the confirmative analysis performed on a replication group of subjects

A phase 1 study of mTORC1/2 inhibitor BI 860585 as a single agent or with exemestane or paclitaxel in patients with advanced solid tumors

This phase 1 trial (NCT01938846) determined the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of the mTOR serine/threonine kinase inhibitor, BI 860585, as monotherapy and with exemestane or paclitaxel in patients with advanced solid tumors. This 3+3 dose-escalation study assessed BI 860585 monotherapy (5-300 mg/day; Arm A), BI 860585 (40-220 mg/day; Arm B) with 25 mg/day exemestane, and BI 860585 (80-220 mg/day; Arm C) with 60-80 mg/m(2)/week paclitaxel, in 28-day cycles. Primary endpoints were the number of patients with dose-limiting toxicities (DLTs) in cycle 1 and the MTD. Forty-one, 25, and 24 patients were treated (Arms A, B, and C). DLTs were observed in four (rash (n= 2), elevated alanine aminotransferase/aspartate aminotransferase, diarrhea), four (rash (n= 3), stomatitis, and increased gamma-glutamyl transferase), and two (diarrhea, increased blood creatine phosphokinase) patients in cycle 1. The BI 860585 MTD was 220 mg/day (Arm A) and 160 mg/day (Arms B and C). Nine patients achieved an objective response (Arm B: Four partial responses (PRs); Arm C: Four PRs; one complete response). The disease control rate was 20%, 28%, and 58% (Arms A, B, and C). The most frequent treatment-related adverse events (AEs) were hyperglycemia (54%) and diarrhea (39%) (Arm A); diarrhea (40%) and stomatitis (40%) (Arm B); fatigue (58%) and diarrhea (58%) (Arm C). The MTD was determined in all arms. Antitumor activity was observed with BI 860585 monotherapy and in combination with exemestane or paclitaxel