Diffeomorphic approximation of Sobolev homeomorphisms

Every homeomorphism h : X -> Y between planar open sets that belongs to the Sobolev class W^{1,p}(X,Y), 1<p<\infty, can be approximated in the Sobolev norm by diffeomorphisms.Comment: 21 pages, 5 figure

Comparing the Sustainability of Different Powertrains for Urban Use

The real environment impacts the fuel and energy consumption of any vehicle: technology, physical and social phenomena, traffic, drivers’ behaviour, and so on; many of them are difficult to quantify. The authors’ methodology was used to test the real impact of vehicles in “standard” urban conditions, and many generations of hybrid powertrains are compared. One of the latest performance indexes is the percentage of time the vehicle runs with zero emissions (ZEV). For example, the hybrid vehicle tested ran up to 80% with no emissions and fuel consumption below 3 L per 100 km. A few energy performance indicators were compared between five vehicles: one battery electric vehicle (BEV), two hybrid gasoline–electric vehicles (HEVs), and two traditional vehicles (one diesel and one gasoline). Their potential to use only renewable energy is unrivalled, but today’s vehicles’ performances favour hybrid power trains. This paper summarises the most sustainable powertrain for urban use by comparing experimental data from on-road testing. It also evaluates the benefits of reducing emissions by forecasting the Italian car fleet of 2025 and three use cases of the evolution of car fleets, with a focus on Rome

Influence of Blackberry Plants on the Aroma Profile of Vitis vinifera L. cv. Pinot Noir

V. vinifera cv. Pinot noir vines were grown in pots together with blackberry plants and the effect of this association on the grape aroma was assessed. Preliminary data showed that vines that cohabited with blackberry had a different aroma profile compared to vine grown alone. The association with blackberry increased the concentration of 30 out 74 free aroma compounds and of 24 out 95 bound ones. No aroma compound was identified exclusively in the treated grapes

[A cohort study on mortality and morbidity in the area of Taranto, Southern Italy].

Introduction: the area of Taranto has been investigated in several environmental and epidemiological studies due to the presence of many industrial plants and shipyards. Results from many studies showed excesses of mortality and cancer incidence for the entire city of Taranto, but there are no studies for different geographical areas of the city that take into account the important confounding effect of socioeconomic position. Objective: to assess mortality and hospitalization rates of residents in Taranto, Statte and Massafra through a cohort study, with a particular focus on residents in the districts closest to the industrial complex, taking into account the socioeconomic position. Methods: a cohort of residents during the period 1998-2010 was enrolled. Individual follow-up for assessment of vital status at 31.01.2010 was performed using municipality data. The census-tract socioeconomic position level and the district of residence were assigned to each participant, on the basis of the geocoded addresses at the beginning of the follow-up. Standardized cause specific mortality/morbidity rates, adjusted for age, were calculated by gender and districts of residence. Mortality and morbidity Hazard Ratios (HR, CI95%) were calculated by districts and socioeconomic position using Cox models. All models were adjusted for age and calendar period, and were done separately for men and women. Results: 321.356 people were enrolled in the cohort (48.9% males). Mortality/morbidity risks for natural cause, cancers, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases were found to be higher in low socioeconomic position groups compared to high ones. The analyses by districts have shown several excess mortality/morbidity risks for residents in Tamburi (Tamburi, Isola, Porta Napoli and Lido Azzurro), Borgo, Paolo VI and the municipality of Statte. Conclusions: The results of this study showed a significant relationship between socioeconomic position and health status of people resident in Taranto. People living in the districts closest to the industrial zone have higher mortality/morbidity levels compared to the rest of the area also taking into account the socioeconomic position

Suitability of miRNA assessment in postmortem interval estimation

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this review was to explore recent pieces of evidence focused on the use of miRNAs for PMI estimation both in humans and animal experiments, with particular interest on the best miRNAs to use as reference/target markers in different tissues or biological fluids. MiRNAs are innovative biomarkers used in clinical and research field: they appear very attractive, being introduced in forensic research scenarios even for PMI estimation.MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data from PubMed and Scopus were analyzed from January 2013 to August 2020. Based on inclusion/exclusion criteria, high-quality articles have been selected to become the subject of this review.RESULTS: A total of 737 papers were found but, after titles/abstracts screening for inclusion criteria and a full-text careful selection, 33 papers were deeply studied. After the exclusion of 19 papers, 15 articles remained. Eight papers dealt with animals (mice/rats), two both with animals and humans (for method validation previously built), while 5 exclusively with humans. Myocardium (6/15) and brain (6/15) were the most studied tissues. respectively in mice/rats and humans. PMI considered was up to 7.5 days in mouse studies and less than 3 days in human models.CONCLUSIONS: Because of their significant stability in both early and long PMI, miRNAs are the cleverest reference markers to be used. Temperature and environmental conditions influence mostly mRNA, while miRNAs are less susceptible to them. The best miRNA to choose depends on its tissue specificity, i.e., miR-9 and miR-125 in brain or miR-1 and miR-133 in skeletal muscle/heart

Exponential instability in the fractional Calder\'on problem

In this note we prove the exponential instability of the fractional Calder\'on problem and thus prove the optimality of the logarithmic stability estimate from \cite{RS17}. In order to infer this result, we follow the strategy introduced by Mandache in \cite{M01} for the standard Calder\'on problem. Here we exploit a close relation between the fractional Calder\'on problem and the classical Poisson operator. Moreover, using the construction of a suitable orthonormal basis, we also prove (almost) optimality of the Runge approximation result for the fractional Laplacian, which was derived in \cite{RS17}. Finally, in one dimension, we show a close relation between the fractional Calder\'on problem and the truncated Hilbert transform.Comment: 17 page

Cerebral plasticity in acute vestibular deficit

The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of acute vestibular deficit on the cerebral cortex and its correlation with clinical signs and symptoms. Eight right-handed patients affected by vestibular neuritis, a purely peripheral vestibular lesion, underwent two brain single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) in 1 month. The first SPECT analysis revealed reduced blood flow in the temporal frontal area of the right hemisphere in seven of eight patients, independent of the right/left location of the lesion. The alteration was present always in the right, non-dominant hemisphere and was reversible in some patients 1 month after the onset, together with attenuation of signs and symptoms. It may be hypothesized that the transient reduction of cortical blood flow and subsequently of cortical activity in the non-dominant hemisphere, also the expression of cerebral plasticity, may serve as a defense mechanism aimed to attenuate the vertigo symptom

Variations of neck structures after supracricoid partial laryngectomy: a multislice computed tomography evaluation

Background: Surgery of laryngeal cancer used to profoundly alter the anatomy of the cervical region. Accurate anatomo-embryologic studies and repeated surgical trials allowed recognition of the cricoarytenoid complex as the smallest anatomofunctional unit able to maintain all the laryngeal functions. Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine whether significant variations of neck anatomical parameters exist after partial laryngectomy, and to analyze whether some of these parameters are associated with a positive functional outcome. Methods: Out of 48 patients treated with a surgical technique according to Mayer-Piquet (cricohyoidoepiglottopexy, CHEP) over a 6-year period, 18 patients were enrolled in the study. Patients were all males with a mean age of 60 years. Cervical structures and their relationships were measured by computed tomography, and the measurements before and after surgery were compared. Results: Our data showed that hyoid bone is modified, both in morphology and position during CHEP. More specifically the relation of the hyoid bone to other neck structures ( identified by the alpha-angle) is modified. The neolarynx and trachea undergo a caudocranial shift. All diameters of the cricoid cartilage remain unchanged after surgery. The position of the epiglottis after CHEP, in particular its relation with the arytenoid cartilage, is closely related to swallowing function outcome and recovery time. Conclusions: Our study showed that these structures, and more specifically the relations among them, undergo significant variations after CHEP. Our results identify some parameters, i.e. the alpha-angle, width of the hyoid bone and position of the epiglottis, that may predispose to a positive functional outcome after surgery