ASTRI SST-2M archive system: a prototype for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

The ASTRI project of the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) is developing, in the framework of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), an end-to-end prototype system based on a dual-mirror small-sized Cherenkov telescope. Data preservation and accessibility are guaranteed by means of the ASTRI Archive System (AAS) that is responsible for both the on-site and off-site archiving of all data produced by the different sub- systems of the so-called ASTRI SST-2M prototype. Science, calibration, and Monte Carlo data together with the dedicated Instrument Response Functions (IRFs) (and corresponding metadata) will be properly stored and organized in different branches of the archive. A dedicated technical data archive (TECH archive) will store the engineering and auxiliary data and will be organized under a parallel database system. Through the use of a physical system archive and a few logical user archives that reflect the different archive use-cases, the AAS has been designed to be independent from any specific data model and storage technology. A dedicated framework to access, browse and download the telescope data has been identified within the proposal handling utility that stores and arranges the information of the observational proposals. The development of the whole archive system follows the requirements of the CTA data archive and is currently carried out by the INAF-OAR & ASI-Science Data Center (ASDC) team. The AAS is fully adaptable and ready for the ASTRI mini-array that, formed of at least nine ASTRI SST-2M telescopes, is proposed to be installed at the CTA southern site

Long term nucleotide and nucleoside analogs treatment in chronic hepatitis B HBeAg negative genotype D patients and risk for hepatocellular carcinoma

Background and rationale of the study. Effect of Long-term nucleoside/nucleotide (NUC) on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) incidence in a population of HBeAg-negative genotype D patients has not been adequately studied in real-life cohorts. Our aim was to evaluate the impact of liver fibrosis and other variables on HCC incidence in this population of patients. Of 745 patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB), 306 HBeAg-negative genotype D were selected and included in this study. All patients received treatment with NUC for at least 18 months. Patients with CHB or compensated cirrhosis were included. Patients with HCC diagnosed before or during the first 18 months of NUC therapy were excluded. Results. HCC was diagnosed in 2 CHB patients (1.0%) and 23 cirrhosis patients (20%) (OR = 24.41, 95% CI 5.40 < OR < 153.2; p < 0.0001). Multivariate analysis revealed that HCC risk was independently associated with age ≥ 60 years (OR = 6.45, 95% CI 1.22 to 34.0; p = 0.02) and liver cirrhosis (OR = 12.1, 95% CI 1.39 to 106.2; p = 0.02), but not with virological response (VR), and previous resistance to NUC, or rescue therapy. Multivariate analysis in cirrhosis patients revealed that only age ≥ 60 years was an independent risk factor associated with HCC (p = 0.003). Conclusions. Liver cirrhosis and age ≥ 60 years are the stronger risk factors for HCC in genotype D HBeAgnegative patients. Previous resistance to NUC in patients that achieved a VR after rescue therapy was not a predictive factor regarding HCC. VR does not appear to significantly reduce the overall incidence of HCC when a patient has already progressed to liver cirrhosis

Correction of beta-thalassemia major by gene transfer in haematopoietic progenitors of pediatric patients

Beta-thalassemia is a common monogenic disorder due to mutations in the beta-globin gene and gene therapy, based on autologous transplantation of genetically corrected haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), holds the promise to treat patients lacking a compatible bone marrow (BM) donor. We recently showed correction of murine beta-thalassemia by gene transfer in HSCs with the GLOBE lentiviral vector (LV), expressing a transcriptionally regulated human beta-globin gene. Here, we report successful correction of thalassemia major in human cells, by studying a large cohort of pediatric patients of diverse ethnic origin, carriers of different mutations and all candidates to BM transplantation. Extensive characterization of BM-derived CD34(+) cells before and following gene transfer shows the achievement of high frequency of transduction, restoration of haemoglobin A synthesis, rescue from apoptosis and correction of ineffective erythropoiesis. The procedure does not significantly affect the differentiating potential and the relative proportion of haematopoietic progenitors. Analysis of vector integrations shows preferential targeting of transcriptionally active regions, without bias for cancer-related genes. Overall, these results provide a solid rationale for a future clinical translation

The Carina Project. IV. radial velocity distribution

We present new and accurate radial velocity (RV) measurements of luminous stars of all ages (old horizontal branch, intermediate--age red clump, and young blue plume, as well as red giants of a range of ages; 20.6<V<22) in the Carina dwarf spheroidal galaxy, based on low-resolution spectra collected with the FORS2 multi-object slit spectrograph at the VLT. This data set was complemented by RV measurements based on medium and high-resolution archive spectra of brighter (V<20.6) Carina targets collected with the GIRAFFE multi-object fiber spectrograph at the VLT. The combined sample includes more than 21,340 individual spectra of ~2,000 stars covering the entire body of the galaxy. To further improve the statistics, the accurate RV measurements recently provided by Walker et al.(2007) were also added to the current data set. We ended up with a sample of ~1,370 RV measurements of candidate Carina stars that is ~75% larger than any previous Carina RV sample. The mean RV across the body of the galaxy varies from ~220 km/s at a distance of 7arcmin (~200 pc) from the center to ~223 km/s at 13arcmin, (~400 pc, 6sigma level) and flattens out to a constant value of ~221 km/s at larger distances (600 pc, 4sigma level). Moreover and even more importantly, we found that in the Carina regions where the mean RV is smaller the dispersion is also smaller, and the RV distribution is more centrally peaked (i.e. the kurtosis attains larger values). There is evidence of a secondary maximum in RV across the Carina center (|D|<200 pc). The occurrence of a secondary feature across the Carina center is also supported by the flat-topped radial distribution based on the photometric catalog.Comment: Accepted on PASP, 9 pages, 13 figures, 1 tabl

The AGILE Mission

AGILE is an Italian Space Agency mission dedicated to observing the gamma-ray Universe. The AGILE's very innovative instrumentation for the first time combines a gamma-ray imager (sensitive in the energy range 30 MeV-50 GeV), a hard X-ray imager (sensitive in the range 18-60 keV), a calorimeter (sensitive in the range 350 keV-100 MeV), and an anticoincidence system. AGILE was successfully launched on 2007 April 23 from the Indian base of Sriharikota and was inserted in an equatorial orbit with very low particle background. Aims. AGILE provides crucial data for the study of active galactic nuclei, gamma-ray bursts, pulsars, unidentified gamma-ray sources, galactic compact objects, supernova remnants, TeV sources, and fundamental physics by microsecond timing. Methods. An optimal sky angular positioning (reaching 0.1 degrees in gamma- rays and 1-2 arcmin in hard X-rays) and very large fields of view (2.5 sr and 1 sr, respectively) are obtained by the use of Silicon detectors integrated in a very compact instrument. Results. AGILE surveyed the gamma- ray sky and detected many Galactic and extragalactic sources during the first months of observations. Particular emphasis is given to multifrequency observation programs of extragalactic and galactic objects. Conclusions. AGILE is a successful high-energy gamma-ray mission that reached its nominal scientific performance. The AGILE Cycle-1 pointing program started on 2007 December 1, and is open to the international community through a Guest Observer Program

ASTRI Mini-Array Use Cases of the Stereo Event Builder Software System

This document defines the Use Cases of the Stereo Event Builder software system of the ASTRI Mini-Array. The use cases contained in this document are part of the functional requirements of the Mini-Array Data Processing System. These requirements complement the high-level functional and quality requirements provided in [AD3] and the top level use cases reported in [AD6]. The SEB system shall manage the Cherenkov Data Model described in [AD5]

ASTRI Mini-Array Software Requirements Specification of the CDP - MC LUT/IRF Generation subsystem

The present document defines and describes the operational, functional and non-functional requirements of the MC LUT/IRF Generation software system, a subsystem of the ASTRI Mini-Array Cherenkov Data Pipeline (CDP). The intended audience of this document is any potential users of the ASTRI-MA MC LUT/IRF Generation software: system engineers, designers, developers, testers (either unit, validation or integration), and/or any contractor involved in the ASTRI Mini-Array who has in charge the production of any sub-system which interface the MC LUT/IRF Gen. System. From this specification, the MC LUT/IRF Generation software architecture will be established, which defines the boundaries of the interconnected components, and therefore their requirements and interfaces, as well as the requirements for the software infrastructure and the application frameworks

Gruppo CTA - Attività Secondo Semestre 2015

In questo documento è riportata la descrizione delle attività svolte dal Team “CTA” di ASDC durante il primo semestre del 2015. Il team è composto da Angelo Antonelli (INAF Project Scientist), Alessandro Carosi, Saverio Lombardi, Fabrizio Lucarelli (coordinatore) e Michele Mastropietro