CaloShowerGAN, a Generative Adversarial Networks model for fast calorimeter shower simulation

In particle physics, the demand for rapid and precise simulations is rising. The shift from traditional methods to machine learning-based approaches has led to significant advancements in simulating complex detector responses. CaloShowerGAN is a new approach for fast calorimeter simulation based on Generative Adversarial Network (GAN). We use Dataset 1 of the Fast Calorimeter Simulation Challenge 2022 to demonstrate the efficacy of the model to simulate calorimeter showers produced by photons and pions. The dataset is originated from the ATLAS experiment, and we anticipate that this approach can be seamlessly integrated into the ATLAS system. This development marks a significant improvement compared to the deployed GANs by ATLAS and could offer substantial enhancement to the current ATLAS fast simulations.Comment: 26 pages, 17 figure

Interactions of hadrons in the CALICE SiW ECAL prototype

This article presents results of test beams obtained for pions with energies between 2 and 10 GeV which interact in the volume of the highly granular CALICE Silicon-Tungsten electromagnetic calorimeter prototype (SiW ECAL). An algorithm optimised to find interactions in the SiW ECAL at small hadron energies is developed. This allows identifying the interaction point in the calorimeter at an efficiency between 62% and 83% depending on the energy of the primary particle. The unprecedented granularity of the SiW ECAL allows for the distinction between different interaction types. This in turn permits more detailed examinations of hadronic models than was possible with traditional calorimeters. So far, it is possible to disentangle minimum ionising particle (MIP) events, elastic π-nucleus scattering and spallation reactions which lead to the start of a internuclear cascade or which result in a small number of highly ionising particles. Various observables are compared with predictions from hadronic physics lists as contained in the simulation toolkit geant4

Strategie alimentari urbane e il ruolo del dietista: come promuovere una dieta sostenibile?

Posto che le attuali scelte di produzione e consumo legate alle diete a livello globale hanno evidenziato numerosi impatti ambientali negativi, l’obiettivo di questa tesi è, dopo aver illustrato quali sono le strategie nate e che stanno nascendo a livello di governance globale, internazionale, nazionale e locale per contrastare il problema, analizzare il possibile ruolo della figura del dietista nelle politiche e nelle strategie alimentari urbane

PSORIASI: CURE FISICHE E TALASSOTERAPICHE

La psoriasi nella varietà a placche è una malattia infiammatoria della cute che si manifesta con placche arrossate e squamose in genere distribuite in maniera simmetrica ai gomiti, ginocchia e al cuoio capelluto ma tutte le zone della cute, così come le unghie, possono essere colpite.La psoriasi può insorgere a tutte le età, ma in genere esordisce prima dei 40 anni. Ha un andamento cronico recidivante con fasi di esacerbazione alternate a fasi di remissione di durata variabile.Essa deriva da un abnorme attivazione del sistema immunitario che si traduce in una infiammazione cutanea,proliferazione dei cheratinociti e formazione di nuovi vasi nel derma. Nei casi meno gravi esistono trattamenti topici che consistono in emollienti,cheratolitici, ditranolo, catrami,corticosteroidi,derivati della vitamina D3, retinoidi e fototerapia oppure terapie fisiche che utilizzano soprattutto UVA a banda larga, UVB e UVB a banda stretta, la PUVA terapia, la Re-PUVA terapia e la luce ad eccimeri. Nei casi più gravi oltre la ciclosporina e il metotrexate,l'uso di farmaci di nuova generazione detti "biologici" è in grado di interferire con il meccanismo fisiopatologico dalla malattia. Il centro di ricerca DMZ e Arava sul Mar Morto in Israele,diretto dal Dr Marco Harari, ha studiato per più di un decennio gli effetti terapeutici delle acque e della climatoterapia sul Mar Morto su una varietà di malattie croniche nelle quali l'esposizione alle risorse naturali del Mar Morto ha scientificamente mostrato effetti terapeutici considerevolmente positivi. Tra le malattie cutanee, la psoriasi è la più responsiva alla terapia ed è stata studiata in dettaglio. I risultati descritti nel seguente lavoro di tesi indicano che la cura è particolarmente efficace e priva di effetti collaterali e che la durata dell'effetto terapeutico inteso come il non ripresentarsi della malattia perdura,nella maggior parte dei casi, oltre la la seconda metà del primo anno dopo la fine del trattamento climtoterapico. Il costo economico di tre o quattro settimane di talassoterapia sul Mar Morto, in confronto con molti degli altri trattamenti,risulta economicamente favorevole e privo di effetti collaterali dannosi per il paziente. Inoltre, alcune terapie che usano i farmaci immunosoppressori e la PUVA terapia possono presentare gravi effetti collaterali mentre i farmaci cosiddetti "biologici" presentano ancora costi elevati e i loro effetti a lungo termine anche molto gravi non sono stati completamente chiariti

Italian-style pluralism in economics

This is an essay on the philosophy of science and the methodology and historiography of political economy. It deals with theory appraisal and with the question of which rules, if any, should deal with the search for progress in economic knowledge. (Here is the portion of the essay written by Duccio Cavalieri)

The influence of the preparation methods on the inclusion of model drugs in a β-cyclodextrin cavity

NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Eur J Pharm Biopharm. 2009 Feb;71(2):377-386. Epub 2008 Oct 17.The work aims to prove the complexation of two model drugs (ibuprofen, IB and indomethacin, IN) by bcyclodextrin (bCD), and the effect of water in such a process, and makes a comparison of their complexation yields. Two methods were considered: kneading of a binary mixture of the drug, bCD, and inclusion of either IB or IN in aqueous solutions of bCD. In the latter method water was removed by air stream, spray-drying and freeze-drying. To prove the formation of complexes in final products, optical microscopy, UV spectroscopy, IR spectroscopy, DSC, X-ray and NMR were considered. Each powder was added to an acidic solution (pH = 2) to quantify the concentration of the drug inside bCD cavity. Other media (pH = 5 and 7) were used to prove the existence of drug not complexed in each powder, as the drugs solubility increases with the pH. It was observed that complexation occurred in all powders, and that the fraction of drug inside the bCD did not depend neither on the method of complexation nor on the processes of drying considered

Spatial variation and antecedent sea surface temperature conditions influence Hawaiian intertidal community structure

Global sea surface temperatures (SSTs) are increasing, and in Hawaiʻi, rates of ocean warming are projected to double by the end of the 21st century. However, current nearshore warming trends and their possible impacts on intertidal communities are not well understood. This study represents the first investigation into the possible effects of rising SST on intertidal algal and invertebrate communities across the Main Hawaiian Islands (MHI). By utilizing citizen-science data coupled with high-resolution, daily SST satellite measurements from 12 intertidal sites across the MHI from 2004–2019, the response of intertidal algal and invertebrate abundance and community diversity to changes in SST was investigated across multiple spatial scales. Results show high rates of SST warming (0.40°C Decade-1) over this study’s timeframe, similar to predicted rates of warming for Hawaiʻi by the end of the 21st century. Changes in abundance and diversity in response to SST were variable among intertidal sites, but differences in antecedent SST among intertidal sites were significantly associated with community dissimilarity. In addition, a statistically significant positive relationship was found between SST and Simpson’s diversity index, and a significant relationship was also found between SST and the abundance of six dominant taxa. For five of these six dominant taxa, antecedent SSTs over the 6–12 months preceding sampling were the most influential for describing changes to abundance. The increase in community diversity in response to higher SSTs was best explained by temperatures in the 10 months preceding sampling, and the resultant decreased abundance of dominant turf algae. These results highlight rapidly warming nearshore SSTs in Hawaiʻi and the longer-term effects of antecedent SSTs as significant drivers of change within Hawaiian intertidal communities. Therefore, we suggest that future research and management should consider the possibility of lagging effects of antecedent SST on intertidal communities in Hawaiʻi and elsewhere