Influence of Mother Tongue on Dynamic Handwriting Features in Primary School

Handwriting is an essential fine motor skill in school-aged children and plays a crucial role for educational development and autonomy of everyday life. To analyze hand-writing movement an objective quantitative kinematic analysis can be performed by using digital tablets. Through this tech-nology it was possible to identify a lot of parameters useful to characterize the handwriting process. In order to study the influence of mother tongue on the dy-namic of handwriting in primary school, we examined the writing response of 42 non-native speakers and compared their characteristics with those of 131 Italian mother tongue chil-dren. All children undertook one repetitive sequence of le and an Italian sentence written in two different ways: as accurately as and as fast as possible. The results showed that the differences between native and non-native speakers were not significant in the repetitive se-quence while a clear influence of mother tongue was present only in the third grade for the sentence tasks

Shrec'16 Track: Retrieval of Human Subjects from Depth Sensor Data

International audienceIn this paper we report the results of the SHREC 2016 contest on "Retrieval of human subjects from depth sensor data". The proposed task was created in order to verify the possibility of retrieving models of query human subjects from single shots of depth sensors, using shape information only. Depth acquisition of different subjects were realized under different illumination conditions, using different clothes and in three different poses. The resulting point clouds of the partial body shape acquisitions were segmented and coupled with the skeleton provided by the OpenNI software and provided to the participants together with derived triangulated meshes. No color information was provided. Retrieval scores of the different methods proposed were estimated on the submitted dissimilarity matrices and the influence of the different acquisition conditions on the algorithms were also analyzed. Results obtained by the participants and by the baseline methods demonstrated that the proposed task is, as expected, quite difficult, especially due the partiality of the shape information and the poor accuracy of the estimated skeleton, but give useful insights on potential strategies that can be applied in similar retrieval procedures and derived practical applications. Categories and Subject Descriptors (according to ACM CCS): I.4.8 [IMAGE PROCESSING AND COMPUTER VISION]: Scene Analysis—Shap

Dark Matter Annihilation around Intermediate Mass Black Holes: an update

The formation and evolution of Black Holes inevitably affects the distribution of dark and baryonic matter in the neighborhood of the Black Hole. These effects may be particularly relevant around Supermassive and Intermediate Mass Black Holes (IMBHs), the formation of which can lead to large Dark Matter overdensities, called {\em spikes} and {\em mini-spikes} respectively. Despite being larger and more dense, spikes evolve at the very centers of galactic halos, in regions where numerous dynamical effects tend to destroy them. Mini-spikes may be more likely to survive, and they have been proposed as worthwhile targets for indirect Dark Matter searches. We review here the formation scenarios and the prospects for detection of mini-spikes, and we present new estimates for the abundances of mini-spikes to illustrate the sensitivity of such predictions to cosmological parameters and uncertainties regarding the astrophysics of Black Hole formation at high redshift. We also connect the IMBHs scenario to the recent measurements of cosmic-ray electron and positron spectra by the PAMELA, ATIC, H.E.S.S., and Fermi collaborations.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures. Invited contribution to NJP Focus Issue on "Dark Matter and Particle Physics

Abnormal thymic stromal lymphopoietin expression in the duodenal mucosa of patients with coeliac disease

OBJECTIVE: The short isoform of thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP), a cytokine constitutively expressed by epithelial cells, is crucial in preserving immune tolerance in the gut. TSLP deficiency has been implicated in sustaining intestinal damage in Crohn's disease. We explored mucosal TSLP expression and function in refractory and uncomplicated coeliac disease (CD), a T-cell-mediated enteropathy induced by gluten in genetically susceptible individuals. DESIGN: TSLP isoforms-long and short-and receptors-TSLPR and interleukin (IL)-7Rα-were assessed by immunofluorescence, immunoblotting and qRT-PCR in the duodenum of untreated, treated, potential and refractory patients with CD. The ability of the serine protease furin or CD biopsy supernatants to cleave TSLP was evaluated by immunoblotting. The production of interferon (IFN)-γ and IL-8 by untreated CD biopsies cultured ex vivo with TSLP isoforms was also assessed. RESULTS: Mucosal TSLP, but not TSLPR and IL-7Rα, was reduced in untreated CD and refractory CD in comparison to treated CD, potential CD and controls. Transcripts of both TSLP isoforms were decreased in active CD mucosa. Furin, which was overexpressed in active CD biopsies, was able to cleave TSLP in vitro. Accordingly, refractory and untreated CD supernatants showed higher TSLP-degrading capacity in comparison to treated CD and control supernatants. In our ex vivo model, both TSLP isoforms significantly downregulated IFN-γ and IL-8 production by untreated CD biopsies. CONCLUSIONS: Reduced mucosal TSLP expression may contribute to intestinal damage in refractory and untreated CD. Further studies are needed to verify whether restoring TSLP might be therapeutically useful especially in refractory patients with CD

Diagnosis of pericardial cysts using diffusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging: A case series

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Congenital pericardial cysts are benign lesions that arise from the pericardium during embryonic development. The diagnosis is based on typical imaging features, but atypical locations and signal magnetic resonance imaging sequences make it difficult to exclude other lesions. Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging is a novel method that can be used to differentiate tissues based on their restriction to proton diffusion. Its use in differentiating pericardial cysts from other pericardial lesions has not yet been described.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We present three cases (a 51-year-old Caucasian woman, a 66-year-old Caucasian woman and a 77-year-old Caucasian woman) with pericardial cysts evaluated with diffusion-weighted imaging using cardiac magnetic resonance imaging. Each lesion demonstrated a high apparent diffusion coefficient similar to that of free water.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This case series is the first attempt to investigate the utility of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging in the assessment of pericardial cysts. Diffusion-weighted imaging may be a useful noninvasive diagnostic tool for pericardial cysts when conventional imaging findings are inconclusive.</p

Dark Matter Candidates: A Ten-Point Test

An extraordinarily rich zoo of non-baryonic Dark Matter candidates has been proposed over the last three decades. Here we present a 10-point test that a new particle has to pass, in order to be considered a viable DM candidate: I.) Does it match the appropriate relic density? II.) Is it {\it cold}? III.) Is it neutral? IV.) Is it consistent with BBN? V.) Does it leave stellar evolution unchanged? VI.) Is it compatible with constraints on self-interactions? VII.) Is it consistent with {\it direct} DM searches? VIII.) Is it compatible with gamma-ray constraints? IX.) Is it compatible with other astrophysical bounds? X.) Can it be probed experimentally?Comment: 29 pages, 12 figure

Gamma rays from Dark Matter Annihilation in the Central Region of the Galaxy

In this article, we review the prospects for the Fermi satellite (formerly known as GLAST) to detect gamma rays from dark matter annihilations in the Central Region of the Milky Way, in particular on the light of the recent astrophysical observations and discoveries of Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes. While the existence of significant backgrounds in this part of the sky limits Fermi's discovery potential to some degree, this can be mitigated by exploiting the peculiar energy spectrum and angular distribution of the dark matter annihilation signal relative to those of astrophysical backgrounds.Comment: v3: corrected typos, content unchange

Gluten sensitivity enteropathy in patients with recurrent aphthous stomatitis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Gluten sensitive enteropathy (GSE) is an autoimmune enteropathy triggered by the ingestion of gluten-containing grains in susceptible individuals. Recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS) may be the sole manifestation of GSE. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of gluten sensitivity enteropathy (GSE) in a large group of patients with RAS and assess the efficacy of gluten free diet (GFD) on the improvement of aphthous lesions in those who were diagnosed with GSE.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Two hundred and forty seven patients with RAS were included. The patients had at least three aphthous attacks per year. Patients were screened by IgA anti-endomysial antibody (EMA), IgA anti tissue transglutaminase (TTG) and serum IgA level. Those with a positive serology underwent endoscopic biopsies of the duodenal mucosa and patients with negative serology were excluded. The diagnosis of GSE was based on a positive serological test and abnormal duodenal histology. For patients with GSE, gluten free diet was recommended.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Six out of 247 RAS patients had positive TTG test alone, and one had positive EMA and TTG. All 7 patients with positive serologic tests underwent duodenal biopsies. Histological findings were compatible with GSE in all of them (Marsh I in four patients, Marsh II in two patients and Marsh IIIB in one another.). The mean age of GSE patients was 27.42 ± 10.56 (range, 13 to 40) years old. They were suffering from RAS for an average duration of 4.5 years. All of the 7 GSE patients had not responded to the routine anti-aphthae medications, including topical corticosteroids, tetracycline and colchicine. Four patients who adhered to a strict gluten-free diet showed noticeable improvement in their aphthous lesions over a period of 6 months.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>A significant minority (e.g. 2.83%) of RAS patients have GSE. This could be compared with the 0.9% prevalence of GSE in the general population of Iran. This study suggests that evaluation for celiac disease is appropriate in patients with RAS. Additionally, the unresponsiveness to conventional anti-aphthae treatment could be an additional risk indicator.</p