Evaluation of commercial ADC radiation tolerance for accelerator experiments

Electronic components used in high energy physics experiments are subjected to a radiation background composed of high energy hadrons, mesons and photons. These particles can induce permanent and transient effects that affect the normal device operation. Ionizing dose and displacement damage can cause chronic damage which disable the device permanently. Transient effects or single event effects are in general recoverable with time intervals that depend on the nature of the failure. The magnitude of these effects is technology dependent with feature size being one of the key parameters. Analog to digital converters are components that are frequently used in detector front end electronics, generally placed as close as possible to the sensing elements to maximize signal fidelity. We report on radiation effects tests conducted on 17 commercially available analog to digital converters and extensive single event effect measurements on specific twelve and fourteen bit ADCs that presented high tolerance to ionizing dose. Mitigation strategies for single event effects (SEE) are discussed for their use in the large hadron collider environment.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figure

Theatre is a valid add-on therapeutic intervention for emotional rehabilitation of parkinson's disease patients

Conventional medical treatments of Parkinson's disease (PD) are effective on motor disturbances but may have little impact on nonmotor symptoms, especially psychiatric ones. Thus, even when motor symptomatology improves, patients might experience deterioration in their quality of life. We have shown that 3 years of active theatre is a valid complementary intervention for PD as it significantly improves the well-being of patients in comparison to patients undergoing conventional physiotherapy. Our aim was to replicate these findings while improving the efficacy of the treatment. We ran a single-blinded pilot study lasting 15 months on 24 subjects with moderate idiopathic PD. 12 were assigned to a theatre program in which patients underwent "emotional" training. The other 12 underwent group physiotherapy. Patients were evaluated at the beginning and at the end of their treatments, using a battery of eight clinical and five neuropsychological scales. We found that the emotional theatre training improved the emotional well-being of patients, whereas physiotherapy did not. Interestingly, neither of the groups showed improvements in either motor symptoms or cognitive abilities tested by the neuropsychological battery. We confirmed that theatre therapy might be helpful in improving emotional well-being in PD

De novo expression of uncoupling protein 3 is associated to enhanced mitochondrial thioesterase-1 expression and fatty acid metabolism in liver of fenofibrate-treated rats

AbstractUncoupling protein 3 (UCP3) is a member of the mitochondrial carrier superfamily, preferentially expressed in skeletal muscle. Its function is not fully understood and it is debated whether it uncouples oxidative phosphorylation as does UCP1 in brown adipose tissue. Recent evidences suggest a role for UCP3 in the flux of fatty acids in and out mitochondria and their utilization in concert with mitochondrial thioesterase-1 (MTE-1). In fact, mice overexpressing muscle UCP3 also show high levels of MTE-1. Fenofibrate is a hypolipidemic drug that prevents body weight gain in diet-induced obese rats and enhances lipid metabolism by activating peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs). Because fatty acids and fenofibrate stimulate PPARs and in turn UCP3, we investigated whether UCP3 expression might be induced ‘de novo’ in situations of increased hepatic mitochondrial fatty acid utilization caused by a combined effect of a high-fat diet and fenofibrate treatment. We also investigated whether Mte-1 expression and β-oxidation were affected. We show here that Ucp3 is induced in liver of fenofibrate-treated rats at the mRNA and protein level. Expression was restricted to hepatocytes and was unevenly distributed in the liver. No increase in cell proliferation, inflammatory or fibrotic responses was found. Mte-1 expression and mitochondrial β-oxidation were upregulated. Thus, Ucp3 can be transactivated in tissues where it is normally silent and fenofibrate can attain this effect in liver. The data demonstrate that UCP3 is involved in fatty acid utilization and support the notion that UCP3 and MTE-1 are linked within the same metabolic pathway

Atypical response of class IC atrial flutter to adenosine

We report the case of a 67-year-old female with a wide QRS complex tachycardia at 180 bpm. A diagnosis of class IC atrial flutter with aberrant ventricular conduction caused by flecainide therapy was formulated. Intravenous adenosine administration resulted in adequate slowing of the ventricular rate and normalization of QRS complexes. Restoration of sinus rhythm was achieved with intravenous amiodarone. The response to adenosine confirmed the diagnosis of supraventricular tachycardia with aberrant conduction, but the transition from arrhythmia onset to restoration of sinus rhythm showed interesting peculiarities

Actin remodeling driven by circLIMA1: sperm cell as an intriguing cellular model

CircRNA cargo in spermatozoa (SPZ) participates in setting cell quality, in terms of morphology and motility. Cannabinoid receptor CB1 activity is correlated with a proper spermatogenesis and epididymal sperm maturation. Despite CB1 promotes endogenous skill to circularize mRNAs in SPZ, few notions are reported regarding the functional link between endocannabinoids and spermatic circRNA cargo. In CB1 knock-out male mice, we performed a complete dataset of spermatic circRNA content by microarray strategy. Differentially expressed (DE)-circRNAs, as a function of genotype, were identified. Within DE-circRNAs, we focused the attention on circLIMA1, as putative actin-cytoskeleton architecture regulator. The validation of circLIMA1 dependent-competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network (ceRNET) in in vitro cell line confirmed its activity in the regulation of the cytoskeletal actin. Interestingly, a dynamic actin regulation in SPZ nuclei was found during their epididymal maturation. In this scenario, we showed for the first time an intriguing sperm nuclear actin remodeling, regulated via a ceRNET-independent pathway, consisting in the nuclear shuttling of circLIMA1-QKI interactome and downstream in Gelsolin regulation. In particular, the increased levels of circLIMA1 in CB1 knock-out SPZ, associated with an inefficient depolymerization of nuclear actin, specifically illustrate how endocannabinoids, by regulating circRNA cargo, may contribute to sperm morpho-cellular maturation

Comparison Between Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy and Intra-articular Hyaluronic Acid Injections in the Treatment of First Carpometacarpal Joint Osteoarthritis

ObjectiveTo compare extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) with hyaluronic acid (HA) intra-articular injections in terms of pain relief, improvement in hand function, and strength in subjects with first carpometacarpal (CMC) joint osteoarthritis.MethodsFifty-eight patients received either focused ESWT or HA injection once a week for 3 consecutive weeks. In the ESWT group, 2,400 consecutive pulses were performed during each treatment session using a frequency of 4 Hz and an energy flux density of 0.09 mJ/mm2. The HA group underwent one cycle of three injections of 0.5 cm3 HA. The main outcome measures were pain and hand function as measured by the visual analogue scale (VAS) and Duruoz Hand Index (DHI), respectively. The secondary outcomes were grip and pinch strength. Each assessment was performed at baseline, at the end of treatment, and at 3- and 6-month follow-up visits.ResultsAccording to VAS and DHI scores, a significant change in test performance was observed over time in both groups (p<0.001), with a greater average improvement in painful symptomatology at the 6-month follow-up in the ESWT group. A significant improvement in strength was observed in both groups, but the ESWT group showed better results on the pinch test starting immediately at the end of treatment.ConclusionThe use of ESWT in patients with first CMC joint osteoarthritis leads to a reduction in pain, an improvement in pinch test performance that persists for at least 6 months, and a decrease in hand disability up to the 6-month follow-up visit