Misurare per decidere. Misure e statistica di base.

Nel campo tecnico-scientifico molte decisioni sono supportate da misurazioni. Ma per poter decidere correttamente è importante assegnare ai risultati di misura il loro effettivo significato. Ciò è soprattutto importante, ed espressamente richiesto, quando si opera in Sistemi Qualità. In tal caso la gestione delle misure e prove deve essere rigorosa, e può trovare un concreto supporto negli argomenti qui trattati, per l’attenzione posta a curare insieme la correttezza sostanziale e l’eliminazione di vincoli inutili. Giulio Barbato, Alessandro Germak e Gianfranco Genta sono docenti di “Statistica sperimentale e Misure Meccaniche” ed “Experimental Statistics and Mechanical Measurement” presso il Politecnico di Torino. Giulio Barbato, professore ordinario di Misure Meccaniche e Termiche presso il Politecnico di Torino, ha lavorato per oltre vent’anni presso l’Istituto di Metrologia “G. Colonnetti” del C.N.R. (ora confluito a formare l’INRiM) ove si è occupato sia dei campioni primari nazionali di forza e durezza, sia degli accreditamenti dei Centri di taratura SIT (ora LAT-ACCREDIA). Dal 1997 è titolare di corsi di Misure Meccaniche e Statistica Applicata alla Sperimentazione. Alessandro Germak, primo tecnologo all’Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica dove svolge attività di ricerca da oltre trent’anni, è responsabile dei campioni primari di forza e durezza e dei metodi primari per la misura dell’accelerazione di gravità locale. È esperto tecnico per gli accreditamenti dei Centri di taratura LAT-ACCREDIA ed è membro dei Comitati Consultivi del CIPM e dei comitati tecnici EURAMET per le grandezze di interesse. Gianfranco Genta è ricercatore in “Tecnologie e Sistemi di Lavorazione” presso il Dipartimento di Ingegneria Gestionale e della Produzione del Politecnico di Torino, dove ha conseguito nel 2010 il titolo dottore di ricerca in “Metrologia: Scienza e Tecnica delle Misure”. Si occupa, principalmente, di metrologia industriale, ingegneria della qualità e applicazione di metodi statistici in ambito tecnologico

Breast Cancer Preoperative Staging: Does Contrast-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Mammography Modify Surgery?

Women with newly diagnosed breast cancer may have lesions undetected by conventional imaging. Recently contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance mammography (CE-MRM) showed higher sensitivity in breast lesions detection. The present analysis was aimed at evaluating the benefit of preoperative CE-MRM in the surgical planning. From 2005 to 2009, 525 consecutive women (25–75 years) with breast cancer, newly diagnosed by mammography, ultrasound, and needle-biopsy, underwent CE-MRM. The median invasive tumour size was 19 mm. In 144 patients, CE-MRM identified additional lesions. After secondlook, 119 patients underwent additional biopsy. CE-MRM altered surgery in 118 patients: 57 received double lumpectomy or wider excision (41 beneficial), 41 required mastectomy (40 beneficial), and 20 underwent contra lateral surgery (18 beneficial). The overall false-positive rate was 27.1% (39/144). CE-MRM contributed significantly to the management of breast cancer, suggesting more extensive disease in 144/525 (27.4%) patients and changing the surgical plan in 118/525 (22.5%) patients (99/525, 18.8% beneficial)

«UNE TRÈS-ANCIENNE FAMILLE PIÉMONTAISE». I TAPARELLI NEGLI STATI SABAUDI(XVII-XIX SECOLO)

Frutto di una rielaborazione critica di un convegno tenutosi presso il castello di Lagnasco (CN) il 10 maggio 2016, il volume si presenta come un primo tentativo organico di analisi dello sviluppo di una delle più importanti famiglie del Piemonte tra l’Autunno del Medioevo e l’Unità d’Italia, ovvero i Taparelli. Questo percorso inizia con gli studi di Blythe Alice Raviola, Paolo Cozzo e Laura Facchin i quali, partendo da prospettive storiografiche differenti (politico istituzionali la prima, religioso-devozionali il secondo, storico-artistiche la terza), prendono in considerazione le vicende di questa famiglia nei primi secoli dell’età moderna. I contributi di Andrea Merlotti e Davide De Franco focalizzano invece l’attenzione sulle vicende dinastiche ed economiche della famiglia nel Settecento. Dopo il saggio di Mario Riberi incentrato sulle vicende d’età Napoleonica, Ida Ferrero e Michele Rosboch si concentrano su Luigi Taparelli d’Azeglio, gesuita e filosofo; mentre Matteo Traverso si dedica alla figura più nota dei Taparelli, ovvero Massimo d’Azeglio, nel particolare momento politico della crisi costituzionale subalpina del 1849, causata dalla sconfitta del regno di Sardegna nella prima guerra di indipendenza. Chiudono il volume il contributo di Andrea Pennini su Emanuele d’Azeglio – ultimo della dinastia – e quello di Pierangelo Gentile che traccia un bilancio storiografico della famiglia Taparelli, suggerendo nuovi campi d’indagine

Flow mediated dilation in patient with Berlin Heart Incor left ventricle assist device

Endothelial function measured with brachial ultrasound (BU) is a validated prognostic factor in heart failure patients. LVAD (left ventricle assist device) application is a promising surgical technique to treat refractory heart failure patients both as a bridge to heart transplantation or as destination therapy. Clinical recovery in such patients may be associated to normal endothelial function measured by BU but, as recently reported, only in pulsatile flow LVAD patients. The present paper report a case of normal endothelial function even in a axial LVAD patient

Epigenetic regulation of Delta-Like1 controls Notch1 activation in gastric cancer

The Notch signaling pathway drives proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, cell fate, and maintenance of stem cells in several tissues. Aberrant activation of Notch signaling has been described in several tumours and in gastric cancer (GC), activated Notch1 has been associated with de-differentiation of lineage-committed stomach cells into stem progenitors and GC progression. However, the specific role of the Notch1 ligand (DLL1) in GC has not yet been elucidated. To assess the role of DLL1 in GC cancer, the expression of Notch1 and its ligands DLL1 and Jagged1, was analyzed in 8 gastric cancer cell lines (KATOIII, SNU601, SNU719, AGS, SNU16, MKN1, MKN45, TMK1). DLL1 expression was absent in KATOIII, SNU601, SNU719 and AGS. The lack of DLL1 expression in these cells was associated with promoter hypermethylation and 5-aza-2’deoxycitidine caused up-regulation of DLL1. The increase in DLL1 expression was associated with activation of Notch1 signalling, with an increase in cleaved Notch1 intracellular domain (NICD) and Hes1, and down-regulation in Hath1. Concordantly, Notch1 signalling was activated with the overexpression of DLL1. Moreover, Notch1 signalling together with DLL1 methylation were evaluated in samples from 52 GC patients and 21 healthy control as well as in INS-GAS mice infected with H. pylori and randomly treated with eradication therapy. In GC patients, we found a correlation between DLL1 and Hes1 expression, while DLL1 methylation and Hath1 expression were associated with the diffuse and mixed type of gastric cancer. Finally, none of the samples from INS-GAS mice infected with H. pylori, a model of intestinal-type gastric tumorigenesis, showed promoter methylation of DLL1. This study shows that Notch1 activity in gastric cancer is controlled by the epigenetic silencing of the ligand DLL1, and that Notch1 inhibition is associated with the diffuse type of gastric cancer

A multicenter, randomized, controlled trial on short-term feasibility and impact on functional capacity, symptoms and neurohumoral activation

RE-START is a multicenter, randomized, prospective, open, controlled trial aiming to evaluate the feasibility and the short- and medium-term effects of an earlystart AET program on functional capacity, symptoms and neurohormonal activation in chronic heart failure (CHF) patients with recent acute hemodynamic decompensation. Study endpoints will be: 1) safety of and compliance to AET; 2) effects of AET on i) functional capacity, ii) patient- reported symptoms and iii) AET-induced changes in beta-adrenergic receptor signaling and circulating angiogenetic and inflammatory markers. Two-hundred patients, randomized 1:1 to training (TR) or control (C), will be enrolled. Inclusion criteria: 1) history of systolic CHF for at least 6 months, with ongoing acute decompensation with need of intravenous diuretic and/or vasodilator therapy; 2) proBNP >1000 pg/ml at admission. Exclusion criteria: 1) ongoing cardiogenic shock; 2) need of intravenous inotropic therapy; 3) creatinine >2.5 mg/dl at admission. After a 72-hour run-in period, TR will undergo the following 12-day early-start AET protocol: days 1-2: active/passive mobilization (2 sessions/day, each 30 minutes duration); days 3-4: as days 1-2 + unloaded bedside cycle ergometer (3 sessions/day, each 5-10 minutes duration); days 5-8: as days 1-2 + unloaded bedside cycle ergometer (3 sessions/day, each 15-20 minutes duration); days 9-12: as days 1-2 + bedside cycle ergometer at 10-20 W (3 sessions/day, each 15-20 minutes duration). During the same period, C will undergo the same activity protocol as in days 1-2 for TR. All patients will undergo a 6- minWT at day 1, 6, 12 and 30 and echocardiogram, patient- reported symptoms on 7-point Likert scale and measurement of lymphocyte G protein coupled receptor kinase, VEGF, angiopoietin, TNF alfa, IL-1, IL-6 and eNOS levels at day 1, 12 and 30

Performance of the CMS Cathode Strip Chambers with Cosmic Rays

The Cathode Strip Chambers (CSCs) constitute the primary muon tracking device in the CMS endcaps. Their performance has been evaluated using data taken during a cosmic ray run in fall 2008. Measured noise levels are low, with the number of noisy channels well below 1%. Coordinate resolution was measured for all types of chambers, and fall in the range 47 microns to 243 microns. The efficiencies for local charged track triggers, for hit and for segments reconstruction were measured, and are above 99%. The timing resolution per layer is approximately 5 ns

Performance and Operation of the CMS Electromagnetic Calorimeter

The operation and general performance of the CMS electromagnetic calorimeter using cosmic-ray muons are described. These muons were recorded after the closure of the CMS detector in late 2008. The calorimeter is made of lead tungstate crystals and the overall status of the 75848 channels corresponding to the barrel and endcap detectors is reported. The stability of crucial operational parameters, such as high voltage, temperature and electronic noise, is summarised and the performance of the light monitoring system is presented

Calibration of the CMS Drift Tube Chambers and Measurement of the Drift Velocity with Cosmic Rays

Peer reviewe

CMS Data Processing Workflows during an Extended Cosmic Ray Run

Peer reviewe