Glue Ball Masses and the Chameleon Gauge

We introduce a new numerical technique to compute mass spectra, based on difference method and on a new gauge fixing procedure. We show that the method is very effective by test runs on a $SU(2)$ lattice gauge theory.Comment: latex format, 10 pages, 4 figures added in uufiles forma

Lattice Renormalization of Quark Operators

We have technically improved the non-perturbative renormalization method, proposed by Martinelli et al., by using quark momentum sources and sinks. Composite two-fermion operators up to three derivatives have been measured for Wilson fermions and Sheikholeslami-Wohlert improved fermions in the quenched approximation. The calculations are performed in the Landau gauge on 16^3x32 lattices at beta = 6.0 for 3 kappa values in each case. The improved sources greatly decrease the statistical noise. We extract and discuss here renormalization factors for local operators and moments of the structure functions for Wilson fermions.Comment: 3 pages, Latex, 6 figures. epsf.sty and espcrc2.sty needed. Talk given at Lattice9

Human-Animal Interaction in Animal-Assisted Interventions (AAI)s: Zoonosis Risks, Benefits, and Future Directions—A One Health Approach

: Animal-assisted interventions (AAI)s represent the expression of integrated medicine, according to the One Health approach. Actually, animal-assisted therapies and animal-assisted activities are implemented in hospitals, rehabilitation centers, etc. The efficacy of AAIs is based on interspecific interactions and would be impacted by different factors, such as the characters of both the animal and the handler, a suitable selection of animal species, an appropriate animal educational protocol, the relationship between the handler and the animal, and mutual relationship among the animal, the patients, and members of the working team. AAIs produce many advantages for the patients but could expose them to zoonotic-pathogens transmission. Therefore, positive animal welfare, as preventative medicine to avoid incidents or transmission of zoonosis, is a relevant aspect with implications for human and animal health and wellbeing. This review aims to summarize the current published knowledge regarding the occurrence of pathogens in AAIs and to discuss their relevance in light of health and safety in AAIs participants. In addition, this review will contribute to defining the state of the art of AAIs through a careful benefits/challenges analysis and offers discussion points on the possible future developments according to the One Health approach

miR-SEA: miRNA Seed Extension based Aligner Pipeline for NGS Expression Level Extraction

The advent of Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technology has enabled a new major approach for micro RNAs (miRNAs) expression profiling through the so called RNA-Sequencing (RNA-Seq). Different tools have been developed in the last years in order to detect and quantify miRNAs, especially in pathological samples, starting from the big amount of data deriving from RNA sequencing. These tools, usually relying on general purpose alignment algorithms, are however characterized by different sensitivity and accuracy levels and in the most of the cases provide not overlapping predictions. To overcome these limitations we propose a novel pipeline for miRNAs detection and quantification in RNA-Seq sample, miRNA Seed Extension Aligner (miR-SEA), based on an experimental evidence concerning miRNAs structure. The proposed pipeline was tested on three Colorectal Cancer (CRC) RNA-Seq samples and the obtained results compared with those provided by two well-known miRNAs detection tools showing good ability in performing detection and quantification more adherent to miRNAs structure

Non-Perturbative Renormalisation of Composite Operators

It is shown that the renormalisation constants of two quark operators can be accurately determined (to a precision of a few per-cent using 18 gluon configurations) using Chiral Ward identities. A method for computing renormalisation constants of generic composite operators without the use of lattice perturbation theory is proposed.Comment: 3 pages, uuencoded compressed postscript file, to appear in the Proceedings of the International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory, Dallas, Texas, 12-17 October 1993, Southampton Preprint 93/94-0

Mature teratoma arising from an undescended testis in a horse: comparison between ultrasonographic and morphological features

Scant information is available on the ultrasonographic appearance of different testicular tumours in the stallion. Preoperative ultrasound imaging and gross and microscopic features of a testicular teratoma in a horse is described. An asymptomatic 4 years old cryptorchid Arabian horse was admitted for orchiectomy. Combined transabdominal and inguinal ultrasound examination revealed a large complex ovoid mass, containing both solid and cystic elements with internal echoes, located dorsally to the superficial inguinal ring. Two main hypoechoic cavities divided by a linear hyperechoic septum were evident, with a hyperechoic circular structure inside the lumen of the largest one. A tumour of the undescended testis was suspected. Ultrasound findings guided a provisional diagnosis of teratoma that was confirmed by histology following surgical removal of the tumour. Due to the correspondence between ultrasonographic and morphological features, trans-abdominal ultrasonography was conclusive in the preoperative planning

geneEx - A Novel Tool to Assess Differential Expression from Gene and Exon Sequencing Data

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Identification of dust outbreaks on infrared msg-seviri data by using a Robust Satellite Technique (RST)

Dust storms are meteorological phenomena of great interest for scientific community because of their potential impact on climate changes, for the risk that may pose to human health and due to other issues as desertification processes and reduction of the agricultural production. Satellite remote sensing, thanks to global coverage, high frequency of observation and low cost data, may highly contribute in monitoring these phenomena, provided that proper detection methods are used. In this work, the known Robust Satellite Techniques (RST) multitemporal approach, used for studying and monitoring several natural/environmental hazards, is tested on some important dust events affecting Mediterranean region in May 2004 and Arabian Peninsula in February 2008. To perform this study, data provided by the Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI) have been processed, comparing the generated dust maps to some independent satellite-based aerosol products. Outcomes of this work show that the RST technique can be profitably used for detecting dust outbreaks from space, providing information also about areas characterized by a different probability of dust presence. They encourage further improvements of this technique in view of its possible implementation in the framework of operational warning systems

Histological and immunohistochemical characterisation of uterine adenocarcinoma in an Asian elephant (Elephas Maximus)

A 56-year-old nulliparous female Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) living at the zoological garden of Naples (Italy), with a clinical history of recurrent colic, was found in agonal state and humane euthanasia was elected. At necropsy the uterine body was moderately increased in size and the lumen was reduced due to a poorly demarcated and infiltrative neoplasm. Furthermore, multiple, whitish, firm nodules were present in both lungs. Histological examination of the uterinemass revealed epithelial cells arranged in tubular or solid pattern infiltrating the endometrium and the muscular layer. Immunohistochemical examination showed immunoreactivity of neoplastic cells to oestrogen receptors antibody. Pulmonary lesions were histologically and immunohistochemically superimposable to the epithelial uterine neoplasm. A definitive diagnosis of uterine adenocarcinoma with pulmonary metastases was made