A QR based approach for the nonlinear eigenvalue problem

We describe a fast and numerically robust approach based on the structured QR eigenvalue algorithm for computing approximations of the eigenvalues of a holomorphic matrix-valued function inside the unit circle. Numerical experiments confirm the effectiveness of the proposed method

Cofactors, age at onset, allergic comorbidities and gender are different in patients sensitized to omega-5 gliadin and Pru p 3

Aim of this study is to clarify the impact of cofactors on allergic reactions in patients sensitized to LTP and ω-5-gliadin. We retrospectively examined the charts of our outpatients from January 2015 to July 2019 and identified 157 patients seen for urticaria/angioedema or anaphylaxis after a meal, in presence or absence of cofactors and sensitized to LTPs (Pru p 3 and/or Tri a 14) and/or ω-5-gliadin (Tri a 19). we compared LTPs-positive patients and those sensitized to Tri a 19 in order to assess the difference in cofactors involved and in frequency of clinical presentation. Our data show that exercise is the most frequent cofactor in FDEIAn and the involvement of exercise, alcohol and multiple cofactors was more frequently found in males than in females. We found that exercise, pollen counts peaks and multiple cofactors were more often related to anaphylaxis than mild reactions. Finally, we performed a comparison between patients LTPs+ and Tri a 19+ that showed in the latter group a lower frequency of allergic comorbidities, a higher median age at the onset of symptoms and frequency of alcohol exposure. Our data show that the search for possible cofactors involved in food allergy is essential not only for diagnostic purposes, but also for risk assessment strategies

In search for multi-target ligands as potential agents for diabetes mellitus and its complications—a structure-activity relationship study on inhibitors of aldose reductase and protein tyrosine phosphatase 1b

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a complex disease which currently affects more than 460 million people and is one of the leading cause of death worldwide. Its development implies numerous metabolic dysfunctions and the onset of hyperglycaemia-induced chronic complications. Multiple ligands can be rationally designed for the treatment of multifactorial diseases, such as DM, with the precise aim of simultaneously controlling multiple pathogenic mechanisms related to the disease and providing a more effective and safer therapeutic treatment compared to combinations of selective drugs. Starting from our previous findings that highlighted the possibility to target both aldose reductase (AR) and protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B), two enzymes strictly implicated in the development of DM and its complications, we synthesised 3-(5-arylidene-4-oxothiazolidin-3-yl)propanoic acids and analogous 2-butenoic acid derivatives, with the aim of balancing the effectiveness of dual AR/PTP1B inhibitors which we had identified as designed multiple ligands (DMLs). Out of the tested compounds, 4f exhibited well-balanced AR/PTP1B inhibitory effects at low micromolar concentrations, along with interesting insulin-sensitizing activity in murine C2C12 cell cultures. The SARs here highlighted along with their rationalization by in silico docking experiments into both target enzymes provide further insights into this class of inhibitors for their development as potential DML antidiabetic candidates

NADP+-dependent dehydrogenase activity of carbonyl reductase on glutathionylhydroxynonanal as a new pathway for hydroxynonenal detoxification.

A NADP+ dependent dehydrogenase activity on 3-glutathionyl-4-hydroxynonanal (GSHNE) was purified to electrophoretic homogeneity from a line of human astrocytoma cells (ADF). Proteomic analysis identified this enzymatic activity as associated with carbonyl reductase 1 (E.C. 1.1.1.184). The enzyme is highly efficient at catalyzing the oxidation of GSHNE (KM33 µM,kcat.405 min-1), as it is practically inactive towards trans-4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (HNE) and other HNE-addicted thiol-containing amino acid derivatives. Combined mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy analysis of the reaction products revealed that carbonyl reductase oxidizes the hydroxyl group of GSHNE in its hemiacetal form, with the formation of the corresponding 3-glutathionyl-nonanoic-δ-lactone. The relevance of this new reaction catalyzed by carbonyl reductase 1 is discussed in terms of HNE detoxification and the recovery of reducing power

Calculated optical properties of Si, Ge, and GaAs under hydrostatic pressure

The macroscopic dielectric function in the random-phase-approximation without local field effect has been implemented using the local density approximation with an all electron, full-potential linear muffin-tin orbital basis-set. This method is used to investigate the optical properties of the semiconductors Si, Ge, and GaAs under hydrostatic pressure. The pressure dependence of the effective dielectric function is compared to the experimental data of Go\~ni and coworkers, and an excellent agreement is found when the so called ``scissors-operator'' shift (SOS) is used to account for the correct band gap at $\Gamma$. The effect of the $3d$ semi-core states in the interband transitions hardly changes the static dielectric function, $\epsilon_\infty$; however, their contribution to the intensity of absorption for higher photon energies is substantial. The spin-orbit coupling has a significant effect on $\epsilon_\infty$ of Ge and GaAs, but not of Si. The $E_1$ peak in the dynamical dielectric function is strongly underestimated for Si, but only slightly for Ge and GaAs, suggesting that excitonic effects might be important only for Si.Comment: 29 RevTex pages and 12 figs; in press in Physical Review

Prospects for the measurement of muon-neutrino disappearance at the FNAL-Booster

Neutrino physics is nowadays receiving more and more attention as a possible source of information for the long-standing problem of new physics beyond the Standard Model. The recent measurement of the mixing angle $\theta_{13}$ in the standard mixing oscillation scenario encourages us to pursue the still missing results on leptonic CP violation and absolute neutrino masses. However, puzzling measurements exist that deserve an exhaustive evaluation. The NESSiE Collaboration has been setup to undertake conclusive experiments to clarify the muon-neutrino disappearance measurements at small $L/E$, which will be able to put severe constraints to models with more than the three-standard neutrinos, or even to robustly measure the presence of a new kind of neutrino oscillation for the first time. To this aim the use of the current FNAL-Booster neutrino beam for a Short-Baseline experiment has been carefully evaluated. This proposal refers to the use of magnetic spectrometers at two different sites, Near and Far. Their positions have been extensively studied, together with the possible performances of two OPERA-like spectrometers. The proposal is constrained by availability of existing hardware and a time-schedule compatible with the CERN project for a new more performant neutrino beam, which will nicely extend the physics results achievable at the Booster. The possible FNAL experiment will allow to clarify the current $\nu_{\mu}$ disappearance tension with $\nu_e$ appearance and disappearance at the eV mass scale. Instead, a new CERN neutrino beam would allow a further span in the parameter space together with a refined control of systematics and, more relevant, the measurement of the antineutrino sector, by upgrading the spectrometer with detectors currently under R&D study.Comment: 76 pages, 52 figure

Prenatal tobacco smoke exposure increases hospitalizations for bronchiolitis in infants

BACKGROUND: Tobacco smoke exposure (TSE) is a worldwide health problem and it is considered a risk factor for pregnant women's and children's health, particularly for respiratory morbidity during the first year of life. Few significant birth cohort studies on the effect of prenatal TSE via passive and active maternal smoking on the development of severe bronchiolitis in early childhood have been carried out worldwide. METHODS: From November 2009 to December 2012, newborns born at ≥ 33 weeks of gestational age (wGA) were recruited in a longitudinal multi-center cohort study in Italy to investigate the effects of prenatal and postnatal TSE, among other risk factors, on bronchiolitis hospitalization and/or death during the first year of life. RESULTS: Two thousand two hundred ten newborns enrolled at birth were followed-up during their first year of life. Of these, 120 (5.4%) were hospitalized for bronchiolitis. No enrolled infants died during the study period. Prenatal passive TSE and maternal active smoking of more than 15 cigarettes/daily are associated to a significant increase of the risk of offspring children hospitalization for bronchiolitis, with an adjHR of 3.5 (CI 1.5-8.1) and of 1.7 (CI 1.1-2.6) respectively. CONCLUSIONS: These results confirm the detrimental effects of passive TSE and active heavy smoke during pregnancy for infants' respiratory health, since the exposure significantly increases the risk of hospitalization for bronchiolitis in the first year of lif

Risk factors for bronchiolitis hospitalization during the first year of life in a multicenter Italian birth cohort

BACKGROUND: Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is one of the main causes of respiratory infections during the first year of life. Very premature infants may contract more severe diseases and 'late preterm infants' may also be more susceptible to the infection. The aim of this study is to evaluate the risk factors for hospitalization during the first year of life in children born at different gestational ages in Italy. METHODS: A cohort of 33-34 weeks gestational age (wGA) newborns matched by sex and age with two cohort of newborns born at 35-37 wGA and > 37 wGA were enrolled in this study for a three-year period (2009-2012). Hospitalization for bronchiolitis (ICD-9 code 466.1) during the first year of life was assessed through phone interview at the end of the RSV season (November-March) and at the completion of the first year of life. RESULTS: The study enrolled 2314 newborns, of which 2210 (95.5 %) had a one year follow-up and were included in the analysis; 120 (5.4 %) were hospitalized during the first year of life for bronchiolitis. Children born at 33-34 wGA had a higher hospitalization rate compared to the two other groups. The multivariate analysis carried out on the entire population associated the following factors with higher rates for bronchiolitis hospitalization: male gender; prenatal treatment with corticosteroids; prenatal exposure to maternal smoking; singleton delivery; respiratory diseases in neonatal period; surfactant therapy; lack of breastfeeding; siblings <10 years old; living in crowded conditions and/or in unhealthy households and early exposure to the epidemic RSV season. When analysis was restricted to preterms born at 33-34 wGA the following variables were associated to higher rates of bronchiolitis hospitalization: male gender, prenatal exposure to maternal smoking, neonatal surfactant therapy, having siblings <10 years old, living in crowded conditions and being exposed to epidemic season during the first three months of life. CONCLUSION: Our study identified some prenatal, perinatal and postnatal conditions proving to be relevant and independent risk factors for hospitalization for bronchiolitis during the first year of life. The combination of these factors may lead to consider palivizumab prophylaxis in Italy

Association of a CT-based clinical and radiomics score of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with lymph node status and overall survival

Background: To evaluate whether a model based on radiomic and clinical features may be associated with lymph node (LN) status and overall survival (OS) in lung cancer (LC) patients; to evaluate whether CT reconstruction algorithms may influence the model performance. Methods: patients operated on for LC with a pathological stage up to T3N1 were retrospectively selected and divided into training and validation sets. For the prediction of positive LNs and OS, the Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) logistic regression model was used; univariable and multivariable logistic regression analysis assessed the association of clinicalradiomic variables and endpoints. All tests were repeated after dividing the groups according to the CT reconstruction algorithm. p-values < 0.05 were considered significant. Results: 270 patients were included and divided into training (n = 180) and validation sets (n = 90). Transfissural extension was significantly associated with positive LNs. For OS prediction, high-and low-risk groups were different according to the radiomics score, also after dividing the two groups according to reconstruction algorithms. Conclusions: a combined clinical\u2013radiomics model was not superior to a single clinical or single radiomics model to predict positive LNs. A radiomics model was able to separate high-risk and low-risk patients for OS; CTs reconstructed with Iterative Reconstructions (IR) algorithm showed the best model performance

Search for anomalies in the neutrino sector with muon spectrometers and large LArTPC imaging detectors at CERN

A new experiment with an intense ~2 GeV neutrino beam at CERN SPS is proposed in order to definitely clarify the possible existence of additional neutrino states, as pointed out by neutrino calibration source experiments, reactor and accelerator experiments and measure the corresponding oscillation parameters. The experiment is based on two identical LAr-TPCs complemented by magnetized spectrometers detecting electron and muon neutrino events at Far and Near positions, 1600 m and 300 m from the proton target, respectively. The ICARUS T600 detector, the largest LAr-TPC ever built with a size of about 600 ton of imaging mass, now running in the LNGS underground laboratory, will be moved at the CERN Far position. An additional 1/4 of the T600 detector (T150) will be constructed and located in the Near position. Two large area spectrometers will be placed downstream of the two LAr-TPC detectors to perform charge identification and muon momentum measurements from sub-GeV to several GeV energy range, greatly complementing the physics capabilities. This experiment will offer remarkable discovery potentialities, collecting a very large number of unbiased events both in the neutrino and antineutrino channels, largely adequate to definitely settle the origin of the observed neutrino-related anomalies.Comment: Contribution to the European Strategy for Particle Physics - Open Symposium Preparatory Group, Kracow 10-12 September 201