Imaging infection and inflammation

No abstract availabl

Narrowing the US twin deficits: simulations with a world macroeconometric model

In this paper we extend the macroeconometric model developed in Bagnai (2004) by linking it to a submodel for the Japanese economy, and we utilize this extended model to investigate several hypotheses of reduction in the US twin deficits. The Japanese submodel is specified and estimated along the lines set out in Bagnai and Carlucci (2003), using the “cointegration with endogenous structural break” estimation method of Gregory and Hansen (1996). The estimation results show that the Japanese economy underwent a major structural change after the first oil-price shock. The “twin deficits” simulations consider two policy instruments: a US dollar exchange rate devaluation, and a fiscal consolidation, carried out through a decrease in US government consumption. We analyze both different sizes and different timing of these policy measures, as well as their interactions, in order to evaluate their effectiveness, and the costs they impose on the partner countries (in particular, on the Euro area and Japan).twin deficits, structural break, econometric model, Japan, EMU, USA

Immunoscintigraphy for therapy decision making and follow-up of biological therapies

With the availability of new biological therapies there is the need of more accurate diagnostic tools to noninvasively assess the presence of their targets. In this scenario nuclear medicine offers many radiopharmaceuticals for SPECT or PET imaging of many pathological conditions. The availability of monoclonal antibodies provides tools to target specific antigens involved in angiogenesis, cell cycle or modulation of the immune systems. The radiolabelling of such therapeutic mAbs is a promising method to evaluate the antigenic status of each cancer lesion or inflamed sites before starting the therapy. It may also allow to perform follow-up of such biological therapies. In the present review we provide an overview of the most studied radiolabelled antibodies for therapy decision making and follow-up of patients affected by cancer and other pathological conditions

Recoverable Robustness for Railway Rolling Stock Planning

In this paper we explore the possibility of applying the notions of Recoverable Robustness and Price of Recoverability (introduced by [5]) to railway rolling stock planning, being interested in recoverability measures that can be computed in practice, thereby evaluating the robustness of rolling stock schedules. In order to lower bound the Price of Recoverability for any set of recovery algorithms, we consider an "optimal" recovery algorithm and propose a Benders decomposition approach to assess the Price of Recoverability for this "optimal" algorithm. We evaluate the approach on real-life rolling stock planning problems of NS, the main operator of passenger trains in the Netherlands. The preliminary results show that, thanks to Benders decomposition, our lower bound can be computed within relatively short time for our case study

Robust Train Routing and Online Re-scheduling

Train Routing is a problem that arises in the early phase of the passenger railway planning process, usually several months before operating the trains. The main goal is to assign each train a stopping platform and the corresponding arrival/departure paths through a railway station. It is also called Train Platforming when referring to the platform assignment task. Railway stations often represent bottlenecks and train delays can easily disrupt the routing schedule. Thereby railway stations are responsible for a large part of the delay propagation in the whole network. In this research we present different models to compute robust routing schedules and we study their power in an online context together with different re-scheduling strategies. We also design a simulation framework and use it to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of the proposed robust models and re-scheduling algorithms using real-world data from Rete Ferroviaria Italiana, the main Italian Railway Infrastructure Manager

Studies on the enzymatic conversion of oxygen-substituted sterols to cholesterol.

Abstract The intermediary role of oxygenated sterols in the conversion of cholest-7-en-3β-ol to cholesta-5,7-dien-3β-ol by rat liver homogenates is considered, assuming that an oxygen molecule may attack the double bond of cholest-7-en-3β-ol. Labeled cholestan-7α,8α-epoxy-3β-ol, cholestane-3β,7β,8α-triol, cholest-8-ene-3β,7ξ-diols, cholestane-3β,7α,8α-triol, cholestane-3β,-8α-diol-7-one, and cholest-8(14)-ene-3β,7α-diol have been synthesized. All these compounds, but cholestane-3β,7α,8α-triol, are efficiently transformed to cholesterol under oxygen atmosphere. However, they cannot be considered as obligatory intermediates in the biosynthesis of cholesterol from cholest-7-en-3β-ol since under anaerobiosis they are transformed to cholest-7-en-3β-ol. The implications of these findings and the mechanisms involved are discussed

Qualità istituzionale, efficienza e produttività nella Pubblica Amministrazione in Italia

Il benessere economico e sociale di un paese è strettamente legato alla qualità delle istituzioni e all’efficienza e all’efficacia della Pubblica Amministrazione, aspetto che di fronte alla sfida della realizzazione del PNRR assume una rilevanza ancora maggiore. Emma Galli della Sapienza Università di Roma e Alberto Petrucci della Luiss Guido Carli, presentano in questo numero di Economia italiana sei saggi che analizzano dal punto di vista empirico alcune problematiche che riguardano il funzionamento del settore pubblico e in particolare gli effetti della qualità istituzionale e dell’efficienza della Pubblica Amministrazione sulla produttività dei fattori e sulla crescita economica, interessando tutti i livelli di governo, nazionale, regionale e locale. Numerose sono le domande sollevate nei saggi raccolti nel volume: quali sono gli effetti della qualità delle istituzioni sulla crescita e sulla riduzione dei divari territoriali in Italia? Quali i problemi di misurazione della performance dell’Amministrazione Pubblica? Quali legami vi sono tra la Pubblica Amministrazione e la produttività dei fattori delle imprese? Qual è l’impatto sulla digitalizzazione e sulla produttività del lavoro? Quanto pesa la lentezza del sistema della giustizia nelle decisioni di investimento? Qual è l’influenza che la pubblicazione dei dati relativi alla spesa pubblica locale e al livello dei servizi pubblici sulle scelte di policy dei governi locali

Immune cell labelling and tracking. implications for adoptive cell transfer therapies

BACKGROUND: The understanding of the role of different immune cell subsets that infiltrate tumors can help researchers in developing new targeted immunotherapies to reactivate or reprogram them against cancer. In addition to conventional drugs, new cell-based therapies, like adoptive cell transfer, proved to be successful in humans. Indeed, after the approval of anti-CD19 CAR-T cell therapy, researchers are trying to extend this approach to other cancer or cell types.MAIN BODY: This review focuses on the different approaches to non-invasively monitor the biodistribution, trafficking and fate of immune therapeutic cells, evaluating their efficacy at preclinical and clinical stages. PubMed and Scopus databases were searched for published articles on the imaging of cell tracking in humans and preclinical models.CONCLUSION: Labelling specific immune cell subtypes with specific radiopharmaceuticals, contrast agents or optical probes can elucidate new biological mechanisms or predict therapeutic outcome of adoptive cell transfer therapies. To date, no technique is considered the gold standard to image immune cells in adoptive cell transfer therapies