General purpose readout board {\pi} LUP: overview and results

This work gives an overview of the PCI-Express board $\pi$LUP, focusing on the motivation that led to its development, the technological choices adopted and its performance. The $\pi$LUP card was designed by INFN and University of Bologna as a readout interface candidate to be used after the Phase-II upgrade of the Pixel Detector of the ATLAS and CMS experiments at LHC. The same team in Bologna is also responsible for the design and commissioning of the ReadOut Driver (ROD) board - currently implemented in all the four layers of the ATLAS Pixel Detector (Insertable B-Layer, B-Layer, Layer-1 and Layer-2) - and acquired in the past years expertise on the ATLAS readout chain and the problematics arising in such experiments. Although the $\pi$LUP was designed to fulfill a specific task, it is highly versatile and might fit a wide variety of applications, some of which will be discussed in this work. Two 7$^{th}$-generation Xilinx FPGAs are mounted on the board: a Zynq-7 with an embedded dual core ARM Processor and a Kintex-7. The latter features sixteen 12.5$\,$Gbps transceivers, allowing the board to interface easily to any other electronic board, either electrically and/or optically, at the current bandwidth of the experiments for LHC. Many data-transmission protocols have been tested at different speeds, results will be discussed later in this work. Two batches of $\pi$LUP boards have been fabricated and tested, two boards in the first batch (version 1.0) and four boards in the second batch (version 1.1), encapsulating all the patches and improvements required by the first version.Comment: 6 pages, 10 figures, 21th Real Time Conference, winner of "2018 NPSS Student Paper Award Second Prize

A Byzantine-Resilient Aggregation Scheme for Federated Learning via Matrix Autoregression on Client Updates

In this work, we propose FLANDERS, a novel federated learning (FL) aggregation scheme robust to Byzantine attacks. FLANDERS considers the local model updates sent by clients at each FL round as a matrix-valued time series. Then, it identifies malicious clients as outliers of this time series by comparing actual observations with those estimated by a matrix autoregressive forecasting model. Experiments conducted on several datasets under different FL settings demonstrate that FLANDERS matches the robustness of the most powerful baselines against Byzantine clients. Furthermore, FLANDERS remains highly effective even under extremely severe attack scenarios, as opposed to existing defense strategies

Recent Developments in Chemical Derivatization of Microcrystalline Cellulose (MCC): Pre-Treatments, Functionalization, and Applications.

Microcrystalline Cellulose (MCC) is an isolated, colloidal crystalline portion of cellulose fibers, and it is a valuable alternative to non-renewable fossil-based materials. It is used for a large plethora of different fields, such as composites, food applications, pharmaceutical and medical developments, and cosmetic and material industries. The interest of MCC has also been driven by its economic value. In the last decade, particular attention has been driven to the functionalization of its hydroxyl groups to expand the field of applications of such biopolymer. Herein, we report and describe several pre-treatment methods that have been developed to increase the accessibility of MCC by breaking its dense structure allowing further functionalization. This review also collects the results that have appeared in the literature during the last two decades on the utilization of functionalized MCC as adsorbents (dyes, heavy metals, and carbon dioxide), flame retardants, reinforcing agents, energetic materials, such as azide- and azidodeoxy-modified, and nitrate-based cellulose and biomedical applications

Ha-Ras stabilization mediates pro-fibrotic signals in dermal fibroblasts

ABSTRACT:Scleroderma (systemic sclerosis; SSc) is a clinically heterogeneous and often lethal acquired disorder of the connective tissue that is characterized by vascular, immune/inflammatory and fibrotic manifestations. Tissue fibrosis is the main cause of morbidity and mortality in SSc and an unmet medical challenge, mostly because of our limited understanding of the molecular factors and signalling events that trigger and sustain disease progression. Recent evidence has correlated skin fibrosis in SSc with stabilization of proto-oncogene Ha-Ras secondary to auto-antibody stimulation of reactive oxygen species production. The goal of the present study was to explore the molecular connection between Ha-Ras stabilization and collagen I production, the main read-out of fibrogenesis, in a primary dermal fibroblast culture system that replicates the early stages of disease progression in SSc.Forced expression of proto-oncogene Ha-Ras in dermal fibroblasts demonstrated the promotion of an immediate collagen I up-regulation, as evidenced by enhanced activity of a collagen I-driven luciferase reporter plasmid and increased accumulation of endogenous collagen I proteins. Moreover, normal levels of Tgfβ transcripts and active transforming growth factor-beta (TGFβ) implied Ha-Ras stimulation of the canonical Smad2/3 signalling pathway independently of TGFβ production or activation. Heightened Smad2/3 signalling was furthermore correlated with greater Smad3 phosphorylation and Smad3 protein accumulation, suggesting that Ha-Ras may target both Smad2/3 activation and turnover. Additional in vitro evidence excluded a contribution of ERK1/2 signalling to improper Smad3 activity and collagen I production in cells that constitutively express Ha-Ras.Our study shows for the first time that constitutively elevated Ha-Ras protein levels can directly stimulate Smad2/3 signalling and collagen I accumulation independently of TGFβ neo-synthesis and activation. This finding therefore implicates the Ha-Ras pathway with the early onset of fibrosis in SSc and implicitly identifies new therapeutic targets in SSc

Considerazioni psicopatologiche, sociali e giuridiche sul mobbing: un’esperienza clinica nell’ospedale generale

Object. The  authors  intend  to  estimate  in  depth  the  following  questions:1) To  define  mobbing  and  how  to  detect  its  characteristics,  considering  the  psychopathological  questions  and  the  legal  medical  implications.2) To  try  to  analize  psychological  factors,  individual  and  organisational,  that  contribute  to  the  onset  of  mobbing.3) To  present  the  results  of   clinical  experience,  developed  by  the  collaboration established  with  the  Working  Medicine  Section  of  S. Martino  Hospital  in  Genoa. Methods. 237  persons  reporting  to  be  victims  of  a  mobbing  situation  have  undergone  a  psychodiagnostic  interview and  a  clinical  psychological  assessment  with  mental  tests (WAIS,  short  MMPI,  Rorschach).  The  compilation  of  specific  questionnaires  has  been  proposed  to detect  the  characteristics  of  mobbing  situation  and  the  sequential  subjective  symptoms reported  by  the  patients.Results.  In  75%  of  cases,  patients  presented  a  negative  anamnesis  for  psychiatric  disorders. They  had  enough  items  to  be  included  in  the  Adjustment  Disorder  (in  its  different  subdivisions).Conclusions.  In  the  majority  of  cases,  psychiatric  symptoms  reported  by  job  distress  victims  were  strictly  related  to  the  mobbing  experience,  that  causes  such  a  trend  of  stressing  and  painful  events  that  constitute  a  significant  risk  for  the  psycho-physical  integrity  of  a  person,  independent  of  previous  factors.  This  result  have  induced  the  Authors  to  analize  in  depth  some  of  the  legal  questions  about  the  detection  of  mobbing  and  the  contingent  compensation  of  undergone  damages.Gli Autori  si  propongono  di:1) Definire  il  mobbing  ed  individuare  le  caratteristiche  del fenomeno,  tenendo  presenti  le  problematiche  psicopatologiche  e  le  implicazioni  medico-legali;2) Analizzare  i  fattori  psicologici,  individuali  ed  organizzativi, che  contribuiscono  all'insorgenza  del  mobbing;3) Presentare  i  risultati  di  un’esperienza  clinica  nata  dalla  collaborazione tra  la  Clinica  Psichiatrica  e  l’U.O.  di  Medicina  del  Lavoro  dell’Azienda Ospedaliera  Universitaria San Martino  di  Genova.Metodo.  237  persone  che  riferivano  una  situazione  di  mobbing  a  loro  danno  sono  state sottoposte  a  colloquio  psicodiagnostico  e  a  valutazione  psicologica  clinica  mediante reattivi  mentali  (WAIS,  MMPI abbreviato,  Rorschach).  È  stata  inoltre  proposta  la compilazione  di  specifici  questionari  per  rilevare  le  caratteristiche  della  situazione  mobbizzante  e  i  conseguenti  sintomi  soggettivi  lamentati  dai  pazienti.Risultati.  Nel  75%  dei casi  i  pazienti  hanno  presentato  anamnesi  negativa  per disturbi  di interesse  psichiatrico,  rispondendo  invece ai  criteri  del  DSM-IV-TR  per  il  Disturbo  dell'Adattamento  (nelle  sue  varie  sottospecie).Conclusioni.  Nella  gran  maggioranza  dei  casi, i sintomi psichici  lamentati  dalle vittime  di disadattamento  lavorativo  risultano  in  stretta  connessione  con  l’esperienza  mobbizzante,  che innesca  una  serie  di  eventi  stressanti  e  dolorosi  tali  da  costituire  un  rischio  significativo  per l'integrità  psico-fisica  della  persona,  indipendentemente  da  variabili  preesistenti.  Questo  riscontro  ha  spinto  gli  Autori  ad  approfondire  alcune  problematiche  medico-legali  inerenti  il  riconoscimento  del  mobbing  e  l'eventuale  risarcibilità  dei  danni  subiti

An efficient synthesis of bio-based Poly(urethane-acrylate) by SiO2-Supported CeCl3·7H2O–NaI as recyclable Catalyst

Poly(urethane-acrylates) (PUAs) are UV-curable resins used for biomedical applications, coatings, adhesives, and many others. Their syntheses usually involve the use of aromatic diisocyanates and polyols coming from fossil-based resources, in the presence of tin-based catalysts, which present a very well-known toxicity. In the last years the increase of environmental and economic issues related to the depletion of limited sources, the increase of greenhouse gas emissions, the release of toxic degradation compounds and the catalyst contamination has shifted the attention toward more sustainable solutions. In this study a low-impact, sustainable and efficient procedure for the synthesis of bio-based PUA promoted by solid supported CeCl3·7H2O–NaI/SiO2 was developed. This catalytic system provides the target compounds with good monomer conversion and molecular weights and allow the synthesis under heterogeneous conditions as main advantage, with the final recovery of the catalyst. We also confirmed its rapid separation, stability, and efficient recycling of the catalyst, obtaining comparable results over a seven reactions cycles. The goodness of the polymerization process under heterogeneous condition was confirmed by chemical and thermal characterizations

The Attentional Boost Effect in Young and Adult Euthymic Bipolar Patients and Healthy Controls

In the Attentional Boost Effect (ABE), stimuli encoded with to-be-responded targets are later recognized more accurately than stimuli encoded with to-be-ignored distractors. While this effect is robust in young adults, evidence regarding healthy older adults and clinical populations is sparse. The present study investigated whether a significant ABE is present in bipolar patients (BP), who, even in the euthymic phase, suffer from attentional deficits, and whether the effect is modulated by age. Young and adult euthymic BP and healthy controls (HC) presented with a sequence of pictures paired with target or distractor squares were asked to pay attention to the pictures and press the spacebar when a target square appeared. After a 15-min interval, their memory of the pictures was tested in a recognition task. The performance in the detection task was lower in BP than in HC, in both age groups. More importantly, neither young nor adult BP exhibited a significant ABE; for HC, a robust ABE was only found in young participants. The results suggest that the increase in the attentional demands of the detection task in BP and in adult HC draws resources away from the encoding of target-associated stimuli, resulting in elimination of the ABE. Clinical implications are discussed

Application of a Machine Learning Technology in the Definition of Metabolically Healthy and Unhealthy Status: A Retrospective Study of 2567 Subjects Suffering from Obesity with or without Metabolic Syndrome.

The key factors playing a role in the pathogenesis of metabolic alterations observed in many patients with obesity have not been fully characterized. Their identification is crucial, and it would represent a fundamental step towards better management of this urgent public health issue. This aim could be accomplished by exploiting the potential of machine learning (ML) technology. In a single-centre study (n = 2567), we used an ML analysis to cluster patients with metabolically healthy (MHO) or metabolically unhealthy (MUO) obesity, based on several clinical and biochemical variables. The first model provided by ML was able to predict the presence/absence of MHO with an accuracy of 66.67% and 72.15%, respectively, and included the following parameters: HOMA-IR, upper body fat/lower body fat, glycosylated haemoglobin, red blood cells, age, alanine aminotransferase, uric acid, white blood cells, insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) and gamma-glutamyl transferase. For each of these parameters, ML provided threshold values identifying either MUO or MHO. A second model including IGF-1 zSDS, a surrogate marker of IGF-1 normalized by age and sex, was even more accurate with a 71.84% and 72.3% precision, respectively. Our results demonstrated high IGF-1 levels in MHO patients, thus highlighting a possible role of IGF-1 as a novel metabolic health parameter to effectively predict the development of MUO using ML technology