The use of the McIlwain L-parameter to estimate cosmic ray vertical cutoff rigidities for different epochs of the geomagnetic field

Secular changes in the geomagnetic field between 1955 and 1980 have been large enough to produce significant differences in both the verical cutoff rigidities and in the L-value for a specified position. A useful relationship employing the McIlwain L-parameter to estimate vertical cutoff rigidities has been derived for the twenty-five year period

Abdominal nodal localization of Castleman's disease: report of a case.

Abstract Introduction Castleman's disease (CD) is a rare benign disorder that may grow in any area where lymphoid tissue is normally present but the most frequent site is mediastinum (67%); the abdomen is rarely affected by this pathology. In the pathogenesis of CD an important role could be played by HHV-8. Diagnosis is difficult and the diagnostic certainty is obtained only by histological examination. For this disease there is no gold-standard treatment. Case report We report the case of a woman of 33 years of age affected by a rare form of abdominal nodal localization of Castleman's Disease for which the patient underwent surgery. Conclusion CD must be included in the differential diagnosis of retroperitoneal tumors even though the definitive diagnosis can only be achieved by histological and immunohistochemical examination. In the case of single location, the treatment of choice is surgical removal

Estimating the change in asymptotic direction due to secular changes in the geomagnetic field

The concept of geomagnetic optics, as described by the asymptotic directions of approach, is extremely useful in the analysis of cosmic radiation data. However, when changes in cutoff occur as a result of evolution in the geomagnetic field, there are corresponding changes in the asymptotic cones of acceptance. A method is introduced of estimating the change in the asymptotic direction of approach for vertically incident cosmic ray particles from a reference set of directions at a specific epoch by considering the change in the geomagnetic cutoff

Microbiota–Liver Diseases Interactions

: Gut microbiota regulates essential processes of host metabolism and physiology: synthesis of vitamins, digestion of foods non-digestible by the host (such as fibers), and-most important-protects the digestive tract from pathogens. In this study, we focus on the CRISPR/Cas9 technology, which is extensively used to correct multiple diseases, including liver diseases. Then, we discuss the non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), affecting more than 25% of the global population; colorectal cancer (CRC) is second in mortality. We give space to rarely discussed topics, such as pathobionts and multiple mutations. Pathobionts help to understand the origin and complexity of the microbiota. Since several types of cancers have as target the gut, it is vital extending the research of multiple mutations to the type of cancers affecting the gut-liver axis

Precision Measurement of the n-3He Incoherent Scattering Length Using Neutron Interferometry

We report the first measurement of the low-energy neutron-$^3$He incoherent scattering length using neutron interferometry: $b_i' = (-2.512\pm 0.012{statistical}\pm0.014{systematic})$ fm. This is in good agreement with a recent calculation using the AV18+3N potential. The neutron-$^3$He scattering lengths are important for testing and developing nuclear potential models that include three nucleon forces, effective field theories for few-body nuclear systems, and neutron scattering measurements of quantum excitations in liquid helium. This work demonstrates the first use of a polarized nuclear target in a neutron interferometer.Comment: 4 figure

Use of Circumferentially Cracked Bar sample for CTOD fracture toughness determination in the upper shelf regime

In this work, the use of circumferentially cracked bar (CCB) sample to determine material fracture toughness in the upper shelf regime for carbon steels has been investigated. Since high fracture toughness materials are known to exhibit extensive crack tip blunting before ductile crack initiation, accurate specimen design is required to provide realistic fracture toughness measurement. Here, a CCB was designed to have similar loss of constraint as for SENT sample. Continuum damage mechanics was used to predict the occurrence of ductile crack initiation and propagation. Finite element analysis was performed to predict specimen response and to compare computed J-integral crack driving force with measured CTOD. Finally, experimental tests were performed on X65 carbon steel and the measured critical CTOD was compared with available fracture data obtained with SENT

Fluctuation relation for a L\'evy particle

We study the work fluctuations of a particle subjected to a deterministic drag force plus a random forcing whose statistics is of the L\'evy type. In the stationary regime, the probability density of the work is found to have ``fat'' power-law tails which assign a relatively high probability to large fluctuations compared with the case where the random forcing is Gaussian. These tails lead to a strong violation of existing fluctuation theorems, as the ratio of the probabilities of positive and negative work fluctuations of equal magnitude behaves in a non-monotonic way. Possible experiments that could probe these features are proposed.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, RevTeX4; v2: minor corrections and references added; v3: typos corrected, new conclusion, close to published versio

Occurrence of Antibiotic Resistance in the Mediterranean Sea

Seawater could be considered a reservoir of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes. In this communication, we evaluated the presence of bacterial strains in seawater collected from different coasts of Sicily by combining microbiological and molecular methods. Specifically, we isolated viable bacteria that were tested for their antibiotic resistance profile and detected both antibiotic and heavy metal resistance genes. Both antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria, Vibrio and Aeromonas, and specific antibiotic resistance genes were found in the seawater samples. Alarming levels of resistance were determined towards cefazolin, streptomycin, amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, ceftriaxone, and sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim, and mainly genes conferring resistance to β-lactamic and sulfonamide antibiotics were detected. This survey, on the one hand, presents a picture of the actual situation, showing the pollution status of the Tyrrhenian coast of Sicily, and, on the other hand, can be considered as a baseline to be used as a reference time for future analysis

Cloud Capacity Spectrum Method: Accounting for record-to-record variability in fragility analysis using nonlinear static procedures

This paper investigates a number of computational issues related to the use of nonlinear static procedures in fragility analysis of structures. Such approaches can be used to complement nonlinear dynamic procedures, reducing the computational and modelling effort. Specifically, this study assesses the performance of the Capacity Spectrum Method (CSM) with real (i.e. recorded) ground motions (as opposed to code-based conventional spectra) to explicitly account for record-to-record variability in fragility analysis. The study focuses on single-degree-of-freedom systems, providing a basis for future multi-degree-of-freedom system applications. A case-study database of 2160 inelastic oscillators is defined through parametric backbones with different elastic periods, (yield) base shear coefficients, values of the ductility capacity, hardening ratios, residual strength values and hysteresis rules. These case studies are analysed using 100 real ground motions. An efficient algorithm to perform the CSM with real spectra is proposed, combined with a cloud-based approach (Cloud-CSM) to derive fragility relationships. Simple criteria to solve the issue of multiple CSM solutions (i.e. two or more points on the backbone satisfying the CSM procedure) are proposed and tested. It is demonstrated that the performance point selection can be carried out based on a particularly efficient intensity measure detected via optimal intensity measure analysis. The effectiveness of the proposed Cloud-CSM in fragility analysis is discussed through extensive comparisons with nonlinear time-history analyses, the code-based N2 method, and a simple method involving an intensity measure as a direct proxy for the performance displacement. The Cloud-CSM provides errors lower than ±20% in predicting the median of the fragility curves in most of the analysed cases and outperforms the other considered methodologies in calculating the fragility dispersion