Notch Signaling Regulates Immune Responses in Atherosclerosis

Atherosclerosis is a chronic autoimmune inflammatory disease that can cause coronary artery disease, stroke, peripheral artery disease, depending on which arteries are affected. At the beginning of atherosclerosis plasma lipoproteins accumulate in the sub-endothelial space. In response, monocytes migrate from the circulation through the endothelium into the intima where they differentiate into macrophages. These early events trigger a complex immune response that eventually involves many cellular subtypes of both innate and adaptive immunity. The Notch signaling pathway is an evolutionary conserved cell signaling system that mediates cell-to-cell communication. Recent studies have revealed that Notch modulate atherosclerosis by controlling macrophages polarization into M1 or M2 subtypes. Furthermore, it is known that Notch signaling controls differentiation and activity of T-helper and cytotoxic T-cells in inflammatory diseases. In this review, we will discuss the role of Notch in modulating immunity in the context of atherosclerosis and whether targeting Notch may represent a therapeutic strategy

Stability and bounds in aggregate scheduling networks

We study networks of FIFO nodes, where flows are constrained by arrival curves. A crucial question with these networks is: Can we derive a bound to the maximum delay that a packet can experience when traversing the network, and to the maximum queue size at each node? For a generic FIFO network these are still open issues: Some examples show that, contrary to common sense, no matter how low the maximum node utilization is in the network, it is possible to build an example of an unstable FIFO network. The importance of this issue lies in the necessity of hard bounds on packet delay and queue size, in order to enable QoS guarantees in these networks. For this reason we choose to tackle this problem through a deterministic approach, based on worst-case behavior. Our first result is the determination of a general method to derive sufficient conditions for the stability of a network: We show how, with a proper choice of the observed variables in the network and with the use of network calculus results, it is possible to derive the expression of an operator whose properties are associated to the stability of the network. Exploiting this method on a simple example, we first derive a generalization of the RIN result to heterogeneous settings and to leaky bucket constrained flows. Through some realistic examples, we show how this method allows networks to achieve a level of utilization which is more than three times larger than the best existing result. By applying the general method to three different variable classes, we derive some new sufficient conditions for stability, that perform largely better than all the main existing results, and we show how they can all be derived from the new sufficient conditions. Finally, we present a new formula for the computation of end-to-end delay bounds in a network of GR nodes

Synthesis of 5,9‐Diaza Analogues of [5]‐ and [6]Helicene and their Chiroptic and Photophysical Characterization

6,10-Dipropyl-5,9-diaza[5]- and -[6]helicene were synthesized by ortho,ortho’ fusion of ortho-teraryldicarboxamides. Key steps in the synthesis of the teraryls are azide formation with subsequent reduction and amidation followed by Suzuki cross couplings. The ortho fusions were achieved with phosphorus pentoxide and phosphoryl oxide. The total syntheses could be accomplished with 10 % and 3 %, respectively, in seven consecutive steps starting with meta-dibromobenzene. The helicenes were investigated by UV/Vis and fluorescence spectroscopy and by quantum chemical calculation of, inter alia, the HOMO-LUMO gaps. Racemization barriers of the helicenes were calculated, whereupon the optical resolution of 5,9-diaza[6]helicene was attempted and carried out successfully; ECD spectra were measured of its enantiomers

Quantum Computation in a radio single mode cavity: the dissipative Jaynes and Cummings Model

Our aim is to give an account, trough an analysis of a number of papers by F.Petruccione, H.J.Charmicael, J.C. Raimond and their contemporaries, of the specific answer that we gave to the problem of Open Quantum Systems dynamical evolution and how this idea evolves and develops in physical research and in the scientific debate of the following decades. Permanent solution should not been accepted from physical research, but analysis of the real work of scientists, of the difficulties they face and the ever changing solutions they offer is, we believe, part of our understanding of science and an indispensable basis for further methodological inquiries. In this paper we have chosen to analyze a dissipative Jaynes-Cummings model assuming the common electrodynamics free field for the bipartite system and an another independent bath for the cavity, so taking into account loosing of energy because of the imperfect mirrors. The Nud theorem application leads to predict new cooperative effects between the atom and the cavity mode as the creation of conditional transient entanglement, tending to become stationary as the coupling constant take a well defined value

Synthetic environmental appraisal of waste management system: an application to the Sicilian region

This paper addresses the problem of synthetically evaluating the environmental performances of urban solid waste systems. This, in fact, represents a crucial point in the management process of complex systems that local administrations are called to cope with, in order to provide decisions about policy options that involve different issues characterising the quality of life of people. Suitable methods of evaluation are clearly required for this aim. This work introduces the dashboard of sustainability and the ecological footprint approaches as aggregate indicators of the performances of solid waste management systems. The methods have been selected due to their intrinsic simplicities, provided that the required data are available, although the first one can be defined as a political tool, while the second one can be defined as a technical tool. An application of both methods to the situation of Sicily is proposed here

Improving the sustainability of transportation: environmental and functional benefits of right-turn by pass lanes at roundabouts

The functional performances of conventional roundabouts (single-lane and multi-lane) and innovative roundabouts (spiral, flower, C and turbo) can be improved through right-turn bypass lanes controlled by stop, yield or free-flow signs. The article presents evaluations of the emissions of air pollutants (carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, particle pollution (PM10 and PM2.5)), fuel consumption and construction, management, energetic and environmental costs in roundabouts without or with bypass lanes (controlled by stop, yield or free-flow). The suggested methodology has a general character and can be applied as a multi-parametric criterion for choosing road intersections, although, in the present paper, it has been employed only for a case study. For the aims of this research, we employed recent closed-form formulations to determine roundabout performances; moreover, we used the Copert IV® software to estimate air emissions in nine different types of vehicles. Numerous traffic simulations were carried out. The variation in the maximum hourly traffic Qmax and annual traffic QTOT provided the appropriate domains of the examined geometric layouts, both in functional and environmental terms and with regard to generalized costs, estimated for a 10-year period. It resulted that the introduction of right-turn bypasses in all arms of conventional roundabouts with a one ring lane and one lane at the entries (single-lane roundabouts) is the most cost-effective when the flows entering the roundabout are higher than Qmax = 2000 veh/h. Moreover, free-flow bypass lanes always provide greater capacity and lower delays than stop- or yield-signaled bypasses. However, with extremely high Qmax values, stop-controlled bypasses guarantee lower fuel consumption, while those with a yield sign lower total costs

Towards Nearly Zero Energy and Environmentally Sustainable Agritourisms: The Eectiveness of the Application of the European Ecolabel Brand

Tourism represents an important economic driver in Italy, being responsible for approximately 13.2% of the total GDP (a value higher than the reference European average) and for nearly 10% of the regional GDP. Among the touristic sectors, the agritourist ones show a persistent growth, experiencing in 2019 a 6.7 point percentage improvement compared to the 2017 figures. Given this situation, the transition towards a low-carbon path, aecting the building sector for some time, should also involve agritourist buildings, through the release of EU directives, member state laws, and technical rules. On the other hand, agritourism sites could be awarded the Community EU Ecolabel. Unfortunately, awarding theEUenvironmental excellence brand implies the availability of several data on building energy behavior that should then be managed by complex evaluation tools. To overcome this issue, the use of the simplified ARERA (Italian Regulatory Authority for Energy Networks and Environment) technical datasheets, issued to assess environmental improvements consequent to energy eciency interventions in the urban residential building stock, is proposed. The application of this tool totally avoids using building computer-based simulation models, thus facilitating the preparation of the EU Ecolabel request documentation by agritourism owners. Being awarded the Community EU Ecolabel also implies approaching a net zero energy condition because of a lower energy consumption and a minor recourse to fossil fuels. For this purpose, an application of an easy graphical method, previously developed for residential and commercial buildings, which visually represents improvements achievable by a given agritourism when implementing energy eciency measures, is presented

Foster Carbon-Neutrality in the Built Environment: A Blockchain-Based Approach for the Energy Interaction Among Buildings

Decarbonizing urban environments and reducing their energy consumption is one of modern society biggest commitments. In this regard, both the scientific community and international governments have been giving special consideration on improving the energy-environmental performance of mostly single buildings; recently the focus has been shifting towards a broader Positive Energy District (PED)/ Energy Community (EC) vision, from small clustered group of buildings to neighborhoods up until urban settlements. In this respect, integrating the use of renewable energy resources (RES) and actively involving building users can have a significant environmental impact on local areas. Within this framework, this work discusses the possibility of employing an innovative blockchain-based approach for the energy interaction among buildings. The blockchain technology can, in fact, be useful in managing such scenarios since it would allow to, not only consider buildings occupants behaviors, but also take into account concernings regarding the need for transparency, engagement, environmental and human health benefits, as well as the stakeholders role in the interaction/integration between PEDs/ECs and local/national electricity systems