A Functional and Lagrangian Formulation of Two-Dimensional Topological Gravity

We reconsider two-dimensional topological gravity in a functional and lagrangian framework. We derive its Slavnov-Taylor identities and discuss its (in)dependence on the background gauge. Correlators of reparamerization invariant observables are shown to be globally defined forms on moduli space. The potential obstruction to their gauge-independence is the non-triviality of the line bundle on moduli space ${\cal L}_x$, whose first Chern-class is associated to the topological invariants of Mumford, Morita and Miller. Based on talks given at the Fubini Fest, Torino, 24-26 February 1994, and at the Workshop on String Theory, Trieste, 20-22 April 1994.Comment: 11 pages, harvmac, CERN-TH-7302/94, GEF-Th-6/199

Mesothelioma and thymic tumors: Treatment challenges in (outside) a network setting

The management of patients with mesothelioma and thymic malignancy requires continuous multidisciplinary expertise at any step of the disease. A dramatic improvement in our knowledge has occurred in the last few years, through the development of databases, translational research programs, and clinical trials. Access to innovative strategies represents a major challenge, as there is a lack of funding for clinical research in rare cancers and their rarity precludes the design of robust clinical trials that could lead to specific approval of drugs. In this context, patient-centered initiatives, such as the establishment of dedicated networks, are warranted. International societies, such as IMIG (International Mesothelioma Interest Group) and ITMIG (International Thymic Malignancy Interest Group) provide infrastructure for global collaboration, and there are many advantages to having strong regional groups working on the same issues. There may be regional differences in risk factors, susceptibility, management and outcomes. The ability to address questions both regionally as well as globally is ideal to develop a full understanding of mesothelioma and thymic malignancies. In Europe, through the integration of national networks with EURACAN, the collaboration with academic societies and international groups, the development of networks in thoracic oncology provides multiplex integration of clinical care and research, ultimately ensuring equal access to high quality care to all patients, with the opportunity of conducting high level clinical and translational research projects

Chiral QED in Terms of Chiral Boson with a Generalized Fadeevian Regularization

Chiral QED with a generalized Fadeevian regularization is considered. Imposing a chiral constraint a gauged version of Floranini-Jackiw lagrangian is constructed. The imposition of the chiral constarint has spoiled t he manifestly Lorentz covariance of the theory. The phase space structure for this theory has been det ermined. It is found that spectrum changes drastically but it is Lorentz invariant. Chiral fermion di sappears from the spectra and the photon anquire mass as well. Poincare algebra has been calculated to show physicial Lorentz invariance explicitely.Comment: 11 page

A lagrangian formulation of 2-dimensional topological gravity and Cech-de Rham cohomology

We present a very simplified analysis of how one can overcome the Gribov problem in a non-abelian gauge theory. Our formulae, albeit quite simplified, show that possible breakdowns of the Slavnov-Taylor identity could in principle come from singularities in space of gauge orbits. To test these ideas we exhibit the calculation of a very simple correlation function of 2-dimensional topological gravity and we show how in this model the singularities of the moduli space induce a breakdown of the Slavnov-Taylor identity. We comment on the technical relevance of the possibility of including the singularities into a finite number of cells of the moduli space

Gauge dependence in topological gauge theories

We parametrize the gauge-fixing freedom in choosing the Lagrangian of a topological gauge theory. We compute the gauge-fixing dependence of correlators of equivariant operators when the compactified moduli space has a non-empty boundary and verify that only a subset of these has a gauge independent meaning. We analyze in detail a simple example of such anomalous topological theories, 4D topological Yang-Mills on the four-sphere and instanton number k=1.Comment: 12 pages, TeX , harvma

A procedure to identify the modal and physical parameters of a classically damped system under seismic motions

The purpose of this paper is to discuss a methodology for determining some modal parameters (frequencies, damping ratios and seismic eigenvectors) and, under certain hypotheses, the physical matrices of a general structure with proportional damping and subjected to seismic loads. The procedure is based on a time-domain state space formulation from which the modal parameters, including the seismic eigenvectors, and the complex eigenvectors of the system can be derived also in the case of limited set of instrumentations. The conditions to normalize the eigenvectors are, then, illustrated and, nally, applied to derive the second order matrices of the system. The proposed procedure is applied to some numerical examples also in the case of noise polluted measurements and to an experimental investigation performed on a four-storey steel frame subjected to earthquake excitations. An optimization procedure to improve the prediction of the rst order modal parameters of the system is also discussed and experimentally proved

Cell therapies in ovarian cancer.

Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is the most important cause of gynecological cancer-related mortality. Despite improvements in medical therapies, particularly with the incorporation of drugs targeting homologous recombination deficiency, EOC survival rates remain low. Adoptive cell therapy (ACT) is a personalized form of immunotherapy in which autologous lymphocytes are expanded, manipulated ex vivo, and re-infused into patients to mediate cancer rejection. This highly promising novel approach with curative potential encompasses multiple strategies, including the adoptive transfer of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, natural killer cells, or engineered immune components such as chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) constructs and engineered T-cell receptors. Technical advances in genomics and immuno-engineering have made possible neoantigen-based ACT strategies, as well as CAR-T cells with increased cell persistence and intratumoral trafficking, which have the potential to broaden the opportunity for patients with EOC. Furthermore, dendritic cell-based immunotherapies have been tested in patients with EOC with modest but encouraging results, while the combination of DC-based vaccination as a priming modality for other cancer therapies has shown encouraging results. In this manuscript, we provide a clinically oriented historical overview of various forms of cell therapies for the treatment of EOC, with an emphasis on T-cell therapy

Remarks on Resonant Scalars in the AdS/CFT Correspondence

The special properties of scalars having a mass such that the two possible dimensions of the dual scalar respect the unitarity and the Breitenlohner-Freedman bounds and their ratio is integral (``resonant scalars'') are studied in the AdS/CFT correspondence. The role of logarithmic branches in the gravity theory is related to the existence of a trace anomaly and to a marginal deformation in the Conformal Field Theory. The existence of asymptotic charges for the conformal group in the gravity theory is interpreted in terms of the properties of the corresponding CFT.Comment: 16 pages, 1 figur