Mandatory multidisciplinary approach for the evaluation of the lymph node status in rectal cancer

Colorectal cancer is the third most frequently reported malignancy and also the third leading cancer-related cause of death worldwide. Lymph node evaluation, both preoperatively and postoperatively, represents an important aspect of the diagnosis and therapeutic strategy in colorectal cancer, such that an accurate preoperative staging is required for a correct therapeutic strategy. Treatment of rectal cancer with positive lymph nodes, a very important predictive prognostic parameter, is currently based on neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy followed by total/ surgical mesorectal excision and adjuvant regimen. Preoperative evaluation of the lymph node status in rectal cancer is based on endoscopic ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging, but their accuracy, specificity, and sensitivity still require improvement. Postoperative evaluation also presents points of debate, especially related to the role of sentinel lymph node mapping and their final implication, represented by detection of micrometastases and isolated tumor cells. The pathologic interpretation of tumor deposits represents other points in discussion. From a surgical perspective, extended lateral lymph node dissection vs. abstinence and (neo)adjuvant therapeutic approach represent another unresolved issue. This review presents the major controversies existing today in the treatment and pathologic interpretation of the lymph nodes in rectal cancer, the role/ indication and value of the lateral pelvic lymph node dissection, and the postoperative interpretation of the value of the micrometastatic disease and tumor deposits

Misleading graphs in context:Less misleading than expected

Misleading graphs are a source of misinformation that worry many experts. Especially people with a low graph literacy are thought to be persuaded by graphs that misrepresent the underlying data. But we know little about how people interpret misleading graphs and how these graphs influence their opinions. In this study we focus on the effect of truncating the y-axis for a line chart which exaggerates an upgoing trend. In a randomized controlled trial, we showed participants either a normal or a misleading chart, and we did so in two different contexts. After they had seen the graphs, we asked participants their opinion on the trend and to give an estimation of the increase. Finally we measured their graph literacy. Our results show that context is the only significant factor in opinion-forming; the misleading graph and graph literacy had no effect. None of these factors had a significant impact on estimations for the increase. These results show that people might be less susceptible to misleading graphs than we thought and that context has more impact than a misleading y-axis.Science Communication and Societ

SiPM and front-end electronics development for Cherenkov light detection

The Italian Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN) is involved in the development of a demonstrator for a SiPM-based camera for the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) experiment, with a pixel size of 6$\times$6 mm$^2$. The camera houses about two thousands electronics channels and is both light and compact. In this framework, a R&D program for the development of SiPMs suitable for Cherenkov light detection (so called NUV SiPMs) is ongoing. Different photosensors have been produced at Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK), with different micro-cell dimensions and fill factors, in different geometrical arrangements. At the same time, INFN is developing front-end electronics based on the waveform sampling technique optimized for the new NUV SiPM. Measurements on 1$\times$1 mm$^2$, 3$\times$3 mm$^2$, and 6$\times$6 mm$^2$ NUV SiPMs coupled to the front-end electronics are presentedComment: In Proceedings of the 34th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC2015), The Hague, The Netherlands. All CTA contributions at arXiv:1508.0589

Mandatory multidisciplinary approach for the evaluation of the lymph node status in rectal cancer

Colorectal cancer is the third most frequently reported malignancy and also the third leading cancer-related cause of death worldwide. Lymph node evaluation, both preoperatively and postoperatively, represents an important aspect of the diagnosis and therapeutic strategy in colorectal cancer, such that an accurate preoperative staging is required for a correct therapeutic strategy. Treatment of rectal cancer with positive lymph nodes, a very important predictive prognostic parameter, is currently based on neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy followed by total/ surgical mesorectal excision and adjuvant regimen. Preoperative evaluation of the lymph node status in rectal cancer is based on endoscopic ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging, but their accuracy, specificity, and sensitivity still require improvement. Postoperative evaluation also presents points of debate, especially related to the role of sentinel lymph node mapping and their final implication, represented by detection of micrometastases and isolated tumor cells. The pathologic interpretation of tumor deposits represents other points in discussion. From a surgical perspective, extended lateral lymph node dissection vs. abstinence and (neo)adjuvant therapeutic approach represent another unresolved issue. This review presents the major controversies existing today in the treatment and pathologic interpretation of the lymph nodes in rectal cancer, the role/ indication and value of the lateral pelvic lymph node dissection, and the postoperative interpretation of the value of the micrometastatic disease and tumor deposits

Measurements and tests on FBK silicon sensors with an optimized electronic design for a CTA camera

In October 2013, the Italian Ministry approved the funding of a Research & Development (R&D) study, within the "Progetto Premiale TElescopi CHErenkov made in Italy (TECHE)", devoted to the development of a demonstrator for a camera for the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) consortium. The demonstrator consists of a sensor plane based on the Silicon Photomultiplier (SiPM) technology and on an electronics designed for signal sampling. Preliminary tests on a matrix of sensors produced by the Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK-Trento, Italy) and on electronic prototypes produced by SITAEL S.p.A. will be presented. In particular, we used different designs of the electronics in order to optimize the output signals in terms of tail cancellation. This is crucial for applications where a high background is expected, as for the CTA experiment.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures; Proceedings of the 10th Workshop on Science with the New Generation of High-Energy Gamma-ray experiments (SciNeGHE) - PoS(Scineghe2014)00

Penetrating particle ANalyzer (PAN)

PAN is a scientific instrument suitable for deep space and interplanetary missions. It can precisely measure and monitor the flux, composition, and direction of highly penetrating particles ($> \sim$100 MeV/nucleon) in deep space, over at least one full solar cycle (~11 years). The science program of PAN is multi- and cross-disciplinary, covering cosmic ray physics, solar physics, space weather and space travel. PAN will fill an observation gap of galactic cosmic rays in the GeV region, and provide precise information of the spectrum, composition and emission time of energetic particle originated from the Sun. The precise measurement and monitoring of the energetic particles is also a unique contribution to space weather studies. PAN will map the flux and composition of penetrating particles, which cannot be shielded effectively, precisely and continuously, providing valuable input for the assessment of the related health risk, and for the development of an adequate mitigation strategy. PAN has the potential to become a standard on-board instrument for deep space human travel. PAN is based on the proven detection principle of a magnetic spectrometer, but with novel layout and detection concept. It will adopt advanced particle detection technologies and industrial processes optimized for deep space application. The device will require limited mass (~20 kg) and power (~20 W) budget. Dipole magnet sectors built from high field permanent magnet Halbach arrays, instrumented in a modular fashion with high resolution silicon strip detectors, allow to reach an energy resolution better than 10\% for nuclei from H to Fe at 1 GeV/n

STUDY ON PREPARATION OF TECHNICAL DOCUMENTATION REQUIRED TO DESIGN ROAD DC 36 UPGRADING -STANESTI-STOILESTI, VALCEA COUNTY

This paper aims at showing how to achieve the necessary technical documentation to design of the studied road upgrading works, using the technologies such as that GPS. Topo-cadastral works made so yielded high accuracies comparable to those obtained using total stations, but with a much higher yield and much less human, financial and material effort,. Measured data were processed with specialized software that allowed a rapid and accurate large-scale topographic plans, they create the opportunity that designer to take the best and effective design solutions and the constructor to perform work in the best conditions

Results and applications of SiPM photodetectors from FBK-irst by the DASIPM Collaboration

Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPMs) and SiPM matrices optimized for the detection of blue light have been developed at FBK-irst. The first devices produced are composed of 625 microcells with 40 μm × 40 μm size, in a 1mm × 1mm active area. The devices have a breakdown voltage around 30 V, and a gain about 106. The DASIPM Collaboration is evaluating their performance and possible applications in high-energy physics, space physics and medical imaging. Dedicated front-end electronics are also being developed

The internal alignment and position resolution of the AMS-02 silicon tracker determined with cosmic-ray muons

Abstract The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer is a large acceptance cosmic-ray detector ( 0.5 m 2 sr ) designed to operate at an altitude of 400 km on the International Space Station. The AMS-02 silicon tracker contains 2264 silicon microstrip sensors (total active area 6.75 m 2 ). The internal alignment parameters of the assembled tracker have been determined on the ground with cosmic-ray muons. The alignment procedure is described and results for the alignment precision and position resolution are reported

INFN Camera demonstrator for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

The Cherenkov Telescope Array is a world-wide project for a new generation of ground-based Cherenkov telescopes of the Imaging class with the aim of exploring the highest energy region of the electromagnetic spectrum. With two planned arrays, one for each hemisphere, it will guarantee a good sky coverage in the energy range from a few tens of GeV to hundreds of TeV, with improved angular resolution and a sensitivity in the TeV energy region better by one order of magnitude than the currently operating arrays. In order to cover this wide energy range, three different telescope types are envisaged, with different mirror sizes and focal plane features. In particular, for the highest energies a possible design is a dual-mirror Schwarzschild-Couder optical scheme, with a compact focal plane. A silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) based camera is being proposed as a solution to match the dimensions of the pixel (angular size of ~ 0.17 degrees). INFN is developing a camera demonstrator made by 9 Photo Sensor Modules (PSMs, 64 pixels each, with total coverage 1/4 of the focal plane) equipped with FBK (Fondazione Bruno Kessler, Italy) Near UltraViolet High Fill factor SiPMs and Front-End Electronics (FEE) based on a Target 7 ASIC, a 16 channels fast sampler (up to 2GS/s) with deep buffer, self-trigger and on-demand digitization capabilities specifically developed for this purpose. The pixel dimensions of $6\times6$ mm$^2$ lead to a very compact design with challenging problems of thermal dissipation. A modular structure, made by copper frames hosting one PSM and the corresponding FEE, has been conceived, with a water cooling system to keep the required working temperature. The actual design, the adopted technical solutions and the achieved results for this demonstrator are presented and discussed.Comment: In Proceedings of the 34th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC2015), The Hague, The Netherlands. All CTA contributions at arXiv:1508.0589