The PLASMONX Project for advanced beam physics experiments

The Project PLASMONX is well progressing into its design phase and has entered as well its second phase of procurements for main components. The project foresees the installation at LNF of a Ti:Sa laser system (peak power > 170 TW), synchronized to the high brightness electron beam produced by the SPARC photo-injector. The advancement of the procurement of such a laser system is reported, as well as the construction plans of a new building at LNF to host a dedicated laboratory for high intensity photon beam experiments (High Intensity Laser Laboratory). Several experiments are foreseen using this complex facility, mainly in the high gradient plasma acceleration field and in the field of mono- chromatic ultra-fast X-ray pulse generation via Thomson back-scattering. Detailed numerical simulations have been carried out to study the generation of tightly focused electron bunches to collide with laser pulses in the Thomson source: results on the emitted spectra of X-rays are presented

HIV/AIDS, demography and development: individual choices versus public policies in SSA

Despite the increasing rate of diffusion of effective therapies, the battle against HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is far from being over. Three main challenges are that the epidemics might paralyse or reverse the fertility transition, the expansion of the resources needed to finance the fight against HIV, and the emerging resistance to anti-retroviral treatments. This research proposes a UGT-like model showing the complexity of the interplay amongst the (macro)economy, the epidemics, their endogenous feedback on mortality and fertility and the central role of policy actions aimed to fight HIV. The disease-induced increase in adult mortality can hamper economic development by its upward pressure on the precautionary demand for children and downward pressure on education. This can dramatically reduce physical and human capital accumulation

High Intrinsic Expression of P-glycoprotein and Breast Cancer Resistance Protein in Canine Mammary Carcinomas Regardless of Immunophenotype and Outcome

P-glycoprotein (P-gp) and breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP) are major actors in multidrug resistance (MDR) phenomenon in both human and canine mammary carcinomas (CMCs). The aim of this study was to investigate an association between the intrinsic expression of P-gp and BCRP compared to the immunophenotypes and outcome in CMCs. Fifty CMCs were evaluated at immunohistochemistry (IHC) for P-gp, BCRP, Estrogen receptor alpha (ER), Progesterone receptors (PR), Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor type 2 (HER2), basal cytokeratins 5/6 (CK5/6), Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 1 (EGFR), and Ki67 proliferation index. P-gp and BCRP positive cases were, respectively, 52% and 74.5%, with a significantly higher expression of BCRP than P-gp. Five immunophenotypes were defined in 37 out of 50 CMCs: 9 (24.3%) Luminal A, 5 (13.5%) Luminal B, 9 (24.3%) HER2 overexpressing, 9 (24.3%) Triple-negative basal-like, and 5 (13.5%) Triple-negative non-basal-like. In all CMCs at least one marker was expressed. Follow-up data were available for 25 animals. The average cancer-specific survival was 739 ± 444 days. A number of CMCs bear a high expression of P-gp and BCRP but no significant association was found between their expression and the immunophenotypes, Ki67 index, the histological grade, and tumor-related death

Munari 1971. Il progetto critico di Paolo Fossati per Codice Ovvio: un libro d’artista di massa

Il presente contributo ripercorre il processo redazionale che portò nel 1971 alla stampa del volume di Bruno Munari intitolato Codice Ovvio. Pubblicato nella collana Einaudi Letteratura, diretta da Paolo Fossati, la particolarità di Codice Ovvio si evince dall’articolazione delle immagini e dei documenti che raccoglie. Il carteggio intercorso tra Munari e Fossati, conservato presso l’Archivio di Stato di Torino, permette di rilevare uno specifico modus operandi in tale innovativa operazione editoriale. Nella prima parte le riproduzioni delle opere e i testi che le accompagnano si dispongono secondo un arco temporale che va dal 1933 al 1971, in cui nel mezzo vi è il Libro illeggibile del 1966, mentre nella seconda parte si trova la nota critica di Fossati. Le due parti conferiscono al volume un carattere eterogeneo poiché vengono riuniti insieme un livello concettuale (storico, teorico e documentario) con un livello visuale e tattile, grazie alle immagini e al Libro illeggibile. Codice ovvio apparve nel periodo in cui aveva fortuna critica e di mercato il cosiddetto libro d'artista. Realizzato in stretta collaborazione tra Munari e Fossati, questo volume è un atlante iconografico dell'opera dell'artista milanese e allo stesso tempo supera l'elitarismo del libro d'artista per diventare un prodotto culturale di massa