Sharp estimates for the anisotropic torsional rigidity and the principal frequency

In this paper we generalize some classical estimates involving the torsional rigidity and the principal frequency of a convex domain to a class of functionals related to some anisotropic non linear operators

Consumer Research Needs from the Food and Drug Administration on Front-of-Package Nutritional Labeling

Americans have increasingly busy lifestyles and desire quick and nutritious food choices. To provide consumers with at-a-glance nutrition information, many food manufacturers have introduced front-of-package (FOP) nutritional labeling systems. The purpose of this review is to reach out to the marketing and public policy discipline by identifying research needs on FOP systems not only to aid decision making for federal agencies, but also to help advance research on this important topic. We describe the many FOP systems, the FDA\u27s regulatory background and approach to FOP systems, recent experimental research and gaps in knowledge, and research needs on FOP nutrition labeling

A random time-dependent noncooperative equilibrium problem

The paper deals with the random time-dependent oligopolistic market equilibrium problem. For such a problem the firms’ point of view has been analyzed in Barbagallo and Guarino Lo Bianco (Optim. Lett. 14: 2479–2493, 2020) while here the policymaker’s point of view is studied. The random dynamic optimal control equilibrium conditions are expressed by means of an inverse stochastic time-dependent variational inequality which is proved to be equivalent to a stochastic time-dependent variational inequality. Some existence and well-posedness results for optimal regulatory taxes are obtained. Moreover a numerical scheme to compute the solution to the stochastic time-dependent variational inequality is presented. Finally an example is discussed

In vitro and in vivo screening for novel essential cell-envelope proteins in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

The Gram-negative bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa represents a prototype of multi-drug resistant opportunistic pathogens for which novel therapeutic options are urgently required. In order to identify new candidates as potential drug targets, we combined large-scale transposon mutagenesis data analysis and bioinformatics predictions to retrieve a set of putative essential genes which are conserved in P. aeruginosa and predicted to encode cell envelope or secreted proteins. By generating unmarked deletion or conditional mutants, we confirmed the in vitro essentiality of two periplasmic proteins, LptH and LolA, responsible for lipopolysaccharide and lipoproteins transport to the outer membrane respectively, and confirmed that they are important for cell envelope stability. LptH was also found to be essential for P. aeruginosa ability to cause infection in different animal models. Conversely, LolA-depleted cells appeared only partially impaired in pathogenicity, indicating that this protein likely plays a less relevant role during bacterial infection. Finally, we ruled out any involvement of the other six proteins under investigation in P. aeruginosa growth, cell envelope stability and virulence. Besides proposing LptH as a very promising drug target in P. aeruginosa, this study confirms the importance of in vitro and in vivo validation of potential essential genes identified through random transposon mutagenesis

Mafia Women: A Study on Language and Mental Representations of Women Engaged with Mafia Members

For a long time, women in the Mafia were considered victims who were unaware of the activities of the men in their families. However, it has recently been demonstrated that these women may play an important role in the organisation, particularly in the transmission of Mafia values. In this study, we explored the representations of self, relationships, and the Mafia world in women engaged with Mafia members. This was done by means of in-depth interviews and computer-assisted text analysis. A cluster analysis was applied to words used by the women in the interviews. Three clusters emerged that accounted for 85% of the principal contents of the interviews. These were interpreted as "representations of family", "representations of social relationships", and "ideals and values". The analysis of words included in each cluster suggested that Mafia women are deeply involved in the transmission of traditional Sicilian values to their offspring. These ideals and beliefs are deeply rooted in the Mafia organisation and they involve attributing a central role to family, religion, and honor within the Mafia culture. Findings of the study could be positively used for developing appropriate preventative and social measures that may help these women change their ideals and beliefs related to the Mafia world, thus breaking the transmission of Mafia values

Genetic and Distribution Data of the Bramble Shark Echinorhinus brucus (Bonnaterre, 1788) and the Prickly Shark Echinorhinus cookei Pietschmann, 1928 to Better Reconstruct Their Conservation Status

Elasmobranch species show low resilience in relation to anthropogenic stressors such as fishing efforts, loss of habitats, and climate change. In this sense, the elasmobranch populations appear to be at risk of extinction in many cases. Despite conservation researchers making efforts to implement knowledge, the information on the biology, reproduction, distribution, or genetic structure of some species is still scattered, often caused by the occurrence of species in inaccessible habitats. Echinorhinus brucus is a deep benthic shark evaluated as “Endangered” on which little information is available, particularly about its geographical range and genetic structure, while E. cookei is listed as “Data Deficient”. Echinorhinus brucus belongs to the Echinorhinidae family, and its unique congeneric species is E. cookei. The main morphological diagnostic characteristic of both species is the presence of denticles with different shapes and patterns on the derma. In the present paper, mitochondrial COI and NADH2 sequences were retrieved from both E. brucus and E. cookei species, and analyses were conducted by applying different models of phylogenetic inference. Sequences of E. brucus captured in the Indian Ocean (IOS) did not cluster with the Atlantic E. brucus counterparts (AOS) but instead with E. cookei sequences; the different models showed an overlapping tree topology. Concurrently, a review of the historical and recent captures of the two species was carried out. The worldwide distribution of E. brucus excludes the Pacific Ocean area, where E. cookei occurs, and is characterised by presumably current local extinctions in the North Sea and the western Mediterranean Sea. The dataset describes two definite areas of significantly high abundance of E. brucus located in the Atlantic Ocean (Brazil) and the Indian Ocean (India). These areas suggest zones for conservation plans, especially considering the two lineages identified through molecular approaches

On a reverse Kohler-Jobin inequality

We consider the shape optimization problems for the quantities $\lambda(\Omega)T^q(\Omega)$, where $\Omega$ varies among open sets of $\mathbb{R}^d$ with a prescribed Lebesgue measure. While the characterization of the infimum is completely clear, the same does not happen for the maximization in the case $q>1$. We prove that for $q$ large enough a maximizing domain exists among quasi-open sets and that the ball is optimal among {\it nearly spherical domains}

Wrist Photoplethysmography Signal Quality Assessment for Reliable Heart Rate Estimate and Morphological Analysis

Photoplethysmographic (PPG) signals are mainly employed for heart rate estimation but are also fascinating candidates in the search for cardiovascular biomarkers. However, their high susceptibility to motion artifacts can lower their morphological quality and, hence, affect the reliability of the extracted information. Low reliability is particularly relevant when signals are recorded in a real-world context, during daily life activities. We aim to develop two classifiers to identify PPG pulses suitable for heart rate estimation (Basic-quality classifier) and morphological analysis (High-quality classifier). We collected wrist PPG data from 31 participants over a 24 h period. We defined four activity ranges based on accelerometer data and randomly selected an equal number of PPG pulses from each range to train and test the classifiers. Independent raters labeled the pulses into three quality levels. Nineteen features, including nine novel features, were extracted from PPG pulses and accelerometer signals. We conducted ten-fold cross-validation on the training set (70%) to optimize hyperparameters of five machine learning algorithms and a neural network, and the remaining 30% was used to test the algorithms. Performances were evaluated using the full features and a reduced set, obtained downstream of feature selection methods. Best performances for both Basic- and High-quality classifiers were achieved using a Support Vector Machine (Acc: 0.96 and 0.97, respectively). Both classifiers outperformed comparable state-of-the-art classifiers. Implementing automatic signal quality assessment methods is essential to improve the reliability of PPG parameters and broaden their applicability in a real-world context