Improved analysis of the bounds from the electroweak precision tests on the 4-site model

We present a new complete analysis of the electroweak precision observables within the recently proposed 4-site Higgsless model, which is based on the SU(2)_L x SU(2)_1 x SU(2)_2 x U(1)_Y gauge symmetry and predicts six extra gauge bosons, W_{1,2} and Z_{1,2}. Within the epsilon_i (i=1,2,3,b) parametrization, we compute for the first time the EWPT bounds via a complete numerical algorithm going beyond commonly used approximations. Both epsilon_{1,3} impose strong constraints. Hence, it is mandatory to consider them jointly when extracting EWPT bounds and to fully take in to account the correlations among the electroweak precison measurements. The phenomenological consequence is that the extra gauge bosons must be heavier than 250 GeV. Their couplings to SM fermions, even if bounded, might be of the same order of magnitude than the SM ones. In contrast to other Higgsless models, the 4-site model is not fermiophobic. The new gauge bosons could thus be discovered in the favoured Drell-Yan channel already during the present run of the LHC experiment.Comment: Latex file, 35 pages, 10 figures, corrected typos, published versio

Interference effects in heavy W'-boson searches at the LHC

Interference effects are widely neglected in searches for new physics. This is the case in recent publications on searches for W'-bosons using leptonic final states. We examine the effects of interference on distributions frequently used to determine mass limits for possible W'-bosons and show that there are important qualitative effects on the behaviour of the new physics signal. There are two main consequences. Firstly, exclusion limits where interferences effects have not been considered are likely to have been overestimated. Secondly, presenting experimental results as a function of a transverse mass cut rather than in terms of the contribution of new physics to the total cross-section would be more informative.Comment: 31 pages, 8 figures. Published versio

Land Cover Segmentation with Sparse Annotations from Sentinel-2 Imagery

Land cover (LC) segmentation plays a critical role in various applications, including environmental analysis and natural disaster management. However, generating accurate LC maps is a complex and time-consuming task that requires the expertise of multiple annotators and regular updates to account for environmental changes. In this work, we introduce SPADA, a framework for fuel map delineation that addresses the challenges associated with LC segmentation using sparse annotations and domain adaptation techniques for semantic segmentation. Performance evaluations using reliable ground truths, such as LUCAS and Urban Atlas, demonstrate the technique's effectiveness. SPADA outperforms state-of-the-art semantic segmentation approaches as well as third-party products, achieving a mean Intersection over Union (IoU) score of 42.86 and an F1 score of 67.93 on Urban Atlas and LUCAS, respectively.Comment: 4 pages, short paper. Accepted to IGARSS 202

In vitro testing for genotoxicity of indigo naturalis assessed by micronucleus test.

In the field of cosmetic dyes, used for coloring the hair and skin, there is a clear tendency to replace the widely used synthetic dyes by natural colorants, such as henna and mixtures of henna with indigo. The aim of this study was to estimate the genotoxicity of water and DMSO solutions of indigo naturalis (prepared from Indigofera tinctoria leaves) using the cytokinesis-blocked micronucleus (CBMN) assay in the human metabolically active HepG2 cell line. The cytotoxic effects of indigo solutions were first assessed by propidium iodide and fluorescein-diacetate simultaneous staining. For both solutions, cytotoxicity was always under 10%. Data obtained in the CBMN assay (for all concentrations tested) indicated that the frequency of MN (micronuclei) in exposed cells was no higher than the control. Both the water and DMSO solutions showed the same behavior. These results indicate that indigo naturalis exhibits neither cytotoxicity, nor genotoxicity for all concentrations tested, which may justify excluding indigofera and its components from the list of carcinogenic agents

Land Cover Segmentation with Sparse Annotations from Sentinel-2 Imagery

Land cover (LC) segmentation plays a critical role in various applications, including environmental analysis and natural disaster management. However, generating accurate LC maps is a complex and time-consuming task that requires the expertise of multiple annotators and regular updates to account for environmental changes. In this work, we introduce SPADA, a framework for fuel map delineation that addresses the challenges associated with LC segmentation using sparse annotations and domain adaptation techniques for semantic segmentation. Performance evaluations using reliable ground truths, such as LUCAS and Urban Atlas, demonstrate the technique's effectiveness. SPADA outperforms state-of-the-art semantic segmentation approaches as well as third-party products, achieving a mean Intersection over Union (IoU) score of 42.86 and an F1 score of 67.93 on Urban Atlas and LUCAS, respectively

Biological effect monitoring in peripheral blood lymphocytes from subjects occupationally exposed to antineoplastic drugs: assessment of micronuclei frequency.

Biological Effect Monitoring in Peripheral Blood Lymphocytes from Subjects Occupationally Exposed to Antineoplastic Drugs: Assessment of Micronuclei Frequency: Milena VILLARINI, et al. Department of Medical‐Surgical Specialties and Public Health (Section of Public Health), University of Perugia, Italy—ObjectivesAntineoplastic drugs (ANPDs) are widely used in the treatment of cancer and some nonneoplastic diseases. However, most if not all of these chemical agents are generally nonselective and, along with tumor cells, normal cells may undergo cytotoxic/genotoxic damage. Italian pharmacists and nurses occupationally exposed to ANPDs during their normal work routines were monitored to evaluate biological effects (i.e., cytogenetic damage) eventually associated with exposure. The subjects were also monitored for primary, oxidative and excision repaired DNA damage as evaluated by comet assay (published data). In the present paper, we present the results obtained with the cytokinesis‐block micronucleus (CBMN) test.MethodsThe CBMN test in peripheral blood lymphocytes was applied because of its ability to detect both clastogenic and aneugenic effects, and because it has recently been reported that micronuclei (MNs) are predictive of cancer risk in human populations. In this study, the evaluation of MN frequency was carried out using the CBMN test in the absence or in the presence of the DNA repair inhibitor Ara‐C (cytosine arabinoside).ResultsNo significant difference was observed for MN frequency comparing nurses handling ANPDs (exposed subjects) and controls; no correlations were found between job seniority, age, smoking habits and MN rates.ConclusionsConcerning the aim of this study to evaluate the genotoxic risk arising from occupational exposure to ANPDs, statistically significant differences in MN rates in the subjects under study could not be determined

W' production at the LHC in the 4-site Higgsless model

We study the phenomenology of the 4-site Higgsless model, based on the $SU(2)_L\times SU(2)_1\times SU(2)_2\times U(1)_Y$ gauge symmetry, at present colliders. The model predicts the existence of two neutral and four charged extra gauge bosons, Z1,Z2,W1,W2. In this paper, we focus on the charged gauge sector. We first derive limits on W1,W2-boson masses and couplings to SM fermions from direct searches at the Tevatron. We then estimate at the 7 TeV LHC the exclusion limits with the actual L=1 fb-1 and the discovery potential with the expected L=10 fb-1. In contrast to the minimal (or 3-site) Higgsless model which predicts almost fermiophobic extra gauge bosons, the next-to-minimal (or 4-site) Higgsless model recovers sizeable W1,W2-boson couplings to ordinary matter, expressing the non-fermiophobic multiresonance inner nature of extra-dimensional theories. Owing to this feature, we find that in one year from now the new heavy gauge bosons, W1 and W2, could be discovered in the final state with an electron and large missing transverse energy at the 7 TeV LHC for W1,W2-boson masses in the TeV region, depending on model parameters.Comment: 28 pages, references adde

Clinical Prognosticators in Patients Treated with CDK 4/6 Inhibitors for Hormone Receptors Positive Advanced Breast Cancer

Background: CDK4/6 inhibitors are the new standard of care in hormonal receptors positive (HR+) advanced breast cancer (ABC). Phase III trials demonstrated an improvement in survival outcomes in patients with combined endocrine approach compared to endocrine therapy (ET) alone. The aim of this retrospective study was to assess prognostic factors for clinical response to CDK4/6 inhibitors. Methods: All patients receiving CDK4/6 inhibitors from September 2016 to July 2019 were registered in a database. Data on tumor and patient\u2019s characteristics as well as concomitant medications were collected. Survival data were analyzed by Kaplan Meier curves and log rank test. Treatment toxicities were graded according to CTCAE v5. A drug-drug interactions analysis among CDK 4/6 inhibitors and co-administered medications was performed too. Results: 121 patients were included in the study: 49% of patients treated in 1st -line, 25% in 2nd -line and 26% in 3rd \u2013or further lines. 1st-line objective response rate (ORR) and clinical benefit rate (CBR) was 56% and 68%, compared to 40% and 50% in 2nd-line and 31% and 47% in heavily pre-treated patients, respectively. Median PFS according to line setting was: not reached in 1st-line, 17 months (95% CI 13-21) in 2nd-line and 7 months (95% CI 4-12) in 3rd or further lines. Negative prognostic factors in term of PFS were: previous chemotherapy for metastatic disease (p=0.0001), visceral metastatic sites (p=0.002) and endocrine sensitivity (p=0.001). No association among concomitant drugs administered and survival outcome was found. 94% of patients experienced neutropenia (G3-G4 60%) with 3% of febrile neutropenia. 71% of patients treated with Abemaciclib had diarrhea. Management of AE included 63% of treatment delay, 44% of 1st dose reduction and 15% of 2nd dose reduction, all due to neutropenia. No treatment discontinuation due to any toxicity was observed. Conclusion: Data on efficacy and safety profile of CDK 4/6 inhibitors administered outside the context of a clinical trial are consistent with those reported in Phase III trials. Previous chemotherapy for metastatic disease, visceral metastatic site as well as previous endocrine sensitivity negatively affect CDK 4/6 inhibitors efficacy. Concomitant medications did not affect survival outcome or safety profile

Provenance of white marbles from the Roman City of tauriana (Palmi, Reggio Calabria, Italy)

The work shows the results of an archaeometric study performed on fourteen white marble samples from the Roman city of Tauriana (Palmi, Reggio Calabria, Italy), belonging to different architectural elements of the Municipal Museum Complex and artifacts reused in the modern town. Samples were studied by optical microscopy (OM), x-ray powder diffraction (XRPD), and isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) of13C and18O with the aim to identify their provenance. The comparison between the collected data and the historical ones, concerning the ancient quarries of white marble of the Mediterranean area, allowed us to prove that most of the marbles used in the city of Tauriana were from the Apuan Alps Basin (Carrara) and, in few cases, from Minor Asia (Proconnesos, Aphrodisias, Docimium) and Greek (Thasos and Pentelic) quarries

In Vitro Safety/Protection Assessment of Resveratrol and Pterostilbene in a Human Hepatoma Cell Line (HepG2).

The aim of this work was to evaluate in vitro the genotoxic and/or antigenotoxic effects of resveratrol (RESV) and pterostilbene (PTER) on HepG2 cells. Moreover, additional tests were performed to evaluate early and late apoptosis events induced by the tested stilbenes. RESV and PTER did not show any genotoxic activity. As regards antigenotoxicity testing, RESV and PTER showed a typical, U-shaped hormetic dose-response relationship characterized by a biphasic trend with small quantities having opposite effects to large ones. HepG2 cells treated with PTER exhibited a marked increase in early apoptosis (40.1 %) at 250 μM; whereas, the highest concentration tested for both RESV and PTER significantly increased the proportion of HepG2 cells undergoing late apoptosis (32.5 and 51.2 %, respectively). The observed pro-apoptotic activity could, at least in part, explain the hormetic response observed when the compounds were tested for antigenotoxicity ( i.e., in the presence of induced DNA damage)