Introduction

Introduzione al volum

Decomposition of the Sum of Cubes, the Sum Raised to the Power of Four and Codeviance

The purpose of this paper is to achieve decomposition formulas of sums regarding deviation cubes, the sum of deviation raised to the power of four and codeviance, because they allow to evaluate the contribution of different components of the above three absolute measures regarding asymmetry, disnormality and concordance. We have obtained more significant formulas that are valid only for two groups, in addition to the formulas valid for r groups, and we have prepared an example to emphasize how useful those formulas were

Hydrogeology of the Sabatini Volcanic District (Central Italy)

This paper supports the 'Hydrogeological map of the Sabatini Volcanic District'. The map provides an overview of the hydrogeological setting of the Sabatini Volcanic District, using experimental water level data integrated with former volcanological and hydrogeological studies. The 1:50,000 scale map was produced in order to provide support to local authorities and professionals working on groundwater management. Fifteen hydrogeological complexes were defined based on volcanological properties and hydrogeological conditions

Deterministic and stochastic P systems for modelling cellular processes

This paper presents two approaches based on metabolic and stochastic P systems, together with their associated analysis methods, for modelling biological sys- tems and illustrates their use through two case studies.Kingdom's Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council EP/ E017215/1Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council/United Kingdom BB/D019613/1Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council/United Kingdom BB/F01855X/

Theory and Monte Carlo simulations for the stretching of flexible and semiflexible single polymer chains under external fields

Stretching experiments on single molecules of arbitrary length opened the way for studying the statistical mechanics of small systems. In many cases in which the thermodynamic limit is not satisfied, different macroscopic boundary conditions, corresponding to different statistical mechanics ensembles, yield different force-displacement curves. We formulate analytical expressions and develop Monte Carlo simulations to quantitatively evaluate the difference between the Helmholtz and the Gibbs ensembles for a wide range of polymer models of biological relevance. We consider generalizations of the freely jointed chain and of the worm-like chain models with extensible bonds. In all cases we show that the convergence to the thermodynamic limit upon increasing contour length is described by a suitable power law and a specific scaling exponent, characteristic of each model. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics

Perioperative hemodynamic goal-directed therapy and mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis with meta-regression

INTRODUCTION: Recent data found that perioperative goal directed therapy (GDT) was effective only in higher control mortality rates (> 20%) with a relatively high heterogeneity that limited the strength of evidence. The aim of the present meta-analysis was to clearly understand which high risk patients may benefit of GDT.EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: Systematic review of randomized controlled trials with meta-analyses, including a meta-regression technique. MEDLINE, EMBASE, and The Cochrane Library databases were searched (1980-January 2015). Trials enrolling adult surgical patients and comparing the effects of GDT versus standard hemodynamic therapy were considered. The primary outcome measure was mortality. Data synthesis was obtained by using Odds Ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) by random-effects model.EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: Fifty eight studies met the inclusion criteria (8171 participants). Pooled OR for mortality was 0.70 (95% CI 0.56-0.88, P= 0.002, no statistical heterogeneity). GDT significantly reduced mortality when it is > 10% in control group (OR 0.43, 95% CI 0.30-0.61, P< 0.00001). The meta-regression model showed that the cut off of 10% of mortality rate in control group significantly differentiates 43 studies from the other 15, with a regression coefficient b of -0.033 and a P value of 0.0001. The significant effect of GDT was driven by high risk of bias studies (OR 0.48, 95% CI 0.34-0.67, P< 0.0001).CONCLUSIONS: The present meta-analysis, adopting the meta-regression technique, suggests that GDT significantly reduces mortality even when the event control rate is > 10%

Elasticity of flexible and semiflexible polymers with extensible bonds in the Gibbs and Helmholtz ensembles

Stretching experiments on single molecules of arbitrary length opened the way for studying the statistical mechanics of small systems. In many cases in which the thermodynamic limit is not satisfied, different macroscopic boundary conditions, corresponding to different statistical mechanics ensembles, yield different force-displacement curves. We formulate analytical expressions and develop Monte Carlo simulations to quantitatively evaluate the difference between the Helmholtz and the Gibbs ensembles for a wide range of polymer models of biological relevance. We consider generalizations of the freely jointed chain and of the worm-like chain models with extensible bonds. In all cases we show that the convergence to the thermodynamic limit upon increasing contour length is described by a suitable power law and a specific scaling exponent, characteristic of each model

Miniaturized and High-Throughput Assays for Analysis of T-Cell Immunity Specific for Opportunistic Pathogens and HIV

Monitoring of antigen-specific T-cell responses is valuable in numerous conditions that include infectious diseases, vaccinations, and opportunistic infections associated with acquired or congenital immune defects. A variety of assays that make use of peripheral lymphocytes to test activation markers, T-cell receptor expression, or functional responses are currently available. The last group of assays calls for large numbers of functional lymphocytes. The number of cells increases with the number of antigens to be tested. Consequently, cells may be the limiting factor, particularly in lymphopenic subjects and in children, the groups that more often require immune monitoring. We have developed immunochemical assays that measure secreted cytokines in the same wells in which peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) are cultured. This procedure lent itself to miniaturization and automation. Lymphoproliferation and the enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot (ELISPOT) assay have been adapted to a miniaturized format. Here we provide examples of immune profiles and describe a comparison between miniaturized assays based on cytokine secretion or proliferation. We also demonstrate that these assays are convenient for use in testing antigen specificity in established T-cell lines, in addition to analysis of PBMC. In summary, the applicabilities of miniaturization to save cells and reagents and of automation to save time and increase accuracy were demonstrated in this study using different methodological approaches valuable in the clinical immunology laboratory