Near-optimal combination of disparity across a log-polar scaled visual field

The human visual system is foveated: we can see fine spatial details in central vision, whereas resolution is poor in our peripheral visual field, and this loss of resolution follows an approximately logarithmic decrease. Additionally, our brain organizes visual input in polar coordinates. Therefore, the image projection occurring between retina and primary visual cortex can be mathematically described by the log-polar transform. Here, we test and model how this space-variant visual processing affects how we process binocular disparity, a key component of human depth perception. We observe that the fovea preferentially processes disparities at fine spatial scales, whereas the visual periphery is tuned for coarse spatial scales, in line with the naturally occurring distributions of depths and disparities in the real-world. We further show that the visual system integrates disparity information across the visual field, in a near-optimal fashion. We develop a foveated, log-polar model that mimics the processing of depth information in primary visual cortex and that can process disparity directly in the cortical domain representation. This model takes real images as input and recreates the observed topography of human disparity sensitivity. Our findings support the notion that our foveated, binocular visual system has been moulded by the statistics of our visual environment

Corticosteroid-Sparing Effect of Chromoglycate Sodium and Nedocromil

The most appropiate management for bronchial asthma is the control of airway inflammation. Corticosteroids are the most effective anti-inflammatory drugs available, but they have a number of side effects; most of these are dose-dependent. In children, asthma control should be accomplished with low steroid doses possibly given by inhalation. In a double-bind placebo-controlled crossover study a group of children with mild to moderate asthma received NED 16 mg/day or BDP 400 μg/day. Values for FEV1, PEF, symptoms use ofbronchodilators overlapped, whereas bronchial hyper-responsiveness assessed by histamine bronchoprovocation challenge was better with BDP than NED. In another case, one boy with high bronchial hyper-reactivity assessed by provocation test with hypertonic solution, experienced a significant improvement only after 2 weeks of therapy with Deflazacort (2 mg/Kg/day) followed by 4 months on combined treatment with NED (16 mg/day) and BDP (300 μ/day). Authors conclude that NED could have a steroidsparing effect over long-term use

Epigenetic therapies for heart failure: Current insights and future potential

Despite the current reductionist approach providing an optimal indication for diagnosis and treatment of patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), there are no standard pharmacological therapies for heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). Although in its infancy in cardiovascular diseases, the epigenetic-based therapy (“epidrugs”) is capturing the interest of physician community. In fact, an increasing number of controlled clinical trials is evaluating the putative beneficial effects of: 1) direct epigenetic-oriented drugs, eg, apabetalone, and 2) repurposed drugs with a possible indirect epigenetic interference, eg, metformin, statins, sodium glucose transporter inhibitors 2 (SGLT2i), and omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in both HFrEF and HFpEF, separately. Apabetalone is the first and unique direct epidrug tested in cardiovascular patients to date, and the BETonMACE trial has reported a reduction in first HF hospitalization (any EF value) and cardiovascular death in patients with type 2 diabetes and recent acute coronary syndrome, suggesting a possible role in secondary prevention. Patients with HFpEF seem to benefit from supplementation to the standard therapy with statins, metformin, and SGLT2i owing to their ability in reducing mortality. In contrast, the vasodilator hydralazine, with or without isosorbide dinitrate, did not provide beneficial effects. In HFrEF, metformin and SGLT2i could reduce the risk of incident HF and mortality in affected patients whereas clinical trials based on statins provided mixed results. Furthermore, PUFAs diet supplementation was significantly associated with reduced cardiovascular risk in both HFpEF and HFrEF. Future large trials will reveal whether direct and indirect epitherapy will remain a work in progress or become a useful way to customize the therapy in the real-world management of HFpEF and HFrEF. Our goal is to discuss the recent advancement in the epitherapy as a possible way to improve personalized therapy of HF

High-dose chemotherapy as initial salvage treatment in relapsed testicular cancer patients

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Impact of radar data assimilation for the simulation of a heavy rainfall case in central Italy using WRF–3DVAR

Abstract. The aim of this study is to investigate the role of the assimilation of Doppler weather radar (DWR) data in a mesoscale model for the forecast of a heavy rainfall event that occurred in Italy in the urban area of Rome from 19 to 22 May 2008. For this purpose, radar reflectivity and radial velocity acquired from Monte Midia Doppler radar are assimilated into the Weather Research Forecasting (WRF) model, version 3.4.1. The general goal is to improve the quantitative precipitation forecasts (QPF): with this aim, several experiments are performed using the three-dimensional variational (3DVAR) technique. Moreover, sensitivity tests to outer loops are performed to include non-linearity in the observation operators. In order to identify the best initial conditions (ICs), statistical indicators such as forecast accuracy, frequency bias, false alarm rate and equitable threat score for the accumulated precipitation are used. The results show that the assimilation of DWR data has a large impact on both the position of convective cells and on the rainfall forecast of the analyzed event. A positive impact is also found if they are ingested together with conventional observations. Sensitivity to the use of two or three outer loops is also found if DWR data are assimilated together with conventional data

Psychology and hereditary angioedema: A systematic review

Background: Hereditary angioedema (HAE) is caused by mutations in the C1 inhibitor (C1-INH) gene Serpin Family G Member 1(SERPING1), which results in either the decreased synthesis of normal C1-INH (C1-INH–HAE type I) or expression of unfunctional C1-INH (C1-INH–HAE type II). In recent studies, emotional stress was reported by patients as the most common trigger factor for C1-INH–HAE attacks. Moreover, patients reported considerable distress over the significant variability and uncertainty with which the disease manifests, in addition to the impact of physical symptoms on their overall quality of life. Objective: We did a systematic review of the literature to shed light on the advancements made in the study of how stress and psychological processes impact C1-INH–HAE. Methods: All of the articles on C1-INH–HAE were analyzed up to December 2019. Both medical data bases and psychological data bases were examined. The keywords (KWs) used for searching the medical and psychological data bases were the following: “hereditary angioedema,” “psychology,” “stress,” “anxiety,” and “depression.” Results: Of a total of 2549 articles on C1-INH–HAE, 113 articles were retrieved from the literature search by using the related KWs. Twenty-one of these articles were retrieved, examined, and classified. Conclusion: Although the literature confirmed that stress may induce various physical diseases, it also warned against making simplistic statements about its incidence that did not take into account the complexity and multicausality of factors that contribute to C1-INH–HAE expression

Folfiri versus xeliri in untreated advanced colorectal cancer: A phase II randomised trial of the Gruppo Oncologico dell' Italia Meridionale (prot. GOIM 2405)

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Reflectivity and velocity radar data assimilation for two flash flood events in central Italy: A comparison between 3D and 4D variational methods

The aim of this study is to provide an evaluation of the impact of two largely used data assimilation techniques, namely three- and four-dimensional variational data assimilation systems (3D-Var and 4D-Var), on the forecasting of heavy precipitation events using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. For this purpose, two flash flood events in central Italy are analysed. The first occurred on September 14, 2012 during an Intensive Observation Period of the Hydrological cycle in the Mediterranean experiment (HyMeX) campaign, while the other occurred on May 3, 2018. Radial velocity and reflectivity acquired by C-band weather radars at Mt. Midia (central Italy) and San Pietro Capofiume (northern Italy), as well as conventional observations (SYNOP and TEMP), are assimilated into the WRF model to simulate these damaging flash flood events. In order to evaluate the impact of the 3D-Var and 4D-Var assimilation systems on the estimation of short-term quantitative precipitation forecasts, several experiments are carried out using conventional observations with and without radar data. Rainfall evaluation is performed by means of point-by-point and filtering methodologies. The results point to a positive impact of the 4D-Var technique compared to results without assimilation and with 3D-Var experiments. More specifically, the 4D-Var system produces an increase of up to 22% in terms of the Fractions Skill Score compared to 3D-Var for the first flash flood event, while an increase of about 5% is achieved for the second event. The use of a warm start initialization results in a considerable reduction in the spin-up time and a significant improvement in the rainfall forecast, suggesting that the initial precipitation spin-up problem still occurs when using 4D-Var