Sicurezza e Privacy nei sistemi RFID

RFID è la tecnologia di identificazione a distanza che si sta imponendo maggiormente negli ultimi anni, grazie alle sue caratteristiche si sta affermando in vari ambiti, tra cui: commerciale, sanitario, controllo degli accessi e sicurezza. L'impatto di questa tecnologia sarà notevole: si ipotizza che ogni prodotto nei prossimi anni sarà dotato di RFID, e questo grazie agli enormi vantaggi che possono derivare dal suo utilizzo. Oltre ai benefici sono stati introdotti anche nuovi problemi e tematiche legate alla sicurezza, alla privacy e al non trascurabile aspetto sociale, relativo alla potenzialità di tracciare in modo fraudolento persone, animali o cose. La tesi è composta da una prima parte di introduzione alla tecnologia RFID e alle sue principali applicazioni, una seconda parte che tratta dei protocolli di comunicazione tra Tag e Reader, una terza parte che tratta le tematiche legate alla sicurezza e alla privacy, una quarta parte dove vengono esaminati i protocolli di autenticazione, aspetto cruciale per la sicurezza di questi sistemi

Extensive Characterization of Platelet Gel Releasate From Cord Blood in Regenerative Medicine.

Platelet gel derived from peripheral blood is widely applied in many clinical fields of surgery as biomaterial containing growth factors with high proliferative properties. In 2010, we studied and patented a platelet gel derived from cord blood. In this study, due to the crucial role of the factors released by the platelet gel, we first extended the characterization of its releasate. Using a wide proteomic array and splitting the two components of the releasate, that is, platelets and plasma, we have been able to study their growth factor content. Interestingly, we discovered high levels of hormones and molecules able to support tissue growth in the cord blood platelet gel releasate and, in addition, higher concentrations of several angiogenic factors if compared with the peripheral blood counterpart. On the contrary, the latter was much richer in inflammatory factors. The second aim of our work was to study the effects on cell culture, immunophenotype, and function of mesenchymal stem cells exposed to these two platelet gel releasates as substitute for the animal serum. Since our findings nicely show that the use of the peripheral versus the cord blood platelet gel releasate can differently influence the mesenchymal stem cell commitment, we can suggest that in addition to its peculiar angiogenic properties cord blood platelet gel releasate shows excellent proliferative properties as cell culture supplement

Preoperative assessment of breast cancer: Multireader comparison of contrast-enhanced MRI versus the combination of unenhanced MRI and digital breast tomosynthesis

To compare the sensitivity for breast cancer (BC) and BC size estimation of preoperative contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (CEMRI) versus combined unenhanced magnetic resonance imaging (UMRI) and digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT)

Influenza della sterilizzazione su strumenti fabbricati con leghe trattate termicamente

RiassuntoObiettiviDi recente sono stati proposti in endodonzia innovativi processi di produzione di leghe con trattamenti termici. Scopo di questo studio è stato di valutare l'effetto di vari cicli di sterilizzazione in autoclave sulla resistenza alla fatica ciclica di strumenti endodontici rotanti realizzati con leghe nichel-titanio (Ni-Ti) trattate termicamente.Materiali e metodiSono stati selezionati tre gruppi (n=24) di strumenti in Ni-Ti di taglia 04.40 K3, in lega Ni-Ti tradizionale, Vortex, in lega M-Wire e K3 XT prototipi in lega TF. Ogni gruppo è stato poi suddiviso in due sottogruppi (A e B) composti rispettivamente da strumenti non sterilizzati e strumenti sterilizzati in autoclave per 10 cicli a 134°. Tutti i 72 strumenti sono infine stati testati per fatica, valutando il numero di cicli a frattura (NCF). I dati sono stati raccolti e analizzati statisticamente (ANOVA).RisultatiGli strumenti K3 XT hanno mostrato una resistenza alla fatica ciclica significativamente maggiore (p<0,05) rispetto a tutti gli altri strumenti. Inoltre, sono state notate differenze statisticamente significative tra i file K3 XT sterilizzati e non sterilizzati (762 vs 651 NCF), mentre gli altri due tipi di strumento non hanno mostrato differenze rilevanti in seguito ai cicli di sterilizzazione (524 vs 539 K3, 454 vs 480 Vortex).ConclusioniPoiché i K3 e i K3 XT sono identici nel disegno e si differenziano solo per il trattamento termico, si può ipotizzare un'influenza positiva dell'apporto termico, come quello derivante da sterilizzazione in autoclave, in alcune leghe trattate termicamente.SummaryObjectivesRecently, innovative processes of production of alloys with thermal treatment have been proposed in endodontics. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of various cycles of autoclave sterilization on cyclic fatigue resistance of rotary endodontic instruments, made of heat-treated nickel-titanium (Ni-Ti) alloys.Materials and methodsThree groups (n=24) of Ni-Ti instruments with the same size (04.40) were selected: K3 (traditional Ni-Ti alloy), Vortex (M-Wire alloy) and K3 XT prototype (TF alloy). Each group was then divided into two subgroups comprising respectively non-sterilized instruments and instruments sterilized in an autoclave for 10 cycles at 134°. All 72 instruments were finally tested for fatigue, considering the number of cycles to fracture (NCF). Data were collected and analyzed statistically (ANOVA).ResultsThe instruments K3 XT showed significantly higher resistance to cyclic fatigue than all other instruments. Statistically significant differences (p<0.05) were also noted among the files K3 XT sterilized and unsterilized (762 vs 651 NCF), while the other two types of instrument did not show significant differences as a result of sterilization cycles (524 vs 539 K3, 454 vs 480 Vortex).ConclusionsGiven that K3 and K3 XT are identical in design and differ only in the heat treatment, a positive influence of heat treatment, such as the one caused by autoclaving, can be hypothesized

Population declines among Canadian vertebrates: But data of different quality show diverging trends

We produced a biodiversity indicator, the Canadian Species Index (CSI), by gathering abundance data for Canadian vertebrate populations and adapting the Living Planet Index methodology. The final indicator incorporates over 3000 abundance time series and contains data for more than 50% of Canadian native vertebrate species. Species abundance declined by an average 10% between 1970 and 2014, with trends varying across taxonomic groups. To facilitate the interpretation of the indicator and contribute to the transparency of the reporting process, here we present a discussion of the indicator’s coverage, data quality and data gaps. Using data collected for other purposes means the dataset inherits the biases in biodiversity monitoring. We therefore assessed taxonomic and geographic coverage of the data underlying the indicator to highlight which areas and groups are under-represented. Birds are comprehensively monitored across Canada and are considered good indicators of the state of the environment. Other taxonomic groups are less well monitored, and the data available for these groups often consist of shorter and less full time series, representing smaller segments of the national population. A disaggregation based on data quality appears to show that trends based on species with lower quality data are more negative than for species with higher quality data. We discuss possible sources of the difference, including the relationship between taxon and data quality. Additional data collection on species contributing to the lower-quality subsets is needed to confirm negative trends

E-ELT HIRES the high resolution spectrograph for the E-ELT: integrated data flow system

The current E-ELT instrumentation plan foresees a High Resolution Spectrograph conventionally indicated as HIRES whose Phase A study has started in 2016. An international consortium (stemmed from the existing "HIRES initiative") is conducting a preliminary study of a modular E-ELT instrument able to provide highresolution spectroscopy (R 100; 000) in a wide wavelength range (0.37-2.5 μm). For the aims of data treatment (which encompasses both the reduction and the analysis procedures) an end-to-end approach has been adopted, to directly extract scientific information from the observations with a coherent set of interactive, properly validated software modules. This approach is favoured by the specific science objectives of the instrument, which pose unprecedented requirements in terms of measurement precision and accuracy. In this paper we present the architecture envisioned for the HIRES science software, building on the lessons learned in the development of the data analysis software for the ESPRESSO ultra-stable spectrograph for the VLT

Halogenated triazinediones behave as antagonists of PKR1: in vitro and in vivo pharmacological characterization

Different prokineticin receptor antagonists, based on the triazinedione scaffold, were synthesized by a new efficient method. Here we demonstrated that 5-benzyltriazinedionessubstituted in position para of the benzyl group with halogens provide compounds endowed with interesting selectivity for the Prokineticin receptor 1 (PKR1). BRET technology indicates that such substitutionresults in increased affinity for thePKR1.The affinity for PKR2, always in M range, was never significantly affected by the para-halogen-benzyl pharmacophores. The analog bearing a para-bromobenzyl pharmacophore (PC-25) displayed the highest affinity for PKR1 (~18 times higher than the reference PC-1 that bears apara-ethyl benzyl group) and the highest selectivity (~300 times). The other halogen substitutedanalogs (PC-7, PC-18 and PC-35), showed selectivity for PKR1 more than 100 times higher than for PKR2. Using transgenic mice lacking one of the two PKRs we demonstrated that all these compounds were able to abolish the Bv8-induced hyperalgesia in mice still expressing the PKR1 at doses lower than those necessary to abolish hyperalgesia in mice expressing only the PKR2. The dose ratio reflected the in- vitro evaluated receptor selectivity

P495: UNLOCKING THE POTENTIAL OF SYNTHETIC PATIENTS FOR ACCELERATING CLINICAL TRIALS: RESULTS OF THE FIRST GIMEMA EXPERIENCE

Background: Artificial intelligence is contributing to improve different medicine areas including clinical trial design. One field that holds a great potential is represented by the use of digital data as an alternative to real ones. The generation of a virtual cohort of patients might be advantageous since an artificial group of patients resembles the real dataset in all the key features but it does not include any identifiable real-patient data, tackling - by a privacy standpoint – the “burden” of collecting data subjects’ consent as well as the shortcomings of common anonymization techniques. Aims: To test the feasibility of this approach and evaluate its potential in clinical trial design, we built an in-silico cohort based on the large dataset of patients enrolled in the GIMEMA AML1310 study (Venditti et al. 2019), which entailed a “3 + 7”-like induction and a risk-adapted, MRD-directed post-remission transplant allocation. Methods: To create the synthetic cohort of patients, a machine learning generative model was constructed from the real individual-level data of the AML1310 study, capturing its patterns and statistical properties. AML1310 enrolled 500 patients (median age 49 years old) in 55 GIMEMA Institutions. All patients were NCCN2009 risk classified and analyzed by morphology, cytogenetics, molecular biology and multiparametric flow cytometry. The subset of 445 patients with ELN2017 risk classification available was used. To this purpose, the R package “synthpop” was used considering a parametric method: for binary data the logistic regression, for a factor with &gt; 2 levels the polytomous logistic regression, for an ordered factor with &gt; 2 levels the ordered polytomous logistic regression. For time to event variables the classification and regression trees method was used. Next, we verified the adherence of the virtual cohort to the original one in terms of age, gender, PS, WBC count, FLT3 and NPM1 mutations, risk category, CR achievement, MRD, transplant rate. Virtual and real cohorts were also compared in terms of survival outcomes. Results: By using the real-patient dataset from the AML1310 trial, a virtual cohort of 850 patients, named synthAML1310, was generated. By comparing the two cohorts, we observed that the clinico-biological characteristics and response evaluations (CR and MRD rates) did not differ significantly. Moreover, as depicted in Figure 1, the curves of OS and DFS were superimposable. Indeed, at 2 years, OS was 57% (52.5%-61.9%) in the original and 59.1% (55.9%-62.6%) in the synthAML1310 cohort. DFS was 55.1% (49.8%-60.9%) in the original and 55.1% (51.3%-59.2%) in the synthetic cohort. Summary/Conclusion: These results demonstrate the success of this approach in producing a virtual dataset that perfectly mimics the original and that, from a “privacy by design” perspective, minimizes the risk of re-identification of patients. Mirroring an AML population treated with a conventional chemotherapeutic approach, synthAML1310 is suitable to represent the control group when testing novel innovative treatments, most likely in an in-silico randomized trial, but also in other settings like propensity score matching analyses in observational studies. Shifting to an in-silico trial would overcome the challenges of randomized trials and it would be beneficial also for patients. since, they would receive only the experimental treatment without being exposed to the “less active“ therapy, thus limiting treatment failures and toxicity. Also, enrolment and the attainment of final results would be faster