Primary mediastinal lymphoma: diagnosis and treatment options.

Primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma (PMBCL) is a unique B-cell lymphoma variant that arises from a putative thymic medulla B cell. It constitutes 2-4% of non-Hodgkin lymphomas and occurs most frequently in young females. PMBCL is characterized by a diffuse proliferation of medium-to-large B cells associated with sclerosis. Molecular analysis shows that PMBCL is a distinct entity compared to other types of diffuse large B-cell lymphomas. PMBCL is characterized by a locally invasive anterior mediastinal bulky mass. The combination of rituximab with CHOP/CHOP-like regimens followed by mediastinal radiation therapy (RT) is associated with a 5-year progression-free survival of 75-85%. However, the role of consolidation RT still remains uncertain. More intensive regimens, such as DA-EPOCH-R without mediastinal RT, have shown very promising results. The conclusive role of PET-CT scan requires prospective studies and there is hope that this may allow to de-escalate RT and accordingly yield reliable prognostic information

Gravity duals of supersymmetric gauge theories on three-manifolds

We study gravity duals to a broad class of N=2 supersymmetric gauge theories defined on a general class of three-manifold geometries. The gravity backgrounds are based on Euclidean self-dual solutions to four-dimensional gauged supergravity. As well as constructing new examples, we prove in general that for solutions defined on the four-ball the gravitational free energy depends only on the supersymmetric Killing vector, finding a simple closed formula when the solution has U(1) x U(1) symmetry. Our result agrees with the large N limit of the free energy of the dual gauge theory, computed using localization. This constitutes an exact check of the gauge/gravity correspondence for a very broad class of gauge theories with a large N limit, defined on a general class of background three-manifold geometries.Comment: 74 pages, 2 figures; v2: minor change

Uniqueness and examples of compact toric Sasaki-Einstein metrics

In [11] it was proved that, given a compact toric Sasaki manifold of positive basic first Chern class and trivial first Chern class of the contact bundle, one can find a deformed Sasaki structure on which a Sasaki-Einstein metric exists. In the present paper we first prove the uniqueness of such Einstein metrics on compact toric Sasaki manifolds modulo the action of the identity component of the automorphism group for the transverse holomorphic structure, and secondly remark that the result of [11] implies the existence of compatible Einstein metrics on all compact Sasaki manifolds obtained from the toric diagrams with any height, or equivalently on all compact toric Sasaki manifolds whose cones have flat canonical bundle. We further show that there exists an infinite family of inequivalent toric Sasaki-Einstein metrics on $S^5 \sharp k(S^2 \times S^3)$ for each positive integer $k$.Comment: Statements of the results are modifie

Transactions and updates in deductive databases

n this paper we develop a new approach providing a smooth integration of extensional updates and declarative query language for deductive databases. The approach is based on a declarative speci cation of updates in rule bodies. Updates are not executed as soon are evaluated. Instead, they are collectedand then applied to the database when the query evaluation is completed. We call this approach non-immediate update semantics. We provide a top down and equivalent bottom-up semantics which re ect the corresponding computation models. We also package set of updates into transactions and we provide a formal semantics for transactions. Then, in order to handle complex transactions, we extend the transaction language with control constructors still perserving formal semantics and semantics equivalence

Numerical analysis of side-loads reduction in a sub-scale dual-bell rocket nozzle

A calibrated delayed detached eddy simulation of a sub-scale cold-gas dual-bell nozzle flow at high Reynolds number and in sea-level mode is carried out at nozzle pressure ratio NPR = 45.7. In this regime the over-expanded flow exhibits a symmetric and controlled flow separation at the inflection point, that is the junction between the two bells, leading to the generation of a low content of aerodynamic side loads with respect to conventional bell nozzles. The nozzle wall-pressure signature is analyzed in the frequency domain and compared with the experimental data available in the literature for the same geometry and flow conditions. The Fourier spectra in time and space (azimuthal wavenumber) show the presence of a persistent tone associated to the symmetric shock movement. Asymmetric modes are only slightly excited by the shock and the turbulent structures. The low mean value of the side-loads magnitude is in good agreement with the experiments and confirms that the inflection point dampens the aero-acoustic interaction between the separation-shock and the detached shear layer

Novel insights on pink discoloration in cheese: The case of Pecorino Toscano

Pink discoloration in cheese has been the subject of wide research, but the basis for this phenomenon remains elusive. This defect impacts a wide range of ripened cheeses, resulting in the rejection of cheese and a consequent economic loss for dairy industries. As multiple causes for pink discoloration have been reported for different cheeses in the literature, the aim of this research was to investigate the cause of a pink discoloration found on Pecorino Toscano cheese rind. The results of microbiological analysis revealed the presence of high microbial counts associated to the rind and the nearest inner part. Strains isolated from the coloured part were mainly identified as Serratia liquefaciens, suggesting that an environmental contamination of the cheese rind by this species could be the cause of the observed defect and expanding the knowledge related to pink discoloration in cheeses

Semiclassical strings in marginally deformed toric AdS/CFT

We study string solutions in the beta-deformed Sasaki-Einstein gauge/gravity dualities. We find that the BPS point-like strings move in the submanifolds where the two U(1) circles shrink to zero size. In the corresponding T^3 fibration description, the strings live on the edges of the polyhedron, where the T^3 fibration degenerates to T^1. Moreover, we find that for each deformed Sasaki-Einstein manifold the BPS string solutions exist only for particular values of the deformation parameter. Our results imply that in the dual field theory the corresponding BPS operators exist only for these particular values of the deformation parameter we find. We also examine the non-BPS strings, derive their dispersion relations and compare them with the undeformed ones. Finally, we comment on the range of the validity of our solutions and their dependence on the deformation parameter.Comment: 29 pages, 9 figure

New Results in Sasaki-Einstein Geometry

This article is a summary of some of the author's work on Sasaki-Einstein geometry. A rather general conjecture in string theory known as the AdS/CFT correspondence relates Sasaki-Einstein geometry, in low dimensions, to superconformal field theory; properties of the latter are therefore reflected in the former, and vice versa. Despite this physical motivation, many recent results are of independent geometrical interest, and are described here in purely mathematical terms: explicit constructions of infinite families of both quasi-regular and irregular Sasaki-Einstein metrics; toric Sasakian geometry; an extremal problem that determines the Reeb vector field for, and hence also the volume of, a Sasaki-Einstein manifold; and finally, obstructions to the existence of Sasaki-Einstein metrics. Some of these results also provide new insights into Kahler geometry, and in particular new obstructions to the existence of Kahler-Einstein metrics on Fano orbifolds.Comment: 31 pages, no figures. Invited contribution to the proceedings of the conference "Riemannian Topology: Geometric Structures on Manifolds"; minor typos corrected, reference added; published version; Riemannian Topology and Geometric Structures on Manifolds (Progress in Mathematics), Birkhauser (Nov 2008