Barbero-Immirzi field in canonical formalism of pure gravity

The Barbero-Immirzi (BI) parameter is promoted to a field and a canonical analysis is performed when it is coupled with a Nieh-Yan topological invariant. It is shown that, in the effective theory, the BI field is a canonical pseudoscalar minimally coupled with gravity. This framework is argued to be more natural than the one of the usual Holst action. Potential consequences in relation with inflation and the quantum theory are briefly discussed.Comment: 10 page

Quantum realizations of Hilbert-Palatini second-class constraints

In a classical theory of gravity, the Barbero-Immirzi parameter ($\eta$) appears as a topological coupling constant through the Lagrangian density containing the Hilbert-Palatini term and the Nieh-Yan invariant. In a quantum framework, the topological interpretation of $\eta$ can be captured through a rescaling of the wavefunctional representing the Hilbert-Palatini theory, as in the case of the QCD vacuum angle. However, such a rescaling cannot be realized for pure gravity within the standard (Dirac) quantization procedure where the second-class constraints of Hilbert-Palatini theory are eliminated beforehand. Here we present a different treatment of the Hilbert-Palatini second-class constraints in order to set up a general rescaling procedure (a) for gravity with or without matter and (b) for any choice of gauge (e.g. time gauge). The analysis is developed using the Gupta-Bleuler and the coherent state quantization methods.Comment: Published versio

Some partition and analytical identities arising from the Alladi, Andrews, Gordon bijection

In the work of Alladi et al. (J Algebra 174:636–658, 1995) the authors provided a generalization of the two Capparelli identities involving certain classes of integer partitions. Inspired by that contribution, in particular as regards the general setting and the tools the authors employed, we obtain new partition identities by identifying further sets of partitions that can be explicitly put into a one-to-one correspondence by the method described in the 1995 paper. As a further result, although of a different nature, we obtain an analytical identity of Rogers–Ramanujan type, involving generating functions, for a class of partition identities already found in that paper and that generalize the first Capparelli identity and include it as a particular case. To achieve this, we apply the same strategy as Kanade and Russell did in a recent paper. This method relies on the use of jagged partitions that can be seen as a more general kind of integer partitions

From: Trash to resource: Recovered-Pd from spent three-way catalysts as a precursor of an effective photo-catalyst for H2 production

The successful production of a nanostructured and highly dispersed Pd-TiO2 photo-catalyst, using [Pd(Me2dazdt)2](I3)2 (Me2dazdt = N,N\u2032-dimethyl-perhydrodiazepine-2,3-dithione) salt, obtained through the selective and safe recovery of palladium from model exhaust three-way catalysts (TWCs), is reported here. The photo-catalyst prepared by the impregnation/photo-reduction of palladium on the support showed improved performance in H2 production from methanol and in glycerol photo-reforming compared to reference photo-catalysts obtained from conventional Pd-salts. The reported results represent a case of successful palladium \u201crecovery and re-employment\u201d and thus constitute an example of green chemistry by providing, in one route, the environmentally friendly recovery of a critical metal and its employment in the renewable energy field

Corrigendum to “Pollen-based paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic change at Lake Ohrid (south-eastern Europe) during the past 500 ka” published in Biogeosciences, 13, 1423–1437, 2016

In this corrigendum we report an updated pollen record from the Lake Ohrid DEEP site spanning the past 500 ka whereby we have reprocessed and re-analyzed 104 samples affected by chemical procedure problems that occurred in one palynological laboratory. Firstly, these samples were affected by the use of wrong containers, causing in- adequate settling of particles at the set centrifuging speed. Secondly, HCl and HF treatments were combined without the prescribed intermediate centrifuging and decanting steps. The inaccuracy in the protocol resulted in the loss of smaller pollen grains and in the overrepresentation of bisaccate ones in most of the re-analyzed samples. We therefore provide an updated set of figures with the new data and have revised the description of the results, discussion and conclusions re- ported in Sadori et al. (2016) where necessary. We stress that the majority of the original results and conclusions remain valid, while the records’ reliability and resolution have improved as 12 samples that had been omitted in the original study because of low count sums are now included in the revised dataset (Sadori et al., 2018)

Tratamiento del osteosarcoma localizado de las extremidades

En la década de los setenta, la introducción de la quimioterapia preoperatoria en el tratamiento del osteosarcoma proporcionó mejoras dramáticas en los resultados obtenidos a largo plazo, en cuanto a la supervivencia libre de enfermedad y los procedimientos de salvación de miembros. En el presente trabajo se describe la experiencia acumulada en el Instituto Rizzoli, con la aplicación de varios protocolos activados sucesivamente. Igualmente, se describen los distintos factores pronósticos, la necrosis inducida por quimioterapia, dosis/intensidad y niveles séricos de metotrexato.In the seventies, the introduction of preoperative chemotherapy in the treatment of osteosarcoma dramatically improved the results in terms of disease-free survival and limb salvage procedures. This paper reports the experience at the Rizzoli Institute showing the results obtained with several successively activated protocols. Different prognostic factors, including chemotherapy induced necrosis, dose/intensity, methotrexate serum concentration are also discussed

Successful use of tralokinumab for the treatment of atopic dermatitis on the genitals

Background: Genital involvement in atopic dermatitis(AD) can have a significant impact on the patient's quality of life. However, inspection of genital areas is not usually conducted during routine examination and patients may be reluctant to inform the clinician or show this area. Objective: to evaluate the efficacy of tralokinumab in AD patients with genital involvement. Methods: Adult patients with moderate/severe AD and genital involvement receiving tralokinumab have been analyzed. Primary endpoints were EASI, DLQI, PP-NRS, genital-IGA (g-IGA) and genital itching (GI) at week 16. Results: out of 48 patients with moderate/severe AD under treatment with tralokinumab, 12 patients (25%) showed a genital involvement. Seven patients reported itching in the genital area (58%), while none reported a positive history of genital infections. Median scores at T0 were EASI 17.5, PP-NRS 8 and DLQI 14. After 16 weeks of treatment, we observed a median EASI of 3, a median PP-NRS of 1 and a median DLQI of 1. Finally, concerning the genital response, after 16 weeks of treatment, we observed a statistically significant decrease in mean GI and g-IGA scores. Conclusion: despite the small size of our sample, tralokinumab can be considered as a valid treatment option for AD with genital involvement

Dopamine neuronal loss contributes to memory and reward dysfunction in a model of Alzheimer's disease

Alterations of the dopaminergic (DAergic) system are frequently reported in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients and are commonly linked to cognitive and non-cognitive symptoms. However, the cause of DAergic system dysfunction in AD remains to be elucidated. We investigated alterations of the midbrain DAergic system in the Tg2576 mouse model of AD, overexpressing a mutated human amyloid precursor protein (APPswe). Here, we found an age-dependent DAergic neuron loss in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) at pre-plaque stages, although substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) DAergic neurons were intact. The selective VTA DAergic neuron degeneration results in lower DA outflow in the hippocampus and nucleus accumbens (NAc) shell. The progression of DAergic cell death correlates with impairments in CA1 synaptic plasticity, memory performance and food reward processing. We conclude that in this mouse model of AD, degeneration of VTA DAergic neurons at pre-plaque stages contributes to memory deficits and dysfunction of reward processing