Cubic interactions of Maxwell-like higher spins

We study the cubic vertices for Maxwell-like higher-spins in flat and (A)dS background spaces of any dimension. Reducibility of their free spectra implies that a single cubic vertex involving any three fields subsumes a number of couplings among different particles of various spins. The resulting vertices do not involve traces of the fields and in this sense are simpler than their Fronsdal counterparts. We propose an extension of both the free theory and of its cubic deformation to a more general class of partially reducible systems, that one can obtain from the original theory upon imposing trace constraints of various orders. The key to our results is a version of the Noether procedure allowing to systematically account for the deformations of the transversality conditions to be imposed on the gauge parameters at the free level.Comment: 57 pages; added Section 7 including (A)dS off-shell cubic vertices and corresponding generating function. Outlook extended with comments on Maxwell-like spectra and higher-spin algebra

On the influence of the aggregate condition on the vibration period of masonry buildings: A case study in the district of Naples

The present paper deals with the seismic investigation of a masonry building aggregate within the city of Bacoli (district of Naples) through quick and mechanical analyses with the initial target of evaluating the vibration periods of the individual Structural Units (S.U.) constituting the compound. In conclusion the comparison in terms of seismic vulnerability indexes between S.U. included in the aggregate, distinguishing the position (head or intermediate) in the compound, and the same S.U. considered as isolated constructions has been done

Artificial intelligence in the management of barrett’s esophagus and early esophageal adenocarcinoma

Esophageal adenocarcinoma is increasing in incidence and is the most common subtype of esophageal cancer in Western societies. The stepwise progression of Barrett´s metaplasia to high-grade dysplasia and invasive adenocarcinoma provides an opportunity for screening and surveillance. There are important unresolved issues, which include (i) refining the definition of the screening population in order to avoid unnecessary invasive diagnostics, (ii) a more precise prediction of the (very heterogeneous) individual progression risk from metaplasia to invasive cancer in order to better tailor surveillance recommendations, (iii) improvement of the quality of endoscopy in order to reduce the high miss rate for early neoplastic lesions, and (iv) support for the diagnosis of tumor infiltration depth in order to guide treatment decisions. Artificial intelligence (AI) systems might be useful as a support to better solve the above-mentioned issues

Giant endobronchial hamartoma resected by fiberoptic bronchoscopy electrosurgical snaring

Less than 1% of lung neoplasms are represented by benign tumors. Among these, hamartomas are the most common with an incidence between 0.025% and 0.32%. In relation to the localization, hamartomas are divided into intraparenchymal and endobronchial

Single harvesting in the all-inside graft-link technique. is the graft length crucial for success? A biomechanical study

Background: The all-inside graft-link technique for anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction is performed with two cortical suspension devices with adjustable loops on both femur and tibia. This technique requires meticulous graft preparation. The aim of this study was to biomechanically test three different graft configurations resulting from differences in initial graft length. Materials and methods: Thirty bovine digital extensor tendons were arranged in three different ways: “half-quadrupled”, “tripled” and “quadrupled”. The final graft length was 65–75 mm. The specimens were fixed vertical to the loading axis of a tensile testing machine. After a static pre-conditioning of 50 N for 5 min, a load to failure test was performed and data regarding the ultimate failure load (UFL), the stiffness and mode of failure were recorded. Results: The evaluation of UFL showed a significant differences between group means as determined by one-way analysis of variance (F = 21.92, p = 0.002). Post hoc comparisons showed a significantly better UFL of “tripled” (p = 0.007) and “quadrupled” preparations (p = 0.014) compared to the “half-quadrupled” configuration, with no significant differences between “tripled” and “quadrupled” grafts (p = 0.061). No significant differences were found when evaluating the stiffness between the groups. Failure occurred by tendon slippage across the suture in all specimens. Conclusion: The “quadrupled” tendon achieved the best UFL, with even the “tripled” configuration having sufficient biomechanical characteristics to withstand the loads experienced during early rehabilitation. For this reason, with a total semitendinosus length of less than 260 mm it could be better to “triple” instead of “half-quadruple” it to achieve better performance of the graft