Neutral current Drell-Yan with combined QCD and electroweak corrections in the POWHEG BOX

Following recent work on the combination of electroweak and strong radiative corrections to single W-boson hadroproduction in the POWHEG BOX framework, we generalize the above treatment to cover the neutral current Drell-Yan process. According to the POWHEG method, we combine both the next-to-leading order (NLO) electroweak and QED multiple photon corrections with the native NLO and Parton Shower QCD contributions. We show comparisons with the predictions of the electroweak generator HORACE, to validate the reliability and accuracy of the approach. We also present phenomenological results obtained with the new tool for physics studies at the LHC.Comment: 10 pages, 14 figures, 1 table. One new figure, some plots with updated results, added text. Final version to appear in EPJ

W gamma production in hadronic collisions using the POWHEG+MiNLO method

We detail a calculation of W gamma production in hadronic collision, at Next-to-Leading Order (NLO) QCD interfaced to a shower generator according to the POWHEG prescription supplemented with the MiNLO procedure. The fixed order result is matched to an interleaved QCD+QED parton shower, in such a way that the contribution arising from hadron fragmentation into photons is fully modeled. In general, our calculation illustrates a new approach to the fully exclusive simulation of prompt photon production processes accurate at the NLO level in QCD. We compare our predictions to those of the NLO program MCFM, which treats the fragmentation contribution in terms of photon fragmentation functions. We also perform comparisons to available LHC data at 7 TeV, for which we observe good agreement, and provide phenomenological results for physics studies of the W gamma production process at the Run II of the LHC. The new tool, which includes W leptonic decays and the contribution of anomalous gauge couplings, allows a fully exclusive, hadron-level description of the W gamma process, and is publicly available at the repository of the POWHEG BOX. Our approach can be easily adapted to deal with other relevant isolated photon production processes in hadronic collisions.Comment: 38 pages, 5 Tables, 9 Figures. Final version published in JHEP. Acknowledgments to Galileo Galilei Institute for Theoretical Physics and to INFN adde

Immunotherapeutic Intervention against Sarcomas

<p>Advances in systemic therapy for sarcoma have produced, over the last two decades, relatively short-term benefits for the majority of patient. Among the novel biologic therapeutics that will likely increase our ability to cure human cancer in the years to come, immunotherapy is one of the most promising approaches. While past attempts to use immunotherapy have failed to dramatically shift the paradigm of care for the treatment of patients with sarcoma, major advances in basic and translational research have resulted, in more recent years, in clinical trial activity that is now beginning to generate promising results. However, to move from &#8220;proof of principle&#8221; to large scale clinical applicability, we need well-designed, multi-institutional clinical trials, along with continuous laboratory research to explore further the immunological characteristics of individual sarcoma subtypes and the consequent tailoring of therapy.</p

Pricing financial derivatives with neural networks

Abstract Neural network algorithms are applied to the problem of option pricing and adopted to simulate the nonlinear behavior of such financial derivatives. Two different kinds of neural networks, i.e. multi-layer perceptrons and radial basis functions, are used and their performances compared in detail. The analysis is carried out both for standard European options and American ones, including evaluation of the Greek letters, necessary for hedging purposes. Detailed numerical investigation show that, after a careful phase of training, neural networks are able to predict the value of options and Greek letters with high accuracy and competitive computational time

The "Corsica Channel Cold-Water Coral Province" (Mediterranean Sea)

© The Author(s), 2020. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Angeletti, L., Castellan, G., Montagna, P., Remia, A., & Taviani, M. The "Corsica Channel Cold-Water Coral Province" (Mediterranean Sea). Frontiers in Marine Science, 7, (2020): 661, doi:10.3389/fmars.2020.00661.Over 25 mounds have been identified in the Corsica Channel (Mediterranean Sea) through multibeam bathymetric mapping at depth of 400–430 m, with dimensions ranging from 70 to 330 m, achieving maximum heights of 25 m. Two mounds have been explored in detail using a remotely operated vehicle, revealing thick coral growth with a predominance of the branching scleractinian Madrepora oculata as main frame builder and subordinate Desmophyllum pertusum. The solitary scleractinians Desmophyllum dianthus and Javania cailleti add to the biodiversity here, which accounts for at least 50 macro- and megabenthic species. In consideration of the remarkable surface (ca. 5.3 km2) covered by living corals, their density and healthy appearance, and discontinuity with other major cold-water coral (CWC) occurrences in the Mediterranean Sea, we propose that this area represents a distinct CWC province in a sector already known for the presence of pre-modern CWC mounds. Noticeably, well-developed contourite drift systems occur in the Corsica Channel, lending support to their strict spatial link with coral establishment at depth. The ecosystemic value of the new CWC province calls for proper conservation measures to ensure their present Good Environmental Status.This work was partly supported by the “Convenzione MATTM-CNR per i Programmi di Monitoraggio per la Direttiva sulla Strategia Marina (MSFD, Art. 11, Dir. 2008/56/CE)” and is part of the DG Environment programme IDEM (grant agreement no. 11.0661/2017/750680/SUB/EN V.C2) and the MIUR-PRIN GLIDE

Caries experience among adolescents in southeast Italy

Abstract Background/purpose According to WHO recommendations, 12-year-olds are considered an important target group for evaluating the level of dental caries among children with permanent teeth, and are often chosen for international comparisons. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the current oral health status of 12-year-old children in southeast Italy, stratified by gender and residential area. Materials and methods The survey was conducted on 431 children enrolled by multistage cluster sampling. A dental caries experience index (decayed, missing, and filled permanent teeth; DMFT) was recorded at schools by a team of examiners trained at the start of the study. Statistical analyses by Chi-square, Fisher's exact, and Wilcoxon tests were performed using SAS version 9.1 software for PCs. We applied the Zero-Inflated Negative Binomial regression model in the STATA package. Results Caries prevalence was recorded in 38.3% of the sample. Estimated means and 95% confidence intervals of the DMFT index by gender were: 1.15 (0.91–1.39) for males, 1.26 (1.02–1.5) for females, and 1.21 (1.03–1.39) for the total sample. The D component of the index was dominant. The mean number of caries found in southeast Italy was significantly higher than the national mean ( t =3.125, P=0.002), but significantly lower than the mean for south Italy ( t =−2.125, P=0.03). Results of the regression model showed that only the mother and father's nationality and educational level contributed to the DMFT. Conclusions The oral health situation of 12-year-old children from southeast Italy seems to be in line with that in other Western European countries