Time Resolution Measurements on SiPM for High Energy Physics Experiments

Scintillator detector have been used in a wide range of experiments in different areas: Nuclear and High Energy Physics, Medicine, and Radiation Security among others. It is common to use scintillator counters coupled to Photomultiplier Tubes (PMT) as a read out detectors. Nowadays, there has been a great interest in using the Silicon Photomultipliers (PMSi) as a replacement for PMT's due to their high photon detection efficiency (PDE) and their high single photon time resolution (SPTR). The fast the signal is detected, the whole detection system will be useful to search for new physics. PMSi is also known to have a good compactness, magnetic field resistance and low cost. In our lab we are measuring the time resolution of two different models of PMS in order to build a fast radiation detector system

Sars-cov-2 detection in fecal sample from a patient with typical findings of covid-19 pneumonia on ct but negative to multiple sars-cov-2 rt-pcr tests on oropharyngeal and nasopharyngeal swab samples

Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) negative results in the upper respiratory tract represent a major concern for the clinical management of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. Herein, we report the case of a 43-years-old man with a strong clinical suspicion of COVID-19, who resulted in being negative to multiple severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RT-PCR tests performed on different oropharyngeal and nasopharyngeal swabs, despite serology having confirmed the presence of SARS-CoV-2 IgM. The patient underwent a chest computed tomography (CT) that showed typical imaging findings of COVID-19 pneumonia. The presence of viral SARS-CoV-2 was confirmed only by performing a SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR test on stool. Performing of SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR test on fecal samples can be a rapid and useful approach to confirm COVID-19 diagnosis in cases where there is an apparent discrepancy between COVID-19 clinical symptoms coupled with chest CT and SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR tests’ results on samples from the upper respiratory tract

Hipster: Integrating Theory Exploration in a Proof Assistant

This paper describes Hipster, a system integrating theory exploration with the proof assistant Isabelle/HOL. Theory exploration is a technique for automatically discovering new interesting lemmas in a given theory development. Hipster can be used in two main modes. The first is exploratory mode, used for automatically generating basic lemmas about a given set of datatypes and functions in a new theory development. The second is proof mode, used in a particular proof attempt, trying to discover the missing lemmas which would allow the current goal to be proved. Hipster's proof mode complements and boosts existing proof automation techniques that rely on automatically selecting existing lemmas, by inventing new lemmas that need induction to be proved. We show example uses of both modes

Can statin preventative treatment inform geroscience-guided therapeutics?

: Potential senotherapeutic effect of statins may lead to prevention and reduction of frailty

Comparison Process of Blood Heavy Metals Absorption Linked to Measured Air Quality Data in Areas with High and Low Environmental Impact

Air pollution is a problem shared by the entire world population, and researchers have highlighted its adverse effects on human health in recent years. The object of this paper was the relationship between the pollutants' concentrations measured in the air and the quantity of pollutant itself inhaled by the human body. The area chosen for the study has a high environmental impact given the significant presence on the territory of polluting activities. The Acerra area (HI) has a waste-to-energy plant and numerous industries to which polluting emissions are attributed. This area has always been the subject of study as the numbers of cancer patients are high. A survey on male patients to evaluate the heavy metals concentrations in the blood was conducted in the two areas and then linked to its values aero-dispersed. Using the air quality data measured by the monitoring networks in two zones, one with high environmental impact (HI) and one with low environmental impact (LI), the chronicle daily intake (CDI) of pollutants inhaled by a single person was calculated. The pollutants considered in this study are PM10 and four heavy metals (As, Cd, Ni, Pb) constituting the typical particulates of the areas concerned. The CDI values calculated for the two zones are significantly higher in the HI zone following the seasonal pollution trend

Mediterranean Diet as a Shield against Male Infertility and Cancer Risk Induced by Environmental Pollutants: A Focus on Flavonoids

The role of environmental factors in influencing health status is well documented. Heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls, dioxins, pesticides, ultrafine particles, produced by human activities put a strain on the body’s entire defense system. Therefore, together with public health measures, evidence-based individual resilience measures are necessary to mitigate cancer risk under environmental stress and to prevent reproductive dysfunction and non-communicable diseases; this is especially relevant for workers occupationally exposed to pollutants and/or populations residing in highly polluted areas. The Mediterranean diet is characterized by a high intake of fruits and vegetables rich in flavonoids, that can promote the elimination of pollutants in tissues and fluids and/or mitigate their effects through different mechanisms. In this review, we collected evidence from pre-clinical and clinical studies showing that the impairment of male fertility and gonadal development, as well as cancers of reproductive system, due to the exposure of organic and inorganic pollutants, may be counteracted by flavonoids

RoboEarth Semantic Mapping: A Cloud Enabled Knowledge-Based Approach

The vision of the RoboEarth project is to design a knowledge-based system to provide web and cloud services that can transform a simple robot into an intelligent one. In this work, we describe the RoboEarth semantic mapping system. The semantic map is composed of: 1) an ontology to code the concepts and relations in maps and objects and 2) a SLAM map providing the scene geometry and the object locations with respect to the robot. We propose to ground the terminological knowledge in the robot perceptions by means of the SLAM map of objects. RoboEarth boosts mapping by providing: 1) a subdatabase of object models relevant for the task at hand, obtained by semantic reasoning, which improves recognition by reducing computation and the false positive rate; 2) the sharing of semantic maps between robots; and 3) software as a service to externalize in the cloud the more intensive mapping computations, while meeting the mandatory hard real time constraints of the robot. To demonstrate the RoboEarth cloud mapping system, we investigate two action recipes that embody semantic map building in a simple mobile robot. The first recipe enables semantic map building for a novel environment while exploiting available prior information about the environment. The second recipe searches for a novel object, with the efficiency boosted thanks to the reasoning on a semantically annotated map. Our experimental results demonstrate that, by using RoboEarth cloud services, a simple robot can reliably and efficiently build the semantic maps needed to perform its quotidian tasks. In addition, we show the synergetic relation of the SLAM map of objects that grounds the terminological knowledge coded in the ontology

The use of platelet-rich plasma for treatment of tenodesmic lesions in horses: A systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical and experimental data

The use of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) to enhance tenodesmic lesion healing has been questioned over the years. The aim of this study was to evaluate current literature to establish the effectiveness of PRP for treating tenodesmic lesions through a systematic review, in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines, and a meta-analysis. Studies comparing PRP with placebo or other treatments for horses with tenodesmic injuries or evaluated PRP effect on tendon and ligament explants were included. Outcomes were clinical, ultrasound, histologic, molecular evaluation, and adverse effects. Two authors independently extracted data and assessed each study’s risk of bias. Treatment effects were evaluated using risk ratios for dichotomous data, together with 95% CI. Data were pooled using the random-effects model. The quality of the evidence for each outcome was assessed using GRADE criteria. Twenty-four trials met inclusion criteria for systematic review, while fifteen studies were included in the meta-analysis. Results showed no significant differences in the outcomes between PRP and control groups. Finally, there is no definitive evidence that PRP enhances tendons and ligaments healing. Therefore, there is a need for more controlled trials to draw a firmer conclusion about the efficacy of PRP as a treatment for tenodesmic lesions in the horse

Integrating an autonomous robot on a dance and new technologies festival

This paper presents the results of a project to integrate an autonomous mobile robot into a modern dance performance at a dance and new technologies festival. The main goal is to integrate a simple low cost mobile robot into the dance performance, in order to study the possibilities that this kind of platforms can offer to the artists. First, this work explains the process and design to embed the robotic platform into the choreography theme. Another contribution described in this work is the system architecture proposed and built to make the robot behaviours match the artists requirements: precise, synchronized and robust robot movements. Finally, we discuss the main issues and lessons learned for this kind of robotics and arts applications and summarize the results obtained, including the successful final live performance results