Osteoporosis and rheumatic diseases.

Numerous rheumatic diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, systemic lupus erythematosus, systemic sclerosis, dermatomyositis/polymyositis and vasculitis are characterized by osteoporosis and fragility fractures. Inflammatory cytokines, glucocorticoid treatment, immobilization and reduced physical activity due to painful joints and muscle weakness are considered the main risk factors that cause low body mass density values in these diseases. Emerging evidence highlights the role of inflammatory cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-1, IL-6, IL-7 and IL-17, in the regulation of the bone homeostasis. In fact, chronic inflammation is often characterized by an imbalance between bone formation and bone resorption with a net prevalence of osteoclastogenesis, which is an important determinant of bone loss in rheumatic diseases

Wave attenuation in glasses: Rayleigh and generalized-Rayleigh scattering scaling

The attenuation of long-wavelength phonons (waves) by glassy disorder plays a central role in various glass anomalies, yet it is neither fully characterized, nor fully understood. Of particular importance is the scaling of the attenuation rate $\Gamma(k)$ with small wavenumbers $k\!\to\!0$ in the thermodynamic limit of macroscopic glasses. Here we use a combination of theory and extensive computer simulations to show that the macroscopic low-frequency behavior emerges at intermediate frequencies in finite-size glasses, above a recently identified crossover wavenumber $k_\dagger$, where phonons are no longer quantized into bands. For $k\!<\!k_\dagger$, finite-size effects dominate $\Gamma(k)$, which is quantitatively described by a theory of disordered phonon bands. For $k\!>\!k_\dagger$, we find that $\Gamma(k)$ is affected by the number of quasilocalized nonphononic excitations, a generic signature of glasses that feature a universal density of states. In particular, we show that in a frequency range in which this number is small, $\Gamma(k)$ follows a Rayleigh scattering scaling $\sim\!k^{d+1}$ ($d$ is the spatial dimension), and that in a frequency range in which this number is sufficiently large, the recently observed generalized-Rayleigh scaling of the form $\sim\!k^{d+1}\log\!{(k_0/k)}$ emerges ($k_0\!>k_\dagger$ is a characteristic wavenumber). Our results suggest that macroscopic glasses --- and, in particular, glasses generated by conventional laboratory quenches that are known to strongly suppress quasilocalized nonphononic excitations --- exhibit Rayleigh scaling at the lowest wavenumbers $k$ and a crossover to generalized-Rayleigh scaling at higher $k$. Some supporting experimental evidence from recent literature is presented.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures (including appendices). v2 includes a new appendix with 2 figures (Fig.7 & Fig.8

Correlazione tra anomalie flussimetriche ed outcome in feti con IUGR

Il ritardo di crescita intrauterino (IUGR, Intrauterine Growth Restriction) (peso fetale <10° percentile) è una condizione patologica che complica la gravidanza in circa il 15% dei casi (1). La flussimetria Doppler dei vasi fetali e il profilo biofisico fetale rappresentano a tutt’oggi la metodica più efficace nonché l’unica disponibile per la sorveglianza del feto con IUGR (5). Abbiamo monitorizzato 33 gravide con IUGR comparso dopo la 27ª settimana; le pazienti sono state divise in 3 gruppi a seconda della settimana di comparsa del ritardo. Tutte le pazienti sono state sottoposte ad intervalli regolari a: valutazione biometrica, flussimetria arteriosa e venosa, calcolo AFI, CTG. L’outcome neonatale peggiore si è avuto nel 3° gruppo. Scopo del nostro studio è stato quello di verificare la correlazione tra anomalie della flussimetria fetale e outcome neonatale in feti con IUGR (CA < 10° percentile). Da quanto emerso dai risultati si può comprendere come l’epoca di comparsa del ritardo di crescita sia di grande rilevanza per la prognosi neonatale (8)

Utilità dello screening ecografico delle cardiopatie congenite nelle gravide a basso rischio

La valutazione dell’integrità del cuore fetale è data dallo studio delle 4 camere durante l’ecografia morfologica del secondo trimestre, mentre nelle gravide cosiddette a rischio per cardiopatie congenite viene consigliato l’ecocardio fetale, dove oltre alle 4 camere vengono analizzate le altre strutture cardiache ed anche la loro funzionalità. La frequenza delle cardiopatie congenite, però, è del: 25-30% nelle gravide a rischio e del 70-75% nelle gravide a basso rischio. Nella nostra divisione di ostetricia abbiamo effettuato un test di screening su 1.030 gravide tra la 20ª e 24ª settimana considerate a basso rischio. Il test prevede lo studio delle 4-camere, dell’asse lungo sn, dell’asse lungo dx e dell’arco aortico. Le stesse scansioni vengono poi valutate con il color-Doppler. Il test è risultato positivo in 7 casi

Application of Building Typologies for Modelling the Energy Balance of the Residential Building Stock

Building typologies can serve as a basis for analysing the national housing sector. During the TABULA project which was introducing or further developing building typologies in thirteen EU countries, six of the European partners have carried out model calculations which aim at imaging the energy consumption and estimating the energy saving potentials of their national residential building stocks (IWU / Germany, NOA / Greece, POLITO / Italy, VITO / Belgium, STU-K / Czech Republic, SBi / Denmark). The results show that the model calculations can provide plausible projections of the energy consumption of the national residential buildings stock. The fit of model calculations and national energy statistics is satisfactory, deviations can often be explained and corrected by adapting standard boundary conditions of the applied calculation models to more realistic values. In general, the analysis shows that building typologies can be a helpful tool for modelling the energy consumption of national building stocks and for carrying out scenario analysis beyond the TABULA project. The consideration of a set of representative buildings makes it possible to have a detailed view on various packages of measures for the complete buildings stock or for its sub-categories. The effects of different insulation measures at the respective construction elements as well as different heat supply measures including renewable energies can be considered in detail. The quality of future model calculations will depend very much on the availability of statistical data. For reliable scenario analysis information is necessary about the current state of the building stock (How many buildings and heating systems have been refurbished until now?) and about the current trends (How many buildings and heating systems are being refurbished every year?). The availability and regular update of the relevant statistical data will be an important basis for the development and evaluation of national climate protection strategies in the building secto

Quantizing three-spin string solution in AdS_5 x S^5

As was recently found in hep-th/0304255, there exists a simple non-supersymmetric classical solution describing a closed string rotating in S^5 and located at the center of AdS_5. It is parametrized by the angular momentum J of the center of mass and two equal SO(6) angular momenta J' in the two other orthogonal rotation planes. The dual N=4 SYM operators should be scalar operators in SU(4) representations [0,J-J',2J'] or [J'-J,0,J'+J]. This solution is stable if J' > 3/2 J and for large J + 2 J' its classical energy admits an expansion in positive powers of g_eff = \lambda/(J + 2 J')^2: E= J + 2 J' + g_eff J' + ... . This suggests a possibility of a direct comparison with perturbative SYM results for the corresponding anomalous dimensions in the sector with g_eff << 1, by analogy with the BMN case. We conjecture that all quantum sigma model string corrections are then subleading at large J', so that the classical formula for the energy is effectively exact to all orders in \lambda. It could then be interpolated to weak coupling, representing a prediction for the anomalous dimensions on the SYM side. We test this conjecture by computing the 1-loop superstring sigma model correction to the classical energy.Comment: 25 pages, harvmac. v5: minor misprints in eqs (2.6),(2.16),(2.20),(2.21) correcte