Benefits of a Fog-to-Cloud Approach in Proximity Marketing

The EC H2020 mF2C Project is working to the development of a software framework that enables the orchestration of resources and communication at fog level, as an extension of cloud computing and interacting with the IoT. In order to show the project functionalities and added-values three real world use cases have been chosen. This paper introduces one of the mF2C use cases: Smart Fog Hub Service (SFHS) use case, in the context of an airport, with the objective of proving that the adoption of the fog-to-cloud approach brings relevant benefits in terms of performance and optimization of resource usage, thus giving an objective evidence of the impact of the mF2C framework.This work is supported by the H2020 mF2C project (730929)Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Critical role and therapeutic control of the lectin pathway of complement activation in an abortion-prone mouse mating

The abortion-prone mating combination CBA/J 7 DBA/2 has been recognized as a model of preeclampsia, and complement activation has been implicated in the high rate of pregnancy loss observed in CBA/J mice. We have analyzed the implantation sites collected from DBA/2-mated CBA/J mice for the deposition of the complement recognition molecules using CBA/J mated with BALB/c mice as a control group. MBL-A was observed in the implantation sites of CBA/J 7 DBA/2 combination in the absence of MBL-C and was undetectable in BALB/c-mated CBA/J mice. Conversely, C1q was present in both mating combinations. Searching for other complement components localized at the implantation sites of CBA/J 7 DBA/2, we found C4 and C3, but we failed to reveal C1r. These data suggest that complement is activated through the lectin pathway and proceeds to completion of the activation sequence as revealed by C9 deposition. MBL-A was detected as early as 3.5 d of pregnancy, and MBL-A deficiency prevented pregnancy loss in the abortion-prone mating combination. The contribution of the terminal complex to miscarriage was supported by the finding that pregnancy failure was largely inhibited by the administration of neutralizing Ab to C5. Treatment of DBA/2-mated CBA/J mice with Polyman2 that binds to MBL-A with high affinity proved to be highly effective in controlling the activation of the lectin pathway and in preventing fetal loss

A likely association between low mannan-binding lectin level and brain fog onset in long COVID patients

: Brain fog can be described as a constellation of new-onset neuropsychiatric sequelae in the post-acute phase of COVID-19 (long COVID). The symptoms include inattention, short-term memory loss, and reduced mental acuity, which may undermine cognition, concentration, and sleep. This cognitive impairment, persisting for weeks or months after the acute phase of SARS-CoV-2 infection, can significantly impact on daily activities and the quality of life. An important role for the complement system (C) in the pathogenesis of COVID-19 has emerged since the beginning of pandemic outbreak. A number of pathophysiological characteristics including microangiopathy and myocarditis have been attributed to dysregulated C activation due to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Mannan-binding lectin (MBL), the first recognition subcomponent of the C lectin pathway, has been shown to bind to glycosylated SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, genetic variants of MBL2 are suggested to have an association with severe COVID-19 manifestations requiring hospitalization. In the present study, we evaluated MBL activity (lectin pathway activation) and levels in the sera of a cohort of COVID-19 patients, presenting brain fog or only hyposmia/hypogeusia as persistent symptoms, and compared them with healthy volunteers. We found significantly lower levels of MBL and lectin pathway activity in the sera of patients experiencing brain fog as compared to recovered COVID-19 patients without brain fog. Our data indicate that long COVID-associated brain fog can be listed among the variegate manifestations of increased susceptibility to infections and diseases contributed by MBL deficiency

Shedding Light on the Geometry of Kilonovae

We present the first results of a campaign aimed at characterising the linear polarisation signals and thus the geometry of binary neutron star mergers (i.e., kilonovae). We carried out the first polarimetric observations of a kilonova called AT 2017gfo, using the FOcal Reducer/low dispersion Spectrograph 2 (FORS2). We predicted for the first time the polarisation signatures expected from kilonovae and highlighted the best strategy to detect linear polarisation in future events. Our studies demonstrate how the detection of polarisation will constrain crucial parameters of these systems, such as the inclination and composition, distribution and extent of the different components of the ejecta

The Inflammatory Feed-Forward Loop Triggered by the Complement Component C3 as a Potential Target in Endometriosis

Copyright © 2021 Agostinis, Zorzet, Balduit, Zito, Mangogna, Macor, Romano, Toffoli, Belmonte, Morello, Martorana, Borelli, Ricci, Kishore and Bulla. The complement system is a major component of humoral innate immunity, acting as a first line of defense against microbes via opsonization and lysis of pathogens. However, novel roles of the complement system in inflammatory and immunological processes, including in cancer, are emerging. Endometriosis (EM), a benign disease characterized by ectopic endometrial implants, shows certain unique features of cancer, such as the capacity to invade surrounding tissues, and in severe cases, metastatic properties. A defective immune surveillance against autologous tissue deposited in the peritoneal cavity allows immune escape for endometriotic lesions. There is evidence that the glandular epithelial cells found in endometriotic implants produce and secrete the complement component C3. Here, we show, using immunofluorescence and RT-qPCR, the presence of locally synthesized C3 in the ectopic endometriotic tissue, but not in the eutopic tissue. We generated a murine model of EM via injection of minced uterine tissue from a donor mouse into the peritoneum of recipient mice. The wild type mice showed greater amount of cyst formation in the peritoneum compared to C3 knock-out mice. Peritoneal washings from the wild type mice with EM showed more degranulated mast cells compared to C3 knock-out mice, consistent with higher C3a levels in the peritoneal fluid of EM patients. We provide evidence that C3a participates in an auto-amplifying loop leading to mast cell infiltration and activation, which is pathogenic in EM. Thus, C3 can be considered a marker of EM and its local synthesis can promote the engraftment of the endometriotic cysts.Ministry of Health: Project code: ENDO-2020-23670288 “Pathogenesis of endometriosis: the role of genes, inflammation and environment”; Institute for Maternal and Child Health, IRCCS Burlo Garofolo, Trieste, Italy (RC20/16, RC23/18; 5MILLE15D; PORFESR 2014/2020 FVG (“TiCheP” project)

Metallic, magnetic and molecular nanocontacts

Scanning tunnelling microscopy and break-junction experiments realize metallic and molecular nanocontacts that act as ideal one-dimensional channels between macroscopic electrodes. Emergent nanoscale phenomena typical of these systems encompass structural, mechanical, electronic, transport, and magnetic properties. This Review focuses on the theoretical explanation of some of these properties obtained with the help of first-principles methods. By tracing parallel theoretical and experimental developments from the discovery of nanowire formation and conductance quantization in gold nanowires to recent observations of emergent magnetism and Kondo correlations, we exemplify the main concepts and ingredients needed to bring together ab initio calculations and physical observations. It can be anticipated that diode, sensor, spin-valve and spin-filter functionalities relevant for spintronics and molecular electronics applications will benefit from the physical understanding thus obtained

Heavy element production in a compact object merger observed by JWST

The mergers of binary compact objects such as neutron stars and black holes are of central interest to several areas of astrophysics, including as the progenitors of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) 1, sources of high-frequency gravitational waves (GWs) 2 and likely production sites for heavy-element nucleosynthesis by means of rapid neutron capture (the r-process) 3. Here we present observations of the exceptionally bright GRB 230307A. We show that GRB 230307A belongs to the class of long-duration GRBs associated with compact object mergers 4–6 and contains a kilonova similar to AT2017gfo, associated with the GW merger GW170817 (refs. 7–12). We obtained James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) mid-infrared imaging and spectroscopy 29 and 61 days after the burst. The spectroscopy shows an emission line at 2.15 microns, which we interpret as tellurium (atomic mass A = 130) and a very red source, emitting most of its light in the mid-infrared owing to the production of lanthanides. These observations demonstrate that nucleosynthesis in GRBs can create r-process elements across a broad atomic mass range and play a central role in heavy-element nucleosynthesis across the Universe

Extended Bernstein prior via reinforced urn processes

A Reinforced Urn Process which induces a prior on the space of mixtures of Bernstein distributions is introduced. A nonparametric Bayesian model based on this prior is presented: the elicitation is treated and some connections with Dirichlet mixtures are given. In the last part of the paper an MCMC algorithm to compute the predictive distribution is discussed

An application of reinforced urn processes to determining maximum tolerated dose

Based on reinforced urn process introduced by Muliere et al. [2000. Urn schemes and reinforced random walks. Stochastic Process. Appl. 88(1), 59-78] we propose a Bayesian nonparametric approach to analyse a design determining the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) in Phase I clinical trials for new drug development when intrapatient dose escalation is allowed. A predictive distribution of MTD is obtained and its point estimation may consist in the corresponding expected value.Phase I Maximum tolerated dose Urn scheme