Single top: prospects at LHC

Single top quark processes are interesting as direct probes of the $Wtb$ vertex, and are also an important background in searches of the Higgs boson and beyond the standard model physics. Both ATLAS and CMS have performed studies with simulated data to estimate the expected uncertainty on the production cross section measurements of the three single top processes ($t$-channel, s-channel, $tW$ production) in the first years of LHC operations. Results in the different channels and for the two experiments are reported.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, presented at TOP2008: International Workshop on Top-Quark Physics, La Biodola, Isola d'Elba, Italy, 18-24 May 200

Searching for degenerate Higgs bosons - A profile likelihood ratio method to test for mass-degenerate states in the presence of incomplete data and uncertainties

Using the likelihood ratio test statistic, we present a method which can be employed to test the hypothesis of a single Higgs boson using the matrix of measured signal strengths. This method can be applied in the presence of incomplete data and takes into account uncertainties on the measurements. The p-value against the hypothesis of a single Higgs boson is defined from the expected distribution of the test statistic, generated using pseudo-experiments. The applicability of the likelihood-based test is demonstrated using numerical examples with uncertainties and missing matrix elements

I periodici bibliografici e biblioteconomici italiani tra Otto e Novecento

Il primo periodico italiano di biblioteconomia e bibliografia è il «Giornale delle biblioteche», pubblicato a Genova dal 1867 al 1873, ma la prima rivista d’impostazione moderna è la «Rivista delle biblioteche» di Guido Biagi, fondata nel 1888 (dal 1895 «Rivista delle biblioteche e degli archivi»), che fu anche dal 1898 al 1906 organo della Società bibliografica italiana. Ma per la circolazione delle informazioni e il dibattito nel mondo delle biblioteche ebbero un ruolo significativo anche periodici con finalità un po’ diverse, da «Il bibliofilo» a «La bibliofilia» di Olschki, e quelli rivolti alle biblioteche popolari, a partire dai primi anni del Novecento, o pubblicati da singole biblioteche, per lo più con notizie sulla loro attività. Tutte queste iniziative ebbero però una vita piuttosto precaria, mentre il mondo delle biblioteche poté contare su una rivista regolare e ricca di contenuti solo con «Accademie e biblioteche d’Italia», pubblicata dalla Direzione generale delle accademie e biblioteche a partire dal 1927 e ripresa dopo la seconda guerra mondiale nel 1950.The first Italian library periodical is the «Giornale delle biblioteche», published in Genoa from 1867 to 1873, but the first modern-looking journal is the «Rivista delle biblioteche» founded by Guido Biagi in 1888 (since 1895 «Rivista delle biblioteche e degli archivi»), which was also the official organ of the Italian Bibliographical Society from 1898 to 1906. But for the circulation of information and the debate in the library world, a significant role was played by journals with somewhat different purposes, such as «Il bibliofilo» and Olschki’s «La bibliofilia», and by those aimed at popular libraries, starting from the early years of the twentieth century, or published by individual libraries, mostly with news about their activity. All these initiatives, however, had a rather precarious life, while the library world could count on a regular journal rich in content only with «Accademie e biblioteche d’Italia», published by the Directorate General of Academies and Libraries since 1927 and resumed after the second world war in 1950

Polymorphic set-theoretic types for functional languages

We study set-theoretic types: types that include union, intersection, and negation connectives. Set-theoretic types, coupled with a suitable subtyping relation, are useful to type several programming language constructs \u2013 including conditional branching, pattern matching, and function overloading \u2013 very precisely. We define subtyping following the semantic subtyping approach, which interprets types as sets and defines subtyping as set inclusion. Our set-theoretic types are polymorphic, that is, they contain type variables to allow parametric polymorphism. We extend previous work on set-theoretic types and semantic subtyping by showing how to adapt them to new settings and apply them to type various features of functional languages. More precisely, we integrate semantic subtyping with three important language features. In Part I we study implicitly typed languages with let-polymorphism and type inference (previous work on semantic subtyping focused on explicitly typed languages). We describe an implicitly typed lambda-calculus and a declarative type system for which we prove soundness. We study type inference and prove results of soundness and completeness. Then, we show how to make type inference more precise when programs are partially annotated with types. In Part II we study gradual typing. We describe a new approach to add gradual typing to a static type system; the novelty is that we give a declarative presentation of the type system, while previous work considered algorithmic presentations. We first illustrate the approach on a Hindley-Milner type system without subtyping. We describe declarative typing, compilation to a cast language, and sound and complete type inference. Then, we add set-theoretic types, defining a subtyping relation on set-theoretic gradual types, and we describe sound type inference for the extended system. In Part III we consider non-strict semantics. The existing semantic subtyping systems are designed for call-by-value languages and are unsound for non-strict semantics. We adapt them to obtain soundness for call-by-need. To do so, we introduce an explicit representation for divergence in the types, allowing the type system to distinguish the expressions that are already evaluated from those that are computations which might diverge.Cette th\ue8se porte sur l'\ue9tude des types ensemblistes : des types qui contiennent des connecteurs d'union, d'intersection et de n\ue9gation. Les types ensemblistes permettent de typer de mani\ue8re tr\ue8s pr\ue9cise plusieurs constructions des langages de programmation (comme par exemple les branches conditionnelles, le filtrage par motif et la surcharge des fonctions) lorsqu'ils sont utilis\ue9s avec une notion appropri\ue9e de sous-typage. Pour d\ue9finir celle-ci, nous utilisons l'approche du sous-typage s\ue9mantique, dans laquelle les types sont interpr\ue9t\ue9s comme des ensembles, et o\uf9 le sous-typage est d\ue9fini comme l'inclusion ensembliste. Dans la plupart de cette th\ue8se, les types ensemblistes sont polymorphes, dans le sens o\uf9 ils contiennent des variables de type pour permettre le polymorphisme param\ue9trique. La th\ue8se \ue9tend les travaux pr\ue9c\ue9dents sur les types ensemblistes et le sous-typage s\ue9mantique en montrant comment les adapter \ue0 des nouveaux contextes et comment les utiliser pour typer plusieurs aspects des langages fonctionnels. Elle se compose de trois parties. La premi\ue8re partie porte sur une \ue9tude des langages typ\ue9s de mani\ue8re implicite avec polymorphisme du "let" et inf\ue9rence de types (contrairement aux travaux pr\ue9c\ue9dents sur le sous-typage s\ue9mantique qui \ue9tudiaient des langages typ\ue9s explicitement). Nous y d\ue9crivons un lambda-calcul typ\ue9 implicitement avec un syst\ue8me de types dont nous d\ue9montrons la correction. De m\ueame, nous y \ue9tudions l'inf\ue9rence de types dont nous d\ue9montrons la correction et la compl\ue9tude. Enfin, nous montrons comment rendre l'inf\ue9rence plus pr\ue9cise quand les programmes sont partiellement annot\ue9s avec des types. La deuxi\ue8me partie d\ue9crit une nouvelle approche permettant d'\ue9tendre un syst\ue8me de types statique avec du typage graduel; l'originalit\ue9 venant du fait que nous d\ue9crivons le syst\ue8me de types de fa\ue7on d\ue9clarative, lorsque les syst\ue8mes existants proposent des descriptions algorithmiques. Nous illustrons cette approche en ajoutant le typage graduel \ue0 un syst\ue8me de types \ue0 la Hindley-Milner sans sous-typage. Nous d\ue9crivons pour cela un syst\ue8me de types d\ue9claratif, un processus de compilation vers un langage avec v\ue9rifications de type dynamiques (ou "casts"), et nous pr\ue9sentons un syst\ue8me d'inf\ue9rence de types correct et complet. Ensuite, nous y ajoutons les types ensemblistes, en d\ue9finissant une relation de sous-typage sur les types graduel ensemblistes, puis en pr\ue9sentant un syst\ue8me d'inf\ue9rence de types correct pour le syst\ue8me \ue9tendu. La troisi\ue8me partie porte sur l'\ue9tude des s\ue9mantiques non-strictes. Les syst\ue8mes existants qui utilisent le sous-typage s\ue9mantique ont \ue9t\ue9 d\ue9velopp\ue9s pour des langages avec appel par valeur et ne sont pas s\ufbrs pour des s\ue9mantiques non-strictes. Nous montrons ici comment les adapter pour garantir leur s\ufbret\ue9 en appel par n\ue9cessit\ue9. Pour faire \ue7a, nous introduisons dans les types une repr\ue9sentation explicite de la divergence, afin que le syst\ue8me des types puisse distinguer les expressions qui ne demandent pas d'\ue9valuation de celles qui la demandent et pourraient ainsi diverger

Follow-up after curative resection for gastric cancer. Is it time to tailor it?

There is still no consensus on the follow-up frequency and regimen after curative resection for gastric cancer. Moreover, controversy exists regarding the utility of follow-up in improving survival, and the recommendations of experts and societies vary considerably. The main reason to establish surveillance programs is to diagnose tumor recurrence or metachronous cancers early and to thereby provide prompt treatment and prolong survival. In the setting of gastric malignancies, other reasons have been put forth: (1) the detection of adverse effects of a previous surgery, such as malnutrition or digestive sequelae; (2) the collection of data; and (3) the identification of psychological and/or social problems and provision of appropriate support to the patients. No randomized controlled trials on the role of follow-up after curative resection of gastric carcinoma have been published. Herein, the primary retrospective series and systematic reviews on this subject are analyzed and discussed. Furthermore, the guidelines from international and national scientific societies are discussed. Follow-up is recommended by the majority of institutions; however, there is no real evidence that follow-up can improve long-term survival rates. Several studies have demonstrated that it is possible to stratify patients submitted to curative gastrectomy into different classes according to the risk of recurrence. Furthermore, promising studies have identified several molecular markers that are related to the risk of relapse and to prognosis. Based on these premises, a promising strategy will be to tailor follow-up in relation to the patient and tumor characteristics, molecular marker status, and individual risk of recurrence

Il catalogo e la biblioteca digitale. Un sodalizio indispensabile per la ricerca

L'intervento espone le caratteristiche peculiari della rete del Servizio bibliotecario nazionale, la più capillare d'Europa, a 30 anni del suo avvio operativo, presentando varie proposte per il miglioramento e ampliamento della base dati catalografica e per la sua integrazione con la biblioteca digitale

Commissioning ATLAS and CMS with top quarks

The large ttbar production cross-section at the LHC suggests the use of top quark decays to calibrate several critical parts of the detectors, such as the trigger system, the jet energy scale and b-tagging.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures. Talk given at `V Workshop Italiano sulla Fisica pp a LHC', Perugia, Italy, 30 January - 2 February 200

La Scuola di Francoforte

La Scuola di Francoforte costituisce, nel panorama filosofico-politico del Novecento, una delle più ricche e interessanti esperienze di declinazione, di riattualizzazione e, per alcuni aspetti, di critica del marxismo. L'articolo presenta una sintetica ricostruzione l’itinerario teorico della prima generazione della Scuola di Francoforte, concentrandosi in particolare sulle opere degli intellettuali più rappresentativi all’interno di essa (Max Horkheimer, Erich Fromm, Theodor W. Adorno, Friedrich Pollock, Herbert Marcuse), con l’obiet- tivo di evidenziare le innovazioni, in chiave di teoria sociale, apportate da questi autori rispetto alla teoria marxiana

Il lavoro in biblioteca? Non è mai una questione di «ordinaria amministrazione». Conversazione con Anna Maria Giorgetti Vichi

Il testo rappresenta la stesura in forma di intervista dei principali temi affrontati in una conversazione con Anna Maria Giorgetti Vichi, che è stata bibliotecaria, ispettrice centrale, direttrice della biblioteca Angelica e delle due biblioteche nazionali centrali di Firenze e di Roma. L’articolo, dopo la formazione e le fasi iniziali della sua carriera, ripercorre le tappe principali del suo lungo percorso professionale a cominciare dalla direzione alla biblioteca Angelica, cui seguirà nel 1970 la nomina a direttrice della BNCF – in un momento particolarmente delicato della biblioteca, ancora impegnata nel recupero dopo l’alluvione del 1966 e le dimissioni di Emanuele Casamassima che l’aveva salvata nell’emergenza. Degli anni fiorentini vengono approfondite questioni ancora dibattute come lo stile di gestione della Biblioteca, le relazioni con il personale e i sindacati, le idee sulla conservazione e la distanza rispetto alle tecniche di restauro sperimentate a Firenze dopo l’alluvione del 1966, i rapporti con il Ministero e con la città. In conclusione si ricorda il ritorno da ispettrice a Roma alla fine del mandato in BNCF e l’ultimo impegno come direttrice della BNCR. Il contributo è corredato da una nota biografica e dalla bibliografia degli scritti.The paper originates from an interview with Anna Maria Giorgetti Vichi, former librarian, ministerial supervisor, and director of the Angelica library and of the two National central libraries of Florence (BNCF) and Rome (BNCR). It recollects the main stages of her professional life from the successful experience at the Angelica library and the following role of director of BNCF in critical circumstances – when the library was still recovering after the flood of 1966. A few controversial issues concerning the Florentine years – such as her management style, her relationships with staff and unions, her ideas about conservation and preservation of library materials etc. – are discussed and clarified. The contribution is accompanied by a biographical and bibliographical note