Deconfinement vs. chiral symmetry and higher representation matter

The interplay of deconfinement and chiral symmetry restoration are considered in terms of effective theories. We generalize the earlier model studies by considering fermions in higher representations, and study the finite temperature phase diagrams of SU(2) and SU(3) gauge theories with two fermion flavors in fundamental, adjoint or two-index symmetric representations. We discuss our results in relation to recent lattice simulations on these theories and outline possible applications in the context of dynamical electroweak symmetry breaking.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figure

Porting Decision Tree Algorithms to Multicore using FastFlow

The whole computer hardware industry embraced multicores. For these machines, the extreme optimisation of sequential algorithms is no longer sufficient to squeeze the real machine power, which can be only exploited via thread-level parallelism. Decision tree algorithms exhibit natural concurrency that makes them suitable to be parallelised. This paper presents an approach for easy-yet-efficient porting of an implementation of the C4.5 algorithm on multicores. The parallel porting requires minimal changes to the original sequential code, and it is able to exploit up to 7X speedup on an Intel dual-quad core machine.Comment: 18 pages + cove

Sun protection habits and behaviors of a group of outdoor workers and students from the agricultural and construction sectors in north-Italy

Background: Despite the relevant frequency of ultraviolet induced adverse health effects in workers, solar ultraviolet radiation (UVR) exposure is an occupational risk not adequately minimized in Italy. Objective: To assess the characteristics and prevalence of sun exposure habits and behaviors in a group of students and outdoor workers (OW) from the agricultural and construction sectors of a north-Italian region. Methods: Based on a previously developed standardized questionnaire, we collected full information on individual sun exposure habits at work and during leisure activities. Results: In 2018, 380 high school students and OW from the agricultural and construction sectors participated in a sun-safety campaign. More than a third (39.0%) of OW reported never using sunglasses, 52.8% never applied sunscreens at work, and a quarter never wear a UV protective hat. Considering leisure-time, students reported more frequent sunburns compared to OW: 25.0% vs. 13.8%; half (51.6%) of students and a third (36.4%) of OW reported never wearing a UV protective hat. A third (30.1%) of students and 37.2% of OW never or only seldom applied sunscreens on holidays. Discussion: The majority of OW in our study reported poor protective solar exposure habits. Young students of the construction and agricultural sectors indicated even worse sun-protective behaviors, both during apprenticeship and leisure activities. Our study highlights the low health literacy related to solar UVR in OW and apprentices. Further educational initiatives are required in Italy to improve the adoption of protective behaviors during outdoor activities

Self-consistent evaluation of quark masses in three flavor crystalline color superconductivity

We present a self-consistent evaluation of the constituent quark masses in the three flavor Larkin-Ovchinnikov-Fulde-Ferrell (LOFF) phases of QCD, employing an improved Nambu-Jona Lasinio model. This result allows to determine the window for values of the baryonic chemical potential where the LOFF state is energetically favored.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures, JHEP3 style. A second treatment of the ultraviolet cutoff added. Three figures adapted to the new cutoff. Two references added. Version accepted for publication on JHE

A diagrammatic derivation of the meson effective masses in the neutral color-flavor-locked phase of Quantum Chromodynamics

We offer a diagrammatic derivation of the effective masses of the axial flavor excitations in the electrical and color neutral CFL phase of QCD. In particular we concentrate on the excitations with the quantum numbers of the kaons: we show how their effective chemical potentials, responsible of their Bose-Einstein condensation and found previously on the basis of pure symmetry arguments, arise at the microscopic level by loop effects. We perform also the numerical evaluation of the relevant loops in the whole CFL regime $M_s^2/2\mu\Delta\leqslant 1$, showing the existence of the enhancement of the kaon condensation with respect to the lowest order result. Finally we discuss the role of electrical and color neutrality in the microscopic calculation.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures, RevTeX4 style. Version accepted for publication on JHEP. Some minor change in the tex

The Crystallography of Strange Quark Matter

Cold three-flavor quark matter at large (but not asymptotically large) densities may exist as a crystalline color superconductor. We explore this possibility by calculating the gap parameter Delta and free energy Omega(Delta) for possible crystal structures within a Ginzburg-Landau approximation, evaluating Omega(Delta) to order Delta^6. We develop a qualitative understanding of what makes a crystal structure stable, and find two structures with particularly large values of Delta and the condensation energy, within a factor of two of those for the CFL phase known to characterize QCD at asymptotically large densities. The robustness of these phases results in their being favored over wide ranges of density and though it also implies that the Ginzburg-Landau approximation is not quantitatively reliable, previous work suggests that it can be trusted for qualitative comparisons between crystal structures. We close with a look ahead at the calculations that remain to be done in order to make contact with observed pulsar glitches and neutron star cooling.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures. Contribution to the proceedings of Strangeness in Quark Matter 2006, UCLA. Talk given by Rishi Sharm

Gender differences in vaccine therapy: where are we in Covid-19 pandemic?

Vaccination is one of the greatest achievements of public health. Vaccination programs have contributed to the decline in mortality and morbidity of various infectious diseases. This review aims to investigate the impact of sex/gender on the vaccine acceptance, responses, and outcomes. The studies were identified by using PubMed, until 30th June 2020. The search was performed by using the following keywords: SARS-CoV-2, Covid-19, gender, sex, vaccine, adverse reaction. Clinical trials, retrospective and prospective studies were included. Studies written in languages other than English were excluded. Three authors (TC, EB and IA) reviewed all study abstracts. Studies were included if gender differences in response to vaccination trials were reported. All selected studies were qualitatively analyzed. Innate recognition and response to viruses, as well as, adaptive immune responses during viral infections, differ between females and males. Unfortunately, a majority of vaccine trials have focused on healthy people, with ages between 18 to 65 years, excluding the elderly, pregnant women, post-menopausal female and children. In conclusion, it is apparent that the design of vaccines and vaccine strategies should be sex-specific, to reduce adverse reactions in females and increase immunogenicity in males. It should be mandatory to examine sex-related variables in pre-clinical and clinical vaccine trials, such as their crucial role for successful prevention of pandemic Covid-19

PB2064 USE OF RNASCOPE TECHNOLOGY TO DETERMINE STAT-3 EXPRESSION IN HUMAN DIFFUSE LARGE B-CELL LYMPHOMA

Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the most common and one of the most heterogeneous lymphomas. Therefore, it is critical to further stratify cases of DLBCL into biologically similar and clinically meaningful subgroups, which will not only guide prognostic assessment and facilitate therapeutic decisions, but also stimulate further research to understand the pathogenesis and develop potential novel treatments. Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) is a transcription factor that exerts important biological functions related to cell proliferation, differentiation, survival, angiogenesis and immune response

Human endogenous retrovirus HERV-K(HML-2) encodes a stable signal peptide with biological properties distinct from Rec

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The human endogenous retrovirus HERV-K(HML-2) family is associated with testicular germ cell tumors (GCT). Various HML-2 proviruses encode viral proteins such as Env and Rec.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We describe here that HML-2 Env gives rise to a 13 kDa signal peptide (SP) that harbors a different C-terminus compared to Rec. Subsequent to guiding Env to the endoplasmatic reticulum (ER), HML-2 SP is released into the cytosol. Biochemical analysis and confocal microscopy demonstrated that similar to Rec, SP efficiently translocates to the granular component of nucleoli. Unlike Rec, SP does not shuttle between nucleus and cytoplasm. SP is less stable than Rec as it is subjected to proteasomal degradation. Moreover, SP lacks export activity towards HML-2 genomic RNA, the main function of Rec in the original viral context, and SP does not interfere with Rec's RNA export activity.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>SP is a previously unrecognized HML-2 protein that, besides targeting and translocation of Env into the ER lumen, may exert biological functions distinct from Rec. HML-2 SP represents another functional similarity with the closely related Mouse Mammary Tumor Virus that encodes an Env-derived SP named p14. Our findings furthermore support the emerging concept of bioactive SPs as a conserved retroviral strategy to modulate their host cell environment, evidenced here by a "retroviral fossil". While the specific role of HML-2 SP remains to be elucidated in the context of human biology, we speculate that it may be involved in immune evasion of GCT cells or tumorigenesis.</p