89 research outputs found
AnaLog: Testing Analytical and Deductive Logic Learnability in Language Models
Acknowledgements We would like to thank the anonymous ARR and *SEM 2022 reviewers for their feedback and suggestions, as well as Ece Takmaz for her comments. Samuel Ryb and Arabella Sinclair worked on this project while affiliated with the University of Amsterdam. The project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Unionâs Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No. 819455). 1The dataset is available at https://github.com/dmg-illc/analogPublisher PD
In situ physical and chemical characterisation of the Eyjafjallajökull aerosol plume in the free troposphere over Italy
Continuous measurements of physical and chemical properties at the Mt.
Cimone (Italy) GAW-WMO (Global Atmosphere Watch, World Meteorological
Organization) Global Station (2165 m a.s.l.) have allowed the detection of the
volcanic aerosol plume resulting from the Eyjafjallajökull (Iceland) eruption of
spring 2010. The event affected the Mt. Cimone site after a transport over a distance
of more than 3000 km. Two main transport episodes were detected during the
eruption period, showing a volcanic fingerprint discernible against the free
tropospheric background conditions typical of the site, the first from April
19 to 21 and the second from 18 to 20 May 2010. This paper reports the
modification of aerosol characteristics observed during the two episodes,
both characterised by an abrupt increase in fine and, especially, coarse
mode particle number.
Analysis of major, minor and trace elements by different analytical
techniques (ionic chromatography, particle induced X-ray emissionâparticle
induced gamma-ray emission (PIXEâPIGE) and inductively
coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS)) were performed on
aerosols collected by ground-level discrete sampling. The resulting database
allows the characterisation of aerosol chemical composition during the
volcanic plume transport and in background conditions. During the passage of
the volcanic plume, the fine fraction was dominated by sulphates, denoting
the secondary origin of this mode, mainly resulting from in-plume oxidation
of volcanic SO2. By contrast, the coarse fraction was characterised by
increased concentration of numerous elements of crustal origin, such as Fe,
Ti, Mn, Ca, Na, and Mg, which enter the composition of silicate minerals.
Data analysis of selected elements (Ti, Al, Fe, Mn) allowed the estimation
of the volcanic plume's contribution to total PM10, resulting in a local
enhancement of up to 9.5 ÎŒg mâ3, i.e. 40% of total PM10 on
18 May, which was the most intense of the two episodes. These results appear
significant, especially in light of the huge distance of Mt. Cimone from
the source, confirming the widespread diffusion of the Eyjafjallajökull
ashes over Europe
In situ physical and chemical characterisation of the Eyjafjallajökull aerosol plume in the free troposphere over Italy
Abstract. Continuous measurements of physical and chemical properties at the Mt. Cimone (Italy) GAW-WMO (Global Atmosphere Watch, World Meteorological Organization) Global Station (2165 m a.s.l.) have allowed the detection of the volcanic aerosol plume resulting from the Eyjafjallajökull (Iceland) eruption of spring 2010. The event affected the Mt. Cimone site after a transport over a distance of more than 3000 km. Two main transport episodes were detected during the eruption period, showing a volcanic fingerprint discernible against the free tropospheric background conditions typical of the site, the first from April 19 to 21 and the second from 18 to 20 May 2010. This paper reports the modification of aerosol characteristics observed during the two episodes, both characterised by an abrupt increase in fine and, especially, coarse mode particle number. Analysis of major, minor and trace elements by different analytical techniques (ionic chromatography, particle induced X-ray emissionâparticle induced gamma-ray emission (PIXEâPIGE) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS)) were performed on aerosols collected by ground-level discrete sampling. The resulting database allows the characterisation of aerosol chemical composition during the volcanic plume transport and in background conditions. During the passage of the volcanic plume, the fine fraction was dominated by sulphates, denoting the secondary origin of this mode, mainly resulting from in-plume oxidation of volcanic SO2. By contrast, the coarse fraction was characterised by increased concentration of numerous elements of crustal origin, such as Fe, Ti, Mn, Ca, Na, and Mg, which enter the composition of silicate minerals. Data analysis of selected elements (Ti, Al, Fe, Mn) allowed the estimation of the volcanic plume's contribution to total PM10, resulting in a local enhancement of up to 9.5 ÎŒg mâ3, i.e. 40% of total PM10 on 18 May, which was the most intense of the two episodes. These results appear significant, especially in light of the huge distance of Mt. Cimone from the source, confirming the widespread diffusion of the Eyjafjallajökull ashes over Europe
The role of immune PSA complex (iXip) in the prediction of prostate cancer
Purpose: To analyse the performance of iXip in the prediction of prostate cancer (PCa) and high-grade PCa. Methods: A consecutive series of men undergoing MRI/FUSION prostate biopsies were enrolled in one centre. Indications for prostate biopsy included abnormal prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels (PSA>4 ng/ml) and/or abnormal digital rectal examination (DRE) and/or abnormal MRI. All patients underwent the evaluation of serum PSA-IgM concentration and the iXip ratio was calculated. Accuracy iXip for the prediction of PCa was evaluated using multivariable binary regression analysis and receiver operator characteristics (ROC) curves. Results: Overall 160 patients with a median age of 65 (62/73) years were enrolled. Overall, 42% patients were diagnosed with PCa and 75% of them had high-grade cancer (Epstein â„ 3). Patients with PCa were older and presented higher PSA levels, higher PIRADS scores and lower prostate volumes (PVs). On ROC analysis iXip presented an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.57 in the prediction of PCa and of 0.54 for the prediction of high-grade PCa. Conclusions: In our experience, immune PSA complexes are not predictors of PCa. iXip analysis should not be included in the diagnostic pathway of patients at increased risk of PCa
Aerosol properties associated with air masses arriving into the North East Atlantic during the 2008 Mace Head EUCAARI intensive observing period: an overview
As part of the EUCAARI Intensive Observing Period, a 4-week campaign to measure aerosol physical, chemical and optical properties, atmospheric structure, and cloud microphysics was conducted from mid-May to mid-June, 2008 at the Mace Head Atmospheric Research Station, located at the interface of Western Europe and the N. E. Atlantic and centered on the west Irish coastline. During the campaign, continental air masses comprising both young and aged continental plumes were encountered, along with polar, Arctic and tropical air masses. Polluted-continental aerosol concentrations were of the order of 3000 cm(-3), while background marine air aerosol concentrations were between 400-600 cm(-3). The highest marine air concentrations occurred in polar air masses in which a 15 nm nucleation mode, with concentration of 1100 cm(-3), was observed and attributed to open ocean particle formation. Continental air submicron chemical composition (excluding refractory sea salt) was dominated by organic matter, closely followed by sulphate mass. Although the concentrations and size distribution spectral shape were almost identical for the young and aged continental cases, hygroscopic growth factors (GF) and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) to total condensation nuclei (CN) concentration ratios were significantly less in the younger pollution plume, indicating a more oxidized organic component to the aged continental plume. The difference in chemical composition and hygroscopic growth factor appear to result in a 40-50% impact on aerosol scattering coefficients and Aerosol Optical Depth, despite almost identical aerosol microphysical properties in both cases, with the higher values been recorded for the more aged case. For the CCN/CN ratio, the highest ratios were seen in the more age plume. In marine air, sulphate mass dominated the sub-micron component, followed by water soluble organic carbon, which, in turn, was dominated by methanesulphonic acid (MSA). Sulphate concentrations were highest in marine tropical air - even higher than in continental air. MSA was present at twice the concentrations of previously-reported concentrations at the same location and the same season. Both continental and marine air exhibited aerosol GFs significantly less than ammonium sulphate aerosol pointing to a significant organic contribution to all air mass aerosol properties
Corrigendum to "Chemical characterization of springtime submicrometer aerosol in Po Valley, Italy" published in Atmos. Chem. Phys., 12, 8401â8421, 2012
No abstract available
Inoculated mammary carcinoma-associated fibroblasts: contribution to hormone independent tumor growth
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Increasing evidence has underscored the role of carcinoma associated fibroblasts (CAF) in tumor growth. However, there are controversial data regarding the persistence of inoculated CAF within the tumors. We have developed a model in which murine metastatic ductal mammary carcinomas expressing estrogen and progesterone receptors transit through different stages of hormone dependency. Hormone dependent (HD) tumors grow only in the presence of progestins, whereas hormone independent (HI) variants grow without hormone supply. We demonstrated previously that CAF from HI tumors (CAF-HI) express high levels of FGF-2 and that FGF-2 induced HD tumor growth <it>in vivo</it>. Our main goal was to investigate whether inoculated CAF-HI combined with purified epithelial (EPI) HD cells can induce HD tumor growth.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Purified EPI cells of HD and HI tumors were inoculated alone, or together with CAF-HI, into female BALB/c mice and tumor growth was evaluated. In another set of experiments, purified EPI-HI alone or combined with CAF-HI or CAF-HI-GFP were inoculated into BALB/c or BALB/c-GFP mice. We assessed whether inoculated CAF-HI persisted within the tumors by analyzing inoculated or host CAF in frozen sections of tumors growing in BALB/c or BALB/c-GFP mice. The same model was used to evaluate early stages of tumor development and animals were euthanized at 2, 7, 12 and 17 days after EPI-HI or EPI-HI+CAF-HI inoculation. In angiogenesis studies, tumor vessels were quantified 5 days after intradermal inoculation.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We found that admixed CAF-HI failed to induce epithelial HD tumor growth, but instead, enhanced HI tumor growth (p < 0.001). Moreover, inoculated CAF-HI did not persist within the tumors. Immunofluorescence studies showed that inoculated CAF-HI disappeared after 13 days. We studied the mechanisms by which CAF-HI increased HI tumor growth, and found a significant increase in angiogenesis (p < 0.05) in the co-injected mice at early time points.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Inoculated CAF-HI do not persist within the tumor mass although they play a role during the first stages of tumor formation promoting angiogenesis. This angiogenic environment is unable to replace the hormone requirement of HD tumors that still need the hormone to recruit the stroma from the host.</p
Il valore dellâinformazione prodotta dagli analisti finanziari: la reazione del mercato azionario italiano ai cambi di raccomandazioni
Nel presente lavoro si esamina la reazione di mercato ai cambiamenti di raccomandazione degli analisti finanziari. Si considera il caso italiano per le sue peculiaritĂ regolamentari che impongono agli analisti finanziari di trasmettere i loro studi alla Consob e depositarli presso la societĂ di gestione del mercato azionario entro lo stesso giorno in cui li rendono disponibili ai propri clienti. I report sono gratuitamente e liberamente disponibili sul sito web di Borsa Italiana. Il nostro database include circa 5.200 report emessi su 117 offerte pubbliche iniziali avvenute tra il 1 gennaio 1998 ed il 31 dicembre 2003. Per valutare la reazione del mercato, si calcolano i rendimenti ed i volumi anomali derivanti dal cambiamento di raccomandazione. Svolgiamo due event study di breve periodo prendendo come riferimento due diverse date: la prima Ăš la data in cui il report viene fornito ai clienti privati dellâanalista; la seconda Ăš la data in cui il report Ăš pubblicamente disponibile sul sito di Borsa Italia. Se il mercato Ăš efficiente, allora si dovrebbe osservare una reazione in seguito alla prima data (quella del report) mentre non si dovrebbe verificare alcuna reazione in seguito alla pubblicazione sul sito di Borsa, in quanto i prezzi di mercato dovrebbero avere giĂ incorporata lâinformazione veicolata dagli ordini di acquisto e vendita dei clienti privati degli analisti. I risultati mostrano un rendimento anomalo medio pari allâ1,01% in caso di miglioramenti di giudizio (upgrade), ed uno â0,92% in caso di peggioramento della raccomandazione (downgrade). Si trova evidenza di una reazione del mercato anche il giorno precedente alla data del report. Ă possibile che il giorno precedente alla data del report siano divulgate informazioni price sensitive al mercato. Una spiegazione alternativa, in cui gli analisti fanno pervenire ai propri clienti lâinformazione contenuta nel report, prima di trasmetterla alla Consob ed a Borsa Italiana, si tradurrebbe in una violazione della regolamentazione vigente. Lâimpatto del cambiamento di regolamentazione Ăš calcolato anche utilizzando i rendimenti anomali cumulati (CAR) su diverse finestre temporali: la prima comprende i tre giorni attorno allâevento [-1 ; +1], la seconda i quattordici giorni ad esso precedenti [-15 ; -2], la terza i quattordici giorni seguenti [+2; +15]. Mentre alla data del report i rendimenti anomali medi sono superiori per gli upgrade rispetto ai downgrade, il CAR nei tre giorni attorno allâevento Ăš pari a 1.89% per gli upgrade e â 2.06% per i downgrade, coerentemente a quanto evidenziato precedentemente in letteratura. Non si trova alcun effetto significativo nei quattordici giorni precedenti la finestra dellâevento, mentre in quelli successivi si registra un CAR pari a 1,16% per gli upgrade ed uno pari a â 1,29% per i downgrade, entrambi statisticamente significativi, anche se i rendimenti anomali medi non risultano significativamente diversi da zero. I risultati, inoltre, mostrano volumi anomali giĂ a partire da qualche giorno prima della finestra dellâevento, sia per upgrade che per downgrade. Al contrario, non troviamo alcun effetto statisticamente significativo in corrispondenza della pubblicazione del report sul sito di Borsa. Rimane tuttavia da investigare perchĂ© si verifichi una reazione di mercato prima della data del report, e se vi siano informazioni rilevanti prima di tale data o se si verifichi una violazione della regolamentazione italiana vigente
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