Error Estimate and Fairness in Resource Allocation with Inaccurate Information Sharing

International audienceIn resource allocation systems, inaccurate information sharing situations are such that users can be aware, up to a small error, about the other users' demands and the available global resource (which can be insufficient to meet the overall demand). Consequently, given an allocation rule, users can predict an allocation that will not necessarily coincide with the actual one. In this work, we provide an estimation of the error for a number of allocation rules and compare their robustness in inaccurate information sharing settings

La maiolica arcaica pisana a Cagliari, status quaestionis alla luce delle nuove scoperte

L’elaborato prende in considerazione le testimonianze per lo più edite di maiolica arcaica pisana a Cagliari. Il saggio è aperto da una breve introduzione sulle caratteristiche tecnico-formali, le fasi produttive e la diffusione in Sardegna. Segue l’analisi dei più rilevanti contesti di Cagliari (tra cui la chiesa di Santa Chiara, piazza San Cosimo, vico III Lanusei) e si dà particolare rilievo al contesto di San Domenico. L’obiettivo è la riconsiderazione di un importante fenomeno della cultura materiale del Basso Medioevo a Cagliari, per trarne alcune considerazioni generali sulla sua reale consistenza e commercializzazione. This is a work on the archaic pisan majolica’s evidences in Cagliari, mostly published. The essay begin with a concise introduction on this potter’s technical-morphological features, production’s stages and presences in Sardinia. Then will be take in consideration the most relevant situations in the city, as the Santa Chiara church, the San Cosimo square, the vico III Lanusei con­text and, chiefly, the San Domenico context. The objective is to re-examine a revealing phenomenon about material culture in later medieval age in Cagliari, for draw from a new viewpoint some general estimation on his true consistence and commercialization. 

Towards the Identification of a Suitable Commercial Diet for Carpione (Salmo carpio, Linnaeus 1758): A Multidisciplinary Study on Fish Performances, Animal Welfare and Quality Traits

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Carpione (Salmo carpio, Linnaeus 1758) is an endangered precious endemism of Lake Garda (Northern Italy), the largest Italian lake. To date, several bottlenecks about its culture remain unsolved, including the identification of a proper growth-out diet. In the present study, four different grossly isolipidic, isoproteic, and isoenergetic diets containing ingredients from different origins were used for S. carpio culture. Specifically, a diet largely based on marine ingredients, and currently used for carpione farming, was used as control. Three other diets were formulated in order to include relevant percentages of vegetable ingredients or processed animal proteins (at two different inclusion levels). After a three-month feeding trial, fish zootechnical performances, welfare, and flesh quality were evaluated through a multidisciplinary approach, including histology, gene expression, chemical analysis, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). This study provided the first insights on carpione physiological responses to different commercial dietary formulations. ABSTRACT: Carpione (Salmo carpio, Linnaeus 1758) is an endangered precious endemism of Lake Garda (Northern Italy), the largest Italian lake. To date, several bottlenecks about its culture remain unsolved, including the identification of a proper growth-out diet. The aim of the present study was to test four different grossly isolipidic, isoproteic, and isoenergetic diets in which the main ingredients had a different origin. Specifically, a diet currently used by local farmers for carpione culture, largely based on marine ingredients, was used as control (CTRL), while the other three diets were formulated by partially replacing marine ingredients with plant ones (VEG) or with different percentages of processed animal proteins (PAP1 and PAP2). The feeding trial was run in triplicate, over a three-month period. No significant differences in growth performance among the experimental groups were observed. However, remarkable histological alterations and inflammatory markers upregulation were observed in VEG group, while PAP inclusion played a role in attenuating inflammation and improving nutrient uptake. Fillet analyses highlighted significant differences in marketable traits and flesh fatty acid composition among the experimental groups, including the reduction of polyunsaturated fatty acids related to PAPs inclusion. In conclusion, PAPs used in the present study promoted S. carpio gut health and absorption capacity, while further studies are required to maintain proper quality traits of the final product

Exploring new scaffolds for the dual inhibition of HIV-1 RT polymerase and ribonuclease associated functions

Current therapeutic protocols for the treatment of HIV infection consist of the combination of diverse anti-retroviral drugs in order to reduce the selection of resistant mutants and to allow for the use of lower doses of each single agent to reduce toxicity. However, avoiding drugs interactions and patient compliance are issues not fully accomplished so far. Pursuing on our investigation on potential anti HIV multi-target agents we have designed and synthesized a small library of biphenylhydrazo 4-arylthiazoles derivatives and evaluated to investigate the ability of the new derivatives to simultaneously inhibit both associated functions of HIV reverse transcriptase. All compounds were active towards the two functions, although at different concentrations. The substitution pattern on the biphenyl moiety appears relevant to determine the activity. In particular, compound 2-{3- [(2-{4-[4-(hydroxynitroso)phenyl]-1,3-thiazol-2-yl} hydrazin-1-ylidene) methyl]-4-methoxyphenyl} benzamide bromide (EMAC2063) was the most potent towards RNaseH (IC50 = 4.5 mM)- and RDDP (IC50 = 8.0 mM) HIV RT-associated function

Evaluation of antibody response to BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine in patients affected by immune-mediated inflammatory diseases up to 5 months after vaccination

SARS-CoV-2 vaccination with mRNA product BNT162b2 elicited high immunogenicity in healthy subjects in trials. This study aims to better understand the factors that influence the humoral immune response to vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 in patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs). We enrolled patients and healthy healthcare workers control group (HCW) that underwent mRNA BNT162b2 vaccination and measured the serum IgG anti-S-RBD response at booster dose (T1), one month after booster dose (T2) and up to 5 months (T3). Demographic, disease-specific and vaccination data were recorded. Vaccination response of 551 participants naïve to SARS-CoV-2 infection were included in HCW and 102 in the IMID group, analyzing separately those on anti-CD20. At T2 all naïve HCW developed anti-S-RBD-IgG, while 94% of IMID responded (p < 0.001). IMID patients had a significantly different level of IgG than HCW at both T1 (p = 0.031), T2 (p < 0.001), while there was no significant difference at T3. There were no statistically significant differences according to the IMID type or to ongoing treatment with immunosuppressants, corticosteroids or biological drugs other than anti-CD20. The proportion and magnitude of response was significantly lower in IMID treated with anti-CD20 drugs. There was a correlation with age at T1 and at T2 but not at T3, stronger in patients than in HCW. Immune response close after BNT162b2 vaccination is reduced in patients with IMID, but there is no significant difference at 5 months. The measured reduction is related to age and the disease itself rather than treatments, with the exception of anti-CD20 drugs

Dante nelle letterature straniere

Il volume offre un incrocio di sguardi critici sulle rotte percorse dall’opera dantesca nelle letterature straniere. A settecento anni dalla sua morte, la voce di Dante continua a oltrepassare confini permeando immaginari lontani, in un incedere di evocazioni, traduzioni, interpretazioni e riscritture. I venti saggi qui presentati tratteggiano un itinerario di esplorazione delle tracce dantesche nelle tradizioni letterarie di Albania, Svezia, Francia, Cuba, Polonia, Stati Uniti, Germania, Argentina, Danimarca, Scozia, Inghilterra e Messico. Le diverse latitudini abbracciate si articolano in una raccolta di studi che dall’epoca moderna confluisce nell’estremo contemporaneo, calibrando nuovi orizzonti e prospettive nello sconfinato territorio della critica dantesca. Gli autori e le autrici illuminano storie di ricezione, riletture e dialoghi intertestuali nei quali la memoria della Commedia si riconfigura in un’inesauribile pluralità di scritture, di cui si intende consegnare in queste pagine uno sguardo di carattere esplorativo e non antologico. La parola di Dante attraversa lingue e universi letterarioculturali senza tradirsi ma conoscendo nuove fioriture: confermandosi una parola necessaria, profetica e viva

The clinical effectiveness of an integrated multidisciplinary evidence-based program to prevent intraoperative pressure injuries in high-risk children undergoing long-duration surgical procedures: a quality improvement study

The prevention of hospital-acquired pressure injuries (HAPIs) in children undergoing long-duration surgical procedures is of critical importance due to the potential for catastrophic sequelae of these generally preventable injuries for the child and their family. Long-duration surgical procedures in children have the potential to result in high rates of HAPI due to physiological factors and the difficulty or impossibility of repositioning these patients intraoperatively. We developed and implemented a multi-modal, multi-disciplinary translational HAPI prevention quality improvement program at a large European Paediatric University Teaching Hospital. The intervention comprised the establishment of wound prevention teams, modified HAPI risk assessment tools, specific education, and the use of prophylactic dressings and fluidized positioners during long-duration surgical procedures. As part of the evaluation of the effectiveness of the program in reducing intraoperative HAPI, we conducted a prospective cohort study of 200 children undergoing long-duration surgical procedures and compared their outcomes with a matched historical cohort of 200 children who had undergone similar surgery the previous year. The findings demonstrated a reduction in HAPI in the intervention cohort of 80% (p < 0.01) compared to the comparator group when controlling for age, pathology, comorbidity, and surgical duration. We believe that the findings demonstrate that it is possible to significantly decrease HAPI incidence in these highly vulnerable children by using an evidence-based, multi-modal, multidisciplinary HAPI prevention strategy

Sequential protein expression and selective labeling for in-cell NMR in human cells

In-cell NMR is a powerful technique to investigate proteins in living human cells at atomic resolution. Ideally, when studying functional processes involving protein-protein interactions by NMR, only one partner should be isotopically labeled. Here we show that constitutive and transient protein expression can be combined with protein silencing to obtain selective protein labeling in human cells.We established a human cell line stably overexpressing the copper binding protein HAH1. A second protein (human superoxide dismutase 1, SOD1) was overexpressed by transient transfection and isotopically labeled. A silencing vector containing shRNA sequences against the HAH1 gene was used to decrease the rate of HAH1 synthesis during the expression of SOD1. The levels of HAH1 mRNA and protein were measured as a function of time following transfection by RT-PCR and Western Blot, and the final cell samples were analyzed by in-cell NMR.SOD1 was ectopically expressed and labeled in a time window during which HAH1 biosynthesis was strongly decreased by shRNA, thus preventing its labeling. In-cell NMR spectra confirmed that, while both proteins were present, only SOD1 was selectively labeled and could be detected by (1)H-(15)N heteronuclear NMR.We showed that controlling protein expression by specifically silencing a stably expressed protein is a useful strategy to obtain selective isotope labeling of only one protein. This approach relies on established techniques thus permitting the investigation of protein-protein interactions by NMR in human cells

Distributed algorithms for multi-resource allocation

International audienceNovel network infrastructures require the distribution of computing and network resource control to meet stringent requirements in terms of latency, reliability and bitrate. 5G systems bring a key novelty in systems design that it the 'network slice'as a new resource provisioning entity. A network slice is meant to serve end-to-end services as a composition of different network and system resources as radio, link, storage and computing resources. Conventionally, each resource is managed by a distinct decision-maker, platform, provider, orchestrator or controller. Naturally, centralized slice orchestration approaches are proposed in the literature, where a multi-domain orchestrator allocates the resources, for instance using a multi-resource allocation rule. Nonetheless, while simplifying the algorithmic approach, centralization can come at the expense of scalability and performance. In this paper, we propose new ways to distribute the slice multi-resource resource allocation problem, using cascade and parallel resource allocations that are functionally compatible with novel software platforms. We also show how to adapt the proposed algorithms to make them able to guarantee service level agreements on the minimum resource needed, and to take into account deadline priority policy scheduling. We provide an exhaustive analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of the different approaches, including a numerical analysis for a realistic setting

Fair Resource Allocation in Systems with Complete Information Sharing

International audienceIn networking and computing, resource allocation is typically addressed using classical resource allocation protocols as the proportional rule, the max-min fair allocation, or solutions inspired by cooperative game theory. In this paper, we argue that, under awareness about the available resource and other users demands, a cooperative setting has to be considered in order to revisit and adapt the concept of fairness. Such a complete information sharing setting is expected to happen in 5G environments, where resource sharing among tenants (slices) needs to be made acceptable by users and applications, which therefore need to be better informed about the system status via ad-hoc (northbound) interfaces than in legacy environments. We identify in the individual satisfaction rate the key aspect of the challenge of defining a new notion of fairness in systems with complete information sharing and, consequently, a more appropriate resource allocation algorithm. We generalize the concept of user satisfaction considering the set of admissible solutions for bankruptcy games and we adapt to it the fairness indices. Accordingly, we propose a new allocation rule we call Mood Value: for each user, it equalizes our novel game-theoretic definition of user satisfaction with respect to a distribution of the resource. We test the mood value and a new fairness index through extensive simulations about the cellular frequency scheduling use-case, showing how they better support the fairness analysis. We complete the paper with further analysis on the behavior of the mood value in the presence of multiple competing providers and with cheating users