Spectral analysis and zeta determinant on the deformed spheres

We consider a class of singular Riemannian manifolds, the deformed spheres $S^N_k$, defined as the classical spheres with a one parameter family $g[k]$ of singular Riemannian structures, that reduces for $k=1$ to the classical metric. After giving explicit formulas for the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of the metric Laplacian $\Delta_{S^N_k}$, we study the associated zeta functions $\zeta(s,\Delta_{S^N_k})$. We introduce a general method to deal with some classes of simple and double abstract zeta functions, generalizing the ones appearing in $\zeta(s,\Delta_{S^N_k})$. An application of this method allows to obtain the main zeta invariants for these zeta functions in all dimensions, and in particular $\zeta(0,\Delta_{S^N_k})$ and $\zeta'(0,\Delta_{S^N_k})$. We give explicit formulas for the zeta regularized determinant in the low dimensional cases, $N=2,3$, thus generalizing a result of Dowker \cite{Dow1}, and we compute the first coefficients in the expansion of these determinants in powers of the deformation parameter $k$.Comment: 1 figur

Immune biomarkers of response to immune-checkpoint inhibitors in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

Anti-programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) agents have become the standard of care for platinum-refractory recurrent/metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) and are currently being evaluated in various disease settings. However, despite the gain in overall survival seen in some of the clinical trials, the majority of patients display primary resistance and do not benefit from these agents. Taking into consideration the potentially severe immune-related toxicities and their high cost, the search for predictive biomarkers of response is crucial. Besides Programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) expression, other biomarkers such as immune infiltration, tumor mutational burden or immune-gene expression profiling have been explored, but none of them has been validated in this disease. Among these, the microbiota has recently garnered tremendous interest since it has proven to influence the efficacy of PD-1 blockade in some tumor types. With the accumulating evidence on the effect of the microbiota in HNSCC tumorigenesis and progression, the study of its potential role as a predictive immune biomarker is warranted. This review examines the available evidence on emerging immune predictive biomarkers of response to anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapy in HNSCC, introducing the microbiota and its potential use as a predictive immune biomarker in this disease

Prevalence and 9-year incidence of hepatitis E virus infection among north italian blood donors: Estimated transfusion risk

Recent European guidelines recommend that screening policiesfor Hepatitis E virus (HEV) in blood donors should be based on local risk assessments. We determined the prevalence of current and past HEV infection in donors from Lombardy, the Italian region providing 24% of the Italian blood supply. We also calculated the incidence of infection over a period of 10 years, and estimated the risk of transfusion-related transmission. The study was conducted within the framework of BOTIA, an EU-funded project. HEV RNA was detected by individual donation testing, and the prevalence and incidence of anti-HEV antibodies were determined in two subgroups. The risk of receiving an infected blood unit was estimated on the basis of HEV RNA yields and serology. RESULTS: One of the 9726 donors was truly viremic. The prevalence of confirmed anti-HEV IgG reactivity was 52/767 (6.8%; 95%CI 5.1-8.8%). The incidence of HEV infection was 7.6/10000 per year (95%CI 2.1-2.5 per year). The estimated transfusion-related risk of infection was 1/10000 blood donations on the basis of HEV RNA yield (upper limit of the 95%CI 1:1666), and 1/16666 donations on the basis of the incidence data (95%CI 1:435-1:57000).In conclusion, The frequency of current and past HEV infection in blood donors living in Northern Italy is among the lowest so far reported in Europe. The estimated transfusion-related risk of infection was similar regardless of whether it was calculated on the basis of HEV RNA yield or serological incidence, thus suggesting stable infection pressure over the last ten years

Molecular characterization of an Italian patient with plasminogen deficiency and ligneous conjunctivitis

Plasminogen deficiency is a rare disease characterized by ligneous conjunctivitis and infections. We observed a 3-year-old Italian boy presenting ligneous conjunctivitis and low plasma levels of plasminogen. Twenty-three different mutations on the PLG gene have been reported to date, but mutation analysis had been troublesome for the presence of highly homologous genes. The aim of the study was to identify the underlying mutation avoiding coamplification of unwanted genetic materials using a long polymerase chain reaction strategy, instead of the previously reported subcloning methods. By this simple strategy the complete sequence analysis of PLG gene was performed, and a previously reported missense homozygous mutation (K19E) was identified

Bilateral Cavitations of Ganglionic Eminence: A Fetal MR Imaging Sign of Halted Brain Development

SUMMARY: Ganglionic eminence is the main transitory proliferative structure of the ventral telencephalon in human fetal brain and it contributes for at least 35% to the population of cortical interneurons; however data on the human GE anomalies are scarce. We report 5 fetal MR imaging observations with bilateral symmetric cavitations in their GE regions resembling an inverted open C shape and separating the GE itself form the deeper parenchyma. Imaging, neuropathology, and follow-up features suggested a malformative origin. All cases had in common characteristics of lissencephaly with agenesis or severe hypoplasia of corpus callosum of probable different genetic basis. From our preliminary observation, it seems that GE cavitations are part of conditions which are also accompanied by severe cerebral structure derangement

Prognostic Factors for Wilms Tumor Recurrence: A Review of the Literature

In high-income countries, the overall survival of children with Wilms tumors (WT) is ~90%. However, overall, 15% of patients experience tumor recurrence. The adverse prognostic factors currently used for risk stratification (advanced stage, high risk histology, and combined loss of heterozygosity at 1p and 16q in chemotherapy-naïve WTs) are present in only one third of these cases, and the significance of these factors is prone to change with advancing knowledge and improved treatment regimens. Therefore, we present a comprehensive, updated overview of the published prognostic variables for WT recurrence, ranging from patient-, tumor- and treatment-related characteristics to geographic and socioeconomic factors. Improved first-line treatment regimens based on clinicopathological characteristics and advancing knowledge on copy number variations unveil the importance of further investigating the significance of biological markers for WT recurrence in international collaborations

Acquisition of motion events in L2 Spanish by German, French and Italian speakers

This article explores the second language acquisition of motion events, with particular regard to cross-linguistic influence between first and second languages. Oral narratives in Spanish as a second language by native speakers of French, German and Italian are compared, together with narratives by native Spanish speakers. Previous analysis on the expression of motion events in these languages showed that Romance languages do not always follow the same pattern; for example, Italian tends to express the component of Path more frequently than French and Spanish. The results of the present study highlight evidence of intra-typological differences, even between languages that are genetically very close. These differences seem to lead speakers to produce cases of conceptual transfer into their second language, Spanish, even when their first language is another Romance language

Chagas disease in Italy: breaking an epidemiological silence

n/