A scalable system for microcalcification cluster automated detection in a distributed mammographic database

A computer-aided detection (CADe) system for microcalcification cluster identification in mammograms has been developed in the framework of the EU-founded MammoGrid project. The CADe software is mainly based on wavelet transforms and artificial neural networks. It is able to identify microcalcifications in different datasets of mammograms (i.e. acquired with different machines and settings, digitized with different pitch and bit depth or direct digital ones). The CADe can be remotely run from GRID-connected acquisition and annotation stations, supporting clinicians from geographically distant locations in the interpretation of mammographic data. We report and discuss the system performances on different datasets of mammograms and the status of the GRID-enabled CADe analysis.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures; Proceedings of the IEEE NNS and MIC Conference, October 23-29, 2005, Puerto Ric

A weldability study of AL-CU-LI 2198 alloy

Al-Cu-Li alloys, conceived for automotive and aeronautic applications thanks to the high mechanical resistance/density ratio, exhibit weldability issues common to all light alloys. In this paper, the weldability of Al-Cu-Li 2198 alloy was studied by comparing features of welds carried out by two processes, the traditional arc welding and the friction stir welding (FSW). Welded joints were submitted to optical and SEM metallographic examinations with EDS microanalysis measurements. Mechanical characteristics were evaluated through microhardness tests and the instrumented indentation test FIMEC (Flat-top cylinder Indenter for MEchanical Characterization)

Current nanocarrier strategies improve vitamin B12 pharmacokinetics, ameliorate patients’ lives, and reduce costs

Vitamin B12 (VitB12) is a naturally occurring compound produced by microorganisms and an essential nutrient for humans. Several papers highlight the role of VitB12 deficiency in bone and heart health, depression, memory performance, fertility, embryo development, and cancer, while VitB12 treatment is crucial for survival in inborn errors of VitB12 metabolism. VitB12 is administrated through intramuscular injection, thus impacting the patients’ lifestyle, although it is known that oral administration may meet the specific requirement even in the case of malabsorption. Furthermore, the high-dose injection of VitB12 does not ensure a constant dosage, while the oral route allows only 1.2% of the vitamin to be absorbed in human beings. Nanocarriers are promising nanotechnology that can enable therapies to be improved, reducing side effects. Today, nanocarrier strategies applied at VitB12 delivery are at the initial phase and aim to simplify administration, reduce costs, improve pharmacokinetics, and ameliorate the quality of patients’ lives. The safety of nanotechnologies is still under investigation and few treatments involving nanocarriers have been approved, so far. Here, we highlight the role of VitB12 in human metabolism and diseases, and the issues linked to its molecule properties, and discuss how nanocarriers can improve the therapy and supplementation of the vitamin and reduce possible side effects and limits

In the Interests of clients or commerce? Legal aid, supply, demand, and 'ethical indeterminacy' in criminal defence work

As a professional, a lawyer's first duty is to serve the client's best interests, before simple monetary gain. In criminal defence work, this duty has been questioned in the debate about the causes of growth in legal aid spending: is it driven by lawyers (suppliers) inducing unnecessary demand for their services or are they merely responding to increased demand? Research reported here found clear evidence of a change in the handling of cases in response to new payment structures, though in ways unexpected by the policy's proponents. The paper develops the concept of 'ethical indeterminacy' as a way of understanding how defence lawyers seek to reconcile the interests of commerce and clients. Ethical indeterminacy suggests that where different courses of action could each be said to benefit the client, the lawyer will tend to advise the client to decide in the lawyer's own interests. Ethical indeterminacy is mediated by a range of competing conceptions of 'quality' and 'need'. The paper goes on to question the very distinction between 'supply' and 'demand' in the provision of legal services

Insufficient adaptive capability of pancreatic endocrine function in dexamethasone-treated ageing rats.

This study was aimed at exploring the capability of the pancreatic endocrine adaptive mechanisms of ageing Sprague-Dawley rats to counteract the metabolic challenge induced by the prolonged administration of dexamethasone (DEX) (0.13 mg/kg per day for 13 days). DEX treatment induced peripheral insulin resistance in 3-, 18- and 26-month-old rats, as indicated by the significant and persistent rise of plasma insulin levels in each age group (plasma insulin in 3-, 18- and 26-month-old rats from basal values of 4.3+/-0.8, 4.7+/-0.5 and 5.6+/-1.0 ng/ml (means+/-s.e.m.) respectively, rose to 11.9+/-1.7, 29.1+/-5.5 and 27.9+/-2.7 ng/ml respectively, after 9 days of administration). However, plasma glucose concentrations remained unchanged during the treatment in young rats, whereas they increased up to frankly diabetic levels in most 18-month-old and in all 26-month-old animals after a few days of DEX administration. Plasma free fatty acid concentrations increased 2-fold in 3- and 26-month-old rats and 4-fold in 18-month-old rats and could possibly be involved in the glucocorticoid-induced enhancement in insulin resistance, although they showed no significant correlation with glycaemic values. Incubation of pancreatic islets obtained from treated rats showed that DEX administration increased the insulin responsiveness of islets from not only younger but also older donors. However, in the islets of ageing rats, which already showed an age-dependent impairment of the sensitivity to glucose and other secretagogues, this enhancing effect was clearly attenuated with respect to the younger counterpart. Furthermore, DEX treatment depressed significantly the priming effect of glucose in islets isolated from all the three age groups. In conclusion, our results show that ageing rats are unable to counteract effectively a prolonged hyperglycaemic challenge as such induced by DEX administration. This homeostatic defect can be ascribed to the age-dependent failure of the endocrine pancreas to provide enough insulin to overcome the aggravation of an antecedent state of increased peripheral insulin resistance

Effects mediated by the α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor on cell proliferation and migration in rat adipose-derived stem cells

Adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) are an attractive source for regenerative medicine as they can be easily iso-lated, rapidly expandable in culture and show excellent in vitro differentiation potential. Acetylcholine (ACh), one of the main neurotransmitters in central and peripheral nervous systems, plays key roles in the control of several physiological processes also in non-neural tissues. As demonstrated in our previous studies, ACh can contribute to the rat ASCs physiology, negatively modulating ASCs proliferation and migration via M2 mus-carinic receptor (mAChR) activation. In the present work we show that rat ASCs also express α7 nicotinic receptors (nAChRs). In particular, we have investigated the effects mediated by the selective activation of α7 nAChRs, which causes a reduction of ASC proliferation without affecting cell survival and morphology, and significantly promotes cell migration via upregulation of the CXCR4 expression. Interestingly, the activation of the α7 nAChR also upregulates the expression of M2 mAChR protein, indicating a cooperation between muscarinic and nicotinic receptors in the inhibition of ASC proliferation

Effect of Grid Topology on Numerical Simulations of Flow Fields around Wind Turbine Nacelle Anemometer

In this paper, the effect of mesh topology on the numerical predictions of the immediate near wake region of a horizontal axis wind turbine is investigated. The present work focuses on the nacelle anemometry measurements. Steady Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations are applied to describe the airflow around the wind turbine nacelle. The k-ε turbulence model is used. To model the turbine rotor, the approach based on the actuator disc concept is considered. The computational domain has been meshed with five different configurations of grid; namely, quasi-structured, unstructured and three different hybrid grids constituted of blending of quasi-structured and unstructured grids. The obtained results are compared to the available experimental data. The hybrid mesh with quasi-structured grid in the boundary layer region and unstructured grid in the vicinity of the nacelle is found to be more promising to simulate the near wake generated downstream of the wind turbine nacelle and to predict accurately the nacelle anemometry measurements

Vascularisation of the central nervous system

The developing central nervous system (CNS) is vascularised through the angiogenic invasion of blood vessels from a perineural vascular plexus, followed by continued sprouting and remodelling until a hierarchical vascular network is formed. Remarkably, vascularisation occurs without perturbing the intricate architecture of the neurogenic niches or the emerging neural networks. We discuss the mouse hind brain, forebrain and retina as widely used models to study developmental angiogenesis in the mammalian CNS and provide an overview of key cellular and molecular mechanisms regulating the vascularisation of these organs

Supersymmetry Reach of Tevatron Upgrades: The Large tan⁡β\tan\beta Case

The Yukawa couplings of the tau lepton and the bottom quark become comparable to, or even exceed, electroweak gauge couplings for large values of the SUSY parameter $\tan\beta$. As a result, the lightest tau slepton \ttau_1 and bottom squark \tb_1 can be significantly lighter than corresponding sleptons and squarks of the first two generations. Gluino, chargino and neutralino decays to third generation particles are significantly enhanced when $\tan\beta$ is large. This affects projections for collider experiment reach for supersymmetric particles. In this paper, we evaluate the reach of the Fermilab Tevatron $p\bar p$ collider for supersymmetric signals in the framework of the mSUGRA model. We find that the reach via signatures with multiple isolated leptons ($e$ and $\mu$) is considerably reduced. For very large $\tan\beta$, the greatest reach is attained in the multi-jet+\eslt signature. Some significant extra regions may be probed by requiring the presence of an identified $b$-jet in jets+\eslt events, or by requiring one of the identified leptons in clean trilepton events to actually be a hadronic 1 or 3 charged prong tau. In an appendix, we present formulae for chargino, neutralino and gluino three body decays which are valid at large $\tan\beta$.Comment: 31 page Revtex file including 10 PS figure