How to use statistics to survive

Purpose We want to share a true story with an happy end that occurred in a research Library at the University of Bologna. The lesson we learned is that to achieve an international standard for quality may be misunderstood; and that how to use statistics related to a single library may become a battle field if the two “players” - in this case, a research library and the Central Library System - look at it from different perspectives. Design/methodology/approach The advocacy strategy adopted by the library is based on a range of statistics to corroborate a wider meaning for “efficacy “and “efficiency”. The user’s point of view, satisfaction statements, observations and explored behavior – as known via the library quality system– are used, in parallel to the dimension of time in delivery services. Findings By means of the ISO 9001 quality system, the research library has been stimulated to measure different aspects of the library services, that could be of some interest if applied also at the Central Library System level. The reason behind the selection of such indicators is related to the main goal of the quality certification, that is to raise users’ satisfaction. Practical implications The paper presents also an example of good practice. The central library system at the University of Ferrara has build a set of indicators that could meet the requirements of three different schemes, all of which were of great importance for the library system management: a) the ISO 9001 requirements; b) the university overall KPI (Key Performance Indicators) scheme, aiming at defining a set of indicators that could measure and supervise all the main processes in terms of efficiency and efficacy of offices/libraries as well as of the staff; c)the national context. Originality/value Very often small or medium sized libraries strive to demonstrate their usefulness, efficacy and efficiency. Very often the users perceptions of the library services are less taken in consideration than quantitative measures on services outputs. This paper is a good example of a “survival” strategy of success

High post-anthesis temperature effects on 3 bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) grain 4 transcriptome during early grain-filling

Background: High post-anthesis (p.a) temperatures reduce mature grain weights in wheat and other cereals. However, the causes of this reduction are not entirely known. Control of grain expansion by the maternally derived pericarp of the grain has previously been suggested, although this interaction has not been investigated under high p.a. temperatures. Down-regulation of pericarp localised genes that regulate cell wall expansion under high p.a. temperatures may limit expansion of the encapsulated endosperm due to a loss of plasticity in the pericarp,reducing mature grain weight. Here the effect of high p.a. temperatures on the transcriptome of the pericarp and endosperm of the wheat grain during early grain-filling was investigated via RNA-Seq and is discussed alongside grain moisture dynamics during early grain development and mature grain weight. Results: High p.a. temperatures applied from 6-days after anthesis (daa) and until 18daa reduced the grain’s ability to accumulate water, with total grain moisture and percentage grain moisture content being significantly reduced from 14daa onwards. Mature grain weight was also significantly reduced by the same high p.a. temperatures applied from 6daa for 4-days or more, in a separate experiment. Comparison of our RNA-Seq data from whole grains, with existing data sets from isolated pericarp and endosperm tissues enabled the identification of subsets of genes whose expression was significantly affected by high p.a. temperature and predominantly expressed in either tissue. Hierarchical clustering and gene ontology analysis resulted in the identification of a number of genes implicated in the regulation of cell wall expansion, predominantly expressed in the pericarp and significantly down26 regulated under high p.a. temperatures, including endoglucanase, xyloglucan endotransglycosylases and a β27 expansin. An over-representation of genes involved in the ‘cuticle development’ functional pathway that were expressed in the pericarp and affected by high p.a. temperatures was also observed. Conclusions: High p.a. temperature induced down-regulation of genes involved in regulating pericarp cell wall expansion. This concomitant down-regulation with a reduction in total grain moisture content and grain weight following the same treatment period, adds support to the theory that high p.a. temperatures may cause a reduction in mature grain weight as result of decreased pericarp cell wall expansion

Seed storage proteins of faba bean (Vicia faba L): current status and prospects for genetic improvement

Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) is one of the foremost candidate crops for simultaneously increasing both sustainability and global supply of plant protein. On a dry matter basis, its seeds contain about 29% protein of which more than 80% consists of globulin storage proteins (vicilin and legumin). However, to achieve optimum utilization of this crop for human and animal nutrition, both protein content and quality have to be improved. Though initial investigations on the heritability of these traits indicated the possibility for genetic improvement, little has been achieved so far, partly due to the lack of genetic information coupled with the complex relationship between protein content and grain yield. This review reports on the current knowledge on Vicia faba seed storage proteins, their structure, composition, and genetic control, and highlights key areas for further improvement of the content and composition of Vicia faba seed storage proteins on the basis of recent advances in Vicia faba genome knowledge and genetic tools

Quantification of earthquake diagnostic effects to assess low macroseismic intensities

AbstractA large amount of data about earthquake effects, supplied by citizens through a web-based questionnaire, enabled the analysis of the occurrence of many of the effects on humans and objects listed in macroseismic scales descriptions. Regarding the other diagnostic effects (rattling, moving, shifting, falling or overturning depending of the object type of doors, windows, china, glasses, small objects, pictures, vases, books, as well as frightened people and animal behaviour), data from more than 300,000 questionnaires about earthquakes felt in Italy from June 2007 to August 2017, were analysed by stacking them together as a function of hypocentral distance and magnitude. The comparison of the resulting percentages with the intensity prediction equation showed that almost all the chosen effects are good diagnostics for macroseismic intensity evaluation, as their percentages are well differentiated. We did not analyse the oscillations of hanging objects and liquids because the differences in effect attenuations, highlighted by the maps of the occurrence percentage, suggested to not consider them as diagnostic effect. This result allowed us to quantify the occurrence of each diagnostic effect for the intensity degrees from II to VI of the European macroseismic scale for the people who felt the earthquake. The application of the intensity assessment method to internet macroseismic data, based on the specifications herein proposed, should mitigate the problem of "not felt" undersampling in crowdsourced web data

Correction: Schena, E.; et al. Fiber Optic Sensors for Temperature Monitoring during Thermal Treatments: an Overview

The author wishes to make the following correction to this paper [1], and to replace Figure 2:[...

Retargeting cytokine-induced killer cell activity by CD16 engagement with clinical-grade antibodies

Cytokine-induced Killer (CIK) cells are a heterogeneous population of ex vivo expanded T lymphocytes capable of MHC-unrestricted antitumor activity, which share phenotypic and functional features with both NK and T cells. Preclinical data and initial clinical studies demonstrated their high tolerability in vivo, supporting CIK cells as a promising cell population for adoptive cell immunotherapy. In this study, we report for the first time that CIK cells display a donor-dependent expression of CD16, which can be engaged by trastuzumab or cetuximab to exert a potent antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) against ovarian and breast cancer cell lines, leading to an increased lytic activity in vitro, and an enhanced therapeutic efficacy in vivo. Thus, an efficient tumor antigen-specific retargeting can be achieved by a combination therapy with clinical-grade monoclonal antibodies already widely used in cancer therapy, and CIK cell populations that are easily expandable in very large numbers, inexpensive, safe and do not require genetic manipulations. Overall, these data provide a new therapeutic strategy for the treatment of Her2 and EGFR expressing tumors by adoptive cell therapy, which could find wide implementation and application, and could also be expanded to the use of additional therapeutic antibodies

Application of nanoparticles and nanomaterials in thermal ablation therapy of cancer

Cancer is one of the major health issues with increasing incidence worldwide. In spite of the existing conventional cancer treatment techniques, the cases of cancer diagnosis and death rates are rising year by year. Thus, new approaches are required to advance the traditional ways of cancer therapy. Currently, nanomedicine, employing nanoparticles and nanocomposites, offers great promise and new opportunities to increase the efficacy of cancer treatment in combination with thermal therapy. Nanomaterials can generate and specifically enhance the heating capacity at the tumor region due to optical and magnetic properties. The mentioned unique properties of nanomaterials allow inducing the heat and destroying the cancerous cells. This paper provides an overview of the utilization of nanoparticles and nanomaterials such as magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles, nanorods, nanoshells, nanocomposites, carbon nanotubes, and other nanoparticles in the thermal ablation of tumors, demonstrating their advantages over the conventional heating methods

Gradients in compositions in the starchy endosperm of wheat have implications for milling and processing

Background: Wheat is the major food grain consumed in temperate countries. Most wheat is consumed after milling to produce white flour, which corresponds to the endosperm storage tissue of the grain. Because the starchy endosperm accounts for about 80% of the grain dry weight, the miller aims to achieve flour yields approaching this value. Scope and approach: Bioimaging can be combined with biochemical analysis of fractions produced by sequential pearling of whole grains to determine the distributions of components within the endosperm tissue. Key findings and conclusions: This reveals that endosperm is not homogeneous, but exhibits gradients in composition from the outer to the inner part. These include gradients in both amount and composition. For example, the content of gluten proteins decreases but the proportion of glutenin polymers increases from the outside to the centre of the tissue. However, the content of starch increases with changes in the granule size distribution, the proportions of amylose and amylopectin, and their thermal properties. Hence these parts of the endosperm differ in the functional properties for food processing. Gradients also exist in minor components which may affect health and processing, such as dietary fibre and lipids. The gradients in grain composition are reflected in differences in the compositions of the mill streams which are combined to give white flour (which may number over 20). These differences could therefore be exploited by millers and food processors to develop flours with compositions and properties for specific end uses

Efficacy test of a hydrolysable tannin extract against necrotic enteritis in challenged broiler chickens

A hydrolysable tannin extracted from chestnut (SaviotaN®) was tested for efficacy in controlling the proliferation of Clostridium perfringens in the gut of broiler chickens challenged via oral gavage first with coccidia (Eimeria tenella, Eimeria acervulina, Eimeria maxima) at the age of 10 days, and then with Clostridium perfringens at the age of 15 days. We randomly allocated 150 broiler chickens within 5 poultry isolators (30 birds each). Dietary treatments consisted of a basal diet (C) composed of corn [575 g/kg on dry matter (DM)] and soybean meal (100 g/kg DM), barley bran (220 g/kg DM), corn gluten feed (30 g/kg DM), soybean oil (25 g/kg DM), vitamin mineral premix (49.5 g/kg DM), and four other diets obtained by adding chestnut tannin extract (1.5, 3, 5, and 12 g/kg during week 1, 10.0 g/kg during week 2, and 8.0 g/kg during the last two weeks, respectively) to C. At the age of 20 days, 15 birds/group were euthanised and individually examined for the level of gut infection by count- ing Clostridium perfringens and macroscopic gut lesions. Results demonstrated that chestnut tan- nin gave significant results even at low concen- tration levels in the feed (1.5 to 3.0 g/kg), but was actually efficient in controlling necrotic enteritis at levels ≥5.0 g/kg. The treatment (12.0 g/kg dur- ing the first week and 8.0 g/kg during the last two weeks of age) resulted very efficient in control- ling the proliferation of Clostridium perfringens and in reducing the severity of gut damage com- pared to the untreated infected group