The DECIDE Project: Designing and Implementing a Prototype Service for Supporting Early Diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease

This paper will present the design and implementation challenges of the innovative DECIDE service, to support research and early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases. DECIDE service, which is based on a Grid eInfrastructure, offers a set of tools providing quantitative measurements, to help researchers and clinicians make more informed diagnosis. As the service specifically targets the clinical community, it differs significantly from other initiatives since it needs to comply with the requirements imposed by the clinical routine in terms of accuracy, robustness, ease of use, data handling policies, adherence to clinical praxis. Moreover, sustainability aspects will also be discussed, since DECIDE aims to propose such service as a reference at European level, possibly extending it to other pathologies. We will then summarize the main results obtained to date, and the possible future developments

Sintering behaviour of 3D-printed 18K 5N gold alloy by binder jetting: a preliminary study

Binder jetting is a versatile additive manufacturing technique suitable to produce alloys that are difficult to obtain by powder bed fusion techniques, such as precious metals, due to their high reflectivity and thermal conductivity. In this study, a 18K 5N gold alloy powder was employed in the printing process. Different heat treatments and densification processes were employed to achieve final-stage sintering and remove residual porosity, whilst controlling the evolution of copper oxides by reduction with hydrogen and graphite. Powder, green and sintered samples were characterised at the microstructural level by X-ray diffraction, microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy to assess phase transitions and secondary-phase formation. Oxide-free components with a final relative density above 90% were achieved by densification at 830 °C combined with carbon- and CO-induced reduction of tenorite and cuprite. The optimal manufacturing route was chosen to produce a bezel, as a case study for the adoption of this technique in the jewellery industry

La committenza gesuitica e la pittura a Palermo tra XVI e XVIII secolo

Il presente lavoro di ricerca mira ad approfondire e arricchire, mediante nuove acquisizioni, lo studio in merito alle opere pittoriche di committenza gesuitica custodite presso le fondazioni palermitane dell’Ordine: chiesa del Gesù a Casa Professa, Collegio Massimo dei Gesuiti, chiesa di San Stanislao Kostka e chiesa di San Francesco Saverio. A queste si aggiungono i dipinti di committenza della Compagnia trasferiti presso altre sedi. Ulteriore intento è quello di organizzare in maniera più organica la trattazione delle commissioni artistiche dell’Ordine a Palermo, che si presentava dispersiva e frammentaria. Tra i risultati più significativi si annovera il ritrovamento di un ciclo di affreschi, databile tra il terzo e il quarto decennio del XVII secolo e presumibilmente opera di Orazio Ferraro da Giuliana S. J., all’interno della chiesa del Gesù a Casa Professa. Altro ritrovamento degno di nota riguarda una pala d’altare settecentesca attribuibile a Gioacchino Martorana, rinvenuta nel medesimo sito. Va poi rilevata la nuova proposta di attribuzione degli affreschi posti lungo le pareti laterali della cappella del Crocifisso, sempre nella summenzionata chiesa, precedentemente attribuiti a Paolo Bramè e che, invece, le ricerche d’archivio smentirebbero, attribuendone la paternità a Orazio Ferraro da Giuliana e al confratello Giovanni Domenico Monastra. Inediti raffronti iconografici, frutto di ricerche condotte tra Spagna e Portogallo, si spingono oltre i confini europei, attraverso il confronto tra la cosiddetta Namban Art − espressione artistica sorta in Giappone a metà del XVI secolo dall’incontro con la civiltà occidentale, a seguito della missione evangelizzatrice condotta da san Francesco Saverio – e il tardo manierismo siciliano. Documenti inediti conservati presso l’A.R.S.I. (Archivum Romanum Societatis Iesu) contribuiscono a far luce su un modus operandi che manifesta le sue peculiarità nel momento in cui si interfaccia con le istanze locali.This research aims to deepen and enrich, through new acquisitions, the study about the jesuitical paintings commission kept at the foundations of the Order in Palermo: Jesus church in Professed House, Collegio Massimo of the Jesuits, St. Stanislaus Kostka church and St. Francis Xavier church. Added to these are the paintings commissioned by the Company transferred to other locations. A further aim is to organize in a more organic way the discussion of artistic commissions of the Order in Palermo, which presented itself dispersed and fragmented. Among the most significant results includes the discovery of a series of frescoes, dating between the third and fourth decade of the seventeenth century and presumably by Orazio Ferraro from Giuliana S. J., in the Jesus church in Professed House. Another noteworthy finding concerns an eighteenth-century altarpiece attributed to Gioacchino Martorana, found in the same site. It should also be taken over the new proposal for the award of the frescoes placed along the side walls of the chapel of the Crucifix, always in the aforementioned church, previously attributed to Paolo Bramè and that, instead, the archive researches refute, attributing the authorship to Orazio Ferraro from Giuliana and his jesuit brother Giovanni Domenico Monastra. Unpublished iconographic comparisons, the result of research conducted between Spain and Portugal, reaching beyond the borders of Europe, by comparing the so-called Namban Art − artistic expression arose in Japan in the mid-sixteenth century by the encounter with Western civilization, following the evangelizing mission led by St. Francis Xavier − and the late sicilian mannerism. Unpublished documents kept at the A.R.S.I. (Archivum Romanum Societatis Jesu) help to shed light on a modus operandi that manifests its own peculiarities when it interfaces with local instances

Should reduction of increased short-term blood pressure variability be a target of antihypertensive therapy?

It has long been known that blood pressure (BP) is characterized by marked short-term fluctuations occurring within a 24-h period and also by long-term oscillations occurring over more prolonged periods of time. An increased short-term blood pressure variability (BPV) appears to importantly contribute to target organ damage and to the enhanced cardiovascular risk of hypertensive patients, over and above the effect of an increase in mean BP levels. Reducing 24-h mean BP is the main aim of antihypertensive therapy, but initial data are available that additional cardiovascular protection can be achieved by reducing BPV. However, to definitively prove the prognostic role of short-term BPV and the need for its control by treatment, evidence is still needed from intervention trials aimed at demonstrating that by reducing BPV through administration of antihypertensive drugs, a reduction in organ damage and in the rate of cardiovascular events can be obtained

ANALISIS FINANSIAL PENANGKAPAN IKAN DENGAN ALAT TANGKAP DRIFT GILLNET DI KECAMATAN TOBOALI KABUPATEN BANGKA SELATAN BANGKA BELITUNG

Kecamatan  Toboali  merupakan  ibukota  dari  Kabupaten  Bangka  Selatan yang  secara administratif  terbagi  menjadi  11  Desa/Kelurahan.  Drift  Gillnet merupakan  alat  tangkap yang  ramah  lingkungan  dan  merupakan  alat tangkap  yang  palling  banyak  digunakan  di Kabupaten  Bangka  Selatan. Penelitian  ini  bertujuan  untuk  mengetahui  kelayakan  usaha penangkapan ikan  dengan  melihat  aspek  ekonomi.  Penelitian  ini  dilakukan  pada bulan oktober  2013.  Pengambilan  data  menggunakan  metode  purposive random  sampling dengan  cara  melakukan  teknik  kuisioner.  Hasil penelitian ini  menunjukkan  Analisis finansial yang dilakukan pada usaha penangkapan ikan di Kecamatan Toboali menyatakan usaha penangkapan ikan di Kecamatan Toboali layak dilaksanakan. Rata-rata pendapatan bersih  setiap  kapal sebanyak  Rp.  45.920.515/tahun.  Faktor  lain  seperti  Payback  perioduntuk usaha  penangkapan  ikan  di  Kecamatan  Toboali  didapat  selama  3  tahun dengan persentase  ROI  sebesar  33,7%.  Analisis  Kelayakan  Usaha  yang dilakukan  pada  usaha penangkapan ikan di Kecamatan Toboali menghasilkan nilai NPV Rp.  60.105.615 dengan nilai  Benefit  Cost  Ratio  sebesar  1,44. Nilai  IRR  sebesar  29%  lebih  besar  dari  nilai  suku bunga sebesar 16%, sehingga usaha penangkapan ikan di Kecamatan Toboali dinyatakan layak secara finansial.KATA KUNCI: Analisis financial, penangkapan ikan, Toboali

Relationship Between Short-Term Blood Pressure Variability and Subclinical Renal Damage in Essential Hypertensive Patients

The authors aimed to analyze the relationship between subclinical renal damage, defined as the presence of microalbuminuria or an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) between 30 mL/min/1.73 m(2) and 60 mL/min/1.73 m(2) and short-term blood pressure (BP) variability, assessed as average real variability (ARV), weighted standard deviation (SD) of 24-hour BP, and SD of daytime and nighttime BP. A total of 328 hypertensive patients underwent 24-hour ambulatory BP monitoring, 24-hour albumin excretion rate determination, and eGFR calculation using the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration equation. ARV of 24-hour systolic BP (SBP) was significantly higher in patients with subclinical renal damage (P=.001). This association held (P=.04) after adjustment for potential confounders. In patients with microalbuminuria, ARV of 24-hour SBP, weighted SD of 24-hour SBP, and SD of daytime SBP were also independently and inversely related to eGFR. These results seem to suggest that in essential hypertension, short-term BP variability is independently associated with early renal abnormalities

Absence of an independent association between serum uric acid and left ventricular mass in Caucasian hypertensive women and men

Background and aim: Experimentally uric acid may induce cardiomyocyte growth and interstitial fibrosis of the heart. However, clinical studies exploring the relationship between serum uric acid (SUA) and left ventricular (LV) mass yielded conflicting results. The aim of our study was to evaluate the relationships between SUA and LV mass in a large group of Caucasian essential hypertensive subjects. Methods and results: We enrolled 534 hypertensive patients free of cardiovascular complications and without severe renal insufficiency. In all subjects routine blood chemistry, including SUA determination, echocardiographic examination and 24 h ambulatory blood pressure (BP) monitoring were obtained. In the overall population we observed no significant correlation of SUA with LV mass indexed for height2.7 (LVMH2.7) (r = 0.074). When the same relationship was analysed separately in men and women, we found a statistically significant correlation in female gender (r = 0.27; p < 0.001), but not in males (r = 0.042; p = NS). When we grouped the study population in sex-specific tertiles of SUA, an increase in LVMH2.7 was observed in the highest tertiles in women (44.5 \ub1 15.6 vs 47.5 16 vs 55.9 \ub1 22.2 g/m2.7; p < 0.001), but not in men. The association between SUA and LVMH2.7 in women lost statistical significance in multiple regression analyses, after adjustment for age, 24 h systolic BP, body mass index, serum creatinine and other potential confounders. Conclusions: Our findings do not support an independent association between SUA and LV mass in Caucasian men and women with arterial hypertension

Soil warming alters nitrogen cycling in a New England forest : implications for ecosystem function and structure

© The Author(s), 2011. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Oecologia 168 (2012): 819-828, doi:10.1007/s00442-011-2133-7.Global climate change is expected to affect terrestrial ecosystems in a variety of ways. Some of the more well-studied effects include the biogeochemical feedbacks to the climate system that can either increase or decrease the atmospheric load of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide. Less well-studied are the effects of climate change on the linkages between soil and plant processes. Here, we report the effects of soil warming on these linkages observed in a large field manipulation of a deciduous forest in southern New England, USA, where soil was continuously warmed 5°C above ambient for 7 years. Over this period, we have observed significant changes to the nitrogen cycle that have the potential to affect tree species composition in the long term. Since the start of the experiment, we have documented a 45% average annual increase in net nitrogen mineralization and a three-fold increase in nitrification such that in years 5 through 7, 25% of the nitrogen mineralized is then nitrified. The warming-induced increase of available nitrogen resulted in increases in the foliar nitrogen content and the relative growth rate of trees in the warmed area. Acer rubrum (red maple) trees have responded the most after 7 years of warming, with the greatest increases in both foliar nitrogen content and relative growth rates. Our study suggests that considering species-specific responses to increases in nitrogen availability and changes in nitrogen form is important in predicting future forest composition and feedbacks to the climate system.This work was supported by the National Institute for Climate Change Research (DOE-DE-FCO2-06-ER64157), DOE BER (DE-SC0005421) and the Harvard Forest Long-Term Ecological Research program (NSF-DEB-0620443)

Canes domésticos como reservorio de Leptospira spp y Toxoplasma gondii en una comunidad campesina del Bosque nuboso del noreste de Perú

The aim of this study was to identify the role of domestic dogs as reservoirs of Leptospira spp and Toxoplasma gondii in the Rural Community of Corosha, department of Amazonas, Peru, through the analysis of prevalence and epidemiological characteristics, as well as tenure associated with dog positivity. A survey was carried out on the dog owners and blood samples were taken. In total, 55 samples were analyzed by the Microscopic Agglutination Test (MAT) for the identification of anti-Leptospira spp antibodies and 62 samples with the Indirect Hemagglutination technique (HAI) for anti-T. gondii. The seroprevalence of Leptospira spp was 82.3%, detecting antibodies against the Grippotyphosa (58.2%), Icterohaemorrhagiae (54.6%), Pomona (40.0%), Canicola (32.7%), Bratislava (30.9%) and Georgia (21.8%) serovars. Dogs with access to the river showed a higher prevalence of Leptospira (94.9%) compared to individuals without access (68.8%) (p&lt;0.05). Likewise, 37.1% of the evaluated dogs were seropositive for T. gondii. The study reveals the circulation of Leptospira spp and T. gondii in domestic dogs of the rural community of Corosha.El objetivo del estudio fue identificar el rol de los canes domésticos como reservorios de Leptospira spp y Toxoplasma gondii en la Comunidad Campesina de Corosha, departamento de Amazonas, Perú, mediante el análisis de prevalencia y de las características epidemiológicas, así como de tenencia asociadas a la positividad de los canes. Se realizó una encuesta a los tutores de los canes y se tomaron muestras sanguíneas. En total, 55 muestras fueron analizadas por la Prueba de Aglutinación Microscópica (MAT) para la identificación de anticuerpos anti-Leptospira spp y 62 muestras con la técnica de Hemaglutinación Indirecta (HAI) para anticuerpos anti-T. gondii. La seroprevalencia de Leptospira spp fue de 82.3%, detectándose anticuerpos contra los serovares Grippotyphosa (58.2%), Icterohaemorrhagiae (54.6%), Pomona (40.0%), Canicola (32.7%), Bratislava (30.9%) y Georgia (21.8%). Los canes con acceso al río mostraron mayor prevalencia de Leptospira (94.9%) en comparación a los individuos que no tienen acceso (68.8%) (p&lt;0.05). Asimismo, 37.1% de los canes evaluados resultaron seropositivos para T. gondii. El estudio da a conocer la circulación de Leptospira spp y T. gondii en canes domésticos de la comunidad campesina de Corosha

The long-term economic consequences of colonization: an in-depth look at the cases of Africa and Latin America

reservedIl Colonialismo è un fenomeno molto complesso che ha caratterizzato il modo di essere e di svilupparsi di molte regioni del mondo. Dalla storia alla sociologia, dalle scienze sociali all’antropologia, studiosi di varie discipline hanno affrontato il colonialismo da diverse prospettive. Tuttavia, negli anni più recenti, un contributo rilevante e degno di nota è emerso negli ambiti degli studi economici, in particolare nell’approccio econometrico. Dopo aver proposto un documento di analisi specifico, il cui studio rivolge l’attenzione alle istituzioni economiche, spiegando nel dettaglio l’approccio econometrico utilizzato, la tesi propone diverse analisi di autori che hanno utilizzato un approccio puramente empirico per analizzare diversi fattori coinvolti, geografici, culturali e propriamente economici, ponendo attenzione ai casi particolari dell’Africa e dell’America Latina. Lo scopo della tesi è mettere in evidenza come il fenomeno coloniale, caratterizzato da diverse variabili, possa essere studiato e spiegato attraverso uno studio empirico, che permette di osservare il passato e guardare alle sfide del futuro con un metodo scientifico quantificabile.Colonialism is a very complex phenomenon that has characterized the way of being and development of many regions of the world. From history to sociology, from social sciences to anthropology, scholars from various disciplines have approached colonialism from different perspectives. However, in more recent years, a relevant and noteworthy contribution has emerged in the fields of economic studies, particularly the econometric approach. After proposing a specific analysis paper, whose study turns its attention to economic institutions, explaining in detail the econometric approach used, the thesis proposes several analyses by authors who have used a purely empirical approach to analyze different factors involved, geographical, cultural and properly economic, paying attention to the particular cases of Africa and Latin America. The purpose of the thesis is to highlight how the colonial phenomenon, characterized by different variables, can be studied and explained through an empirical study, which allows us to observe the past and look at the challenges of the future with a quantifiable scientific method