QP and QS of Campi Flegrei from the inversion of rayleigh waves recorded during the SERAPIS project

Seismic shots recorded during the SERAPIS experiment were used to search a 1D elastic and inelastic model of the Gulf of Pozzuoli, south of the CampiFlegrei caldera. Waveforms were gaussian filtered in the range 5-8 Hz with afrequency step of 0.5 Hz and a half-width of the filter equal to 0.5 Hz. A cleardispersion of the most energetic propagation mode was revealed. This pro-perty of the surface wave in the gulf of Pozzuoli was theoretically reprodu-ced using the classical wave-number technique. To infer the best fit propaga-tion model, we developed a semi-automated procedure of fitting of filteredtraces with progressive adjustment of the model. The quality of the fitting wasestimated using the semblance among each couple of waveform (syntheticand observed). Our formulation allowed us also to estimate the error onmodel parameter by mapping the noise on seismograms on the semblance. The obtained 1D model confirms that in average intrinsic Qp at the CampiFlegrei caldera is of the order of 300-500 which is a background value higherthan that of other volcanic areas. This report is a summary of a part of the phd thesis in Earth Sciences atUniversity of Bari of Maria Trabace

Investigation of Ducted Fuel Injection Implementation in a Retrofitted Light-Duty Diesel Engine through Numerical Simulation

Ducted Fuel Injection (DFI) is a concept of growing interest to abate soot emissions in diesel combustion, based on a small duct within the combustion chamber in front of the injector nozzle. Despite the impressive potential of the DFI has been proven in literature, its application for series production and the complexity for the adaptation of existing compression-ignition (CI) engines need to be extensively investigated. In this context, the aim of this study is to numerically assess the potential of DFI implementation in a CI engine for light-duty applications, highlighting the factors which can limit or facilitate its integration in existing combustion chambers. The numerical model for combustion simulation was based on a 1D/3D-CFD coupled approach relying on a calibrated spray model, extensively validated against experimental data. Once assessed the coupling procedure by comparing the numerical results with experimental in-cylinder pressure and heat release rate data for both low and high load operating conditions, the duct impact was investigated introducing it in the computational domain. It was observed that DFI did not yield any significant advantage to engine-out soot emissions and fuel consumption with the existing combustion system. Although the soot formation was generally reduced, the soot oxidation process was partially inhibited by the duct adoption maintaining fixed the engine calibration, suggesting the need for complete optimization of the combustion system design. On the other hand, a preliminary variation of engine calibration highlighted several beneficial trends for DFI, whose operation improved with a simplified injection strategy. Present numerical results indicate that DFI retrofit solutions without specific optimization of the combustion system design do not guarantee soot reduction. Nevertheless, wide room for improvement remains in terms of DFI-targeted combustion chamber design and engine calibration towards the complete success of this technology for soot-free CI engines

An Investigation of Radiation Heat Transfer in a Light-Duty Diesel Engine

In the last two decades engine research has been mainly focused on reducing pollutant emissions. This fact together with growing awareness about the impacts of climate change are leading to an increase in the importance of thermal efficiency over other criteria in the design of internal combustion engines (ICE). In this framework, the heat transfer to the combustion chamber walls can be considered as one of the main sources of indicated efficiency diminution. In particular, in modern direct-injection diesel engines, the radiation emission from soot particles can constitute a significant component of the efficiency losses. Thus, the main of objective of the current research was to evaluate the amount of energy lost to soot radiation relative to the input fuel chemical energy during the combustion event under several representative engine loads and speeds. Moreover, the current research characterized the impact of different engine operating conditions on radiation heat transfer. For this purpose, a combination of theoretical and experimental tools were used. In particular, soot radiation was quantified with a sensor that uses two-color thermometry along with its corresponding simplified radiation model. Experiments were conducted using a 4-cylinder direct-injection light-duty diesel engine fully instrumented with thermocouples. The goal was to calculate the energy balance of the input fuel chemical energy. Results provide a characterization of radiation heat transfer for different engine loads and speeds as well as radiation trends for different engine operating conditions.Benajes Calvo, JV.; Martín Díaz, J.; García Martínez, A.; Villalta Lara, D.; Warey, A.; Doménech Llopis, V.; Vassallo, AL.... (2015). An Investigation of Radiation Heat Transfer in a Light-Duty Diesel Engine. SAE International Journal of Engines. 8(5):1-14. doi:10.4271/2015-24-2443S1148

A Deep Learning model to segment liver metastases on CT images acquired at different time-points during chemotherapy

The aim of this study is to present a fully automatic deep learning algorithm to segment liver Colorectal cancer metastases (lmCRC) on CT images, based on a U-Net structure, comparing nets with and without the transfer learning approach. This is a bi-centric study, enrolling patients who underwent CT exam before (baseline) and after first-line therapy (TP1). Patients were divided into training (using a portion of baseline sequences from both centers) to train the DL model, and two validation sets: one with baseline (valB), and one with TP1 (valTP1) sequences. The reference standard for the automatic segmentations was defined by the manual segmentations performed by an experienced radiologist on the portal phase of the baseline and TP1 CT exam. The best performing model obtained Dice Similarity Coefficient (DSC) of 0.68±0.24, Precision (Pr) of 0.74±0.27, Recall (Re) of 0.73±0.26, Detection Rate (DR) of 93% on the valB, and DSC of 0.61±0.28, Pr of 0.68±0.31, Re of 0.65±0.29 and DR of 88% on the valTP1. These encouraging results, if confirmed on larger dataset, might provide a reliable and robust tool that can be used as first step of future radiomics analyses aimed at predicting response to therapy, improving the management of lmCRC patients

Design procedure for the development of new floating floors to improve comfort on ships

The paper presents a procedure developed for designing new floating floors for marine applications. The procedure aims at the improvement of the capability of a new floating floor to isolate structure borne noise. After an introduction to the theoretical background on which this procedure is built, the authors present the results obtained applying the developed procedure to a case study. The procedure includes numerical Finite Element simulations and experimental tests. The simulations aim at the optimization of the resilient material used to decouple the upper floor from the structures. The optimized configurations are then built and tested in laboratory. These tests allow the researchers to identify the floating floor resonances and to evaluate their effect on the Transmission Loss levels. The results of the research activity show the effectiveness of the developed procedure and highlight the importance of the experimental tests to validate the outcomes of the simulations

A Convolutional Neural Network based system for Colorectal cancer segmentation on MRI images

The aim of the study is to present a new Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) based system for the automatic segmentation of the colorectal cancer. The algorithm implemented consists of several steps: a pre-processing to normalize and highlights the tumoral area, the classification based on CNNs, and a post-processing aimed at reducing false positive elements. The classification is performed using three CNNs: each of them classifies the same regions of interest acquired from three different MR sequences. The final segmentation mask is obtained by a majority voting. Performances were evaluated using a semi-automatic segmentation revised by an experienced radiologist as reference standard. The system obtained Dice Similarity Coefficient (DSC) of 0.60, Precision (Pr) of 0.76 and Recall (Re) of 0.55 on the testing set. After applying the leave-one-out validation, we obtained a median DSC=0.58, Pr=0.74, Re=0.54. The promising results obtained by this system, if validated on a larger dataset, could strongly improve personalized medicine

Bismuth-based quadruple therapy following H. Pylori eradication failures: A multicenter study in clinical practice

Background & Aims: Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) eradication in patients who failed one or more therapeutic attempts remains challenging. This study aimed to assess the efficacy of three-in-one capsules bismuth-based quadruple therapy (Pylera®) in these patients managed in clinical practice. Methods: This was a prospective, open-label, multicenter study enrolling consecutive, adult patients with persistent H. pylori infection following at least one standard therapy. All patients received a rescue quadruple therapy with Pylera (3 capsules four times daily) and esomeprazole 20 mg (1 tablet twice daily) for 10 days. H. pylori eradication was assessed by using Urea Breath Test 4-6 weeks following therapy ending. H. pylori eradication rates, compliance, and side-effects were calculated. Results: A total of 208 patients in the 9 participating centres were enrolled. Overall, 180 patients were successfully cured from the infection, accounting for 86.5% (95% CI 81.9-91.2) and 92.3% (95% CI 88.6-96.1) eradication rates at intention-to-treat analysis and at per protocol analysis, respectively. Cure rates were similar across patients who failed one to three previous therapy attempts, but the success rate fell to 67% after 4 or more therapy failures. Compliance to therapy was good in 198 (95.2%) patients, whilst in 7 (5.3%) cases the therapy was interrupted within 5 days due to side effects. A total of 97 (46.6%) patients complained of at least one side effect; nausea, diarrhea and vomiting were the most frequently reported. Conclusions: Our study found that this bismuth-based quadruple therapy is highly effective as second-line and rescue therapy for H. pylori eradication in clinical practic

Eosinophilic Pneumonia Associated with Rheumatoid Arthritis: Description of a Case Report and Review of the Literature

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a systemic inflammatory disease, may induce pulmonary manifestations. We describe a case of longstanding RA presenting with eosinophilic pneumonia (EP). Rare case reports of tissue eosinophilia involving isolated organs in the setting of RA exist in the literature. It has been shown that the production of proinflammatory cytokines activates different cell group and can simultaneously play a role in RA and induce eosinophils infiltration in target tissue. An appropriate lowest possible dosage of steroid therapy is essential, whereas EP may be a rare subset of pulmonary involvement in RA

Bismuth-based quadruple therapy following H. Pylori eradication failures: A multicenter study in clinical practice

Background & Aims: Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) eradication in patients who failed one or more therapeutic attempts remains challenging. This study aimed to assess the efficacy of three-in-one capsules bismuth-based quadruple therapy (Pylera®) in these patients managed in clinical practice. Methods: This was a prospective, open-label, multicenter study enrolling consecutive, adult patients with persistent H. pylori infection following at least one standard therapy. All patients received a rescue quadruple therapy with Pylera (3 capsules four times daily) and esomeprazole 20 mg (1 tablet twice daily) for 10 days. H. pylori eradication was assessed by using Urea Breath Test 4-6 weeks following therapy ending. H. pylori eradication rates, compliance, and side-effects were calculated. Results: A total of 208 patients in the 9 participating centres were enrolled. Overall, 180 patients were successfully cured from the infection, accounting for 86.5% (95% CI 81.9-91.2) and 92.3% (95% CI 88.6-96.1) eradication rates at intention-to-treat analysis and at per protocol analysis, respectively. Cure rates were similar across patients who failed one to three previous therapy attempts, but the success rate fell to 67% after 4 or more therapy failures. Compliance to therapy was good in 198 (95.2%) patients, whilst in 7 (5.3%) cases the therapy was interrupted within 5 days due to side effects. A total of 97 (46.6%) patients complained of at least one side effect; nausea, diarrhea and vomiting were the most frequently reported. Conclusions: Our study found that this bismuth-based quadruple therapy is highly effective as second-line and rescue therapy for H. pylori eradication in clinical practic

MORPHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF ANCIENT GRAPE SEEDS FROM A SINK IN THE MIDDLE-AGE TOWN OF PALERMO

The archaeological excavations in Piazza della Vittoria, in the Roman-Middle Age town of Palermo (Sicily) put in light a sink 3.20 m deep and 1 square m. large, partially filled by thin organic sediments. Grape seeds (grape-stones), fish scales and few vertebrate bones have been found in specific strata sealed under a stratum chronologically attributed to Islamic Middle-Age period (a post-quem limit). The finding of well preserved grape seeds is peculiar and their study opens the opportunity to improve the actual knowledge about evolution, cultivation, use and trade of Vitis L. in the Mediterranean area. This preliminary work focuses on morphologic and morphometric analysis of the ancient grape seeds with two aims: i) systematically describe the remains collection and, ii) define seeds typology and a consequent morphotaxonomic attribution. Over 200 seeds have been carefully dry cleaned (soft brush), photographed and analyzed for total breadth (B), total length (L) and length of stalk (LS) parameters, the most efficient for typological attribution (1, 2); Stummer index has been also calculated (1). Apical notch length (AN) has been for the first time evaluated. Measurements on digital images have been performed using ImageJ 1.31 platform; morphological parameters have been assembled in a dedicated database. Descriptive analysis and linear correlations have been performed using SYSTAT 10. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey’s HSD (5% level of significance, α = 0.05) have been applied. All the parameters approximate a normal distribution. Major variation has been observed in LS (c.v. = 35.6%) and AN (c.v. = 35.6%), while B and L showed a c.v. of 9.5% and 12.6% respectively. All the analyzed parameters behave as independent variables with the exception of a significant correlation between Stummer index and L (R2 = 0.45; y = 8.17-0.047x with y = L and x = Stummer index). This correlation reveals that Stummer index depends more from the L and not from the B parameter. On the base of LS measures three subgroups have been arbitrarily created in relationship with the LS: LS1 0.90 mm (35 seeds). Analyzing together the LS groups toward AN, we have found a proportional and significant correlation (p = 0.05) between the extremes LS1 and LS3. In the entire collection, Stummer index varies from 55.76 to 100.86; in the LS groups, the range is 68.38-97.87 in LS1, 61.02-100.86 in LS2 and 55.76-81.70 in LS3. A small group (17) of seeds has been excluded for the impossibility to measure the stalk. The analyzed ancient grape seeds show a wide range of variability for all the considered parameters, revealing a polymorphic collection. In general, the seeds have a rounded heart-like shape, with a noticeable pointy stalk and a very invaginated apical notch. This typical shape is more marked in LS3 group. On the base of LS measures, LS1 is ascribable to wild grapevines, while LS2 and LS3 seem to be ascribable neither to wild nor to cultivated autochthonous Vitis. Furthermore, these seeds differ from those already described in other archaeological horizons in Italy (3) and in France (2). The Stummer index varies highly, exceeding the known range of wild Vitis vinifera (4), although values close to 100 have been already found in wild grapevines in Spain (5) and values above 80 have been also described in Extra-European Vitis species (6). A deep evaluation of the sample, including isotopic analysis and aDNA studies, is in progress. 1) T. T. Korenčič, J. Jakše, Z. Korošec-Koruza (2008) Veget. Hist. Archaeobot., 17(Suppl. 1), S93-S102 2) L. Bouby, I. Figueiral, A. Bouchette, N. Rovina, S. Ivorra, T. Lacombe, T. Pastor, S. Picq, P. Marinval, J. F. Terral (2013) PLoS ONE, 8(5), e63195 3) C. Milanesi, F. Antonucci, P. Menesatti, C. Costa, C. Faleri, M. Cresti (2011) Interdisciplinaria Archaeologica – Natural Sciences in Archaeology, II(2), 95-100 4) A. Stummer (1911) Mitt. Anthropol. Gesellschaft Wien, 41, 283-296 5) F. M. De Toda, J. C. Sancha (1999) Am. J. Enol. Vitic., 50(4), 443-446 6) D. Rivera, B. Miralles, C. Obón, E. Carreño, J. A. Palazón (2007) Vitis, 46(4), 158-16