Dye diffusion during laparoscopic tubal patency tests may suggest a lymphatic contribution to dissemination in endometriosis: A prospective, observational study

Aim Women with adenomyosis are at higher risk of endometriosis recurrence after surgery. This study was to assess if the lymphatic vessel network drained from the uterus to near organs where endometriosis foci lied. Methods A prospective, observational study, Canadian Task Force Classification II-2, was conducted at Sacro Cuore Don Calabria Hospital, Negrar, Italy. 104 white women aged 18–43 years were enrolled consecutively for this study. All patients underwent laparoscopy for endometriosis and a tubal dye test was carried out. Results Evidence of dye dissemination through the uterine wall and outside the uterus was noted in 27 patients (26%) with adenomyosis as it permeated the uterine wall and a clear passage of the dye was shown in the pelvic lymphatic vessels regardless whether the tubes were unobstructed. Histological assessment of the uterine biopsies confirmed adenomyosis. Conclusion Adenomyosis is characterized by ectatic lymphatics that allow the drainage of intrauterine fluids (the dye and, perhaps, menstrual blood) at minimal intrauterine pressure from the uterine cavity though the lymphatic network to extrauterine organs. Certainly, this may not be the only explanation for endometriosis dissemination but the correlation between the routes of the dye drainage and location of endometriosis foci is highly suggestive

Participatory GIS: experimentations for a 3D social virtual globe

The dawn of GeoWeb 2.0, the geographic extension of Web 2.0, has opened new possibilities in terms of online dissemination and sharing of geospatial contents, thus laying the foundations for a fruitful development of Participatory GIS (PGIS). The purpose of the study is to investigate the extension of PGIS applications, which are quite mature in the traditional bi-dimensional framework, up to the third dimension. More in detail, the system should couple a powerful 3D visualization with an increase of public participation by means of a tool allowing data collecting from mobile devices (e.g. smartphones and tablets). The PGIS application, built using the open source NASA World Wind virtual globe, is focussed on the cultural and tourism heritage of Como city, located in Northern Italy. An authentication mechanism was implemented, which allows users to create and manage customized projects through cartographic mash-ups of Web Map Service (WMS) layers. Saved projects populate a catalogue which is available to the entire community. Together with historical maps and the current cartography of the city, the system is also able to manage geo-tagged multimedia data, which come from user field-surveys performed through mobile devices and report POIs (Points Of Interest). Each logged user can then contribute to POIs characterization by adding textual and multimedia information (e.g. images, audios and videos) directly on the globe. All in all, the resulting application allows users to create and share contributions as it usually happens on social platforms, additionally providing a realistic 3D representation enhancing the expressive power of data

Interleaving in Systolic-Arrays: a Throughput Breakthrough

In past years the most common way to improve computers performance was to increase the clock frequency. In recent years this approach suffered the limits of technology scaling, therefore computers architectures are shifting toward the direction of parallel computing to further improve circuits performance. Not only GPU based architectures are spreading in consideration, but also Systolic Arrays are particularly suited for certain classes of algorithms. An important point in favor of Systolic Arrays is that, due to the regularity of their circuit layout, they are appealing when applied to many emerging and very promising technologies, like Quantum-dot Cellular Automata and nanoarrays based on Silicon NanoWire or on Carbon nanotube Field Effect Transistors. In this work we present a systematic method to improve Systolic Arrays performance exploiting Pipelining and Input Data Interleaving. We tackle the problem from a theoretical point of view first, and then we apply it to both CMOS technology and emerging technologies. On CMOS we demonstrate that it is possible to vastly improve the overall throughput of the circuit. By applying this technique to emerging technologies we show that it is possible to overcome some of their limitations greatly improving the throughput, making a considerable step forward toward the post-CMOS era

A NEW MULTI-RESOLUTION ALGORITHM TO STORE AND TRANSMIT COMPRESSED DTM

WebGIS and virtual globes allow DTMs distribution and three dimensional representations to the Web users' community. In these applications, the database storage size represents a critical point. DTMs are obtained by some sampling or interpolation on the raw observations and typically are stored and distributed by data based models, like for example regular grids. A new approach to store and transmit DTMs is presented. The idea is to use multi-resolution bilinear spline functions to interpolate the observations and to model the terrain. More in detail, the algorithm performs the following actions. 1) The spatial distribution of the observations is investigated. Where few data are available, few levels of splines are activated while more levels are activated where the raw observations are denser: each new level corresponds to an halving of the spline support with respect to the previous level. 2) After the selection of the spline functions to be activated, the relevant coefficients are estimated by interpolating the observations. The interpolation is computed by batch least squares. 3) Finally, the estimated coefficients of the splines are stored. The model guarantees a local resolution consistent with the data density and can be defined analytical, because the coefficients of a given function are stored instead of a set of heights. The approach is discussed and compared with the traditional techniques to interpolate, store and transmit DTMs, considering accuracy and storage requirements. It is also compared with another multi-resolution technique. The research has been funded by the INTERREG HELI-DEM (Helvetia Italy Digital Elevation Model) project

A Dtm Multi-Resolution Compressed Model for Efficient Data Storage and Network Transfer

In recent years the technological evolution of terrestrial, aerial and satellite surveying, has considerably increased the measurement accuracy and, consequently, the quality of the derived information. At the same time, the smaller and smaller limitations on data storage devices, in terms of capacity and cost, has allowed the storage and the elaboration of a bigger number of instrumental observations. A significant example is the terrain height surveyed by LIDAR (LIght Detection And Ranging) technology where several height measurements for each square meter of land can be obtained. The availability of such a large quantity of observations is an essential requisite for an in-depth knowledge of the phenomena under study. But, at the same time, the most common Geographical Information Systems (GISs) show latency in visualizing and analyzing these kind of data. This problem becomes more evident in case of Internet GIS. These systems are based on the very frequent flow of geographical information over the internet and, for this reason, the band-width of the network and the size of the data to be transmitted are two fundamental factors to be considered in order to guarantee the actual usability of these technologies. In this paper we focus our attention on digital terrain models (DTM's) and we briefly analyse the problems about the definition of the minimal necessary information to store and transmit DTM's over network, with a fixed tolerance, starting from a huge number of observations. Then we propose an innovative compression approach for sparse observations by means of multi-resolution spline functions approximation. The method is able to provide metrical accuracy at least comparable to that provided by the most common deterministic interpolation algorithms (inverse distance weighting, local polynomial, radial basis functions). At the same time it dramatically reduces the number of information required for storing or for transmitting and rebuilding a digital terrain model dataset. A brief description of the method is presented and comparisons about the accuracy and data-store compression obtained with respect to other interpolators are shown

NASA WEBWORLDWIND: MULTIDIMENSIONAL VIRTUAL GLOBE FOR GEO BIG DATA VISUALIZATION

In this paper, we presented a web application created using the NASA WebWorldWind framework. The application is capable of visualizing n-dimensional data using a Voxel model. In this case study, we handled social media data and Call Detailed Records (CDR) of telecommunication networks. These were retrieved from the "BigData Challenge 2015" of Telecom Italia. We focused on the visualization process for a suitable way to show this geo-data in a 3D environment, incorporating more than three dimensions. This engenders an interactive way to browse the data in their real context and understand them quickly. Users will be able to handle several varieties of data, import their dataset using a particular data structure, and then mash them up in the WebWorldWind virtual globe. A broad range of public use this tool for diverse purposes is possible, without much experience in the field, thanks to the intuitive user-interface of this web app

Modeling, Design, and Analysis of MagnetoElastic NML Circuits

With the predicted end of CMOS scaling process, researchers started to study several alternative technologies. Among them NanoMagnet Logic (NML) offers advantages complementary to MOS transistors especially for its magnetic nature. Its intrinsic memory capability makes it suitable for zero stand-by power and logic-in-memory applications. NML requires a clock system that, if based on a magnetic field, highly increases the circuit dynamic power consumption. We have recently proposed a solution based on the magnetoelastic effect (ME-NML) [1] and on currently available fabrication processes, which drastically reduces dynamic power consumption. However, many questions still remain unanswered. Which kind of applications are best suited for this technology? How can we effectively design, analyze, and compare ME-NML circuits? Does it really offer advantages over state-of-the-art CMOS transistors? In this paper, we provide answers to all these questions and the results prove that this technology offers indeed extremely good performance. We have designed a Galois field multiplier with a systolic array structure to reduce interconnection overhead. We developed a new RTL model that allows us to easily describe and simulate circuits of any complexity, evaluating at the same time the performance and keeping into account technology constraints. We approach for the first time in the NML scenario the design of ME-NML circuits adopting the standard-cell method used in standard technologies and fulfill the design down to the physical level. The same circuit is designed also with NML technology based on magnetic fields and with a 28 nm low power CMOS bulk technology for comparison. The CMOS circuit is obtained through physical place&route with a commercial tool, providing, therefore, the most accurate comparison ever presented in literature. Power analysis shows that ME-NML circuits have a considerable advantage over both NML and state-of-the-art CMOS bulk technology. As a further by-product results clearly highlight which kind of architectures can better exploit the true potential of NML technology

Attention network dysfunction underlies memory impairment in posterior cortical atrophy

Accumulating evidence suggests that memory is impaired in posterior cortical atrophy (PCA), alongside the early and defining visual disorder. The posterior parietal cortex is a key region of pathology in PCA and memory impairment may be the result of dysfunction of parietally dependent network function rather than the medial temporal lobe dependent dysfunction that defines the storage deficits in typical Alzheimer's disease. We assessed episodic memory performance and network function in16 PCA patients and 19 healthy controls who underwent structural and resting-state functional MRI and neuropsychological testing. Memory was assessed using the Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test (FCSRT), a sensitive test of episodic memory storage and retrieval. We examined correlations between memory performance and functional connectivity in the dorsal attention (DAN) and default mode network (DMN). Immediate recall on the FCSRT was relatively preserved in PCA patients. Total recall performance was impaired in patients relative to healthy controls and performance benefitted from retrieval cues. In patients only, disrupted connectivity in the DAN, but not the DMN, was associated with total recall. Memory impairment may arise from disruption to the dorsal attention network, subserved by the dorsal posterior parietal cortex, a key region of pathology in PCA, rather than classic medial temporal lobe memory circuitry.We propose that functional dysconnectivity in attentional circuits underpins memory impairment in PCA

Volunteered Geographic Information for water management: a prototype architecture

Driven by Web 2.0 and GeoWeb 2.0 technology and the almost ubiquitous presence of mobile devices, Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI), and specially citizen science, is knowing an unprecedented growth. These notable advancements have opened fruitful perspectives also in the field of water management and protection, raising the demand for a reconsideration of policies which also takes into account the emerging trend of VGI. This research investigates the opportunity of leveraging such a technology to involve citizens equipped with common mobile devices (e.g. tablets and smart phones) in a campaign of report of water-related phenomena and points of interest. The work is carried out in collaboration with AdbPo - Autorità di bacino del fiume Po (Po river basin Authority), i.e. the entity responsible for the environmental planning and protection of the basin of the Italian river Po. A FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) architecture was designed to enrich AdbPo official database with user-generated contents. More in detail, Open Data Kit suite allows users to collect georeferenced multimedia information using mobile devices equipped with geolocation sensors (e.g. the GPS). Users can report a number of environmental emergencies, problems or simple points of interest related to the Po river basin, taking pictures of them and providing other contextual information. Field-registered data is sent to a server and stored into a PostgreSQL database with PostGIS spatial extension. GeoServer provides then data dissemination on the Web, while an OpenLayers-based viewer is built to allow Web data access. Besides proving the suitability of FOSS in the frame of VGI, the system represents a successful prototype for the exploitation of user local, real-time information aimed at managing and protecting water resources