Ab initio calculation of the electromagnetic and neutral-weak response functions of 4He and 12C

Precise measurement of neutrino oscillations, and hence the determination of their masses demands a quantitative understanding of neutrino-nucleus interactions. To this aim, two-body meson-exchange currents have to be accounted for along within realistic models of nuclear dynamics. We summarize our progresses towards the construction of a consistent framework, based on quantum Monte Carlo methods and on the spectral function approach, that can be exploited to accurately describe neutrino interactions with atomic nuclei over the broad kinematical region covered by neutrino experiments.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure, Proceedings of the 21st International Conference on Few-Body Problems in Physics, Chicago, Illinois, US

A higher Angiogenin expression is associated with a non-nuclear Maspin location in laryngeal carcinoma

Objectives. In numerous malignancies, angiogenin (ANG) and Maspin are important proangiogenic and antiangiogenic regulators, respectively. The aim of this study was to identify potential relationships between the biological roles of these two proteins in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC). Methods. Immunohistochemical staining for ANG and Maspin was performed on specimens from 76 consecutive LSCC patients treated with surgery alone, considering the subcellular pattern of Maspin expression. Univariate and multivariate statistical models were used for prognostic purposes. Results. On univariate analysis, a different level of ANG expression was seen for patients stratified by subcellular Maspin expression pattern: the mean ANG expression was higher in cases with a nonnuclear MASPIN expression than in those with a nuclear pattern (P=0.002). Disease-free survival (DFS; in months) differed significantly when patients were stratified by N stage (P=0.01). Patients whose Maspin expression was nonnuclear (i.e., it was cytoplasmic or there was none) had a significantly higher recurrence rate (P<0.001), and shorter DFS (P=0.01) than those with a nuclear Maspin pattern. The mean ANG expression was significantly higher in cases with loco-regional recurrent disease (P=0.007); and patients with an ANG expression 655.0% had a significantly shorter DFS than those with an ANG expression <5.0% (P=0.007). On multivariate analysis, ANG expression 655.0% was a significant, independent, negative prognostic factor in terms of DFS (P=0.041). Conclusion. Our results support the hypothesis that a higher ANG expression is associated with a nonnuclear Maspin expression pattern in patients with LSCC. Further studies are needed to clarify the relationship between the ANG and Maspin pathways, and their potential diagnostic and therapeutic role in LSCC

Three-dimensional body scanning: methods and applications for anthropometry

In questa tesi descriviamo i metodi informatici e gli esperimenti eseguiti per l\u2019applicazione della tecnologia whole body 3D scanner in supporto dell\u2019antropometria. I body scanner restituiscono in uscita una nuvola di punti, solitamente trasformata in mesh triangolare mediante l\u2019uso di algoritmi specifici per supportare la visualizzazione 3D della superficie e l\u2019estrazione di misure e landmarks antropometrici significativi. L\u2019antropometria digitale \ue8 gi\ue0 stata utilizzata con successo in vari studi per valutare importanti parametri medici. L\u2019analisi antropometrica digitale \ue8 solitamente eseguita utilizzando soluzioni software fornite dai costruttori che sono chiuse e specifiche per il prodotto, che richiedono attenzione nell\u2019acquisizione e dei forti limiti sulla posa assunta dal soggetto. Questo pu\uf2 portare a dei problemi nella comparazione di dati acquisiti in diversi luoghi, nella realizzazione di studi multicentrici su larga scala e nell\u2019applicazione di metodi avanzati di shape analysis sui modelli acquisiti. L\u2019obiettivo del nostro lavoro \ue8 di superare questi problemi selezionando e personalizzando strumenti di processing geometrico capaci di creare un sistema aperto ed indipendente dallo strumento per l\u2019analisi di dati da body scanner. Abbiamo inoltre sviluppato e validato dei metodi per estrarre automaticamente dei punti caratteristici, segmenti corporei e misure significative che possono essere utilizzate nella ricerca antropometrica e metabolica. Nello specifico, presentiamo tre esperimenti. Nel primo, utilizzando uno specifico software per l\u2019antropometria digitale, abbiamo valutato la performance dello scanner Breuckmann BodySCAN nelle misure antropometriche. I soggetti degli esperimenti sono 12 giovani adulti che sono stati sottoposti procedure di antropometria manuale e digitale tridimensionale (25 misurazioni) indossando abbigliamento intimo attillato. Le misure duplicate effettuate da un\u2019antropometrista esperto mostrano una correlazione r=0.975-0.999; la loro media \ue8 significativamente (secondo il test t di Student) diversa su 4 delle 25 misure. Le misure digitali effettuate in duplicato da un antropometrista esperto e da due antropometristi non esperti, mostrano indici di correlazione individuali r che variano nel range 0.975-0.999 e medie che che erano significativamente diverse in una misurazione su 25. La maggior parte delle misure effettuate dall\u2019antropometrista esperto, manuali e digitali, mostrano una correlazione significativa (coefficiente di correlazione intra-classe che variano nell\u2019intervallo 0.855-0.995, p<0.0001). Concludiamo che lo scanner Breuckmann BodySCAN \ue8 uno strumento affidabile ed efficace per le misure antropometriche. In un secondo esperimento, compariamo alcune caratteristiche geometriche facilmente misurabili ottenute dalle scansioni di femmine obese (BMI>30) con i parametri di composizione corporea (misurata con una DXA) dei soggetti stessi, per investigare quali misure dei descrittori di forma correlavano meglio con il grasso del torso e corporeo. I risultati ottenuti mostrano che alcuni dei parametri geometrici testati presentano una elevata correlazione, mentre altri non correlano fortemente con il grasso corporeo. Questi risultati supportano il ruolo dell\u2019antropometria digitale nell\u2019indagine sulle caratteristiche fisiche rilevanti per la salute, ed incoraggiano la realizzazione di ulteriori studi che analizzino la relazione tra descrittori di forma e composizione corporea. Infine, presentiamo un nuovo metodo per caratterizzare le superfici tridimensionali mediante il calcolo di una funzione chiamata \u201cArea projection transform\u201d, la quale misura la possibilit\ue0 dei punti dello spazio 3D di essere il centro di simmetria radiale della forma a predeterminati raggi. La trasformata pu\uf2 essere usata per rilevare e caratterizzare in maniera robusta i regioni salienti (approssimativamente parti sferiche e cilindriche) ed \ue8, quindi, adatta ad applicazioni come la detection di caratteristiche anatomiche. In particolare, mostriamo che \ue8 possibile costruire grafi che uniscono questi punti seguendo i valori massimali della MAPT (Radial Simmetry Graphs) e che questi grafi possono essere usati per estrarre rilevanti propriet\ue0 della forma o definire corrispondenze puntuali robuste nei confronti di problematiche quali parti mancanti, rumore topologico e deformazioni articolate. Concludiamo che le potenziali applicazioni della tecnologia della scansione tridimensionale applicata all\u2019antropometria sono innumerevoli, limitate solo dall\u2019abilit\ue0 della conoscienza scientifica di connettere il fenomeno biologico con le appropriate descrizioni matematiche/geometriche.In this thesis we describe the developed computer method and experiments performed in order to apply whole body 3D scanner technology in support to anthropometry. The output of whole body scanners is a cloud of points, usually transformed in a triangulated mesh through the use of specific algorithms in order to support the 3D visualization of the surface and the extraction of meaningful anthropometric landmarks and measurements. Digital anthropometry has been already used in various studies to assess important health-related parameters. Digital anthropometric analysis is usually performed using device-specific and closed software solutions provided by scanner manufacturers, and requires often a careful acquisition, with strong constraints on subject pose. This may create problems in comparing data acquired in different places and performing large-scale multi-centric studies as well as in applying advanced shape analysis tools on the captured models. The aim of our work is to overcome these problems by selecting and customizing geometrical processing tools able to create an open and device-independent method for the analysis of body scanner data. We also developed and validated methods to extract automatically feature points, body segments and relevant measurements that can be used in anthropometric and metabolic research. In particular we present three experiments. In the first, using specific digital anthropometry software, we evaluated the Breuckmann BodySCAN for performance in anthropometric measurement. Subjects of the experiment were 12 young adults underwent both manual and 3D digital anthropometry (25 measurements) wearing close-fitting underwear. Duplicated manual measurement taken by one experienced anthropometrist showed correlation r 0.975-0.999; their means were significantly different in four out of 25 measurements by Student\u2019s t test. Duplicate digital measurements taken by one experienced anthropometrist and two na\uefve anthropometrists showed individual correlation coefficients r ranging 0.975-0.999 and means were significantly different in one out of 25 measurements. Most measurements taken by the experienced anthropometrist in the manual and digital mode showed significant correlation (intraclass correlation coefficient ranging 0.855-0.995, p<0.0001). We conclude that the Breuckmann BodyScan is reliable and effective tool for digital anthropometry. In a second experiment, we compare easily detectable geometrical features obtained from 3D scans of female obese (BMI > 30) subjects with body composition (measured with a DXA device) of the same subjects, in order to investigate which measurements on shape descriptors better correlate with torso and body fat. The results obtained show that some of the tested geometrical parameters have a relevant correlation, while other ones do not strongly correlate with body fat. These results support the role of digital anthropometry in investigating health-related physical characteristics and encourage the realization of further studies analyzing the relationships between shape descriptors and body composition. Finally, we present a novel method to characterize 3D surfaces through the computation of a function called Area Projection Transform, measuring the likelihood of points in the 3D space to be center of radial symmetry at selected scales (radii). The transform can be used to detect and characterize robustly salient regions (approximately spherical and cylindrical parts) and it is, therefore, suitable for applications like anatomical features detection. In particular, we show that it is possible to build graphs joining these points following maximal values of the MAPT (Radial Symmetry Graphs) and that these graphs can be used to extract relevant shape properties or to establish point correspondences on models robustly against holes, topological noise and articulated deformations. It is concluded that whole body scanning technology application to anthropometry are potentially countless, limited only by the ability of science to connect the biological phenomenon with the appropriate mathematical/geometrical descriptions

Local chiral potentials and the structure of light nuclei

We present fully local versions of the minimally non-local nucleon-nucleon potentials constructed in a previous paper [M.\ Piarulli {\it et al.}, Phys.\ Rev.\ C {\bf 91}, 024003 (2015)], and use them in hypersperical-harmonics and quantum Monte Carlo calculations of ground and excited states of $^3$H, $^3$He, $^4$He, $^6$He, and $^6$Li nuclei. The long-range part of these local potentials includes one- and two-pion exchange contributions without and with $\Delta$-isobars in the intermediate states up to order $Q^3$ ($Q$ denotes generically the low momentum scale) in the chiral expansion, while the short-range part consists of contact interactions up to order $Q^4$. The low-energy constants multiplying these contact interactions are fitted to the 2013 Granada database in two different ranges of laboratory energies, either 0--125 MeV or 0--200 MeV, and to the deuteron binding energy and $nn$ singlet scattering length. Fits to these data are performed for three models characterized by long- and short-range cutoffs, $R_{\rm L}$ and $R_{\rm S}$ respectively, ranging from $(R_{\rm L},R_{\rm S})=(1.2,0.8)$ fm down to $(0.8,0.6)$ fm. The long-range (short-range) cutoff regularizes the one- and two-pion exchange (contact) part of the potential.Comment: 29 pages, 3 figure

A monoclonal antibody prevents aggregation of the NBD1 domain of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator

The homozygous deletion of the phenylalanine at position 508 (ΔPhe508) in the first nucleotide-binding domain (NBD1) of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) is the most common CF-causing genetic defect. It has been proposed that the propensity of NBD1 to aggregate may lead to a lower display of the CFTR chloride channel to the cell membrane and to the disease, thus opening an avenue for the pharmacological development of CFTR folding correctors. Here, we show that a human monoclonal antibody fragment specific to the folded conformation of NBD1 inhibits the aggregation of NBD1 in vitro. However, in contrast to the previously published observations, we proved experimentally that NBD1 of wild-type and ΔPhe508 version of CFTR display comparable propensities to aggregate in vitro and that the corresponding full-length CFTR protein reaches the cell membrane with comparable efficiency in mammalian cell expression systems. On the basis of our results, the ‘folding defect' hypothesis seems unlikely to represent the causal mechanism for the pathogenesis of CF. A solid understanding of how the ΔPhe508 deletion leads to the disease represents an absolute requirement for the development of effective drugs against C

Local chiral interactions and magnetic structure of few-nucleon systems

The magnetic form factors of $^2$H, $^3$H, and $^3$He, deuteron photodisintegration cross sections at low energies, and deuteron threshold electrodisintegration cross sections at backward angles in a wide range of momentum transfers, are calculated with the chiral two-nucleon (and three-nucleon) interactions including $\Delta$ intermediate states that have recently been constructed in configuration space. The $A\,$=$\,$3 wave functions are obtained from hyperspherical-harmonics solutions of the Schr\"odinger equation. The electromagnetic current includes one- and two-body terms, the latter induced by one- and two-pion exchange (OPE and TPE, respectively) mechanisms and contact interactions. The contributions associated with $\Delta$ intermediate states are only retained at the OPE level, and are neglected in TPE loop (tree-level) corrections to two-body (three-body) current operators. Expressions for these currents are derived and regularized in configuration space for consistency with the interactions. The low-energy constants that enter the contact few-nucleon systems. The predicted form factors and deuteron electrodisintegration cross section are in excellent agreement with experiment for momentum transfers up to 2--3 fm$^{-1}$. However, the experimental values for the deuteron photodisintegration cross section are consistently underestimated by theory, unless use is made of the Siegert form of the electric dipole transition operator. A complete analysis of the results is provided, including the clarification of the origin of the aforementioned discrepancy.Comment: 24 pages, 13 figure