On the History and Prospects of Three-Dimensional Human-Computer Interfaces for the provision of Air Traffic Control Services

This paper is an essay on the history and prospects of three-dimensional (3D) human- computer interfaces for the provision of air traffic control services. Over the past twenty-five years, many empirical studies have addressed this topic. However, the results have been deemed incoherent and self-contradictory and no common conclusion has been reached. To escape from the deadlock of the experimental approach, this study takes a step back into the conceptual development of 3D interfaces, addressing the fundamental benefits and drawbacks of 3D rendering. Under this light, many results in the literature start to make sense and some conclusions can be drawn. Also, with an emphasis on the future of air traffic control, this research identifies a set of tasks wherein the intrinsic weaknesses of 3D rendering can be minimized and its advantages can be exploited. These are the ones that do not require accurate estimates of distances or angles. For future developments in the field of 3D interfaces for air traffic control operators, we suggest focusing on those tasks only

From the history of the recognitions of the remains to the reconstruction of the face of Dante Alighieri by means of techniques of virtual reality and forensic anthropology

The work consists of the reconstruction of the face of the great poet called Dante Alighieri through a multidisciplinary approach that matches traditional techniques (manual ones), usually used in forensic anthropology, with digital methodologies that take advantage of technologies born in manufacturer-military fields but that are more and more often applied to the field of the cultural heritage. Unable to get the original skull of Dante, the work started from the data and the elements collected by Fabio Frassetto and Giuseppe Sergi, two important anthropologists, respectively at the University of Bologna and Rome, in an investigation carried out in 1921, sixth century anniversary of his death, on the remains of the poet collected in Ravenna. Thanks to this, we have a very accurate description of Dante’s bones, including 297 metric data inherent to the whole skeleton, some photographs in the scale of the skull, the various norms and many other bones, as well as a model of the skull subsequently realized by Frassetto. According to these information, a geometric reconstruction of Dante Alighieri skull including the jaw was carried out through the employment and integration of the instruments and technologies of the virtual reality, and from this the relative physical model through fast prototype was realized. An important aspect of the work regards in a particular manner the methodology of 3D modelling proposed for the new reconstruction of the jaw (not found in the course of the 1921 recognition), starting from a reference model. The model of the skull prototype is then useful as the basis for the successive stage of facial reconstruction through the traditional techniques of forensic art

Search for Two-Neutrino Double Electron Capture of 124^{124}Xe with XENON100

Two-neutrino double electron capture is a rare nuclear decay where two electrons are simultaneously captured from the atomic shell. For $^{124}$Xe this process has not yet been observed and its detection would provide a new reference for nuclear matrix element calculations. We have conducted a search for two-neutrino double electron capture from the K-shell of $^{124}$Xe using 7636 kg$\cdot$d of data from the XENON100 dark matter detector. Using a Bayesian analysis we observed no significant excess above background, leading to a lower 90 % credibility limit on the half-life $T_{1/2}>6.5\times10^{20}$ yr. We also evaluated the sensitivity of the XENON1T experiment, which is currently being commissioned, and find a sensitivity of $T_{1/2}>6.1\times10^{22}$ yr after an exposure of 2 t$\cdot$yr.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Removing krypton from xenon by cryogenic distillation to the ppq level

The XENON1T experiment aims for the direct detection of dark matter in a cryostat filled with 3.3 tons of liquid xenon. In order to achieve the desired sensitivity, the background induced by radioactive decays inside the detector has to be sufficiently low. One major contributor is the $\beta$-emitter $^{85}$Kr which is an intrinsic contamination of the xenon. For the XENON1T experiment a concentration of natural krypton in xenon $\rm{^{nat}}$Kr/Xe < 200 ppq (parts per quadrillion, 1 ppq = 10$^{-15}$ mol/mol) is required. In this work, the design of a novel cryogenic distillation column using the common McCabe-Thiele approach is described. The system demonstrated a krypton reduction factor of 6.4$\cdot$10$^5$ with thermodynamic stability at process speeds above 3 kg/h. The resulting concentration of $\rm{^{nat}}$Kr/Xe < 26 ppq is the lowest ever achieved, almost one order of magnitude below the requirements for XENON1T and even sufficient for future dark matter experiments using liquid xenon, such as XENONnT and DARWIN

Minimally invasive vs. open segmental resection of the splenic flexure for cancer: a nationwide study of the Italian Society of Surgical Oncology-Colorectal Cancer Network (SICO-CNN)

Background Evidence on the efficacy of minimally invasive (MI) segmental resection of splenic flexure cancer (SFC) is not available, mostly due to the rarity of this tumor. This study aimed to determine the survival outcomes of MI and open treatment, and to investigate whether MI is noninferior to open procedure regarding short-term outcomes. Methods This nationwide retrospective cohort study included all consecutive SFC segmental resections performed in 30 referral centers between 2006 and 2016. The primary endpoint assessing efficacy was the overall survival (OS). The secondary endpoints included cancer-specific mortality (CSM), recurrence rate (RR), short-term clinical outcomes (a composite of Clavien-Dindo &gt; 2 complications and 30-day mortality), and pathological outcomes (a composite of lymph nodes removed &gt;= 12, and proximal and distal free resection margins length &gt;= 5 cm). For these composites, a 6% noninferiority margin was chosen based on clinical relevance estimate. Results A total of 606 patients underwent either an open (208, 34.3%) or a MI (398, 65.7%) SFC segmental resection. At univariable analysis, OS and CSM were improved in the MI group (log-rank test p = 0.004 and Gray's tests p = 0.004, respectively), while recurrences were comparable (Gray's tests p = 0.434). Cox multivariable analysis did not support that OS and CSM were better in the MI group (p = 0.109 and p = 0.163, respectively). Successful pathological outcome, observed in 53.2% of open and 58.3% of MI resections, supported noninferiority (difference 5.1%; 1-sided 95%CI - 4.7% to infinity). Successful short-term clinical outcome was documented in 93.3% of Open and 93.0% of MI procedures, and supported noninferiority as well (difference - 0.3%; 1-sided 95%CI - 5.0% to infinity). Conclusions Among patients with SFC, the minimally invasive approach met the criterion for noninferiority for postoperative complications and pathological outcomes, and was found to provide results of OS, CSM, and RR comparable to those of open resection

Search for Two-Neutrino Double Electron Capture of ¹²⁴Xe with XENON100

Two-neutrino double electron capture is a rare nuclear decay where two electrons are simultaneously captured from the atomic shell. For $^{124}$Xe this process has not yet been observed and its detection would provide a new reference for nuclear matrix element calculations. We have conducted a search for two-neutrino double electron capture from the K-shell of $^{124}$Xe using 7636 kg$\cdot$d of data from the XENON100 dark matter detector. Using a Bayesian analysis we observed no significant excess above background, leading to a lower 90 % credibility limit on the half-life $T_{1/2}>6.5\times10^{20}$ yr. We also evaluated the sensitivity of the XENON1T experiment, which is currently being commissioned, and find a sensitivity of $T_{1/2}>6.1\times10^{22}$ yr after an exposure of 2 t$\cdot$yr

Physics reach of the XENON1T dark matter experiment

The XENON1T experiment is currently in the commissioning phase at theLaboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, Italy. In this article we study theexperiment's expected sensitivity to the spin-independent WIMP-nucleoninteraction cross section, based on Monte Carlo predictions of the electronicand nuclear recoil backgrounds. The total electronic recoil background in $1$ tonne fiducial volume and ($1$,$12$) keV electronic recoil equivalent energy region, before applying anyselection to discriminate between electronic and nuclear recoils, is $(1.80 \pm0.15) \cdot 10^{-4}$ ($\rm{kg} \cdot day \cdot keV)^{-1}$, mainly due to thedecay of $^{222}\rm{Rn}$ daughters inside the xenon target. The nuclear recoilbackground in the corresponding nuclear recoil equivalent energy region ($4$,$50$) keV, is composed of $(0.6 \pm 0.1)$ ($\rm{t} \cdot y)^{-1}$ fromradiogenic neutrons, $(1.8 \pm 0.3) \cdot 10^{-2}$ ($\rm{t} \cdot y)^{-1}$ fromcoherent scattering of neutrinos, and less than $0.01$ ($\rm{t} \cdot y)^{-1}$from muon-induced neutrons. The sensitivity of XENON1T is calculated with the Profile Likelihood Ratiomethod, after converting the deposited energy of electronic and nuclear recoilsinto the scintillation and ionization signals seen in the detector. We takeinto account the systematic uncertainties on the photon and electron emissionmodel, and on the estimation of the backgrounds, treated as nuisanceparameters. The main contribution comes from the relative scintillationefficiency $\mathcal{L}_\mathrm{eff}$, which affects both the signal from WIMPsand the nuclear recoil backgrounds. After a $2$ y measurement in $1$ t fiducialvolume, the sensitivity reaches a minimum cross section of $1.6 \cdot 10^{-47}$cm$^2$ at m$_\chi$=$50$ GeV/$c^2$

Online 222^{222}Rn removal by cryogenic distillation in the XENON100 experiment

We describe the purification of xenon from traces of the radioactive noble gas radon using a cryogenic distillation column. The distillation column was integrated into the gas purification loop of the XENON100 detector for online radon removal. This enabled us to significantly reduce the constant ²²²Rn background originating from radon emanation. After inserting an auxiliary ²²²Rn emanation source in the gas loop, we determined a radon reduction factor of R>27 (95% C.L.) for the distillation column by monitoring the ²²²Rn activity concentration inside the XENON100 detector

The impact of surgical delay on resectability of colorectal cancer: An international prospective cohort study

AIM: The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has provided a unique opportunity to explore the impact of surgical delays on cancer resectability. This study aimed to compare resectability for colorectal cancer patients undergoing delayed versus non-delayed surgery. METHODS: This was an international prospective cohort study of consecutive colorectal cancer patients with a decision for curative surgery (January-April 2020). Surgical delay was defined as an operation taking place more than 4 weeks after treatment decision, in a patient who did not receive neoadjuvant therapy. A subgroup analysis explored the effects of delay in elective patients only. The impact of longer delays was explored in a sensitivity analysis. The primary outcome was complete resection, defined as curative resection with an R0 margin. RESULTS: Overall, 5453 patients from 304 hospitals in 47 countries were included, of whom 6.6% (358/5453) did not receive their planned operation. Of the 4304 operated patients without neoadjuvant therapy, 40.5% (1744/4304) were delayed beyond 4 weeks. Delayed patients were more likely to be older, men, more comorbid, have higher body mass index and have rectal cancer and early stage disease. Delayed patients had higher unadjusted rates of complete resection (93.7% vs. 91.9%, P = 0.032) and lower rates of emergency surgery (4.5% vs. 22.5%, P < 0.001). After adjustment, delay was not associated with a lower rate of complete resection (OR 1.18, 95% CI 0.90-1.55, P = 0.224), which was consistent in elective patients only (OR 0.94, 95% CI 0.69-1.27, P = 0.672). Longer delays were not associated with poorer outcomes. CONCLUSION: One in 15 colorectal cancer patients did not receive their planned operation during the first wave of COVID-19. Surgical delay did not appear to compromise resectability, raising the hypothesis that any reduction in long-term survival attributable to delays is likely to be due to micro-metastatic disease

Elective cancer surgery in COVID-19-free surgical pathways during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: An international, multicenter, comparative cohort study

PURPOSE As cancer surgery restarts after the first COVID-19 wave, health care providers urgently require data to determine where elective surgery is best performed. This study aimed to determine whether COVID-19–free surgical pathways were associated with lower postoperative pulmonary complication rates compared with hospitals with no defined pathway. PATIENTS AND METHODS This international, multicenter cohort study included patients who underwent elective surgery for 10 solid cancer types without preoperative suspicion of SARS-CoV-2. Participating hospitals included patients from local emergence of SARS-CoV-2 until April 19, 2020. At the time of surgery, hospitals were defined as having a COVID-19–free surgical pathway (complete segregation of the operating theater, critical care, and inpatient ward areas) or no defined pathway (incomplete or no segregation, areas shared with patients with COVID-19). The primary outcome was 30-day postoperative pulmonary complications (pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, unexpected ventilation). RESULTS Of 9,171 patients from 447 hospitals in 55 countries, 2,481 were operated on in COVID-19–free surgical pathways. Patients who underwent surgery within COVID-19–free surgical pathways were younger with fewer comorbidities than those in hospitals with no defined pathway but with similar proportions of major surgery. After adjustment, pulmonary complication rates were lower with COVID-19–free surgical pathways (2.2% v 4.9%; adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.62; 95% CI, 0.44 to 0.86). This was consistent in sensitivity analyses for low-risk patients (American Society of Anesthesiologists grade 1/2), propensity score–matched models, and patients with negative SARS-CoV-2 preoperative tests. The postoperative SARS-CoV-2 infection rate was also lower in COVID-19–free surgical pathways (2.1% v 3.6%; aOR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.36 to 0.76). CONCLUSION Within available resources, dedicated COVID-19–free surgical pathways should be established to provide safe elective cancer surgery during current and before future SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks