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

Abdominal drainage after elective colorectal surgery: propensity score-matched retrospective analysis of an Italian cohort

background: In italy, surgeons continue to drain the abdominal cavity in more than 50 per cent of patients after colorectal resection. the aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of abdominal drain placement on early adverse events in patients undergoing elective colorectal surgery. methods: a database was retrospectively analysed through a 1:1 propensity score-matching model including 21 covariates. the primary endpoint was the postoperative duration of stay, and the secondary endpoints were surgical site infections, infectious morbidity rate defined as surgical site infections plus pulmonary infections plus urinary infections, anastomotic leakage, overall morbidity rate, major morbidity rate, reoperation and mortality rates. the results of multiple logistic regression analyses were presented as odds ratios (OR) and 95 per cent c.i. results: a total of 6157 patients were analysed to produce two well-balanced groups of 1802 patients: group (A), no abdominal drain(s) and group (B), abdominal drain(s). group a versus group B showed a significantly lower risk of postoperative duration of stay &gt;6 days (OR 0.60; 95 per cent c.i. 0.51-0.70; P &lt; 0.001). a mean postoperative duration of stay difference of 0.86 days was detected between groups. no difference was recorded between the two groups for all the other endpoints. conclusion: this study confirms that placement of abdominal drain(s) after elective colorectal surgery is associated with a non-clinically significant longer (0.86 days) postoperative duration of stay but has no impact on any other secondary outcomes, confirming that abdominal drains should not be used routinely in colorectal surgery

Bowel preparation for elective colorectal resection: multi-treatment machine learning analysis on 6241 cases from a prospective Italian cohort

background current evidence concerning bowel preparation before elective colorectal surgery is still controversial. this study aimed to compare the incidence of anastomotic leakage (AL), surgical site infections (SSIs), and overall morbidity (any adverse event, OM) after elective colorectal surgery using four different types of bowel preparation. methods a prospective database gathered among 78 Italian surgical centers in two prospective studies, including 6241 patients who underwent elective colorectal resection with anastomosis for malignant or benign disease, was re-analyzed through a multi-treatment machine-learning model considering no bowel preparation (NBP; No. = 3742; 60.0%) as the reference treatment arm, compared to oral antibiotics alone (oA; No. = 406; 6.5%), mechanical bowel preparation alone (MBP; No. = 1486; 23.8%), or in combination with oAB (MoABP; No. = 607; 9.7%). twenty covariates related to biometric data, surgical procedures, perioperative management, and hospital/center data potentially affecting outcomes were included and balanced into the model. the primary endpoints were AL, SSIs, and OM. all the results were reported as odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). results compared to NBP, MBP showed significantly higher AL risk (OR 1.82; 95% CI 1.23-2.71; p = .003) and OM risk (OR 1.38; 95% CI 1.10-1.72; p = .005), no significant differences for all the endpoints were recorded in the oA group, whereas MoABP showed a significantly reduced SSI risk (OR 0.45; 95% CI 0.25-0.79; p = .008). conclusions MoABP significantly reduced the SSI risk after elective colorectal surgery, therefore representing a valid alternative to NBP