The compositional and mineralogical analysis of fired pigments in Nasca pottery from Cahuachi (Peru) by the combined use of the portable PIXE-alpha and portable XRD techniques

Abstract An analytical protocol based on the combined use of the portable PIXE-alpha (Particle Induced X-ray Emission) and XRD (X-ray Diffraction) non destructive techniques developed at the LANDIS laboratory (Laboratorio di Analisi Non Distruttive) of the INFN–CNR (Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare–Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche) in Catania (Italy), was applied for the characterisation of the surface paints of some archaeological fragments of Nasca pottery from the Ceremonial Centre of Cahuachi in Southern Peru. Measurements were carried out on the black, white, red, orange and grey pigments; quantitative information on the chemical composition as well as on the mineralogical phases present on the paints were obtained. Results allowed to make some considerations about the materials and the manufacturing technique used to realise such fired pigments. It should be noted that during firing the precursor minerals composing the pigments undergo a phase transformation and their identification presents some difficulties

Introducing The Radiation-Hardened Voltage Regulators Rhfl4913 and the Rhfl6000

With the progressive scaling of the modern CMOS processes arising during the recent years, for the devices operating in space the susceptivity to the over-voltage events has increased. They have become more stringent the requirements in terms of accuracy of the supply voltage worth their reliability. For the case of CMOS memories operating at 1.5V it is essential to guarantee a variation of the nominal VOUT to within 5% including those arising on the supply voltage during the transients. Finally, for a voltage regulator operating in space one of the most salient effects are the voltage transients induced on the output by the single events (SET) that may exceed the aforementioned 5% threshold. This can be cause of damage into the circuitry fed downstream. Among the devices in ST portfolio designed to cope with the mentioned effects there are two voltage regulators, the RHFL4913 and the RHFL6000. The first one was initially developed for the harsh environment of the Large Hadron Collider. It was tested by the CERN and it was proven that it is able to operate without problems at up to 100Mrad TID at High Dose Rate without problems 1. Subsequent tests performed at low dose rates (expected in space environment), showed that this device is also ELDRS free up to 1Mrad 2. Further tests performed by NASA highlighted also a certain susceptivity to the SET (3) but this issue can be circumvented by the adoption of a properly sized up RC low pass filter put between the regulator output and the load as shown in fig.1 (4). With the above provision, this regulator is suitable for operating in space. Currently, the RHFL4913 is QMLV qualified

PRRT2 gene variant in a child with dysmorphic features, congenital microcephaly, and severe epileptic seizures: genotype-phenotype correlation?

BACKGROUND: Mutations in Proline-rich Transmembrane Protein 2 (PRRT2) have been primarily associated with individuals presenting with infantile epilepsy, including benign familial infantile epilepsy, benign infantile epilepsy, and benign myoclonus of early infancy, and/or with dyskinetic paroxysms such as paroxysmal kinesigenic dyskinesia, paroxysmal non-kinesigenic dyskinesia, and exercise-induced dyskinesia. However, the clinical manifestations of this disorder vary widely. PRRT2 encodes a protein expressed in the central nervous system that is mainly localized in the pre-synaptic neurons and is involved in the modulation of synaptic neurotransmitter release. The anomalous function of this gene has been proposed to cause dysregulation of neuronal excitability and cerebral disorders. CASE PRESENTATION: We hereby report on a young child followed-up for three years who presents with a spectrum of clinical manifestations such as congenital microcephaly, dysmorphic features, severe intellectual disability, and drug-resistant epileptic encephalopathy in association with a synonymous variant in PRRT2 gene (c.501C > T; p.Thr167Ile) of unknown clinical significance variant (VUS) revealed by diagnostic exome sequencing. CONCLUSION: Several hypotheses have been advanced on the specific role that PRRT2 gene mutations play to cause the clinical features of affected patients. To our knowledge, the severe phenotype seen in this case has never been reported in association with any clinically actionable variant, as the missense substitution detected in PRRT2 gene. Intriguingly, the same mutation was reported in the healthy father: the action of modifying factors in the affected child may be hypothesized. The report of similar observations could extend the spectrum of clinical manifestations linked to this mutation

Local cone approximations in mathematical programming

We show how to use intensively local cone approximations to obtain results in some fields of optimization theory as optimality conditions, constraint qualifications, mean value theorems and error bound

Idrocarburi e aree ad alta diversit\ue0 culturale e biologica: un\u2019analisi geografica in Amazzonia

Le operazioni di esplorazione ed estrazione di idrocarburi in diversi contesti geografici sono ampiamente documentate tra le attivit\ue0 antropiche di maggiore impatto sui sistemi socio-ecologici e sul cambiamento climatico, cosi come \ue8 riconosciuta la necessit\ue0 di politiche pi\uf9 efficaci e l'uso di tecnologie pi\uf9 pulite. Lo studio presentato in questo contributo mira a: 1) analizzare e mappare le interazioni tra le attivit\ue0 legate agli idrocarburi e le aree che presentano un'elevata diversit\ue0 e sensibilit\ue0 culturale e biologica; 2) Discutere proposte di criteri geografici per individuare aree unburnable, ovvero dove lasciare gli idrocarburi sottoterra. La metodologia si basa sulla costruzione di un geodatabase open source dell'area di studio, che corrisponde all'Amazzonia dell'Ecuador e alla Region amazzonica di Loreto in Per\uf9, area riconosciuta per la sua elevata diversit\ue0 ecologica e culturale. \uc8 stata condotta un\u2019analisi in ambiente QGIS delle sovrapposizioni tra gli aspetti socio-ecologici (aree protette, territori indigeni) e le attivit\ue0 di esplorazione e produzione di idrocarburi (riserve, blocchi, pozzi, oleodotti), oltre alla revisione di documenti scientifici e non su questi aspetti. Alcuni risultati dell'analisi GIS mostrano che quasi l'intera area di studio fa parte della provincia geologica del Putumayo-Oriente-Mara\uf1on, con una stima di 7290 milioni barili di petrolio equivalente sottoterra, dove le concessioni di idrocarburi coprono il 33% della superficie e si trovano circa 1780 pozzi. Le aree protette ricadenti nelle concessioni risultano essere il 18% e importanti sono anche le sovrapposizioni con i territori indigeni, evidenziando cos\uec l'urgenza di politiche pi\uf9 efficaci per garantire la sostenibilit\ue0 ambientale e sociale e la definizione di criteri geografici per individuare aree unburnable

Hybrid Proximal Methods for Equilibrium Problems

This paper concerns developing two hybrid proximal point methods (PPMs) for finding a common solution of some optimization-related problems. First we construct an algorithm to solve simultaneously an equilibrium problem and a variational inequality problem, combing the extragradient method for variational inequalities with an approximate PPM for equilibrium problems. Next we develop another algorithm based on an alternate approximate PPM for finding a common solution of two different equilibrium problems. We prove the global convergence of both algorithms under pseudomonotonicity assumptions

Improving the Quality of Hospital Antibiotic Use: Impact on Multidrug-Resistant Bacterial Infections in Children

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is considered a rapidly growing global public health emergency. Neonates and children are among patients for whom antibiotics are largely prescribed and for whom the risk of AMR development is high. The phenomenon of increasing AMR has led to the need to develop measures aimed at the rational and effective use of the available drugs also in children and antimicrobial stewardship (AS), which is one of the measures that in adults has showed the highest efficacy in reducing antibiotic abuse and misuse, appears as an attractive approach. The aim of this manuscript is to analyze the basic principles and strategies of pediatric AS. To this end, we searched in PubMed articles published in years 2000 to 2019 containing “antimicrobial resistance,” “antibiotic use,” “antimicrobial stewardship,” and “children” or “pediatric” as keywords. Our review showed that the balance between multi-resistant organisms and new antimicrobials is extremely precarious. The AS tools are the most important weapon at our disposal to stem the phenomenon. Careful monitoring of prescriptions, continuous training of prescribing physicians and collaboration with highly qualified multidisciplinary staff, creation of local and national guidelines, use of rapid diagnostic tests, technological means of support, and research activities by testing new broad-spectrum antibiotics are mandatory. However, all of these measures must be supported by adequate investment by national and international health organizations. Only by making AS daily practice, through the use of financial resources and dedicated staff, we can fight AMR to ensure safe and effective care for our young patients

The WISSH quasars Project: II. Giant star nurseries in hyper-luminous quasars

Studying the coupling between the energy output produced by the central quasar and the host galaxy is fundamental to fully understand galaxy evolution. Quasar feedback is indeed supposed to dramatically affect the galaxy properties by depositing large amounts of energy and momentum into the ISM. In order to gain further insights on this process, we study the SEDs of sources at the brightest end of the quasar luminosity function, for which the feedback mechanism is supposed to be at its maximum. We model the rest-frame UV-to-FIR SEDs of 16 WISE-SDSS Selected Hyper-luminous (WISSH) quasars at 1.8 < z < 4.6 disentangling the different emission components and deriving physical parameters of both the nuclear component and the host galaxy. We also use a radiative transfer code to account for the contribution of the quasar-related emission to the FIR fluxes. Most SEDs are well described by a standard combination of accretion disk+torus and cold dust emission. However, about 30% of them require an additional emission component in the NIR, with temperatures peaking at 750K, which indicates the presence of a hotter dust component in these powerful quasars. We measure extreme values of both AGN bolometric luminosity (LBOL > 10^47 erg/s) and SFR (up to 2000 Msun/yr). A new relation between quasar and star-formation luminosity is derived (LSF propto LQSO^(0.73)) by combining several Herschel-detected quasar samples from z=0 to 4. Future observations will be crucial to measure the molecular gas content in these systems, probe the impact between quasar-driven outflows and on-going star-formation, and reveal the presence of merger signatures in their host galaxies.Comment: 19 pages, 12 figures; Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics on June 13, 201