The ALICE electromagnetic calorimeter high level triggers

The ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) detector yields a huge sample of data from different sub-detectors. On-line data processing is applied to select and reduce the volume of the stored data. ALICE applies a multi-level hardware trigger scheme where fast detectors are used to feed a three-level (L0, L1, and L2) deep chain. The High-Level Trigger (HLT) is a fourth filtering stage sitting logically between the L2 trigger and the data acquisition event building. The EMCal detector comprises a large area electromagnetic calorimeter that extends the momentum measurement of photons and neutral mesons up to $p_T=250$ GeV/c, which improves the ALICE capability to perform jet reconstruction with measurement of the neutral energy component of jets. An online reconstruction and trigger chain has been developed within the HLT framework to sharpen the EMCal hardware triggers, by combining the central barrel tracking information with the shower reconstruction (clusters) in the calorimeter. In the present report the status and the functionality of the software components developed for the EMCal HLT online reconstruction and trigger chain will be discussed, as well as preliminary results from their commissioning performed during the 2011 LHC running period.Comment: Proceeding for the CHEP 2012 Conferenc

Nasal cellularity in 183 unselected schoolchildren aged 9 to 11 years

Although rhinitis is extremely frequent in children, methods for assessing the severity of nasal inflammation produce results with wide variability and hence weak clinical significance. We designed this epidemiologic investigation to define the clinical usefulness of assessing nasal cellularity in children

Sulfoglycolipids analogues as new molecules for tumor treatment

The sulfoglycolipids sulfoquinovosylacylglycerols(SQAG) are abundant sulfur-containing glycerolipids that are associated with photosynthetic organisms especially with a large number of marine algae. Their main structural feature is the anionic head group constituent sulfoquinovose, a derivative of glucose in which the 6-hydroxyl is replaced by a sulfonate group, \uf061-linked to the sn-3 position of a diacylglycerol1. Recently reported biological activities of SQAGs, including inhibitory effects on HIV-reverse transcriptase, and mammalian DNA polymerase, proliferation of some cancer cell lines, angiogenesis (especially when coupled with tumor radiotherapy), and apoptosis induction, make these compounds very attractive for their potential in cancer therapy. Also, extractive SQAG mixtures are known to inhibit in vitro TPA induced tumor promotion stage. To obtain new active compounds for cancer therapy by structural modification of natural SQAGs, SQAG analogues have been synthesized in which the sulfoquinovose moiety is linked to the 2 position of glycerol carrying acyl chains of different length. Similar compounds in fact, with a 6\u2019-hydroxyl instead of a 6\u2019-sulfonate (namely some glycoglycerolipid analogues), are known to be active as anti-tumor-promoters in TPA promoted carcinogenesis in vitro and in vivo experiments. A synthetic strategy has been used to selectively insert the proper chemical functionalities (i.e. sulfonate and acyl chains) at the desired positions of the previously prepared glucosylglycerol skeleton to obtain the target compounds. Biological evaluation of anti-tumor activities will be performed including the study of their chemopreventing potential

The lecture video recording in university: A case study

The latest European statistics show that Italy has the second lowest percentage of university graduates because of different reasons such as the outdated teaching methodologies or the high costs of university tuitions. Hence, Italian universities have launched several projects to improve or innovate the pedagogical strategies, to raise the student recruitment and to increase access to education. In this work, we describe a pilot study about the use of the video recording of the traditional lessons in order to create specific university MOOCs. In particular, the degree course in Computer Science of University of Naples Federico II is involved in this project. The use of the lecture video recording reduces the MOOC costs and facilitates the contents management. In fact, the production of these MOOCs does not require professional operators so it is possible to involve students of university part-time job or Civil Service volunteers. The results show a good satisfaction by students and prove as these MOOCs can support the university teaching

The effect on rat thymocytes of the simultaneous invivo exposure to 50-Hz electric and magnetic field and to continuous light.

Thymus plays an important role in the immune system and can be modulated by numerous environmental factors, including electromagnetic fields (EMF). The present study has been undertaken with the aim to investigate the role of long-term exposure to extremely low frequency electric and magnetic fields (ELF-EMF) on thymocytes of rats housed in a regular dark/light cycle or under continuous light. Male Sprague-Dawley rats, 2 months old, were exposed or sham exposed for 8 months to 50-Hz sinusoidal EMF at two levels of field strength (1 kV/m, 5 microT and 5 kV/m, 100 microT, respectively). Thymus from adult animals exhibits signs of gradual atrophy mainly due to collagen deposition and fat substitution. This physiological involution may be accelerated by continuous light exposure that induces a massive death of thymocytes. The concurrent exposure to continuous light and to ELF-EMF did not change significantly the rate of mitoses compared to sham-exposed rats, whereas the amount of cell death was significantly increased, also in comparison with animals exposed to EMF in a 12-h dark-light cycle. In conclusion, long-term exposure to ELF-EMF, in animals housed under continuous light, may reinforce the alterations due to a photic stress, suggesting that, in vivo, stress and ELF-EMF exposure can act in synergy determining a more rapid involution of the thymus and might be responsible for an increased susceptibility to the potentially hazardous effects of ELF-EM

Chemoenzymatic synthesis of sulfoquinovosylmonoacylglycerols (SQMG) as anti-tumor-promoters

During our search for new glycoglycerolipids active in cancer chemoprevention, in recent years we have synthesized a number of esters of 2-O-beta-D-glycosylglycerols in which the length, shape, number and position of the acyl chain, and the type of sugar (alpha\uf020and beta glucose or galactose) were varied. These compounds were found to be very active in inhibiting the tumor-promoting activity of the phorbol ester TPA both in in vitro and in in vivo tests, being such activities mainly influenced by the changes of the acyl chains length. Sulfoquinovosylacylglycerols are acylated sulfoglycolipids in which sulfoquinovose (6-deoxy-6-sulfo-glucose) is alpha-linked to the sn-3 position of glycerol. These compounds exhibit noteworthy biological activities, that make them very attractive for their use in cancer therapy. Here we report the synthesis of 6\u2019-sulfo-derivatives (SQMG) based on the skeleton of 2-O-beta-D-glucosylglycerol to which previously synthesized biologically active glucoglycerolipid analogues are related. A chemoenzymatic strategy has been used to selectively insert the proper chemical functionalities (i.e. acyl chain) at the desired position of glucosylglycerol to obtain the target compounds. Their potential as anti-tumor-promoters will be also discussed

Editorial: Congenital and perinatal infections: How to prevent sequelaes in neonates and children

The current severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has overwhelmingly absorbed attention and health resources for 2 years, allowing us to reflect that infections are a permanent health and social problem, causing morbidity and mortality. They require organization, important prevention measures, and containment. This is particularly true in the neonatal age, where infections remain a complex problem with serious consequences

Diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide in children with type 1 diabetes

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