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Manipulation by magnetic frustration in ferrotoroidal spin chains via curvature and torsion
Get PDFGeometric effects in curvilinear nanomagnets can enable chiral, anisotropic, and even magnetoelectric responses. Here, we study the effects of magnetic frustration in curvilinear (quasi-)one-dimensional magnets represented by spin chains arranged along closed space curves of constant torsion. Considering the cases of easy- and hard-axis anisotropy in ferro- and antiferromagnetic samples, we determine their ground states and analyze the related magnetoelectric multipoles. A constant torsion along the chain results in alternating regions of high and low curvature, facilitating the spin spiral state perturbed by the (anti)periodic boundary conditions on the magnetic order parameter. While easy-axis ferromagnetic chains develop a purely toroidal configuration with the magnetic toroidal moment oriented along the geometry symmetry axis, hard-axis antiferromagnetic chains support multiple magnetic toroidal domains. Our findings suggest that tailoring curvature and torsion of a spin chain enables a different physical mechanism for magnetic frustration, which can be observed in the inhomogeneity of the magnetic order parameter and in the local ferrotoroidal responses
Clinical, Laboratory, and Molecular Characteristics of Inherited Vitamin K–Dependent Coagulation Factors Deficiency
No full textVitamin K-dependent coagulation factors deficiency (VKCFD) is a rare autosomal recessive genetic disease characterized by impaired levels of multiple coagulation factors (II, VII, IX, and X) and natural anticoagulants (proteins C and S). VKCFD is part of familial multiple coagulation factor deficiencies, reporting overall 50 affected families thus far. Disease manifestations are quite heterogeneous, bleeding symptoms may vary, and even, although generally mild, some patients may succumb to fatal outcomes. VKCFD diagnosis may be delayed because the disease phenotype simulates the most frequently acquired deficiencies of vitamin K. First-line coagulation assays, prothrombin time/international normalized ratio (PT/INR) and activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), are both prolonged; mixing test typically normalizes the clotting times; and vitamin K-dependent coagulation factors will be variably decreased. Molecularly, VKCFD is associated with mutations in γ-glutamyl-carboxylase (GGCX) or vitamin K epoxide reductase complex subunit 1 (VKORC1) genes. Vitamin K is involved not only in the biosynthesis of coagulation proteins but also in bone metabolism and cell proliferation. Therapeutic options are based on vitamin K supplementation, coagulation factors (prothrombin complex), and fresh frozen plasma, in case of severe bleeding episodes. Two case studies here illustrate the diagnostic challenges of VKCFD: case 1 depicts a woman with a history of bleeding episodes, diagnosed, only in her third decade of life with inherited homozygous GGCX gene mutation. Case 2 shows a man with an acquired vitamin K deficiency caused by Crohn's disease. Better understanding of GGCX and VKORC1 mutations aids in prognosis and treatment planning, with emerging insights suggesting potential limitations in the effectiveness of vitamin K supplementation in certain mutations
Controllable Conformer for Speech Enhancement and Recognition
No full textWe propose a novel approach to speech enhancement, termed Controllable ConforMer for Speech Enhancement (CCMSE), which leverages a Conformer-based architecture integrated with a control factor embedding module. Our method is designed to optimize speech quality for both human auditory perception and automatic speech recognition (ASR). It is observed that while mild denoising typically preserves speech naturalness, stronger denoising can improve human auditory tasks but often at the cost of ASR accuracy due to increased distortion. To address this, we introduce an algorithm that balances these trade-offs. By utilizing differential equations to interpolate between outputs at varying levels of denoising intensity, our method effectively combines the robustness of mild denoising with the clarity of stronger denoising, resulting in enhanced speech that is well-suited for both human and machine listeners. Experimental results on the CHiME-4 dataset validate the effectiveness of our approach. Additionally, to directly evaluate our method, a listening test demo is provided: https://zelokuo.github.io/CCMSE_demo
Verso uno sviluppo sostenibile? L'impatto della Dir. 2024/1799/UE relativa a norme comuni che promuovono la riparazione di beni sui rapporti tra consumatore, fabbricante e venditore
Get PDFIl contributo conduce un’analisi delle disposizioni introdotte dalla dir. 2024/1799/UE, la quale ha come obiettivo la promozione della riparazione dei beni nel mercato europeo. Individuato il quadro normativo in cui l’intervento del legislatore europeo si colloca, si approfondiscono le novità introdotte, quali l’obbligo di riparazione gravante sui fabbricanti, il modulo europeo di informazioni sulla riparazione e la piattaforma online per la riparazione. Particolare attenzione è infine dedicata alle modifiche apportate alla dir. 2019/771/UE in materia di vendita di beni di consumo.The paper conducts an analysis of the provisions introduced by Directive 2024/1799/EU, which aims to promote the repair of goods in the European market. Identified the legal framework in which the Directive takes place, the new features introduced, such as the obligation to repair on manufacturers, the European Repair information Form and the online platform for repair, are discussed in detail. Finally, particular attention is paid to
the amendments to Sale of Goods Directive 2019/771/EU
Herbal and Dietary Supplements as Adjunctive Treatment for Mild SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Italy
Get PDFDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, several observational studies proved a certain efficacy of nutraceuticals, herbal products, and other dietary supplements as adjuvant therapies used alongside antiviral drugs. Although their use has not been widespread in Italy, according to preliminary evidence, many supplements with demonstrated immunomodulatory effects, such as vitamins C and D, herbal medicines and essential oils, might relieve the respiratory symptoms of COVID-19, since SARS-CoV-2 can activate inflammasome-mediated inflammatory signaling pathways. Other observational studies have shown that herbal treatments, such as Echinacea purpurea and ginseng, help alleviate respiratory symptoms and reduce serum levels of inflammatory cytokines, which are typically overexpressed in both adult and pediatric SARS-CoV-2 patients. Further, vitamins C and D can attenuate the immune response thanks to their cytokine suppression ability and to their known antimicrobial activity and potential to modulate T helper cell response. The strong immune response triggered by SARS-CoV-2 infection is responsible for the severity of the disease. Preliminary data have also shown that L-arginine, an endothelial-derived relaxing factor, is able to modulate endothelial damage, which appears to be one of the main targets of this systemic disease. Finally, some essential oils and their isolated compounds, such as eucalyptol, may be helpful in reducing many of the respiratory symptoms of COVID-19, although others, such as menthol, are not recommended, since it can lead to an undervaluation of the clinical status of a patient. In this narrative review, despite the lack of strong evidence in this field, we aimed to give an overview of the current available literature (mainly observational and cross-sectional studies) regarding herbal products and dietary supplements and their use in the treatment of mild disease from SARS-CoV-2 infection. Obviously, dietary supplements and herbal products do not constitute a standardized treatment for COVID-19 disease, but they could represent an adjunctive and useful treatment when used together with antivirals
Limits of hypercyclic operators on Hilbert spaces
Get PDFThis article concerns the operators T E L(H), defined on a separable Hilbert space H, that belong to the norm closure HC(H) in L(H) of the set HC(H) of all hypercyclic operators. Starting from a Herrero's characterization of these operators [11] we deduce some criteria that are very useful in many concrete cases. We also show that if T E L(H) is invertible then T E HC(H) if and only if T-1 E HC(H). This result extends to HC(H) a known result of Kitai and Herrero established for hypercyclic operators, ([13]). (c) 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Joint health status in people with moderate hemophilia A: a cross-sectional multicenter study
Get PDFBackground: The prevalence of arthropathy in people with moderate hemophilia A (mHA) is highly variable. People with mHA are often undertreated, and this may lead to joint damage and worsen their quality of life. Objectives: The aim of the present study was to evaluate joint status in mHA by means of point-of-care ultrasound (PoCUS) and clinical examination. Methods: Consecutive people with mHA receiving on-demand replacement treatment underwent a clinical examination of joint status according to the Hemophilia Joint Health Score (HJHS) protocol. On the same day, all patients underwent a PoCUS assessment according to the Hemophilia Early Detection by UltraSound (HEAD-US) protocol. Results: A total of 51 subjects were included. The median HJHS score was 2.0 (IQR, 0-3.0). A 0 to 1 HJHS score was found in 23 people with mHA (45.1%), between 2 and 3 in 17 (33.3%) and >3 in 11 (21.6%). The median HEAD-US score was 2.0 (IQR, 1-7), and a statistically significant correlation between HJHS and HEAD-US was found (rho = 0.732; P < .001). Osteochondral damage was found in 21.6% of patients, and hypertrophic synovium (HS) was found in 29.4%. Among those reporting a 0 to 1 HJHS score, 13.0% showed HS. Analysis at the joint level showed that the most commonly affected joint was the ankle, both for osteochondral damage and the presence of HS. Conclusion: Our study suggests that the prevalence of arthropathy changes in people with mHA receiving on-demand treatment is not negligible and that PoCUS is able to detect osteochondral damage as well as HS in this clinical setting. A more extensive screening of the joint status could be useful to tailor treatment and improve outcomes in mHA
Desiderii Erasmi Roterodami Scripta minora ad Novum Testamentum pertinentia, Introduction, Text and Commentary by Carlo M. Lucarini and S. Seidel-Menchi
No full textWe publish the first critical edition of Erasmus' Opera minora which treat textual problem related to the New Testament. We offer a critical edition and a commentary
Back to the future: An experiment on ecological restoration
No full textThe urgency of climate, biodiversity, and pollution crises has prompted international and national institutions
to move beyond the prevention and mitigation of damages and to design policies aimed at promoting ecological
restoration. In this paper, we address this emerging policy challenge by presenting experimental evidence on
individuals’ propensity to contribute to restoration activities. Specifically, our design links a common pool
resource game to a public good game to investigate how previous resource exploitation influences restoration
decisions. We find that history matters since subjects who participate in resource depletion show a different
behavior as compared to subjects who are only called to restore it. Specifically, while the former are subject
to behavioral lock-ins that influence the success of restoration, the latter are more prompt to restore the more
the resource is depleted
Democrazia e potere del tempo
No full textIl capitolo vuole offrire spunti di riflessione sul “tempo” considerato come esercizio di potere in riferimento alle politiche e alle modalità attraverso le quali il potere viene esercitato dallo Stato (come, nel caso del tempo burocratico, del tempo amministrativo, delle scadenze, dei tempi di attesa nel ricevere risposte, etc.). La categoria “tempo” rimanda non soltanto a diversi significati, ma anche a numerose esperienze che ciascuno può fare durante la propria quotidianità. Pertanto, il tempo diviene centrale per costruire la cornice all’interno della quale poter collocare la vita sociale e i sistemi burocratici. Quando, inoltre, il tempo è associato al potere può dare origine a problematiche difficili e complesse, poiché fortemente pervasive ed intrecciate ad altre dimensioni della nostra esistenza. Si farà riferimento ai legami tra il tempo e il potere con particolare attenzione all’analisi dei percorsi di accoglienza dei migranti in Italia