140 research outputs found
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LexisNexis practice guide ::Massachusetts e-discovery and evidence.
No full textLexisNexis practice guide Massachusetts e-discovery and evidence is the source for in-depth practical guidance on conducting discovery of electronically stored information and successfully using that electronic evidence in federal or state court litigation in Massachusetts in light of the proposed amendments to the Massachusetts rules of civil procedure dealing with e-discovery. Each chapter reflects the keen legal analysis and practical insights of the author, Jonathan Sablone, a partner at Nixon Peabody LLP who chairs the firm's Electronic Discovery and Digital Evidence Team
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LexisNexis practice guide ::Massachusetts e-discovery and evidence - index.
No full textLexisNexis practice guide Massachusetts e-discovery and evidence is the source for in-depth practical guidance on conducting discovery of electronically stored information and successfully using that electronic evidence in federal or state court litigation in Massachusetts in light of the proposed amendments to the Massachusetts rules of civil procedure dealing with e-discovery. Each chapter reflects the keen legal analysis and practical insights of the author, Jonathan Sablone, a partner at Nixon Peabody LLP who chairs the firm's Electronic Discovery and Digital Evidence Team
Liquid argon scintillation read-out with silicon devices
No full textSilicon photosensors represent a viable alternative to standard photomultipliers in fields such as communications and medical imaging. We explored the interesting possibility of using these sensors in combination with liquid argon (LAr) for astroparticle physics applications such as neutrino, dark matter and double beta decay experiments. In fact, silicon photosensors have detection efficiencies comparable with those of the highest performance PMTs and can be manufactured with high level of radiopurity. In particular within the on-going R&D activity of the SILENT project (Low background and low noise techniques for double beta decay physics funded by ASPERA) a large area SiPM (Silicon PhotoMultiplier - Hamamatsu S11828-3344M - 1.7 cm2 area) has been installed in a LAr scintillation chamber of 0.5 liters volume together with a cryogenic photomultiplier tube (Hamamatsu R11065) used as a reference. The liquid argon chamber has been exposed to many gamma sources of different energies and single photoelectron response and light yield for the SiPM and PMT have been measured and compared. In this contribution the results of the tests, and the ongoing R&D to optimize the SiPM for cryogenic and for ultralow background applications, are reported, as well as the possible application in the GERDA experiment on Double Beta Decay Searches of 76Ge
Focal lesions in the rat central nervous system induced by endothelin-1
No full textAxon injury following cerebral ischemia has received little scientific attention compared to the abundance of information dealing with the pathophysiology of grey matter ischemia. There are differences in the initial response of grey and white matter to ischemia in vitro. In this study we investigate whether the vasoactive peptide, endothelin-1, can generate a focal ischemic lesion in the white matter and compare the findings with endothelin-1-induced lesions in the grey matter. Using a minimally invasive technique to microinject endothelin-1 into selected brain regions, we observed an acute reduction in local MRI perfusion in the injected hemisphere after 1 hour. Twenty-four hours after microinjection of 10 pmoles of endothelin-1, we observed a loss of neurons in the grey matter. At 72 hours, neutrophils were absent and a macrophage/microglia response and astrocyte gliosis were detected. No breakdown in the blood-brain barrier was detected. After injection of 10 pmoles endothelin-1 into the cortical white matter, we observed prolific amyloid precursor protein-positive immunostaining (indicative of axonal disruption) and an increase in tau-1 immunostaining in oligodendrocytes at 6 hours. Similar to the grey matter lesions, no neutrophils were present, a macrophage/microglia response did not occur until 72 hours and there was no disruption in the blood-brain barrier. Focal injections of endothelin-1 into specific areas of the rat CNS represent a model to investigate therapeutic approaches to white matter ischemia
SiPM development for LAr DM experiments
No full textNext generation multi-ton scale noble liquid experiments have the unique opportunity to discover dark matter particles at the TeV scale, reaching the paramount sensitivity of 10^-48 cm^2 in the WIMP nucleon scattering cross section. A prerequisite will be the reduction of radiogenic background sources to negligible levels, only possible if ultrapure high efficiency photosensors are available for the scintillation light readout. Major requirements for the next generation experiments' photosensors are: high quantum efficiency, high gain, high single photon resolution, wide linear dynamic range, good time resolution, relatively large sensitive area, low radioactivity, low power consumption and low price. Ultralow radioactivity cryogenic photomultipliers have a metal body, a quartz window and a specially manufactured low temperature photocathode. Radioactivity of the metal and ceramic parts of the electron multiplication system is a key concern as a factor 100 improvement in radiopurity would be necessary. Moreover, large limitations of the PMTs performances are observed at low temperature, with emphasized fatigue, hysteresis and breakdown effects, especially at liquid argon temperature. An attractive alternative is represented by the silicon photomultiplier arrays (SiPM arrays), with much lower intrinsic radioactive background and smaller mass in addition to unrivalled performances in single photon detection, enhanced in the cryogenic environment. An overview of the planned development undergoing at INFN Napoli and LNGS in collaboration with FBK will be presented as well as preliminary results of the SiPM behaviour as a function of the temperature
WEEKLY VIGOROUS PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND DIETARY HABITS IN SEDENTARY UNIVERSITY STUDENTS. GENDER-RELATED DIFFERENCES.
No full textPrevention of COVID-19 transmission from deceased subject: A critical point of view
No full textOn December 31, 2019, China reported to the WHO cases of pneumonia in Wuhan caused by a novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). This escalated into an unprecedented outbreak of infections, leading the WHO to characterise it as a pandemic on March 11, 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic is rapidly evolving, and since October 9, 2021, almost 200000000 people have been infected with more than 4000000 deaths globally. To reduce transmission and mortality, efforts have been made to develop vaccines against COVID-19. Since December 2020, new vaccines have been authorized to help control the spread of the virus. Despite the vaccination campaign progressing successfully, our battle is not yet won, and avoiding exposure to this virus is crucial to preventing COVID-19. Person-to-person transmission occurs primarily via direct contact or through droplets spread by the infected individual coughing or sneezing. Although the infection rate from dead bodies is unclear, managing them is of great importance in reducing viral transmission, especially because mortuary staff and pathologists will be exposed to potentially infective materials from cadavers, transmitted through airways, body bags, autopsy tables, and autopsy room walls. For this reason, many societies, institutes, and governments have given general infection and prevention advice.
This viewpoint aims to summarize how different countries manage the COVID-19 dead and perform autopsies and whether common prevention recommendations can be identified.
The PubMed database was searched until October 9, 2021. We used keywords for: deceased covid 19, management of death covid 19, autopsy covid 19 ((deceased covid 19) AND management of death covid 19) AND autopsy covid 19). The selected articles’ references were also screened. Only documents in English were included, while reviews were excluded
Optimization of b-value schemes for intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) diffusion MRI in the brain
No full textLAUREA MAGISTRALEIntraVoxel Incoherent Motion imaging (IVIM) è un modello biesponenziale dell'imaging in diffusione (DWI). L’obiettivo del progetto è implementare l’ottimizzazione dei b-values per stimare i parametri IVIM (coefficiente di diffusione D, frazione di perfusione f e coefficiente di pseudodiffusione D*) nel cervello. Il segnale IVIM è stato simulato per il regime di bassa, media e alta perfusione. Sono state implementate due procedure di ottimizzazione iterativa, entrambe la somma dell'errore relativo delle stime dei parametri come funzione obiettivo da minimizzare. Subset dei set ottimizzati sono stati ricavati con una procedura iterativa “backward elimination". I valori medi e gli errori ottenuti con i set ottimizzati sono stati confrontati con set di b-values utilizzati al Centro Nazionale di Adroterapia Oncologica (b-CNAO) e un set di b-values linearmente distribuiti (b-lin). In 26 pazienti con istologia diversa e acquisiti con 13 o 7 b-values, la materia bianca (WM) e il volume tumorale (GTV) sono stati segmentati e le mappe IVIM sono state calcolate anche riducendo il numero di b-values a 10. I set di b-values ottimizzati hanno mostrato errori di stima inferiori e le analisi statistiche sulle stime dei parametri IVIM hanno suggerito che i protocolli di acquisizione IVIM beneficerebbero in modo significativo dell’ottimizzazione, indipendentemente dai regimi di perfusione. I parametri WM IVIM sono comparabili con il regime di bassa perfusione, mentre GTV con la perfusione media. Il Numero ottimale di b-valori dipende da regimi di perfusione, non consigliamo meno di 10. Acquisizioni in vivo con b-values ottimizzati sono necessarie per convalidare questi risultati.IntraVoxel Incoherent Motion imaging (IVIM) is a biexponential model of diffusion weighted imaging (DWI). This thesis aimed at implementing a general optimization procedure based on simulations of IVIM data to find the optimal b-values sets to estimated IVIM parameters (D diffusion coefficient, f perfusion fraction and D* pseudodiffusion coefficient) in brain. IVIM signal were simulated for Low and Medium and High perfusion regime. Two iterative optimization procedures were implemented, both minimizing the sum of relative error of IVIM parameters estimates. A further analysis consisted in “backward elimination”: an iterative procedure in which subsets of optimized sets were obtained. IVIM estimates and errors obtained with optimized sets were compared with the ones obtained with b-values set used at Centro Nazionale di Adroterapia Oncologica (b-CNAO) and a set of linearly distributed b-values (b-lin). DW images of 26 patient with different histology and acquired with 13 or 7 b-values were available, white matter (WM) and gross tumor volume (GTV) were segmented. For DWI images acquired with 13 b-values, IVIM maps were also computed reducing the number of b-values down to 10. Optimized b-values sets showed lower estimates errors and statistical analyses on estimated IVIM parameters suggested that IVIM acquisition protocols would benefit in a significant way from optimization, regardless the perfusion regimes. WM IVIM parameters were comparable with Low perfusion regime, whereas GTV with Medium perfusion. Optimal number of b-values depended on perfusion regimes we do not suggest less than 10. In-vivo IVIM measurements with optimal b-values are needed to validate these findings
Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Dantrolene-Like Hydrazide and Hydrazone Analogues as Multitarget Agents for Neurodegenerative Diseases
No full textDantrolene, a drug used for the management of malignant hyperthermia, had been recently evaluated for prospective repurposing as multitarget agent for neurodegenerative syndromes, including Alzheimer's disease (AD). Herein, twenty-one dantrolene-like hydrazide and hydrazone analogues were synthesized with the aim of exploring structure-activity relationships (SARs) for the inhibition of human monoamine oxidases (MAOs) and acetylcholinesterase (AChE), two well-established target enzymes for anti-AD drugs. With few exceptions, the newly synthesized compounds exhibited selectivity toward MAO B over either MAO A or AChE, with the secondary aldimine 9 and phenylhydrazone 20 attaining IC50 values of 0.68 and 0.81 μM, respectively. While no general SAR trend was observed with lipophilicity descriptors, a molecular simplification strategy allowed the main pharmacophore features to be identified, which are responsible for the inhibitory activity toward MAO B. Finally, further in vitro investigations revealed cell protection from oxidative insult and activation of carnitine/acylcarnitine carrier as concomitant biological activities responsible for neuroprotection by hits 9 and 20 and other promising compounds in the examined series
ATTIVITA' FISICA ED ABITUDINI ALIMENTARI IN UN GRUPPO DI STUDENTI UNIVERSITARISEDENTARI: DIFFERENZE PER SESSO.
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