Time trend occurrence of duodenal intraepithelial lymphocytosis and celiac disease in an open access endoscopic population

Background: Duodenal intraepithelial lymphocytosis (DIL) is a histological finding characterized by the increase of intraepithelial CD3T-lymphocytes over the normal value without villous atrophy, mostly associated to coeliac disease (CD), Helicobacter pylori (Hp) gastritis and autoimmune diseases. Objective: To assess the occurrence of DIL, CD and Hp gastritis in an endoscopic population over a 13 year period. Methods: From 2003 to 2015 we included adult patients who consecutively underwent oesophago-gastro-duodenoscopy (OGD) with duodenal biopsies assessing the overall and annual occurrence of DIL and CD and the prevalence of Hp gastritis. Results: 160 (2.3%) patients with DIL and 275 (3.9%) with CD were detected among 7001 patients. CD occurrence was higher from 2003 to 2011, while since 2012 DIL occurrence gradually increased significantly compared to CD (p = 0.03). DIL patients were more frequently female (p = 0.0006) and underwent OGD more frequently for dyspepsia (p = 0.002) and for indications not related to gastrointestinal symptoms than CD patients (p = 0.0003). Hp gastritis occurred similarly in CD and DIL patients but the latter had higher frequency of atrophic body gastritis (p = 0.005). Conclusions: DIL is a condition increasing in the general endoscopic population mainly diagnosed by chance. Concomitant gastric histological evaluation is able in one third of DIL patients to identify associated possible causes of DIL, such as Hp and atrophic gastritis

Molecular detection of parasites (Trematoda, Digenea: Bucephalidae and Monorchiidae) in the European flat oyster Ostrea edulis (Mollusca: Bivalvia)

Members of the globally distributed bivalve family Ostreidae (oysters) have a significant role in marine ecosystems and include species of high economic importance. In this work, we report the occurrence of digenean parasites of the families Bucephalidae (Prosorhynchoides sp.) and Monorchiidae (Postmonorchis sp.) in Mediterranean native populations of Ostrea edulis (but not in the introduced Magallana gigas). Molecular detection was based on DNA sequencing of the ribosomal intergenic spacer 2 (ITS2) marker. The importance of detecting the presence of overlooked digenean parasites in Mediterranean oysters is discussed. © 2018 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

Semantic Web Technologies Meet BIM for Accessing and Understanding Cultural Heritage

Within the EU funded project INCEPTION – Inclusive Cultural Heritage in Europe through 3D semantic modelling, the key-targeted achievement is the development of a specific cloud based platform, in order to accomplish the main objectives of accessing, understanding and strengthening European Cultural Heritage by means of enriched 3D models. The whole INCEPTION project is based on the close connection between state-of-the-art architectural modeling technologies (BIM, Building Information Modeling) and the latest cutting-edge web technologies. The platform is grounded on semantic web technologies and makes extensive use of WebGL and RESTful APIs, in order to enrich heritage 3D models by using Semantic Web standards. The INCEPTION platform will be a space for interchange of information and for the dialogue among professionals, students, scholars, curators, non-expert users, etc. Furthermore, the Semantic Web structure interlinks the platform with external Cultural Heritage available linked data and makes it gradually enhanced by specific flexible data structures provided as project specific ontologies. The paper will describe solutions based on the match between BIM, Cloud and Semantic Web

Performance of the diamond active target prototype for the PADME experiment at the DAΦ\PhiNE BTF

The PADME experiment at the DA$\Phi$NE Beam-Test Facility (BTF) is designed to search for the gauge boson of a new $\rm U(1)$ interaction in the process e$^+$e$^-\rightarrow\gamma$+$\rm A'$, using the intense positron beam hitting a light target. The $\rm A'$, usually referred as dark photon, is assumed to decay into invisible particles of a secluded sector and it can be observed by searching for an anomalous peak in the spectrum of the missing mass measured in events with a single photon in the final state. The measurement requires the determination of the 4-momentum of the recoil photon, performed by a homogeneous, highly segmented BGO crystals calorimeter. A significant improvement of the missing mass resolution is possible using an active target capable to determine the average position of the positron bunch with a resolution of less than 1 mm. This report presents the performance of a real size $\rm (2x2 cm^2)$ PADME active target made of a thin (50 $\mu$m) diamond sensor, with graphitic strips produced via laser irradiation on both sides. The measurements are based on data collected in a beam test at the BTF in November 2015.Comment: 7 pages, 10 figure

Statistics of non-linear stochastic dynamical systems under L\'evy noises by a convolution quadrature approach

This paper describes a novel numerical approach to find the statistics of the non-stationary response of scalar non-linear systems excited by L\'evy white noises. The proposed numerical procedure relies on the introduction of an integral transform of Wiener-Hopf type into the equation governing the characteristic function. Once this equation is rewritten as partial integro-differential equation, it is then solved by applying the method of convolution quadrature originally proposed by Lubich, here extended to deal with this particular integral transform. The proposed approach is relevant for two reasons: 1) Statistics of systems with several different drift terms can be handled in an efficient way, independently from the kind of white noise; 2) The particular form of Wiener-Hopf integral transform and its numerical evaluation, both introduced in this study, are generalizations of fractional integro-differential operators of potential type and Gr\"unwald-Letnikov fractional derivatives, respectively.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figure

Performance of the PADME calorimeter prototype at the DAΦ\PhiNE BTF

The PADME experiment at the DA$\Phi$NE Beam-Test Facility (BTF) aims at searching for invisible decays of the dark photon by measuring the final state missing mass in the process $e^+e^- \to \gamma+ A'$, with $A'$ undetected. The measurement requires the determination of the 4-momentum of the recoil photon, performed using a homogeneous, highly segmented BGO crystals calorimeter. We report the results of the test of a 5$\times$5 crystals prototype performed with an electron beam at the BTF in July 2016

Characterization and Performance of PADME's Cherenkov-Based Small-Angle Calorimeter

The PADME experiment, at the Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati (LNF), in Italy, will search for invisible decays of the hypothetical dark photon via the process $e^+e^-\rightarrow \gamma A'$, where the $A'$ escapes detection. The dark photon mass range sensitivity in a first phase will be 1 to 24 MeV. We report here on measurement and simulation studies of the performance of the Small-Angle Calorimeter, a component of PADME's detector dedicated to rejecting 2- and 3-gamma backgrounds. The crucial requirement is a timing resolution of less than 200 ps, which is satisfied by the choice of PbF$_2$ crystals and the newly released Hamamatsu R13478UV photomultiplier tubes (PMTs). We find a timing resolution of 81 ps (with double-peak separation resolution of 1.8 ns) and a single-crystal energy resolution of 5.7%/$\sqrt{E}$ with light yield of 2.07 photo-electrons per MeV, using 100 to 400 MeV electrons at the Beam Test Facility of LNF. We also propose the investigation of a two-PMT solution coupled to a single PbF$_2$ crystal for higher-energy applications, which has potentially attractive features.Comment: 12 pages, 19 figures. v2: added section on radiation damage studie