The PLASMONX Project for advanced beam physics experiments

The Project PLASMONX is well progressing into its design phase and has entered as well its second phase of procurements for main components. The project foresees the installation at LNF of a Ti:Sa laser system (peak power > 170 TW), synchronized to the high brightness electron beam produced by the SPARC photo-injector. The advancement of the procurement of such a laser system is reported, as well as the construction plans of a new building at LNF to host a dedicated laboratory for high intensity photon beam experiments (High Intensity Laser Laboratory). Several experiments are foreseen using this complex facility, mainly in the high gradient plasma acceleration field and in the field of mono- chromatic ultra-fast X-ray pulse generation via Thomson back-scattering. Detailed numerical simulations have been carried out to study the generation of tightly focused electron bunches to collide with laser pulses in the Thomson source: results on the emitted spectra of X-rays are presented

The influence of the dechanneling process on the photon emission by an ultra-relativistc positron channeling in a periodically bent crystal

We investigate, both analytically and numerically, the influence of the dechanneling process on the parameters of undulator radiation generated by ultra-relativistic positron channelling along a crystal plane, which is periodically bent. The bending might be due either to the propagation of a transverse acoustic wave through the crystal, or due to the static strain as it occurs in superlattices. In either case the periodically bent crystal serves as an undulator which allows to generate X-ray and gamma-radiation. We propose the scheme for accurate quantitative treatment of the radiation in presence of the dechanneling. The scheme includes (i) the analytic expression for spectral-angular distribution which contains, as a parameter, the dechanneling length, (ii) the simulation procedure of the dechanneling process of a positron in periodically bent crystals. Using these we calculate the dechanneling lengths of 5 GeV positrons channeling in Si, Ge and W crystals, and the spectral-angular and spectral distributions of the undulator over broad ranges of the photons. The calculations are performed for various parameters of the channel bending.Comment: published in J. Phys. G: Nucl. Part. Phys. 27 (2001) 95-125, http://www.iop.or

Digital strategies to a local cultural tourism development: Project e-Carnide

Digital humanities and smart economy strategies are being seen as an important link between tourism and cultural heritage, as they may contribute to differentiate the audiences and to provide different approaches. Carnide is a peripheral neighbourhood of Lisbon with an elderly population, visible traces of rurality, and strong cultural and religious traditions. The academic project e-Carnide concerns its tangible and intangible cultural heritage and the data dissemination through a website and a mobile app, with textual and visual information. The project aims to analyse the impact of technological solutions on cultural tourism development in a sub-region, involving interdisciplinary research in heritage, history of art, ethnography, design communication and software engineering and the collaboration between the university and local residents in a dynamic and innovative way. Framed by a theoretical approach about the role of smart economy for the cultural tourism development in peripheral areas, this paper focuses on a case study, dealing with documents, interviews and observations, in order to understand how the e-Carnide project evolves. The study comprises an analysis about the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT analysis) of the project in view to realize its social and cultural implications and to appreciate how it can be applied in other similar and enlarged projects. Results of the research indicates that the new technological strategies can promote the involvement of the population in the knowledge of its own heritage as a factor of cultural and creative tourism development centred on an authentic and immersive experience of the places

Non-Pharmacological Treatments

In clinical psychiatry, we dispose of different non-pharmacological approaches, such as somatic treatments, chronobiological treatments, cognitive remediation, and psychotherapy. Somatic treatments include transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). These techniques, which exert their function through the modulation of cortical excitability, find an application in many psychiatric disorders, but mainly in resistant depression. Chronotherapies, a group of non-pharmacological therapeutic approaches to mood disorder treatment, are rooted in the hypothesis of chronobiology aetiopathogenesis of psychiatric disorders (mainly mood disorders). Chrono-biological treatments include light therapy (LT), sleep deprivation (SD), and dark therapy (DT). While LT and SD are mainly used in depression, DT finds a clinical application in mania. Cognitive remediation (CR) is a set of interventions based on behavioural training whose goal is to enhance neurocognitive abilities. This technique finds its main application in schizophrenia. Psychotherapy approaches have a proved effectiveness for the treatment of various psychiatric conditions when combined to psychopharmacological treatment. The two main approaches are cognitive-behavioural therapy and psychodynamic therapy

Social determinants of health and long-term conditions in people of Black African and Black Caribbean ethnicity living with HIV in London: A qualitative study

BACKGROUND: People living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are disproportionately impacted by socioeconomic deprivation and are at increased risk of developing other long-term conditions (LTCs). These illnesses require transformative action to tackle the adverse effects on their health. Data on lived experiences of LTCs among people living with HIV of Black African and Black Caribbean ethnicities are sparse, and how people with LTCs are impacted by social determinants of health (SDoH). METHODS: Through a phenomenological study design this qualitative study, conducted in 2022, comprised four focus group discussions (FGDs) with 20 people of Black ethnicities living with HIV were purposively invited from a community organisation (CO) in London, including four semistructured interviews with CO staff. Following transcription, qualitative data were analysed thematically and measures to validate the findings were implemented. RESULTS: Through a phenomenological study design this qualitative study, conducted in 2022, comprised four focus group discussions (FGDs) with 20 people of Black ethnicities living with HIV were purposively invited from a community organisation (CO) in London, including four semistructured interviews with CO staff. Following transcription, qualitative data were analysed thematically and measures to validate the findings were implemented. CONCLUSIONS: It is necessary to provide ongoing and interactive education to community members who live with HIV, focusing on risks and management of LTCs. Additionally, individuals would benefit from support to navigate increasingly complex and fragmented health services. Health Service staff require cultural competence when caring for patients of Black African and Black Caribbean ethnicities with complex health and psychosocial needs

Weak signal detection based on two dimensional stochastic resonance

The analysis of vibrations from rotating machines gives information about their faults. From the signal processing perspective a significant problem is the detection of weak signals embedded in strong noise. Stochastic resonance (SR) is a mechanism where noise is not suppressed but exploited to trigger the synchronization of a non-linear system and in its one-dimensional form has been recently applied to vibration analysis. This paper focuses on the use of SR in a two-dimensional system of gradient type for detection of weak signals submerged in Gaussian noise. Comparing the traditional one-dimensional system and the two-dimensional used here, this paper shows that the latter can offer a more sensitive means of detection. An alternative metric is proposed to assess the output signal quality, requiring no a priori knowledge of the signal to be detected, and it is shown to offer similar results to the more conventional signal-to-noise ratio

A comparative analysis of predictive models of morbidity in intensive care unit after cardiac surgery – Part II: an illustrative example

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Popular predictive models for estimating morbidity probability after heart surgery are compared critically in a unitary framework. The study is divided into two parts. In the first part modelling techniques and intrinsic strengths and weaknesses of different approaches were discussed from a theoretical point of view. In this second part the performances of the same models are evaluated in an illustrative example.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Eight models were developed: Bayes linear and quadratic models, <it>k</it>-nearest neighbour model, logistic regression model, Higgins and direct scoring systems and two feed-forward artificial neural networks with one and two layers. Cardiovascular, respiratory, neurological, renal, infectious and hemorrhagic complications were defined as morbidity. Training and testing sets each of 545 cases were used. The optimal set of predictors was chosen among a collection of 78 preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative variables by a stepwise procedure. Discrimination and calibration were evaluated by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve and Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test, respectively.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Scoring systems and the logistic regression model required the largest set of predictors, while Bayesian and <it>k</it>-nearest neighbour models were much more parsimonious. In testing data, all models showed acceptable discrimination capacities, however the Bayes quadratic model, using only three predictors, provided the best performance. All models showed satisfactory generalization ability: again the Bayes quadratic model exhibited the best generalization, while artificial neural networks and scoring systems gave the worst results. Finally, poor calibration was obtained when using scoring systems, <it>k</it>-nearest neighbour model and artificial neural networks, while Bayes (after recalibration) and logistic regression models gave adequate results.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Although all the predictive models showed acceptable discrimination performance in the example considered, the Bayes and logistic regression models seemed better than the others, because they also had good generalization and calibration. The Bayes quadratic model seemed to be a convincing alternative to the much more usual Bayes linear and logistic regression models. It showed its capacity to identify a minimum core of predictors generally recognized as essential to pragmatically evaluate the risk of developing morbidity after heart surgery.</p

Posttranscriptional regulation of angiotensin II type 1 receptor expression by glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase

Regulation of angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AT1R) has a pathophysiological role in hypertension, atherosclerosis and heart failure. We started from an observation that the 3′-untranslated region (3′-UTR) of AT1R mRNA suppressed AT1R translation. Using affinity purification for the separation of 3′-UTR-binding proteins and mass spectrometry for their identification, we describe glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) as an AT1R 3′-UTR-binding protein. RNA electrophoretic mobility shift analysis with purified GAPDH further demonstrated a direct interaction with the 3′-UTR while GAPDH immunoprecipitation confirmed this interaction with endogenous AT1R mRNA. GAPDH-binding site was mapped to 1–100 of 3′-UTR. GAPDH-bound target mRNAs were identified by expression array hybridization. Analysis of secondary structures shared among GAPDH targets led to the identification of a RNA motif rich in adenines and uracils. Silencing of GAPDH increased the expression of both endogenous and transfected AT1R. Similarly, a decrease in GAPDH expression by H2O2 led to an increased level of AT1R expression. Consistent with GAPDH having a central role in H2O2-mediated AT1R regulation, both the deletion of GAPDH-binding site and GAPDH overexpression attenuated the effect of H2O2 on AT1R mRNA. Taken together, GAPDH is a translational suppressor of AT1R and mediates the effect of H2O2 on AT1R mRNA