University of Siena

About: University of Siena is a education organization based out in Siena, Italy. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Cancer. The organization has 12179 authors who have published 33334 publications receiving 1008287 citations. The organization is also known as: Università degli studi di Siena & Universita degli studi di Siena.

Revised American thyroid association guidelines for the management of medullary thyroid carcinoma

Abstract: Introduction: The American Thyroid Association appointed a Task Force of experts to revise the original Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma: Management Guidelines of the American Thyroid Association. Methods: The Task Force identified relevant articles using a systematic PubMed search, supplemented with additional published materials, and then created evidence-based recommendations, which were set in categories using criteria adapted from the United States Preventive Services Task Force Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The original guidelines provided abundant source material and an excellent organizational structure that served as the basis for the current revised document. Results: The revised guidelines are focused primarily on the diagnosis and treatment of patients with sporadic medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) and hereditary MTC. Conclusions: The Task Force developed 67 evidence-based recommendations to assist clinicians in the care of patients with MTC. The Task Force considers the recommendati...

Tests of general relativity with GW150914

Abstract: The LIGO detection of GW150914 provides an unprecedented opportunity to study the two-body motion of a compact-object binary in the large-velocity, highly nonlinear regime, and to witness the final merger of the binary and the excitation of uniquely relativistic modes of the gravitational field. We carry out several investigations to determine whether GW150914 is consistent with a binary black-hole merger in general relativity. We find that the final remnant’s mass and spin, as determined from the low-frequency (inspiral) and high-frequency (postinspiral) phases of the signal, are mutually consistent with the binary black-hole solution in general relativity. Furthermore, the data following the peak of GW150914 are consistent with the least-damped quasinormal mode inferred from the mass and spin of the remnant black hole. By using waveform models that allow for parametrized general-relativity violations during the inspiral and merger phases, we perform quantitative tests on the gravitational-wave phase in the dynamical regime and we determine the first empirical bounds on several high-order post-Newtonian coefficients. We constrain the graviton Compton wavelength, assuming that gravitons are dispersed in vacuum in the same way as particles with mass, obtaining a 90%-confidence lower bound of 1013 km. In conclusion, within our statistical uncertainties, we find no evidence for violations of general relativity in the genuinely strong-field regime of gravity.

Foundations of Human Sociality - Economic Experiments and Ethnographic: Evidence From Fifteen Small-Scale Societies

Abstract: 1. Introduction and Guide to the Volume 2. Overview and Synthesis 3. Measuring Social Norms and Preferences Using Experimental Games: A Guide for Social Sciences 4. Coalitional Effects on Reciprocal Fairness in the Ultimatum Game: A Case from the Ecuadorian Amazon 5. Comparative Experimental Evidence from Machiguenga, Mapuche, Huinca, and American Populations Shows Substantial Variation Among Social Groups in Bargaining and Public Goods Behavior 6. Dictators and Ultimatums in an Egalitarian Society of Hunter-Gatherers - the Hadza of Tanzania 7. Does Market Exposure Affect Economic Game Behavior? The Ultimatum Game and the Public Goods Game Among the Tsimane of Bolivia 8. Market Integration, Reciprocity, and Fairness in Rural Papua New Guinea: Results from a Two-Village Ultimatum Game Experiment 9. Ultimatum Game with an Ethnicity Manipulation: Results from Khovdiin Bulgan Sum, Mongolia 10. Kinship, Familiarity, and Trust: An Experimental Investigation 11. Community Structure, Mobility, and the Strength of Norms in an Africa Society: the Sangu of Tanzania 12. Market Integration and Fairness: Evidence from Ultimatum, Dictator, and Public Goods Experiments in East Africa 13. Economic Experiments to Examine Fairness and Cooperation among the Ache Indians of Paraguay 14. The Ultimatum Game, Fairness, and Cooperation among Big Game Hunters

Mutations in the Cardiac Ryanodine Receptor Gene (hRyR2) Underlie Catecholaminergic Polymorphic Ventricular Tachycardia

Abstract: Background —Catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia is a genetic arrhythmogenic disorder characterized by stress-induced, bidirectional ventricular tachycardia that may degenerate into cardiac arrest and cause sudden death. The electrocardiographic pattern of this ventricular tachycardia closely resembles the arrhythmias associated with calcium overload and the delayed afterdepolarizations observed during digitalis toxicity. We speculated that a genetically determined abnormality of intracellular calcium handling might be the substrate of the disease; therefore, we considered the human cardiac ryanodine receptor gene ( hRyR2 ) a likely candidate for this genetically transmitted arrhythmic disorder. Methods and Results —Twelve patients presenting with typical catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia in the absence of structural heart abnormalities were identified. DNA was extracted from peripheral blood lymphocytes, and single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis was performed on polymerase chain reaction–amplified exons of the hRyR2 gene. Four single nucleotide substitutions leading to missense mutations were identified in 4 probands affected by the disease. Genetic analysis of the asymptomatic parents revealed that 3 probands carried de novo mutations. In 1 case, the identical twin of the proband died suddenly after having suffered syncopal episodes. The fourth mutation was identified in the proband, in 4 clinically affected family members, and in none of 3 nonaffected family members in a kindred with 2 sudden deaths that occurred at 16 and 14 years, respectively, in the sisters of the proband. Conclusions —We demonstrated that, in agreement with our hypothesis, hRyR2 is a gene responsible for catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia.