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Showing papers by "University of Udine published in 2017"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Recent extensions and improvements are described, covering new methodologies and property calculators, improved parallelization, code modularization, and extended interoperability both within the distribution and with external software.
Abstract: Quantum ESPRESSO is an integrated suite of open-source computer codes for quantum simulations of materials using state-of-the-art electronic-structure techniques, based on density-functional theory, density-functional perturbation theory, and many-body perturbation theory, within the plane-wave pseudopotential and projector-augmented-wave approaches Quantum ESPRESSO owes its popularity to the wide variety of properties and processes it allows to simulate, to its performance on an increasingly broad array of hardware architectures, and to a community of researchers that rely on its capabilities as a core open-source development platform to implement their ideas In this paper we describe recent extensions and improvements, covering new methodologies and property calculators, improved parallelization, code modularization, and extended interoperability both within the distribution and with external software

3,638 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Quantum ESPRESSO as discussed by the authors is an integrated suite of open-source computer codes for quantum simulations of materials using state-of-the-art electronic-structure techniques, based on density functional theory, density functional perturbation theory, and many-body perturbations theory, within the plane-wave pseudo-potential and projector-augmented-wave approaches.
Abstract: Quantum ESPRESSO is an integrated suite of open-source computer codes for quantum simulations of materials using state-of-the art electronic-structure techniques, based on density-functional theory, density-functional perturbation theory, and many-body perturbation theory, within the plane-wave pseudo-potential and projector-augmented-wave approaches. Quantum ESPRESSO owes its popularity to the wide variety of properties and processes it allows to simulate, to its performance on an increasingly broad array of hardware architectures, and to a community of researchers that rely on its capabilities as a core open-source development platform to implement theirs ideas. In this paper we describe recent extensions and improvements, covering new methodologies and property calculators, improved parallelization, code modularization, and extended interoperability both within the distribution and with external software.

2,818 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
Seth Flaxman1, Rupert R A Bourne2, Serge Resnikoff3, Serge Resnikoff4, Peter Ackland5, Tasanee Braithwaite6, Maria V Cicinelli, Aditi Das7, Jost B. Jonas8, Jill E Keeffe9, John H. Kempen10, Janet L Leasher11, Hans Limburg, Kovin Naidoo12, Kovin Naidoo3, Konrad Pesudovs13, Alexander J Silvester, Gretchen A Stevens14, Nina Tahhan4, Nina Tahhan3, Tien Yin Wong15, Hugh R. Taylor16, Rupert R A Bourne2, Aries Arditi, Yaniv Barkana, Banu Bozkurt17, Alain M. Bron, Donald L. Budenz18, Feng Cai, Robert J Casson19, Usha Chakravarthy20, Jaewan Choi, Maria Vittoria Cicinelli, Nathan Congdon20, Reza Dana21, Rakhi Dandona22, Lalit Dandona23, Iva Dekaris, Monte A. Del Monte24, Jenny deva25, Laura E. Dreer26, Leon B. Ellwein27, Marcela Frazier26, Kevin D. Frick28, David S. Friedman28, João M. Furtado29, H. Gao30, Gus Gazzard31, Ronnie George32, Stephen Gichuhi33, Victor H. Gonzalez, Billy R. Hammond34, Mary Elizabeth Hartnett35, Minguang He16, James F. Hejtmancik, Flavio E. Hirai36, John J Huang37, April D. Ingram38, Jonathan C. Javitt28, Jost B. Jonas8, Charlotte E. Joslin39, John H Kempen10, Moncef Khairallah, Rohit C Khanna9, Judy E. Kim40, George N. Lambrou41, Van C. Lansingh, Paolo Lanzetta42, Jennifer I. Lim43, Kaweh Mansouri, Anu A. Mathew44, Alan R. Morse, Beatriz Munoz, David C. Musch24, Vinay Nangia, Maria Palaiou10, Maurizio Battaglia Parodi, Fernando Yaacov Pena, Tunde Peto20, Harry A. Quigley, Murugesan Raju45, Pradeep Y. Ramulu46, Zane Rankin15, Dana Reza21, Alan L. Robin23, Luca Rossetti47, Jinan B. Saaddine46, Mya Sandar15, Janet B. Serle48, Tueng T. Shen23, Rajesh K. Shetty49, Pamela C. Sieving27, Juan Carlos Silva50, Rita S. Sitorus51, Dwight Stambolian52, Gretchen Stevens14, Hugh Taylor16, Jaime Tejedor, James M. Tielsch28, Miltiadis K. Tsilimbaris53, Jan C. van Meurs, Rohit Varma54, Gianni Virgili55, Ya Xing Wang56, Ningli Wang56, Sheila K. West, Peter Wiedemann57, Tien Wong15, Richard Wormald6, Yingfeng Zheng15 
Imperial College London1, Anglia Ruskin University2, Brien Holden Vision Institute3, University of New South Wales4, International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness5, Moorfields Eye Hospital6, York Hospital7, Heidelberg University8, L V Prasad Eye Institute9, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary10, Nova Southeastern University11, University of KwaZulu-Natal12, National Health and Medical Research Council13, World Health Organization14, National University of Singapore15, University of Melbourne16, Selçuk University17, University of Miami18, University of Adelaide19, Queen's University Belfast20, Harvard University21, The George Institute for Global Health22, University of Washington23, University of Michigan24, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman25, University of Alabama at Birmingham26, National Institutes of Health27, Johns Hopkins University28, University of São Paulo29, Henry Ford Health System30, University College London31, Sankara Nethralaya32, University of Nairobi33, University of Georgia34, University of Utah35, Federal University of São Paulo36, Yale University37, Alberta Children's Hospital38, University of Illinois at Chicago39, Medical College of Wisconsin40, Novartis41, University of Udine42, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign43, Royal Children's Hospital44, University of Missouri45, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention46, University of Milan47, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai48, Mayo Clinic49, Pan American Health Organization50, University of Indonesia51, University of Pennsylvania52, University of Crete53, University of Southern California54, University of Florence55, Capital Medical University56, Leipzig University57
TL;DR: A series of regression models were fitted to estimate the proportion of moderate or severe vision impairment and blindness by cause, age, region, and year, and found that world regions varied markedly in the causes of blindness and vision impairment in this age group.

1,909 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
Rupert R A Bourne1, Seth Flaxman2, Tasanee Braithwaite1, Maria V Cicinelli, Aditi Das, Jost B. Jonas3, Jill E Keeffe4, John H Kempen5, Janet L Leasher6, Hans Limburg, Kovin Naidoo7, Kovin Naidoo8, Konrad Pesudovs9, Serge Resnikoff10, Serge Resnikoff8, Alexander J Silvester11, Gretchen A Stevens12, Nina Tahhan8, Nina Tahhan10, Tien Yin Wong13, Hugh R. Taylor14, Rupert R A Bourne1, Peter Ackland, Aries Arditi, Yaniv Barkana, Banu Bozkurt15, Alain M. Bron16, Donald L. Budenz17, Feng Cai, Robert J Casson18, Usha Chakravarthy19, Jaewan Choi, Maria Vittoria Cicinelli, Nathan Congdon19, Reza Dana20, Rakhi Dandona21, Lalit Dandona22, Iva Dekaris, Monte A. Del Monte23, Jenny deva24, Laura Dreer25, Leon B. Ellwein26, Marcela Frazier25, Kevin D. Frick27, David S. Friedman27, João M. Furtado28, H. Gao29, Gus Gazzard30, Ronnie George, Stephen Gichuhi31, Victor H. Gonzalez, Billy R. Hammond32, Mary Elizabeth Hartnett33, Minguang He14, James F. Hejtmancik26, Flavio E. Hirai34, John J Huang35, April D. Ingram36, Jonathan C. Javitt27, Jost B. Jonas3, Charlotte E. Joslin, John H. Kempen20, John H. Kempen37, Moncef Khairallah, Rohit C Khanna4, Judy E. Kim38, George N. Lambrou39, Van C. Lansingh, Paolo Lanzetta40, Jennifer I. Lim41, Kaweh Mansouri, Anu A. Mathew42, Alan R. Morse, Beatriz Munoz27, David C. Musch23, Vinay Nangia, Maria Palaiou20, Maurizio Battaglia Parodi, Fernando Yaacov Pena42, Tunde Peto19, Harry A. Quigley27, Murugesan Raju43, Pradeep Y. Ramulu27, Alan L. Robin27, Luca Rossetti44, Jinan B. Saaddine45, Mya Sandar46, Janet B. Serle47, Tueng T. Shen22, Rajesh K. Shetty48, Pamela C. Sieving26, Juan Carlos Silva49, Rita S. Sitorus50, Dwight Stambolian37, Gretchen Stevens12, Hugh Taylor14, Jaime Tejedor, James M. Tielsch27, Miltiadis K. Tsilimbaris51, Jan C. van Meurs52, Rohit Varma53, Gianni Virgili54, Jimmy Volmink55, Ya Xing Wang, Ningli Wang56, Sheila K. West27, Peter Wiedemann57, Tien Wong13, Richard Wormald58, Yingfeng Zheng46 
Anglia Ruskin University1, University of Oxford2, Heidelberg University3, L V Prasad Eye Institute4, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary5, Nova Southeastern University6, University of KwaZulu-Natal7, Brien Holden Vision Institute8, Flinders University9, University of New South Wales10, Royal Liverpool University Hospital11, World Health Organization12, National University of Singapore13, University of Melbourne14, Selçuk University15, University of Burgundy16, University of Miami17, University of Adelaide18, Queen's University Belfast19, Harvard University20, The George Institute for Global Health21, University of Washington22, University of Michigan23, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman24, University of Alabama25, National Institutes of Health26, Johns Hopkins University27, University of São Paulo28, Henry Ford Health System29, University College London30, University of Nairobi31, University of Georgia32, University of Utah33, Federal University of São Paulo34, Yale University35, Alberta Children's Hospital36, University of Pennsylvania37, Medical College of Wisconsin38, Novartis39, University of Udine40, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign41, Royal Children's Hospital42, University of Missouri43, University of Milan44, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention45, Singapore National Eye Center46, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai47, Mayo Clinic48, Pan American Health Organization49, University of Indonesia50, University of Crete51, Erasmus University Rotterdam52, University of Southern California53, University of Florence54, Stellenbosch University55, Capital Medical University56, Leipzig University57, Moorfields Eye Hospital58
TL;DR: There is an ongoing reduction in the age-standardised prevalence of blindness and visual impairment, yet the growth and ageing of the world's population is causing a substantial increase in number of people affected, highlighting the need to scale up vision impairment alleviation efforts at all levels.

1,473 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
09 Mar 2017
TL;DR: An overview of the biology of RCC, with a focus on ccRCC, as well as updates to complement the current clinical guidelines and an outline of potential future directions for RCC research and therapy are provided.
Abstract: Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) denotes cancer originated from the renal epithelium and accounts for >90% of cancers in the kidney. The disease encompasses >10 histological and molecular subtypes, of which clear cell RCC (ccRCC) is most common and accounts for most cancer-related deaths. Although somatic VHL mutations have been described for some time, more-recent cancer genomic studies have identified mutations in epigenetic regulatory genes and demonstrated marked intra-tumour heterogeneity, which could have prognostic, predictive and therapeutic relevance. Localized RCC can be successfully managed with surgery, whereas metastatic RCC is refractory to conventional chemotherapy. However, over the past decade, marked advances in the treatment of metastatic RCC have been made, with targeted agents including sorafenib, sunitinib, bevacizumab, pazopanib and axitinib, which inhibit vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its receptor (VEGFR), and everolimus and temsirolimus, which inhibit mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1), being approved. Since 2015, agents with additional targets aside from VEGFR have been approved, such as cabozantinib and lenvatinib; immunotherapies, such as nivolumab, have also been added to the armamentarium for metastatic RCC. Here, we provide an overview of the biology of RCC, with a focus on ccRCC, as well as updates to complement the current clinical guidelines and an outline of potential future directions for RCC research and therapy.

1,451 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
27 Apr 2017-Nature
TL;DR: The importance of the barley reference sequence for breeding is demonstrated by inspecting the genomic partitioning of sequence variation in modern elite germplasm, highlighting regions vulnerable to genetic erosion.
Abstract: Cereal grasses of the Triticeae tribe have been the major food source in temperate regions since the dawn of agriculture. Their large genomes are characterized by a high content of repetitive elements and large pericentromeric regions that are virtually devoid of meiotic recombination. Here we present a high-quality reference genome assembly for barley (Hordeum vulgare L.). We use chromosome conformation capture mapping to derive the linear order of sequences across the pericentromeric space and to investigate the spatial organization of chromatin in the nucleus at megabase resolution. The composition of genes and repetitive elements differs between distal and proximal regions. Gene family analyses reveal lineage-specific duplications of genes involved in the transport of nutrients to developing seeds and the mobilization of carbohydrates in grains. We demonstrate the importance of the barley reference sequence for breeding by inspecting the genomic partitioning of sequence variation in modern elite germplasm, highlighting regions vulnerable to genetic erosion.

1,105 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
08 Nov 2017-Nature
TL;DR: It is shown that autologous transgenic keratinocyte cultures regenerated an entire, fully functional epidermis on a seven-year-old child suffering from a devastating, life-threatening form of JEB, providing a blueprint that can be applied to other stem cell-mediated combined ex vivo cell and gene therapies.
Abstract: Junctional epidermolysis bullosa (JEB) is a severe and often lethal genetic disease caused by mutations in genes encoding the basement membrane component laminin-332. Surviving patients with JEB develop chronic wounds to the skin and mucosa, which impair their quality of life and lead to skin cancer. Here we show that autologous transgenic keratinocyte cultures regenerated an entire, fully functional epidermis on a seven-year-old child suffering from a devastating, life-threatening form of JEB. The proviral integration pattern was maintained in vivo and epidermal renewal did not cause any clonal selection. Clonal tracing showed that the human epidermis is sustained not by equipotent progenitors, but by a limited number of long-lived stem cells, detected as holoclones, that can extensively self-renew in vitro and in vivo and produce progenitors that replenish terminally differentiated keratinocytes. This study provides a blueprint that can be applied to other stem cell-mediated combined ex vivo cell and gene therapies. Autologous transgenic epidermal stem cell cultures are used to reconstitute almost the entire epidermis of a patient with severe junctional epidermolysis bullosa. Patients with junctional epidermolysis bullosa (JEB) carry mutations in genes that encode components of the basement membrane, which ensures the integrity between the epidermis and the dermis, such as laminin-332. These mutations cause blistering of the skin and chronic wounds. Following initial treatment of an adult patient with a limited affected region, Michele De Luca and colleagues reconstruct the full epidermis of a 7-year-old patient with autologous transgenic cells transduced with a virus vector carrying the non-mutated form of laminin-322. The integration sites of the virus used for gene delivery provide a tracing tool ex vivo and in vivo and demonstrate that the human epidermis is sustained by a limited number of long-lived stem cells.

506 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the shape and size of catalyst particles and the interface between different components of heterogeneous catalysts at the nanometer level can radically alter their performances, particularly for CeO2-based catalysts, where the precise control of surface atomic arrangements can modify the reactivity of Ce4+/Ce3+ ions, changing the oxygen release/uptake characteristics of ceria.
Abstract: Engineering the shape and size of catalyst particles and the interface between different components of heterogeneous catalysts at the nanometer level can radically alter their performances. This is particularly true with CeO2-based catalysts, where the precise control of surface atomic arrangements can modify the reactivity of Ce4+/Ce3+ ions, changing the oxygen release/uptake characteristics of ceria, which, in turn, strongly affects catalytic performance in several reactions like CO, soot, and VOC oxidation, WGS, hydrogenation, acid–base reactions, and so on. Despite the fact that many of these catalysts are polycrystalline with rather ill-defined morphologies, experimental and theoretical studies on well-defined nanocrystals have clearly established that the exposure of specific facets can increase/decrease surface oxygen reactivity and metal–support interaction (for supported metal nanoparticles), consequently affecting catalytic reactions. Here, we want to address the most recent developments in this...

497 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
Morad Aaboud, Georges Aad1, Brad Abbott2, Jalal Abdallah3  +2845 moreInstitutions (197)
TL;DR: This paper presents a short overview of the changes to the trigger and data acquisition systems during the first long shutdown of the LHC and shows the performance of the trigger system and its components based on the 2015 proton–proton collision data.
Abstract: During 2015 the ATLAS experiment recorded 3.8 fb(-1) of proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The ATLAS trigger system is a crucial component of the experiment, respons ...

488 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
Georges Aad1, Alexander Kupco2, P. Davison3, Samuel Webb4  +2888 moreInstitutions (192)
TL;DR: Topological cell clustering is established as a well-performing calorimeter signal definition for jet and missing transverse momentum reconstruction in ATLAS and is exploited to apply a local energy calibration and corrections depending on the nature of the cluster.
Abstract: The reconstruction of the signal from hadrons and jets emerging from the proton–proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and entering the ATLAS calorimeters is based on a three-dimensional topological clustering of individual calorimeter cell signals. The cluster formation follows cell signal-significance patterns generated by electromagnetic and hadronic showers. In this, the clustering algorithm implicitly performs a topological noise suppression by removing cells with insignificant signals which are not in close proximity to cells with significant signals. The resulting topological cell clusters have shape and location information, which is exploited to apply a local energy calibration and corrections depending on the nature of the cluster. Topological cell clustering is established as a well-performing calorimeter signal definition for jet and missing transverse momentum reconstruction in ATLAS.

438 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
M. Ackermann, Marco Ajello1, Andrea Albert2, W. B. Atwood3  +158 moreInstitutions (38)
TL;DR: In this paper, the uncertainty of the Galactic Center (GC) excess spectrum and morphology due to uncertainties in cosmic-ray source distributions and propagation, uncertainties in the distribution of interstellar gas in the Milky Way, and uncertainties due to a potential contribution from the Fermi bubbles.
Abstract: The region around the Galactic Center (GC) is now well established to be brighter at energies of a few GeV than what is expected from conventional models of diffuse gamma-ray emission and catalogs of known gamma-ray sources. We study the GeV excess using 6.5 yr of data from the Fermi Large Area Telescope. We characterize the uncertainty of the GC excess spectrum and morphology due to uncertainties in cosmic-ray source distributions and propagation, uncertainties in the distribution of interstellar gas in the Milky Way, and uncertainties due to a potential contribution from the Fermi bubbles. We also evaluate uncertainties in the excess properties due to resolved point sources of gamma rays. The GC is of particular interest, as it would be expected to have the brightest signal from annihilation of weakly interacting massive dark matter (DM) particles. However, control regions along the Galactic plane, where a DM signal is not expected, show excesses of similar amplitude relative to the local background. Based on the magnitude of the systematic uncertainties, we conservatively report upper limits for the annihilation cross-section as a function of particle mass and annihilation channel.

Journal ArticleDOI
Morad Aaboud, Alexander Kupco1, Peter Davison2, Samuel Webb3  +2944 moreInstitutions (220)
TL;DR: In this article, a search for new resonant and non-resonant high-mass phenomena in dielectron and dimuon fi nal states was conducted using 36 : 1 fb(-1) of proton-proton collision data.
Abstract: A search is conducted for new resonant and non-resonant high-mass phenomena in dielectron and dimuon fi nal states. The search uses 36 : 1 fb(-1) of proton-proton collision data, collected at root ...

Journal ArticleDOI
Marco Ajello1, W. B. Atwood2, Luca Baldini3, Jean Ballet4  +165 moreInstitutions (39)
TL;DR: The Third catalog of Hard Fermi-LAT Sources (3FHL) as mentioned in this paper contains 1556 objects characterized in the 10 GeV-2 TeV energy range.
Abstract: We present a catalog of sources detected above 10 GeV by the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) in the first 7 years of data using the Pass 8 event-level analysis. This is the Third Catalog of Hard Fermi-LAT Sources (3FHL), containing 1556 objects characterized in the 10 GeV–2 TeV energy range. The sensitivity and angular resolution are improved by factors of 3 and 2 relative to the previous LAT catalog at the same energies (1FHL). The vast majority of detected sources (79%) are associated with extragalactic counterparts at other wavelengths, including 16 sources located at very high redshift (z > 2). Eight percent of the sources have Galactic counterparts and 13% are unassociated (or associated with a source of unknown nature). The high-latitude sky and the Galactic plane are observed with a flux sensitivity of 4.4 to 9.5 ×10 −11 ph cm −2 s −1 , respectively (this is approximately 0.5 % and 1 % of the Crab Nebula flux above 10 GeV). The catalog includes 214 new γ-ray sources. The substantial increase in the number of photons (more than 4 times relative to 1FHL and 10 times to 2FHL) also allows us to measure significant spectral curvature for 32 sources and find flux variability for 163 of them. Furthermore, we estimate that for the same flux limit of 10 −12 erg cm −2 s −1 , the energy range above 10 GeV has twice as many sources as above 50 GeV, highlighting the importance, for future Cherenkov telescopes, of lowering the energy threshold as much as possible.

Journal ArticleDOI
Morad Aaboud, Georges Aad1, Brad Abbott2, Jalal Abdallah3  +2906 moreInstitutions (214)
TL;DR: In this paper, Dijet events are studied in the proton-proton collision dataset recorded at root s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider in 2015 and 2016.
Abstract: Dijet events are studied in the proton-proton collision dataset recorded at root s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider in 2015 and 2016, corresponding to integrated lumino ...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The e-ASTROGAM (enhanced ASTROGAM) project as mentioned in this paper is a breakthrough Observatory space mission, with a detector composed by a Silicon tracker, a calorimeter, and an anticoincidence system, dedicated to the study of the non-thermal Universe in the photon energy range from 0.3 MeV to 3 GeV.
Abstract: e-ASTROGAM (‘enhanced ASTROGAM’) is a breakthrough Observatory space mission, with a detector composed by a Silicon tracker, a calorimeter, and an anticoincidence system, dedicated to the study of the non-thermal Universe in the photon energy range from 0.3 MeV to 3 GeV – the lower energy limit can be pushed to energies as low as 150 keV, albeit with rapidly degrading angular resolution, for the tracker, and to 30 keV for calorimetric detection. The mission is based on an advanced space-proven detector technology, with unprecedented sensitivity, angular and energy resolution, combined with polarimetric capability. Thanks to its performance in the MeV-GeV domain, substantially improving its predecessors, e-ASTROGAM will open a new window on the non-thermal Universe, making pioneering observations of the most powerful Galactic and extragalactic sources, elucidating the nature of their relativistic outflows and their effects on the surroundings. With a line sensitivity in the MeV energy range one to two orders of magnitude better than previous generation instruments, e-ASTROGAM will determine the origin of key isotopes fundamental for the understanding of supernova explosion and the chemical evolution of our Galaxy. The mission will provide unique data of significant interest to a broad astronomical community, complementary to powerful observatories such as LIGO-Virgo-GEO600-KAGRA, SKA, ALMA, E-ELT, TMT, LSST, JWST, Athena, CTA, IceCube, KM3NeT, and the promise of eLISA.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The current standards of care and major recent advances with regard to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are described and a prospective overview for the next 30 years in this field is given.
Abstract: To describe the current standards of care and major recent advances with regard to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and to give a prospective overview for the next 30 years in this field. Review of medical literature and expert opinion were used in the development of this review. There is undoubtedly a large clinical and public health burden associated with AMR in ICU, but it is challenging to quantify the associated excess morbidity and mortality. In the last decade, antibiotic stewardship and infection prevention and control have been unable to prevent the rapid spread of resistant Gram-negative bacteria (GNB), in particular carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (and other non-fermenting GNB), extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing and carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE). The situation appears more optimistic currently for Gram-positive, where Staphylococcus aureus, and particularly methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), remains a cardinal cause of healthcare-associated infections worldwide. Recent advancements in laboratory techniques allow for a rapid identification of the infecting pathogen and antibiotic susceptibility testing. Their impact can be particularly relevant in settings with prevalence of MDR, since they may guide fine-tuning of empirically selected regimen, facilitate de-escalation of unnecessary antimicrobials, and support infection control decisions. Currently, antibiotics are the primary anti-infective solution for patients with known or suspected MDR bacteria in intensive care. Numerous incentives have been provided to encourage researchers to work on alternative strategies to reverse this trend and to provide a means to treat these pathogens. Although some promising antibiotics currently in phase 2 and 3 of development will soon be licensed and utilized in ICU, the continuous development of an alternative generation of compounds is extremely important. There are currently several promising avenues available to fight antibiotic resistance, such as faecal microbiota, and phage therapy.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The available evidence on the use of different therapeutic strategies to alleviate common late sequelae of RT in head and neck cancer patients is reviewed, with a focus on the critical assessment of the treatment options for xerostomia, dysphagia, mandibular osteoradionecrosis, trismus, and hearing loss.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a questionnaire was developed to investigate which skills and expertise young engineers require to be ready for Industry 4.0, and the collected answers provided a picture of the actual situation in these three universities with some relevant considerations about engineering education.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The MBOat7 rs641738 T allele is associated with reduced MBOAT7 expression and may predispose to HCC in patients without cirrhosis, suggesting it should be evaluated in future prospective studies aimed at stratifying NAFLD-HCC risk.
Abstract: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) represents an emerging cause of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), especially in non-cirrhotic individuals. The rs641738 C > T MBOAT7/TMC4 variant predisposes to progressive NAFLD, but the impact on hepatic carcinogenesis is unknown. In Italian NAFLD patients, the rs641738 T allele was associated with NAFLD-HCC (OR 1.65, 1.08–2.55; n = 765), particularly in those without advanced fibrosis (p < 0.001). The risk T allele was linked to 3’-UTR variation in MBOAT7 and to reduced MBOAT7 expression in patients without severe fibrosis. The number of PNPLA3, TM6SF2, and MBOAT7 risk variants was associated with NAFLD-HCC independently of clinical factors (p < 0.001), but did not significantly improve their predictive accuracy. When combining data from an independent UK NAFLD cohort, in the overall cohort of non-cirrhotic patients (n = 913, 41 with HCC) the T allele remained associated with HCC (OR 2.10, 1.33–3.31). Finally, in a combined cohort of non-cirrhotic patients with chronic hepatitis C or alcoholic liver disease (n = 1121), the T allele was independently associated with HCC risk (OR 1.93, 1.07–3.58). In conclusion, the MBOAT7 rs641738 T allele is associated with reduced MBOAT7 expression and may predispose to HCC in patients without cirrhosis, suggesting it should be evaluated in future prospective studies aimed at stratifying NAFLD-HCC risk.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This review provides an overview of the innovative biosensing systems that can be applied for livestock pathogen detection and different sensing strategies based on DNA receptors, glycan, aptamers and antibodies are presented.
Abstract: Infectious animal diseases caused by pathogenic microorganisms such as bacteria and viruses threaten the health and well-being of wildlife, livestock, and human populations, limit productivity and increase significantly economic losses to each sector. The pathogen detection is an important step for the diagnostics, successful treatment of animal infection diseases and control management in farms and field conditions. Current techniques employed to diagnose pathogens in livestock and poultry include classical plate-based methods and conventional biochemical methods as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA). These methods are time-consuming and frequently incapable to distinguish between low and highly pathogenic strains. Molecular techniques such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and real time PCR (RT-PCR) have also been proposed to be used to diagnose and identify relevant infectious disease in animals. However these DNA-based methodologies need isolated genetic materials and sophisticated instruments, being not suitable for in field analysis. Consequently, there is strong interest for developing new swift point-of-care biosensing systems for early detection of animal diseases with high sensitivity and specificity. In this review, we provide an overview of the innovative biosensing systems that can be applied for livestock pathogen detection. Different sensing strategies based on DNA receptors, glycan, aptamers and antibodies are presented. Besides devices still at development level some are validated according to standards of the World Organization for Animal Health and are commercially available. Especially, paper-based platforms proposed as an affordable, rapid and easy to perform sensing systems for implementation in field condition are included in this review.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is found that the rod-shaped NPs actually restructure and expose {111} nanofacets, which has important consequences for understanding the controversial surface chemistry of these catalytically highly active ceria NPs and paves the way for the predictive, rational design of catalytic materials at the nanoscale.
Abstract: The surface atomic arrangement of metal oxides determines their physical and chemical properties, and the ability to control and optimize structural parameters is of crucial importance for many applications, in particular in heterogeneous catalysis and photocatalysis. Whereas the structures of macroscopic single crystals can be determined with established methods, for nanoparticles (NPs), this is a challenging task. Herein, we describe the use of CO as a probe molecule to determine the structure of the surfaces exposed by rod-shaped ceria NPs. After calibrating the CO stretching frequencies using results obtained for different ceria single-crystal surfaces, we found that the rod-shaped NPs actually restructure and expose {111} nanofacets. This finding has important consequences for understanding the controversial surface chemistry of these catalytically highly active ceria NPs and paves the way for the predictive, rational design of catalytic materials at the nanoscale.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A review of recent advances in the analysis and characterization of polyphenols in food focusing on the most relevant applications published in the last years is presented in this paper, where trends regarding sample treatment, chromatographic separation, mass analyzers and chemometric approaches used in the determination and characterization are addressed.
Abstract: Polyphenols comprise a large family of naturally occurring secondary metabolites of plant-derived foods and are among the principal micronutrients associated with the health beneficial effects of our diet. Liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and, in the last few years, high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) is playing an important role in the research of polyphenols, not only for the determination of this family of compounds in food matrices, but also for the characterization and identification of new polyphenols, as well as the classification and authentication of natural extracts in the prevention of frauds. The purpose of this review is to describe recent advances in the LC-MS and LC-HRMS analysis and characterization of polyphenols in food focusing on the most relevant applications published in the last years. Trends regarding sample treatment, chromatographic separation, mass analyzers and chemometric approaches used in the determination and characterization of polyphenols will be addressed.

Journal ArticleDOI
18 Jul 2017-eLife
TL;DR: Progression of hypoxia reveals substantial plasticity of ATP homeostasis in seedlings, demonstrating that ATP dynamics can be monitored in the living plant and establishing MgATP2- measurement in living plants using the fluorescent protein biosensor ATeam1.
Abstract: Growth and development of plants is ultimately driven by light energy captured through photosynthesis. ATP acts as universal cellular energy cofactor fuelling all life processes, including gene expression, metabolism, and transport. Despite a mechanistic understanding of ATP biochemistry, ATP dynamics in the living plant have been largely elusive. Here, we establish MgATP2- measurement in living plants using the fluorescent protein biosensor ATeam1.03-nD/nA. We generate Arabidopsis sensor lines and investigate the sensor in vitro under conditions appropriate for the plant cytosol. We establish an assay for ATP fluxes in isolated mitochondria, and demonstrate that the sensor responds rapidly and reliably to MgATP2- changes in planta. A MgATP2- map of the Arabidopsis seedling highlights different MgATP2- concentrations between tissues and within individual cell types, such as root hairs. Progression of hypoxia reveals substantial plasticity of ATP homeostasis in seedlings, demonstrating that ATP dynamics can be monitored in the living plant.

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TL;DR: PRSs may provide informative cancer risk stratification for male carriers of BRCA1/2 mutations that might enable these men and their physicians to make informed decisions on the type and timing of breast and prostate cancer risk management.
Abstract: PurposeBRCA1/2 mutations increase the risk of breast and prostate cancer in men. Common genetic variants modify cancer risks for female carriers of BRCA1/2 mutations. We investigated—for the first time to our knowledge—associations of common genetic variants with breast and prostate cancer risks for male carriers of BRCA1/2 mutations and implications for cancer risk prediction.Materials and MethodsWe genotyped 1,802 male carriers of BRCA1/2 mutations from the Consortium of Investigators of Modifiers of BRCA1/2 by using the custom Illumina OncoArray. We investigated the combined effects of established breast and prostate cancer susceptibility variants on cancer risks for male carriers of BRCA1/2 mutations by constructing weighted polygenic risk scores (PRSs) using published effect estimates as weights.ResultsIn male carriers of BRCA1/2 mutations, PRS that was based on 88 female breast cancer susceptibility variants was associated with breast cancer risk (odds ratio per standard deviation of PRS, 1.36; 95% ...

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TL;DR: The finding that T163S mutants of the β subunit confer resistance to Ca2+‐induced, PTP‐dependent death in cells and developing zebrafish embryos is a major advance in the molecular definition of the transition of F‐ATP synthase to a channel and of its role in cell death.
Abstract: F-ATP synthases convert the electrochemical energy of the H+ gradient into the chemical energy of ATP with remarkable efficiency. Mitochondrial F-ATP synthases can also undergo a Ca2+-dependent transformation to form channels with properties matching those of the permeability transition pore (PTP), a key player in cell death. The Ca2+ binding site and the mechanism(s) through which Ca2+ can transform the energy-conserving enzyme into a dissipative structure promoting cell death remain unknown. Through in vitro, in vivo and in silico studies we (i) pinpoint the "Ca2+-trigger site" of the PTP to the catalytic site of the F-ATP synthase β subunit and (ii) define a conformational change that propagates from the catalytic site through OSCP and the lateral stalk to the inner membrane. T163S mutants of the β subunit, which show a selective decrease in Ca2+-ATP hydrolysis, confer resistance to Ca2+-induced, PTP-dependent death in cells and developing zebrafish embryos. These findings are a major advance in the molecular definition of the transition of F-ATP synthase to a channel and of its role in cell death.

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TL;DR: It is argued that successful companies nurture specific capabilities in order to act proactively and to reach strategic agility and direct these to specific key elements of the business model (building blocks), thus enabling the renewing of the entire business model.


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TL;DR: Women with endometriosis have a statistically significantly higher risk of preterm birth, miscarriage, placenta previa, small for gestational age infants, and cesarean delivery.

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TL;DR: Baseline experimental results on the BAUM-1 database show that recognition of affective and mental states under naturalistic conditions is quite challenging, and the database is expected to enable further research on audio-visual affect and mental state recognition under close-to-real scenarios.
Abstract: In affective computing applications, access to labeled spontaneous affective data is essential for testing the designed algorithms under naturalistic and challenging conditions. Most databases available today are acted or do not contain audio data. We present a spontaneous audio-visual affective face database of affective and mental states. The video clips in the database are obtained by recording the subjects from the frontal view using a stereo camera and from the half-profile view using a mono camera. The subjects are first shown a sequence of images and short video clips, which are not only meticulously fashioned but also timed to evoke a set of emotions and mental states. Then, they express their ideas and feelings about the images and video clips they have watched in an unscripted and unguided way in Turkish. The target emotions, include the six basic ones (happiness, anger, sadness, disgust, fear, surprise) as well as boredom and contempt. We also target several mental states, which are unsure (including confused, undecided), thinking, concentrating, and bothered. Baseline experimental results on the BAUM-1 database show that recognition of affective and mental states under naturalistic conditions is quite challenging. The database is expected to enable further research on audio-visual affect and mental state recognition under close-to-real scenarios.

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TL;DR: Several key aspects to be addressed when dealing with KPC-KP in critically ill patients are identified (preventing colonization in the patient, preventing infection in the colonized patient and colonization of his or her contacts), and related suggestions that were based on the available observational literature and the experience of panel members are provided.