Small fiber neuropathy (SFN) is a well-defined chronic painful condition causing severe individual and societal burden. While mood disorders have been described, cognitive and behavioral profiles of ...SFN patients has not been investigated.
Thirty-four painful SFN patients underwent comprehensive cognitive, behavioral, psychological, quality of life (QoL), and personality assessment using validated questionnaires. As control samples, we enrolled 36 patients with painful peripheral neuropathy (PPN) of mixed etiology and 30 healthy controls (HC). Clinical measures of neuropathic pain, duration, frequency, and intensity of pain at the time of assessment were recorded. Between-group and correlation analyses were performed and corrected for multiple comparisons.
No differences in clinical measures were found between SFN and PPN, and all groups had similar cognitive profiles. SFN patients showed higher levels of anxiety and alexithymia (p < .005) compared to PPN and HC, considering also pain intensity. Maladaptive coping strategies characterized both patient groups, but only SFN revealed higher levels of acceptance of pain (p < .05). Pain intensity and neuropathic symptoms were associated with mood, low QoL and catastrophism (p < .001), particularly, the higher the perceived pain intensity, the higher the use of maladaptive coping strategies (p < .001). The personality assessment revealed significant feelings of worthlessness and somatization traits both in SFN and PPN (p < .002 vs HC).
our results suggest that SFN patients had a normal-like cognitive profile, while their behavioral profile is characterized by mood disorders, alexithymia, maladaptive coping strategies, and poor QoL, as other chronic pain conditions, possibly related to pain intensity. Personality assessment suggests that somatization and feelings of worthlessness, which may worsen the neuropsychological profile, deserve clinical attention when considering patients' therapeutic approaches. At the same time, the high level of acceptance of pain is promising for therapeutic approaches based on psychological support.
The seismic performance of existing RC frame buildings seismically retrofitted by base isolation is examined. Two different types of isolation systems are considered, i.e.: rubber-based and ...friction-based isolation systems, respectively. Two different performance levels are examined, namely: Global collapse prevention and Usability preventing damage. Seismic performance is assessed by multi-stripe nonlinear time-history analysis, considering earthquake intensity levels with return period ranging from 10 to 100000 years. Results point out that seismic isolation works effectively in limiting damage well beyond the design limit state level while it shows a limited margin with respect to collapse beyond the design limit state level.
Ettringite is a rare mineral with high-water content, more than half of its weight, and a relevant secondary product in Portland cement. Using density functional theory, we simulate the crystal ...structure and properties of ettringite under pressure. Our calculations predict a change in slope for all the lattice parameters versus pressure at about 2.5 GPa. Above such pressure, the elastic properties show a drastic increase of nearly 80% in the bulk modulus. This finding is explained in terms of a concurrent amorphization and densification of the hydrogen bond network. At low pressures, ettringite can be compressed substantially without significant repulsion in the hydrogen bond network. At high pressures, the hydrogen bonds become stiff, and their contribution to the total repulsion is then important. These changes are also supported by the evolution on the electronic density of ettringite with pressure.
In this paper, it is investigated the possibility of reusing ashes, issued by an oxyfuel combustion process aimed at mitigating CO2 emission, as substitutes for natural pozzolan in the production of ...low-CO2 blended cements. To this end, the oxyfuel plant (a 95 kWth pilot-scale fluidized bed reactor) was operated under controlled conditions by feeding blends of anthracite or lignite and biomass corn stover. Characterization of fly and bottom ashes revealed that the latter showed properties able to make them considerable for obtaining blended cements by mixing them with Portland clinker and natural gypsum. The cements were subjected to pozzolanicity and hydration tests for curing times ranging from 2 to 28d at 20° and 40°C. X-ray fluorescence and diffraction, differential thermal–thermogravimetric analyses and scanning electron microscopy were employed as characterization techniques. With reference to a standard blended cement, and with particular eye on the blended cement containing bottom ashes obtained from the lignite–biomass mixture combustion, it was observed a good similarity in the ability of the silico-aluminous fraction to react with Ca(OH)2 produced by Portland clinker hydration, to yield the desired calcium silicate hydrates among the hydration products.
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•Oxyfuel combustion ashes (OF) can be employed in the production of low-CO2 cements.•OF utilization allows to curb CO2 emission and rise energy saving in cement industry.•OF blended cements satisfied the pozzolanicity tests and displayed a good reactivity.•A hydration behavior similar to that of a reference cement was shown by OF cements.
Objectives
To analyse the role of DW-MRI in early prediction of pathologically-assessed residual disease in locally-advanced cervical cancer (LACC) treated with neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy followed ...by radical surgery.
Methods
Between October 2010–June 2014, 108 women with histologically-proven cervical cancer were screened; 88 were included in this study. Tumour volume (TV) and ADC
mean
were measured before (baseline-MRI) and after 2 weeks of chemoradiotherapy (early-MRI). According to histopathology, treatment response was classified as complete (CR) or partial (PR). Comparisons were made with Mann-Whitney, Wilcoxon and χ2 tests. ROC curves were generated for statistically significant parameters on univariate analysis.
Results
CR and PR were documented in 40 and 48 patients. At baseline-MRI, TV did not differ between groups. At early-MRI, TV was higher in PR than in CR (p=0.001). ΔTV reduction after treatment was lower in PR than in CR (63.6% vs. 81.1%; p=0.001). At baseline-MRI and early-MRI, ADC
mean
did not differ between PR and CR. ROC curve showed best cut-off for predicting pathological PR was ΔTV reduction of 73% with sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, NPV, PPV of 73%, 72.5%, 72.7%, 76%, 69%.
Conclusions
TV evaluated before and early after treatment could predict pathological response in LACC. ADC
mean
did not correlate with treatment outcome.
Key Points
• Early-MRI tumour volume assessment could predict pathological response to nCRT in LACC.
• Best cut-off for predicting pathological PR was ΔTV reduction of 73 %.
• Early-MRI ADC
mean
measurements did not correlate with treatment outcome.
The ALICE data acquisition system Carena, F.; Carena, W.; Chapeland, S. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
03/2014, Letnik:
741
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
In this paper we describe the design, the construction, the commissioning and the operation of the Data Acquisition (DAQ) and Experiment Control Systems (ECS) of the ALICE experiment at the CERN ...Large Hadron Collider (LHC).
The DAQ and the ECS are the systems used respectively for the acquisition of all physics data and for the overall control of the experiment. They are two computing systems made of hundreds of PCs and data storage units interconnected via two networks. The collection of experimental data from the detectors is performed by several hundreds of high-speed optical links.
We describe in detail the design considerations for these systems handling the extreme data throughput resulting from central lead ions collisions at LHC energy. The implementation of the resulting requirements into hardware (custom optical links and commercial computing equipment), infrastructure (racks, cooling, power distribution, control room), and software led to many innovative solutions which are described together with a presentation of all the major components of the systems, as currently realized. We also report on the performance achieved during the first period of data taking (from 2009 to 2013) often exceeding those specified in the DAQ Technical Design Report.
Through laboratory burnability tests and industrial runs carried out for 1 month in a dry process-cement kiln it has been found that an oil well-derived drilling waste and an electric arc furnace ...(EAF) slag generated in a steel plant are suitable partial substitutes for both limestone and clay in the kiln feed.
Drilling waste was available in two streams: the one, muddy and argillaceous; the other, rocky and calcareous. Both gave satisfactory burnability indexes (BI) and high percentages of replacement of limestone (up to 38%) and clay (up to 72%).
EAF slag was introduced in the kiln feed at a lesser degree (20%), but promoted a better raw mix burnability: furthermore, being a non-carbonated source of lime, it allows a reduction of both thermal requirement and emission of CO
2, gas responsible for the greenhouse effect.
The manufacturing process of waste-based clinkers was environmentally compatible and the related cements were similar in performance to common hydraulic binders.
Although understanding filament formation in oxide‐based memristive devices by theory has emerged, there are still fundamental unanswered questions. Importantly, for practical application of thin ...films the material in its amorphous state is to be considered, but mostly lacking so far, and details on sub‐stoichiometry are also scarce. To gain insight into the optical and electronic properties of sub‐stoichiometric amorphous tantalum oxide (TaOx), the electron energy loss spectrum (EELS) of model systems is characterized theoretically and electron transport characteristics are analyzed in detail. Calculated blue‐shifts by increasing sub‐stoichiometry explained the measurements, potentially suggesting estimation of oxygen vacancy concentrations through EEL spectra. Electron transport results based on TaOx material models validated by EELS measurements show that oxygen vacancy filamentary paths are initiated at low bias upon increasing sub‐stoichiometry yet noting an interplay with the local amorphous structure. Contact resistances at interfaces of the TaOx switching layer and a tantalum scavenging layer or titanium nitride electrode are quantified, indicating the possibility for either oxygen vacancy‐ or metal cluster‐based conduction mechanisms at the interface. The computational work, combined with experimental characterization for validation, provides a basis for investigating effects of sub‐stoichiometry on filament formation in TaOx thin film memristive devices.
To explain filament formation in sub‐stoichiometric tantalum oxide (TaOx) thin film memristive devices, theoretical characterization of electron energy loss spectra (EELS) is validated by measurements. Predicted EELS blue‐shifts when increasing sub‐stoichiometry estimate the oxygen vacancy concentration. Electron transport calculations for amorphous TaOx and metal–TaOx–metal stacks of varying sub‐stoichiometry elucidate oxygen vacancy assisted transmission paths of the conduction filaments.
ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) is a heavy-ion detector studying the physics of strongly interacting matter and the quark-gluon plasma at the CERN LHC (Large Hadron Collider). The ALICE ...Data-AcQuisition (DAQ) system handles the data flow from the sub-detector electronics to the permanent data storage in the CERN computing center. The DAQ farm consists of about 1000 devices of many different types ranging from direct accessible machines to storage arrays and custom optical links. The system performance monitoring tool used during the LHC run 1 will be replaced by a new tool for run 2. This paper shows the results of an evaluation that has been conducted on six publicly available monitoring tools. The evaluation has been carried out by taking into account selection criteria such as scalability, flexibility, reliability as well as data collection methods and display. All the tools have been prototyped and evaluated according to those criteria. We will describe the considerations that have led to the selection of the Zabbix monitoring tool for the DAQ farm. The results of the tests conducted in the ALICE DAQ laboratory will be presented. In addition, the deployment of the software on the DAQ machines in terms of metrics collected and data collection methods will be described. We will illustrate how remote nodes are monitored with Zabbix by using SNMP-based agents and how DAQ specific metrics are retrieved and displayed. We will also show how the monitoring information is accessed and made available via the graphical user interface and how Zabbix communicates with the other DAQ online systems for notification and reporting.
The present work studies the hydration process and microstructural features of five calcium sulfoaluminate (CSA) cements and a ternary mixture including also ordinary Portland cement (OPC). The ...pastes were studied with simultaneous differential thermal-thermogravimetric (DTA-TG) analysis, mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and expansion/shrinkage tests. The DTA-TG analysis confirmed the role of the hydration reactions involving the main CSA clinker constituent, tetracalcium trialuminate sulfate, which produced (i) ettringite when combined with lime and calcium sulfate, (ii) ettringite and aluminum hydroxide in the presence of calcium sulfate alone, and (iii) monosulfate and aluminum hydroxide in the absence of both lime and calcium sulfate. The MIP and SEM were able to discriminate between expansive (ternary mixture and CSA cement containing 50% gypsum) and non-expansive cements. Expansive cement pastes had (i) a nearly unimodal pore size distribution shifted toward higher radii and (ii) ettringite crystals smaller in size during the first day of curing. In a SEM image of a hardened paste of the CSA cement containing 50% gypsum, a stellate ettringite cluster was observed.
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