Since the birth of X-ray Astronomy, spectacular advances have been seen in the imaging, spectroscopic and timing studies of the hot and violent X-ray Universe, and further leaps forward are expected ...in the future. On the other hand, polarimetry is very much lagging behind: after the measurements of the Crab Nebula and Scorpius X-1, obtained by OSO-8 in the 70s, no more observations have been performed in the classical X-ray band, even if some interesting results have been obtained in hard X-rays and in soft gamma-rays. The NASA/ASI mission IXPE, scheduled for the launch in 2021, is going to provide for the first time imaging X-ray polarimetry in the 2-8 keV band thanks to its photoelectric polarimeter, coupled with ~25'' angular resolution X-ray mirrors. Its orders of magnitude improvement in sensitivity with respect to the OSO-8 Bragg polarimeter implies scientifically meaningful polarimetric measurements for at least the brightest specimens of most classes of X-ray sources. In 2027, the Chinese-led mission eXTP should also be launched. In addition to timing and spectroscopic instruments, eXTP will have on board photoelectric polarimeters very similar to those of IXPE, but with a total effective area 2-3 times larger. Building on IXPE results, eXTP will increase the number of sources for which significant polarimetric measurements could be obtained. However, further progresses, such as exploring a broader energy range, considering a larger effective area, improving the angular resolution, and performing wide-field polarization measurements, are needed to reach a mature phase for X-ray polarimetry. In the first part of this White Paper we will discuss a few scientific cases in which a next generation X-ray Polarimetry mission can provide significant advances. In the second part, a possible concept for a medium-class Next Generation X-ray Polarimetry (NGXP) mission will be sketched.
In this paper we present the science potential of the enhanced X-ray Timing
and Polarimetry (eXTP) mission for studies of strongly magnetized objects. We
will focus on the physics and astrophysics of ...strongly magnetized objects,
namely magnetars, accreting X-ray pulsars, and rotation powered pulsars. We
also discuss the science potential of eXTP for QED studies. Developed by an
international Consortium led by the Institute of High Energy Physics of the
Chinese Academy of Sciences, the eXTP mission is expected to be launched in the
mid 2020s.
Selection for genetic improvement in grapes has led to a reduction in the variability, a narrowing of the ampelographic range and the cultivation of many grape varieties being abandoned. In some ...cases it has been discovered that these grape varieties could be interesting sources of useful genes (for instance Gouais/Heunisch weiss) or when they are cultivated in suitable environments (for example Sauvignonasse/Tocai friulano). Genetic erosion therefore also regards viticulture and in recent times different institutions have financed projects devoted to the preservation and study of local germplasm. Moreover, for grapevines the problem exists of name redundancy with respect to the actual number of cultivars, which is, anyway, very high. Within this general framework, this paper offers a contribution towards the characterisation of local Italian grapevine germplasm, with the clearing up of the inevitable synonyms under which these vines are known in different geographical areas. Preliminary ampelographic comparisons suggested the hypothesis that the following groups of vines may be synonyms: 1. Prosecco lungo and Tocai nostrano 2. Aleatico, Vernaccia di Pergola and Moscatello nero 3. Bianchetta trevigiana, Vernassina, Vernanzina and Senese 4. Pedevenda and Verdise 5. Malvasia bianca lunga and Fresia 6. Ranaccio and Grenache For their characterisation we applied a multidisciplinary approach as follows: 1. ampelographic remarks with the O.I.V. fiche 2. ampelometric analysis with the Leaf-ISV software 3. GPI and PGM isozyme analyses 4. microsatellite DNA markers 5. chemical analyses of aromas The results and conclusions of each approach were integrated together and confirmed the initial feeling of identity for every group of accessions.
Nephroprotection with saxagliptin Iazzetta, Nicolangelo; Garofalo, Carlo; Savino, Manuela ...
Giornale italiano di nefrologia : organo ufficiale della Societa italiana di nefrologia,
2015 Nov-Dec, Letnik:
32, Številka:
6
Journal Article
The nephroprotective effect of the new anti-diabetic drugs acting on incretin system is suggested by preclinical studies. However, no study evaluating kidney effects of these drugs as primary outcome ...on the long term has been conducted in patients followed in diabetes centers. We designed a pilot observational study involving two diabetes clinics to evaluate the effect of prolonged treatment with saxagliptin on renal function in type 2 diabetics. Patients were enrolled if treated for at least 12 months with saxagliptin without concurrent changes to anti-hypertensive and lipid-lowering therapy. Primary outcome was to evaluate the effect of saxagliptin on albuminuria and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). Secondary outcomes were the effects of treatment on common clinical and laboratory parameters. Sixty-three patients were enrolled. After 12 months of treatment with saxagliptin, albuminuria declined from a mean (95%CI) of 39 (25-52) to 22 (14-30) mg/l (P<0.001), and the prevalence of increased albuminuria (>20 mg/L) diminished by 27% versus baseline. The anti-albuminuric effect was independent of glycemic and blood pressure control. The eGFR remained unchanged after treatment in the presence of decreased glycated hemoglobin (from 7.1 to 6.7%). Therefore, this pilot study suggests that saxagliptin treatment in diabetic patients at high renal risk is associated with a reduction in albuminuria and GFR stability. Prospective trials are required to confirm the potential nephroprotective effects of saxagliptin.
Patients with non-dialysis-dependent chronic kidney disease (ND-CKD) often show anemia and iron deficiency despite oral iron supplementation caused by poor iron absorption, intolerance and ...non-compliance.
We prospectively followed seven adult patients with ND-CKD (eGFR <60 ml/min/1.73m2), anemia (Hb<11 g/dl or treatment with ESA), iron deficiency (TSAT<20% and/or ferritin<100 ng/mL) and intolerant or non-responders to oral iron supplementation. Patients received ferric carboxymaltose (FCM) (single dose of 500 mg iv) eventually followed by further doses if iron deficiency persisted. Hemoglobin, ferritin, TSAT and ESA doses were recorded at baseline and after 2, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20 and 24 weeks.
After 2 weeks of FCM, ferritin increased from 5348 to 222154 ng/mL (P<0.05) and remained steady thereafter. The increase of TSAT from baseline (115%) was more gradual being significant from week 4 (198%) up to week 24 (2412%). During the study, patients received on average 2.31.0 injections of FCM, to the amount of 1143440 mg. Hb levels remained stable throughout the study, despite a significant reduction of ESA dosage (from 3426 g/week at baseline to 1116 and 1710 g/week, after 4 and 24 weeks, respectively). On average, the ESA dose saving was 2024 g/week. Even considering the higher cost of FCM, ESA dose reduction allowed shortening overall costs by 673/patient during the 24 weeks of study.
In ND-CKD patients, FCM is effective in correcting iron deficiency and associated with stable Hb levels and significant decrease of ESA dosage. This allows a marked reduction of costs for anemia correction.
We study 1-loop effects for massless Dirac fields in two spatial dimensions, coupled to homogeneous electromagnetic backgrounds, both at zero and at finite temperature and density. In the case of a ...purely magnetic field, we analyze the relationship between the invariance of the theory under large gauge transformations, the appearance of Chern-Simons terms and of different Berry's phases. In the case of a purely electric background field, we show that the effective Lagrangian is independent of the chemical potential and of the temperature. More interesting: we show that the minimal conductivity, as predicted by the quantum field theory, is the right multiple of the conductivity quantum and is, thus, consistent with the value measured for graphene, with no extra factor of pi in the denominator.
To evaluate the prevalence of human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) DNA detection in a large series of human immunodeficiency virus-seronegative patients with and without Kaposi sarcoma (KS) from the central ...and southern regions of Italy where classic KS is prevalent.
Samples of lesional, peripheral unaffected, and distant normal skin and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from 33 patients with KS and PBMCs from 42 control subjects were analyzed using single and nested polymerase chain reaction techniques for the presence of HHV-8 DNA.
A total of 33 patients with KS not related to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (26 patients with classic KS and 7 patients with iatrogenic KS) were studied. Furthermore, 2 control groups were enrolled. The first group consisted of 13 healthy volunteers, the second of 29 patients affected by different dermatological diseases.
Human herpesvirus 8 sequences were found in 100% of lesional and perilesional specimens, in 33% of the distant normal skin samples, and in 69.6% of the PBMCs from patients with KS. A possible correlation between HHV-8 DNA in PBMCs and the clinical stage of the disease was observed. Moreover, the prevalence of viral DNA in PBMCs from the total control group was 23.8%. No viral DNA was detected in tissue biopsy specimens taken from the control group.
Our data suggest that HHV-8 could be a widespread virus, at least in Mediterranean regions where KS is more prevalent, such as southern and central Italy. As with other herpesviruses, it may be present lifelong in latent form somewhere in the body and may contribute to the pathogenesis of KS when other predisposing conditions are present.
J.Phys.A40:F435-F442,2007 We study the Euclidean effective action per unit area and the charge density
for a Dirac field in a two--dimensional spatial region, in the presence of a
uniform magnetic ...field perpendicular to the 2D--plane, at finite temperature
and density. In the limit of zero temperature we reproduce, after performing an
adequate Lorentz boost, the Hall conductivity measured for different kinds of
graphene samples, depending upon the phase choice in the fermionic determinant.
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