Insights on the Side Panels of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">Franciscan Triptych</Emphasis> by Fra Angelico Using Terahertz Time-Domain Imaging (THz-TDI)

The side panels of the Franciscan Triptych (St. Jerome, St. John the Baptist, and the Archangel Gabriel and St. Francis, St. Onofrio, and the Virgin Annunciate, by Fra Angelico, before 1429) were scanned by means of terahertz time-domain imaging (THz-TDI). THz analysis supplied information on the stratigraphy of the panel paintings and the associated construction, “gessoing” and gilding techniques. Furthermore, THz-TDI provided information regarding the location of restoration materials within the painting stratigraphy on St. Jerome, St. John the Baptist, and the Archangel Gabriel, as well as on the extension and nature of subsurface cracks in the panel painting of St. Francis, St. Onofrio, and the Virgin Annunciate.     

The mannose receptor mediates uptake of pathogenic and nonpathogenic mycobacteria and bypasses bactericidal responses in human macrophages

The mannose receptor (MR) is involved in the phagocytosis of pathogenic microorganisms. Here we investigated its role in the bactericidal functions of human monocyte-derived macrophages (MDMs), using (i) trimannoside-bovine serum albumin (BSA)-coated latex beads and zymosan as particulate ligands of the MR, and (ii) mannan and mannose-BSA as soluble ligands. We show that phagocytosis of mannosylated latex beads did not elicit the production of O2-. Zymosan, which is composed of alpha-mannan and beta-glucan, was internalized by the MR and a beta-glucan receptor, but the production of O2- was triggered only by phagocytosis through the beta-glucan receptor. Activation and translocation of Hck, a Src family tyrosine kinase located on lysosomes, has previously been used as a marker of fusion between lysosomes and phagosomes in human neutrophils. In MDMs, Hck was activated and recruited to phagosomes containing zymosan later than LAMP-1 and CD63. Phagosomes containing mannosylated latex beads fused with LAMP-1 and CD63 vesicles but not with the Hck compartment, and the kinase was not activated. We also demonstrate that the MR was unable to distinguish between nonpathogenic and pathogenic mycobacteria, as they were internalized at similar rates by this receptor, indicating that this route of entry cannot be considered as a differential determinant of the intracellular fate of mycobacteria. In conclusion, MR-dependent phagocytosis is coupled neither to the activation of NADPH oxidase nor to the maturation of phagosomes until fusion with the Hck compartment and therefore constitutes a safe portal of entry for microorganisms.     

Beta-binders for Biological Quantitative Experiments

The similarities between biological systems and distributed and mobile systems suggest that the theory of process calculi could be a useful starting point for understanding, if not predicting, the behaviour of complex biological systems.To formally model in vitro or in vivo experiments, appropriate quantitative extensions of process calculi have to be investigated. This paper focuses on Beta-binders, a language of processes with typed interaction sites which has been recently introduced to accurately represent biological entities.Here the syntax and semantics of Beta-binders are enriched to achieve a stochastic version of it, in order to obtain quantitative measures on biological phenomena. The quantitative parameters are derived from typed interaction sites introducing the concept of affinity. The relevance of quantitative reasoning is outlined running a biological example.     

Attenuation in wall-impedance waveguides: a new approach

The Rayleigh-Schroedinger power expansion of perturbed eigenvalues is used to determine propagation constants in wall-impedance waveguides, the final objective being a design procedure for trunk-communication waveguides. Examples of applications, where corrections up to the fifth order are accounted for, include ideal helix waveguides and thickly dielectric-lined circular waveguides.     

Study of progesterone and cortisol concentrations in the Italian Friesian claw

The present research was conducted to study progesterone and cortisol concentrations in the claw of cattle and to verify whether the cattle claw could be considered an efficient matrix to provide retrospective information regarding progesterone and cortisol concentrations related to pregnancy and peripartum periods. These 2 steroids are involved in hoof growth. The study was performed on 32 calves and 24 pregnant milking cows of the Holstein breed, which were clinically healthy and lacking any claw disorders. Samples of at least 0.5 cm in thickness were taken from the sole. Progesterone and cortisol concentrations were determined by RIA. The cortisol concentration in the horny shoe of calves from 0 to 30 d of age was significantly higher than the concentration at 31 to 60 and 61 to 120 d of age. Conversely, the progesterone concentration showed no statistically significant difference in relation to age. The horn progesterone concentrations recorded in the milking dairy cows at 7 mo of pregnancy showed high variability in the horizontal sections of the sole (the individual coefficient of variation ranged between 0.09 and 1.11). In 6 cows, genuine extreme values (genuine outliers) of the progesterone level were found. Moreover, significant differences existed among the progesterone concentrations of the sole's transverse sections. We detected a significant positive correlation between the weight of the horn samples after freeze-drying and their weight after hydration. The cortisol and progesterone levels in soaked horn samples were found to be significantly lower than in the same dry samples. These results show that cortisol and progesterone can be measured in the cattle claw horn. The claws of mature dairy cows could not be used as a matrix to provide a retrospective measure of cumulative hormone secretion, whereas the analysis of the calves’ claw horns showed retrospective hormonal information similar to hair samples.     

Editorial: Smart Objects and Technologies

Mobile Networks and Applications -     

Walking under a Different Sky: Urban Colored Routes for Creative Engagement and Pleasure

This work presents a study inviting new reflections on our daily walking experiences as mediated by modern GIS-based route-mapping software tools, which has culminated into ColorPath: an app that allows walkers to follow creative urban paths computed on the basis of their walking preferences and expressed under the form of a color. In particular, users may indicate their preference to follow a route as obtained as an urban mix of: pleasurable landscapes (blue), historical buildings and places (red), and parks and gardens (green). ColorPath computes a corresponding path to be followed. Drawing on a new trend that explores the relations between GIS-enabled computerized navigations and sociocultural practices, ColorPath has been built on top of OpenTripPlanner (OTP) and exploits OpenStreetMap (OSM) data. Studies of 10 people’s use of ColorPath propose insights on how walkers reflect on the differences (pros and drawbacks) between “colored” routes and traditional shortest paths computed by routinary route recommendation algorithms.     

Automatic Mode Matching in MEMS Vibrating Gyroscopes Using Extremum-Seeking Control

In order to enhance the sensitivity and to reduce the readout circuit complexity of any angular velocity microsensor (vibrating gyroscope), it is crucial to reduce the frequency mismatch of its resonant modes of vibration. Achieving a good matching accuracy during fabrication is rather difficult because of tolerances and process variations that detrimentally affect the manufacturing precision. Moreover, even assuming to achieve a good frequency matching through fabrication or postfabrication calibration, it is very likely that parametric variations induced by the external environment during the normal operation of the device disrupt any initial tuning. For these reasons, in this paper, an alternative way to accomplish the frequency-matching condition is suggested, which exploits a real-time adjusting mechanism based on an automatic mode-matching control loop. In particular, this paper describes the details of an adaptive controller capable of automatically matching the resonant frequencies of the two main modes of vibration of a single-axis vibrating microgyroscope, under the provision that there is an underlying mechanism through which the frequency mismatch can be controlled by adjusting a suitable tunable parameter. The controller is designed by considering the requirement of reducing its complexity, so that it can be easily implemented on cheap sensors. Owing to a key observation that allows the recast of the frequency-matching problem as a maximization problem, the proposed mode-matching controller is actually designed as a standard perturbation-based extremum-seeking controller, which can be implemented by using few analog electronic components. The proposed solution has been tested on the LISY300AL yaw-rate microelectromechanical system gyroscope manufactured by STMicroelectronics, showing that a mode matching of nearly 1 Hz or less can be easily attained.     

An unusual congenital nail dystrophy (''soft nail disease'')

Approximately 4,000 preschool black children from low-income families in South Memphis participated for three years in a supplementary food program sponsored by the US Department of Agriculture. Part of this group received additional benefit from food stamps, day-care centers, and an infant-feeding program. We evaluated the effects of this participation in 250 children selected randomly from the enrollment list of the supplemetary program. Each child was examined for height, weight, head circumference, and levels of hemoglobin, serum iron, and vitamins A and C. The data were then compared with those from a similar survey in the same area conducted three years before. The results of this comparison indicate considerable improvements in height and weight and a reduction in the incidence of anemia and in the numbers of children with low plasma vitamin A levels. In the absence of other recognizable intervening factors, we conclude that federal food assistance programs were primarily responsible for the observed nutritional improvements.