Industrial Requirements for Distributed SCM Tool

As software development comes to be viewed more and more as an engineering discipline, Software Configuration Management is increasingly recognised as a key technology in the development of software. The Esprit VISCOUNT project¹ aim is to implement an innovative Software Configuration Management (SCM) tool to use in a geographically distributed software development environment, a Virtual Software Corporation (VSC). The features implemented by the tool will be the following: ·Configurable process modelling ·Inter-working capabilities with COTS SCM tools ·Selective replication of archives ·Open to include plug-in applications (security mechanism, encryption, etc) This paper is based on the work undertaken as part of the VISCOUNT project, partially funded by European Union's Esprit Programme, and it describes the SIA (Societa' Italiana Avionica) requirements defined in the framework of VISCOUNT. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

TMEM106B Acts as a Modifier of Cognitive and Motor Functions in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

The transmembrane protein 106B (TMEM106B) gene is a susceptibility factor and disease modifier of frontotemporal dementia, but few studies have investigated its role in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The aim of this work was to assess the impact of the TMEM106B rs1990622 (A–major risk allele; G–minor allele) on phenotypic variability of 865 patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Demographic and clinical features were compared according to genotypes by additive, dominant, and recessive genetic models. Bulbar onset was overrepresented among carriers of the AA risk genotype, together with enhanced upper motor neuron involvement and poorer functional status in patients harboring at least one major risk allele (A). In a subset of 195 patients, we found that the homozygotes for the minor allele (GG) showed lower scores at the Edinburgh Cognitive and Behavioral Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Screen, indicating a more severe cognitive impairment, mainly involving the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-specific cognitive functions and memory. Moreover, lower motor neuron burden predominated among patients with at least one minor allele (G). Overall, we found that TMEM106B is a disease modifier of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, whose phenotypic effects encompass both sites of onset and functional status (major risk allele), motor functions (both major risk and minor alleles), and cognition (minor allele).     

A theory of ultimately periodic languages and automata with an application to time granularity

In this paper, we develop a theory of regular ω-languages that consist of ultimately periodic words only and we provide it with an automaton-based characterization. The resulting class of automata, called ultimately periodic automata (UPA), is a subclass of the class of Büchi automata and inherits some properties of automata over finite words (NFA). Taking advantage of the similarities among UPA, Büchi automata, and NFA, we devise efficient solutions to a number of basic problems for UPA, such as the inclusion, the equivalence, and the size optimization problems. The original motivation for developing a theory of ultimately periodic languages and automata was to represent and to reason about sets of time granularities in knowledge-based and database systems. In the last part of the paper, we show that UPA actually allow one to represent (possibly infinite) sets of granularities, instead of single ones, in a compact and suitable to algorithmic manipulation way. In particular, we describe an application of UPA to a concrete time granularity scenario taken from clinical medicine.     

Structural optimization strategies to design green products

This paper addresses the need for a structured approach to environmental assessment and improvement. We propose a computer-aided methodology, named Eco-OptiCAD, based on the integration of Structural Optimization and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) tools. Eco-OptiCAD supports the designer during product development, highlighting when and where the core of the environmental impact lies. Furthermore, it provides effective tools to address such impacts, improving the original product, while ensuring structural and functional requirements. It foresees the synergic use of (1) virtual prototyping tools, such as 3D CAD, Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and Structural optimization, (2) function modeling methodology and (3) Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) tools. The kernel of the methodology is constituted by a set of optimization strategies and a module, named Life Cycle Mapping (LCM). In particular, we have conceived ten optimization strategies converting environmental objectives and constraints into structural and geometrical parameters. They enable the designer to generate alternative green scenarios according to the triad shape–material–production. The LCM tool has been specifically developed to easily trace the growth of environmental impacts throughout the product's life cycle and allow the user to focus his effort on the most relevant aspects. Thanks to the integration of the structural optimizer with an LCA map, the designer becomes aware of the consequences that each change in the geometry, the material or the manufacturing process will produce on the environmental impact of the product throughout its life cycle. With a complete view of the product life cycle, the designer can improve a single phase, while retaining a global perspective; thus avoiding the possibility of gaining a local green improvement at the cost of a global increase in environmental impacts.     

Air‐ground Matching: Appearance‐based GPS‐denied Urban Localization of Micro Aerial Vehicles

In this paper, we address the problem of globally localizing and tracking the pose of a camera‐equipped micro aerial vehicle (MAV) flying in urban streets at low altitudes without GPS. An image‐based global positioning system is introduced to localize the MAV with respect to the surrounding buildings. We propose a novel air‐ground image‐matching algorithm to search the airborne image of the MAV within a ground‐level, geotagged image database. Based on the detected matching image features, we infer the global position of the MAV by back‐projecting the corresponding image points onto a cadastral three‐dimensional city model. Furthermore, we describe an algorithm to track the position of the flying vehicle over several frames and to correct the accumulated drift of the visual odometry whenever a good match is detected between the airborne and the ground‐level images. The proposed approach is tested on a 2 km trajectory with a small quadrocopter flying in the streets of Zurich. Our vision‐based global localization can robustly handle extreme changes in viewpoint, illumination, perceptual aliasing, and over‐season variations, thus outperforming conventional visual place‐recognition approaches. The dataset is made publicly available to the research community. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work that studies and demonstrates global localization and position tracking of a drone in urban streets with a single onboard camera.     

New processes in the environmental chemistry of nitrite. 2. The role of hydrogen peroxide

The oxidation of nitrite and nitrous acid to *NO2 upon irradiation of dissolved Fe(III), ferric (hydr)oxides, and nitrate has previously been shown to enhance phenol nitration. This allowed the proposal of a new role for nitrite and nitrous acid in natural waters and atmospheric aerosols. This paper deals with the interaction between hydrogen peroxide, a key environmental factor in atmospheric oxidative chemistry, and nitrite/nitrous acid. The reaction between nitrous acid and hydrogen peroxide yields peroxynitrous acid, a powerful nitrating agent and an important intermediate in atmospheric chemistry. The kinetics of this reaction is compatible with a rate-determining step involving either H3O2+ and HNO2 or H2O2 and protonated nitrous acid. In the former case the rate constant between the two species would be 179.6 +/- 1.4 M(-1) s(-1), in the latter case it would be as high as (1.68 +/- 0.01) x 10(10) M(-1) s(-1) (diffusion-controlled reaction). Due to the more reasonable value of the rate constant, the reaction between H3O2+ and HNO2 seems more likely. In the presence of HNO2 + H2O2 the nitration of phenol is strongly enhanced when compared with HNO2 alone. The nitration rate of phenol in the presence of peroxynitrous acid decreases as pH increases, thus HOONO is a potential source of atmospheric nitroaromatic compounds in acidic water droplets. The mixture Fe(II) + H2O2 (Fenton reagent) can oxidize nitrite and nitrous acid to nitrogen dioxide, which results in phenol nitration. The nitration in the presence of Fe(II) + H2O2 + NO2-/HNO2 occurs more rapidly than the one with H2O2 + NO2-/HNO2 at pH 5, where little HNO2 is available to directly react with hydrogen peroxide. Both systems, however, are more effective than NO2-/HNO2 alone in producing nitrophenols from phenol. Another process leading to the oxidation of nitrite to nitrogen dioxide is the photo-Fenton one. It can be relevant at pH > or = 6, as nitrite does not react with H2O2 at room temperature. Under such conditions the source of Fe(II) is the photolysis of ferric (hydr)oxides (heterogeneous photo-Fenton reaction). In the presence of nitrite this reaction induces very effective nitrophenol formation from phenol.     

Laccase Mediator Cocktail System as a Sustainable Skin Whitening Agent for Deep Eumelanin Decolorization

The overproduction of eumelanin leads to a panel of unaesthetic hyper-pigmented skin diseases, including melasma and age spots. The treatment of these diseases often requires the use of tyrosinase inhibitors, which act as skin whitening agents by inhibiting the synthesis of eumelanin, with harmful side effects. We report here that laccase from Trametes versicolor in association with a cocktail of natural phenol redox mediators efficiently degraded eumelanin from Sepia officinalis, offering an alternative procedure to traditional whitening agents. Redox mediators showed a synergistic effect with respect to their single-mediator counterpart, highlighting the beneficial role of the cocktail system. The pro-oxidant DHICA sub-units of eumelanin were degraded better than the DHI counterpart, as monitored by the formation of pyrrole-2,3,5-tricarboxylic acid (PTCA) and pyrrole-2,3-dicarboxylic acid (PDCA) degradation products. The most effective laccase-mediated cocktail system was successively applied in a two-component prototype of a topical whitening cream, showing high degradative efficacy against eumelanin.     

Malignant Transformation of Giant Cell Tumour of Bone: A Review of Literature and the Experience of a Referral Centre

Giant cell tumour of bone (GCTB) is a benign, locally aggressive primary bone neoplasm that represents 5% of all bone tumours. The principal treatment approach is surgery. Although generally GCTB is considered only a locally aggressive disease, it can metastasise, and lung metastases occur in 1–9% of patients. To date, only the use of denosumab has been approved as medical treatment for GCTB. Even more rarely, GCTB undergoes sarcomatous transformation into a malignant tumour (4% of all GCTB), but history of this malignant transformation is unclear and unpredictable. Considering the rarity of the event, the data in the literature are few. In this review, we summarise published data of GCTB malignant transformation and we analyse three cases of malignant transformation of GCTB, evaluating histopathology, genetics, and radiological aspects. Despite the rarity of this event, we conclude that a strict follow up is recommended to detect early malignant transformation.     

Correlation of Immunological and Histopathological Features with Gene Expression-Based Classifiers in Colon Cancer Patients

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between four distinct histopathological features: (1) tumor infiltrating lymphocytes, (2) mucinous differentiation, (3) tumor-stroma ratio, plus (4) tumor budding and two gene expression-based classifiers—(1) consensus molecular subtypes (CMS) plus (2) colorectal cancer intrinsic subtypes (CRIS). All four histopathological features were retrospectively scored on hematoxylin and eosin sections of the most invasive part of the primary tumor in 218 stage II and III colon cancer patients from two independent cohorts (AMC-AJCC-90 and AC-ICAM). RNA-based CMS and CRIS assignments were independently obtained for all patients. Contingency tables were constructed and a χ2 test was used to test for statistical significance. Odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals were calculated. The presence of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes and a mucinous phenotype (>50% mucinous surface area) were strongly correlated with CMS1 (p < 0.001 and p = 0.008) and CRIS-A (p = 0.006 and p < 0.001). The presence of mucus (≥ 10%) was associated with CMS3: mucus was present in 64.1% of all CMS3 tumors (p < 0.001). Although a clear association between tumor-stroma ratio and CMS4 was established in this study (p = 0.006), still 32 out of 61 (52.5%) CMS4 tumors were scored as stroma-low, indicating that CMS4 tumors cannot be identified solely based on stromal content. Higher budding counts were seen in CMS4 and CRIS-B tumors (p = 0.045 and p = 0.046). No other associations of the measured parameters were seen for any of the other CRIS subtypes. Our analysis revealed clear associations between histopathologic features and CMS or CRIS subtypes. However, identification of distinct molecular subtypes solely based on histopathology proved to be infeasible. Combining both molecular and morphologic features could potentially improve patient stratification.