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This essay examines why online availability should not be conflated with accessibility in discussions of the digital humanities and medieval studies. Expert-oriented projects and discussions of the digital humanities in medieval Iberian studies tend to get "lost in collation." These projects lose sight of the promises of democratization and accessibility that the digital humanities community values in favor of the traditional demands of philology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The North American beaver Castor canadensis is an invasive species in the Tierra del Fuego Archipelago. Due to this biological invasion, Argentina and Chile signed an agreement to restore affected ecosystems by eradicating beavers. In southern Patagonia, the beavers' ecological impacts are well studied, but there is a relative lack of information on how their invasion (and potential removal) could affect bird communities.In the southern portion of Tierra del Fuego's 'big island' (Isla Grande), we conducted passive acoustic monitoring and avian point counts in intact riparian forests, beaver ponds and beaver meadows (i.e. drained ponds) to assess spatial and seasonal differences in acoustic activity and avian abundance, species diversity and functional diversity.During spring and summer, acoustic activity was significantly higher in meadows than in forests, with ponds exhibiting intermediate values.Abundance and species diversity exhibited similar patterns, driven largely by resident passerines, while functional diversity tended to be highest in ponds, largely due to ducks and raptors. Effects were weaker in fall and winter.Acoustic metrics exhibited moderate to strong correlations with all point‐count‐derived metrics.Synthesis and applications. At the patch level, the avian community was more abundant and diverse in beaver‐modified habitats than in intact riparian forests, though communities in modified patches may not differ substantially from those in analogous natural open and wetland habitats. Dam breaching and pond drainage did not yield a return to an intact forest bird community, indicating that active reforestation may be necessary to restore avian communities to pre‐beaver conditions in the short to medium term, as sought by the binational agreement. Given the immense challenges of eradication and restoration, its social‐ecological costs and benefits—including those related to avifauna—should be thoroughly considered in establishing goals or indicators of success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on medieval Iberian studies on literature and culture from the Middle Ages. It reports on cultural productions of Middle Ages and modern national literary traditions. It offers information on the North American journal "La Coronica: A Journal of Medieval Iberian Languages Literatures and Cultures" which reflects the changing landscape of Hispano-and Iberian medieval studies. It presents of Shamma Boyarin, a professor in Religious Studies and Medieval Studies, on Iberianists in North America in the twenty-first century.

In this paper, the multinode Shepard method is adopted for the first time to numerically solve a differential problem with a discontinuity in the boundary. Starting from previous studies on elliptic boundary value problems, here the Shepard method is employed to catch the singularity on the boundary. Enrichments of the functional space spanned by the multinode cardinal Shepard basis functions are proposed to overcome the difficulties encountered. The Motz's problem is considered as numerical benchmark to assess the method. Numerical results are presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of innovative materials, based on the modern technologies and processes, is the key factor to improve the energetic sustainability and reduce the environmental impact of electrical equipment. In particular, the modeling of magnetic hysteresis is crucial for the design and construction of electrical and electronic devices. In recent years, additive manufacturing techniques are playing a decisive role in the project and production of magnetic elements and circuits for applications in various engineering fields. To this aim, the use of the deep learning paradigm, integrated with the most common models of the magnetic hysteresis process, has become increasingly present in recent years. The intent of this paper is to provide the features of a wide range of deep learning tools to be applied to magnetic hysteresis context and beyond. The possibilities of building neural networks in hybrid form are innumerable, so it is not plausible to illustrate them in a single paper, but in the present context, several neural networks used in the scientific literature, integrated with various hysteretic mathematical models, including the well-known Preisach model, are compared. It is shown that this hybrid approach not only improves the modeling of hysteresis by significantly reducing computational time and efforts, but also offers new perspectives for the analysis and prediction of the behavior of magnetic materials, with significant implications for the production of advanced devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Freshwater systems are globally threatened and in need of enhanced monitoring and assessment. We applied soundscape recording and analysis—which presents an opportunity for long‐term, high‐resolution animal community monitoring and assessment—to a freshwater context to better understand the acoustic diversity and dynamics of these systems.We recorded the aquatic soundscape of a Neotropical freshwater swamp in Costa Rica for 23 days in January and February 2015 during the dry season. We classified biological sound types in these recordings and developed measurements of richness and occupancy based on this classification. We also calculated six complementary acoustic indices to assess soundscape diversity and daily and longer‐term soundscape dynamics, and we examined correlations between these acoustic indices and sound type metrics.We found rich soundscapes in which biological sounds were almost always present, and we classified 18 sound types that we attribute to aquatic insects. These sound types showed distinct daily patterns and exhibited temporal and spectral acoustic niche partitioning. Sound type richness was most correlated with the number of peaks index (correlation =.36; p <.001), while sound type occupancy was most correlated with the Bioacoustic Index (correlation =.92; p <.001). In contrast to generally high levels of acoustic activity, there were brief (approximately 1 hr), unexpected quiet periods around dawn and dusk.This study represents an early attempt to comprehensively describe tropical freshwater soundscapes in a systematic and quantitative manner. We demonstrate that sound type classification and the quantification of acoustic occupancy capture aspects of soundscape diversity and dynamics that are complementary to those assessed by acoustic indices. Our analyses reveal that the soundscapes of this tropical wetland were diverse and exhibited daily dynamics that differed from those found in other ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A great deal of literature has drawn attention to the "complex Chiari," wherein the presence of instability or ventral brainstem compression prompts consideration for addressing both concerns at the time of surgery. This report addresses the clinical and radiological features and surgical outcomes in a consecutive series of subjects with hereditary connective tissue disorders (HCTD) and Chiari malformation. In 2011 and 2012, 22 consecutive patients with cervical medullary syndrome and geneticist-confirmed hereditary connective tissue disorder (HCTD), with Chiari malformation (type 1 or 0) and kyphotic clivo-axial angle (CXA) enrolled in the IRB-approved study (IRB# 10-036-06: GBMC). Two subjects were excluded on the basis of previous cranio-spinal fusion or unrelated medical issues. Symptoms, patient satisfaction, and work status were assessed by a third-party questionnaire, pain by visual analog scale (0–10/10), neurologic exams by neurosurgeon, function by Karnofsky performance scale (KPS). Pre- and post-operative radiological measurements of clivo-axial angle (CXA), the Grabb-Mapstone-Oakes measurement, and Harris measurements were made independently by neuroradiologist, with pre- and post-operative imaging (MRI and CT), 10/20 with weight-bearing, flexion, and extension MRI. All subjects underwent open reduction, stabilization occiput to C2, and fusion with rib autograft. There was 100% follow-up (20/20) at 2 and 5 years. Patients were satisfied with the surgery and would do it again given the same circumstances (100%). Statistically significant improvement was seen with headache (8.2/10 pre-op to 4.5/10 post-op, p < 0.001, vertigo (92%), imbalance (82%), dysarthria (80%), dizziness (70%), memory problems (69%), walking problems (69%), function (KPS) (p < 0.001). Neurological deficits improved in all subjects. The CXA average improved from 127° to 148° (p < 0.001). The Grabb-Oakes and Harris measurements returned to normal. Fusion occurred in 100%. There were no significant differences between the 2- and 5-year period. Two patients returned to surgery for a superficial wound infections, and two required transfusion. All patients who had rib harvests had pain related that procedure (3/10), which abated by 5 years. The results support the literature, that open reduction of the kyphotic CXA to lessen ventral brainstem deformity, and fusion/stabilization to restore stability in patients with HCTD is feasible, associated with a low surgical morbidity, and results in enduring improvement in pain and function. Rib harvest resulted in pain for several years in almost all subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper improved fast summations are introduced to enhance a meshfree solver for the evolution of the electromagnetic fields over time. The original method discretizes the time-domain Maxwell's curl equations via Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics requiring many summations on the first derivatives of the kernel function and field vectors at each time step. The improved fast Gauss transform is properly adopted picking up the computational cost and the memory requirement at an acceptable level preserving the accuracy of the computation. Numerical simulations in two-dimensional domains are discussed giving evidence of improvements in the computation compared to the standard formulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we propose for the first time an iterative approach of the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) method. The method is widespread in many areas of science and engineering and despite its extensive application it suffers from several drawbacks due to inaccurate approximation at boundaries and at irregular interior regions. The presented iterative process improves the accuracy of the standard method by updating the initial estimates iterating on the residuals. It is appealing preserving the matrix-free nature of the method and avoiding to modify the kernel function. Moreover the process refines the SPH estimates and it is not affected by disordered data distribution. We discuss on the numerical scheme and experiments with a bivariate test function and different sets of data validate the adopted approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dear Editor: We have read with interest the excellent review of Down syndrome by Sergeenko et al. [[1]], in which they bring to attention the frequent occurrence of atlantoaxial instability (AAI) in Down syndrome (DS), the importance of directed radiological assessment, and the association of AAI with os odontoideum, ligamentous laxity, low bone mineral density, low muscle tone, and excessive joint flexibility. In DS, AAI results from incompetence of the transverse odontoid ligament, demonstrated by flexion and extension imaging of the cervical spine (Fig. [Extracted from the article]

Abstract In this paper we focus on two sources of enhancement in accuracy and computational demanding in approximating a function and its derivatives by means of the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics method. The approximating power of the standard method is perceived to be poor and improvements can be gained making use of the Taylor series expansion of the kernel approximation of the function and its derivatives. The modified formulation is appealing providing more accurate results of the function and its derivatives simultaneously without changing the kernel function adopted in the computation. The request for greater accuracy needs kernel function derivatives with order up to the desidered accuracy order in approximating the function or higher for the derivatives. In this paper we discuss on the scheme dealing with the infinitely differentiable Gaussian kernel function. Studies on the accuracy, convergency and computational efforts with various sets of data sites are provided. Moreover, to make large scale problems tractable the improved fast Gaussian transform is considered picking up the computational cost at an acceptable level preserving the accuracy of the computation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In mathematical modeling, it is often required the analysis of the vector field topology in order to predict the evolution of the variables involved. When a dynamical system is multistable, the trajectories approach different stable states, depending on the initial conditions. The aim of this work is the detection of the invariant manifolds of the saddle points to analyze the boundaries of the basins of attraction. Once that a sufficient number of separatrix points is found, a moving least squares meshfree method is involved to reconstruct the separatrix manifolds. Numerical results are presented to assess the method referring to tri‐stable models with complex attractors such as limit cycles or limit tori. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes (EDS) are a group of connective tissue disorders that are hereditary in nature and characterized by joint hypermobility and tissue fragility. The complex nature of this unique patient population requires multidisciplinary care, but appropriate centers for such care do not exist in large portions of the country. Need for more integrated services has been identified in Chicagoland, or Chicago and its suburbs. In order to explore and begin to address barriers to seeking appropriate care facing EDS patients in this region, we developed an online survey which we circulated through EDS social media groups for Chicagoland patients. Results: Three hundred and nine unique respondents participated. We found that there exists a strong medical need for and interest in the development of a center in the region, and participants reported that, if made available to them, they would make extensive and regular use of such a facility. Conclusions: We conclude that the establishment of a collaborative medical center specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of EDS, Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder, and related disorders in the Chicagoland area would greatly benefit patients by providing comprehensive care, alleviate the burden on overworked healthcare providers, and contribute to the sustainability of medical facilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many ecological systems exhibit tipping points such that they suddenly shift from one state to another. These shifts can be devastating from an ecological point of view, and additionally have severe implications for the socio-economic system. They can be caused by overcritical perturbations of the state variables such as external shocks, disease emergence, or species removal. It is therefore important to be able to quantify the tipping points. Here we present a study of the tipping points by considering the basins of attraction of the stable equilibrium points. We address the question of finding the tipping points that lie on the separatrix surface, which partitions the space of system trajectories. We present an algorithm that reconstructs the separatrix by using a Moving Least Squares approximant based on radial basis functions. The algorithm is applied to an eco-epidemiological model of pack hunting predators that suffer disease infection. Our analysis reveals that strong hunting cooperation considerably promotes the survival of predators and renders the predators resilient to perturbations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Erectile dysfunction (ED) is one a common disorder in adult males and current therapies are symptomatic and do not influence disease progression. By contrast, regenerative medicine may potentially reverse or stop the progression of ED and restore erectile capacity. We aimed to evaluate the clinical correlates of platelet function before platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection and its potential efficacy in men with vascular ED poorly respondent to PDE5i. Methods: To this purpose, 150 patients (Age: 51±16.7; mean IIEF5: 12±2.6; mean PSV: 32±5.5; Mean MPV=9.3±1.1) were submitted to a single-shot treatment of PRP. All patients were evaluated at baseline for mean platelet volume (MPV), and at baseline and 1 month after treatment for IIEF5 and dynamic penile duplex ultrasound (d-PDU) according to Aversa et al (Andrology, 2021; 9:1457-1466). Results: All patients had a significant improvement in ED symptoms (IIEF5: 12±2.6 vs 19±3.0; p<0.0001) and a significant improvement at d-PDU (PSV: 32±5.5 vs 42±7.6; p<0.0001). The ROC analysis showed a significant accuracy (72.1%, C.I.64.0 - 80.2, p <0.0001) for MPV in identifying men clinically responding to PRP with favourable outcomes (+4 points in IIEF5 score). In particular, an MPV<8.95 was recognized as the best threshold with a sensitivity of 90% and specificity of 54.1%. Conclusions: This study provides the first evidence that PRP outcomes correlate with baseline MPV in patients with ED and poorly responding to PDE5i. MPV below 8.95 identify patients with lower response to treatment that might benefit of re-treatment. Conflicts of Interest: None [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oxidative stress is involved in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular (CV) risk and endothelial dysfunction represents the predictor of atherosclerosis starting early in the life. The assessment of endothelial function is able to detect cardiovascular disease in asymptomatic patients. Polyphenol-rich nutrients are known to reduce oxidative stress and increasing nitric oxide generation. The effect of a cocoaderived polyphenols+myo-inositol on endothelial function has never been investigated. We studied in a series of volunteers (20 healthy subjects-CTR and 10 subjects affected by metabolic syndrome-MS) the acute vascular effects of a single assumption of a fix dose of polyphenols and myo-inositol by using Endopat2000. The administration induced a significant improvement of endothelial function in the MS population (+37% vs. baseline, p<0.01); also, when a subgroup of CTR according to the presence of endothelial dysfunction (LnRHI <0.51 - n=10 subject) or normal endothelial function (LnRHI >0.51 - n=10 subject)] was investigated, we found a significant improvement in subjects affected by endothelial dysfunction only (+ 69%, p< 0.01). These preliminary results suggest that acute assumption of cocoa-derived polyphenols+myo-inositol is able to improve vascular reactivity in MS and also in young subjects affected by endothelial dysfunction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author discusses the story "The Disputation between the Greeks and the Romans" in the book "Libro de buen amor" which portrays the Libro and its author as parodies of authority. Topics covered include the critiques on the common Disputation-Libro obsession with hermeneutics and Augustinian sign theory, and scholars' proposals of varied origins for the episode. The author argues that their rereadings inform sign theory translation into fiction and narrate Latin authority in the vernacular.

Grid based methods coupled with an explicit approach for the evolution in time are traditionally adopted in solving PDEs in computational electromagnetics. The discretization in space with a grid covering the problem domain and a stability step size restriction, must be accepted. Evidence is given that efforts need for overcoming these heavy constraints. The connectivity laws among the points scattered in the problem domain can be avoided by using meshless methods. Among these, the smoothed particle electromagnetics, gives an interesting answer to the problem, overcoming the limit of the grid generation. In the original formulation an explicit integration scheme is used providing, spatial and time discretization strictly interleaved and mutually conditioned. In this paper a formulation of the alternating direction implicit scheme is proposed into the meshless framework. The developed formulation preserves the leapfrog marching on in time of the explicit integration scheme. Studies on the systems matrices arising at each temporal step, are reported referring to the meshless discretization. The new method, not constrained by a grid in space and unconditionally stable in time, is validated by numerical simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-invasive estimation of brain activity via magnetoencephalography (MEG) involves an inverse problem whose solution requires an accurate and fast forward solver. To this end, we propose the method of fundamental solutions as a meshfree alternative to the boundary element method (BEM). The solution of the MEG forward problem is obtained, via the method of particular solutions, by numerically solving a boundary value problem for the electric scalar potential, derived from the quasi-stationary approximation of Maxwell’s equations. The magnetic field is then computed by the Biot-Savart law. Numerical experiments have been carried out in a realistic single-shell head geometry. The proposed solver is compared with a state-of-the-art BEM solver. A good agreement and a reduced computational load show the attractiveness of the meshfree approach. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Capillary and surface effects at the interface between two media enhance adhesion in wet environments. This phenomenon, called wet adhesion, is exploited in nature by some insects and amphibians to stand or walk over wet substrates. Since surface effects are generally voltage-sensitive, as demonstrated, for example, by electrowetting phenomena, one may expect that the strength of wet adhesion could be adjusted by using electric means. Indeed, in this paper, we show that the liquid-mediated adhesion between a flat and a grooved surface, the latter equipped with interdigitated electrodes deposited beneath it, can be reduced by more than 80 %, when a 90 V DC voltage is applied. The described technique points out the possibility of realizing surfaces with tunable adhesive properties, when in contact with wet substrates, which may be useful for several applications, including the development of propulsion systems for autonomous endoscopic robots and the fabrication of microgrippers for the manipulation of small objects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metabolic and hormonal modifications after long-term testosterone (T) treatment have never been investigated. 20 hypogonadal men (mean T = 241 ng/dL-8.3 nmol/L) with metabolic syndrome (MS, mean age 58) were treated with T-undecanoate injections every 12 weeks for 60 months. 20 matched subjects in whom T was unaccepted or contraindicated served as controls. Primary endpoints were variations from baseline of metabolic and hormonal parameters. In T-group, significant reductions in waist circumference (-9.6 ± 3.8 cm, P < 0.0001), body weight (-15 ± 2.8 Kg, P < 0.0001), and glycosylated hemoglobin (-1.6 ± 0.5%, P < 0.0001) occurred, along with improvements in insulin sensitivity (HOMA-I; -2.8 ± 0.6, P < 0.0001), lipid profile (total/HDL-cholesterol ratio -2.9 ±1.5, P < 0.0001), systolic and diastolic bloodpressure (-23 ± 10 and-16± 8 mmHg, P < 0.0001,resp.), and neckandlumbarT-scores(+0.5 ± 0.15 gr/cm², P < 0.0001; +0.7±0.8, P < 0.0001, resp.). Also, serum vitamin D (+14.0 ±1.3 ng/mL, P < 0.01), TSH (-0.9 ±0.3 mUI/mL, P < 0.01), GH (0.74 ± 0.2 ng/mL, P < 0.0001), and IGF1 (105 ± 11 ng/mL, P < 0.01)levels changed in T-group but not in controls. Normalization of T levels in men with MS improved obesity, glycemic control, blood pressure, lipid profile, and bone mineral density compared with controls. Amelioration in hormonal parameters, that is, vitamin D, growth hormone, and thyrotropin plasma levels, were reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the possible effects of testosterone undecanoate (TU) injections in a population of obese (mean age 57) hypogonadal men with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in a long-term observational study. Methods: Twenty obese hypogonadal men with metabolic syndrome were treated with TU injections every 12 weeks for 60 months; also 20 matched subjects in whom TU was unaccepted or contraindicated were used as controls. LUTS severity and the impact of TU injections were assessed by differences in International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), maximum urinary flow (Qmax) rate in milliliters, post-void residual (PVR) volume, and prostate size every 12 months in a 5-year controlled study. Results: TU injections did not produce differences in IPSS, Qmax, PVR, and prostate size in both groups. No modification in prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and hematocrit levels was also found between the 2 groups. Interestingly, controls showed increased incidence of prostatitis than TU-treated men (10% vs 30%, P <.01). Conclusion: We showed that 5 years of TU treatment did not change IPSS, PVR, Qmax, or prostate size in obese hypogonadal men with metabolic syndrome and moderate LUTS at baseline. Therefore, long-term TU replacement therapy is a safe and effective treatment for reverting hypogonadal features related to metabolic syndrome and does not impact negatively on LUTS and prostate volume. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Introduction It is controversial whether or not testing the length of the androgen receptor polymorphism in clinical practice is useful for correct diagnosis and treatment of hypogonadism. Aim To describe the molecular and clinical implications of testing the length of the androgen receptor polymorphism for treatment of hypogonadism in both male and female subjects. Methods A systematic Medline search was conducted using several terms related to and including the terms 'androgen receptor,' ' CAG-repeat polymorphism,' 'male hypogonadism,' 'female hypogonadism,' and 'neurodegenerative disease.' Main Outcome Measures Clinical evidence that demonstrates the importance of CAG repeat number investigation in male and female hypogonadism. Results A thorough review of the clinical utility of CAG repeat polymorphism investigation in men and women with hypogonadism is presented. Conclusions The role of AR CAG repeat number investigation in hypogonadism (male and female) is not yet established in the clinical practice. In both sexes, a role during clinical management of hormonal replacement therapies may be hypothesized, but the CAG repeat number's relationship with the presence or absence of hypogonadal symptoms remains unclear. Pharmacogenomic investigations of the AR polymorphism may be a future option to tailor testosterone titration individually and to better identify subjects as potentially more or less responsive to treatments; also, investigation may be important to individually predict beneficial and side effects in special subpopulations, specifically, obese men and postmenopausal women. Francomano D, Greco EA, Lenzi A, and Aversa A. CAG repeat testing of androgen receptor polymorphism: Is this necessary for the best clinical management of hypogonadism? J Sex Med 2013;10:2373-2381. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A meshless particle method based on an unconditionally stable time domain numerical scheme, oriented to electromagnetic transient simulations, is presented. The proposed scheme improves the smoothed particle electromagnetics method, already developed by the authors. The time stepping is approached by using the alternating directions implicit finite difference scheme, in a leapfrog way. The proposed formulation is used in order to efficiently overcome the stability relation constraint of explicit schemes. In fact, due to this constraint, large time steps cannot be used with small space steps and vice-versa. The same stability relation holds when the meshless formulation is applied together with an explicit finite difference scheme accounted for the time stepping. The computational tool is assessed and first simulation results are compared and discussed in order to validate the proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To elucidate whether adrenergic overtone is involved in the pathophysiology ofmen with lifelong (LL) premature ejaculation (PE), we investigated differences in reactive hyperemia index (RHI) responses by using peripheral arterial tonometry (PAT). 20 men with LL-PE (18-40 years) were enrolled in an 8-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study and compared with 10 agematched controls without LL-PE. Primary endpoints were PAT modifications induced by vardenafil 10mg on demand. Secondary endpoints were the improvement in intravaginal ejaculatory latency time (IELT) as measured by the stopwatch technique and variations in anxiety scores at Stai-X1 for state-anxiety and Stai-X2 for trait-anxiety. At baseline, men with LL-PE showed higher RHI variation (P < 0.001), Stai-X1 and Stai X2 scores (P < 0.0001, resp.), and prolactin levels (P < 0.05) compared with controls. Vardenafil treatment markedly reduced RHI variation in men with LL-PE (P < 0.01) when compared with placebo.Mean changes in geometric IELT were higher after taking vardenafil (0.6 ± 0.3 versus 4.5 ± 1.1 min, P < 0.01) when compared with placebo. STAIX1 and STAI-X2 scores fell within the normal range after treatment with vardenafil (P < 0.01). Vardenafil was an effective treatment in men with LL-PE; improvements of IELTmay be due to increased NO production which is able to reduce adrenergic overactivity and anxiety levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Osteocalcin (OSCA) seems to act as a negative regulator of energy metabolism and insulin sensitivity. Evidence from male rodents suggests that OSCA may also regulate testosterone (T) synthesis. Using a cross-sectional design, we evaluated OSCA, 25(OH) vitamin D, T, 17β-estradiol (E2), homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), and body composition in 86 obese (mean BMI = 34)male subjects (18-69 yr old). Independently fromBMI, an inverse relationship between trunk fat percentage and plasma T (r2 = P0.26, P < 0.01) and between HOMA-IR and OSCA levels (r2 = P0.22, P < 0.005) was found. OSCA levels, as well as vitamin D, decreased significantly for higher BMI with significant differences above 35 (P < 0.01). A direct correlation between T and bone mineral density at lumbar (BMDL) and neck (BMDH) (P < 0.001, r2 = P0.20; P < 0.001, r2 = P0.24) was found, independently from age. An inverse correlation between E2 levels, BMDL, and BMDH (P < 0.001, r2 = P0.20; P < 0.001, r2 = P0.19) was observed.These data provide new evidences that a relationship between trunk fat mass, insulin sensitivity, OSCA and T synthesis occurs. This new relationship with skeletal health has relevant implications for the aging male, suggesting OSCA as a novel marker of metabolic and gonadal health status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Tactile sensors are needed for effectively controlling the interaction between a robotic hand and the environment, e.g., during manipulation of objects, or for the tactile exploration of unstructured environments, especially when other sensing modalities, such as vision or audition, become ineffective. In the case of hand prostheses, mainly intended for dexterous manipulation of daily living objects, the possibility of quickly detecting slip occurrence, thus avoiding inadvertent falling of the objects, is prodromal to any manipulation task. In this paper we report on a slip sensor with no-moving parts, based on thermo-electrical phenomena, fabricated on a flexible substrate and suitable for integration on curved surfaces, such as robotic finger pads. Experiments performed using a custom made test bench, which is capable of generating controlled slip velocities, show that the sensor detects slip events in less than 50 ms. This response time is short enough for enabling future applications in the field of hand prosthetics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY In this paper, an enhanced variant of the meshless smoothed particle electromagnetics (SPEM) method is performed in order to solve PDEs in time domain describing 3D transient electromagnetic phenomena. The method appears to be very efficient in approximating spatial derivatives in the numerical treatment of Maxwell's curl equations. In many cases, very often, accuracy degradation, due to a lack of particle consistency, severely limits the usefulness of this approach. A numerical corrective strategy, which allows to restore the SPEM consistency, without any modification of the smoothing kernel function and its derivatives, is presented. The method allows to restore the same order of consistency for both interior and the boundary regions outperforming the original version of SPEM as far as accuracy and stability are concerned. Therefore, computational details are reported and simulations, using uniform and non-uniform particles distribution in 3D domains, are performed for the first time in order to validate the proposed approach. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are no interventional studies on the impact of sexual distress (SD) in men with obesity. We investigated the effects of vardenafil (VAR) on SD in middle-aged (mean age 49±8), healthy, obese men in the absence of premature ejaculation, ED or hypogonadism. After a 4-week run-in period, 20 men with high body mass index (BMI=40±8) and SD at the Sexual Distress Esteem Questionnaire-Male (mean score 65±20 AU) were randomized to receive either VAR 10 mg on demand (N=10) or matched-placebo (PLB, N=10). Primary endpoints were variations from baseline in the intravaginal ejaculatory latency time (IELT) measured by the stopwatch technique; secondary endpoints were variations from baseline in Self-Esteem and Relationship (SEAR) and Male Sexual Health Questionnaire-Ejaculatory domain (MSHQ-EjD) scores. VAR significantly improved IELT (P<0.0001), as well as SEAR (P<0.001) and MSHQ-EjD (P<0.005) scores, wheraes no changes were observed after PLB. Interestingly, an inverse relationship between BMI and IELT was found in all the men studied (r2=0.37, P<0.001). SD in healthy obese men seems to be correlated mainly with inadequate ejaculatory control, especially in men with higher BMI. Our preliminary results suggest that treatment with VAR may improve ejaculatory control, thus ameliorating self-esteem and sexual performance in men with obesity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper a meshless approach on a high performance grid computing environment to run fast onerous electromagnetic numerical simulations, is presented. The grid computing and the message passing interface standard have been employed to improve the computational efficiency of the Smoothed Particle Electromagnetics meshless solver adopted. Applications involving an high number of particles can run on a grid computational environment simulating complex domains not accessible before and offer a promising approach for the coupling of particle models to continuous models. The used meshless solver is straightforward to program and fully parallelizable. The results of the parallel numerical scheme are reported and tested on a transverse electric propagation case study taken into account to assess the computational performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Nowadays, the interaction between cognition and emotions during a depressive disorder is an area of interest in the scientific literature. Patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) usually show alterations in various cognitive functions: attention, working memory, mental processing speed, executive functions. Clinical observation of the effects of cognitive deficits on quality of life in patients with MDD, in euthymic and in relapse phases, needs a review of recent scientific literature on the impact of antidepressant treatment as a protective factor on the improvement of cognitive performances. Method: Electronic PubMed and PsycInfo searches were conducted to identify research articles that focus on the effect of antidepressant treatments in responder and non-responder patients. We searched for papers published between 2006-2011, using the following keywords: major depressive disorder, cognition, neuropsychology and antidepressants. Our working group selected fifteen main scientific articles. These are: five non-blinded clinical trials, six case-control studies, three double-blind controlled clinical trials and a prospective part-randomised trial. Results: Although some heterogeneous methodological aspects, the articles show comparable characteristics, such as common evaluation tools and point out that depression is characterized by specific biases in emotional processing that include negative information processing and deficits in cognitive control. An early antidepressants drug treatment (especially SSRIs and SNRIs) may play a protective role in cognitive impairment. SNRIs seem to have a stronger effect than SSRIs on cognitive functions, that persists even after cessation of treatment during recovery. We cannot establish if a neuroprotective function is attributable only to treatment or to the natural course of depression. An appropriate drug treatment appears to be effective in improving cognitive abilities and depressive symptoms in elderly depressed patients. According to some authors, a bias in processing of appropriate stimuli varies with mood and individual history. Conclusions: Although some conflicting data, impairment is frequently reported in the acute phases of the illness: depression is associated with impairment in everyday life functions and job performance. Traditionally, that impairment is seen as an effect of affective symptoms, but it was found that improvement of depression symptoms is not associated with a similar improvement on daily activities. A cognitive training could be useful in long-term anti-depressive treatment to prevent relapses and improve the quality of life. In conclusion, cognitive functions and their importance in daily life should be taken into great consideration for their functional impact on patients and the psychiatrist's choices in terms of drug and rehabilitation treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Music therapy has a relevant rehabilitation and psychological importance. It contributes to create a structure within the group and to promote the integration of its members. This study is aimed at observing the progresses of the "Albatros" group members going through a music therapy pathway and at evaluating its efficacy. Method: The sample is composed by two rehabilitatation groups (n=8) and two singles cases (n=2), all diagnosed with schizophrenia of different subtypes. The efficacy of music therapy treatment was evaluated through the Music Therapy Observation Scale, which was built on this purpose; clinical area was assessed by BPRS and VFG, administered at the beginning (October 2009) and at the end (July 2010) of the observation period. Results: A decrease of total and single item scores (16; 17; 18; 19; 20) of BPRS has been observed and it was specifically related to the music therapy process. VGF scores indicated a better social functioning in meaningful social relationships. Conclusions: Our results show the efficacy of the music therapy intervention within the integrated approach to schizophrenic patients. Music therapy labs has contributed to the improvement of the adherence to psychosocial rehabilitation programs, to the individual empowerment, to decrease the perception of stigma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the 1520s the internationally popular romance Prison of Love was adapted as a series of tapestries known as L'Histoire de Lérian et Lauréolle. This article explores the translation of the romance to a larger-than-life, three-dimensional narrative object created from sumptuous materials that literally enveloped courtly life. Unlike previous studies of Prison of Love's international reach, this article reads the tapestry chamber as an integral part of the romance's complex history of transmission among the princely courts of Europe in the early sixteenth century. Further, study of the textiles' production, use, and reception will show that the tapestry chamber, though incomplete, is material evidence of a particular sixteenth-century reading of the romance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many image processing techniques work with scattered data distribution usually employing grid based methods leading to numerical problems. To address this issue, a numerical method avoiding mesh generation can be used. Such a method performs an integral representation by means of a smoothing kernel function and, in the discrete formulation, involves domain particles. In this paper the meshless Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics method is proposed in the Image Reconstruction context and a new computational strategy called Smoothed Particle Image Reconstruction is presented; the new method is based on a scatter approach and several innovative ideas are introduced in order to improve the computational efficiency and numerical accuracy. Tests are carried out validating the effectiveness of the approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The application of digital pulse amplitude by fingertip peripheral arterial tonometry (PAT) device in patients with erectile dysfunction (ED) has never been performed. We investigated the diagnostic value of reactive hyperaemia (RH) and augmentation index (AI) as evaluated using PAT in men with ED of any origin. A total of 40 patients underwent diagnostic investigation for ED, including dynamic penile duplex ultrasound (PDU) and PAT device. Moreover, 30 patients without ED served as controls. According to PDU cutoff at 35 cm/sec, patients were divided into vascular ( n = 30) and nonvascular ( n = 10) ED aetiology. Moreover, controls with ( n = 10) or without ( n = 20) vascular risk factors (VRFs) were studied in a separate analysis. Average RH-PAT was not different in men with or without ED ( P = 0.56) independently of VRFs. The AI was higher in men with ED compared with the controls ( P < 0.0001) as well as when controlled for the presence or absence of VRFs ( P < 0.0001). An inverse relationship between AI and PSV was also found ( r = −0.72, P < 0.0001). In conclusion, an increased AI but not an impaired RH-PAT is present in men with vascular ED independently of VRFs and may represent an early detection of vascular impairment that may precede endothelial dysfunction in populations at low risk for developing vascular ED. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Premature ejaculation (PE) is considered to be the most common male sexual dysfunction. The realization that PE may co-exist with ED prompted the use of PDE5-i's alone or in combination with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) for treating ejaculatory disorders. Until recently, there was little evidence that PDE5-i's alone may have a role in the treatment of PE in the absence of ED, and current available treatments include only on-demand dapoxetine. However, available data indicate that there is clinical, anatomical, physiological, pharmacological and genetic evidence to explain the efficacy of PDE5-i's. Nine manuscripts that examined the efficacy of PDE5-i's in the treatment of PE, alone or in combination with SSRIs, were retrieved. All studies reported some significant changes in the intravaginal ejaculatory latency time and sexual satisfaction scores, although not all were clinically meaningful. Well-designed multicenter studies are urgently required to further elucidate the efficacy and safety, as well as the mechanisms of action of PDE5-i's in the treatment of PE. The aim of this review is to discuss basic rationale and to show clinical evidence sustaining the possibility to use off-label PDE5-i's to treat PE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a study on the electromagnetic behaviour of a single wall carbon nanotube model is described. The electrons available for conduction are treated as a thin cylindrical layer fluid and their motion is described by means of classical hydrodynamics equations in linearized form. These equations are solved in time domain using the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics method. The method suitably handled runs on GRID environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics is a meshless particle method able to evaluate unknown field functions and relative differential operators. This evaluation is done by performing an integral representation based on a suitable smoothing kernel function which, in the discrete formulation, involves a set of particles scattered in the problem domain. Two fundamental aspects strongly characterizing the development of the method are the smoothing kernel function and the particle distribution. Their choice could lead to the so-called particle inconsistency problem causing a loose of accuracy in the approximation; several corrective strategies can be adopted to overcome this problem. This paper focuses on the numerical behaviors of SPH with respect to the consistency restoring problem and to the particle distribution choice, providing useful hints on how these two aspects affect the goodness of the approximation and moreover how they mutually influence themselves. A series of numerical studies are performed approximating 1D, 2D and 3D functions validating this idea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper an efficient method devoted to estimate the velocity vectors field is investigated. The method is based on a quasi-interpolant operator and involves a large amount of computation. The operations characterizing the computational scheme are ideal for parallel processing because they are local, regular and repetitive. Therefore, the spatial parallelism of the process is studied to rapidly proceed in the computation on distributed multiprocessor systems. The process has shown to be synchronous, with good task balancing and requiring a small amount of data transfer. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper some key elements of the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics methodology suitably reformulated for analyzing electromagnetic transients are investigated. The attention is focused on the interpolating smoothing kernel function which strongly influences the computational results. Some issues are provided by adopting the polynomial reproducing conditions. Validation tests involving Gaussian and cubic B-spline smoothing kernel functions in one and two dimensions are reported. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper a meshless approximation of electromagnetic (EM) field functions and relative differential operators based on particle formulation is proposed. The idea is to obtain numerical solutions for EM problems by passing up the mesh generation usually required to compute derivatives, and by employing a set of particles arbitrarily placed in the problem domain. The meshless Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics method has been reformulated for solving the time domain Maxwell''s curl equations. The consistency of the discretized model is investigated and improvements in the approximation are obtained by modifying the numerical process. Corrective algorithms preserving meshless consistency are presented and successfully used. Test problems, dealing with even and uneven particles distribution, are simulated to validate the proposed methodology, also by introducing a comparison with analytical solution. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A mesh-free particle method is presented for electromagnetic (EM) transient simulation. The basic idea is to obtain numerical solutions for the partial differential equations describing the EM problem in time domain, by using a set of particles, considered as spatial interpolation points of the field variables, arbitrarily placed in the problem domain and by avoiding the use of a regular mesh. Irregular problem geometry with diffused nonhomogeneous media can be modeled only with an initial set of arbitrarily distributed particles. Consistency recovery strategy of the numerical scheme is discussed and enforced. The time dependence is accounted for with an explicit finite-difference scheme. Comparison with analytical solution for a 2-D case study is shown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper an advanced mesh-free particle method for electromagnetic transient analysis, is presented. The aim is to obtain efficient simulations by avoiding the use of a mesh such as in the most popular grid-based numerical methods. The basic idea is to obtain numerical solutions for partial differential equations describing the electromagnetic problem by using a set of particles arbitrarily placed in the problem domain. The mesh-free smoothed particle hydrodynamics method has been adopted to obtain numerical solution of time domain Maxwell''s curl equations. An explicit finite difference scheme has been employed for time integration. Details about the numerical treatment of electromagnetic vector fields components are discussed. Two case studies in one and in two dimensions are reported. In order to validate the new proposed methodology, named as Smoothed Particle ElectroMagnetics, a comparison with the standard finite difference time domain method results is performed. The intrinsic adaptive capability of the proposed method, has been exploited by introducing irregular particles distribution. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]