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We present a field procedure that has been extensively used in Italy to characterize local seismic response at accelerometric sites and to retrieve ground motion at reference soil conditions by deconvolution analysis. To allow a generalized application to large areas where borehole data are generally lacking or inadequate for the seismic characterization for soils down to the reference seismic bedrock, cost-effectiveness of the considered procedures is a main issue. Thus, major efforts have been devoted to optimize available information and exploit fast and cheap surface geophysical prospecting. In particular, geological/geomorphological survey and passive seismic prospecting (both in single- and multi-station configurations) were jointly considered to reconstruct seismo-stratigraphical site conditions. This information was then used to feed numerical modeling aiming at computing the local seismic response and performing a deconvolution analysis to reconstruct ground motion at reference soil conditions. Major attention was devoted to evaluate and manage uncertainty involved in the procedure and to quantify its effect on final outcomes. An application of this procedure to a set of sites included in the Italian Accelerometric Network is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An extensive application of seismic microzoning studies requires the definition of specific proxies to allow local practitioners to quantify litho-stratigraphical amplification phenomena on the basis of procedures simple enough to allow a widespread application. To be effective, these tools should be specialized to the litho-stratigraphical configurations representative of the study area. A procedure is here described for providing such a tool on the basis of extensive numerical simulations taking advantage of geological/geotechnical information made available by regional/national Authorities. This procedure is quite general and could be applied in several contexts and, in particular, in developing countries low seismicity areas or where extensive accelerometric databases are lacking. As an example, an application of the above procedure developed on behalf of the Tuscany Regional Administration (in Central Italy) is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Activation of human natural killer ( NK) cells is associated with the cleavage of CD16 from the cell surface, a process mediated by matrix metalloproteinases ( MMPs). In this report, we examined whether inhibition of MMPs would lead to improved NK cell antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity ( ADCC) function. Using an in-vitro ADCC assay, we tested the anti-tumour function of NK cells with three different therapeutic monoclonal antibodies ( mAbs) in the presence of MMPs inhibitor GM6001 or its control. Loss of CD16 was observed when NK cells were co-cultured with tumour targets in the presence of specific anti-tumour antibodies, and was found particularly on the majority of degranulating NK responding cells. Treatment with MMPs inhibitors not only prevented CD16 down-regulation, but improved the quality of the responding cells significantly, as shown by an increase in the percentage of polyfunctional NK cells that are capable of both producing cytokines and degranulation. Furthermore, MMPs inhibition resulted in augmented and sustained CD16-mediated signalling, as shown by increased tyrosine phosphorylation of CD3ζ and other downstream signalling intermediates, which may account for the improved NK cell function. Collectively, our results provide a foundation for combining MMPs inhibitors and therapeutic mAbs in new clinical trials for cancer treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: From the late 1920s to the early 1950s, cosmic rays were the main instrument to investigate what we now call "high-energy physics". In approximately 25 years, an intense experimental and theoretical work brought particle physics from its childhood to its maturity. The data collected at that time played a crucial role in order to outline the quantum theories of fundamental interactions—electromagnetic, weak and strong—and they were an excellent training field for many young scientists. The knowledge acquired on cosmic rays constituted the basis of the extraordinary progresses that were to be achieved in fundamental physics with the introduction of particle accelerators. Many papers on this subject have already been published, both by historians and by the scientists who personally worked at that time. However, a complete historical reconstruction of those 25 years of cosmic-ray researches has not been written yet. In particular, an overall description of the researches carried out with the contributions of Italian physicists is still missing. The present paper tries to outline such a description, taking into account the fact that in those very years, for scientific and non-scientific reasons, physics researches were getting organised within international collaborations. Without pretending to be exhaustive at all, we would like this paper to be a stimulus for further researches on the subject. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We show that the particle motion in Bohmian mechanics, given by the solution of an ordinary differential equation, exists globally: For a large class of potentials the singularities of the velocity field and infinity will not be reached in finite time for typical initial values. A substantial part of the analysis is based on the probabilistic significance of the quantum flux. We elucidate the connection between the conditions necessary for global existence and the self-adjointness of the Schrödinger Hamiltonian. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The long term behavioural and biochemical effects of chronic chlordiazepoxide treatment during the period of neuronal maturation in the rat have been investigated. The administration to lactating mothers of chlordiazepoxide at very low doses (0.22 and 2.6 mg/kg) in their drinking water affects both behavioural and biochemical parameters in offspring at 60 days of age and undrugged since weaning. A deficit in the acquisition of the conditioned avoidance response in treated rats was observed, although no significant difference in spontaneous locomotor activity between control and treated rats was found. H-Flunitrazepam binding sites in cerebral cortex and hippocampus were decreased by the treatment, whereas no change was detected in cerebellum. Moreover, H-muscimol binding sites increased in hippocampus with no changes in cerebral cortex and cerebellum. According to the different regional distribution of benzodiazepine type 1 and type 2 receptors, we suggest that type 2 receptors are selectively affected by the treatment, and that the GABA ergic receptor system is also permanently altered by administration of chlordiazepoxide during early postnatal life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pregnant rats were treated with caffeine in their drinking water at doses of 136.3 mg/kg/day during gestation and 222.2 mg/kg/day during lactation. The resulting off-spring at 60 days of age (40 days after drug withdrawal) were tested in an activity monitor cage. Spontaneous locomotor activity and that induced by caffeine (10, 30, 60 mg/kg/day) were observed. Treated rats showed apparent tolerance to caffeine-induced motility. Therefore perinatal caffeine treatment seems to induce long-lasting tolerance. This finding contrasts with those previously reported for chronic caffeine treatment in adult rats, where tolerance disappears after only 2-3 weeks following drug with-drawal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]