Cardiac function in adolescents and young adults with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome without congenital heart disease

Background Diagnosis and treatment of 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11.2DS) have led to improved life expectancy and achievement of adulthood. Limited data on long-term outcomes reported an increased risk of premature death for cardiovascular causes, even without congenital heart disease (CHD).

Flexoelectric switching in cholesteric blue phases

We present computer simulations of the response of a flexoelectric blue phase network, either in bulk or under confinement, to an applied field. We find a transition in the bulk between the blue phase I disclination network and a parallel array of disclinations along the direction of the applied field. Upon switching off the field, the system is unable to reconstruct the original blue phase but gets stuck in a metastable phase. Blue phase II is comparatively much less affected by the field.

Switching and defect dynamics in multistable liquid crystal devices

We investigate the switching dynamics of multistable nematic liquid crystal devices. In particular, we identify a remarkably simple two-dimensional device which exploits hybrid alignment at the surfaces to yield a bistable response. We also consider a three-dimensional tristable nematic device with patterned anchoring, recently implemented in practice, and discuss how the director and disclination patterns change during switching.

Momentum recoil in the relativistic two-body problem: Higher-order tails

In the description of the relativistic two-body interaction, together with the effects of energy and angular momentum losses due to the emission of gravitational radiation, one has to take into account also the loss of linear momentum, which is responsible for the recoil of the center-of-mass of the system. We compute higher-order tail (i.e., tail-of-tail and tail-squared) contributions to the linear momentum flux for a nonspinning binary system either along hyperboliclike or ellipticlike orbits.

Inflamm-aging, cytokines and aging: State of the art, new hypotheses on the role of mitochondria and new perspectives from systems biology

In this article we summarise present knowledge on the role of pro-inflammatory cytokines on chronic inflammation leading to organismal aging, a phenomenon we proposed to call "inflamm-aging". In particular, we review genetic data regarding polymorphisms of genes encoding for cytokines and proteins involved in natural immunity (such as Toll-like Receptors and Heat Shock Proteins) obtained from large population studies including young, old and very old people in good health status or affected by age-related diseases such as Alzheimer's Disease and Type II Diabetes.

Preventing congestion in crowd dynamics caused by reversing flow

In this paper we devise a microscopic (agent-based) mathematical model for reproducing crowd behavior in a specific scenario: a number of pedestrians, consisting of numerous social groups, flow along a corridor until a gate located at the end of the corridor closes. People are not informed about the closure of the gate and perceive the blockage observing dynamically the local crowd conditions. Once people become aware of the new conditions, they stop and then decide either to stay, waiting for reopening, or to go back and leave the corridor forever.