MYC and E1A Oncogenes Alter the Response of PC12 Cells to Nerve Growth Factor and Block Differentiation: A Thesis

PC12 rat pheochromocytoma cells respond to nerve growth factor (NGF) by neuronal differentiation and partial growth arrest. Mouse c-myc and adenovirus E1A genes were introduced into PC12 cells to study the influence of these nuclear oncogenes on neuronal differentiation. Expression of myc and E1A blocked morphological differentiation and caused NGF to stimulate rather than inhibit cell proliferation. NGF binding to cell surface receptors, activation of ribosomal S6 kinase, and ornithine decarboxylase induction were similar in myc and E1A expressing clones compared with wild-type PC12 cells, suggesting that changes in the cellular response to NGF were at a post-receptor level. The ability of myc and E1A expression to block the transcription-dependent induction of microtubule associated proteins by NGF further suggested that these genes may inhibit differentiation by interfering with NGP\u27s ability to regulate transcription. These results illustrate that NGF can promote either growth or differentiation of PC12 cells, and that myc or E1A alter the phenotypic responses to growth factors

Indentation modulus, indentation work and creep of metals and alloys at the macro-scale level: Experimental insights into the use of a primary Vickers hardness standard machine

In this work, the experimental method and the calculation model for the determination of indentation moduli, indentation work, and indentation creep of metallic materials, by means of macroscale-level forces provided by a primary hardness standard machine at the National Institute of Metrological Research (INRIM) at the at room temperature were described. Indentation moduli were accurately determined from measurements of indentation load, displacement, contact stiffness and hardness indentation imaging and from the slope of the indentation unloading curve by applying the Doerner-Nix linear model; indentation work, representing the mechanical work spent during the force application of the indentation procedure, was determined by calculating the areas under the loading–unloading indentation curve, through fitting experimental data with a polynomial law. Measurements were performed with a pyramidal indenter (Vickers test). The applied force was provided by a deadweight machine, and the related displacement was measured by a laser interferometric system. Applied forces and the occurring indentation depths were simultaneously measured: The resulting loading–unloading indentation curve was achieved. Illustrative tests were performed on metals and alloy samples. Discussion and comments on the suitability of the proposed method and analysis were reported

Constraints on new physics from the quark mixing unitarity triangle

The status of the Unitarity Triangle beyond the Standard Model including the most recent results on Delta m_s, on dilepton asymmetries and on width differences is presented. Even allowing for general New Physics loop contributions the Unitarity Triangle must be very close to the Standard Model result. With the new measurements from the Tevatron, we obtain for the first time a significant constraint on New Physics in the B_s sector. We present the allowed ranges of New Physics contributions to Delta F=2 processes, and of the time-dependent CP asymmetry in B_s to J/Psi phi decays.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures. v2: numerical error in Delta Gamma_s/Gamma_s corrected. Plots and tables updated. v3: update after ICHEP06, final version published in Phys Rev Letter

Update of the Unitarity Triangle Analysis

We present the status of the Unitarity Triangle Analysis (UTA), within the Standard Model (SM) and beyond, with experimental and theoretical inputs updated for the ICHEP 2010 conference. Within the SM, we find that the general consistency among all the constraints leaves space only to some tension (between the UTA prediction and the experimental measurement) in BR(B -> tau nu), sin(2 beta) and epsilon_K. In the UTA beyond the SM, we allow for New Physics (NP) effects in (Delta F)=2 processes. The hint of NP at the 2.9 sigma level in the B_s-\bar B_s mixing turns out to be confirmed by the present update, which includes the new D0 result on the dimuon charge asymmetry but not the new CDF measurement of phi_s, being the likelihood not yet released.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, Proceedings of the 35th International Conference of High Energy Physics - ICHEP2010 (July 22-28, 2010, Paris

Comparison between tensile properties and indentation properties measured with various shapes indenters of Copper-Chromium-Zirconium alloy at macroscale level

In this paper the experimental results of tensile properties and indentationproperties, as a function of pyramidal and spherical indenters, of Copper-Chromium-Zirconium alloy, in the macro-scale range at room temperature, are presented and compared. Measurements are performed on three Cu-Cr-Zr samples in order to evaluate different heat treatments: two samples areaged for 2 hours in a vacuum furnace at 480 °C, 550 °C and one sample is kept as received. The experimental procedures for the measurement of indentation modulus, by using the primary hardness standard machine at INRiM, and tensile modulus, by means of engineering tensile tests at CIRA, aredescribed

Changing trends of ocular trauma in the time of COVID-19 pandemic

To reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), countries have promoted a range of unprecedented public health responses. These measures aim at reducing the final size of the epidemic as well as its peak in order to decrease the acute pressure on the health-care system [1]. In Italy, the government ordered people to stay home, restricting movements with the exception of work, urgent matters and health reasons. Furthermore, all commercial and productive activities, except those providing essential services, were obligated to remain closed [2]. Ocular trauma represents a serious public health problem and leading cause of visual impairment [3, 4]. The COVID-19 social distancing measures might have a significant impact on the risk of ocular trauma. In this study, we retrospectively reviewed the charts of all patients presenting to an Italian ophthalmological emergency department (the Ophthalmology Unit of the S.Orsola-Malpighi University Hospital in Bologna) to identify all eye injuries. Data were analysed from 10th March 2020 (i.e. the day in which the quarantine measures were applied in our city) to 10th April 2020, and confronted with those of the same period of the previous year (from 10th March 2019 to 10th April 2019). In the 2019 study period, there were 354 eye injuries (15.6% of all patients presenting to the emergency department). In the 2020 study period, eye injuries decreased to 112 (19.9% of all patients). The characteristics of eye injuries in the two study periods are reported in Table 1. During quarantine, the proportion of children and adolescents with eye injuries decreased (from 14.7% to 8.0%, Fig. 1a), while the proportion of males increased (from 66.7% to 75.0%, Fig. 1b). Regarding the mechanisms of injury, the percentage of falls and sport injuries had the highest decrease (respectively, from 6.5% to 0.9% and from 5.9% to 2.7%), while injuries during home activities and injuries with plants had the highest increase (respectively, from 12.4% to 17.0% and from 8.5% to 10.7%, Fig. 1c). The percentage of minor injuries with low risk of vision loss increased (from 93.2% to 94.6%), while major injuries requiring monitoring decreased (from 6.8% to 5.4%, Fig. 1d). There was a striking 68.4% decrease in the number of eye injuries seen in our Unit during the last month. Behavioural changes during the quarantine could be associated with lower risk of trauma. The decreases of sport injuries and of injuries in children during school closure seem to support this hypothesis. However, the drop of patients seeking emergency care affected all injuries, including serious ones potentially associated with vision loss. We believe that some patients may intentionally avoid urgent care rather than risking coronavirus exposure at hospitals. Anecdotal reports suggest that this is also happening for life-threatening medical emergencies such as myocardial infarction and stroke [5, 6]. Since ocular trauma is a major cause of vision loss, the importance of not delaying or avoiding treatment should be stressed to all patients to prevent ocular morbidities