Only complete rejoining of DNA strand breaks after UVC allows K562 cell proliferation and DMSO induction of erythropoiesis

DNA strand breaks are early intermediates of the repair of UVC-induced DNA damage, however, since they severely impair cellular activities, their presence should be limited in time. In this study, the effects of incomplete repair of UVC-induced DNA strand breaks are investigated on K562 cell growth and the induction of erythroid differentiation by addition of DMSO to the cell culture medium. The kinetics were followed after UV irradiation by single cell gel electrophoresis, and in total cell population by alkaline or neutral agarose gel electrophoresis. Shortly after exposure, an extensive fragmentation occurred in DNA; DNA double strand breaks were negatively correlated with recovery time for DNA integrity. DNA damage induced by UVC 9 J/m2 rapidly triggered necrosis in a large fraction of irradiated K562 cells, and only 40% of treated cells resumed growth at a very low rate within 24 h of culture. The addition of DMSO to the culture medium of cells 15 min after UVC, when DNA strand break repair was not yet complete, produced apoptosis in >70% of surviving cells, as determined by TUNEL assay. Conversely, if DMSO was added when the resealing of DNA strand breaks was complete, surviving K562 cells retained full growth capacity, and their progeny underwent erythroid differentiation with normal levels of erythroid proteins, d-aminolevulinic acid dehydrase and hemoglobin. This study shows that the extent of DNA strand break repair influences cell proliferation and the DMSO induced erythroid program,and the same UVC dose can have opposite effects depending on cellular status

Performance evaluation of an open distributed platform for realistic traffic generation

Network researchers have dedicated a notable part of their efforts to the area of modeling traffic and to the implementation of efficient traffic generators. We feel that there is a strong demand for traffic generators capable to reproduce realistic traffic patterns according to theoretical models and at the same time with high performance. This work presents an open distributed platform for traffic generation that we called distributed internet traffic generator (D-ITG), capable of producing traffic (network, transport and application layer) at packet level and of accurately replicating appropriate stochastic processes for both inter departure time (IDT) and packet size (PS) random variables. We implemented two different versions of our distributed generator. In the first one, a log server is in charge of recording the information transmitted by senders and receivers and these communications are based either on TCP or UDP. In the other one, senders and receivers make use of the MPI library. In this work a complete performance comparison among the centralized version and the two distributed versions of D-ITG is presented

Splenic and concomitant liver abscess after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy

Introduction: Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) is a safe and effective procedure for losing weight and gaining control of obesity-related comorbidities. However, it is associated with postoperative complications such as bleeding, leak, and midgastric stenosis. Splenic and hepatic abscesses have been reported as unusual and rare complications after primary LSG. We report a case of splenic and concomitant hepatic abscesses after primary LSG, successful minimally invasive management, and midterm follow-up. Case Description: We report a complex case of splenic abscess with satellite hepatic abscess plus splenic thrombosis (0.1%) diagnosed 67 days after LSG. This unusual complication was managed by a minimally invasive approach (spleen sparing) with complete resolution after 35 days. After 18 months of follow-up, the patient showed complete resolution of the splenic and liver abscesses and progressive loss of excess weight. Conclusion: In high-volume centers, rare and life-threatening complications such as splenic and hepatic abscesses may be observed. The minimally invasive approach could represent an effective option of avoiding splenectomy in selected case

Sida y mujer : un análisis prospectivo de las causas de la infección del VIH/SIDA en las mujeres

El presente informe es el resultado de la investigación prospectiva realizada en mujeres infectadas por VIH/SIDA como tema de tesis de Magíster Políticas Sociales y Gestión Local defendida el 25 de noviembre de 2002 en el aula magna de la Facultad de Ciencias Políticas y Sociales, UNC. El SIDA no es sólo una enfermedad biológica sino que tiene una fuerte incidencia en lo social. La intención de este trabajo es despertar la inquietud para que las personas se movilicen a trabajar en la prevención y la asistencia, buscando respuestas alternativas que le faciliten al ser humano la posibilidad de tener una vida más digna. Las estadísticas nacionales demuestran una marcada feminización de esta epidemia. Las formas que asume la sexualidad son muy variadas y están determinadas por el tiempo y lugar donde vivimos. Las mujeres sufren una falta de contención de sus parejas sexuales con escasa toma de conciencia de la posibilidad de progresión de la enfermedad si no se utilizan métodos de barrera, que está íntimamente relacionado con la falta de educación sexual, también en el varón. Como conclusión, podemos decir que el 63,9% de las mujeres no utilizan métodos anticonceptivos debido a temores y prejuicios provocados por la falta de educación sexual. El 75,3% proviene de la negativa del varón a usar preservativo y el 100 % de las mujeres, a pedir el uso del preservativo por vergüenza o miedo. Todo esto nos está demostrando el poco diálogo con sus parejas sexuales y, por parte del hombre, la no protección de la mujer como madre, compañera y miembro útil de la sociedad.The current report present the results of the research done in women infected with HIV/AIDS. This was the main topic of the thesis Magister Politicas Sociales y Gestion Local, defended the 25 of November of 2002, in the Main Room of the Faculty of Politic and Social Sciences , Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. AIDS is not only a biologic illness, it has also a strong relation with social aspects. The intention of this work is to awake interest in the population to work in the prevention and assistance, looking for alternative answers that help people have a better life. The National Stadistics show a marked femininity in this epidemic disease. The sexuality takes different forms, and they are determined by the time and place where we live. Women suffer a lack of support from their sexual partners, with little knowledge of the disease progress if they do not use barrier methods. This is related with a poor sexual education in women as well as in men. To conclude, we may say that 63,9% of women do not use contraceptive methods , due to fears and prejudges that the lack of sexual education produces. 75,3 % of these women do not use any methods because of the rejection of males to use condom, 100% do not use it because of the shame or fear to ask for the use of condom. The situation exposed above shows us the poor communication between the sexual partners, and in men, the lack of protection of women as mothers partners, and vital members of this society.Fil: Avallone, Adela. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Políticas y Sociale

Migration and Power Relations in the Global Contemporary Agriculture: Between Persistence and Rupture of the Colonial Legacy

El artículo siguiente sostiene dos hipótesis. Por un lado, la existencia de una tendencia a la naturalización de las condiciones de explotación de los trabajadores migrantes en la agricultura contemporánea como un hecho relacionado con la herencia colonial de dominación. Y por el otro lado, se propone reconocer la presencia de las tendencias que cuestionan este proceso de naturalización, ellas también conectadas con el pasado colonial. El análisis se desarrolla en seis apartados. En el primer apartado se propone el estudio de algunos ejemplos de enclaves agrícolas caracterizados por la inserción de mano de obra migrante. En los apartados dos y tres, el análisis evidencia algunas características estructurales de las vigentes relaciones sociales y de poder en la agricultura global. En los apartados cuatro y cinco, se pone en evidencia la originalidad del espacio político postcolonial, en el que los sujetos fuera del espacio político como los migrantes pueden convertirse en actores de transformación política y social. En el apartado seis se presentan las conclusiones del análisis realizado, mostrando la posibilidad de actualizar el lado conflictivo de la herencia colonial, transformando el espacio político postcolonial a través de movimientos sociales heréticos orientados a producir una ruptura del orden político fundando en el principio de separación entre nacionales y no nacionalesThe following article develops two hypotheses. On one hand, it puts forward a link between the naturalization of the exploitative conditions of migrant farm workers in contemporary agriculture and the colonial heritage of domination. On the other hand, it proposes to recognize the trends that question this process of naturalization, highlighting that they are also connected to this colonial heritage. The analysis is articulated in six sections. In the first, some agricultural enclaves characterized by an important presence of migrant manpower are analysed. The second and third sections show some structural characteristics of the current social relations of production in agriculture. In the fourth and fifth sections, the originality of the postcolonial political space is recognized, in which subjects outside the political space, such as migrants, can become important actors of political and social transformation. Finally, in the sixth section, some conclusions are presented showing the possibility to update the conflictual side of colonial heritage, transforming the postcolonial political space through a rupture of a political order based on the principle of separation between nationals and non-national

IL CREDITO SU PEGNO NEL REGNO DI NAPOLI (XVI-XIX SECOLO)

Nel Mezzogiorno i monti di pietà fecero la loro apparizione con enorme ritardo rispetto alle altre aree della penisola italiana e la loro nascita e diffusione rappresentano una variante dello spirito associativo che si andò affermando a partire dalla seconda metà del ‘500 in presenza di una congiuntura economica né stabile né frequentemente favorevole. E, nonostante alcune caratteristiche li rendevano assimilabili alle istituzioni degli stati centro-settentrionali, presentavano però una natura giuridica molto più laica, essendosi riusciti a liberare da qualsiasi ingerenza religiosa già all’atto della loro fondazione. L’Autrice, inoltre, attraverso un’analisi di lungo periodo, sottolinea la stretta correlazione fra apertura dei monti, le scelte di politica economica e la congiuntura

Design of an acoustically transparent pressure sensor for breast elastography

Breast cancer is the most commonly occurring cancer in women. Only in 2018 there were over 2 million new cases all over the world. The MURAB project, pursued at the University of Twente, has the aim to improving the breast biopsy procedure by reducing costs, patient discomfort and false negative rates. A 7-DOF KUKA robot arm steers an ultrasound transducer along a precise scanning trajectory to gather 3D volume image and stiffness values of the breast. Elasticity is the property of a body to be deformed and differs between tumors tissue and soft tissue. Elastography is a non-invasive technique in which the elasticity of a tissue is determined. The aim of this study is to design an acoustically transparent pressure sensor, mounted on the tip of the ultrasound probe, that can measure pressure differences across its surface during the scan, and assess elastographic measurements. The main idea is to use a pad of a characterized material and sequentially ultrasound images able to visualize the section of the pad and evaluate its deformation during time. The transmission of ultrasound waves into a solid depends on the mechanical characteristics of the material and on its physic state. In this work the relations between the acoustic properties and the mechanical behavior of an acoustically transparent pad are studied and evaluated

Franz Liszt e la «Dante Symphony»: frammenti e simboli per una nuova musica «umanitaria»

Throughout his years at the service of the Grand Duke of Weimar, characterized by the desire to find a safe haven in which to quench his constant desire to be in deep spiritual meditation, Liszt was able to deepen his awareness of his own musical and non-pianistic material. Thanks to the orchestra available at the court theatre, he was able to mature his own sansimonian concept of art as a remarkable spiritual force capable of uniting humanity towards the path of social and civic progress. In those years Liszt also conceived his symphonic music that he called “program music”. This was based on the idea that music can never be pure form, flat and expressionless, since it always needs an intense strong ideal that only poetry can provide. Equipping himself with a Dante program, Liszt was thus inspired for his Dante Symphony, composed at Weimar in 1856. However, it should not be understood as an homage to the poem, but as a lucid awareness of its modernity on the part of the composer: it is its fragmented and symbolic nature, that significantly excludes the last poem, as well as the ethical value that music should possess, what allows Liszt to select those poetic images that are fit to be infused with an expressive symphonic layer.Negli anni trascorsi al servizio del Granduca di Weimar, caratterizzati dal desiderio di trovare un giaciglio sicuro per una profonda meditazione spirituale, Liszt ebbe modo di approfondire le proprie conoscenze sui materiali musicali non-pianistici, grazie alla compagine orchestrale messa a disposizione nel teatro di corte, e di maturare la propria concezione sansimonista dell’arte, intesa come straordinaria forza spirituale capace di unire l’umanità nel cammino del progresso sociale e civile. In questi anni si compie la concezione lisztiana della musica sinfonica “a programma”, per cui la musica non può mai essere pura forma, piatta ed inespressiva, ma necessita sempre di un contenuto ideale forte, che solo la poesia può conferirle; l’ausilio del programma dantesco, cui Liszt si ispirò per la sua Dante Symphony, composta a Weimar nel 1856, non va però inteso come omaggio al poema, bensì come lucida consapevolezza della sua modernità da parte del compositore: è la natura frammentaria e simbolica che viene còlta, escludendo significativamente l’ultima cantica, e in virtù del valore etico che la musica deve possedere, Liszt compie una selezione tra quelle immagini poetiche che egli ritiene più idonee ad essere rivestite del mezzo espressivo sinfonico