Proteomic patterns of cultured breast cancer cells and epithelial mammary cells.

Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of death from cancer among women in western countries. The different types of breast cancer are grouped into invasive and noninvasive forms. Among the invasive types, ductal infiltrating carcinoma (DIC) is the most common and aggressive form. Using an in vitro model consisting of a DIC-derived cell line (8701-BC) and a nontumoral mammary epithelial cell line (HB2), we used the proteomics approach to search for homology and differences in protein expression patterns between tumoral and nontumoral phenotypes. Within an analysis window comprising 1,750 discernible spots we have currently catalogued 140 protein spots of potential interest. Fifty-eight of them were identified by gel matching with reference maps, immunodetection, or N-terminal microsequencing and classified into four functional groups. Twelve proteins were found differentially expressed in two cell lines: four were uniquely present in the neoplastic cell proteome and eight in epithelial cells. In addition, 53 proteins displayed different relative expression levels between the two cell lines, that is, 44 were more elevated in cancer cells and 9 in HB2 cells. Among proteins with greater relative abundance in cancer cells we identified glycolytic enzymes (or their isoforms), which may indicate that the known metabolic dysregulation in cancer can reflect oncogenic-related defects of glycolytic gene expression

Fuzzy clustering with entropy regularization for interval-valued data with an application to scientific journal citations

In recent years, the research of statistical methods to analyze complex structures of data has increased. In particular, a lot of attention has been focused on the interval-valued data. In a classical cluster analysis framework, an interesting line of research has focused on the clustering of interval-valued data based on fuzzy approaches. Following the partitioning around medoids fuzzy approach research line, a new fuzzy clustering model for interval-valued data is suggested. In particular, we propose a new model based on the use of the entropy as a regularization function in the fuzzy clustering criterion. The model uses a robust weighted dissimilarity measure to smooth noisy data and weigh the center and radius components of the interval-valued data, respectively. To show the good performances of the proposed clustering model, we provide a simulation study and an application to the clustering of scientific journals in research evaluation

La durabilit\ue0 dei componenti edilizi

La pubblicazione riporta una sintesi dei risultati della ricerca scientifica nazionale (PRIN-2003) su \u201cMetodologie di progettazione e di valutazione della durabilit\ue0 dei componenti edilizi in processi di produzione sostenibili, finalizzate alla programmazione della manutenzione degli edifici\u201d delle sei unit\ue0 di ricerca (Politecnico di Milano, Politecnico di Torino, Universit\ue0 degli Studi Federico II di Napoli, Universit\ue0 degli Studi di Palermo, Universit\ue0 degli Studi di Catania, Universit\ue0 degli Studi di Brescia). La ricerca \ue8 condotta in coerenza con quanto si sta sviluppando a livello internazionale nell\u2019ambito dell\u2019International Council for Research and Innovation in Buiding and Construction (CIB), in particolare nella Commissione CIB W80 Prediction of Service Life of Building Materials and Components, nonch\ue9 nei correlati lavori dell\u2019ISO TC 59 SC14 per l\u2019elaborazione delle varie parti della norma ISO 15686 \u201cService life planning\u201d. Il lavoro ha portato nel 2006 alla uscita della prima norma italiana UNI 11156 \u201cValutazione della durabilit\ue0 dei componenti edilizi\u201d articolata in tre parti: \u201cTerminologia e definizione dei parametri di valutazione\u201d, \u201dMetodi per la valutazione della propensione all\u2019affidabilit\ue0\u201d, \u201dMetodi per la valutazione della durata\u201d. I risultati finora acquisiti costituiscono gi\ue0 un significativo riferimento per gli operatori di committenza pubblica e privata in interventi edilizi di nuova costruzione ai fini di organizzare per essi una manutenzione programmata atta ad assicurare nel tempo il mantenimento di un livello di qualit\ue0 tecnologica adeguato, con benefico effetto di riduzione dei costi di gestione degli edifici. Ci\uf2 potr\ue0 essere perseguito attraverso la conoscenza della qualit\ue0 tecnologica utile dei componenti edilizi dei componenti edilizi richiedibile attraverso le specifiche di durabilit\ue0 direttamente imponibili da parte dei progettisti nei capitolati speciali d\u2019appalto secondo i dettati della sopra citata norma UNI 11156

Nowcasting COVID-19 incidence indicators during the Italian first outbreak

A novel parametric regression model is proposed to fit incidence data typically collected during epidemics. The proposal is motivated by real-time monitoring and short-term forecasting of the main epidemiological indicators within the first outbreak of COVID-19 in Italy. Accurate short-term predictions, including the potential effect of exogenous or external variables are provided. This ensures to accurately predict important characteristics of the epidemic (e.g., peak time and height), allowing for a better allocation of health resources over time. Parameter estimation is carried out in a maximum likelihood framework. All computational details required to reproduce the approach and replicate the results are provided

NETME: on-the-fly knowledge network construction from biomedical literature

Background: The rapidly increasing biological literature is a key resource to automatically extract and gain knowledge concerning biological elements and their relations. Knowledge Networks are helpful tools in the context of biological knowledge discovery and modeling. Results: We introduce a novel system called NETME, which, starting from a set of full-texts obtained from PubMed, through an easy-to-use web interface, interactively extracts biological elements from ontological databases and then synthesizes a network inferring relations among such elements. The results clearly show that our tool is capable of inferring comprehensive and reliable biological networks

The racist bodily imaginary: the image of the body-in-pieces in (post)apartheid culture

This paper outlines a reoccurring motif within the racist imaginary of (post)apartheid culture: the black body-in-pieces. This disturbing visual idiom is approached from three conceptual perspectives. By linking ideas prevalent in Frantz Fanon’s description of colonial racism with psychoanalytic concepts such as Lacan’s notion of the corps morcelé, the paper offers, firstly, an account of the black body-in-pieces as fantasmatic preoccupation of the (post)apartheid imaginary. The role of such images is approached, secondly, through the lens of affect theory which eschews a representational ‘reading’ of such images in favour of attention to their asignifying intensities and the role they play in effectively constituting such bodies. Lastly, Judith Butler’s discussion of war photography and the conditions of grievability introduces an ethical dimension to the discussion and helps draw attention to the unsavory relations of enjoyment occasioned by such images

Early-onset epileptic encephalopathy caused by a reduced sensitivity of Kv7.2 potassium channels to phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate

Kv7.2 and Kv7.3 subunits underlie the M-current, a neuronal K(+) current characterized by an absolute functional requirement for phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP(2)). Kv7.2 gene mutations cause early-onset neonatal seizures with heterogeneous clinical outcomes, ranging from self-limiting benign familial neonatal seizures to severe early-onset epileptic encephalopathy (Kv7.2-EE). In this study, the biochemical and functional consequences prompted by a recurrent variant (R325G) found independently in four individuals with severe forms of neonatal-onset EE have been investigated. Upon heterologous expression, homomeric Kv7.2 R325G channels were non-functional, despite biotin-capture in Western blots revealed normal plasma membrane subunit expression. Mutant subunits exerted dominant-negative effects when incorporated into heteromeric channels with Kv7.2 and/or Kv7.3 subunits. Increasing cellular PIP(2) levels by co-expression of type 1γ PI(4)P5-kinase (PIP5K) partially recovered homomeric Kv7.2 R325G channel function. Currents carried by heteromeric channels incorporating Kv7.2 R325G subunits were more readily inhibited than wild-type channels upon activation of a voltage-sensitive phosphatase (VSP), and recovered more slowly upon VSP switch-off. These results reveal for the first time that a mutation-induced decrease in current sensitivity to PIP(2) is the primary molecular defect responsible for Kv7.2-EE in individuals carrying the R325G variant, further expanding the range of pathogenetic mechanisms exploitable for personalized treatment of Kv7.2-related epilepsies

Ultrabithorax confers spatial identity in a context-specific manner in the Drosophila postembryonic ventral nervous system.

BACKGROUND: In holometabolous insects such as Drosophila melanogaster, neuroblasts produce an initial population of diverse neurons during embryogenesis and a much larger set of adult-specific neurons during larval life. In the ventral CNS, many of these secondary neuronal lineages differ significantly from one body segment to another, suggesting a role for anteroposterior patterning genes. RESULTS: Here we systematically characterize the expression pattern and function of the Hox gene Ultrabithorax (Ubx) in all 25 postembryonic lineages. We find that Ubx is expressed in a segment-, lineage-, and hemilineage-specific manner in the thoracic and anterior abdominal segments. When Ubx is removed from neuroblasts via mitotic recombination, neurons in these segments exhibit the morphologies and survival patterns of their anterior thoracic counterparts. Conversely, when Ubx is ectopically expressed in anterior thoracic segments, neurons exhibit complementary posterior transformation phenotypes. CONCLUSION: Our findings demonstrate that Ubx plays a critical role in conferring segment-appropriate morphology and survival on individual neurons in the adult-specific ventral CNS. Moreover, while always conferring spatial identity in some sense, Ubx has been co-opted during evolution for distinct and even opposite functions in different neuronal hemilineages