901 research outputs found
Perinatal stem cells revisited: directions and indications at the crossroads between tissue regeneration and repair.
Perinatal stem cells research attracted great interest worldwide in recent years. Foetus-associated tissues contain
various populations of stem cells, most of which are comprised within the category of mesenchymal stem cells
(MSCs). This special issue collects both reviews and original
reports on all the perinatal stem cell types which are currently under investigation. These cells have multiple promising features: differentiative capacity towards mature cell
types of all the three germ layers, hypoimmunogenicity in
vitro and in vivo, ease of sourcing, ex vivo culture and stor-
age. In particular, immune modulation is viewed as a prom-
ising feature of many MSCs populations, since these cells,
once administered therapeutically, may be able to overcome,
or at least evade, the host immune response which may lead
to acute or chronic rejection of the transplant
Ten kilodalton heat shock protein (HSP10) is overexpressed during carcinogenesis of large bowel and uterine exocervix
In the present study, we evaluated the presence and the level of expression of HSP10 in two carcinogenetic models: the 'adenoma-carcinoma sequence' of large bowel and the 'dysplasia-carcinoma sequence' of uterine exocervix. We found HSP10 was overexpressed during the carcinogenesis of both organs. In particular, HSP10 was overexpressed early in large bowel carcinogenesis, while the expression of this protein in exocervical carcinogenesis gradually increased from normal through dysplastic to neoplastic tissues. The quantitative analysis of immunohistochemistry and the Western blotting confirmed these results. Our previous observations showed overexpression of HSP60 in the same carcinogenetic models. This report correlates the overexpression of HSP10 with that of HSP60 during carcinogenesis in vivo. These results could stimulate further studies on the pathogenetic role of these proteins during the carcinogenesis as well as their use as diagnostic and prognostic tools in oncology. \ua9 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved
Lâambiente marino costiero: aspetti e tutela. Progetto formativo di Alternanza Scuola Lavoro 2016â2019 Liceo Scienze Applicate
Il percorso formativo consente di acquisire nozioni teoriche e pratiche sulle moderne tecniche (strumentali e metodologiche) di investigazione del âdatumâ geologico finalizzate allo studio multidisciplinare dellâambiente marinoâcostiero, con particolare riguardo alle ricerche sperimentali che lâIstituto IAMC ha condotto e conduce nel Golfo di Napoli.
Vengono trattate anche tematiche di gestione del sistema sicurezza e qualità con particolare riguardo alle attività lavorative di ricerca (acquisizione, elaborazione e restituzione del dato),nonché indicazioni di procedure gestionali di progetto finalizzate al corretto utilizzo della risorsa umana e strumentale
Conveying Audience Emotions through Humanoid Robot Gestures to an Orchestra during a Live Musical Exhibition
In the last twenty years, robotics have been applied in many
heterogeneous contexts. Among them, the use of humanoid robots during
musical concerts have been proposed and investigated by many authors.
In this paper, we propose a contribution in the area of robotics application
in music, consisting of a system for conveying audience emotions
during a live musical exhibition, by means of a humanoid robot. In particular,
we provide all spectators with a mobile app, by means of which
they can select a specific color while listening to a piece of music (act).
Each color is mapped to an emotion, and the audience preferences are
then processed in order to select the next act to be played. This decision,
based on the overall emotion felt by the audience, is then communicated
by the robot through body gestures to the orchestra. Our first results
show that spectators enjoy such kind of interactive musical performance,
and are encouraging for further investigations
Determination of the photodisintegration reaction rates involving charged particles: systematical calculations and proposed measurements based on Extreme Light Infrastructure - Nuclear Physics (ELI-NP)
Photodisintegration reaction rates involving charged particles are of
relevance to the p-process nucleosynthesis that aims at explaining the
production of the stable neutron-deficient nuclides heavier than iron. In this
study, the cross sections and astrophysical rates of (g,p) and (g,a) reactions
for about 3000 target nuclei with 10<Z<100 ranging from stable to proton
dripline nuclei are computed. To study the sensitivity of the calculations to
the optical model potentials (OMPs), both the phenomenological Woods-Saxon and
the microscopic folding OMPs are taken into account. The systematic comparisons
show that the reaction rates, especially for the (g,a) reaction, are
dramatically influenced by the OMPs. Thus the better determination of the OMP
is crucial to reduce the uncertainties of the photodisintegration reaction
rates involving charged particles. Meanwhile, a gamma-beam facility at ELI-NP
is being developed, which will open new opportunities to experimentally study
the photodisintegration reactions of astrophysics interest. Considering both
the important reactions identified by the nucleosynthesis studies and the
purpose of complementing the experimental results for the reactions involving
p-nuclei, the measurements of six (g,p) and eight (g,a) reactions based on the
gamma-beam facility at ELI-NP and the ELISSA detector for the charged particles
detection are proposed, and the GEANT4 simulations are correspondingly
performed. The minimum required energies of the gamma-beam to measure these
reactions are estimated. It is shown that the direct measurements of these
photonuclear reactions within the Gamow windows at T_9=2.5 for p-process are
fairly feasible and promising at ELI-NP. The expected experimental results will
be used to constrain the OMPs of the charged particles, which can eventually
reduce the uncertainties of the reaction rates for the p-process
nucleosynthesis.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures, Phys. Rev. C accepte
Role of chronic exsposure to cigarette smoke on endoglin/CD105 expression in airway epithelium.
Dysregulation of airway epithelial cell function related to cigarette smoke exposure plays an
important role in the pathophysiology of COPD and is associated to tissue damage and disease
severity. CD105 is a component of the receptor complex of TGF-ÎČ, a pleiotropic cytokine involved
in cellular proliferation, differentiation and migration. CD105 regulates the expression of different
components of the extracellular matrix suggesting a role of CD105 in cellular transmigration and
remodeling processes.
The aim of the present study was to investigate the expression of endoglin/CD105 in airway
epithelium of COPD patients and its involvement in tissue remodeling and progression of COPD.
We evaluated the immunoreactivity for CD105 expression in bronchial biopsies isolated from
COPD patients and healthy controls (HC). The analysis of metaplastic epithelium was performed in
bronchial biopsies by Image Analysis software (Leica Quantimet system). Finally, we investigated
the expression of CD105 protein receptor in human bronchial epithelial cells (16HBE cells)
exposed to 5% Cigarette Smoke Extract (CSE) for 12 days by western blot.
We found that the CD105 immunoreactivity was significantly higher in bronchial epithelium of
COPD than HC. Morphometric analysis of bioptic samples of COPD showed an increase of the
immunoreactivity for CD105 in the area of metaplastic than in not metaplastic epithelium. Long
term exposure to CSE significantly up-regulated CD105 expression in 16HBE.
Chronic inflammation due to cigarette smoke might play a critic role on the alteration of CD105
protein expression in COPD, promoting tissue remodeling, angiogenesis and dysregulation of
physiological reparative mechanisms, leading to squamous metaplasia
Probiogenomics analysis of 97 lactobacillus crispatus strains as a tool for the identification of promising next-generation probiotics
Members of the genus Lactobacillus represent the most common colonizers of the human vagina and are well-known for preserving vaginal health and contrasting the colonization of oppor-tunistic pathogens. Remarkably, high abundance of Lactobacillus crispatus in the vaginal environment has been linked to vaginal health, leading to the widespread use of many L. crispatus strains as probi-otics. Nevertheless, despite the scientific and industrial relevance of this species, a comprehensive investigation of the genomics of L. crispatus taxon is still missing. For this reason, we have performed a comparative genomics analysis of 97 L. crispatus strains, encompassing 16 strains sequenced in the framework of this study alongside 81 additional publicly available genome sequences. Thus, allowing the dissection of the L. crispatus pan-genome and core-genome followed by a comprehensive phylogenetic analysis based on the predicted core genes that revealed clustering based on ecological origin. Subsequently, a genomics-targeted approach, i.e., probiogenomics analysis, was applied for in-depth analysis of the eight L. crispatus strains of human origin sequenced in this study. In detail their genetic repertoire was screened for strain-specific genes responsible for phenotypic features that may guide the identification of optimal candidates for next-generation probiotics. The latter includes bacteriocin production, carbohydrates transport and metabolism, as well as a range of features that may be responsible for improved ecological fitness. In silico results regarding the genetic repertoire involved in carbohydrate metabolism were also validated by growth assays on a range of sugars, leading to the selection of putative novel probiotic strains
Whartonâs Jelly Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Support the Expansion of Cord Bloodâderived CD34 + Cells Mimicking a Hematopoietic Niche in a Direct Cellâcell Contact Culture System
Whartonâs jelly mesenchymal stromal cells (WJ-MSCs) have been recently exploited as a feeder layer in coculture systems to expand umbilical cord bloodâhematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (UCB-HSPCs). Here, we investigated the role of WJ-MSCs in supporting ex vivo UCB-HSPC expansion either when cultured in direct contact (DC) with WJ-MSCs or separated by a transwell system or in the presence of WJ-MSCâconditioned medium. We found, in short-term culture, a greater degree of expansion of UCB-CD34 + cells in a DC system (15.7 ± 4.1-fold increase) with respect to the other conditions. Moreover, in DC, we evidenced two different CD34 + cell populations (one floating and one adherent to WJ-MSCs) with different phenotypic and functional characteristics. Both multipotent CD34 + /CD38 â and lineage-committed CD34 + /CD38 + hematopoietic progenitors were expanded in a DC system. The former were significantly more represented in the adherent cell fraction than in the floating one (18.7 ± 11.2% vs. 9.7 ± 7.9% over the total CD34 + cells). Short-term colony forming unit (CFU) assays showed that HSPCs adherent to the stromal layer were able to generate a higher frequency of immature colonies (CFU-granulocyte/macrophage and burst-forming unit erythroid/large colonies) with respect to the floating cells. In the attempt to identify molecules that may play a role in supporting the observed ex vivo HSPC growth, we performed secretome analyses. We found a number of proteins involved in the HSPC homing, self-renewal, and differentiation in all tested conditions. It is important to note that a set of sixteen proteins, which are only in part reported to be expressed in any hematopoietic niche, were exclusively found in the DC system secretome. In conclusion, WJ-MSCs allowed a significant ex vivo expansion of multipotent as well as committed HSPCs. This may be relevant for future clinical applications
Comparing different methods to retrieve cloud top height from Meteosat satellite data
Cloud parameters such as the Cloud Top Height (CTH), Cloud Top Temperature (CTT), emissivity, particle size and optical depth have always been matter of interest for the atmospheric community. Particularly the CTH provides information leading to better understand the cloud radiative effects. Although there are many meteorological satellites providing the CTH, there are other sensors, not devoted to this purpose, that give some information from which this crucial parameter can be estimated. In this contribution we will describe three different methodologies to retrieve the CTH. The first technique is based on stereo-vision algorithms and requires two different views of the same scene and does not need of extra atmospheric information. In the second one, brightness temperatures in two IR spectral bands are converted to real cloud temperature by means of the proposed algorithms. From the CTT, the CTH is estimated using temperature vertical profiles (measured or modeled). The third technique retrieves the CTH from the output parameters of post event simulations performed by a Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) model that in this work will be the mesoscale model WRF (Weather Research Forecast). This article presents a preliminary work, in which the heights retrieved by the three methodologies applied to the geostationary satellite Meteosat 10 are compared with the heights given by MODIS sensor installed on the polar satellite AQUA. This promising results show that valuable information about CTH can be retrieved from Meteosat which provide high frequency and large scale data useful for weather and climate research
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