Depletion-induced biaxial nematic states of boardlike particles

With the aim of investigating the stability conditions of biaxial nematic liquid crystals, we study the effect of adding a non-adsorbing ideal depletant on the phase behavior of colloidal hard boardlike particles. We take into account the presence of the depletant by introducing an effective depletion attraction between a pair of boardlike particles. At fixed depletant fugacity, the stable liquid crystal phase is determined through a mean-field theory with restricted orientations. Interestingly, we predict that for slightly elongated boardlike particles a critical depletant density exists, where the system undergoes a direct transition from an isotropic liquid to a biaxial nematic phase. As a consequence, by tuning the depletant density, an easy experimental control parameter, one can stabilize states of high biaxial nematic order even when these states are unstable for pure systems of boardlike particles

A Numerical Method for a Nonlocal Form of Richards' Equation Based on Peridynamic Theory

Forecasting water content dynamics in heterogeneous porous media has significant interest in hydrological applications; in particular, the treatment of infiltration when in presence of cracks and fractures can be accomplished resorting to peridynamic theory, which allows a proper modeling of non localities in space. In this framework, we make use of Chebyshev transform on the diffusive component of the equation and then we integrate forward in time using an explicit method. We prove that the proposed spectral numerical scheme provides a solution converging to the unique solution in some appropriate Sobolev space. We finally exemplify on several different soils, also considering a sink term representing the root water uptake

Cinematic and aesthetic cartographies of subjective mutation

This article exmaines the use of cinema as a mapping of subjective mutation in the work of Deleuze, Gauttari and Berardi. Drawing on Deleuze's distinciton between the reduction of the art-work to the symptom and the idea of art as symptomatology, the article focuses on Berardi's use of cinematic examples, posing the quesiton in each case of to what extent they function as symptomatologies or mere symptoms of cultural and subjective mutations in examples ranging from Bergman's Persona to Van Sant's Elephant to finish on speculations about Fincher's The Social Network as a cirtical engagement with subjective mutation in the 21st Century

New modelling approach for the energy and steam consumption evaluation in a fresh pasta industry

The agri-food industry has a fundamental role in the Italian and European economy and is characterized by the need to reduce energy costs and emissions. Therefore, it is essential for food companies to give due consideration to the energy efficiency of the processes, to reduce production costs, without sacrificing the quality of primary production and maintaining adequate levels of competitiveness on the market. In this study, a theoretical and experimental mass and energy balance of the production process of fresh pasta was made, also considering the energy contributions of a cogeneration plant recently built in the company subject of the experimental study. The final aim was to determine scientific values of specific energy consumption for this type of production by mean a new modelling approach. The mass and energy balances were carried out for the production line of fresh semolina pasta, as well as for the cogeneration plant; monitoring the flows of raw materials and steam that characterize the production process. The results of this study can be generalized to all production processes of the same type and, in the specific case, constitute a decisive logical step for the definition of the energy recovery solutions to be adopted in the company studied, in relation to their economic-production needs

Hansenula polymorpha NMR2 and NMR4, two new loci involved in nitrogen metabolite repression

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Influence of perineural invasion in predicting overall survival and disease-free survival in patients With locally advanced gastric cancer

Background The aim of the present study was to evaluate the prognostic significance of perineural invasion (PNI) in locally advanced gastric cancer patients who underwent D2 gastrectomy and adjuvant chemotherapy. Methods The records of a series of 103 patients undergoing D2 gastrectomy with curative intent combined with adjuvant chemotherapy from January 2004 to December 2014 were retrospectively reviewed. Results PNI was positive in 47 (45.6%) specimens. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year overall survival rates were 81%, 55%, and 42%, respectively. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) rates were 76%, 57%, and 49%, respectively. A multivariate analysis showed that age number of positive lymph nodes, T stage, and PNI were independently associated with overall survival. Regarding DFS, the multivariate analysis showed that only PNI was independently associated with DFS. Conclusions PNI and T stage and positive lymph nodes are independent markers of poor prognosis in patients with gastric cancer. PNI should be incorporated in the postoperative staging system for planning follow-up after surgery and in our opinion to propose more aggressive postoperative therapies in PNI-positive patients

Experimental trials and dynamical simulation of the potential biogas production in a frozen food industry

Food industry determines the production of huge quantities of by-products, solid and waste. Identifying an ecological and economically viable solution for the management and disposal of horticultural wastes helps reducing the environmental impact of this kind of industries. In this paper a biogas production potential was obtained during one year of hourly data observation in a frozen food industry through dynamical simulation. This provides useful data for the correct management of an anaerobic digestion plant using the horticultural wastes coming from the production lines.The experimental analysis was carried out in an Italian cooperative firm, that process and market canned foods and frozen foods. Material flows were analysed especially considering the production of wastes. From the quantitative point of view, the hourly, daily, monthly, and annual flows of the single by-products of the studied processing cycle were determined. A dynamical simulation tool was developed to determine an optimized waste management procedure for biogas production. Design criteria was obtained for a biomass treatment to recover the organic substance for biogas production

Finite State Automata As Conceptual Model for e-Service

Recently, a plethora of languages for modeling and specifying different facets of e-Services have been proposed, and some of them provide constructs for representing time. Time is needed in many contexts to correctly capture the dynamics of transactions and of composability between e-Services. However, to the best of our knowledge, all the proposed languages for representing e-Service behavior and temporal constraints lack both a clear semantics and an underlying conceptual model. In this paper, we propose a conceptual representation of e-Service behavior, taking time constraints into account, and a new XML-based language, namely WSTL (WEB SERVICE TRANSITION LANGUAGE), that integrates well with standard languages in order to completely specify e-Services. In particular, WSTL allows for specifying an e-Service starting from its conceptual representation, in a straightforward way

Multifunctional thiosemicarbazones targeting sigma receptors: in vitro and in vivo antitumor activities in pancreatic cancer models

Purpose: Association of the metal chelating portion of thiosemicarbazone with the cytotoxic activity of sigma-2 receptors appears a promising strategy for the treatment of pancreatic tumors. Here, we developed a novel sigma-2 receptor targeting thiosemicarbazone (FA4) that incorporates a moiety associated with lysosome destabilization and ROS increase in order to design more efficient antitumor agents. Methods: The density of sigma receptors in pancreatic cancer cells was evaluated by flow cytometry. In these cells, cytotoxicity (MTT assay) and activation of ER- and mitochondria-dependent cell death pathways (mRNA expression of GRP78, ATF6, IRE1, PERK; ROS levels by MitoSOX and DCFDA-AM; JC-1 staining) induced by the thiosemicarbazones FA4, MLP44, PS3 and ACthio-1, were evaluated. The expression of autophagic proteins (ATG5, ATG7, ATG12, beclin, p62 and LC3-I) was also studied. In addition, the in vivo effect of FA4 in xenograft models with and without gemcitabine challenge was investigated. Results: We found that FA4 exerted a more potent cytotoxicity than previously studied thiosemicarbazones (MLP44, PS3 and ACthio-1), which were found to display variable effects on the ER or the mitochondria-dependent pro-apoptotic axis. By contrast, FA4 activated pro-apoptotic pathways and decreased autophagy, except in MiaPaCa2 cells, in which autophagic proteins were expressed at lower levels and remained unmodified by FA4. FA4 treatment of PANC-1 xenografted mouse models, poorly responsive to conventional chemotherapy, significantly reduced tumor volumes and increased intratumor apoptosis compared to gemcitabine, with no signs of toxicity. Conclusions: Our data indicate that FA4 exhibits encouraging activity in pancreatic cancer cells unresponsive to gemcitabine. These results warrant further investigation in patient-derived pancreatic cancers, and hold promise for the development of therapies that can more efficiently target the specific characteristics of individual tumor types