Synthesis of Curcumin Derivatives and Analysis of Their Antitumor Effects in Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) Cell Lines

We analyzed antitumor effects of a series of curcumin analogues. Some of them were obtained by reaction of substitution involving the two phenolic OH groups of curcumin while the analogues with a substituent at C-4 was prepared following an original procedure that regards the condensation of benzenesulfenic acid onto the nucleophilic central carbon of the curcumin skeleton. We analyzed cytotoxic effects of such derivatives on two TNBC (triple negative breast cancer) cell lines, SUM 149 and MDA-MB-231, but only three of them showed an IC50 in a lower micromolar range with respect to curcumin. We also focused on these three derivatives that in both cell lines exhibited a higher or at least equivalent pro-apoptotic effect than curcumin. The analysis of molecular mechanisms of action of the curcumin derivatives under study has highlighted that they decreased NF-κB transcriptional factor activity, and consequently the expression of some NF-κB targets. Our data confirmed once again that curcumin may represent a very good lead compound to design analogues with higher antitumor capacities and able to overcome drug resistance with respect to conventional ones, even in tumors difficult to treat as TNBC

Dye diffusion during laparoscopic tubal patency tests may suggest a lymphatic contribution to dissemination in endometriosis: A prospective, observational study

Aim Women with adenomyosis are at higher risk of endometriosis recurrence after surgery. This study was to assess if the lymphatic vessel network drained from the uterus to near organs where endometriosis foci lied. Methods A prospective, observational study, Canadian Task Force Classification II-2, was conducted at Sacro Cuore Don Calabria Hospital, Negrar, Italy. 104 white women aged 18–43 years were enrolled consecutively for this study. All patients underwent laparoscopy for endometriosis and a tubal dye test was carried out. Results Evidence of dye dissemination through the uterine wall and outside the uterus was noted in 27 patients (26%) with adenomyosis as it permeated the uterine wall and a clear passage of the dye was shown in the pelvic lymphatic vessels regardless whether the tubes were unobstructed. Histological assessment of the uterine biopsies confirmed adenomyosis. Conclusion Adenomyosis is characterized by ectatic lymphatics that allow the drainage of intrauterine fluids (the dye and, perhaps, menstrual blood) at minimal intrauterine pressure from the uterine cavity though the lymphatic network to extrauterine organs. Certainly, this may not be the only explanation for endometriosis dissemination but the correlation between the routes of the dye drainage and location of endometriosis foci is highly suggestive

The Crystal Structure of Tobermorite 14 Å (Plombierite), a C-S-H phase

The crystal structure of tobermorite 14 Å (plombierite) was solved by means of the application of the order-disorder (OD) theory and was refined through synchrotron radiation diffraction data. Two polytypes were detected within one very small crystal from Crestmore, together with possibly disordered sequences of layers, giving diffuse streaks along c*. Only one of the two polytypes, could be refined: it has B11b space group symmetry and cell parameters a = 6.735(2) Å, b = 7.425(2) Å, c = 27.987(5) A, γ = 123.25(1)° . The refinement converged to R = 0.152 for 1291 reflections with F 0>4σ(F 0). The characteristic reflections of the other polytype, F2dd space group, a ≈11.2 Å, b ≈ 7.3 Å, c ≈ 56 Å, were recognized but they were too weak and diffuse to be used in a structure refinement. The structure of tobermorite 14 Å is built up of complex layers, formed by sheets of sevenfold coordinated calcium cations, flanked on both sides by wollastonite-like chains. The space between two complex layers contains additional calcium cations and H 2O molecules; their distribution, as well as the system of hydrogen bonds, are presented and discussed. The crystal chemical formula indicated by the structural results is Ca 5Si 6O 16(OH) 2 ·7H 2O

Coopetition of software firms in Open source software ecosystems

Software firms participate in an ecosystem as a part of their innovation strategy to extend value creation beyond the firms boundary. Participation in an open and independent environment also implies the competition among firms with similar business models and targeted markets. Hence, firms need to consider potential opportunities and challenges upfront. This study explores how software firms interact with others in OSS ecosystems from a coopetition perspective. We performed a quantitative and qualitative analysis of three OSS projects. Finding shows that software firms emphasize the co-creation of common value and partly react to the potential competitiveness on OSS ecosystems. Six themes about coopetition were identified, including spanning gatekeepers, securing communication, open-core sourcing and filtering shared code. Our work contributes to software engineering research with a rich description of coopetition in OSS ecosystems. Moreover, we also come up with several implications for software firms in pursing a harmony participation in OSS ecosystems.Comment: This is the author's version of the work. Copyright owner's version can be accessed at https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-69191-6_10, Coopetition of software firms in Open source software ecosystems, 8th ICSOB 2017, Essen, Germany (2017

Predicting economic resilience of territories in Italy during the COVID-19 first lockdown

This paper aims to predict the economic resilience to crises of territories based on local pre-existing socioeco-nomic characteristics. Specifically, we consider the case of Italian municipalities during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, leveraging a large-scale dataset of cardholders performing transactions in Point-of-Sales. Based on a set of machine learning classifiers, we show that network-based measures and variables related to the social, economic, demographic and environmental dimensions are relevant predictors of the economic resilience of Italian municipalities to the crisis. In particular, we find accurate classification performance both in balanced and un-balanced scenarios, as well as in the case we restrict the analysis to specific geographical areas. Our analysis predicts that territories with larger income per capita, soil consumption, concentration of real estate activities and commuting network centrality in terms of closeness and Pagerank constitute the set of most affected areas, experiencing the strongest reduction of economic activities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, we provide an application of an early-warning system able to provide timely evidence to policymakers about the detrimental effects generated by natural disasters and severe crisis episodes, thus contributing to optimize public decision support systems

Adsorption performance and thermodynamic analysis of SAPO-34 silicone composite foams for adsorption heat pump applications

Abstract In the present work, adsorption performances of an innovative composite adsorber, based on SAPO-34-silicone composite macro-cellular foams, are reported. The choice of a foamed structure was assessed to improve the water vapor access towards the embedded zeolite keeping good adsorption heat pump dynamic performance. Depending on zeolite amount used as filler, zeolite/silicone foams evidenced a soft and open cell configuration (low zeolite content) or rigid and closed one (high zeolite content). Morphological analysis evidenced that the cellular structure of the foam is homogeneous and well distributed along the foam cross section. Adsorption tests showed that the adsorbent foamed samples have very effective adsorption capabilities indicating that the porous structure of the filled pure zeolite was not obstructed. SAPO-34 filler contributed actively, with an efficiency above 90%, to the adsorption performances of the composite foam. Starting from experimental equilibrium data, a simple thermodynamic analysis based on energy balances was carried out for air conditioning application. Results of the analysis demonstrated that foam technology can guarantee cooling COP up to 7% higher than that estimated for the typical adsorber solution based on loose adsorbent grains inside an aluminum finned-flat tube heat exchanger, which is very promising for practical application in adsorption heat pumps

Composition of Egyptian Nerolì Oil

The bitter orange flower oil (or nerolì) is an essential product, largely used in perfumery. Nerolì is obtained by hydrodistillation or steam distillation, from the flowers of bitter orange ( Citrus aurantium L.). Since a long time nerolì production is limited and its cost on the market is considerably high. The annual production in Tunisia and Morocco is ca. 1500 Kg, representing more than 90% of the worldwide production. A small amount of nerolì is also produced in Egypt, Spain and Comorros (not exceeding 150 kg totally). Due to the high cost, the producers and the users have tried to obtain less expensive products, with odor characters close to that of nerolì oil to be used as substitute and sometimes as adulterants of the genuine oil. In this study are investigated five samples of Egyptian nerolì oils produced in 2008 and 2009, in the same industrial plant, declared genuine by the producer. For all the samples the composition was determined by GC/FID and by GC/MS-LRI; the samples were also analyzed by esGC to determine the enantiomeric distribution of twelve volatiles and by GC-C-IRMS for the determination of the δ 13CVPDB values of some mono and sesquiterpene hydrocarbons, alcohols and esters. The analytical procedures allowed to quantitatively determining 86 components. In particular the variation of the composition seems to be dependent on the period of production. In fact, the amount of linalool decreases from March to April while linalyl acetate presents an opposite trend, increasing in the same period. The RSD determined for the δ 13CVPDB are very small (max. 3.89%), ensuring the authenticity of all samples. The results are also discussed in function of the limits provided by the European Pharmacopoeia (EP) (2004), AFNOR (1995) and ISO (2002) regulations for genuine nerolì oils