Isolation of Bacteria with Potential Plant-Promoting Traits and Optimization of Their Growth Conditions

This research aimed at investigating the isolation and identification of bacterial strains with biological nitrogen-fixing capability and phosphate, potassium, and zinc solubilization activities from a durum wheat field under two different tillage practices including 10 years of conventional tillage (CT) and no-tillage (NT) practices. Attempts were also extended to estimate their relative abundances in the soil as well as to develop accurate mathematical models in determining the effect of different temperatures, NaCl concentrations and pH on the growth, and activity of selected isolates. Twelve effective bacterial strains, including Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter, and Comamonas genera, were identified with a great potential to solubilize the insoluble forms of phosphate (from 11.1 to 115.5 mg l−1 at pH 8), potassium (from 32.2 to 35.6 mg l−1 at pH 7), and zinc (from 1.11 to 389.90 mg l−1 at pH 9) as well as to fix N2 gas (from 19.9 to 25.2 mg l−1). To our knowledge, this is the first report of the ability of Comamonas testosteroni and Acinetobacter pittii to fix nitrogen and to solubilize insoluble potassium compound, respectively. Three families, Moraxellaceae, Pseudomonadaceae, and Comamonadaceae, showed a higher percentage of abundance in the NT samples as compared to the CT, but only significant difference was observed in the relative abundance of Pseudomonadaceae (P < 0.01). These strains could be definitively recommended as inoculants to promote plant growth in the wide ranges of pH, salinity levels (with maximum growth and complete inhibition of growth from 0.67–0.92% to 3.5–9.3% NaCl, respectively), and temperatures (2.1–45.1 °C)

Immunomodulatory drugs in acute myeloid leukemia treatment

Immunomodulatory drugs (IMiDs) are analogs of thalidomide. They have immunomodulatory, antiangiogenic and proapoptotic properties and exert a role in regulating the tumor microenvironment. Recently IMiDs have been investigated for their pleiotropic properties and their therapeutic applications in both solid tumors (melanoma, prostate carcinoma and differentiated thyroid cancer) and hematological malignancies. Nowadays, they are applied in de novo and relapsed/ refractory multiple myeloma, in myelodysplastic syndrome, in del5q syndrome with specific use of lenalidomide and B-cell lymphoma. Several studies have been conducted in the last few years to explore IMiDs possible use in acute myeloid leukemia treatment. Here we report the mechanisms of action of IMiDs in acute myeloid leukemia and their potential future therapeutic application in this disease

The Structure of the Small Dark Cloud CB 107

This paper presents the near-IR imaging observations of CB 107, a small dark globule projected against a rich stellar background. By means of accurate photometry, the near-IR two-color diagram J - H versus H - K was obtained for the stellar background. This information was used to estimate the color excesses of the detected stars so that, given the reddening curve, it was possible to derive the extinction map of the cloud. The structural properties of the dark globule were investigated by plotting the extinction dispersion σ, obtained in a given spatial box, as a function of the mean extinction AV. This relationship has shown quite a definite linear behavior, with the slope increasing with the box size. The results of the present analysis, compared with those obtained by other authors on larger dark clouds, suggest that for a given spatial scale the slope of the σ versus AV relation is greater in CB 107 than in larger clouds. The so-called Δ-variance method was also used to investigate the structure of the dark globule by evaluating the drift behavior of its extinction map. In this way, we have found that the power spectrum of the extinction map is characterized by a power law with exponent β ~ 2.7. This value is lower than expected, for the same range of spatial scales, on the basis of previous work on large molecular clouds

Spitzer-MIPS survey of the young stellar content in the Vela Molecular Cloud-D

A new, unbiased Spitzer-MIPS imaging survey (~1.8 square degs) of the young stellar content of the Vela Molecular Cloud-D is presented. The survey is complete down to 5mJy and 250mJy at 24micron (mu) and 70mu, respectively. 849 sources are detected at 24mu and 52 of them also have a 70mu counterpart. The VMR-D region is one that we have already partially mapped in dust and gas millimeter emission, and we discuss the correlation between the Spitzer compact sources and the mm contours. About half of the 24mu sources are located inside the region delimited by the 12CO(1-0) contours (corresponding to only one third of the full area mapped with MIPS) with a consequent density increase of about 100% of the 24mu sources [four times for 70mu ones] moving from outside to inside the CO contours. About 400 sources have a 2MASS counterpart. So we have constructed a Ks vs. Ks-[24] diagram and identified the protostellar population. We find an excess of Class I sources in VMR-D in comparison with other star forming regions. This result is reasonably biased by the sensitivity limits, or, alternatively, may reflect a very short lifetime (<=10^6yr) of the protostellar content in this cloud. The MIPS images have identified embedded cool objects in most of the previously identified starless cores; in addition, there are 6 very young, possibly Class 0 objects identified. Finally we report finding of the driving sources for a set of five out of six very compact protostellar jets previously discovered in near-infrared images.Comment: 29 pages, 14 figures. To appear in Ap.

Overview of the molecular determinants contributing to the expression of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis phenotypes

Psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis are multifactorial chronic disorders whose etiopathogenesis essentially derives from the alteration of several signalling pathways and the co-occurrence of genetic, epigenetic and non-genetic susceptibility factors that altogether affect the functional and structural property of the skin. Although shared and differential susceptibility genes and molecular pathways are known to contribute to the onset of pathological phenotypes, further research is needed to dissect the molecular causes of psoriatic disease and its progression towards Psoriatic Arthritis. This review will therefore be addressed to explore differences and similarities in the etiopathogenesis and progression of both disorders, with a particular focus on genes involved in the maintenance of the skin structure and integrity (keratins and collagens), modulation of patterns of recognition (through Toll-like receptors and dectin-1) and immuno-inflammatory response (by NLRP3-dependent inflammasome) to microbial pathogens. In addition, special emphasis will be given to the contribution of epigenetic elements (methylation pattern, non-coding RNAs, chromatin modifiers and 3D genome organization) to the etiopathogenesis and progression of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. The evidence discussed in this review highlights how the knowledge of patients' clinical and (epi)genomic make-up could be helpful for improving the available therapeutic strategies for psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis treatment

Direct Estimate of Cirrus Noise in Herschel Hi-GAL Images

In Herschel images of the Galactic plane and many star forming regions, a major factor limiting our ability to extract faint compact sources is cirrus confusion noise, operationally defined as the "statistical error to be expected in photometric measurements due to confusion in a background of fluctuating surface brightness". The histogram of the flux densities of extracted sources shows a distinctive faint-end cutoff below which the catalog suffers from incompleteness and the flux densities become unreliable. This empirical cutoff should be closely related to the estimated cirrus noise and we show that this is the case. We compute the cirrus noise directly, both on Herschel images from which the bright sources have been removed and on simulated images of cirrus with statistically similar fluctuations. We connect these direct estimates with those from power spectrum analysis, which has been used extensively to predict the cirrus noise and provides insight into how it depends on various statistical properties and photometric operational parameters. We report multi-wavelength power spectra of diffuse Galactic dust emission from Hi-GAL observations at 70 to 500 microns within Galactic plane fields at l= 30 degrees and l= 59 degrees. We find that the exponent of the power spectrum is about -3. At 250 microns, the amplitude of the power spectrum increases roughly as the square of the median brightness of the map and so the expected cirrus noise scales linearly with the median brightness. Generally, the confusion noise will be a worse problem at longer wavelengths, because of the combination of lower angular resolution and the rising power spectrum of cirrus toward lower spatial frequencies, but the photometric signal to noise will also depend on the relative spectral energy distribution of the source compared to the cirrus.Comment: 4 pages (in journal), 3 figures, Astronomy and Astrophysics, accepted for publication 13 May 201

Slott-Agape Project

SLOTT-AGAPE (Systematic Lensing Observation at Toppo Telescope - Andromeda Gravitational Amplification Pixel Lensing Experiment) is a new collaboration project among international partners from England, France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland that intends to perform microlensing observation by using M31 as target. The MACHOs search is made thanks to the pixel lensing technique.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, proceeding of XLIII Congresso della Societa' Astronomica Italiana, Napoli, 4-8 Maggio, 199

NGS Analysis for Molecular Diagnosis of Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP): Detection of a Novel Variant in PRPH2 Gene

This work describes the application of NGS for molecular diagnosis of RP in a family with a history of severe hypovision. In particular, the proband received a clinical diagnosis of RP on the basis of medical, instrumental examinations and his family history. The proband was subjected to NGS, utilizing a customized panel including 24 genes associated with RP and other retinal dystrophies. The NGS analysis revealed a novel missense variant (c.668T &gt; A, I223N) in PRPH2 gene, which was investigated by segregation and bioinformatic analysis. The variant is located in the D2 loop domain of PRPH2, which is critical for protein activity. Bioinformatic analysis described the c.668T &gt; A as a likely pathogenic variant. Moreover, a 3D model prediction was performed to better characterize the impact of the variant on the protein, reporting a disruption of the \u3b1-helical structures. As a result, the variant protein showed a substantially different conformation with respect to the wild-type PRPH2. The identified variant may therefore affect the oligomerization ability of the D2 loop and, ultimately, hamper PRPH2 proper functioning and localization. In conclusion, PRPH2_c.668T &gt; A provided a molecular explanation of RP symptomatology, highlighting the clinical utility of NGS panels to facilitate genotype\u2013phenotype correlations

Players of Matching Pennies automatically imitate opponents’ gestures against strong incentives

There is a large body of evidence of apparently spontaneous mimicry in humans. This phenomenon has been described as "automatic imitation" and attributed to a mirror neuron system, but there is little direct evidence that it is involuntary rather than intentional. Cook et al. supplied the first such evidence in a unique strategic game design that gave all subjects a pecuniary incentive to avoid imitation [Cook R, Bird G, Lünser G, Huck S, Heyes C (2012) Proc Biol Sci 279(1729):780-786]. Subjects played Rock-Paper-Scissors repeatedly in matches between fixed pairs, sometimes with one and sometimes with both subjects blindfolded. The frequency of draws in the blind-blind condition was at chance, but in the blind-sighted condition it was significantly higher, suggesting automatic imitation had occurred. Automatic imitation would raise novel issues concerning how strategic interactions are modeled in game theory and social science; however, inferring automatic imitation requires significant incentives to avoid it, and subjects' incentives were less than 3 US cents per 60-game match. We replaced Cook et al.'s Rock-Paper-Scissors with a Matching Pennies game, which allows far stronger incentives to avoid imitation for some subjects, with equally strong incentives to imitate for others. Our results are important in providing evidence of automatic imitation against significant incentives. That some of our subjects had incentives to imitate also enables us clearly to distinguish intentional responding from automatic imitation, and we find evidence that both occur. Thus, our results strongly confirm the occurrence of automatic imitation, and illuminate the way that automatic and intentional processes interact in a strategic context