Study on an air-launched constellation of tactical micro-satellites for defence Use

The great attention on air-launched microsatellites is due on one hand to the possibilities given by the miniaturization push, making the same performances of traditional satellites achievable with smaller systems, and on the other hand to the disruptive advantages allowed by air-launch techniques, providing Italy not only with an autonomous launch capability, but also with the flexibility to choose the orbit inclination and the launch time, enabling a responsive approach at lower costs respect to ground based launches. In this study, several issues related to this subject are analyzed. A constellation of four microsatellites for electro-optical Earth Observation (EO) is conceived, namely ITAFμSAT (i.e. ITalian Tactical Formation of μ-SATellites). ITAFμSAT is designed to achieve a sub-metric spatial resolution and to offer a high revisit frequency on a specified target area to satisfy military needs. ITAFμSAT is designed to be responsive and the system is conceived to guarantee a fast access to space since the mission is called, through a Plug-and-Play (PnP) approach; to provide Italy with a proprietary system, built, launched and operated on-purpose for its contingent needs; and to complete the information supplied by other EO systems with high quality images captured in a very short time

NF-κB: blending metabolism, immunity, and inflammation

The procurement and management of nutrients and ability to fight infections are fundamental requirements for survival. These defense responses are bioenergetically costly, requiring the immune system to balance protection against pathogens with the need to maintain metabolic homeostasis. NF-κB transcription factors are central regulators of immunity and inflammation. Over the last two decades, these factors have emerged as a pivotal node coordinating the immune and metabolic systems in physiology and the etiopathogenesis of major threats to human health, including cancer, autoimmunity, chronic inflammation, and others. In this review, we discuss recent advances in understanding how NF-κB-dependent metabolic programs control inflammation, metabolism, and immunity and how improved knowledge of them may lead to better diagnostics and therapeutics for widespread human diseases

Genome Sequencing and Comparative Analysis of Three Hanseniaspora uvarum Indigenous Wine Strains Reveal Remarkable Biotechnological Potential

A current trend in winemaking has highlighted the beneficial contribution of non-Saccharomyces yeasts to wine quality. Hanseniaspora uvarum is one of the more represented non-Saccharomyces species onto grape berries and plays a critical role in influencing the wine sensory profile, in terms of complexity and organoleptic richness. In this work, we analyzed a group of H. uvarum indigenous wine strains as for genetic as for technological traits, such as resistance to SO2 and beta-glucosidase activity. Three strains were selected for genome sequencing, assembly and comparative genomic analyses at species and genus level. Hanseniaspora genomes appeared compact and contained a moderate number of genes, while rarefaction analyses suggested an open accessory genome, reflecting a rather incomplete representation of the Hanseniaspora gene pool in the currently available genomes. The analyses of patterns of functional annotation in the three indigenous H. uvarum strains showed distinct enrichment for several PFAM protein domains. In particular, for certain traits, such as flocculation related protein domains, the genetic prediction correlated well with relative flocculation phenotypes at lab-scale. This feature, together with the enrichment for oligo-peptide transport and lipid and amino acid metabolism domains, reveals a promising potential of these indigenous strains to be applied in fermentation processes and modulation of wine flavor and aroma. This study also contributes to increasing the catalog of publicly available genomes from H. uvarum strains isolated from natural grape samples and provides a good roadmap for unraveling the biodiversity and the biotechnological potential of these non-Saccharomyces yeasts

Pilot Scale Evaluation of Wild Saccharomyces cerevisiae Strains in Aglianico

In winemaking, the influence of Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains on the aromatic components of wine is well recognized on a laboratory scale, but few studies deal with the comparison of numerous strains on a pilot scale fermentation. In this scenario, the present work aimed to validate the fermentative behavior of seven wild S. cerevisiae strains on pilot-scale fermentations to evaluate their impact on the aromatic profiles of the resulting wines. The strains, isolated from grapes of different Italian regional varieties, were tested in pilot-scale fermentation trials performed in the cellar in 1 hL of Aglianico grape must. Then, wines were analyzed for their microbiological cell loads, main chemical parameters of enological interest (ethanol, total sugars, fructose, glucose, total and volatile acidity, malic and lactic acids) and volatile aroma profiles by GC/MS/SPME. Seventy-six volatile compounds belonging to six different classes (esters, alcohols, terpenes, aldehydes, acids, and ketones) were identified. The seven strains showed different trends and significant differences, and for each class of compounds, high-producing and low-producing strains were found. Since the present work was performed at a pilot-scale level, mimicking as much as possible real working conditions, the results obtained can be considered as a validation of the screened S. cerevisiae strains and a strategy to discriminate in real closed conditions strains able to impart desired wine sensory features

Erratum to: Exploitation of technological variability among wild non-<i>Saccharomyces</i> yeasts to select mixed starters for the production of low alcohol wines

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The NF-κB pharmacopeia: novel strategies to subdue an intractable target

NF-κB transcription factors are major drivers of tumor initiation and progression. NF-κB signaling is constitutively activated by genetic alterations or environmental signals in many human cancers, where it contributes to almost all hallmarks of malignancy, including sustained proliferation, cell death resistance, tumor-promoting inflammation, metabolic reprogramming, tissue invasion, angiogenesis, and metastasis. As such, the NF-κB pathway is an attractive therapeutic target in a broad range of human cancers, as well as in numerous non-malignant diseases. Currently, however, there is no clinically useful NF-κB inhibitor to treat oncological patients, owing to the preclusive, on-target toxicities of systemic NF-κB blockade. In this review, we discuss the principal and most promising strategies being developed to circumvent the inherent limitations of conventional IκB kinase (IKK)/NF-κB-targeting drugs, focusing on new molecules that target upstream regulators or downstream effectors of oncogenic NF-κB signaling, as well as agents targeting individual NF-κB subunits

Collagenase clostridium histolyticum for the treatment of Peyronie's disease: a prospective Italian multicentric study

Peyronie's disease (PD) is a common condition which results in penile curvature making sexual intercourse difficult or impossible. Collagenase clostridium histolyticum (CCH) is the first licensed drug for the treatment of PD and is indicated in patients with palpable plaque and curvature deformity of at least 30° of curvature. However, only few monocentric studies are available in the current literature and this is the first national multicentric study focusing on this new treatment. In five Italian centres, 135 patients have completed the treatment with three injections of CCH using Ralph's shortened modified protocol. The protocol consisted of three intralesional injections of CCH (0.9 mg) given at 4-weekly intervals in addiction to a combination of home modelling, stretching and a vacuum device on a daily basis. An improvement in the angle of curvature was recorded in 128/135 patients (94.8%) by a mean (range) of 19.1 (0–40)° or 42.9 (0–67)% from baseline (p < 0.001). There was also a statistically significant improvement in all IIEF and PDQ questionnaires subdomains (p < 0.001 in all subdomains). This prospective multicentric study confirms that the three-injection protocol is effective enough to achieve a good result and to minimize the cost of the treatment