278 research outputs found

    A Report on the late 1st\u20132nd-century-AD Venice Lido III Sewn Timber Assemblage

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    In 2012, fragments of hull planking bearing the signs of a Roman-era sewn vessel, with holes drilled along the plank edges, washed ashore on Venice Lido, the barrier island separating the Venice Lagoon from the Adriatic Sea. This paper describes the construction features of this timber assemblage and places it within the context of other excavated sewn boats of the Upper Adriatic. The assemblage presented here best fits into the north-western Adriatic sewn tradition and likely represents either a fluvial-maritime or maritime watercraft

    A preliminary report of recording the Stella 1 Roman River Barge, Italy

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    The remains of a Roman barge were found in 1981 in the River Stella, Udine, Italy. Its cargo consisted mainly of roof tiles. It was excavated in 1998 and 1999, and detailed recording of the hull, and a second wooden structure, was achieved in 2011. A spread of material upstream of the wreck has been investigated 2012-2015. The barge was originally dated to the first quarter of the 1st century AD by the in situ cargo. This article describes the bottom-based sewn-plank hull construction and examines it in the light of local boatbuilding traditions. The second wooden structure is also described, along with recent finds and new dating evidence from the dispersed material. The Stella 1 excavation was part of the Anaxum Project, a wider study of the Stella River's cultural landscape through time. \ua9 2016 Nautical Archaeology Society

    Gestazione per altri: corpi riproduttivi tra biocapitale e biodiritto

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    Interaction between neoliberal economy and medical biotechnologies brought about a new formulation of the connection between feminine generative potential and value production. In this context, it is increasingly difficult to use the traditional tools of biolaw to cope with the problems that biocapital has raised. With a focus on surrogacy, the essay addresses two issues that need to be investigated and rethought in this new scenario: the exploitation/commodification of the human biological material and the safeguard and extension of reproductive self-determination

    Liquid air filtration and continuous monitoring: Customized indoor air quality

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    Air treatment in environmental air conditioning systems exposes the system to gases, contaminants, and often biological pollutants that cannot be solved by traditional mechanical filtration, motivating decision-makers to diagnose challenges and develop innovative strategies to mitigate the problem. More and more, in environments with high turnover of people (e.g., hospitals, hotels and shopping centers), fresh air ventilations are avoided and replaced by closed windows air purifier solutions to account for undesirable saturation of the atmosphere and the presence of pollutants such as PM10, PM2.5, PM1.0, nitrogen, and carbon oxides. The consensus is that polluting gases render the most efficient traditional filters ineffective. The ANSI/ASHRAE 62.1 and EN13779 standards reveal the absence of air treatment technologies that use the wet route in air conditioning systems. This work discusses the liquid air multi-venturi centrifugation technology of hydrodynamic precipitator purifiers in association with the synchronized and continuous monitoring of parameters (PM10, PM2.5, PM1.0, CO2) in the external urban environment and internal environments of a shopping center. It evaluates the performance of the wet route for the physical-chemical and biological treatment of air. Efficiency for retaining particulate matter in a single step without disposable filter reached levels above F9 (85-95% PM2.5), with a reduction of 82.4% for CO2. Wet route technology extends the air conditioner’s life, reducing external air flows and energy consumption by up to 13%, making IAQ a manageable and customizable variable. Among the conclusion of the investigation, the authors believe that the migration of industrial pollutant control technologies, such as liquid filtration promoted by gas scrubbers and hydrodynamic precipitators, should be considered as a first choice option due to the high efficiency achieved in the three types of pollutants to be controlled. That is micrometric particulate matter such as anthropogenic PM1.0 capable of reaching the lung alveoli, chemicals such as carbon dioxide and nitrogen, and biological assets such as viruses and bacteria that showed the vulnerability of HVAC-R systems during the COVID pandemic that rendered windowless corporate buildings unusable

    Public perceptions and expectations: disentangling the hope and hype of organoid research

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    Organoid technologies are rapidly advancing and hold great potential and hope for disease modeling and clinical translational research. Still, they raise a number of complex, ethical questions regarding their current and future use. Patient and public involvement is impor-tant in building public trust and helping to secure responsible conduct and valued innovations; nevertheless, research into patient and public perspectives on organoid technologies remains scarce. We report on a first public dialogue on organoid technologies through three cross-country deliberative workshops with a diverse group of stakeholders to identify their perceptions and concerns. Participants gener-ally support organoid technologies on the condition that responsible governance, ethical oversight, and sound informed consent procedures are in place. Yet, a broad set of potential concerns are identified, primarily concerning commercialization, healthcare access, and cerebral organoids. Participants' insights and recommendations can help inform researchers and ethics and policy bodies toward supporting responsible and ethical organoid approaches

    Combined administration of a small-molecule inhibitor of TRAF6 and Docetaxel reduces breast cancer skeletal metastasis and osteolysis:Running title : TRAF6/NFkB inhibition reduced breast cancer metastasis

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    Tumour necrosis factor receptor-associated factor 6 (TRAF6) has been implicated in breast cancer and osteoclastic bone destruction. Here, we report that 6877002, a verified small-molecule inhibitor of TRAF6, reduced metastasis, osteolysis and osteoclastogenesis in models of osteotropic human and mouse breast cancer. First, we observed that TRAF6 is highly expressed in osteotropic breast cancer cells and its level of expression was higher in patients with bone metastasis. Pre-exposure of osteoclasts and osteoblasts to non-cytotoxic concentrations of 6877002 inhibited cytokine-induced NF\u3baB activation and osteoclastogenesis, and reduced the ability of osteotropic human MDA-MB-231 and mouse 4T1 breast cancer cells to support bone cell activity. 6877002 inhibited human MDA-MB-231-induced osteolysis in the mouse calvaria organ system, and reduced soft tissue and bone metastases in immuno-competent mice following intra-cardiac injection of mouse 4T1-Luc2 cells. Of clinical relevance, combined administration of 6877002 with Docetaxel reduced metastasis and inhibited osteolytic bone damage in mice bearing 4T1-Luc2 cells. Thus, TRAF6 inhibitors such as 6877002 - alone or in combination with conventional chemotherapy - show promise for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer

    NHERF1 acts as a molecular switch to program metastatic behavior and organotropism via its PDZ domains.

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    Metastatic cells are highly plastic for differential expression of tumor phenotype hallmarks and metastatic organotropism. The signaling proteins orchestrating the shift of one cell phenotype and organ pattern to another are little known. Na(+)/H(+) exchanger regulatory factor (NHERF1) is a molecular pathway organizer, PDZ-domain protein that recruits membrane, cytoplasmic, and cytoskeletal signaling proteins into functional complexes. To gain insight into the role of NHERF1 in metastatic progression, we stably transfected a metastatic breast cell line, MDA-MB-231, with an empty vector, with wild-type NHERF1, or with NHERF1 mutated in either the PDZ1- or PDZ2-binding domains to block their binding activities. We observed that NHERF1 differentially regulates the expression of two phenotypic programs through its PDZ domains, and these programs form the mechanistic basis for metastatic organotropism. The PDZ2 domain promotes visceral metastases via increased invadopodia-dependent invasion and anchorage-independent growth, as well as by inhibition of apoptosis, whereas the PDZ1 domain promotes bone metastases by stimulating podosome nucleation, motility, neoangiogenesis, vasculogenic mimicry, and osteoclastogenesis in the absence of increased growth or invasion. Collectively, these findings identify NHERF1 as an important signaling nexus for coordinating cell structure with metastatic behavior and identifies the "mesenchymal-to-vasculogenic" phenotypic transition as an essential step in metastatic progression

    Repercussion of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs on the gene expression of human osteoblasts

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    Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are frequently used in clinical practice, which can have adverse effects on the osteoblast. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of NSAIDs on the osteoblast by analyzing the gene expression of different markers related to osteoblast maturation and function when treated in vitro with different NSAIDs. Expression of RUNX-2, COL-I, OSX, was reduced by treatment with all studied NSAIDs, OSC expression was reduced by all NSAIDs except for ketoprofen, naproxen, or piroxicam. Expression of BMP-7 was reduced by all NSAIDs; BMP-2 was reduced by all except for naproxen. In general, NSAID treatment increased the expression of TGF- 1, but not of its receptors (TGF -R1, TGF -R2, and TFG -R3), which was either unchanged or reduced by the treatment. These data confirm that NSAIDs can affect osteoblast physiology, suggesting their possible impact on bone.This study was supported by research group BIO277 (Junta de Andalucía) and Department of Nursing (University of Granada). The work outlined in this article has been supported by the Spanish Ministry of Education under FPU fellowship reference FPU15-05635 and FPU16-04141
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