Extant! Living Bembidion palosverdes Kavanaugh and Erwin (Coleoptera: Carabidae) Found on Santa Catalina Island, California Full Access

Kavanaugh and Erwin (1992) described Bembidion palosverdes from seven specimens from two localities on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, Los Angeles Co., CA (Pt. Vicente, ∼33.741°N, 118.411°W, and Pt. Fermin, ∼33.705°N, 118.294°W), collected in June 1964 by Derham Giuliani. The species\u27 authors spent two days searching for specimens at the two known localities, but found no additional specimens. They suggested that the species may have become extinct prior to its formal description, citing a major 1969 oil spill as a potential factor

Vittone 250. L'atelier dell'Architetto

Gli undici saggi che compongono questa speciale raccolta denotano una certa diversità. Si fondano infatti su metodi di analisi storica radicati nei vari percorsi professionali dei loro autori (storia dell'architettura, storia dell'arte, storia medievale e dell’età moderna, musicologia...). Eppure, un obiettivo comune c’è e ha guidato la selezione: offrire ai lettori di Archistor approfondimenti su aspetti specifici dell’opera e del percorso professionale di Bernardo Vittone. Scegliendo di gettare uno sguardo più attento su specifici eventi, testi e documenti, sono emersi nuovi elementi sia da episodi poco noti della carriera dell'architetto, sia da scenari ritenuti già sufficientemente indagati. Tra i temi affrontati ci sono i libri proibiti nascosti nell’inventario della biblioteca di Vittone, la complessa rete di riferimenti visivi incorporata nelle illustrazioni delle Istruzioni, le nuove coordinate da assegnare alla formazione di Vittone, le sue competenze musicali, la sequenza di eventi che spiegano la dispersione del suo lascito grafico in diversi fondi archivistici. Un saggio finale fornisce un’utile sintesi e una valutazione della letteratura critica. Grazie a questi nuovi approfondimenti, alcuni dei quali sfuggono a definizioni ristrette di storia dell'architettura, la nostra valutazione del ruolo di Vittone nell'Italia del XVIII secolo, a 250 anni dalla sua morte nel 1770, diventa più complessa e più contraddittoria

The influence of Mg doping on the nucleation of self-induced GaN nanowires

GaN nanowires were grown without any catalyst by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. Under supply of Mg, nanowire nucleation is faster, the areal density of wires increases to a higher value, and nanowire coalescence is more pronounced than without Mg. During nanowire nucleation the Ga desorption was monitored insitu by line-of-sight quadrupolemass spectrometry for various substrate temperatures. Nucleation energies of 4.0±0.3 eV and 3.2±0.3 eV without and with Mg supply were deduced, respectively. This effect has to be taken into account for the fabrication of nanowire devices and could be employed to tune the NW areal density

Prospective study on nanoparticle albumin-bound paclitaxel in advanced breast cancer. Clinical results and biological observations in taxane-pretreated patients

Background: There is a deep need to improve the care of metastatic breast cancer (MBC) patients, since even today it remains an incurable disease. Taxanes are considered the most effective cytotoxic drugs for the treatment of MBC, both in monotherapy and in combined schedules, but the need for synthetic solvents contributes to the severe toxicities and may have a negative impact on the efficacy. Nanoparticle albumin-bound paclitaxel (Nab-paclitaxel) is a colloidal suspension of paclitaxel and human serum albumin initially developed to avoid the toxicities associated with conventional taxanes. Patients and methods: The aim of this prospective, single-center open-label, noncomparative study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of nab-paclitaxel in MBC patients pretreated with taxanes. The patients were treated with nab-paclitaxel as a single agent, 260 mg/m2 on day 1 of each 3-week cycle or 125 mg/m2 weekly. The primary endpoint was the overall response rate (ORR). Secondary objectives were duration of response, clinical benefit rate, progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival, and safety. Results: A total of 42 patients (median age 48 years, median Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status 0, triple-negative MBC 19%, all pretreated with a taxane-based therapy, mainly in advanced disease) were enrolled in the study. The ORR was 23.8%, including one complete response (2.4%) and nine partial responses (21.4%); the disease control rate was 50%. The median duration of response was 7.2 months. After a median follow-up of 9 months, the median PFS was 4.6 months. ORR and PFS were similar irrespective of the previous chemotherapy lines, metastatic sites, and biomolecular expression. Nab-paclitaxel was well tolerated, and the most frequent treatment-related toxicities were mild to moderate (grades 1–2). Conclusion: This real-life study shows that nab-paclitaxel has a significant antitumor activity and a manageable safety profile in patients pretreated with taxanes and experiencing a treatment failure after at least one line of chemotherapy

Vittone under the Looking Glass. An Introduction

The eleven texts gathered in this special collection are characterized by a certain diversity. They are, indeed, based on different methods of historical analysis rooted in the various professional paths of their authors (architectural history, the history of art, medieval and early modern history, musicology…). However, one goal is common and has guided the selection: Archistor readers are offered detailed insights on specific aspects of Bernardo Vittone’s work and professional career. By choosing to cast a closer look on specific events, texts and documents, new elements have emerged both from little known episodes in the architects’ career, and from scenarios that were previousy considered as sufficiently investigated. Among the topics that are discussed, are the forbidden books hidden in the inventory of Vittone’s library, the complex web of visual references incorporated in the Istruzioni’s illustrations, the new coordinates to be assigned to Vittone’s education, Vittone’s musical competences, and the sequence of events that explain the dispersion of his graphic legacy in different archival collections. A final essay provides a useful synthesis and an assessment of critical literature. Thanks to these new insights, some of which escape narrow definitions of architectural history, our assessment of Vittone’s role in eighteenth-century Italy, 250 years since his death in 1770, becomes more complex and, hopefully, more contradictory

Targeted metabolomic profiling in rat tissues reveals sex differences

Sex differences affect several diseases and are organ-and parameter-specific. In humans and animals, sex differences also influence the metabolism and homeostasis of amino acids and fatty acids, which are linked to the onset of diseases. Thus, the use of targeted metabolite profiles in tissues represents a powerful approach to examine the intermediary metabolism and evidence for any sex differences. To clarify the sex-specific activities of liver, heart and kidney tissues, we used targeted metabolomics, linear discriminant analysis (LDA), principal component analysis (PCA), cluster analysis and linear correlation models to evaluate sex and organ-specific differences in amino acids, free carnitine and acylcarnitine levels in male and female Sprague-Dawley rats. Several intra-sex differences affect tissues, indicating that metabolite profiles in rat hearts, livers and kidneys are organ-dependent. Amino acids and carnitine levels in rat hearts, livers and kidneys are affected by sex: male and female hearts show the greatest sexual dimorphism, both qualitatively and quantitatively. Finally, multivariate analysis confirmed the influence of sex on the metabolomics profiling. Our data demonstrate that the metabolomics approach together with a multivariate approach can capture the dynamics of physiological and pathological states, which are essential for explaining the basis of the sex differences observed in physiological and pathological conditions

New insights on the functional role of URG7 in the cellular response to ER stress.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION: Up-regulated Gene clone 7 (URG7) is an ER resident protein, whose expression is upregulated in the presence of hepatitis B virus X antigen (HBxAg) during HBV infection. In virus-infected hepatocytes, URG7 shows an anti-apoptotic activity due to the PI3K/AKT signaling activation, does not seem to have tumorigenic properties, but it appears to promote the development and progression of fibrosis. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying URG7 activity remain largely unknown. RESULTS: To shed light on URG7 activity, we first analyzed its interactome in HepG2 transfected cells: this analysis suggests that URG7 could have a role in affecting protein synthesis, folding and promoting proteins degradation. Moreover, keeping into account its subcellular localization in the ER and that several viral infections give rise to ER stress, a panel of experiments was performed to evaluate a putative role of URG7 in ER stress. Our main results demonstrate that in ER stressed cells URG7 is able to modulate the expression of Unfolded Protein Response (UPR) markers toward survival outcomes, upregulating GRP78 protein and downregulating the pro-apoptotic protein CHOP. Furthermore, URG7 reduces the ER stress by decreasing the amount of unfolded proteins, by increasing both the total protein ubiquitination and the AKT activation and reducing caspase 3 activation. CONCLUSIONS: All together these data suggest that URG7 plays a pivotal role as a reliever of ER stress-induced apoptosis. SIGNIFICANCE: This is the first characterization of URG7 activity under ER stress conditions. The results presented here will help to hypothesize new strategies to counteract the antiapoptotic activity of URG7 in the context of the viral infection. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved