Expertise locale et étrangère en Palestine: faiblesse, fragmentation et séduction des pratiques urbanistiques

Based on research and intervention direct experiences of the authors in the OPT, this paper offers a contribution about the circulation and exchange of knowledge in the framework of international cooperation, strictly related to the urban planning field of practices. By the effects of the Israeli occupation and the spatial nature of this conflict, in fact, Palestine could be considered as an extreme case of dependence by the International cooperation – above all from the point of view of public legitimacy and economic support – also for the ordinary activities in urban and regional planning and regulation of spaces. The long history of international cooperation, however, does not seem to have contributed so far to diminish weaknesses, fragmentation and the ability to intervene by professionals and local institutions that in this context are the desired outcome of the occupation itself. This poses a crucial question for theoretical reflections as well as for the international cooperation practices, which has led the authors to discuss the ways in which the knowledge of international experts is combined with local ones, starting from analogies and differences in the most widespread ways of thinking and to act in the context of international cooperation related to the planning of the city and the territory. Then 6 " portrait-type of planners", 3 of local planners and 3 of international planners were elaborated, to summarize references and experiences useful to highlight dynamics that seem peculiar and which try to reconnect the training paths, the available networks and the guidelines for action in order to highlight the critical elements of the most frequent and widespread practices. From the effort of synthesis of the peculiarities of the many subjects met and interviewed and the comparison between the portraits it is possible to trac

A semi-synthetic chickpea flour based diet for long-term maintenance of laboratory culture of helicoverpa armigera

Artificial rearing of insects in the laboratory is a pre-requisite for undertaking studies on insecticide/ biopesticide bioassays, and evaluation of germplasm, segregating breeding material, mapping populations, and transgenic plants for resistance to insects. For successful rearing of insects in the laboratory, there is need for standardizing a semi-synthetic diet that supports survival and development of the insect for several generations. We tested different semi-‘synthetic diets for rearing the legume pod borer, Helicoverpa armigera for two generations under laboratory conditions. All the semi-synthetic diets tested supported the growth and development of H. armigera up to adult emergence, but there were significant differences in survival and development and fecundity on different diets. The highest larval survival was observed in the wheatgerm based diet in first (97.5%) and second generation (93.5%), followed by chickpea based modified diet (93.75% survival in both the generations). The lowest larval weights (270.7 and 283.7 mg) were recorded in the tapioca granules diet in 1st and 2nd generation, respectively. The adult emergence ranged from 68.7 to 83.3%, and 60.4 to 81.2% in the 1st and 2nd generation, respectively. Least fecundity was observed in the tapioca granules based diet (422 and 603 eggs per female) in both the generations, but the differences were not significant. Complete or partial replacement of agar-agar with tapioca granules was not suitable for use in artificial diets. The results indicated that modified chickpea flour based diet was quite appropriate for rearing H. armigera under laboratory condition

Oral administration of bovine milk-derived extracellular vesicles induces senescence in the primary tumor but accelerates cancer metastasis

The concept that extracellular vesicles (EVs) from the diet can be absorbed by the intestinal tract of the consuming organism, be bioavailable in various organs, and in-turn exert phenotypic changes is highly debatable. Here, we isolate EVs from both raw and commercial bovine milk and characterize them by electron microscopy, nanoparticle tracking analysis, western blotting, quantitative proteomics and small RNA sequencing analysis. Orally administered bovine milk-derived EVs survive the harsh degrading conditions of the gut, in mice, and is subsequently detected in multiple organs. Milk-derived EVs orally administered to mice implanted with colorectal and breast cancer cells reduce the primary tumor burden. Intriguingly, despite the reduction in primary tumor growth, milk-derived EVs accelerate metastasis in breast and pancreatic cancer mouse models. Proteomic and biochemical analysis reveal the induction of senescence and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in cancer cells upon treatment with milk-derived EVs. Timing of EV administration is critical as oral administration after resection of the primary tumor reverses the pro-metastatic effects of milk-derived EVs in breast cancer models. Taken together, our study provides context-based and opposing roles of milk-derived EVs as metastasis inducers and suppressors

Rickettsia Phylogenomics: Unwinding the Intricacies of Obligate Intracellular Life

BACKGROUND: Completed genome sequences are rapidly increasing for Rickettsia, obligate intracellular alpha-proteobacteria responsible for various human diseases, including epidemic typhus and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. In light of phylogeny, the establishment of orthologous groups (OGs) of open reading frames (ORFs) will distinguish the core rickettsial genes and other group specific genes (class 1 OGs or C1OGs) from those distributed indiscriminately throughout the rickettsial tree (class 2 OG or C2OGs). METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We present 1823 representative (no gene duplications) and 259 non-representative (at least one gene duplication) rickettsial OGs. While the highly reductive (approximately 1.2 MB) Rickettsia genomes range in predicted ORFs from 872 to 1512, a core of 752 OGs was identified, depicting the essential Rickettsia genes. Unsurprisingly, this core lacks many metabolic genes, reflecting the dependence on host resources for growth and survival. Additionally, we bolster our recent reclassification of Rickettsia by identifying OGs that define the AG (ancestral group), TG (typhus group), TRG (transitional group), and SFG (spotted fever group) rickettsiae. OGs for insect-associated species, tick-associated species and species that harbor plasmids were also predicted. Through superimposition of all OGs over robust phylogeny estimation, we discern between C1OGs and C2OGs, the latter depicting genes either decaying from the conserved C1OGs or acquired laterally. Finally, scrutiny of non-representative OGs revealed high levels of split genes versus gene duplications, with both phenomena confounding gene orthology assignment. Interestingly, non-representative OGs, as well as OGs comprised of several gene families typically involved in microbial pathogenicity and/or the acquisition of virulence factors, fall predominantly within C2OG distributions. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Collectively, we determined the relative conservation and distribution of 14354 predicted ORFs from 10 rickettsial genomes across robust phylogeny estimation. The data, available at PATRIC (PathoSystems Resource Integration Center), provide novel information for unwinding the intricacies associated with Rickettsia pathogenesis, expanding the range of potential diagnostic, vaccine and therapeutic targets

Minimal information for studies of extracellular vesicles (MISEV2023): From basic to advanced approaches

Extracellular vesicles (EVs), through their complex cargo, can reflect the state of their cell of origin and change the functions and phenotypes of other cells. These features indicate strong biomarker and therapeutic potential and have generated broad interest, as evidenced by the steady year-on-year increase in the numbers of scientific publications about EVs. Important advances have been made in EV metrology and in understanding and applying EV biology. However, hurdles remain to realising the potential of EVs in domains ranging from basic biology to clinical applications due to challenges in EV nomenclature, separation from non-vesicular extracellular particles, characterisation and functional studies. To address the challenges and opportunities in this rapidly evolving field, the International Society for Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV) updates its 'Minimal Information for Studies of Extracellular Vesicles', which was first published in 2014 and then in 2018 as MISEV2014 and MISEV2018, respectively. The goal of the current document, MISEV2023, is to provide researchers with an updated snapshot of available approaches and their advantages and limitations for production, separation and characterisation of EVs from multiple sources, including cell culture, body fluids and solid tissues. In addition to presenting the latest state of the art in basic principles of EV research, this document also covers advanced techniques and approaches that are currently expanding the boundaries of the field. MISEV2023 also includes new sections on EV release and uptake and a brief discussion of in vivo approaches to study EVs. Compiling feedback from ISEV expert task forces and more than 1000 researchers, this document conveys the current state of EV research to facilitate robust scientific discoveries and move the field forward even more rapidly

An algorithm for the improvement of linear separation

A method is presented for the improvement of linear separation. The characteristic vector is modified using the required distance of the boundary from the nearest pattern. Using this modified characteristic vector the weight vector is adjusted

An iterative procedure for the training of a two-layered machine

An iterative method is presented for the training of a two-layered machine used for pattern dichotomization. It is assumed that there is only one TLU in the second layer and a number of TLU's in the first layer. The central idea of the method is getting the desired responses of the first-layer TLU's, knowing the desired response of the output TLU. Using these desired responses the TLU's are adjusted. A method is given for testing the non-linear separability of R category case

Small bowel bacterial overgrowth is a common cause of chronic diarrhea

Background and aimsOften a cause for chronic non-specific diarrhea (> or =3 stools per day for more than 4 weeks) is not identified. Small bowel bacterial overgrowth (SBO) can occur without morphological damage and remains difficult to diagnose. Often diarrhea is treated empirically with antibiotics with a good response. The aims of the present study were first to investigate the prevalence of SBO in a consecutive series of patients with chronic diarrhea and second to compare the utility of duodenal fluid culture and (14)C-d-xylose breath/lactulose test in diagnosing SBO.MethodsIn the first study, the cause of chronic diarrhea was prospectively diagnosed in 87 subjects. In the second study, tests of SBO were compared in 18 subjects with chronic diarrhea and 15 subjects with reflux oesophagitis used as control subjects. Duodenal fluid was aspirated at endoscopy and cultured and later a (14)C-d-xylose breath/lactulose test was performed.ResultsIn the first study, SBO was present in 48% of those with chronic diarrhea. In the second study, the diarrhea group had an average (range) stool frequency of 5.5 (3-10) per day and had normal duodenal biopsies. A total of 33%, 50%, 67% of subjects had SBO by duodenal culture alone, by a (14)C-d-xylose breath/lactulose test alone and by a combination of both tests, respectively. In the control group, 0%, 13% and 13% had SBO by duodenal culture alone, by (14)C-d-xylose breath/lactulose test alone and by combination of tests, respectively.ConclusionSmall bowel bacterial overgrowth is a common (33-67%) cause of chronic diarrhea.Marcus Teo, Stephen Chung, Lauri Chitti, Cuong Tran, Stamatiki Kritas, Ross Butler And Adrian Cummin