Facts, Challenges, Difficulties and Hopes in Single-Cell Biology: Physiopathological Studies

Single-cell approaches are being increasingly used to unravel the many diverse mechanisms underlying biological processes that characterize each cell irrespective of the influx of other cells even within the same tissue. Consequently, the interference of metabolites and nervous stimuli emanating from the circulatory or nervous system in a higher organism like man is avoided. However, while the single-cell approach yields a wealth of data about single-cell metabolism and internal regulatory mechanisms, information about interactions and interrelations among similar or dissimilar cells may remain obscure. Starting from these considerations, here we summarize, without attempting to be exhaustive, some areas in which we think single-cell biological studies could be effective in translational medicine and in other areas of applied sciences. In this short review we describe the facts, challenges and perspectives related to these issues

Fourth-order Schr\"odinger type operator with singular potentials

In this paper we study the biharmonic operator perturbed by an inverse fourth-order potential. In particular, we consider the operator $A=\Delta^2-V=\Delta^2-c|x|^{-4}$ where $c$ is any constant such that $c<\left(\frac{N(N-4)}{4}\right)^2$. The semigroup generated by $-A$ in $L^2(\mathbb{R}^N)$, $N\geq5$, extrapolates to a bounded holomorphic $C_0$-semigroup on $L^p(\mathbb{R}^N)$ for $p\in [p^{'}_0,p_0]$ where $p_0=\frac{2N}{N-4}$ and $p_0^{'}$ is its dual exponent. Furthermore, we study the boundedness of the Riesz transform $\Delta A^{-1/2}$ on $L^p(\mathbb{R}^N)$ for all $p\in(p_0^{'},2]$

Role of the endocannabinoid system in diabetes and diabetic complications

Increasing evidence suggests that an overactive endocannabinoid system (ECS) may contribute to the development of diabetes by promoting energy intake and storage, impairing both glucose and lipid metabolism, by exerting pro‐apoptotic effects in pancreatic beta cells and by facilitating inflammation in pancreatic islets. Furthermore, hyperglycaemia associated with diabetes has also been implicated in triggering perturbations of the ECS amplifying the pathological processes mentioned above, eventually culminating in a vicious circle. Compelling evidence from preclinical studies indicates that the ECS also influences diabetes‐induced oxidative stress, inflammation, fibrosis and subsequent tissue injury in target organs for diabetic complications. In this review, we provide an update on the contribution of the ECS to the pathogenesis of diabetes and diabetic microvascular (retinopathy, nephropathy and neuropathy) and cardiovascular complications. The therapeutic potential of targeting the ECS is also discussed. LINKED ARTICLES: This article is part of a themed section on Endocannabinoids. To view the other articles in this section visit http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.v173.7/issueto

The maximum injectivity radius of hyperbolic orbifolds

For two-dimensional orientable hyperbolic orbifolds, we show that the radius of a maximal embedded disk is greater or equal to an explicit constant \rho_T, with equality if and only if the orbifold is a sphere with three cone points of order 2, 3 and 7.Comment: 28 pages, 21 figures; appendix adde

An interactive two-dimensional approach to query aspects rewriting in systematic reviews. IMS unipd at CLEF eHealth task 2

International audienc

Building in Historical Areas: Identity Values and Energy Performance of Innovative Massive Stone Envelopes with Reference to Traditional Building Solutions

The intrinsic nature of local rocks shaped the features of built heritage in historical centers. The resulting building culture is part of the cultural heritage itself, and must be considered when building in such areas, while it is essential to solve the issues related to traditional constructions’ weaknesses. Nonetheless, the potentialities of massive stone envelopes, particularly the importance of thermal inertia, have contributed to redefining the language of contemporary architectural culture. Nowadays, although the trend of employing thin stone cladding panels is prevalent, thick stone envelopes are gaining a renewed importance. Previous literature demonstrated that mixed building technologies or massive stone envelopes coupled with load-bearing framed structures are able to meet comfort and safety requirements and to guarantee the integration of new constructions in the consolidated urban landscape, avoiding historicist approaches. This research, through the analysis of case studies, aims to describe innovative building solutions developed by contemporary architectural culture, comparing them with traditional stone masonry walls. Moreover, thermal energy performance of such building solutions is assessed through dynamic yearly simulations. Results show that these solutions are technically and architecturally suitable to build in historical centers, because they can express urban cultural identity and guarantee good energy performance and users’ comfort

The Nori-Hilbert scheme is not smooth for 2-Calabi Yau algebras

Let $k$ be an algebraically closed field of characteristic zero and let $A$ be a finitely generated $k-$algebra. The Nori - Hilbert scheme of $A$, parameterizes left ideals of codimension $n$ in $A,$ and it is well known to be smooth when $A$ is formally smooth. In this paper we will study the Nori - Hilbert scheme for $2-$Calabi Yau algebras. The main examples of these are surface group algebras and preprojective algebras. For the former we show that the Nori-Hilbert scheme is smooth for $n=1$ only, while for the latter we show that the smooth components that contain simple representations are precisely those that only contain simple representation. Under certain conditions we can generalize this last statement to arbitrary $2-$Calabi Yau algebras.Comment: 30 pages, research paper. Accepted for publication in Journal of Noncommutative Geometr

Transverse Spin Physics at COMPASS

The study of transverse spin effects is part of the scientific program of COMPASS, a fixed target experiment at the CERN SPS. COMPASS investigates the transversity PDFs in semi-inclusive DIS, using a longitudinally polarized muon beam of 160 GeV/c impinging on a transversely polarized target. From 2002 to 2004, data have been collected using a $^6$LiD target transversely polarized. Transversity has been measured using different quark polarimeters: the azimuthal distribution of single hadrons, the azimuthal dependence of the plane containing hadron pairs, and the measurement of the transverse polarization of baryons ($\Lambda$ hyperons). All the asymmetries have been found to be small, and compatible with zero, a result which has been interpreted as a cancellation between the u and d-quark contributions. In 2007 COMPASS has taken data using a NH$_3$ polarized proton target which will give complementary information on transverse spin effects.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, proceedings of 16th International Workshop on Deep Inelastic Scattering and Related Subjects (DIS 2008), London, England, 7-11 Apr 200