Climatic and Biotic Events of the Paleogene 2014, CBEP 2014

This special issue include the scientific contributes, short notes and abstracts, presented at the International Meeting: Climatic and Biotic Events of the Paleogene, CBEP 2014, held in Ferrara, Italy, July, 1-6, 2014, 10 thematic sessions. More than 140 participants from 20 countries attended the meeting, included the most famous experts. the http://web.fe.infn.it/cbep2014

Evidence for Single-gap Superconductivity in Mg(B_{1-x}C_x)_2 Single Crystals with x=0.132 from Point-Contact Spectroscopy

We report the results of the first directional point-contact measurements in Mg(B_{1-x}C_{x})_2 single crystals with 0.047 <= x <= 0.132. The two-gap superconductivity typical of MgB_2 persists up to x=0.105. In this region, the values of the gaps Delta_{sigma} and Delta_{pi} were determined by fitting the Andreev-reflection conductance curves with a two-band Blonder-Tinkham-Klapwijk (BTK) model, and confirmed by the single-band BTK fit of the sigma- and pi-band conductances, separated by means of a magnetic field. At x=0.132, when T_{c}=19 K, we clearly observed for the first time the merging of the two gaps into one of amplitude Delta~3 meV.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures. One figure and one panel added; text and discussion update

Circulating miR-22, miR-24 and miR-34a as Novel Predictive Biomarkers to Pemetrexed-Based Chemotherapy in Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Pemetrexed has been widely used in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The clinical relevance of polymorphisms of folate pathway genes for pemetrexed metabolism have not been fully elucidated yet. The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression levels of circulating miR-22, miR-24, and miR-34a, possibly involved in folate pathway, in NSCLC patients treated with pemetrexed compared with healthy controls and to investigate their impact on patient clinical outcomes. A total of 22 consecutive patients with advanced NSCLC, treated with pemetrexed-based chemotherapy and 27 age and sex matched healthy controls were included in this preliminary analysis. miR-22, miR-24, and miR-34a targets were identified by TargetScan 6.2 algorithm, validating the involvement of these microRNAs in folate pathway. MicroRNAs were isolated from whole blood and extracted with miRNAeasy Mini Kit (Qiagen). miRNA profiling was performed using Real-Time PCR. SPSS 17 was used to data analysis. miR-22, miR-24, and miR-34a were found upregulated (P<0.05) in NSCLC patients versus healthy controls. Higher expression levels were recorded for miR-34a. Nevertheless, significantly higher miR-22 expression was observed in patients developing progressive disease (P=0.03). No significant associations with clinical outcome were recorded for miR-24 and miR-34a. Albeit preliminary, these data support the involvement of miR-22, miR-24, and miR-34a in advanced NSCLC. The correlation between high expression of miR-22 in whole blood and the lack of response in pemetrexed treated NSCLC patients indicates that miR-22 could represent a novel predictive biomarker for pemetrexed-based treatment

Comparación de los patrones de huellas de mordedura según forma del cráneo, mediante el análisis morfológico y morfométrico de semiarcadas dentarias de perro doméstico (Canis familiaris)

Forensic science involves the participation of professionals from diverse areas. One of which is forensic odontology; often used to establish the identity of a crime victim or perpetrator, estimate chronological age, and identify bite-marks, among others. In Chile, a professional human odontologist must determine if a bite is human or not. In the case it is caused by dogs, normally, experts are not involved in a search for the perpetrator due to the lack of a database and studies that could lead to the identification of the culprit. Due to the increasing incidence of dog bites resulting in litigation proceedings, the aim of this review is to provide background to support the study and development of forensic veterinary odontology which could provide the scientific evidence valid in the indentification of the agresor by means of studying the bite mark.    Las ciencias forenses involucran la participación de diversas de áreas profesionales. Una de ellas es la odontología forense que se utiliza para establecer la identidad de una víctima o victimario, estimación de edad cronológica, huellas de mordida, entre otros. En Chile, son profesionales odontólogos humanos quienes deben definir si una mordedura es humana o no. En caso de ser provocada por perros, normalmente no se realizan peritajes en busca del agresor debido a la inexistencia de una base de datos y estudios que conduzcan a la identificación del ejemplar involucrado. Dado que cada vez y con mayor frecuencia las mordeduras de perros derivan en procesos de litigación, el objetivo de esta revisión es entregar antecedentes que sirvan de soporte para el estudio y desarrollo de la odontología forense veterinaria, permitiendo entregar evidencia científicamente válida para la identificación y posible individualización del agresor mediante el estudio de huellas de mordeduras.  

Dysregulation of NF–Y splicing drives metabolic rewiring and aggressiveness in colon cancer

NF-Y is an evolutionarily conserved transcription factor that binds specifically to the CCAAT elements of eukaryotic genes, most of which frequently deregulated in cancer. NF-YA, the regulatory subunit of the NF-Y complex, has two isoforms generated by alternative splicing, NF-YAl and NF-YAs, which differ in the transactivation domain. Transcriptomic data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database highlighted a significant increase in the expression of NF-YAs at the expense of NF-YAl in colorectal cancer (CRC), compared to healthy tissues. Despite this, high NF-YAl levels predict lower patients’ survival and distinguish the mesenchymal molecular subtype CMS4, which is characterized by the worst prognosis. Through the analysis of 3D cellular models, we demonstrated that altered expression of genes related to extracellular matrix and epithelial-mesenchymal transition sustains enhanced migratory and invasive behavior of NF-YAl-transduced cells. Moreover, the integration of metabolomics, bioenergetics and transcriptional analyses demonstrated a direct role for NFYAl in metabolic flexibility of cancer cells that adjust their metabolism in response to environmental changes to potentiate migration. The zebrafish xenograft model confirmed the metastatic potential triggered by NF-YAl in CRC cells. Altogether, our data highlight the transcriptional role of NF-YAl in CRC aggressiveness and suggest splice-switching strategies to hinder NF-YAl-induced metastatic dissemination

Investigation of the peculiarities of oxidation of Ti/Al nanoparticles on heating to obtain TiO2/Al2O3 composite nanoparticles

The creation of new nanomaterials with improved characteristics, as well as the development of new approaches to obtain such materials is an urgent task in science and technology. One of the promising directions in obtaining improved nanomaterials is the use of precursors in the form of multicomponent metal nanoparticles. Thermal oxidation of bimetallic Ti/ Al nanoparticles obtained by electrical explosion of wires was investigated in this work. Ti/Al nanoparticles have been found to be completely oxidized with the formation of composite TiO2/ Al2O3 nanoparticles after calcination at 900 °C. The formation of TiO2 phase with a rutile structure on heating to 500 °C, and the formation of TiO2 phases with a rutile and anatase structure, as well as α-Al2O3 on heating to 700 °C have been established, in addition to the residue of unoxidized metals. Complete oxidation of Ti/Al nanoparticles occurs when heated to 900 °C. The photochemical activity of TiO2/ Al2O3 composite nanoparticles obtained at 900 °C was studied. The degradation of methyl orange dye reached 55% under UV irradiation for 120 min

Synthesis of novel hierarchical micro/nanostructures AlOOH/AlFe and their application for As(V) removal

Hierarchical micro/nanostructured composites, which contain iron and/or its (hydr)oxides, demonstrate high rate and capacity of arsenic adsorption. The main objective of this paper is the use of novel low toxicity AlOOH/AlFe hierarchical micro/nanostructures for arsenic removal. AlOOH/AlFe composite was obtained by simple water oxidation in mild conditions using AlFe bimetallic nanopowder as a precursor. AlFe bimetallic nanopowder was produced by electrical explosive of two twisted wires in argon atmosphere. The productivity of the electrical explosion assembly was 50 g/h, with the consumption of the electrical energy was 75 kW·h/kg. AlFe bimetallic nanoparticles were chemically active and interacted with water at 60 °C. This nanocomposite AlOOH/AlFe is low cost and adsorbs more than 200 mg/g As(V) from its aqueous solution. AlOOH/AlFe composite has flower-like morphology and specific surface area 247.1 m2/g. The phase composition of nanostructures is present AlOOH boehmite and AlFe intermetallic compound. AlOOH/AlFe composite was not previously used for this. The flower-shape AlOOH morphology not only facilitated deliverability, but increased the As(V) sorption capacity by up to 200 mg/g. The adsorption kinetics has been found to be described by a pseudo-second-order equation of Lagergren and Weber-Morris models while the experimental adsorption isotherm is closest to the Freundlich model. This indicates the energy heterogeneity of the adsorbent surface and multilayer adsorption. The use of non-toxic nanostructures opens up new options to treat water affected by arsenic pollution