Geometric k-normality of curves and applications

The notion of geometric k-normality for curves is introduced in complete generality and is investigated in the case of nodal and cuspidal curves living on several types of surfaces. We discuss and suggest some applications of this notion to the study of Severi varieties of nodal curves on surfaces of general type and on the plane.Comment: 15 page

Prognostic significance of primary-tumor extension, stage and grade of nuclear differentiation in patients with renal cell carcinoma

Surgery remains the preferred therapy for renal cell carcinoma. The various adjunctive or complementary therapies currently yield disappointing results. Identifying reliable prognostic factors could help in selecting patients most likely to benefit from postoperative adjuvant therapies. We reviewed the surgical records of 78 patients who had undergone radical nephrectomy with lymphadenectomy for renal cell carcinoma, matched for type of operation and histology. According to staging (TNM), 5.1% of the patients were classified as stage I, 51.3% as stage II, 29.5% as stage III and 14.5% as stage IV. Of the 78 patients 40 were T2N0 and 21 T3aN0. Tumor grading showed that 39.7% of the patients had well-differentiated tumors(G1), 41.1% moderately-differentiated (G2), and 19.2% poorly-differentiated tumors (G3). Overall actuarial survival at 5 and 10 years was 100% for stage 1; 91.3% at 5 years and 83.1% at 10 years for stage II; 45.5% and 34.1% for stage III; and 29.1% and nil for stage IV (stage II vs stage III p = 0.0001). Patients with tumors confined to the kidney (pT2N0) had better 5- and 10-year survival rates than patients with tumors infiltrating the perirenal fat (pT3aN0) (p = 0.000006). Survival differed according to nuclear grading (G1 vs G3 ; p = 0.000005; G2 vs G3; p = 0.0009). In conclusion our review identified tumor stage, primary-tumor extension, and the grade of nuclear differentiation as reliable prognostic factors in patients with renal cell carcinomas

Sicilian floriculture companies and the role of transport in increasing their competitiveness

The aim of this study is to provide a deeper understanding of the Sicilian floriculture sector, which has recently become one of the most important on a regional and national scale. By analysing production, sales and logistical aspects of its production companies and specifically looking at aspects regarding transport logistics, this study highlights the sector operators. preference for road transport that offers better guarantees in terms of delivery speed with respect to other means of transport, an essential requirement for the transport of flowers and plants. However, operators are increasingly showing interest in alternative means of transport that may reduce transport time and, especially, costs. Some of the operators interviewed believe that the expected building of 7 trucking terminals in Sicily represents an important move of the Regional Government to support companies; nevertheless, others think that this type of intervention represents an erosive element in competitiveness, because of the probable increase in the presence of goods coming from the southern Mediterranean shore. However, the improvement of the regional transport system is necessary to reduce inefficiencies in the sales and distribution network of the floriculture industry and, more in general, of the whole Sicilian agri-food industry

Resting-state connectivity and functional specialization in human medial parieto-occipital cortex

According to recent models of visuo-spatial processing, the medial parieto-occipital cortex is a crucial node of the dorsal visual stream. Evidence from neurophysiological studies in monkeys has indicated that the parieto-occipital sulcus (POS) contains three functionally and cytoarchitectonically distinct areas: the visual area V6 in the fundus of the POS, and the visuo-motor areas V6Av and V6Ad in a progressively dorsal and anterior location with respect to V6. Besides different topographical organization, cytoarchitectonics, and functional properties, these three monkey areas can also be distinguished based on their patterns of cortico-cortical connections. Thanks to wide-field retinotopic mapping, areas V6 and V6Av have been also mapped in the human brain. Here, using a combined approach of resting-state functional connectivity and task-evoked activity by fMRI, we identified a new region in the anterior POS showing a pattern of functional properties and cortical connections that suggests a homology with the monkey area V6Ad. In addition, we observed distinct patterns of cortical connections associated with the human V6 and V6Av which are remarkably consistent with those showed by the anatomical tracing studies in the corresponding monkey areas. Consistent with recent models on visuo-spatial processing, our findings demonstrate a gradient of functional specialization and cortical connections within the human POS, with more posterior regions primarily dedicated to the analysis of visual attributes useful for spatial navigation and more anterior regions primarily dedicated to analyses of spatial information relevant for goal-directed action

The Atlantic bluefin tuna: structure and competitiveness of Italian fishing in the international trade

In this paper after showing the productive and international trade background of the Atlantic bluefin tuna, we analyze the competitive position of Italy, important producer and exporter on world scale, compared with the main trade partners, carried out through competitiveness indexes based on trade data. The results highlight Italy's good competitive performance above all with Japan, which represents the main world reference market for the Italian product, but also with the United States, Malta and Turkey The Italian competitive advantage with these countries is stronger for the product taken into account. On the other hand, we can notice a competitive disadvantage with the traditional markets supplying bluefin tuna, and with Spain in particular The same is reckoned with the Southern Mediterranean countries which, in the last years, have contributed to increasing the world supply thanks to the spread of mariculture systems. In this background, the increasing interest in the Italian Atlantic bluefin tuna, by the United States in particular and by some Mediterranean countries and by Central Western Europe as well, could open new opportunities to the Italian trade

Effect of the lemon essential oils on the safety and sensory quality of salted sardines (Sardina pilchardus Walbaum 1792)

The main aim of this research was to investigate the biopreservative effects of lemon essential oil (EO) micro-emulsions on salted sardines. The experimental design included two experimental trials, SR1 and SR2 carried out with 25 ml of lemon EO micro-emulsion at 0.3 and 1.0% (v/v), respectively, and a control trial performed without EO addition. Chemical analyses on salted sardines inoculated with the EOs clearly showed a substantial persistence of several volatile organic compounds (VOCs) belonging to groups of monoterpene hydrocarbons, oxygenated monoterpenes and sesquiterpene hydrocarbons derived from EOs during the entire period of ripening. In particular, the molecules mostly represented were limonene, p-cymene and β-pinene. Immediately after the addition of EOs, the concentrations of all microbial groups decreased. The presence of Enterobacteriaceae, staphylococci and rod lactic acid bacteria (LAB) observed in the trials SR1 and SR2 was significantly lower than that registered for the control trial during the entire period of monitoring. Furthermore, the addition of EOs determined a lower accumulation of histamine in sardines compared to those of the control trial. The highest scores of sensory evaluation were registered for flavour and overall acceptability of the experimental trials in presence of EOs. On the basis of the increasing interest toward novel food preservatives, we conclude that the use of EOs to produce salted fishes represents a valid strategy to improve safety and sensory characteristics of salted sardines. This work has also economic implications, since the flavour improvement due to the addition of lemon EOs might increase the consumption of sardines by regular and new consumers

Agricultural land abandonment in Mediterranean environment provides ecosystem services via soil carbon sequestration

Abandonment of agricultural land leads to several consequences for ecosystem functions. Agricultural abandonment may be a significant and low cost strategy for carbon sequestration and mitigation of anthropogenic CO2 emissions due to the vegetation recovery and increase in soil organic matter. The aim of this study was to: (i) estimate the influence of different Soil Regions (areas characterized by a typical climate and parent material association) and Bioclimates (zones with homogeneous climatic regions and thermotype indices) on soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics after agricultural land abandonment; and (ii) to analyse the efficiency of the agri-environment policy (agri-environment measures) suggested by the European Commission in relation to potential SOC stock ability in the Sicilian Region (Italy). In order to quantify the effects of agricultural abandonment on SOC, a dataset with original data that was sampled in Sicily and existing data from the literature were analysed according to the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) methodology. Results showed that abandonment of cropland soils increased SOC stock by 9.03 Mg C ha− 1 on average, ranging from 5.4 Mg C ha− 1 to 26.7 Mg C ha− 1 in relation to the Soil Region and Bioclimate. The estimation of SOC change after agricultural use permitted calculation of the payments for ecosystem service (PES) of C sequestration after agricultural land abandonment in relation to environmental benefits, increasing in this way the efficiency of PES. Considering the 14,337 ha of abandoned lands in Sicily, the CO2 emission as a whole was reduced by 887,745 Mg CO2. Therefore, it could be concluded that abandoned agricultural fields represents a valid opportunity to mitigate agriculture sector emissions in Sicily

Inhibitory Activity of Leaves Extracts of Citrullus colocynthis Schrad. on HT29 Human Colon Cancer Cells

Aims: Citrullus colocynthis is a plant endemic in Asia, Africa and in the Mediterranean basin. It is used in folk medicine against infections, inflammations and cardiovascular and immune-related diseases. There are further evidences of the use of Citrullus colocynthis Schrad in the treatment of cancer in traditional practices. The present study aimed to determine the potential antiproliferative effects of different Citrullus colocynthis leaf extracts on human cancer cells. Methodology: Antiproliferative and antioxidant effects on HT-29 human colon cancer cells were detected by MTS assay and a modified protocol of the alkaline Comet assay. In vitro antioxidant activities of different leaf extracts were evaluated through DPPH, \u3b2-carotene/linoleic acid and reducing power assays. Results: The leaf chloroform extract exhibited the higher cell growth inhibitory activity without induction of DNA damage; it showed to be able to significantly decrease DNA damage induced by H2O2 (100 M). This antioxidant activity seems to be comparable to that of vitamin C (1 mM). Ethyl acetate, acetone and methanol leaf extracts showed to be the most effective in reducing the stable free DPPH radical (IC50 =113 g/ml), in transforming the Fe3+ to Fe2+ (IC50 = 134 \ub5g/ml) and in inducing linoleic acid oxidation with an inhibition of 31.9 %. Conclusion: Our results confirm the antiproliferative potential of Citrullus colocynthis Schrad. on human cancer cells

AKTIP/Ft1, a new shelterin-interacting factor required for telomere maintenance

Telomeres are nucleoprotein complexes that protect the ends of linear chromosomes from incomplete replication, degradation and detection as DNA breaks. Mammalian telomeres are protected by shelterin, a multiprotein complex that binds the TTAGGG telomeric repeats and recruits a series of additional factors that are essential for telomere function. Although many shelterin-associated proteins have been so far identified, the inventory of shelterin-interacting factors required for telomere maintenance is still largely incomplete. Here, we characterize AKTIP/Ft1 (humanAKTIP and mouse Ft1 are orthologous), a novel mammalian shelterin-bound factoridentified on the basis of its homology with the Drosophila telomere protein Pendolino. AKTIP/Ft1 shares homology with the E2 variant ubiquitin-conjugating (UEV) enzymes and has been previously implicated in the control of apoptosis and in vesicle trafficking. RNAi-mediated depletion of AKTIP results in formation of telomere disfunction foci (TIFs). Consistent with these results, AKTIP interacts with telomeric DNA and binds the shelterin components TRF1 and TRF2 both in vivo and in vitro. Analysis of AKTIP- depleted human primary fibroblasts showed that they are defective in PCNA recruiting and arrest in the S phase due to the activation of the intra S checkpoint. Accordingly, AKTIP physically interacts with PCNA and the RPA70 DNA replication factor. Ft1-depleted p53-/- MEFs did not arrest in the S phase but displayed significant increases in multiple telomeric signals (MTS) and sister telomere associations (STAs), two hallmarks of defective telomere replication. In addition, we found an epistatic relation for MST formation between Ft1 and TRF1, which has been previously shown to be required for replication fork progression through telomeric DNA. Ch-IP experiments further suggested that in AKTIP-depleted cells undergoing the S phase, TRF1 is less tightly bound to telomeric DNA than in controls. Thus, our results collectively suggest that AKTIP/Ft1 works in concert with TRF1 to facilitate telomeric DNA replication