Exploring the role of fallopian ciliated cells in the pathogenesis of high-grade serous ovarian cancer

High-grade serous epithelial ovarian cancer (HGSOC) is the fifth leading cause of cancer death in women and the first among gynecological malignancies. Despite an initial response to standard chemotherapy, most HGSOC patients relapse. To improve treatment options, we must continue investigating tumor biology. Tumor characteristics (e.g., risk factors and epidemiology) are valuable clues to accomplish this task. The two most frequent risk factors for HGSOC are the lifetime number of ovulations, which is associated with increased oxidative stress in the pelvic area caused by ovulation fluid, and a positive family history due to genetic factors. In the attempt to identify novel genetic factors (i.e., genes) associated with HGSOC, we observed that several genes in linkage with HGSOC are expressed in the ciliated cells of the fallopian tube. This finding made us hypothesize that ciliated cells, despite not being the cell of origin for HGSOC, may take part in HGSOC tumor initiation. Specifically, malfunction of the ciliary beat impairs the laminar fluid flow above the fallopian tube epithelia, thus likely reducing the clearance of oxidative stress caused by follicular fluid. Herein, we review the up-to-date findings dealing with HGSOC predisposition with the hypothesis that fallopian ciliated cells take part in HGSOC onset. Finally, we review the up-to-date literature concerning genes that are located in genomic loci associated with epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) predisposition that are expressed by the fallopian ciliated cells

Risk Taking, Diversification Behavior and Financial Literacy of Individual Investors

This research investigates whether the financial literacy of individuals influences risk taking decisions and diversification behavior. This issue is relevant in that investors are increasingly in charge of their own financial security, but they have to deal with financial instruments whose increasing complexity often eventually prevents them from making conscious investment decisions. Prior empirical evidence shows that people are unable to perform a sophisticated portfolio diversification: what they do is to split equally their wealth among the asset classes available, in a naive way. We try to detect if the financial literacy is a driver of this kind of decisions. By submitting a questionnaire to 200 American individuals, we find that financial literacy plays a role in risk taking decisions, positively affecting how much risk individuals are willing to take. Moreover, only those who are literate in terms of diversification select less risky portfolios; the others merely increase their risk exposure, without managing it. Consistently with the previous literature, the strategy of diversification adopted by the literate ones is mainly naive. Instead, financial literacy turns out not being significant in explaining more sophisticated diversification strategies. As financial literacy affects positively the amount of risk taken by individuals, but only partially the diversification strategies pursued, there might be a dangerous pitfall in today's financial education programs promoted by governments and regulators, which, though they make investors more aware of their investment decisions, they eventually push them to assume more risks than they are able to manage. Two possible ways to tackle this issue could be: 1) to boost the financial literacy of the investors so as to make them able to use all the investment techniques required by the standard theory. This, however, seems difficult to obtain; 2) to promote advisory activity among investors. This may help them to apply the diversification principle in a sophisticated way

The molecular phylogenetics of the genus Oligoryzomys (Rodentia: Cricetidae) clarifies rodent host-Hantavirus associations

Several species of the genus Oligoryzomys are natural hosts of different hantavirus genotypes affecting humans. The systematics of the genus is confusing, which complicates the identification of the rodent host and hence the potential endemic areas of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. In this study, we analyse molecular data to infer phylogenetic relationships among Central and South American specimens of Oligoryzomys, and compare our results with previously published data on karyotypic, geographic distribution and host–virus associations to solve contradictory taxonomic reports. We identified 25 clades, each one corresponding to a different putative species. The phylogenetic trees show that Oligoryzomys longicaudatus is strongly related to the Oligoryzomys flavescens complex, which comprises four clades; Oligoryzomys nigripes is related to Oligoryzomys stramineus, Oligoryzomys vegetus is related to Oligoryzomys fulvescens from Central America, and Oligoryzomys brendae is the sister species of Oligoryzomys aff. destructor. We identified the following rodent host–hantavirus genotype relationships: O. longicaudatus–Andes; O. flavescens ‘West'–Bermejo; O. flavescens ‘East'–Lechiguanas; O. nigripes–Juquitiba; Oligoryzomys microtis–Rio Mamore and Rio Mamore-3; Oligoryzomys chacoensis–Oran; Oligoryzomys costaricencis–Choclo; Oligoryzomys delicatus–Maporal; Oligoryzomys utiaritensis–Castelo dos Sonhos; Oligoryzomys sp. RT2012–Rio Mamore-4; Oligoryzomys sp. (and not Oligoryzomys fornesi)–Anajatuba. This work, besides contributing to the development of prevention programmes for hantavirus epidemiology in Latin America, represents a comprehensive update of the systematics of the genus Oligoryzomys.Fil: González Ittig, Raúl Enrique. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnologico Cordoba. Instituto de Diversidad y Ecologia Animal; ArgentinaFil: Rivera, Paula Cecilia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnologico Cordoba. Instituto de Diversidad y Ecologia Animal; ArgentinaFil: Levis, Silvana C.. Direccion Nacional de Instituto de Investigacion. Adm.nacional de Laboratorio E Instituto de Salud "dr.c.g.malbran". Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Virales Humanas; ArgentinaFil: Calderón, Gladys E.. Direccion Nacional de Instituto de Investigacion. Adm.nacional de Laboratorio E Instituto de Salud "dr.c.g.malbran". Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Virales Humanas; ArgentinaFil: Gardenal, Cristina Noemi. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnologico Cordoba. Instituto de Diversidad y Ecologia Animal; Argentin

Natural hosts of different hantavirus genotypes in south America: who is who?

Gardenal, C.N., Gonzalez-Ittig, R.E., Rivera, P.C., Levis, S., Salazar-Bravo, J., Barquez, R.M

An ORC/Cdc6/MCM2-7 Complex Is Formed in a Multistep Reaction to Serve as a Platform for MCM Double-Hexamer Assembly

In Saccharomyces cerevisiae and higher eukaryotes, the loading of the replicative helicase MCM2-7 onto DNA requires the combined activities of ORC, Cdc6, and Cdt1. These proteins load MCM2-7 in an unknown way into a double hexamer around DNA. Here we show that MCM2-7 recruitment by ORC/Cdc6 is blocked by an autoinhibitory domain in the C terminus of Mcm6. Interestingly, Cdt1 can overcome this inhibitory activity, and consequently the Cdt1-MCM2-7 complex activates ORC/Cdc6 ATP-hydrolysis to promote helicase loading. While Cdc6 ATPase activity is known to facilitate Cdt1 release and MCM2-7 loading, we discovered that Orc1 ATP-hydrolysis is equally important in this process. Moreover, we found that Orc1/Cdc6 ATP-hydrolysis promotes the formation of the ORC/Cdc6/MCM2-7 (OCM) complex, which functions in MCM2-7 double-hexamer assembly. Importantly, CDK-dependent phosphorylation of ORC inhibits OCM establishment to ensure once per cell cycle replication. In summary, this work reveals multiple critical mechanisms that redefine our understanding of DNA licensing

Knowing is trusting? An experimental test of the role of information in advisory

The recent economic crisis still lingering in Europe has deeply affected the way individuals look at the investment market. Understanding the trust processes underlying the decision to invest with financial intermediaries is of particular importance both at managerial (product development and advertisement) and at normative level (how intermediaries are regulated). Using an online experiment, this paper investigates whether discrepancies in the financial literacy of investors and brokers can be used to explain the decision to trust – thus, to invest in the financial market. The results show that trust is affected by the information disclosure in somewhat unexpected ways

Alfabetizzazione finanziaria e "asset allocation" dei non esperti: uno studio sperimentale

Negli ultimi anni, tutte le principali economie si sono attivate per sostenere l’importanza dell’educazione finanziaria dei cittadini. Il tema dell’educazione finanziaria è diventato un problema di interesse civico, la cui rilevanza è confermata anche dai recenti eventi che si sono manifestati nei mercati finanziari internazionali. In questo momento storico, è dunque emersa una crescente esigenza di rendere i risparmiatori sufficientemente informati, permettendo loro di intraprendere scelte finanziarie consapevoli. La ricerca scientifica degli ultimi anni ha evidenziato alcune peculiarità degli investitori che intraprendono decisioni d’investimento. La teoria classica della finanza ha sempre ipotizzato che gli investitori sappiano ottimizzare i propri portafogli d’investimento, minimizzando i rischi e massimizzando i rendimenti, attraverso il principio della diversificazione. Questo assunto è stato variamente messo in discussione da un filone di letteratura più recente, etichettato con il nome di finanza comportamentale. L’investitore, diversamente da quanto ipotizzato dai teoremi classici della finanza, non agirebbe in modo razionale nelle proprie scelte di investimento, ma le sue azioni risponderebbero a dei meccanismi distorsivi irrazionali. Secondo alcuni, inoltre, la scarsa educazione finanziaria amplifica il problema, poiché non permette ai soggetti di perseguire con consapevolezza il proprio benessere finanziario. In questo contesto, si inserisce una importante Direttiva Comunitaria, la Mifid, introdotta nel 2007 e sottoposta ora a un processo di recast che renderà la direttiva originaria più efficace. In breve, la Direttiva ha lo scopo di favorire un ambiente finanziario armonizzato, rafforzando la tutela degli investitori, l’efficienza e l’integrità dei mercati finanziari. La previsione legislativa impone una maggior responsabilizzazione non solo dell’intermediario finanziario, obbligato a fornire informazioni dettagliate al cliente, ma anche del risparmiatore, che è chiamato ad assumere un ruolo attivo nelle scelte di investimento. Per supportare l’investitore, negli ultimi anni si è assistito, pertanto, sia a livello nazionale, sia internazionale, alla nascita di nuovi programmi di educazione finanziaria. È necessario chiedersi, tuttavia, quanto l’educazione finanziaria sia decisiva nelle scelte di investimento personali dei soggetti. Questo studio s’interroga su questo aspetto e indaga se investitori non esperti, caratterizzati da diversi livelli di istruzione, anche finanziaria, differenzino le proprie decisioni di investimento a seconda della loro preparazione in ambito finanziario. Per rispondere a questo quesito, si è condotto un esperimento su 208 soggetti americani a cui è stato somministrato un questionario costruito ad hoc. I risultati ottenuti offrono molteplici contributi sul tema sia sull’importanza dell’educazione finanziaria, sia rispetto al tanto dibattuto tema dell’attività di consulenza. Da un lato, infatti, emerge che l’educazione finanziaria può avere un ruolo importante nelle scelte d’investimento dei soggetti non esperti, ma solo in casi particolari. L’educazione finanziaria, infatti, contribuisce a rendere i risparmiatori più informati per poter effettuare scelte consapevoli in materia di allocazione dei propri risparmi, ma la stessa apporta evidenti miglioramenti nelle scelte finanziarie intraprese solo se raggiunge livelli elevati. Pertanto, la previsione di promuovere piani di educazione finanziaria andrà a beneficio di tutti gli investitori, ma in modo diverso. Per gli investitori già culturalmente formati, anche da un punto di vista finanziario, il beneficio di una migliore alfabetizzazione sarà diretto, dato che gli stessi potranno attuare strategie di diversificazione più simili a quelle che metterebbe in pratica un consulente finanziario. Per gli investitori finanziariamente meno preparati, invece, l’educazione finanziaria permetterà agli stessi di definire meglio ai consulenti le proprie preferenze e attitudini al rischio. I risultati ottenuti, inoltre, dimostrano che l’attività di supporto svolta professionalmente dagli advisor può essere un rilevante supporto alle decisioni finanziarie dei non esperti. In conclusione, a fronte degli appelli che invitano i sistemi finanziari a un maggior sforzo per migliorare l’educazione finanziaria dei cittadini, questo studio risponde suggerendo che solo l’integrazione tra istruzione finanziaria e consulenza può aprire la strada a politiche di investimento capaci di sfruttare compiutamente le possibilità offerte dai mercati finanziari

Oligoryzomys flavescens (Rodentia, Muridae): gene flow among populations from central-eastern Argentina

Fil: Chiappero, Marina B. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas. Cátedra de Química Biológica; Argentina.Fil: Calderón, Gladys E. ANLIS Dr.C.G.Malbrán. Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Virales Humanas; Argentina.Fil: Gardenal, Cristina N. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales, Córdoba; Argentina.In species acting as hosts of infectious agents, the extent of gene flow between populations is of particular interest because the expansion of different infectious diseases is usually related to the dispersal of the host. We have estimated levels of gene flow among populations of the sigmodontine rodent Oligoryzomys flavescens, in which high titers of antibodies have been detected for a Hantavirus in Argentina that produces a severe pulmonary syndrome. Enzyme polymorphism was studied by means of starch gel electrophoresis in 10 populations from the area where human cases of Hantavirus have occurred. Genetic differentiation between populations was calculated from FST values with the equation Nm = [(1/FST) - 1]/4. To assess the relative importance of current gene flow and historical associations between populations, the relationship of population pairwise log Nm and log geographic distance was examined. Low FST (mean = 0.038) and high Nm (15.27) values suggest high levels of gene flow among populations. The lack of an isolation by distance pattern would indicate that this species has recently colonized the area. The northernmost population, located on the margin of a great river, shows very high levels of gene flow with the downstream populations despite the large geographic distances. Passive transport of animals down the river by floating plants would promote unidirectional gene flow. This fact and the highest mean heterozygosity of that northernmost population suggest it is a center of dispersal within the species' range