On thin-shell wormholes evolving in flat FRW spacetimes

We analize the stability of a class of thin-shell wormholes with spherical symmetry evolving in flat FRW spacetimes. The wormholes considered here are supported at the throat by a perfect fluid with equation of state $\mathcal{P}=w\sigma$ and have a physical radius equal to $aR$, where $a$ is a time-dependent function describing the dynamics of the throat and $R$ is the background scale factor. The study of wormhole stability is done by means of the stability analysis of dynamic systems.Comment: 8 pages; to appear in MPL

Corrigendum: The study of an iterative method for the reconstruction of images corrupted by Poisson and Gaussian noise

n/

MicroRNA-222 Regulates Melanoma Plasticity

Melanoma is one of the most aggressive and highly resistant tumors. Cell plasticity in melanoma is one of the main culprits behind its metastatic capabilities. The detailed molecular mechanisms controlling melanoma plasticity are still not completely understood. Here we combine mathematical models of phenotypic switching with experiments on IgR39 human melanoma cells to identify possible key targets to impair phenotypic switching. Our mathematical model shows that a cancer stem cell subpopulation within the tumor prevents phenotypic switching of the other cancer cells. Experiments reveal that hsa-mir-222 is a key factor enabling this process. Our results shed new light on melanoma plasticity, providing a potential target and guidance for therapeutic studies

High Prevalence of Arcobacter Carriage in Older Subjects with Type 2 Diabetes

Arcobacters are potential pathogens related to diarrheic infections and, rarely, septicaemia. This study evaluated the prevalence of arcobacters in stool samples of subjects with (n = 38) and without (n = 61) type 2 diabetes by using cultural and molecular techniques. Three Arcobacter positive cultures were found, all among diabetic subjects, whereas molecular analysis showed a carriage rate of 79% and 26.2% in subjects with and without type 2 diabetes (P < .001), respectively. The multivariate analysis showed that type 2 diabetes (β = 1.913; 95%CI: 2.378–19.285; P < .0001) and age (β = 1.744; 95%CI: 2.077–15.766; P = .001) were the only factors independently associated with arcobacters colonization in this population. Our study demonstrated a high prevalence of arcobacters colonization in type 2 diabetic and older subjects. The clinical significance and the potential health risk associated with these emerging species remain to be determined

Extending a mobile device with low-cost 3D modeling and building-scale mapping capabilities, for application in architecture and archaeology

One of the most challenging problem in architecture is the automated construction of 3D (and 4D) digital models of cultural objects with the aim of implementing open data repositories, scientifically authenticated and responding to well accepted standards of validation, evaluation, preservation, publication, updating and dissemination. The realization of such an ambitious objective requires the adoption of special technological instruments. In this paper we plan to use portable devices (i.e. smartphones, tablets or PDAs eventually extended to wearable ones), extended with a small plug-in, for automatically extracting 3D models of single objects and building-scale mapping of the surrounding environment. At the same time, the device will provide the capability of inserting notes and observations. Where the instrument cannot be directly applied, for example for exploring the top of a complex building, we consider mounting our device, or using equivalent existing equipment, on a drone, in a modular approach for obtaining data de-facto interchangeable. The approach based on the expansion packs has the advantage of anticipating (or even promoting) future extensions of new mobile devices, when the spectrum of possible applications justify the corresponding increased costs. In order to experiment and verify this approach we plan to test it in two specific scenarios of the cultural heritage domain in which such devices seem particularly promising: Strada Nuova in Genoa and Palazzo Ducale in Urbino, both located in Italy

Intrinsic gain modulation and adaptive neural coding

In many cases, the computation of a neural system can be reduced to a receptive field, or a set of linear filters, and a thresholding function, or gain curve, which determines the firing probability; this is known as a linear/nonlinear model. In some forms of sensory adaptation, these linear filters and gain curve adjust very rapidly to changes in the variance of a randomly varying driving input. An apparently similar but previously unrelated issue is the observation of gain control by background noise in cortical neurons: the slope of the firing rate vs current (f-I) curve changes with the variance of background random input. Here, we show a direct correspondence between these two observations by relating variance-dependent changes in the gain of f-I curves to characteristics of the changing empirical linear/nonlinear model obtained by sampling. In the case that the underlying system is fixed, we derive relationships relating the change of the gain with respect to both mean and variance with the receptive fields derived from reverse correlation on a white noise stimulus. Using two conductance-based model neurons that display distinct gain modulation properties through a simple change in parameters, we show that coding properties of both these models quantitatively satisfy the predicted relationships. Our results describe how both variance-dependent gain modulation and adaptive neural computation result from intrinsic nonlinearity.Comment: 24 pages, 4 figures, 1 supporting informatio

Stable Modality-Specific Activity Flows As Reflected by the Neuroenergetic Approach to the fMRI Weighted Maps

This article uses the ideas of neuroenergetic and neural field theories to detect stimulation-driven energy flows in the brain during face and auditory word processing. In this analysis, energy flows are thought to create the stable gradients of the fMRI weighted summary images. The sources, from which activity spreads in the brain during face processing, were detected in the occipital cortex. The following direction of energy flows in the frontal cortex was described: the right inferior frontal = >the left inferior frontal = >the triangular part of the left inferior frontal cortex = >the left operculum. In the left operculum, a localized circuit was described. For auditory word processing, the sources of activity flows were detected bilaterally in the middle superior temporal regions, they were also detected in the left posterior superior temporal cortex. Thus, neuroenergetic assumptions may give a novel perspective for the analysis of neuroimaging data

Identification of Host Genes Involved in Geminivirus Infection Using a Reverse Genetics Approach

Geminiviruses, like all viruses, rely on the host cell machinery to establish a successful infection, but the identity and function of these required host proteins remain largely unknown. Tomato yellow leaf curl Sardinia virus (TYLCSV), a monopartite geminivirus, is one of the causal agents of the devastating Tomato yellow leaf curl disease (TYLCD). The transgenic 2IRGFP N. benthamiana plants, used in combination with Virus Induced Gene Silencing (VIGS), entail an important potential as a tool in reverse genetics studies to identify host factors involved in TYLCSV infection. Using these transgenic plants, we have made an accurate description of the evolution of TYLCSV replication in the host in both space and time. Moreover, we have determined that TYLCSV and Tobacco rattle virus (TRV) do not dramatically influence each other when co-infected in N. benthamiana, what makes the use of TRV-induced gene silencing in combination with TYLCSV for reverse genetic studies feasible. Finally, we have tested the effect of silencing candidate host genes on TYLCSV infection, identifying eighteen genes potentially involved in this process, fifteen of which had never been implicated in geminiviral infections before. Seven of the analyzed genes have a potential anti-viral effect, whereas the expression of the other eleven is required for a full infection. Interestingly, almost half of the genes altering TYLCSV infection play a role in postranslational modifications. Therefore, our results provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying geminivirus infections, and at the same time reveal the 2IRGFP/VIGS system as a powerful tool for functional reverse genetics studies