A Reappraisal of the Eruptive History and Recent (1991-2009) Volcanic Eruptions of the Barren Island, Andaman Sea

The Barren Island volcano in the Western Sunda Arc has displayed explosive Strombolian eruptions for more than two decades. This recent explosive event, together with the historic and prehistoric volcanic landforms, present reliable information about explosive Strombolian eruptions and the volcanological evolution of the Barren Island volcano. This study is a re-evaluation of existing knowledge and incorporates new information and interpretations of the recent and past volcanic activity on Barren Island. Direct observations of explosive eruptions since 1991 showed discrete events of bursting and ballistic transport of blocks and formation of sustained ash plumes, indicating Strombolian and violent Strombolian eruptions. Active lava flows were not seen during the observations which, instead, reveal intact preservation of the historic lava flows. A prehistoric mafic stratocone with a central depression (caldera), a central scoria cone with summit crater and abundant basaltic lava flows of historic eruptions and the scoria cones of the recent activity are the major volcanic landforms. They bear evidence of alternating effusive and explosive activity during prehistoric times accompanied by caldera forming activity; scoria cone Strombolian activity switches over to effusive events during the historic period and exclusively Strombolian activity during recent times. The results of this study differ from previous studies that interpreted several episodes of active lava flows and Hawaiian, Plinian and Vulcanian styles of the recent eruptions. It also provides new insights into the volcanological evolution of the Barren Island volcano which is crucial in understanding the future behaviour of the volcano and risk assessment

Egg hatching at different temperatures and relative humidities in Idaea inquinata (Scopoli) (Lepidoptera: Geometridae)

Idaea inquinata (Scopoli) feeds mainly on dried plants, nevertheless, it is also a potential pest of stored products as it is able to develop on cereal products. The few references on the biology of this species do not deal with the influence of temperature and relative humidity on egg hatching. To fill this gap, groups of 100 eggs, 24-48 hours old, were exposed to five constant temperatures (17, 21, 26, 29 and 34±1°C), two relative humidities (35 and 70±5%) and a photoperiod of 0:24 (light:dark); ten tests were carried out. Each test was replicated four times and egg hatching was observed daily. The highest mean number of hatched eggs was observed at 26 and 29±1°C, 70±5% r.h. with 91.5 and 91.0 eggs, respectively. The lowest mean number of hatched eggs was 61.5 observed at 17°C and 70±5% r.h. The mean numbers of hatched eggs, 83.5, 77.5, 78.5 and 79.8 were similar at 21, 26, 29 and 34±1°C, 35±5% r.h., respectively. Eggs hatched between the sixth and the eighth day at all the temperatures tested, except for 17±1°C and 35±5% r.h., where hatching started on the twelfth day. At this temperature, the duration of the hatching period increased with increasing humidity: 11 d at 35% r.h. and 15 d at 70% r.h. Keywords: Egg, Hatching, Temperature, Relative humidity, Rusty wave mot

Anticancer properties of tocotrienols : a review of cellular mechanisms and molecular targets

Vitamin E is composed of two groups of compounds: \u3b1-, \u3b2-, \u3b3-, and \u3b4-tocopherols (TPs), and the corresponding unsaturated tocotrienols (TTs). TTs are found in natural sources such as red palm oil, annatto seeds, and rice bran. In the last decades, TTs (specifically, \u3b3-TT and \u3b4-TT) have gained interest due to their health benefits in chronic diseases, based on their antioxidant, neuroprotective, cholesterol-lowering, anti-inflammatory activities. Several in vitro and in vivo studies pointed out that TTs also exert a significant antitumor activity in a wide range of cancer cells. Specifically, TTs were shown to exert antiproliferative/proapoptotic effects and to reduce the metastatic or angiogenic properties of different cancer cells; moreover, these compounds were reported to specifically target the subpopulation of cancer stem cells, known to be deeply involved in the development of resistance to standard therapies. Interestingly, recent studies pointed out that TTs exert a synergistic antitumor effect on cancer cells when given in combination with either standard antitumor agents (i.e., chemotherapeutics, statins, \u201ctargeted\u201d therapies) or natural compounds with anticancer activity (i.e., sesamin, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), resveratrol, ferulic acid). Based on these observations, different TT synthetic derivatives and formulations were recently developed and demonstrated to improve TT water solubility and to reduce TT metabolism in cancer cells, thus increasing their biological activity. These promising results, together with the safety of TT administration in healthy subjects, suggest that these compounds might represent a new chemopreventive or anticancer treatment (i.e., in combination with standard therapies) strategy. Clinical trials aimed at confirming this antitumor activity of TTs are needed

Polarità commerciali in Lombardia: tendenze evolutive e geografie a supporto della governance territoriale

Il settore della distribuzione commerciale in Italia è segnato negli ultimi anni da una serie di trasformazioni che hanno influenzato l’assetto del mercato nazionale. Il sistema d’offerta risultante non è omogeneamente distribuito nel territorio e uno degli elementi caratterizzanti è la presenza di “polarità commerciali” che si differenziano per dinamismo, attrattività e rilevanza degli impatti a scala sovralocale. L’obiettivo di questo contributo è quello di evidenziare l’insieme degli “effetti territoriali” delle Grandi Strutture di Vendita (GSV) con un approfondimento particolare per le “polarità commerciali pianificate”, usando come caso di studio il contesto regionale della Lombardia anche attraverso gli esiti di alcune recenti esperienze di ricerca curate dal Laboratorio Urb&Com del Politecnico di Milano, Dipartimento di Architettura e Studi Urbani. Per farlo sono stati elaborati dati complessi relativi alle polarità pianificate e alla loro competizione per il presidio del mercato lombardo, identificando le pratiche insediative ricorrenti di queste strutture e i processi di adattamento al conteste regionale di strategie globali sviluppate dagli operatori. Questo approfondimento si è dimostrato un fertile campo di esplorazione, che ha permesso (a.) di definire una metodologia originale di studio delle Grandi Strutture di Vendita e, al contempo, (b.) di elaborare un quadro originale ed aggiornato della situazione lombarda, contributo di conoscenza utile a supportare le future politiche regionali sul tema e le programmazioni settoriali ad esso collegate (attività economiche, mobilità, lavoro, territorio, ecc.).Over the last two decades, the retail sector in Italy suffered a set of transformations that changed the national market. The resulting retail network is not homogeneously distributed over the national space and the presence of a variety of "retail polarities" – different in dynamism, appeal to users and spatial impacts – marks the offer. This contribution is aimed at focusing the impacts of the Grandi Strutture di Vendita (GSV), a typology of retail structures defined by Italian law that gathers together shopping malls, retail parks and large specialty stores. These are intended as "planned retail polarities" because developers need local and regional authorizations in their settlement process. Using the Lombardy Region as a case study and presenting the outcomes of a recent research developed by Urb&Com Lab research team, we propose a reading of several global trends, a new map of these structures and a critical interpretation of these information. Results of this exploration allowed us (a.) to define an original methodology to study GSVs and, at the same time, (b.) to provide an original and updated map of regional situation. This map could contribute to future regional policies on this topic and, more in general, to integrate the current sectoral view on retail to a wider regional agenda (that involve economy, mobility, labor market, sustainability, etc.)

The microbiota of Idaea inquinata developing on dry herbs

Idaea inquinata (Scopoli) (Lepidoptera: Geometridae, Idaeini) is a potential pest of stored food, mainly dry herbs. In this study, the role of diet in the shaping of the I. inquinata-associated bacterial community was investigated and its impact on insect performance (i.e., proportion of adult emergence and duration of postembryonic development). Larvae were reared on three diets with different nutritional compositions: (1) Matricaria chamomilla L. flowers, (2) Angelica archangelica L. roots, and (3) artificial diet. A DNA metabarcoding approach targeting V1-V2 and V4 regions of the bacterial 16S rRNA was adopted to characterize the bacterial communities associated with adults and larvae reared on different diets, and estimate their composition and diversity. The core microbiota of this species was found to include some bacterial genera commonly associated with Lepidoptera. When a coverage-based integration of rarefaction and extrapolation of Hill numbers was used to compare groups of samples, the microbial diversity (estimated as phylogenetic diversity) differed among individuals reared on different diets, and also between larvae vs. adults. The lowest taxon diversity was found associated with individuals reared on M. chamomilla. Larvae fed with this fiber-rich diet had also a significantly slower development. The composition of the microbial community varied among individuals with different diets, but not between adults vs. larvae. This study highlights the important role of diet in shaping I. inquinata microbiota, but also suggests that the microbiota of non-feeding adult moths could be partially inherited from larvae

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists reduce the migratory and the invasive behavior of androgen-independent prostate cancer cells by interfering with the activity of IGF-I

Androgen-independent prostate carcinoma is characterized by a high proliferation rate and by a strong metastatic behavior. We have previously shown that GnRH agonists exert a direct and specific inhibitory action on the proliferation of androgen-independent prostate cancer cells (DU 145). These compounds mainly act by interfering with the mitogenic activity of growth factors, such as the insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I). The present experiments were performed to clarify whether GnRH agonists might also affect the migratory and the invasive behavior of androgen-independent prostate cancer cells and to define their mechanism of action. First we showed that the GnRH agonist Leuprolide reduces the migration of DU 145 cells towards a chemoattractant and their ability to invade a reconstituted basement membrane. Experiments were then performed to clarify whether the GnRH agonist might act by interfering with the pro-metastatic activity of IGF-I. We found that, in androgen-independent prostate cancer cells, Leuprolide: a) interferes with the IGF-I system (receptor protein expression and tyrosine-phosphorylation); b) abrogates the IGF-I-induced phosphorylation of Akt (a kinase previously shown by us to mediate the pro-metastatic activity of IGF-I in prostate cancer cells); c) counteracts the migration and the invasive activity of the cells stimulated by IGF-I; d) abolishes the effects of IGF-I on cell morphology, on actin cytoskeleton organization and on alpha v beta 3 integrin expression/cellular localization. These data indicate that GnRH agonists, in addition to their well known antiproliferative effect, can also exert a significant inhibitory activity on the migratory and invasive behavior of androgen- independent prostate cancer cells, expressing the GnRH receptor. GnRH agonists act by interfering with the pro-metastatic activity of the growth factor IGF-I