A vigorous activity cycle mimicking a planetary system in HD200466

Stellar activity can be a source of radial velocity (RV) noise and can reproduce periodic RV variations similar to those produced by an exoplanet. We present the vigorous activity cycle in the primary of the visual binary HD200466, a system made of two almost identical solar-type stars with an apparent separation of 4.6 arcsec at a distance of 44+/-2 pc. High precision RV over more than a decade, adaptive optics (AO) images, and abundances have been obtained for both components. A linear trend in the RV is found for the secondary. We assumed that it is due to the binary orbit and once coupled with the astrometric data, it strongly constrains the orbital solution of the binary at high eccentricities (e~0.85) and quite small periastron of ~21 AU. If this orbital motion is subtracted from the primary radial velocity curve, a highly significant (false alarm probability <0.1%) period of about 1300 d is obtained, suggesting in a first analysis the presence of a giant planet, but it turned out to be due to the stellar activity cycle. Since our spectra do not include the Ca~II resonance lines, we measured a chromospheric activity indicator based on the Halpha line to study the correlation between activity cycles and long-term activity variations. While the bisector analysis of the line profile does not show a clear indication of activity, the correlation between the Halpha line indicator and the RV measurements identify the presence of a strong activity cycle.Comment: Accepted on Astronomy and Astrophysics Main Journal 2014, 16 pages, 18 figure

A natural pharma standard supplement formulation to control treatment-related toxicity and oxidative stress in genitourinary cancer: a preliminary study

Oncological treatments are associated with toxicities that may decrease compliance to treatment in most genitourinary cancer patients. Supplementation with pharmaceutical-standardized supplement may be a supplementary method to control the side effects after chemo- and radiotherapy and the increased oxidative stress associated to treatments. This registry study evaluated a natural combination of supplements containing curcumin, cordyceps, and astaxanthin (Oncotris\u2122) used as supplementary management in genitourinary cancer patients who had undergone oncological therapy

Fixed points of dynamic processes of set-valued F-contractions and application to functional equations

The article is a continuation of the investigations concerning F-contractions which have been recently introduced in [Wardowski in Fixed Point Theory Appl. 2012:94,2012]. The authors extend the concept of F-contractive mappings to the case of nonlinear F-contractions and prove a fixed point theorem via the dynamic processes. The paper includes a non-trivial example which shows the motivation for such investigations. The work is summarized by the application of the introduced nonlinear F-contractions to functional equations

Hyperglycemia selectively increases the expression of cycloxygenase-2 in human aortic endothelial cells

The conversion of arachidonic acid to vasoactive prostanoids including prostacyclin, prostaglandins and tromboxanes is mediated by cycloxygenase (COX). Two isoforms of enzyme have been shown: a constitutive (COX-1) and an inducible form (COX-2). Products of the arachidonic acid metabolism may be involved in the impairment of endothelium-dependent vasodilatation observed both in experimental models and in patients with diabetes mellitus. To determine the effect of hyperglycemia on COX-1 and COX-2 expression, human aortic endothelial cells (HAEC) were exposed to normal (5.5mM) and high (22.2mM) concentrations of glucose for 5 days. Cells were also treated with mannitol (22.2 mM) to rule out an effect due to osmolality changes. COX-1 and COX-2 mRNA and protein expressions were analyzed by Southern and Western blotting, respectively. Treatment with high glucose was associated with a two-fold increase of both COX-2 mRNA (P<0.05) and protein levels (P<0.05), whereas no changes were observed for COX-1. Moreover high concentration of mannitol did not exert any significant effect. The present study demonstrates that both isoforms of COX are normally expressed in HAEC, but only COX-2 was stimulated after exposure to high glucose. The results of the present study may provide molecular basis to understand hyperglycemia-induced endothelial dysfunctio

Functional single nucleotide polymorphisms in dopaminergic receptors D2 predict clinical response to Cariprazine

Cariprazine (CAR) is an antipsychotic drug for the treatment of schizophrenia (SCZ) and bipolar disorder (BD), and it acts as a partial agonist on the dopamine receptors (DR), D2, and D3. Although many single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes coding for these receptors are known to influence response to antipsychotics, to date, no study on CAR pharmacogenetics exists. In this pilot study, we investigated the relationship between SNPs in DRD2 (rs1800497 and rs6277) and DRD3 (rs6280), and response to CAR treatment, evaluated by the psychometric Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), in a cohort of Caucasian patients. We found a significant association between DRD2 rs1800497 and rs6277 and response to CAR treatment. When genotypes were combined into an arbitrary score, the receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that using a cut-off value of -2.5 the response to CAR treatment could be predicted with a positive likelihood ratio of 8.0. Our study report, for the first time, a correlation between SNPs in DRD2 and response to CAR treatment. After confirmation in a larger cohort of patients, our results could open the way for the identification of new tools for the provision of response to CAR treatment

The MicroBioDiverSar Project: Exploring the Microbial Biodiversity in Ex Situ Collections of Sardinia

In the last decades, biodiversity preservation has gained growing attention and many strategies, laws and regulations have been enacted by governments with this purpose. The Micro-BioDiverSar (MBDS) project, the first one regarding microbiological resources, funded by the Italian Minister of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies (Mipaaf) through the Law 194/2015, was aimed at surveying, cataloguing, and managing the microbial resources and the related information of three Sardinian collections (Agris BNSS, Uniss, and Unica). While microorganisms were reordered and inventoried, a federated database, accessible via the web, was designed by the bioinformatician of Ospedale Policlinico San Martino of Genova, according to both international standards and laboratory needs. The resulting MBDS collection boasts a great richness of microbial resources. Indeed, over 21,000 isolates, belonging to over 200 species of bacteria, yeasts, and filamentous fungi isolated from different matrices, mainly food, of animal and vegetable origin, collected in over 50 years, were included in the database. Currently, about 2000 isolates, belonging to 150 species, are available online for both the scientific community and agri-food producers. The huge work done allowed one to know the consistency and the composition of most of the patrimony of the Sardinian microbial collections. Furthermore, the MBDS database has been proposed as a model for other Italian collections that, as the MBDS partners, are part of the Joint Research UnitMIRRI-IT Italian collections network, with the aim of overcoming fragmentation, facing sustainability challenges, and improving the quality of the management of the collections

Plio-quaternary geology of L’Aquila-Scoppito basin (Central Italy)

We present a geological map at 1: 25,000 scale of the Plio-Quaternary L'Aquila-Scoppito intermontane basin (central Italy), which corresponds to the epicentral area of the 6th April 2009 L'Aquila earthquake (Mw: 6.29). The map is derived from geological field surveys at 1: 5000 scale and takes into account previously published maps. It is supported by a fine-scale LiDAR digital elevation model, paleontological analyses, C-14 dating, well log analyses of deep boreholes, and geophysical data interpretation. By taking into account that the remarkable historical and present-day seismicity of the area is the result of its PlioQuaternary geological evolution, the aim of this study is to produce a fine-scale geological map of the study area through a comprehensive analysis of the occurring Plio-Quaternary synthems and the tectonic processes that are taking place within it

Recent Heavy-Flavor results at STAR

We present the recent results on non-photonic electron (NPE) yields from RHIC run8 p+p collisions. The $e/\pi$ ratio as a function of $p_T$ in run8 with a factor of 10 reduction of the inner detector material at STAR is found to be consistent with those results from run3 taking into account the NPE from charm leptonic decay and the difference of photonic electron yield from photon conversion in detector material. \Jpsi spectra in \pp and \cucu collisions at \sNN = 200 GeV with high sampled luminosity \Jpsi spectrum at high-\pT follows $x_T$ scaling, but the scaling is violated at low \pT. $J/\psi$-hadron correlations in \pp collisions are studied to understand the \Jpsi production mechanism at high $p_T$. We observed an absence of charged hadrons accompanying \Jpsi on the near-side, in contrast to the strong correlation peak in the di-hadron correlations. This constrains the $B$-meson contribution and jet fragmentation to inclusive \Jpsi to be ${}^{<}_{\sim}17$. Yields in minimum-bias \cucu collisions are consistent with those in \pp collisions scaled by the underlying binary nucleon-nucleon collisions in the measured \pT range. Other measurements and future projects related to heavy-flavors are discussed.Comment: 8 pages 4 figures, proceedings of the International Conference on Strangeness in Quark Matter 2008 - Beijing, China, Oct. 6-10, 200