Discrete norming inequalities on sections of sphere, ball and torus

By discrete trigonometric norming inequalities on subintervals of the period, we construct norming meshes with optimal cardinality growth for algebraic polynomials on sections of sphere, ball and torus

E-Cadherin in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma: A Multifaceted Actor during EMT

Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a step-wise process observed in normal and tumor cells leading to a switch from epithelial to mesenchymal phenotype. In tumors, EMT provides cancer cells with a metastatic phenotype characterized by E-cadherin down-regulation, cytoskeleton reorganization, motile and invasive potential. E-cadherin down-regulation is known as a key event during EMT. However, E-cadherin expression can be influenced by the different experimental settings and environmental stimuli so that the paradigm of EMT based on the loss of E-cadherin determining tumor cell behavior and fate often becomes an open question. In this review, we aimed at focusing on some critical points in order to improve the knowledge of the dynamic role of epithelial cells plasticity in EMT and, specifically, address the role of E-cadherin as a marker for the EMT axis

Numerical quadrature on the intersection of planar disks

We provide an algorithm that computes algebraic quadrature formulas with cardinality not exceeding the dimension of the exactness polynomial space, on the intersection of any number of planar disks with arbitrary radius. Applications arise for example in computational optics and in wireless networks analysis. By the inclusion-exclusion principle, we can also compute algebraic formulas for the union of a small number of disks. The algorithm is implemented in Matlab, via subperiodic trigonometric Gaussian quadrature and compression of discrete measures

Sustainability ranking of desalination plants using Mamdani Fuzzy Logic Inference Systems

As water desalination continues to expand globally, desalination plants are continually under pressure to meet the requirements of sustainable development. However, the majority of desalination sustainability research has focused on new desalination projects, with limited research on sustainability performance of existing desalination plants. This is particularly important while considering countries with limited resources for freshwater such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as it is heavily reliant on existing desalination infrastructure. In this regard, the current research deals with the sustainability analysis of desalination processes using a generic sustainability ranking framework based on Mamdani Fuzzy Logic Inference Systems. The fuzzy-based models were validated using data from two typical desalination plants in the UAE. The promising results obtained from the fuzzy ranking framework suggest this more in-depth sustainability analysis should be beneficial due to its flexibility and adaptability in meeting the requirements of desalination sustainability

Polynomial approximation and quadrature on geographic rectangles

Using some recent results on subperiodic trigonometric interpolation and quadrature, and the theory of admissible meshes for multivariate polynomial approximation, we study product Gaussian quadrature, hyperinterpolation and interpolation on some regions of dS,d ≥ 2. Such regions include caps, zones, slices and more generally spherical rectangles defined on S2 by longitude and (co)latitude (geographic rectangles). We provide the corresponding Matlab codes and discuss several numerical examples on S

Algebraic cubature on polygonal elements with a circular edge

We compute low-cardinality algebraic cubature formulas on convex or concave polygonal elements with a circular edge, by subdivision into circular quadrangles, blending formulas via subperiodic trigonometric Gaussian quadrature and final compression via Caratheodory\u2013Tchakaloff subsampling of discrete measures. We also discuss applications to the VEM (Virtual Element Method) in computational mechanics problems

Evidence of very low metallicity and high ionization state in a strongly lensed, star-forming dwarf galaxy at z=3.417

We investigate the gas-phase metallicity and Lyman Continuum (LyC) escape fraction of a strongly gravitationally lensed, extreme emission-line galaxy at z=3.417, J1000+0221S, recently discovered by the CANDELS team. We derive ionization and metallicity sensitive emission-line ratios from H+K band LBT/LUCI medium resolution spectroscopy. J1000+0221S shows high ionization conditions, as evidenced by its enhanced [OIII]/[OII] and [OIII]/Hbeta ratios. Consistently, strong-line methods based on the available line ratios suggest that J1000+0221S is an extremely metal-poor galaxy, with a metallicity of 12+log(O/H) < 7.44 (< 5% solar), placing it among the most metal-poor star-forming galaxies at z > 3 discovered so far. In combination with its low stellar mass (2x10^8 Msun) and high star formation rate (5 Msun/yr), the metallicity of J1000+0221S is consistent with the extrapolation to low masses of the mass-metallicity relation traced by Lyman-break galaxies at z > 3, but it is 0.55 dex lower than predicted by the fundamental metallicity relation at z < 2.5. These observations suggest the picture of a rapidly growing galaxy, possibly fed by the massive accretion of pristine gas. Additionally, deep LBT/LBC in the UGR bands are used to derive a limit to the LyC escape fraction, thus allowing us to explore for the first time the regime of sub-L* galaxies at z > 3. We find a 1sigma upper limit to the escape fraction of 23%, which adds a new observational constraint to recent theoretical models predicting that sub-L* galaxies at high-z have high escape fractions and thus are the responsible for the reioization of the Universe.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures and 1 table. Accepted for publication in ApJ Letter

LOCOREGIONAL DELIVERY OF UNMETHYLATED CPG-OLIGODEOXYNUCLEOTIDES TO CANCER THERAPY: PRECLINICAL STUDIES

Tumor cell growth, even in advanced stages of ovarian cancer, is nearly always restricted to the peritoneal cavity, therefore repeated intraperitoneal injections of CpG-ODN recruiting and activating innate effector cells throughout the abdominal cavity to the tumor site might control tumor cell growth and ascites formation. After a single CpG-ODN treatment, in IGROV-1 ovarian tumor ascites-bearing athymic mice, the number of tumor cells declined rapidly and markedly, and ascites volumes declined shortly after treatment (5 h), increasing thereafter at a slower rate than in controls. When administered every 7 days for 4 weeks, CpG-ODN had only a marginal effect on survival time, whereas administration 5 days/week for 3 or 4 weeks led to a significantly increased survival-time as compared to controls and completely controlled ascites growth without apparent toxicity, although a disorganization of lymphoid organs was observed. Depletion of NK or monocytes/macrophages only slightly influenced the CpG-ODN-induced reduction of ascites tumor cells, indicating that the antitumor activity might not be related to a specific cell/cytokine but rather to the repertoire of cells and cytokines accumulated in the peritoneal cavity. Thus, our data suggest a relevant role for repeated activation of cells and cytokines of innate immunity in the therapy of ovarian cancer patients with malignant ascites. However, daily i.p. administration of CpG-ODN induced a significant increase of survival-time but no cure of a single mouse, therefore we screened the effectiveness of CpG-ODN in combination with different agents, including bevacizumab, Poly(I):Poly(C) and cisplatin. Our data indicate that the combination of repeated i.p. CpG-ODN treatments plus bevacizumab and Poly(I):Poly(C) do not significantly increase median survival time, while the association of CpG-ODN and cisplatin revealed a significant increase in mice lifespan. Based on these results, we performed several experments in order to gain inside the molecular mechanisms by which CpG-ODN improves the therapeutic efficacy of cisplatin, a DNA-damaging drug. We demonstrate that an immunostimulatory Toll-like receptor-9 (TLR9) agonist CpG-oligodeoxynucleotide (CpG-ODN) oppositely modulates expression of DNA repair genes in tumor and immune cells. Analyses in silico and in a human ovarian tumor model by microarray revealed downregulation of these genes in tumors and upregulation in immune cells, with no detectable modulation in normal non-immune tissue. CpG-ODN induced activation of cells present in the tumor microenvironment was critical in inducing DNA-repair gene modulation in tumors. In conclusion, the combination of cisplatin with CpG-ODN was effective and well tolerated, and might represent a preclinical basis for the design of clinical studies, even considering the ability of CpG-ODN to down-modulate DNA repair genes in tumor cell

Weakly Admissible Meshes and Discrete Extremal Sets

We present a brief survey on (Weakly) Admissible Meshes and corresponding Discrete Extremal Sets, namely Approximate Fekete Points and Discrete Leja Points. These provide new computational tools for polynomial least squares and interpolation on multidimensional compact sets, with different applications such as numerical cubature, digital filtering, spectral and high-order methods for PDEs

Evaluating Lebesgue constants by Chebyshev polynomial meshes on cube, simplex and ball

We show that product Chebyshev polynomial meshes can be used, in a fully discrete way, to evaluate with rigorous error bounds the Lebesgue constant, i.e. the maximum of the Lebesgue function, for a class of polynomial projectors on cube, simplex and ball, including interpolation, hyperinterpolation and weighted least-squares. Several examples are presented and possible generalizations outlined. A numerical software package implementing the method is freely available online