Modeling biological complexity using Biology System Description Language (BiSDL)

The Nets-within-Nets formalism (NWN) allows to model complex biological systems expressing hierarchy, encapsulation, selective communication, spatiality, quantitative mechanisms, and stochasticity. To make NWN usable by life science researchers as well as systems biologists, we introduce a new human-readable description language able to express these same NWN model properties, at different levels of abstraction. BiSDL (Biology Systems Description Language) is derived from the VHDL specification, a standard description language for hardware systems. In this paper we chose a simple signaling pathway example to show how BiSDL enables modeling complex biological systems by separating the behavioral model from the architectural details

First-principles study of ternary fcc solution phases from special quasirandom structures

In the present work, ternary Special Quasirandom Structures (SQSs) for a fcc solid solution phase are generated at different compositions, $x_A=x_B=x_C=\tfrac{1}{3}$ and $x_A=\tfrac{1}{2}$, $x_B=x_C=\tfrac{1}{4}$, whose correlation functions are satisfactorily close to those of a random fcc solution. The generated SQSs are used to calculate the mixing enthalpy of the fcc phase in the Ca-Sr-Yb system. It is observed that first-principles calculations of all the binary and ternary SQSs in the Ca-Sr-Yb system exhibit very small local relaxation. It is concluded that the fcc ternary SQSs can provide valuable information about the mixing behavior of the fcc ternary solid solution phase. The SQSs presented in this work can be widely used to study the behavior of ternary fcc solid solutions.Comment: 20 pages, 7 figure

Emotional (Dys)regulation and blood pressure levels

Neurophysiologic, motor/expressive and cognitive emotional domains are central factors in the integrative processes between psyche and soma. For Emotional Regulation (ER) we mean the synergic functioning of these domains. A deficit in the cognitive elaboration of emotion (i.e. alexithymia) might determinate a dys-regulation of Autonomous Nervous System (ANS) able to explain the relationship between alexithymia and hypertension found in many studies. The aims of this research are measuring ANS reactivity of young normotensive students during emotional situations according to individual ER ability. Sixty normotensive university students (men/women=30/30, mean age=23.57) selected on the basis of high (≥52) or low (≤35) alexithymia scores (TAS-20) participated in the study. After a rest time lasting 14 minutes they were involved into three experimental situations different only for the emotional valence of one event (either positive, negative, or neutral) they were asked to think, imagine and narrate. After each narration a physiologic recovery phase followed and the student rested quietly in silence for 10 minutes. Alexithymic students, compared to non alexithymic, showed higher systolic and diastolic BP values during baseline, narration phases and recovery time

Effects of scene contents on change detection in children

Children are better able to detect changes in photographs than in line drawings (Shore et al, 2006), but the reasons for this advantage are unclear. One explanation is that the photographs were more interesting. If so, children could detect better changes to interesting images than boring ones. To test this hypothesis, we manipulated the semantic content of pictures in a flicker change detection task. Our results contradicted this prediction: marginal changes to images containing more interesting subject matter were detected more slowly than changes to boring content. Interesting content made it harder for children to find the changes

Cancer of the breast and the receptor status

Correlation between survival and hormonal receptor status in patients with breast cancer is still controversial. The results of a study carried out, from 1973 to 1988, on 55 patients (average age 56.7) affected with breast cancer and submitted to radical (Halsted) mastectomy, are reported. Estradiol receptors (ER) and progesterone receptors (PR) were determined using the dextran-coated charcoal (DCC) method and the enzymatic immuno assay (EIA). The threshold value for defining the ER positivity was 10 f/mole/mg of cytosol protein and 50 f/mole/mg for PR positivity. Forty-one patients resulted as ER+, 31 were also PR+. Moreover, 41 patients were treated with tamoxifen (10 mg x 2 die per os). In a 15-year follow-up, no significant difference in survival rate between patients with receptor-positive tumors or treated with tamoxifen and patients with receptor-negative tumors was recorded

Circadian typology and hypertension

Several studies investigated the relationship between circadian typology (CT) and biological parameters variations, but no study evaluated whether changes in Blood Pressure (BP), recorded by an ambulatory BP monitoring on 24-hours (BP-24h), can be affected by subject’s CT. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether people with different chronotypes, identified by using subjective measures, show different patterns of cardiovascular responses in relation to wakefulness and sleep states. 215 subjects (M/F 108/107; mean age 49.7) underwent to a BP-24h and filled in the Morning and Evening Questionnaire (MEQ), for evaluating CT. Results showed a CT by Gender interaction on Systolic BP (during 24h:p<.01, wake:p<.03, sleep:p<.01), indicating that Evening-type Men have higher BP levels as respect to Evening-type Women, Intermediate and Morning-type Men. CT was not related to BP differences during Wake and Sleep. These results suggest that evening-type men are more exposed to the risk of cardiovascular diseases

Isolamento di Legionella spp. mediante metodi colturali e tecniche molecolari in matrici ambientali prelevate in una struttura ospedaliera pubblica

An epidemiologic study on the isolation of Legionella spp from the sanitary water of a public Hospital in Cagliari (Italy) has been performed. The aim of the study was the comparison between the isolation of various Legionella spp from different hospital sources and the real hazard of Legionella infection of the inpatients. Two test methods were used for Legionella detection: a) the culture on selective media, that has the disadvantage of being quite time-consuming and of isolating also other bacterial species. Furthermore, the culture method often fails the isolation of vital but not culturable bacteria (VBNC); b) the PCR molecular method, which is rapid and precise and recognizes also VBNC cells. The most relevant result of this work was that, in spite of the isolation of a considerable number of Legionella spp (even Legionella pneumophila), no case of infection was detected in the Hospital during the period of the study

Tipologia circadiana e ipertensione

Sebbene un’ampia letteratura (1) si sia interessata del rapporto tra tipologia circadiana e variazioni dei parametri biologici, meno numerosi sono gli studi che hanno approfondito la sua associazione con i meccanismi cardiovascolari (2). Al momento, non vi sono studi che valutano le variazioni della Pressione Arteriosa (PA) e della Frequenza Cardiaca (FC), registrate attraverso il monitoraggio ambulatorio nelle 24 ore in situazioni di vita quotidiana, in funzione della tipologia circadiana. Con questo studio vogliamo valutare se diversi cronotipi, individuati attraverso l’uso di misure soggettive, presentino differenti pattern di risposta cardiovascolare in rapporto agli stati di veglia e sonno e se, tali differenze, possano rivelare una maggiore propensione verso lo sviluppo della patologia ipertensiva. Alla ricerca hanno partecipato 215 soggetti (M/F 108/107; Età media 49.7±2.5) che hanno effettuato un monitoraggio ambulatorio della PA per 24 ore. La Tipologia Circadiana Totale (TCT) è stata valutata attraverso il Morning and Evening Questionnaire (MEQ) secondo la codifica proposta da Horne e Ostberg (3). Per valutare la relazione tra TCT e variazioni della PA e della FC sono state eseguite delle MANCOVA e delle ANCOVA, che hanno considerato come fattori indipendenti la TCT a tre livelli (Serotini, Intermedi, Mattutini) e il Genere a due livelli (Uomini-Donne), come covariata l’Età e come variabili dipendenti i livelli medi della pressione arteriosa (considerata separatamente per le 24 ore, la veglia e il sonno). Si evidenziano effetti d’interazione sulla PA sistolica (nelle 24 ore p< .01; nella veglia p< .03; nel sonno p< .01): gli uomini serotini hanno livelli pressori maggiori sia rispetto agli intermedi che ai mattutini, sia rispetto alle donne serotine. Non si riscontrano differenze della TCT in rapporto agli stati di veglia e sonno. Sono state, inoltre, eseguite delle ANCOVA per ognuna delle tre scale del MEQ (Prestazione, Stanchezza, Risveglio) secondo la siglatura proposta da Violani (4); le tre scale sono state considerate separatamente come fattori indipendenti a tre livelli (Serotini, Intermedi, Mattutini) assieme al Genere, si è considerata l’Età come covariata e come variabili dipendenti le stesse delle analisi precedenti. Si è osservata un’interazione Prestazione x Genere sulla PA sistolica (nelle 24 ore p< .04; nella veglia p< .04; nel sonno p< .02): le donne serotine hanno livelli pressori minori sia rispetto alle intermedie che alle mattutine, sia rispetto agli uomini serotini. I risultati suggeriscono che gli uomini serotini sarebbero maggiormente esposti a rischi di natura cardiovascolare. La conoscenza della tipologia circadiana potrebbe trovare importanti applicazioni nell’ambito della cronoterapia: quest’ultima fornirebbe un mezzo per individuare gli orari più adeguati per la somministrazione del trattamento farmacologico a ciascun paziente