Liberation technology: mobile phones and politicalmobilization in Africa

Can digital information and communication technology (ICT) foster mass political mobilization? We use a novel geo-referenced dataset for the entire African continent between 1998 and 2012 on the coverage of mobile phone signal together with geo-referenced data from multiple sources on the occurrence of protests and on individual participation in protests to bring this argument to empirical scrutiny. We find that mobile phones are instrumental to mass mobilization during economic downturns, when reasons for grievance emerge and the cost of participation falls. Estimated effects are if anything larger once we use an instrumental variable approach that relies on differential trends in coverage across areas with different incidence of lightning strikes. The results are in line with insights from a network model with imperfect information and strategic complementarities in protest provision. Mobile phones make individuals more responsive to both changes in economic conditions - a mechanism that we ascribe to enhanced information - and to their neighbors’ articipation - a mechanism that we ascribe to enhanced coordination. Empirically both effects are at play, highlighting the channels through which digital ICT can alleviate the collective action problem

Timed Process Calculi: From Durationless Actions to Durational Ones

Several timed process calculi have been proposed in the literature, which mainly differ for the way in which delays are represented. In particular, a distinction is made between integrated-time calculi, in which actions are durational, and orthogonal-time calculi, in which actions are instantaneous and delays are expressed separately. To reconcile the two approaches, in a previous work an encoding from the integrated-time calculus CIPA to the orthogonal-time calculus TCCS was defined, which preserves timed bisimilarity. To complete the picture, in this paper we consider the reverse translation, by examining the modifications to the two calculi that are needed to make an encoding feasible, as well as the behavioral equivalence that is appropriate to preserve. We then introduce an encoding from modified TCCS to modified CIPA, and show that it can only preserve the weak variant of timed bisimilarity

Mobile internet and the rise of political tribalism in Europe

We study the political effects of the diffusion of mobile Internet between 2007 and 2017, using data on electoral outcomes and on mobile Internet signal across the 84,564 municipalities of 22 European countries. We find that access to mobile Internet increased voters' support for right-wing populist parties and for parties running on extreme socially conservative platforms, primarily in areas with greater economic deprivation. Using survey data, we also show that mobile Internet increased communitarian attitudes, such as nationalism and dislike of strangers and minorities. We conclude that mobile Internet benefitted right-wing populist parties because, in line with findings in social psychology, it fostered offline tribalism

Topological classifier for detecting the emergence of epileptic seizures

Objective An innovative method based on topological data analysis is introduced for classifying EEG recordings of patients affected by epilepsy. We construct a topological space from a collection of EEGs signals using Persistent Homology; then, we analyse the space by Persistent entropy, a global topological feature, in order to classify healthy and epileptic signals. Results The performance of the resulting one-feature-based linear topological classifier is tested by analysing the Physionet dataset. The quality of classification is evaluated in terms of the Area Under Curve (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristic curve. It is shown that the linear topological classifier has an AUC equal to 97.2% while the performance of a classifier based on Sample Entropy has an AUC equal to 62.0%

In vitro and in vivo evaluation of NCX 4040 cytotoxic activity in human colon cancer cell lines

BACKGROUND: Nitric oxide-releasing nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NO-NSAIDs) are reported to be safer than NSAIDs because of their lower gastric toxicity. We compared the effect of a novel NO-releasing derivate, NCX 4040, with that of aspirin and its denitrated analog, NCX 4042, in in vitro and in vivo human colon cancer models and investigated the mechanisms of action underlying its antitumor activity. METHODS: In vitro cytotoxicity was evaluated on a panel of colon cancer lines (LoVo, LoVo Dx, WiDr and LRWZ) by sulforhodamine B assay. Cell cycle perturbations and apoptosis were evaluated by flow cytometry. Protein expression was detected by Western blot. In the in vivo experiments, tumor-bearing mice were treated with NCX 4040, five times a week, for six consecutive weeks. RESULTS: In the in vitro studies, aspirin and NCX 4042 did not induce an effect on any of the cell lines, whereas NCX 4040 produced a marked cytostatic dose-related effect, indicating a pivotal role of the -NO(2 )group. Furthermore, in LoVo and LRWZ cell lines, we observed caspase-9 and -3-mediated apoptosis, whereas no apoptotic effect was observed after drug exposure in WiDr or LoVo Dx cell lines. In in vivo studies, both NCX 4040 and its parental compound were administered per os. NCX 4040 induced a 40% reduction in tumor weight. Conversely, aspirin did not influence tumor growth at all. CONCLUSIONS: NCX 4040, but not its parental compound, aspirin, showed an in vitro and in vivo antiproliferative activity, indicating its potential usefulness to treat colon cancer

Study of molecular mechanisms of pro-apoptotic activity of NCX 4040, a novel nitric oxide-releasing aspirin, in colon cancer cell lines

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Despite numerous studies aimed at verifying the antitumor activity of nitric oxide-releasing nonsteroidal antiflammatory drugs (NO-NSAIDs), little is known about the molecular targets responsible for their antineoplastic properties. In the present study, we investigated the mechanisms underlying the cytotoxicity of NCX 4040, a novel NO-aspirin with promising antineoplastic action, in <it>in vitro </it>human colon cancer models.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The effect on tumor growth was evaluated in four human colon cancer cell lines (LoVo, LRWZ, WiDr and LoVo Dx) by sulforhodamine B assay, oxidative stress by immunohistochemistry, apoptosis by laddering assay, mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨ_m) by flow cytometry, and apoptosis- and chemoresistance-related markers by western-blot and real-time method, respectively. Prostaglandin E₂levels were determined by ELISA.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>NCX 4040 produced a higher cytotoxic effect in all the cell lines than that produced by other NO donors tested. In particular, in LoVo and LRWZ cells, NCX 4040 induced a cytocidal effect and apoptosis through p53 and NAG-1 expression, an early ΔΨ_mcollapse, and a sequential release of cytoplasmatic cytochrome c and caspase -9 and -3 active forms. 8-hydroxyguanine lesions, indicative of oxidative stress, were also observed. Conversely, in WiDr line, the drug caused a cytocidal effect, albeit not through apoptosis, and a concomitant increase in COX-2 activity. In LoVo Dx line, characterized by high levels drug resistance and DNA repair-related markers, only a cytostatic effect was observed, again in concomitance with the increase in COX-2 enzyme activity.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study highlights the multiplicity of mechanisms involved in sensitivity or resistance to NCX 4040 and could provide useful indications for tailored therapy by identifying potentially drug-responsive tumors.</p

Emerging Role of MicroRNAs in the Therapeutic Response in Cervical Cancer: A Systematic Review

Cervical cancer is a common female cancer, with nearly 600,000 cases and more than 300,000 deaths worldwide every year. From a clinical point of view, surgery plays a key role in early cancer management, whereas advanced stages are treated with chemotherapy and/or radiation as adjuvant therapies. Nevertheless, predicting the degree of cancer response to chemotherapy or radiation therapy at diagnosis in order to personalize the clinical approach represents the biggest challenge in locally advanced cancers. The feasibility of such predictive models has been repeatedly assessed using histopathological factors, imaging and nuclear methods, tissue and fluid scans, however with poor results. In this context, the identification of novel potential biomarkers remains an unmet clinical need, and microRNAs (miRNAs) represent an interesting opportunity. With this in mind, the aim of this systematic review was to map the current literature on tumor and circulating miRNAs identified as significantly associated with the therapeutic response in cervical cancer; finally, a perspective point of view sheds light on the challenges ahead in this tumor

Electrochemotherapy in Vulvar Cancer and Cisplatin Combined with Electroporation. Systematic Review and In Vitro Studies

Electrochemotherapy (ECT) is an emerging treatment for solid tumors and an attractive research field due to its clinical results. This therapy represents an alternative local treatment to the standard ones and is based on the tumor-directed delivery of non-ablative electrical pulses to maximize the action of specific cytotoxic drugs such as cisplatin (CSP) and bleomycin (BLM) and to promote cancer cell death. Nowadays, ECT is mainly recommended as palliative treatment. However, it can be applied to a wide range of superficial cancers, having an impact in preventing or delaying tumor progression and therefore in improving quality of life. In addition, during the natural history of the tumor, early ECT may improve patient outcomes. Our group has extensive clinical and research experience on ECT in vulvar tumors in the palliative setting, with 70% overall response rate. So far, in most studies, ECT was based on BLM. However, the potential of CSP in this setting seems interesting due to some theoretical advantages. The purpose of this report is to: (i) compare the efficacy of CSP and BLM-based ECT through a systematic literature review; (ii) report the results of our studies on CSP-resistant squamous cell tumors cell lines and the possibility to overcome chemoresistance using ECT; (iii) discuss the future ECT role in gynecological tumors and in particular in vulvar carcinoma