Integration of geophysical datasets by a conjoint probability tomography approach: application to Italian active volcanic areas

We expand the theory of probability tomography to the integration of different geophysical datasets. The aim of the new method is to improve the information quality using a conjoint occurrence probability function addressed to highlight the existence of common sources of anomalies. The new method is tested on gravity, magnetic and self-potential datasets collected in the volcanic area of Mt. Vesuvius (Naples), and on gravity and dipole geoelectrical datasets collected in the volcanic area of Mt. Etna (Sicily). The application demonstrates that, from a probabilistic point of view, the integrated analysis can delineate the signature of some important volcanic targets better than the analysis of the tomographic image of each dataset considered separately

Advanced magnetic visualization of Mt. Vesuvius shallow plumbing system by probability tomography

We show the results of the application of a new magnetic probability tomography imaging method to the aeromagnetic dataset collected by AGIP on Mt. Vesuvius in 1978. A magnetic dipole occurrence probability function is defined in such a way as to contain all information about the whole class of equivalent sources compatible with the original survey dataset. An advanced 3D visual system is also applied for the first time to visualise the spacial pattern of the magnetic dipole occurrence probability function. It is shown that in the case of Vesuvius, the shallow plumbing system is characterised by a high probability of occurrence of a dipole at 2 km of depth b.s.l., nearly directed along the present main earth’s magnetic field. This leads to hypothesize that the top terminal portion of the volcanic apparatus is completely filled with magnetised volcanic material

Examples of application of tensorial resistivity probability tomography to architectonic and archaeological targets

We present the results of the application of the tensor resistivity method to the assessment of the state of conservation of some architectonic features of the S.Giovanni a Carbonara monumental monastery (Naples, Italy) and to the recognition of buried remains in the archaeological site of the roman Port of Claudius at Fiumicino (Rome, Italy). The 3D tomographic approach, based on the concept of resistivity anomaly source occurrence probability, has been used for the analysis of the invariant parameter related to the trace of the determinant of the apparent resistivity tensor

Medical Liability: Review of a Whole Year of Judgments of the Civil Court of Rome

Background: Complaints about medical malpractice have increased over time in Italy, as well as other countries around the world. This scenario, perceived by some as a "malpractice crisis", is a subject of debate in health law and medical law. The costs arising from medical liability lawsuits weigh not only on individual professionals but also on the budgets of healthcare facilities, many of which in Italy are supported by public funds. A full understanding of the phenomenon of medical malpractice appears necessary in order to manage this spreading issue and possibly to reduce the health liability costs. Methods: The retrospective review concerned all the judgments drawn up by the Judges of the Civil Court of Rome, XIII Chamber (competent and specialized section for professional liability trials) published between January 2018 and February 2019. Results: The analysis of data concerning the involved parties showed that in 84.6% of the judgments taken into account, one or more health facilities were sued, while in 58.2% of cases, one or more health workers were present among the defendants. When healthcare providers are the only ones to be summoned, it is dentists and aesthetic doctors/plastic surgeons who undergo most of the claims. In the overall period analyzed, the amount paid was 23,489,254.08 EUR with an average of 163,119.82 EUR. Conclusion: The evidence provided by the reported data is a useful tool to understand medical malpractice in Italy, especially with regard to the occurrence of the phenomenon at a legal level, an aspect still hardly mentioned by existing literature

New immunological potential markers for triple negative breast cancer: IL18R1, CD53, TRIM, Jaw1, LTB, PTPRCAP

Breast cancer (BC) is the second leading cause of cancer death in women worldwide, and settings of specific prognostic factors and efficacious therapies are made difficult by phenotypic heterogeneity of BC subtypes. Therefore, there is a current urgent need to define novel predictive genetic predictors that may be useful for stratifying patients with distinct prognostic outcomes. Here, we looked for novel molecular signatures for triple negative breast cancers (TNBCs). By a bioinformatic approach, we identified a panel of genes, whose expression was positively correlated with disease-free survival in TNBC patients, namely IL18R1, CD53, TRIM, Jaw1, LTB, and PTPRCAP, showing specific immune expression profiles linked to survival prediction; most of these genes are indeed expressed in immune cells and are required for productive lymphocyte activation. According to our hypothesis, these genes were not, or poorly, expressed in different TNBC cell lines, derived from either primary breast tumours or metastatic pleural effusions. This conclusion was further supported in vivo, as immuno-histochemical analysis on biopsies of TNBC invasive ductal carcinomas highlighted differential expression of these six genes in cancer cells, as well as in intra- and peri-tumoral infiltrating lymphocytes. Our data open to the possibility that inter-tumour heterogeneity of immune markers might have predictive value; further investigations are recommended in order to establish the real power of cancer-related immune profiles as prognostic factors

ASPETTI DELLA PRODUZIONE DEI PICCOLI RUMINANTI CON IMPATTO SULLA SALUTE UMANA

Negli ultimi anni l’attenzione del consumatore si è sempre più orientata verso le caratteristiche nutrizionali degli alimenti. Queste proprietà sono di grande importanza anche per quanto riguarda le produzioni dei piccoli ruminanti. Il presente lavoro ha lo scopo di riassumere i principali risultati emersi dal progetto di ricerca “Aspetti della produzione dei piccoli ruminanti con particolare impatto sulla salute umana”. Sono stati analizzati mediante i metodi descritti in letteratura: 1) i polimorfismi genetici dei biopeptidi del latte dei piccoli ruminanti; 2) le attività di alcuni enzimi della membrana del globulo di grasso e la frazione lipidica del latte ovino; 3) la qualità nutrizionale del latte e del formaggio ovino in relazione all’intensità di pascolamento; 4) le componenti bioattive di siero e scotta residui alla produzione dei formaggi ovi-caprini; 5) la resistenza genetica alle encefalopatie spongiformi trasmissibili e l’efficienza economica e biologica in razze ovine. I risultati ottenuti evidenziano, da svariati punti di vista, numerose potenzialità legate alle produzioni dei piccoli ruminanti e alle loro ricadute sulla salute umana

Emergence and Modular Evolution of a Novel Motility Machinery in Bacteria

Bacteria glide across solid surfaces by mechanisms that have remained largely mysterious despite decades of research. In the deltaproteobacterium Myxococcus xanthus, this locomotion allows the formation stress-resistant fruiting bodies where sporulation takes place. However, despite the large number of genes identified as important for gliding, no specific machinery has been identified so far, hampering in-depth investigations. Based on the premise that components of the gliding machinery must have co-evolved and encode both envelope-spanning proteins and a molecular motor, we re-annotated known gliding motility genes and examined their taxonomic distribution, genomic localization, and phylogeny. We successfully delineated three functionally related genetic clusters, which we proved experimentally carry genes encoding the basal gliding machinery in M. xanthus, using genetic and localization techniques. For the first time, this study identifies structural gliding motility genes in the Myxobacteria and opens new perspectives to study the motility mechanism. Furthermore, phylogenomics provide insight into how this machinery emerged from an ancestral conserved core of genes of unknown function that evolved to gliding by the recruitment of functional modules in Myxococcales. Surprisingly, this motility machinery appears to be highly related to a sporulation system, underscoring unsuspected common mechanisms in these apparently distinct morphogenic phenomena

Global mapping of cancers: The Cancer Genome Atlas and beyond

Cancer genomes have been explored from the early 2000s through massive exome sequencing efforts, leading to the publication of The Cancer Genome Atlas in 2013. Sequencing techniques have been developed alongside this project and have allowed scientists to bypass the limitation of costs for whole-genome sequencing (WGS) of single specimens by developing more accurate and extensive cancer sequencing projects, such as deep sequencing of whole genomes and transcriptomic analysis. The Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes recently published WGS data from more than 2600 human cancers together with almost 1200 related transcriptomes. The application of WGS on a large database allowed, for the first time in history, a global analysis of features such as molecular signatures, large structural variations and noncoding regions of the genome, as well as the evaluation of RNA alterations in the absence of underlying DNA mutations. The vast amount of data generated still needs to be thoroughly deciphered, and the advent of machine-learning approaches will be the next step towards the generation of personalized approaches for cancer medicine. The present manuscript wants to give a broad perspective on some of the biological evidence derived from the largest sequencing attempts on human cancers so far, discussing advantages and limitations of this approach and its power in the era of machine learning