On some categorical-algebraic conditions in S-protomodular categories

In the context of protomodular categories, several additional conditions have been considered in order to obtain a closer group-like behavior. Among them are locally algebraic cartesian closedness and algebraic coherence. The recent notion of S-protomodular category, whose main examples are the category of monoids and, more generally, categories of monoids with operations and Jo\'{o}nsson-Tarski varieties, raises a similar question: how to get a description of S-protomodular categories with a strong monoid-like behavior. In this paper we consider relative versions of the conditions mentioned above, in order to exhibit the parallelism with the "absolute" protomodular context and to obtain a hierarchy among S-protomodular categories

On the representability of actions for topological algebras

The actions of a group B on a group X correspond bijectively to the group homomorphisms B ⟶ Aut(X), proving that the functor “actions on X” is representable by the group of automorphisms of X. Making the detour through pseudotopological spaces, we generalize this result to the topological case, for quasi-locally compact groups and some other algebraic structures. We investigate next the case of arbitrary topological algebras for a semi-abelian theory and prove that the representability of topological actions reduces to the preservation of coproducts by the functor Act(−,X)

A criterion for reflectiveness of normal extensions

We give a new sufficient condition for the normal extensions in an admissible Galois structure to be reflective. We then show that this condition is indeed fulfilled when X is the (protomodular) reflective subcategory of S-special objects of a Barr-exact S-protomodular category C, where S is the class of split epimorphic trivial extensions in C. Next to some concrete examples where the criterion may be applied, we also study the adjunction between a Barr-exact unital category and its abelian core, which we prove to be admissible

On lax protomodularity for Ord-enriched categories

Our main focus concerns a possible lax version of the algebraic property of protomodularity for Ord -enriched categories. Having in mind the role of comma objects in the enriched context, we consider some of the characteristic properties of protomodularity with respect to comma objects instead of pullbacks. We show that the equivalence between protomodularity and certain properties on pullbacks also holds when replacing conveniently pullbacks by comma objects in any finitely complete category enriched in Ord, and propose to call lax protomodular such Ord -enriched categories. We conclude by studying this sort of lax protomodularity for the category OrdAb of preordered abelian groups, equipped with a suitable Ord -enrichment, and show that OrdAb fulfills the equivalent lax protomodular properties with respect to the weaker notion of precomma object; we call such categories lax preprotomodular. (c) 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http:// creativecommons .org /licenses /by -nc -nd /4 .0/).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

An EBC/Plasma miRNA Signature Discriminates Lung Adenocarcinomas From Pleural Mesothelioma and Healthy Controls

Background: Despite significant improvement in screening programs for cancers of the respiratory district, especially in at-risk subjects, early disease detection is still a major issue. In this scenario, new molecular and non-invasive biomarkers are needed to improve early disease diagnosis. Methods: We profiled the miRNome in exhaled breath condensate (EBC) and plasma samples from fourteen patients affected by lung AdCa, nine healthy subjects. miRNA signatures were then analyzed in another neoplasia of the respiratory district, i.e. pleural mesothelioma (n = 23) and subjects previously exposed to asbestos were used as controls for this cohort (n = 19). Selected miRNAs were analyzed in purified pulmonary neoplastic or normal epithelial and stromal cell subpopulation from AdCa patients. Finally, the plasmatic miRNA signature was analyzed in a publicly available cohort of NSCLC patients for data validation and in silico analysis was performed with predicted miRNA targets using the multiMiR tool and STRING database. Results: miR-597-5p and miR-1260a are significantly over-expressed in EBC from lung AdCa and are associated with AdCa. Similarly, miR-1260a is also up-regulated in the plasma of AdCa patients together with miR-518f-3p and correlates with presence of lung cancer, whereas let-7f-5p is under-expressed. Analysis of these circulating miRNAs in pleural mesothelioma cases confirmed that up-regulation of miR-518f-3p, -597-5p and -1260a, is specific for lung AdCa. Lastly, quantification of the miRNAs in laser-assisted microdissected lung tissues revealed that miR-518f-3p, 597-5p and miR-1260a are predominantly expressed in tumor epithelial cells. Validation analysis confirmed miR-518f-3p as a possible circulating biomarker of NSCLC. In silico analysis of the potentially modulated biological processes by these three miRNAs, shows that tumor bioenergetics are the most affected pathways. Conclusions: Overall, our data suggest a 3-miRNAs signature as a non-invasive and accurate biomarker of lung AdCa. This approach could supplement the current screening approaches for early lung cancer diagnosis

Characteristics and patterns of care of endometrial cancer before and during COVID-19 pandemic

Objective: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak has correlated with the disruption of screening activities and diagnostic assessments. Endometrial cancer (EC) is one of the most common gynecological malignancies and it is often detected at an early stage, because it frequently produces symptoms. Here, we aim to investigate the impact of COVID-19 outbreak on patterns of presentation and treatment of EC patients. Methods: This is a retrospective study involving 54 centers in Italy. We evaluated patterns of presentation and treatment of EC patients before (period 1: March 1, 2019 to February 29, 2020) and during (period 2: April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021) the COVID-19 outbreak. Results: Medical records of 5,164 EC patients have been retrieved: 2,718 and 2,446 women treated in period 1 and period 2, respectively. Surgery was the mainstay of treatment in both periods (p=0.356). Nodal assessment was omitted in 689 (27.3%) and 484 (21.2%) patients treated in period 1 and 2, respectively (p<0.001). While, the prevalence of patients undergoing sentinel node mapping (with or without backup lymphadenectomy) has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic (46.7% in period 1 vs. 52.8% in period 2; p<0.001). Overall, 1,280 (50.4%) and 1,021 (44.7%) patients had no adjuvant therapy in period 1 and 2, respectively (p<0.001). Adjuvant therapy use has increased during COVID-19 pandemic (p<0.001). Conclusion: Our data suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the characteristics and patterns of care of EC patients. These findings highlight the need to implement healthcare services during the pandemic

Characteristic subobjects in semi-abelian categories

We extend to semi-abelian categories the notion of characteristic subob- ject, which is widely used in group theory and in the theory of Lie algebras. Moreover, we show that many of the classical properties of characteristic subgroups of a group hold in the general semi-abelian context, or in stronger ones