Space dependent mean field approximation modelling

C. Zerafa and R. Cauchi acknowledge the support of the Strategic Educational Pathways Scholarship Scheme (Malta). These STEPS scholarships are part-financed by the European Union European Social Fund. B. Zapotoczny thanks for the PhD grant under Sub-Action 8.2.2 Regional Innovation Strategies, Activity 8.2 Know-How Transfer, Priority VIII Regional Business Personnel of the Human Capital Operational Programme, co-funded from the EU resources within the European Social Fund as well as the state budget and the Lubuskie Voivodship.It is shown that the self-consistency condition which is the basic equation for calculating the mean-field order parameter of any mean-field model Hamiltonian can be replaced by the standard Metropolis Monte Carlo scheme. The advantage of this method is its ease of implementation for both the homogeneous mean-field order parameter and the heterogeneous one. To be specific, the mean-field version of the Ising model spin system is discussed in detail and the resulting magnetization is the same as in the case of solving the respective mean-field self-consistency equation. In addition, it is shown that if a high temperature phase of such system is quenched below critical temperature then the mean field experienced by spins develops into a network of domains in analogous way as it happens with the spins in the case of the exact many-body Hamiltonian system and the coarsening processes start to take place. To show that the introduced Metropolis Monte Carlo method works also in case of the continuous variables the order parameter for the Maier-Saupe model for nematic liquid crystals has been calculated.peer-reviewe

Targeting Tumour-Initiating Cells with TRAIL Based Combination Therapy Ensures Complete and Lasting Eradication of Multiple Myeloma Tumours In Vivo

Multiple myeloma (MM) remains an incurable disease despite improvements to available treatments and efforts to identify new drug targets. Consequently new approaches are urgently required. We have investigated the potential of native tumour necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL), in combination with doxorubicin, to induce apoptotic cell death in phenotypically distinct populations of myeloma cells in vitro and in vivo. The cytotoxic potential of TRAIL alone, and in combination with DOX, was assessed in vitro in purified CD138+ and CD138− cells from the MM cell lines and samples from patients with MM. Mouse xenografts obtained by implanting CD138− MM cells were used to assess the efficacy of TRAIL, alone and in combination with DOX, in vivo. CD138− cells were shown to be more resistant to the cytotoxic activity of TRAIL than CD138+ cells and have reduced expression of TRAIL death receptors. This resistance results in preferential killing of CD 138+ cells during exposure of MM culture to TRAIL. Furthermore, prolonged exposure results in the appearance of TRAIL-resistant CD138− cells. However, when TRAIL is combined with doxorubicin, this results in complete eradication of MM cells in vivo. Most importantly, this treatment successfully eliminates CD138− cells implicated in tumour initiation and growth maintenance. These findings may explain the failure of current therapies and offer a promising new approach in the quest to cure MM and disseminated cancers

Rural sites in Northwest Malta: results of the Belgo-Maltese survey project

This poster presentation offers results of a joint survey project in the northwest of Malta with finds ranging from the Prehistoric till the Early Modern period. The project is a trilateral endeavour of the Department of Archaeology of Ghent University (Belgium), the University of Malta and the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage (Malta) since 2008. It is an intensive systematic field-walking survey in a kilometre-wide transect, beyond the main Phoenician and Punic urban centre on the island, the present-day Rabat/Mdina. It is interdisciplinary, involving not only archaeologists, but also ceramic specialists, geophysicists, geomatic specialists / topographers and geomorphologists. Three permanently inhabited sites were encountered dating to at least the late 6th or early 5th century BCE, with a clearer attestation in the Hellenistic/Roman period and Late Antique periods. The resulting reconstructed settlement pattern of the Phoenician/Punic period suggests a managed landscape that seems to be a good reflexion of what is happening in North Africa and elsewhere in the central and western Mediterranean. At least from the Roman period on, these sites seem to have specialised on the production of olive oil. The poster presentation focuses upon the major site in the survey transect, the Ġebel Għawżara site

Exploring the TRAILs less travelled: TRAIL in cancer biology and therapy

The discovery that the tumour necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) can induce apoptosis of cancer cells without causing toxicity in mice has led to the in-depth study of pro-apoptotic TRAIL receptor (TRAIL-R) signalling and the development of biotherapeutic drug candidates that activate TRAIL-Rs. The outcome of clinical trials with these TRAIL-R agonists has, however, been disappointing so far. Recent evidence indicates that many cancers, in addition to being TRAIL resistant, use the endogenous TRAIL–TRAIL-R system to their own advantage. However, novel insight on two fronts — how resistance of cancer cells to TRAIL-based pro-apoptotic therapies might be overcome, and how the pro-tumorigenic effects of endogenous TRAIL might be countered — gives reasonable hope that the TRAIL system can be harnessed to treat cancer. In this Review we assess the status quo of our understanding of the biology of the TRAIL–TRAIL-R system — as well as the gaps therein — and discuss the opportunities and challenges in effectively targeting this pathway