Implemented to Be Shared: the WoPoss Annotation of Semantic Modality in a Latin Diachronic Corpus

The SNSF project A World of Possibilities [WoPoss] aims at tracking the evolution of modal meanings in the diachrony of the Latin language. Passages expressing modal notions of ‘necessity’, ‘possibility’ and ‘volition’ are annotated following a pipeline that combines both automatic and fine-grained manual annotation. Texts are first gathered from different online open access resources to create the initial dataset. Owing to the heterogeneity of formats and encodings, the files are regularized before the implementation of the automatic annotation of linguistic features. They are then uploaded to the annotation platform [INCEpTION] which has been previously customized for the fine-grained manual annotation [Bermúdez Sabel, in press]. This second type of annotation is carried out following the WoPoss guidelines [Dell’Oro, 2019] and it also involves checking the automatic annotation for curation. In a third stage the files are automatically enriched with metadata. In this paper, we focus on the first two phases of the workflow – i.e. the gathering and automatic annotation of the texts and the fine-grained manual annotation –, which have been the core tasks of the WoPoss team in the first year of the project (2019-2020)

Normal hepatocyte transplantation delays the emergence of chemically induced preneoplastic nodules in rat liver

Cancer often arises in a background of chronic tissue damage. It is also increasingly appreciated that such an injured tissue microenvironment might foster the selective emergence of altered cells, leading to neoplasia. Accordingly, reversal of chronic tissue damage could represent a potential strategy to counteract neoplastic disease. In these studies, we aim to investigate whether transplantation of normal cells in the context of an injured, neoplastic-prone microenvironment might impact on the evolution of the carcinogenic process. A rat model of chemically-induced hepatocarcinogenesis was used. Animals were given a single dose of diethylnitrosamine (DENA), followed by two injections of retrorsine (RS), a pyrrolizidine alkaloid that imposes a persistent block on hepatocyte cell cycle. At the end of this protocol, rats were either given no further treatment or injected, via the portal circulation, with 4 million normal hepatocytes isolated from a syngenic donor. A second group of animals was similarly exposed to DENA+RS protocol followed by transplantation of normal hepatocytes. After 3 months, rats given DENA+RS alone displayed numerous discrete nodular lesions (up to 30 per liver), ranging 1 to 3 mm in size. On the other hand, in animals receiving DENA+RS and transplantation, donor hepatocytes were able to repopulate over 50% host liver, as expected. Most importantly, both the number and the size of hepatocyte nodules were greatly reduced in these animals (percent nodular area was 1.8±0.3, down from a control value of 8.5±2.8). The above data indicate that strategies aimed at re-establishing a normal tissue microenvironment might be relevant to the management of neoplastic disease

Regenerative medicine: shedding light into the link between aging and cancer

The evidence linking aging and cancer is overwhelming. Findings emerging from the field of regenerative medicine reinforce the notion that aging and cancer are profoundly interrelated in their pathogenetic pathways. We discuss evidence to indicate that age-associated alterations in the tissue microenvironment contribute to the emergence of a neoplastic-prone tissue landscape, which is able to support the selective growth of pre-neoplastic cell populations. Interestingly, tissue contexts that are able to select for the growth of pre-neoplastic cells, including the aged liver microenvironment, are also supportive for the clonal expansion of normal, homotypic, transplanted cells. This suggests that the growth of normal and pre-neoplastic cells is possibly driven by similar mechanisms, implying that strategies based on principles of regenerative medicine might be applicable to modulate neoplastic disease

Visualisation of semantic shifts: the case of modal markers

Poster submission for DH2020. This poster discusses the adequacy of semantic maps for the representation of semantic shifts and how previous models can be enriched by using visual cues to add more information. The poster presents a visualisation proposal applied to the diachronic study of modal markers in Latin

Aging promotes neoplastic disease through effects on the tissue microenvironment

A better understanding of the complex relationship between aging and cancer will provide important tools for the prevention and treatment of neoplasia. In these studies, the hypothesis was tested that aging may fuel carcinogenesis via alterations imposed in the tissue microenvironment. Preneoplastic hepatocytes isolated from liver nodules were orthotopically injected into either young or old syngeneic rats and their fate was followed over time using the dipeptidyl-peptidase type IV (DPPIV) system to track donor-derived-cells. At 3 months post-Tx, the mean size of donor-derived clusters was 11±3 cells in young vs. 42±8 in old recipients. At 8 months post-Tx, no visible lesion were detected in any of 21 young recipients, while 17/18 animals transplanted at old age displayed hepatic nodules, including 7 large tumors. All tumors expressed the DPPIV marker enzyme, indicating that they originated from transplanted cells. Expression of senescence-associated β-galactosidase was common in liver of 18-month old animals, while it was a rare finding in young controls. Finally, both mRNA and IL6 protein were found to be increased in the liver of aged rats compared to young controls. These results are interpreted to indicate that the microenvironment of the aged liver promotes the growth of pre-neoplastic hepatocytes

Evaluation of the Antimicrobial Properties of the Essential Oil of Myrtus communis L. against Clinical Strains of Mycobacterium spp.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the etiological agent of tuberculosis. The World Health Organization has estimated that 8 million of people develop active TB every year and the situation is complicated by an increase of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains resistant to drugs used in antitubercular therapy: MDR and XDR-TB. Myrtle leaf extracts, used as an antiseptic in Sardinian traditional medicine, have strong antibacterial activity as several investigations showed. In this study we investigated the antimicrobial properties of the essential oil of Myrtus communis against clinical strains of M. tuberculosis and M. paratuberculosis

Analoghi chinossalinici omologhi del thymitaq e 2-(ariltio)chinossaline analoghe del trimetrexato e del metotrexato

Abbiamo progettato una nuove serie di chinossaline le quali possono comportarsi come bioisosteri delle pteridine e delle chinazoline dotate di attività antifolica, apparse recentemente in letteratura

Bio-Ecological Features Update on Eleven Rare Cartilaginous Fish in the Central-Western Mediterranean Sea as a Contribution for Their Conservation

Cartilaginous fish are commonly recognized as key species in marine ecosystems for their fundamental ecological role as top predators. Nevertheless, effective management plans for cartilagi- nous fish are still missing, due to the lack of knowledge on their abundance, distribution or even life-history. In this regard, this paper aims at providing new information on the life-history traits, such as age, maturity, reproductive period, in addition to diet characteristics of eleven rare cartilagi- nous fish inhabiting the Central-Western Mediterranean Sea belonging to the orders Chimaeriformes (Chimaera monstrosa), Hexanchiformes (Heptranchias perlo and Hexanchus griseus), Myliobatiformes (Aetomylaeus bovinus and Myliobatis aquila), Rajiformes (Dipturus nidarosiensis and Leucoraja circu- laris), Squaliformes (Centrophorus uyato, Dalatias licha and Oxynotus centrina) and Torpediniformes (Tetronarce nobiliana), useful for their assessment and for future management actions. Particularly, the present paper provides for the first time the age estimation of D. nidarosienis and L. circularis which were both found capable of becoming older than ten years. In addition, the present study updates the sizes of first maturity of C. uyato and D. licha, which appeared to be capable of reproducing earlier than what was previously hypothesized, representing very valuable information for a better understanding of these rare species populations status and, eventually, their conservation. On the basis of the stomach content analysis, it was possible to identify five different predator groups