191 research outputs found
Integrazione dei dati di billing di un Carrier di Telefonia Mobile all'interno del ciclo "SD" di Sap tramite l’utilizzo di SAP NetWeaver
L’elaborato ha lo scopo di analizzare e studiare il ciclo di creazione e fatturazione di un ordine, tramite SAP R/3, e di facilitare il processo di inserimento di dati di billing provenienti da un carrier di telefonia mobile, mediante l’utilizzo di SAP XI
Microgravity Promotes Differentiation and Meiotic Entry of Postnatal Mouse Male Germ Cells
A critical step of spermatogenesis is the entry of mitotic spermatogonia into meiosis. Progresses on these topics are hampered by the lack of an in vitro culture system allowing mouse spermatogonia differentiation and entry into meiosis. Previous studies have shown that mouse pachytene spermatocytes cultured in simulated microgravity (SM) undergo a spontaneous meiotic progression. Here we report that mouse mitotic spermatogonia cultured under SM with a rotary cell culture system (RCCS) enter into meiosis in the absence of any added exogenous factor or contact with somatic cells. We found that isolated Kit-positive spermatogonia under the RCCS condition enter into the prophase of the first meiotic division (leptotene stage), as monitored by chromosomal organization of the synaptonemal complex 3 protein (Scp3) and up-regulation of several pro-meiotic genes. SM was found to activate the phosphatidyl inositol 3 kinase (PI3K) pathway and to induce in Kit-positive spermatogonia the last round of DNA replication, typical of the preleptotene stage. A PI3K inhibitor abolished Scp3 induction and meiotic entry stimulated by RCCS conditions. A positive effect of SM on germ cell differentiation was also observed in undifferentiated (Kit-negative) spermatogonia, in which RCCS conditions stimulate the expression of Kit and Stra8. In conclusion, SM is an artificial environmental condition which promotes postnatal male germ cell differentiation and might provide a tool to study the molecular mechanisms underlying the switch from mitosis to meiosis in mammals
Environment and bladder cancer: molecular analysis by interaction networks
Bladder cancer (BC) is the 9th most common cancer worldwide, and the 6th
most common cancer in men. Its development is linked to chronic inflammation,
genetic susceptibility, smoking, occupational exposures and environmental pollutants.
Aim of this work was to identify a sub-network of genes/proteins modulated by
environmental or arsenic exposure in BC by computational network approaches.
Our studies evidenced the presence of HUB nodes both in “BC and environment”
and “BC and arsenicals” networks. These HUB nodes resulted to be correlated to
circadian genes and targeted by some miRNAs already reported as involved in BC, thus
suggesting how they play an important role in BC development due to environmental
or arsenic exposure. Through data-mining analysis related to putative effect of the
identified HUB nodes on survival we identified genes/proteins and their mutations on
which it will be useful to focus further experimental studies related to the evaluation
of their expression in biological matrices and to their utility as biomarkers of BC developmen
Role of IL-6/STAT3 Axis in Resistance to Cisplatin in Gastric Cancers
Gastric cancer, the second most common cause of death worldwide, is characterized by poor prognosis and low responsiveness to chemotherapy. Indeed, multidrug resistance, based mainly on cellular and molecular factors, remains one of the most limiting factors of the current approach to gastric cancer (GC) therapy. We employed a comprehensive gene expression analysis through data mining of publicly available databases to assess the role of the signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) in gastric cancer drug efficiency. It has been proposed that gastric cancer cells are less sensitive to these drugs because they develop resistance to these agents through activating alternative signalling pathways responsible for overcoming pharmacological inhibition. Our study evaluated the hypothesis that activating STAT3 signalling in response to cisplatin reduces the reaction to the drug. Consistent with this hypothesis, inhibition of interleukin 6 (IL-6)/STAT3 in combination therapy with cisplatin prevented both STAT3 activation and more lethality than induction by a single agent. The data suggest that the IL-6/STAT3 axis block associated with cisplatin treatment may represent a strategy to overcome resistance
QualitĂ ambientale interna e percezione del comfort negli uffici
La qualità ambientale interna (domini acustico, termico, visivo e qualità dell’aria) influisce sul comfort degli occupanti. In seguito ad un’analisi di norme, strumenti di certificazione ambientale e letteratura, sono stati simulati lo stato di fatto e il progetto di un ufficio della sede dell'ARPA Valle d'Aosta. Sono stati sviluppati un protocollo e una visualizzazione grafica per individuare un metodo di valutazione e rappresentazione della qualità ambientale interna e del comfort percepito
Novelette, a Usable Visual Storytelling Digital Learning Environment
Educational digital storytelling is widely recognised as a powerful approach in developing literary skills, experiencing problem-solving and computational thinking, information and knowledge visualisation, building creativity and divergent thinking supported by technological solutions. However, educators feel that they miss opportunities, skills, and tools to support pupils developing creativity. Hence, we proposed a digital learning environment, named Novelette, to support both educators and learners in performing visual storytelling by scaffolding them in inventing and authoring stories. The main novelty of our approach lies in embedding literary artifices widely explored in learning settings into a digital learning environment, such as the opportunity to continue someone else’s story and the suggestion mechanism to explore analogies or synonyms starting from a word of interest. Novelette has been ideated not only as a learning environment for educators, but with educators, as it results from a user-centered and participatory design methodology to involve them in the entire design and development process actively. This paper focuses on the assessment of Novelette usability according to both educators and pupils. As a conclusive step of the co-design approach, developers tested the resulting usability according to educators in a controlled environment. Moreover, it reports usability according to learners in real settings at school. Results demonstrate that Novelette is considered usable by both target groups, and it is perceived as a powerful approach in developing creativity both according to quantitative insight offered by the System Usability Scale, a.k.a., SUS, and qualitative interpretations enabled with direct observations and structured after scenario questionnaires. We can conclude that Novelette is a pleasant and usable tool to invent and author stories and seems to be a promising approach to develop creativity
Development and Metrological Characterization of a Multi-sensor Device for Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) monitoring
Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ), which affects people's health, comfort, well-being and productivity,
combines thermal, visual, acoustic and air quality conditions. This work deals with design, development and metrological characterization of a low-cost multi-sensor device that is able to detect the quality conditions of indoor environments for IEQ purposes. The device, hereafter referred as PROMET&O (PROactive Monitoring for indoor EnvironmenTal quality & cOmfort) embeds a set of low-cost sensors that measure air temperature and relative humidity, illuminance, sound pressure level, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, particulate matter,
formaldehyde, and nitrogen dioxide. The basic architecture of the device is described and the design criteria that are related to the measurement requirements are highlighted. Particular attention has been paid towards the traceability assurance of the measurements provided by PROMET&O by means of specifically conceived calibration procedures, which have been tailored to the requirements of each measurement quantity. The calibration is based on the comparison to reference standards following commonly employed or ad-hoc developed technical procedures. The defined calibration procedures can be applied both for the single sensors and for the set of sensors integrated in the multi-sensor case. For the latter, the effects of the percentage of permeable case surface and the sensors allocation are also investigated. A preliminary uncertainty evaluation of
the proposed multi-sensor device is reported for the carbon dioxide and the illuminance sensors taking the defined calibration procedures into account
Gastric Cancer Stem Cells: A Glimpse on Metabolic Reprogramming
Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most widespread causes of cancer-related death worldwide. Recently, emerging implied that gastric cancer stem cells (GCSCs) play an important role in the initiation and progression of GC. This subpopulation comprises cells with several features, such as self-renewal capability, high proliferating rate, and ability to modify their metabolic program, which allow them to resist current anticancer therapies. Metabolic pathway intermediates play a pivotal role in regulating cell differentiation both in tumorigenesis and during normal development. Thus, the dysregulation of both anabolic and catabolic pathways constitutes a significant opportunity to target GCSCs in order to eradicate the tumor progression. In this review, we discuss the current knowledge about metabolic phenotype that supports GCSC proliferation and we overview the compounds that selectively target metabolic intermediates of CSCs that can be used as a strategy in cancer therapy
Elotuzumab plus pomalidomide and dexamethasone in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma: a multicenter, retrospective real-world experience with 200 cases outside of controlled clinical trials
In the ELOQUENT-3 trial, the combination of elotuzumab, pomalidomide and dexamethasone
(EloPd) proved a superior clinical benefit over Pd with a manageable toxicity profile, leading to its
approval in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM), who had received at least two prior
therapies, including lenalidomide and a proteasome inhibitor (PI).
We report here a real-world experience of 200 RRMMs treated with EloPd in 35 Italian centers
outside of clinical trials. In our dataset, the median number of prior lines of therapy was 2, with
51% of cases undergoing autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) and 73% exposed to
daratumumab.
After a median follow-up of 9 months, 126 patients stopped EloPd, most of them (88.9%) because
of disease progression. The overall response rate (ORR) was 55.4%, in line with the pivotal trial
results. Regarding adverse events, our cohort experienced a toxicity profile similar to the
ELOQUENT-3 trial, with no significant differences between younger (<70 years) and older
patients. The median progression-free survival (PFS) was 7 months, shorter than that observed in
the ELOQUENT-3, probably due to the different clinical characteristics of the two cohorts.
Interestingly, the ISS stage III (HR:2.55) was associated with worse PFS. Finally, our series's
median overall survival (OS) was shorter than that observed in the ELOQUENT-3 trial (17.5 versus
29.8 months). In conclusion, our real-world study confirms EloPd as a safe and possible therapeutic
choice for RRMM who received at least two prior therapies, including lenalidomide and a PI
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