Neutrons from Piezonuclear Reactions

We report the results obtained by cavitating water solutions of iron salts (iron chloride and iron nitrate) with different concentrations at different ultrasound powers. In all cases we detected a neutron radiation well higher than the background level. The neutron production is perfectly reproducible and can at some extent be controlled. These evidences for neutron emission generated by cavitation support some preliminary clues for the possibility of piezonuclear reactions (namely nuclear reactions induced by pressure and shock waves) obtained in the last ten years. We have been able for the first time to state some basic features of such a neutron emission induced by cavitation, namely: 1) a marked threshold behavior in power, energy and time; 2) its occurring without a concomitant production of gamma radiation.Comment: 8 figures; we added some more important references; we replaced some figures with more detailed ones; we added more comprehensive details which could not be desclosed before as part of private patents which have been published no

Pro-invasive stimuli and the interacting protein Hsp70 favour the route of alpha-enolase to the cell surface

Cell surface expression of alpha-enolase, a glycolytic enzyme displaying moonlighting activities, has been shown to contribute to the motility and invasiveness of cancer cells through the protein non-enzymatic function of binding plasminogen and enhancing plasmin formation. Although a few recent records indicate the involvement of protein partners in the localization of alpha-enolase to the plasma membrane, the cellular mechanisms underlying surface exposure remain largely elusive. Searching for novel interactors and signalling pathways, we used low-metastatic breast cancer cells, a doxorubicin-resistant counterpart and a non-tumourigenic mammary epithelial cell line. Here, we demonstrate by a combination of experimental approaches that epidermal growth factor (EGF) exposure, like lipopolysaccharide (LPS) exposure, promotes the surface expression of alpha-enolase. We also establish Heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70), a multifunctional chaperone distributed in intracellular, plasma membrane and extracellular compartments, as a novel alpha-enolase interactor and demonstrate a functional involvement of Hsp70 in the surface localization of alpha-enolase. Our results contribute to shedding light on the control of surface expression of alpha-enolase in non-tumourigenic and cancer cells and suggest novel targets to counteract the metastatic potential of tumours

Detecting significant features in modeling microRNA-target interactions

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNA molecules mediating the translational repression and degradation of target mRNAs in the cell. Mature miRNAs are used as a template by the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) to recognize the complementary mRNAs to be regulated. Up to 60% of human genes are putative targets of one or more miRNAs. Several prediction tools are available to suggest putative miRNA targets, however, only a small part of the interaction pairs has been validated by experimental approaches. The analysis of the expression profile of the RNA fraction immunoprecipitated (IP) with the RISC proteins is an established method to detect which genes are actually regulated by the RISC machinery. In fact, genes that result over-expressed in the IP sample with respect to the whole cell lysate RNA, are considered as involved in the RISC complex, then miRNA targets. Here, we aim to find the features useful to predict which genes are overexpressed in IP, i.e. miRNA targets, without actually performing the IP experiments. To this purpose, we compiled and analyzed a novel high throughput data set suitable to unravel the features involved in the miRNA regulatory activities. We analyzed IP samples obtained by the immunoprecipitation of two RISC proteins, AGO2 and GW182. The two proteins shows different behaviors, in terms of enriched genes and features characterizing the immunoprecipitated RNA fractio. Further analysis is needed to unravel the reason of such different behavior

The shadow of light: further experimental evidences

We report the results of a double-slit-like experiment in the infrared range, which confirm those of a previous one by evidencing an anomalous behaviour of photon systems under particular (energy and space) constraints. These outcomes (independently confirmed by crossing photon beam experiments in both the optical and the microwave range) apparently rule out the Copenhagen interpretation of the quantum wave, i.e. the probability wave, by admitting an interpretation in terms of the Einstein-de Broglie-Bohm hollow wave for photons. Moreover, this second experiment further supports the interpretation of the hollow wave as a deformation of the Minkowski space-time geometry

On the Multi-Language Construction

Modern software is no more developed in a single programming language. Instead, programmers tend to exploit cross-language interoperability mechanisms to combine code stemming from different languages, and thus yielding fully-fledged multi-language programs. Whilst this approach enables developers to benefit from the strengths of each single-language, on the other hand it complicates the semantics of such programs. Indeed, the resulting multi-language does not meet any of the semantics of the combined languages. In this paper, we broaden the boundary functions-based approach a la Matthews and Findler to propose an algebraic framework that provides a constructive mathematical notion of multi-language able to determine its semantics. The aim of this work is to overcome the lack of a formal method (resp., model) to design (resp., represent) a multi-language, regardless of the inherent nature of the underlying languages. We show that our construction ensures the uniqueness of the semantic function (i.e., the multi-language semantics induced by the combined languages) by proving the initiality of the term model (i.e., the abstract syntax of the multi-language) in its category

Moral reasoning and automatic risk reaction during driving

Recent advances in autonomous vehicles promise to revolutionize the transportation system. This perspective has led to new research on a number of open questions, such as how the self-driving system should behave in unavoidable crash situations. Our study aims to contribute to this investigation. In most ongoing research, this question is presented as a moral dilemma, drawing on established research on the trolley dilemma. However, more recent studies have shifted the focus from morality to risk analysis. We investigated the dual contribution of moral judgment and risk analysis in subjects facing dangerous situations. To this end, we use virtual reality to recreate a driving situation that allows subjects to immerse themselves in the road environment. Our results show a strong dissociation between quick decisions, when risk analysis seems to suggest the best choice, and conscious decisions, when proper moral judgment is at stake