Response to Comment on `Undamped electrostatic plasma waves' [Phys. Plasmas 19, 092103 (2012)]

Numerical and experimental evidence is given for the occurrence of the plateau states and concomitant corner modes proposed in \cite{valentini12}. It is argued that these states provide a better description of reality for small amplitude off-dispersion disturbances than the conventional Bernstein-Greene-Kruskal or cnoidal states such as those proposed in \cite{comment

Painful oral aphthous-like lesions in patient with kidney cancer after target therapy and bisphosphonate administration: a case report of adverse drug reaction.

Aim. Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) targeting tu- mor angiogenesis and mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitors (mTOR) are indicated for the management of several cancer types, as for renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Oral ulcerations are reported as common adverse drug reactions of mTOR inhibitors and are currently classified as mTOR inhibitor associated stomatitis (mIAS). Interestingly, these lesions appear as aphthous-like stoma- titis rather than the mucositis seen with chemotherapy agent. Case report. A 49 years old male patient underwent to the left radical nephrectomy in May 2014 for clear RCC. From July to October 2014 he was treated with Pazopanib, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor. In December 2014 the patient started the treatment with Zoledronic acid and Everolimus, an amino-bisphosphonates and an mTOR inhibitor, respectively. Everolimus administration was suspended on the 1st of January 2015 and resumed on the 4th of February. In February 2015, the patient referred to our department for acute pain of mouth floor and tongue; the onset of these symptoms was subse- quent to mTOR therapy. This pain compromised his oral functions (chewing, swallowing, phonetic) and quality of life. Intraoral examination showed aphthous-like lesions on both borders of the tongue and on the right side of the mouth floor. Local antiseptic (0.2% chlorhexidine rinse, twice daily for 1 week), 0.050 g clobetasol propionate cream (twice a day for 4 week, and one times a day for the following 4 weeks) and a wound-healing promoter (Mucosamin Spray®, twice a day for 2 weeks) were administered. Since the oncologist decided to not discontinue the target therapy, the patient continued local therapy until the end of the treatment with everolimus. After two weeks from the first visit, a complete healing of the oral mucosa was observed and the patient complained no pain. Conclusion. This case report confirms the recent view that target therapy with everolimus may induce the onset of aphthous-like stomatitis as adverse drug reaction. Therefore, diagnostic algorithms for stomatitis should include a careful drug history, emphasizing the focus also on oral adverse effects the new target cancer therapies

Real-time cell analysis by xCELLigence®: a new method for dynamic, quantitative measurement of adhesion and proliferation of cell lines

Objectives. In this study, we report the use of a real-time cell analysis (RTCA) test system, the xCELLigence® RTCA, as efficient tool for a fast growth kinetics analysis of cell lines. This new dynamic real-time monitoring and impedance-based assay allows for a combined measurement of cell adhesion, spreading and proliferation. Methods. We used four representative human OSCC derived cell lines, PE49, HSC2, HSC3 and PE15 cells. The measured impedance values could be correlated to characteristic cell culture behaviours. In parallel, were evaluated proliferation and cell viability of the cell lines by the 3-[4,5-dimethylthizol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Results. Through the analysis we were able to quantitatively characterize the growth kinetics of the cell lines. The results are in agreement with the analysis MTT and for us will be the basis for future studies with respect to these lines.Conclusions. The advantage of impedance-based measurements is mainly based on these continuous monitoring of cell responses for a broad range of different cells and with different parameters of culture. Therefore, the xCELLigence system can be used as a rapid monitoring tool for cellular viability and used for multiple applications, such as toxicity testing of xenobiotics, biocompatibility of dental materials, tests of invasion and migration using in vitro cell cultures

Fluorescence and Hybrid Detection Aperture of the Pierre Auger Observatory

The aperture of the Fluorescence Detector (FD) of the Pierre Auger Observatory is evaluated from simulated events using different detector configurations: mono, stereo, 3-FD and 4-FD. The trigger efficiency has been modeled using shower profiles with ground impacts in the field of view of a single telescope and studying the trigger response (at the different levels) by that telescope and by its neighbours. In addition, analysis cuts imposed by event reconstruction have been applied. The hybrid aperture is then derived for the Auger final extension. Taking into account the actual Surface Detector (SD) array configuration and its trigger response, the aperture is also calculated for a typical configuration of the present phase.Comment: contribution to the 29th International Cosmic Ray Conference, Pune, India, 3-10 August 200

Conserved presence of G-quadruplex forming sequences in the Long Terminal Repeat Promoter of Lentiviruses

G-quadruplexes (G4s) are secondary structures of nucleic acids that epigenetically regulate cellular processes. In the human immunodeficiency lentivirus 1 (HIV-1), dynamic G4s are located in the unique viral LTR promoter. Folding of HIV-1 LTR G4s inhibits viral transcription; stabilization by G4 ligands intensifies this effect. Cellular proteins modulate viral transcription by inducing/unfolding LTR G4s. We here expanded our investigation on the presence of LTR G4s to all lentiviruses. G4s in the 5'-LTR U3 region were completely conserved in primate lentiviruses. A G4 was also present in a cattle-infecting lentivirus. All other non-primate lentiviruses displayed hints of less stable G4s. In primate lentiviruses, the possibility to fold into G4s was highly conserved among strains. LTR G4 sequences were very similar among phylogenetically related primate viruses, while they increasingly differed in viruses that diverged early from a common ancestor. A strong correlation between primate lentivirus LTR G4s and Sp1/NF\u3baB binding sites was found. All LTR G4s folded: their complexity was assessed by polymerase stop assay. Our data support a role of the lentiviruses 5'-LTR G4 region as control centre of viral transcription, where folding/unfolding of G4s and multiple recruitment of factors based on both sequence and structure may take place

Self-Organized Criticality model for Brain Plasticity

Networks of living neurons exhibit an avalanche mode of activity, experimentally found in organotypic cultures. Here we present a model based on self-organized criticality and taking into account brain plasticity, which is able to reproduce the spectrum of electroencephalograms (EEG). The model consists in an electrical network with threshold firing and activity-dependent synapse strenghts. The system exhibits an avalanche activity power law distributed. The analysis of the power spectra of the electrical signal reproduces very robustly the power law behaviour with the exponent 0.8, experimentally measured in EEG spectra. The same value of the exponent is found on small-world lattices and for leaky neurons, indicating that universality holds for a wide class of brain models.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

ENDOCANNABINOIDS CB1 AND CB2: A POSSIBLE ROLE IN ORAL SQUAMOUS CELL CARCINOMA PATHOGENESIS

Aim. Cancer of the oral cavity is the eighth most common malignancy in the world. The disease is diagnosed after a considerable delay and predict the individual progression is difficult. The improvements of the therapy did not increased the rate of survival at 5 years, that is still about 50%. The identification of the possible markers that indicates the progression of the tumor is therefore necessary. Endocannabinoids may play an important role in the process of carcinogenesis in the oral mucosa. They are able to bind and activate specific membrane receptors coupled to G proteins, cannabinoid receptors CB1 and CB2. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the expression of CB1 and CB2 receptors in the development of oral cancer through the immunohistochemical study on samples of OSCC. Materials and methods. We selected 44 cases of patients with the primary tumor in the oral cavity. The stage of the tumor was classified according to the TNM system. The tumors grading was divided into I, II and III grade. The paraffin sections were analyzed by immunohistochemistry. The assessment of the immunoreactivity for CB1 and CB2 receptors was weak or strong. For quantitative analysis the expression of CB1 and CB2 receptors was evaluated in percentage with scale of values ??ranging from 0 to 100%. Results. The immunohistochemical examination of the samples analyzed showed the absence of expression of CB1 and CB2 receptors in normal mucosa, while peritumoral mucosa showed a weak expression in the vicinity of cancer and tumor mucosa showed an overexpression of receptors. Furthermore, the intensity of staining increased with the increase of the grading. It can be concluded that the strong immunoreactivity of CB1 and CB2 receptors is related to aggressive behavior of oral carcinoma. Conclusions. The analysis of endocannabinoids and their receptors on tissue biopsies taken from carcinoma of the oral cavity may therefore indicate future therapeutic targets and new prognostic biomarkers in these patients, especially in the early stages of the disease. The ultimate goal of this work is to indicate the possible role of CB1 and CB2 receptors such as tumor biomarker that may help in the early diagnosis of oral cancer and therefore contribute to reduce drastically the mortality of this disease