Microscopic description for the emergence of collective dissipation in extended quantum systems

Practical implementations of quantum technology are limited by unavoidable effects of decoherence and dissipation. With achieved experimental control for individual atoms and photons, more complex platforms composed by several units can be assembled enabling distinctive forms of dissipation and decoherence, in independent heat baths or collectively into a common bath, with dramatic consequences for the preservation of quantum coherence. The cross-over between these two regimes has been widely attributed in the literature to the system units being farther apart than the bath's correlation length. Starting from a microscopic model of a structured environment (a crystal) sensed by two bosonic probes, here we show the failure of such conceptual relation, and identify the exact physical mechanism underlying this cross-over, displaying a sharp contrast between dephasing and dissipative baths. Depending on the frequency of the system and, crucially, on its orientation with respect to the crystal axes, collective dissipation becomes possible for very large distances between probes, opening new avenues to deal with decoherence in phononic baths

NFE2L2 and STAT3 converge on common targets to promote survival of primary lymphoma cells

NFE2L2 and STAT3 are key pro-survival molecules, and thus, their targeting may represent a promising anti-cancer strategy. In this study, we found that a positive feedback loop occurred between them and provided evidence that their concomitant inhibition efficiently impaired the survival of PEL cells, a rare, aggressive B cell lymphoma associated with the gammaherpesvirus KSHV and often also EBV. At the molecular level, we found that NFE2L2 and STAT3 converged in the regulation of several pro-survival molecules and in the activation of processes essential for the adaption of lymphoma cells to stress. Among those, STAT3 and NFE2L2 promoted the activation of pathways such as MAPK3/1 and MTOR that positively regulate protein synthesis, sustained the antioxidant response, expression of molecules such as MYC, BIRC5, CCND1, and HSP, and allowed DDR execution. The findings of this study suggest that the concomitant inhibition of NFE2L2 and STAT3 may be considered a therapeutic option for the treatment of this lymphoma that poorly responds to chemotherapies

Avaliação dos Fatores Influentes na Vulnerabilidade à Erosão do Solo por Meio de Decisão Multicritério e de Técnicas de Geoprocessamento no Município de Piratini – RSV

The land degradation is the loss of their natural , physical and biochemical qualities , caused mostly by erosion , which leads into a socioeconomic and environmental problem. The objective was to assess the vulnerability of soil erosion in Piratini-RS, according to some potentially influence environmental characteristics of this occurrence anthropogenic. For this environmental assessment we used maps of the following themes: land use, soil science, geology and slope. According to the methodology proposed by Xavier-da-Silva (2001), which considers the multicriteria analysis, the scores were assigned from 1 (very low vulnerability) to 10 (highest vulnerability) to the constituent classes of these maps. The results showed that the use of classes " above ground " and " field " are the most vulnerable to erosion, as well as the slopes of class " 12-20 %" and " 5-12 %". The areas with high vulnerability of erosion represent 72,07 % of the Piratini municipal area, while 26,71 % represent areas of highest vulnerability of erosion and 1,22 % median vulnerability of soil loss.O objetivo foi avaliar o risco de erosão do solo no município de Piratini-RS, segundo algumas características ambientais potencialmente influenciadoras dessa ocorrência antrópica. Para essa avaliação ambiental utilizou-se mapas dos seguintes temas: uso do solo, pedologia, declividade e geologia.  Segundo a metodologia proposta por Xavier-da-Silva (2001), a qual considera a análise multicritério, foram atribuídas as notas de 1 (baixíssimo risco) a 10 (altíssimo risco) às classes constituintes desses mapas. Os resultados evidenciaram que as classes de uso “solo exposto” e o “campo” são as mais vulneráveis à erosão, assim como as classes de declividades de “12 a 20%” e “5 a 12%”. As áreas com alto risco de erosão representam 72,07% da área do município de Piratini, enquanto que 26,71% representam áreas de altíssimo risco de erosão e com 1,22% possui risco de perdas de solo medianas

An Overview of the Main Genetic, Epigenetic and Environmental Factors Involved in Autism Spectrum Disorder Focusing on Synaptic Activity

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that aects social interaction and communication, with restricted interests, activity and behaviors. ASD is highly familial, indicating that genetic background strongly contributes to the development of this condition. However, only a fraction of the total number of genes thought to be associated with the condition have been discovered. Moreover, other factors may play an important role in ASD onset. In fact, it has been shown that parental conditions and in utero and perinatal factors may contribute to ASD etiology. More recently, epigenetic changes, including DNA methylation and micro RNA alterations, have been associated with ASD and proposed as potential biomarkers. This review aims to provide a summary of the literature regarding ASD candidate genes, mainly focusing on synapse formation and functionality and relevant epigenetic and environmental aspects acting in concert to determine ASD onset

The inhibition of IRE1alpha/XBP1 axis prevents EBV-driven lymphomagenesis in NSG mice

Post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorders (PTLD) are a group of heterogeneous diseases originating in conditions of immune deficiency, whose main driver is considered to be Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). Here, we explored the role of IRE1alpha/XBP1s axis in EBV-driven lymphomagenesis in an NOD SCID gamma mouse model, as these animals develop malignancies that closely resemble PTLD when engrafted with EBV-positive peripheral blood momonuclear cells (PBMC). This study evidences for the first time that 4μ8C IRE1 alpha endoribonuclease inhibitor prevented lymphomagenesis in vivo and B-cell immortalization in vitro driven by the virus. At the molecular level, 4μ8C reduced the expression of EBV antigens such as ZEBRA and LMP1, downregulated c-Myc and cyclin D1, and prevented the activation of STAT3, molecules known to be involved in viral lymphomagenesis. The results obtained in this study suggest that the inhibition of IRE1 alpha endoribonuclease may represent a promising therapeutic strategy to prevent EBV-associated PTLD that arise in immune-deficient patients.IMPORTANCEThe novelty of this study lies in the fact that it shows that IRE1 alpha endoribonuclease inhibition by 4μ8C was able to counteract Epstein-Barr virus-driven lymphomagenesis in NOD SCID gamma mice and prevent B-cell immortalization in vitro, unveiling that this drug may be a promising therapeutic approach to reduce the risk of post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorders (PTLD) onset in immune-deficient patients. This hypothesis is further supported by the fact that 4μ8C impaired the survival of PTLD-like cells derived from mice, meaning that it could be helpful also in the case in which there is the possibility that these malignancies have begun to arise

Chi parla male pensa male? La valutazione delle abilità cognitive extra-linguistiche nelle persone afasiche

This paper presents the first results of a wider research aimed at investigating the role of language in the assessment of cognitive abilities in adult aphasic subjects by collecting data on their performance in neuropsychological tests used for the assessment of cognitive abilities and considered to have low verbal content. In particular, the paper presents the results obtained from the administration to 40 aphasic subjects and 20 healthy controls of the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), a screening test developed for the diagnosis of dementia, considered to have low verbal content. The results show that aphasics perform worse than controls. Moreover, the aphasics’ performance in the MMSE is correlated with their scores in the Token test, assessing language comprehension. This leads to conclude that using MMSE to assess mental state of aphasic subjects is discriminatory