Chapter Archeologia vista da Drone. Il teatro greco-romano di Locri Epizefiri

The 43rd UID conference, held in Genova, takes up the theme of ‘Dialogues’ as practice and debate on many fundamental topics in our social life, especially in these complex and not yet resolved times. The city of Genova offers the opportunity to ponder on the value of comparison and on the possibilities for the community, naturally focused on the aspects that concern us, as professors, researchers, disseminators of knowledge, or on all the possibile meanings of the discipline of representation and its dialogue with ‘others’, which we have broadly catalogued in three macro areas: History, Semiotics, Science / Technology. Therefore, “dialogue” as a profitable exchange based on a common language, without which it is impossible to comprehend and understand one another; and the graphic sign that connotes the conference is the precise transcription of this concept: the title ‘translated’ into signs, derived from the visual alphabet designed for the visual identity of the UID since 2017. There are many topics which refer to three macro sessions: - Witnessing (signs and history) - Communicating (signs and semiotics) - Experimenting (signs and sciences) Thanks to the different points of view, an exceptional resource of our disciplinary area, we want to try to outline the prevailing theoretical-operational synergies, the collaborative lines of an instrumental nature, the recent updates of the repertoires of images that attest and nourish the relations among representation, history, semiotics, sciences

Emerging role of gefitinib in the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC)

Most patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) present with advanced disease and their long-term prognosis remains poor. Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-targeted therapies, such as gefitinib, have been subjected to comprehensive clinical development. Several phase II and III trials evaluated the clinical efficacy of gefitinib as monotherapy in pretreated patients with advanced NSCLC, as well as both monotherapy and combined with chemotherapy in chemotherapy-naive patients. A phase III trial (ISEL) in heavily pretreated advanced NSCLC patients demonstrated some improvement in survival with gefitinib compared with placebo; however, the difference was not statistically significant within the overall population. A large phase III trial in pretreated patients (INTEREST) demonstrated the non-inferiority of gefitinib in comparison with docetaxel for overall survival, together with an improved quality of life and tolerability profiles. In a large phase III trial (IPASS) in Asian chemotherapy-naive, never or former light-smoker patients with adenocarcinoma, gefitinib was more effective than carboplatin–paclitaxel in prolonging progression-free survival, particularly in patients harboring EGFR gene mutations. Gefitinib was a generally well tolerated treatment, with skin rash and diarrhea being the most common treatment adverse events. As a result, gefitinib is expected to have a large impact on the management of patients with advanced NSCLC, in particular in EGFR mutated patients

Enterococci in Food Fermentations: Functional and Safety Aspects

End of Project ReportTeagasc acknowledges with gratitude financial assistance from the EU Framework Programme. This project was part of a larger EU funded Shared Cost project (FAIR-CT97-3078)Enterococci are natural residents of the human and animal gastrointestinal tracts; many species are also found in soil, plants and food. These organisms also form an important part of the microflora of many cheeses, especially those made in Southern Europe, where they can reach levels of 107 - 108 cfu/g. There is contradictory information on their role in flavour development in cheese with some studies showing that they have a positive effect and others a negative one. Enterococcus faecalis, Ec. faecium and Ec. durans are the important species found in cheese, though recent results from our laboratory show that Ec. casseliflavus may also be important (see below). Many of these species withstand pasteurisation. Their presence in food has been questioned because they are responsible for many nosocomial infections in hospitals. They are also promiscuous and easily transfer antibiotic resistance to other organisms and acquire resistance to vancomycin themselves. Cheddar cheese has a complex microflora and is conducive to growth of many bacteria, especially lactic acid bacteria. Enterococci are facultative anaerobes, which ferment lactose and can grow in high salt concentrations. Therefore, they should grow in cheese if they are present in the raw milk. Phenotypically they can be confused with starter lactococci. Traditionally, they are separated from lactococci by their ability to grow at 45°C and in 6.5% salt. However, these tests have serious drawbacks since some species of enterococci cannot grow at 45°C and some lactococci can grow at 45°C and in 6.5% salt. The effect of enterococci on flavour development in Cheddar cheese has not been studied to any great extent. The overall objectives of this collaborative project were to investigate the taxonomic relationships between food, veterinary and clinical isolates of enterococci, their virulence, their ability to produce toxins, their antibiotic resistance and their technological performance in cheesemaking. The specific objectives of the Moorepark team were to study the co-metabolism of citrate and sugar by enterococci, develop a DNA probe to distinguish between Enterococcus and Lactococcus and evaluate the contribution of enterococci to flavour development in Cheddar cheese.European Unio

The evolving role of microsatellite instability in colorectal cancer: A review

Microsatellite instability (MSI) is a molecular marker of a deficient mismatch repair (MMR) system and occurs in approximately 15% of colorectal cancers (CRCs), more frequently in early than late-stage of disease. While in sporadic cases (about two-thirds of MSI-H CRCs) MMR deficiency is caused by an epigenetic inactivation of MLH1 gene, the remainder are associated with Lynch syndrome, that is linked to a germ-line mutation of one of the MMR genes (MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, PMS2). MSI-H colorectal cancers have distinct clinical and pathological features such as proximal location, early-stage (predominantly stage II), poor differentiation, mucinous histology and association with BRAF mutations. In early-stage CRC, MSI can select a group of tumors with a better prognosis, while in metastatic disease it seems to confer a negative prognosis. Although with conflicting results, a large amount of preclinical and clinical evidence suggests a possible resistance to 5-FU in these tumors. The higher mutational load in MSI-H CRC can elicit an endogenous immune anti-tumor response, counterbalanced by the expression of immune inhibitory signals, such as PD-1 or PD-L1, that resist tumor elimination. Based on these considerations, MSI-H CRCs seem to be particularly responsive to immunotherapy, such as anti-PD-1, opening a new era in the treatment landscape for patients with metastatic CRC

Sleepiness, Safety and Transport

The economic development of modern society requires continuous improvement of transport and their efficiency throughout the span of 24 hours. Drowsiness may be a serious risk to the safety of employees, passengers and third parties. Sleepiness at the wheel is responsible for 5% to 30% of road accidents. Several pathophysiological factors governing the driving skills were studied: lifestyles, work schedules, prolonged wakefulness, stress, and sleep disorders. Screening of sleep disorders and education of workers at a proper sleep hygiene are fundamental keys to the safe transport. The individual initiatives to reduce the risk of drowsiness should be framed in a more general safety effort of the institutions