Field trip to the Ischia resurgent caldera, a journey across an active volcano in the Gulf of Naples

Ischia is one of the most impressive examples of post-caldera resurgence in the world, with its almost 1,000 m of uplift in less than 30 ka. This three-days field trip will lead the participants through the geological and volcanological history of the island, illustrating the volcanic and related hazardous phenomena threatening about 50,000 inhabitants. Effusive and explosive eruptions, catastrophic earthquakes and huge debris-avalanches struck the island that, since Neolithic times, experienced a complex history of alternating human colonization and natural disasters. The field trip consists of three routes: 1) the circumnavigation of the island, aimed to outline its main volcanological, geomorphological and tectonic features and to observe the oldest volcanic rocks exposed, stimulating discussions about coastal evolution and the relationships between volcanism, volcano-tectonism and slope instability; 2) an onland excursion on peculiar aspects of the products related to Ischia more recent period of volcanic activity; 3) a route focusing on the Mt. Epomeo Green Tuff caldera forming eruptions (55-60 ka), encouraging a discussion on the dynamics of the intracalderic resurgence and the geomorphological evolution of the Mt. Epomeo slopes, with ongoing Mass Rock Creep (MRC) processes culminating in rockavalanche, debris-avalanche and lahar deposits

HMGA1 pseudogenes as oncogenic competitive endogenous RNAs

The High Mobility Group A family is composed of non-histone chromosomal proteins that orchestrate the assembly of the nucleoprotein complexes involved in gene transcription, replication, and chromatin structure. HMGA1 overexpression is a feature of human cancer, and has a causal role in cell transformation. However, the molecular basis of this upregulation has not been completely elucidated. The identification and validation of numerous HMGA1-targeting microRNAs demonstrates that cells are sensitive to even subtle increases in HMGA1 abundance, thus highlighting the importance of microRNA-mediated HMGA1 regulation in cancer. Pseudogenes have long been considered as non-functional genomic sequences. However, recent evidence suggests that many of them might have some form of biological activity, and the possibility of functionality through a microRNA-mediated pathway. In fact, recent studies show that microRNAs could act as a regulatory language, through which messenger RNAs, transcribed pseudogenes, and long non-coding RNAs crosstalk with each other and form a previously unknown regulatory network. RNA transcripts involved in this network have been termed “competitive endogenous RNAs”, since they influence each other's level by competing for the same pool of microRNAs through microRNA response elements on their target transcripts. Our research group identified two HMGA1 pseudogene-derived RNA transcripts, HMGA1P6 and HMGA1P7, that competing with HMGA1 for microRNA binding, lead to the upregulation of HMGA1 cellular levels, exerting an oncogenic role. We demonstrate that the overexpression of these HMGA1 pseudogenes increases the levels of HMGA1 and other cancer- related genes by inhibiting the suppression of their synthesis mediated by microRNAs. Moreover, HMGA1 pseudogenes were found overexpressed in several human cancer types. Interestingly, preliminary results showed that mice engineered to overexpress HMGA1P6 or HMGA1P7 develop malignant B cell lymphomas. Therefore, the HMGA1-pseudogene engineered mouse models demonstrate the oncogenic potential of these pseudogenes and indicate that ceRNA-mediated microRNA sequestration may contribute to the development of cancer

The impact of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease on renal function in children with overweight/obesity

The association between nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and chronic kidney disease has attracted interest and attention over recent years. However, no data are available in children. We determined whether children with NAFLD show signs of renal functional alterations, as determined by estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and urinary albumin excretion. We studied 596 children with overweight/obesity, 268 with NAFLD (hepatic fat fraction >= 5% on magnetic resonance imaging) and 328 without NAFLD, and 130 healthy normal-weight controls. Decreased GFR was defined as eGFR < 90 mL/min/1.73 m(2). Abnormal albuminuria was defined as urinary excretion of >= 30 mg/24 h of albumin. A greater prevalence of eGFR < 90 mL/min/1.73 m2 was observed in patients with NAFLD compared to those without liver involvement and healthy subjects (17.5% vs. 6.7% vs. 0.77%; p < 0.0001). The proportion of children with abnormal albuminuria was also higher in the NAFLD group compared to those without NAFLD, and controls (9.3% vs. 4.0% vs. 0; p < 0.0001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that NAFLD was associated with decreased eGFR and/or microalbuminuria (odds ratio, 2.54 (confidence interval, 1.16-5.57); p < 0.05) independently of anthropometric and clinical variables. Children with NAFLD are at risk for early renal dysfunction. Recognition of this abnormality in the young may help to prevent the ongoing development of the disease

Critica della "critica sulla pretesa continuità storica delle misure di sicurezza fra il codice Zanardelli e il codice Rocco"

Stando alle comuni matrici ideologiche di classici e positivisti in relazione all’idea di sicurezza sociale, l’enfasi posta in letteratura sull’essere le norme del codice Zanardelli misure pro individuo e liberali piuttosto che un’anticipazione delle successive misure di sicurezza di tipo positivista, appare il frutto di un convincimento che non si può condividere. Anzi, se si rivolge lo sguardo al sistema complessivo dello Stato liberale non può che convincersi del contrario. Sembra potersi affermare che l’innovazione mondiale introdotta dal codice Rocco non debba ascriversi all’assenza nel codice Zanardelli di norme simili alle misure di sicurezza ma, più correttamente, alla compiutezza del sistema ideato dal legislatore fascista. Pertanto, si palesa una continuità storica dell’idea di sicurezza, non fondabile su compartimenti stagni, ma su una serie di edifici complessi in correlazione fra loro

Nondimensional Shape Optimization of Nonprismatic Beams with Sinusoidal Lateral Profile

The present paper deals with the optimal design of nonprismatic beams, i.e., beams with variable cross section. To set the optimization problem, Euler-Bernoulli unshearable beam theory is considered and the elastica equation expressing the transverse displacement as a function of the applied loads is reformulated into a system of four differential equations involving kinematic components and internal forces. The optimal solution (in terms of volume) must satisfy two constraints: the maximum Von Mises equivalent stress must not exceed an (ideal) strength, and the maximum vertical displacement is limited to a fraction of beam length. To evaluate the maximum equivalent stress in the beam, normal and shear stresses have been considered. The former was evaluated through the Navier formula, and the latter through a formula derived from Jourawsky and holding for straight and untwisted beams with bisymmetric variable cross sections. The optimal solutions as function of material unit weight, maximum strength, and applied load are presented and discussed. It is shown that the binding constraint is usually represented by the maximum stress in the beam, and that applied load and strength affect the solution more than material unit weight. To maintain the generality of the solution, the nondimensionalization according to Buckingham pi-theorem is implemented and a design abacus is proposed

Heat-shock pretreatment inhibits sorbitol-induced apoptosis in K562, U937 and HeLa cells.

The aim of this study was to determine whether heat-shock pretreatment exerted a protective effect against sorbitol-induced apoptotic cell death in K562, U937 and HeLa cell lines and whether such protection was associated with a decreased cytochrome c release from mithocondria and a decreased activation of caspase-9 and -3. Following heat-shock pretreatment (42 6 0.3C for 1 hr), these cell lines were exposed to sorbitol for 1 hr. Apoptosis was evaluated by DNA fragmentation, whereas caspase-9,-3 activation, cytochrome c release and heat-shock protein70 (HSP70) were assayed by Western Blot. Sorbitol exposure-induced apoptosis in these different cell lines with a marked activation of caspase-9 and caspase- 3, whereas heat-shock pretreatment before sorbitol exposure, induced expression of HSP70 and inhibited sorbitol-mediated cytochrome c release and subsequent activation of caspase-9 and caspase- 3. Similarly, overexpression of HSP70 in the three cell lines studied prevented caspase-9 cleavage and activation as well as cell death. Furthermore, we showed that the mRNA expression of iNOS decreased during both the heat-shock treatment and heat-shock pretreatment before sorbitol exposure. By contrast, the expression of Cu-Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD) and Mn-SOD proteins increased during heat-shock pretreatment before sorbitol exposure. We conclude that, heat-shock pretreatment protects different cell lines against sorbitol-induced apoptosis through a mechanism that is likely to involve SOD family members

Involvement of FOXO Transcription Factors, TRAIL-FasL/Fas, and Sirtuin Proteins Family in Canine Coronavirus Type II-Induced Apoptosis

n our previous study, we have shown that canine coronavirus type II (CCoV-II) activates both extrinsic and intrinsic apoptotic pathway in a canine fibrosarcoma cell line (A-72 cells). Herein we investigated the role of Sirtuin and Forkhead box O (FOXO) families in this experimental model using Nortern Blot and Western Blot analysis. Our results demonstrated that mitochondrial SIRT3 and SIRT4 protein expression increased from 12 and 24 h post infection (p.i.) onwards, respectively, whereas the nuclear SIRT1 expression increased during the first 12 h p.i. followed by a decrease after 36 h p.i., reaching the same level of control at 48 h p.i. Sirtuins interact with/and regulate the activity of FOXO family proteins, and we herein observed that FOXO3A and FOXO1 expression increased significantly and stably from 12 h p.i. onwards. In addition, CCoV-II induces a remarkable increase in the expression of TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL), while we observed a slight up-regulation of FasL/Fas at 36 p.i. with a decrease of both proteins at the end of infection. Furthermore, we found that virus infection increased both bax translocation into mitochondria and decreased bcl-2 expression in cytosol in a time-dependent manner