Close range mini Uavs photogrammetry for architecture survey

The survey of historical façades contains several bottlenecks, mainly related to the geometrical structure, the decorative framework, the presence of natural or artificial obstacles, the environment limitations. Urban context presents additional restrictions, binding by ground acquisition activity and leading to building data loss. The integration of TLS and close-range photogrammetry allows to go over such stuff, not overcoming the shadows effect due to the ground point of view. In the last year the massive use of UAVs in survey activity has permitted to enlarge survey capabilities, reaching a deeper knowledge in the architecture analysis. In the meanwhile, several behaviour rules have been introduced in different countries, regulating the UAVs use in different field, strongly restricting their application in urban areas. Recently very small and light platforms have been presented, which can partially overcome these rules restrictions, opening to very interesting future scenarios. This article presents the application of one of these very small RPAS (less than 300 g), equipped with a low-cost camera, in a close range photogrammetric survey of an historical building façade in Bologna (Italy). The suggested analysis tries to point out the system accuracy and details acquisition capacity. The final aim of the paper is to validate the application of this new platform in an architectonic survey pipeline, widening the future application of close-range photogrammetry in the architecture acquisition process

Amniotic Fluid and Placental Membranes as Sources of Stem Cells: Progress and Challenges

: The intention of this special edition is to collect review and original research articles that illustrate and stimulate growing efforts to understand the implication of perinatal stem cells in pathological conditions such as cardiovascular and metabolic diseases and inflammatory, autoimmune, musculoskeletal, and degenerative diseases [...]

Ultralight UAV for steep-hill archaeological 3D survey

The role of drones is becoming increasingly important within current 3D survey methodologies. Their flexibility of use and the ability to acquire images from inaccessible viewpoints make them a critical instrument in multiple fields of application at both urban and architectural scales. This success is mainly due to the progressive development of technology, including data acquisition sensors, flight systems, and data processing programs. The Cultural Heritage domain is one with the most widespread and massive applications. Besides, due to the RPAS regulations in Italy, drones less than or equal to 250 g have seen a considerable expansion in use in recent years. The improved quality of the cameras and the recent introduction of flight planning has made them proper for photogrammetric applications. Recent research reports experiments in the architectural and archaeological domains aimed at verifying the metric reliability of the acquired data compared with active instruments. In archaeological surveying, drones can cover large complex areas quickly, minimizing shadow areas concentrated in the crests of walls. The case study presented is the Canossa Castle, a medieval archaeological complex close to Reggio Emilia and extended on a steep hill with rocky spurs. The work describes integrating GNSS, 3D scanners, and ultralight RPAS photogrammetry, gathering multi-scale geometric information. The integration between the different surveying techniques allowed to plan different verification moments on the metrological reliability of the multi-resolution model. Al last, the data acquired made it possible to produce complete architectural and urban representations, improving the knowledge needed to prepare the virtual reconstruction of the entire complex area

Heparanase and macrophage interplay in the onset of liver fibrosis

Abstract The heparan sulfate endoglycosidase heparanase (HPSE) is involved in tumor growth, chronic inflammation and fibrosis. Since a role for HPSE in chronic liver disease has not been demonstrated to date, the current study was aimed at investigating the involvement of HPSE in the pathogenesis of chronic liver injury. Herein, we revealed that HPSE expression increased in mouse livers after carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-mediated chronic induction of fibrosis, but with a trend to decline during progression of the disease. In mouse fibrotic liver tissues HPSE immunostaining was restricted in necro-inflammatory areas, co-localizing with F4/80 macrophage marker and TNF-α. TNF-α treatment induced HPSE expression as well as HPSE secretion in U937 macrophages. Moreover, macrophage-secreted HPSE regulated the expression of α-SMA and fibronectin in hepatic stellate LX-2 cells. Finally, HPSE activity increased in the plasma of patients with liver fibrosis but it inversely correlated with liver stiffness. Our results suggest the involvement of HPSE in early phases of reaction to liver damage and inflammatory macrophages as an important source of HPSE. HPSE seems to play a key role in the macrophage-mediated activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs), thus suggesting that HPSE targeting could be a new therapeutic option in the treatment of liver fibrosis

ERK-1 MAP kinase prevents TNF-induced apoptosis through bad phosphorylation and inhibition of bax translocation in HeLa cells

Extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2 signaling is involved in tumor cell survival through the regulation of Bcl-2 family members. To explore this further and to demonstrate the central role of the mitochondria in the ERK1/2 pathway we used the HeLa cellular model where apoptosis was induced by tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and cycloheximide (CHX). We show that HeLa cells overexpressing ERK-1 displayed resistance to TNF and CHX. HeLa cells overexpressing a kinase-deficient form of ERK-1 (K71R) were more sensitive to TNF and CHX. In the ERK-1 cells, Bad was phosphorylated during TNF + CHX treatment. In the HeLa wt cells and in the K71R clones TNF and CHX decreased Bad phosphorylation. ERK-1 cells treated with TNF and CHX did not release cytochrome c from the mitochondria. By contrast, HeLa wt and K71R clones released cytochrome c. Bax did not translocate to the mitochondria in ERK-1 cells treated with TNF + CHX. Conversely, HeLa wt and K71R clones accumulated Bax in the mitochondria. In the HeLa wt cells and in both ERK-1 transfectants Bid was cleaved and accumulated in the mitochondria. The caspase-8 inhibitor IETD-FMK and the mitochondrial membrane permeabilization inhibitor bongkrekic acid (BK), partially prevented cell death by TNF + CHX. Anisomycin, a c-Jun N-terminal kinases activator, increased TNF-killing. The ERK-1 cells were resistant to TNF and anisomycin, whereas K71R clones resulted more sensitive. Our study demonstrates that in HeLa cells the ERK-1 kinase prevents TNF + CHX apoptosis by regulating the intrinsic mitochondrial pathway through different mechanisms. Inhibition of the intrinsic pathway is sufficient to almost completely prevent cell death. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc

Innovative therapies based on the use of non-coding RNAs for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)

Recent studies have shown the importance of microRNAs (miRNAs) as key regulators in several human disease, and also their great potential as new class of therapeutics cancer therapeutics. However, a major obstacle to their translation to clinic is actually represented by the lack of a robust and reliable way to selectively deliver them to the target malignant tumor cells. Today, nucleic-acid aptamers represent an expanding new class of biomolecules which is revealing as an interesting and highly promising for the specific delivery of RNA-based therapeutics. In this study, I intend to validate the use of aptamers as cell-specific delivery molecules for “therapeutic” miRNAs. I identified a tumor-suppressive miRNA in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), miR-34c. I demonstrated that the expression of miR-34c is low in NCSCL and when transfected into cell lines is able to impact on cell survival. By applying methods successfully used in our laboratory, I conjugated the tumor-suppressor miR-34c to a nucleic acid aptamer, that selectively recognizes the AXL receptor and is rapidly internalized (GL21.T), generating a “molecular chimera”. With sticky-end annealing, the aptamer and a single chain anti-miRNA (or the passenger strand of the miRNA) are annealed by the mean of complementary sticky ends elongated at the 3’ end of the aptamer and at the 5’ end of the single chain of the miRNA, respectively. I demonstrated that the GL21.T/miR-34c chimera is able to bind and to carry the miRNA within the NSCLC cells. Interestingly, I demonstrated that a miR-34c target is the AXL receptor. Thus, the GL21.T/miR-34c chimera is able to exert a dual inhibition of AXL, either at functional or at transcriptional level. Finally, I evaluated the functional effects of the chimera in NSCLC cells that selectively express AXL receptor

La resilienza: una capacità tanto diffusa quanto poco conosciuta

Abstract tesi: “La resilienza: una capacità tanto diffusa quanto poco conosciuta” L’argomento su cui ho impostato la mia tesi di Laurea Specialistica è la resilienza. Ho deciso di trattarlo in quanto, fin dalle prime lezioni universitarie in cui si è discusso di questa capacità, ne sono stata molto incuriosita e affascinata. Nel primo capitolo, mi soffermerò sulle definizioni del termine resilienza e sugli studi fatti in proposito, partendo dai pionieri della ricerca nell’ambito, fino a studiosi più recenti. Successivamente illustrerò l’influenza dei fattori di rischio e di protezione, concentrandomi sul ruolo dell’attaccamento e della famiglia in generale. Affronterò inoltre il tema del lutto, identificato come la maggiore fonte di stress, e le varie reazioni ad esso susseguenti sia negli adulti che nei bambini. Indicherò inoltre le qualità che caratterizzano le persone resilienti soffermandomi sia sulle sfaccettature del carattere che su proprietà neurobiologiche. All’interno del secondo capitolo tratterò la possibilità di incrementare la resilienza attraverso tecniche e strategie che permettono di aumentare l’autostima e la sicurezza, rendendoci meno scalfibili dai traumi della vita. Apparirà evidente quanto sia importante trasmettere i meccanismi resilienti a partire dalla tenera età affinché diventino parte della personalità. Inoltre mi occuperò del ruolo della scuola, in particolare dei docenti, figure fondamentali nella vita degli studenti che alle volte sottovalutano la propria capacità di influenzare. Infine, nel terzo capitolo mi soffermerò su esempi pratici di resilienza. In particolare, durante la mia esperienza di tirocinio e come docente in una scuola con un importante presenza multietnica, ho avuto la possibilità di confrontarmi con rifugiati richiedenti asilo e con famiglie migranti, i quali mi hanno raccontato del loro viaggio, delle loro difficoltà nonché delle speranze e delle aspettative. Illustrerò inoltre l’esperienza di un ragazzo, affetto da una rarissima malattia, che però non gli ha impedito di coltivare la passione del nuoto e diventare campione paraolimpico. Ho avuto modo di parlare con lui, chiedendo di poterlo citare come esempio di resilienza all’interno della mia tesi, e sono rimasta particolarmente stupita dalla serenità che mi ha trasmesso. Relatore: Dott. Mazza Roberto Candidata: Valentina Russ

Attachment anxiety and depressive symptoms in undergraduate medical students

Introduction Several studies report that medical students are at high risk of depression. Despite the variability in students’ vulnerability to depression, the role of individual differences in depression risk among medical students has hardly been investigated. Studies outside of medical student populations have shown that individual differences in attachment style and emotion regulation participate in vulnerability to depression. Objectives This study investigates to what extent medical students’ depressive symptoms are related to differences in students’ insecure attachment styles and their perception of reduced access to emotion regulation strategies. Methods In a cross-sectional quantitative study, undergraduate medical students at the beginning of their second academic year completed online questionnaires measuring their attachment style, difficulties in emotion regulation, and depressive symptoms. Results Out of the 390 medical students invited, 267 participated in the survey. Higher secure attachment was associated with fewer depressive symptoms. Medical students’ insecure attachment style and emotion dysregulation were significantly related to depressive symptoms. Difficulties in employing strategies to disengage from one’s own negative affect partly mediated the effects of two dimensions of insecure anxious attachment—need for approval and preoccupation with relationships—on depressive symptoms. Discussion Anxious attachment style and limited access to emotion regulation strategies participate in medical students’ depressive symptoms. These findings highlight the need for acknowledging medical students’ attachment style and students’ perceived access to emotion regulation strategies for the early identification of and intervention programs for the risk of depression

Don Gil de las calzas verdes e Don gil dai calzoni verdi: Giovanni La cecilia traduttore di Tirso de Molina

This study offers a translation analysis of the linguistic and cultural aspects of the theatrical work of Tirso de Molina Don Gil da las calzas verdes by comparing the Spanish version of the author of the siglo de oro with the Italian version of Giovanni La Cecilia, published in 1857. The analysis will show how certain omissions in the passage from the Spanish to the Italian text depend on the will of the translator to bring the reader closer to a work rich in references to a culture distant from the time, offering a real example of the nineteenth century trend, which conceived translation not as a faithful rendering of a text, but rather a rewriting in which the original literary matrix could be profoundly reworked through precise stylistic choices

Plasmonic Au/Ag ordered nanoarrays for biosensing applications

The aim of the present work is the study and the nanofabrication of innovative plasmonic nanostructured materials to develop label-free optical biosensors. The motivation arises from the need to identify specific biological molecules at very low concentrations (below the picoMolar level) and with high specificity. This goal is of paramount importance for instance in diagnostics and prognostics through the early-stage detection of markers in biological fluids indicating possible altered biological processes. At the same time a fast and simple detection scheme is required, without the use of labelling strategies. The innovative plasmonic properties of noble metals (Au,Ag) nanomaterials have been investigated for biosensing applications since 1983. These plasmonic properties arise from the interaction of an electromagnetic wave with nanostructured metals, i.e., metallic structures with size in the order of or smaller than the incident field wavelength in the Vis-NIR range: their most celebrated effect is the onset of the surface plasmon resonances (SPR). Prims-coupled biosensing devices based on SPR of gold thin film (thickness lower than 100 nm) were commercialized since 1990. These systems allow to monitor biomolecular interactions and to quantify a wide range of chemical and biological species down to nanomolar concentrations. The scientific community is strongly active in the optimization of the performances of the SPR sensors in terms of sensitivity, specificity and limit of detection. The present work is based on the application of the SPR properties of ordered Au/Ag nanoarrays for biological detection, in order to investigate and optimize their sensing performances. The detection mechanism is based on the variation of the SPR for refractive index changes, which are due to analyte molecules immobilized on the nanoarray's surface. We have studied three classes of nanoarrays based on noble metals: (i) semi-nanoshell array, (ii) nanoprism array and (iii) nanohole array. Gold and silver are the best plasmonic metals for their intrinsic properties of interaction with an electromagnetic field in the Vis-NIR range. The nanoarrays were synthesized by Nanosphere Lithography, and they are based on hexagonal arrays of nanounits such as nanoprims, semi-nanoshells and nanoholes. The synthesis technique allows to finely control the morphology and the dimensions of the nanounits and, as a consequence, their optical properties. The samples based on nanoprims and semi-nanoshells support high electromagnetic field localization on their surface, which is due to the excitation of localized SPR; for this reason these systems could be very interesting sensors to detect thin analyte molecules layers with low molecular weight. The samples based on nanoholes arrays are characterized by the EOT, which is controlled by the excitation of extended SPR. The longer decay length of this kind of plasmons makes EOT particularly useful to detect also bigger molecules such as viruses or bacteria. All the samples were functionalized with the same protocol based on the biotin-streptavidin couple as the receptor-ligand scheme. The sensing performances were investigated by exposing the functionalized samples to different analyte concentrations. Moreover, the local and bulk sensitivity to refractive index changes was measured. The experimental results were also compared with numerical simulations and we found a good level of agreement between the experimental and simulated data. Silver nanoprisms arrays were also studied as SERS substrates. They were oxidized with different treatments to investigate the silver oxide effect on the SERS performances. All the obtained results in the present work indicate performances of the three investigated nanotructures, which are at the state-of-the-art with respect to literature data