Novel synthetic approach to heteroatom doped polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons: Optimizing the bottom-up approach to atomically precise doped nanographenes

The success of the rational bottom-up approach to nanostructured carbon materials and the discovery of the importance of their doping with heteroatoms puts under the spotlight all synthetic organic approaches to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The construction of atomically precise heteroatom doped nanographenes has evidenced the importance of controlling its geometry and the position of the doping heteroatoms, since these parameters influence their chemical–physical properties and their applications. The growing interest towards this research topic is testified by the large number of works published in this area, which have transformed a once “fundamental research” into applied research at the cutting edge of technology. This review analyzes the most recent synthetic approaches to this class of compounds

Physical interaction between MYCN oncogene and polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) in neuroblastoma: Functional and therapeutic implications

This article is made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund. © 2013 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.CLU (clusterin) is a tumor suppressor gene that we have previously shown to be negatively modulated by the MYCN proto-oncogene, but the mechanism of repression was unclear. Here, we show that MYCN inhibits the expression of CLU by direct interaction with the non-canonical E box sequence CACGCG in the 5′-flanking region. Binding of MYCN to the CLU gene induces bivalent epigenetic marks and recruitment of repressive proteins such as histone deacetylases and Polycomb members. MYCN physically binds in vitro and in vivo to EZH2, a component of the Polycomb repressive complex 2, required to repress CLU. Notably, EZH2 interacts with the Myc box domain 3, a segment of MYC known to be essential for its transforming effects. The expression of CLU can be restored in MYCN-amplified cells by epigenetic drugs with therapeutic results. Importantly, the anticancer effects of the drugs are ablated if CLU expression is blunted by RNA interference. Our study implies that MYC tumorigenesis can be effectively antagonized by epigenetic drugs that interfere with the recruitment of chromatin modifiers at repressive E boxes of tumor suppressor genes such as CLU.SPARKS, The Neuroblastoma Society, a Wellcome Trust grant (to A. S.), and the Italian Association for Cancer Research

Spinfoams in the holomorphic representation

We study a holomorphic representation for spinfoams. The representation is obtained via the Ashtekar-Lewandowski-Marolf-Mour\~ao-Thiemann coherent state transform. We derive the expression of the 4d spinfoam vertex for Euclidean and for Lorentzian gravity in the holomorphic representation. The advantage of this representation rests on the fact that the variables used have a clear interpretation in terms of a classical intrinsic and extrinsic geometry of space. We show how the peakedness on the extrinsic geometry selects a single exponential of the Regge action in the semiclassical large-scale asymptotics of the spinfoam vertex.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure, published versio

On the Ultraviolet Behaviour of Newton's constant

We clarify a point concerning the ultraviolet behaviour of the Quantum Field Theory of gravity, under the assumption of the existence of an ultraviolet Fixed Point. We explain why Newton's constant should to scale like the inverse of the square of the cutoff, even though it is technically inessential. As a consequence of this behaviour, the existence of an UV Fixed Point would seem to imply that gravity has a built-in UV cutoff when described in Planck units, but not necessarily in other units.Comment: 8 pages; CQG class; minor changes and rearrangement

Met-activating genetically improved chimeric factor-1 promotes angiogenesis and hypertrophy in adult myogenesis

BACKGROUND: Myogenic progenitor cells (activated satellite cells) are able to express both HGF and its receptor cMet. After muscle injury, HGF-Met stimulation promotes activation and primary division of satellite cells. MAGIC-F1 (Met-Activating Genetically Improved Chimeric Factor-1) is an engineered protein that contains two human Met-binding domains that promotes muscle hypertrophy. MAGIC-F1 protects myogenic precursors against apoptosis and increases their fusion ability enhancing muscle differentiation. Hemizygous and homozygous Magic-F1 transgenic mice displayed constitutive muscle hypertrophy. METHODS: Here we describe microarray analysis on Magic-F1 myogenic progenitor cells showing an altered gene signatures on muscular hypertrophy and angiogenesis compared to wild-type cells. In addition, we performed a functional analysis on Magic-F1+/+ transgenic mice versus controls using treadmill test. RESULTS: We demonstrated that Magic-F1+/+ mice display an increase in muscle mass and cross-sectional area leading to an improvement in running performance. Moreover, the presence of MAGIC-F1 affected positively the vascular network, increasing the vessel number in fast twitch fibers. Finally, the gene expression profile analysis of Magic-F1+/+ satellite cells evidenced transcriptomic changes in genes involved in the control of muscle growth, development and vascularisation. CONCLUSION: We showed that MAGIC -F1-induced muscle hypertrophy affects positively vascular network, increasing vessel number in fast twitch fibers. This was due to unique features of mammalian skeletal muscle and its remarkable ability to adapt promptly to different physiological demands by modulating the gene expression profile in myogenic progenitors

VHMPID: a new detector for the ALICE experiment at LHC

This article presents the basic idea of VHMPID, an upgrade detector for the ALICE experiment at LHC, CERN. The main goal of this detector is to extend the particle identification capabilities of ALICE to give more insight into the evolution of the hot and dense matter created in Pb-Pb collisions. Starting from the physics motivations and working principles the challenges and current status of development is detailed.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures. To be published in EPJ Web of Conference

Asymptotics of LQG fusion coefficients

The fusion coefficients from SO(3) to SO(4) play a key role in the definition of spin foam models for the dynamics in Loop Quantum Gravity. In this paper we give a simple analytic formula of the EPRL fusion coefficients. We study the large spin asymptotics and show that they map SO(3) semiclassical intertwiners into $SU(2)_L\times SU(2)_R$ semiclassical intertwiners. This non-trivial property opens the possibility for an analysis of the semiclassical behavior of the model.Comment: 14 pages, minor change

HEP Applications Evaluation of the EDG Testbed and Middleware

Workpackage 8 of the European Datagrid project was formed in January 2001 with representatives from the four LHC experiments, and with experiment independent people from five of the six main EDG partners. In September 2002 WP8 was strengthened by the addition of effort from BaBar and D0. The original mandate of WP8 was, following the definition of short- and long-term requirements, to port experiment software to the EDG middleware and testbed environment. A major additional activity has been testing the basic functionality and performance of this environment. This paper reviews experiences and evaluations in the areas of job submission, data management, mass storage handling, information systems and monitoring. It also comments on the problems of remote debugging, the portability of code, and scaling problems with increasing numbers of jobs, sites and nodes. Reference is made to the pioneeering work of Atlas and CMS in integrating the use of the EDG Testbed into their data challenges. A forward look is made to essential software developments within EDG and to the necessary cooperation between EDG and LCG for the LCG prototype due in mid 2003.Comment: Talk from the 2003 Computing in High Energy and Nuclear Physics Conference (CHEP03), La Jolla, CA, USA, March 2003, 7 pages. PSN THCT00

Multifunctional scaffolds for biomedical applications: Crafting versatile solutions with polycaprolactone enriched by graphene oxide

The pressing need for multifunctional materials in medical settings encompasses a wide array of scenarios, necessitating specific tissue functionalities. A critical challenge is the occurrence of biofouling, particularly by contamination in surgical environments, a common cause of scaffolds impairment. Beyond the imperative to avoid infections, it is also essential to integrate scaffolds with living cells to allow for tissue regeneration, mediated by cell attachment. Here, we focus on the development of a versatile material for medical applications, driven by the diverse time-definite events after scaffold implantation. We investigate the potential of incorporating graphene oxide (GO) into polycaprolactone (PCL) and create a composite for 3D printing a scaffold with time-controlled antibacterial and anti-adhesive growth properties. Indeed, the as-produced PCL-GO scaffold displays a local hydrophobic effect, which is translated into a limitation of biological entities-attachment, including a diminished adhesion of bacteriophages and a reduction of E. coli and S. aureus adhesion of ∼81% and ∼69%, respectively. Moreover, the ability to 3D print PCL-GO scaffolds with different heights enables control over cell distribution and attachment, a feature that can be also exploited for cellular confinement, i.e., for microfluidics or wound healing applications. With time, the surface wettability increases, and the scaffold can be populated by cells. Finally, the presence of GO allows for the use of infrared light for the sterilization of scaffolds and the disruption of any bacteria cell that might adhere to the more hydrophilic surface. Overall, our results showcase the potential of PCL-GO as a versatile material for medical applications

Soil deformation analysis through fluid-dynamic modelling and DInSAR measurements: a focus on groundwater withdrawal in the Ravenna area (Italy)

This study aims at assessing the deformation processes affecting an area NW of the city of Ravenna (northern Italy), caused by groundwater withdrawal activities. In situ data, geologic and structural maps, piezometric measurements, underground water withdrawal volumes, and satellite C-band SAR data were used to jointly exploit two different techniques: 1) fluid-dynamic and geomechanical modelling (by RSE S.p.A), and 2) Differential Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry (DInSAR) analysis (by CNR - IREA). The results of the comparative analysis presented in this work brought new evidence about the contribution of groundwater withdrawal to the total subsidence affecting the area during the 2000-2017 time interval. In particular, they show an increase of the subsidence from year 2000 to 2010 and a decrease from year 2010 to 2017. These results are generally in line with groundwater withdrawal data that report a reduction of the extracted water volumes during the considered temporal interval. Meantime, they show a delay effect in the subsidence process, partially recovered during the 2010-2017 thanks to a stabilisation of the extracted groundwater volumes. The presented results shade new light on the groundwater withdrawal contribution to the subsidence of the analysed zone, although further investigations are foreseen to better clarify the ongoing scenario