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Deciphering tumor acidosis and its role in chemotherapy tolerance : insights for therapeutic exploitation
No full textThe acidic tumor microenvironment is driven by high metabolic activity and reduced proton clearance. Acidosis prompts cancer cells to rely less on glucose and more on fatty acid metabolism for survival. This metabolic shift presents a potential vulnerability that can be targeted with metabolic inhibitors. We identified the desaturase SCD1 as crucial for the survival of acidic cancer cells characterized by carbonic anhydrase 9 (CA9) expression and moderate oxygenation. Inhibiting SCD1 disrupts lipid droplet formation, making acidic cells more susceptible to peroxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids, and associated ferroptosis. This process also triggers a bystander effect, leading to endoplasmic reticulum stress in hypoxic cells. In parallel, we found that CA9+ cells in 3D tumor spheroids resist chemotherapy by accumulating cholesterol esters. Statins, which inhibit cholesterol synthesis, prevent tumor regrowth after chemotherapy, supporting a role of cholesterol in drug tolerance.(BIFA - Sciences biomédicales et pharmaceutiques) -- UCL, 202
La lente révélation d’une immigration au féminin
No full textLongtemps influencés par le contexte du capitalisme industriel environnant, les historiens, lorsqu’ils s’attachaient à l’écriture de l’histoire du phénomène migratoire marocain, étaient avant tout portés à la conjuguer au masculin. Ce vide peut s’expliquer notamment par la difficulté majeure pour les historiens d’accéder à des sources usuelles inventoriées où les immigrées marocaines apparaitraient distinctement. Pourtant, les femmes marocains arrivent en Belgique dès les années 1960.Ainsi, cet article a pour objectif de revenir sur les parcours et les trajectoires migratoires des pionnières de l'immigration marocaine en Belgique durant la période dite officielle de l'immigration (1964-1974)
Speeding up Monte Carlo Integration: Control Neighbors for Optimal Convergence
No full textA novel linear integration rule called control neighbors is proposed in which nearest neighbor estimates act as control variates to speed up the convergence rate of the Monte Carlo procedure. The main result is the O(n−1/2n−1/d) convergence rate – where n stands for the number of evaluations of the integrand and d for the dimension of the domain – of this estimate for Lipschitz functions, a rate which, in some sense, is optimal. Several numerical experiments validate the complexity bound and highlight the good performance of the proposed estimator
Biosensors integrated within wearable devices for monitoring chronic wound status
No full textSlowly healing wounds significantly affect the life quality of patients in different ways, due to constant pain, unpleasant odor, reduced mobility up to social isolation, and personal frustration. While remote wound management has become more widely accepted since the COVID-19 pandemic, delayed treatment remains frequent and results in several wound healing related complications. As inappropriate management of notably diabetic foot ulcers is linked to a high risk of amputation, effective management of wounds in a patient-centered manner remains important to be implemented. The integration of diagnostic devices into wound bandages is under way, owing to advancements in materials science and nanofabrication strategies as well as innovation in communication technologies together with machine learning and data-driven assessment tools. Leveraging advanced analytical approaches around local pH, temperature, pressure, and wound biomarker sensing is expected to facilitate adequate wound treatment. The state-of-the-art of time-resolved monitoring of the wound status by quantifying key physiological parameters as well as wound biomarkers' concentration is presented herewith. A special focus will be given to smart bandages with on-demand delivery capabilities for improved wound management
Witt groups of Severi-Brauer varieties and of function fields of conics
No full textThe Witt group of skew-hermitian forms over a division algebra D with symplectic involution is shown to be canonically isomorphic to the Witt group of symmetric bilinear forms over the Severi–Brauer variety of D with values in a suitable invertible sheaf. In the special case where D is a quaternion algebra, we extend previous work by Pfister and by Parimala on the Witt group of conics to set up two five-terms exact sequences relating the Witt groups of hermitian or skew-hermitian forms over D with the Witt groups of the center, of the function field of the Severi–Brauer conic of D, and of the residue fields at each closed point of the conic
The European Company (SE) : a proposal for reform of cross-border mobility of SEs from a socio-legal and legal-economic perspective in the context of EU company law, insolvency law and tax law harmonization
No full textMy PhD thesis in law examines the impact of European harmonization of cross-border mobility of national Plcs on the vertical competitiveness of the European Company (Societas Europaea (SE)) in the European Union (EU). The legal research question is how increasing harmonization of mobility of national Plcs, specifically in the fields of company law, insolvency law and tax law, has affected SE mobility to determine whether the SE real seat arrangement is still competitive. Based on an interdisciplinary methodological approach, I initially determine the compatibility of the real seat arrangement and its sanctions with the CJEU’s jurisprudence on the freedom of establishment of companies until Polbud from doctrinal and normative angles. This assessment builds on a detailed survey and explanation of Member States’ private international law connecting factors of companies (registered office, real seat or a variation thereof) and other real seat-like connecting factors, namely the COMI in insolvency/restructuring law and the POEM in direct tax law. Secondly, I assess the disadvantages of the real seat arrangement from the SE’s choice-of-law perspective on socio-legal grounds. My meso-level, quantitative empirical analysis of the incorporation and migration patterns of over 3300 SEs from 2004 until 2021 identifies their opportunity losses in terms of (lack of) choice of company and insolvency law, as compared to the broader freedom of movement of national companies, provided abuse is rigorously prevented. Thirdly, I reveal the shortcomings of the real seat arrangement in terms of anti-abuse and stakeholder protection from doctrinal and legal-economic perspectives. My comparison of the SE conversion procedure with the new procedure of harmonized cross-border conversions of Directive (EU) 2017/1132 for national companies shows that the former protects stakeholders less effectively and less efficiently against a loss of rights and abuse than the latter. Fourthly, I challenge the SE real seat arrangement as an anti-tax avoidance device from a doctrinal viewpoint. I argue that it would be more effective to apply the EU Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive (ATAD I and ATAD II) and the general anti-abuse rules (GAARs) of the direct tax directives, among other measures, to dual resident SEs to prevent tax avoidance and aggressive tax planning practices, such as conduit company schemes, domestic capital gains tax avoidance and dual loss utilization. Based on this comprehensive interdisciplinary analysis, I propose a far-reaching legal reform of the SE real seat arrangement, subject to rigorous anti-abuse safeguards in European company, insolvency and tax law. This conclusion is significant in the understudied legal research field of vertical regulatory competition, because it determines the optimal level of European (mobility) regulation of SEs compared to national companies and Plcs. My legal reform proposal strengthens the freedom of establishment of SEs, subject to additional protection of stakeholder rights and against abuse and fraud, which prevents a deregulatory race to the bottom among company forms in the EU. Restoring a regulatory level playing field is vital for the SE legal form, whose reorganization objective and popularity are mainly based on mobility in the EU.(DROI - Sciences juridiques) -- UCL, 202
Metallic-based phthalocyanine nanoemulsions for photodynamic purging of ovarian tissue in leukemia patients.
No full textFor cancer patients with a high risk of ovarian tissue metastasis, ovarian autotransplantation is not advised due to the potential spread of malignant cells. Ex vivo purging of ovarian fragments may offer a more suitable alternative for fertility restoration. Eradicating malignant cells should be done selectively without affecting follicles or ovarian stromal cells (SCs). As a clinically licensed method, photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a minimally invasive treatment to destroy cancer cells. This study evaluates the effectiveness of nanoemulsions (NE) containing two phthalocyanine photosensitizers; aluminum (III) phthalocyanine (AlPc) and zinc (II) phthalocyanine (ZnPc) in eliminating cancer cells. Human leukemic malignant (HL-60) and ovarian stromal cells (SCs) were treated with AlPc/ZnPc loaded NEs with or without diode laser irradiation. HL-60 leukemia cells in 2D culture were eliminated by treatment with 10 nM AlPc-NE or 0.1 µM ZnPc-NE, while no toxicity was observed in SCs. In 3D culture models, although the cells showed more resistance to the NEs as a result of limited oxygen and photosensitizer penetration, the treatment remained selective for cancer cells. These approaches have the potential to eliminate malignant cells from ovarian tissue fragments
