129 research outputs found
Spin networks and sturmian orbitals: Orthogonal complete polynomial sets in molecular quantum mechanics
No full textAn outline is given of current advances on some basic ingredients of applied quantum mechanics, that were previously developed along different lines and are now being compacted within a unifying framework. Specifically, (i) complete orthogonal expansion basis sets for the atomic and molecular orbitals of quantum chemistry are classified within angular momentum theory, presently incorporated in and generalized as spin network theory; (ii) spin-networks and the underlying theory of hypergeometrical polynomials are presented within a graphical approach; (iii) the combinatorial significance of the graphical approach is given a projective geometry foundation; (iv) emergence and role of hidden (Regge's) symmetries are revealed and discussed in a variety of contexts
The Influence of Insecure Romantic Attachment on Generativity
No full textExisting research concerning the development of generativity, the capacity to provide care and guidance to future generations, has primarily focused on the role of sociodemographic variables. However, one important feature that might be of importance for the study of generativity is insecure romantic attachment, given its influence on how people establish relationships with others. Still, the role of the two dimensions of insecure romantic attachment (i.e., anxiety and avoidance) on the most studied aspects of generativity (i.e., generative concern and generative acts) remains largely underexplored. Therefore, the present study investigates what contributes to generativity by exploring the role of sociodemographic features (i.e., age, gender, having children, years of education) and above all the two dimensions of insecure romantic attachment on generative concern and acts. A sample of 427 adults (age range: 25–65 years old) completed an online survey including romantic attachment and generativity measures. Afterwards, correlational and regression analyses were conducted to explore the data. Results showed that years of education positively predicted generative concern, whereas both anxiety and avoidance negatively predicted it. Yet, no sociodemographic feature nor dimension of insecure romantic attachment predicted generative acts. Thus, insecure romantic attachment could be a useful key to understanding generative concern. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature
Correction to: Free Diced Dorsal Augmentation (FDDA) rhinoplasty in non-caucasian patients: tips and tricks (European Journal of Plastic Surgery, (2025), 48, 1, (7), 10.1007/s00238-024-02259-1)
No full textIn this article the author’s name ‘Gianluca Marcaccini’ was incorrectly written as ‘Gianlcua Marcaccini’. Authors ‘Mirco Pozzi’ and ‘Pietro Susini’ should have been denoted as equally contributing author[s]. The original article has been corrected
Observing Mercury: from Galileo to the stereo camera on the BepiColombo mission
No full textAfter having observed the planets from his house in Padova using his telescope, in
January 1611 Galileo wrote to Giuliano de Medici that Venus is moving around the Sun as
Mercury. Forty years ago, Giuseppe Colombo, professor of Celestial Mechanics in Padova, made
a decisive step to clarify the rotational period of Mercury. Today, scientists and engineers of the
Astronomical Observatory of Padova and of the University of Padova, reunited in the Center
for Space Studies and Activities (CISAS) named after Giuseppe Colombo, are busy to realize a
stereo camera (STC) that will be on board the European (ESA) and Japanese (JAXA) space
mission BepiColombo, devoted to the observation and exploration of the innermost planet.
This paper will describe the stereo camera, which is one of the channels of the SIMBIOSYS
instrument, aiming to produce the global mapping of the surface with 3D images
Sun–induced fluorescence heterogeneity as a measure of functional diversity
No full textPlant functional diversity, defined as the range of plant chemical, physiological and structural properties within
plants, is a key component of biodiversity which controls the ecosystem functioning and stability. Monitoring its
variations across space and over time is critical in ecological studies. So far, several reflectance-based metrics
have been tested to achieve this objective, yielding different degrees of success. Our work aimed at exploring the
potential of a novel metric based on far-red sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (F760) to map the functional
diversity of terrestrial ecosystems. This was achieved exploiting high-resolution images collected over a mixed
forest ecosystem with the HyPlant sensor, deployed as an airborne demonstrator of the forthcoming ESA-FLEX
satellite. A reference functional diversity map was obtained applying the Rao's Q entropy metric on principal
components calculated on key plant functional trait maps retrieved from the hyperspectral reflectance cube.
Based on the spectral variation hypothesis, which states that the biodiversity signal is encoded in the spectral
heterogeneity, two moving window-based approaches were tested to estimate the functional diversity from
continuous spectral data: i) the Rao's Q entropy metric calculated on the normalized difference vegetation index
(NDVI) and ii) the coefficient of variation (CV) calculated on hyperspectral reflectance. Finally, a third moving
window approach was used to estimate the functional diversity based on F760 heterogeneity quantified through
the calculation of the Rao's Q entropy metric.
Results showed a strong underestimation of the functional diversity using the Rao's Q index based on NDVI
and the CV of reflectance. In both cases, a weak correlation was found against the reference functional diversity
map (r2 = 0.05, p < .001 and r2 = 0.04, p < .001, respectively). Conversely, the Rao's Q index calculated on
F760 revealed similar patterns as the ones observed in the reference map and a better correlation (r2 = 0.5,
p < .001). This corroborates the potential of far-red F for assessing the functional diversity of terrestrial eco-
systems, opening unprecedented perspectives for biodiversity monitoring across different spatial and temporal
scales
Immunohistochemical Localization of Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Regulator and Clara Cell Secretory Protein in Taste Receptor Cells of Rat Circumvallate Papillae
No full textTaste receptor cells (TRCs) are the sensory cells of taste transduction and are organized into taste buds embedded in the epithelium of the tongue, palate, pharynx, and larynx. Several studies have demonstrated that TRCs involved in sweet as well as bitter and umami responses express α-gustducin, an α-subunit of the G-protein complex. It has been further demonstrated that this typical taste protein is a potent marker of chemosensory cells located in several tissues, including gastric and pancreatic mucosa and the respiratory apparatus. We recently observed that α-gustducin and phospholipase C beta 2 - immunoreactive cells were colocalized in the airways with cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator (CFTR) and Clara cell - specific secretory protein of 10 (CC10) and 26 kDa (CC26). This finding suggests that TRCs might themselves express secretory markers. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the expression of CFTR, CC10, and CC26 in rat circumvallate papillae using reverse transcriptase - polymerase chain reaction analysis, immunohistochemistry, and confocal laser microscopy. The results showed that secretory markers such as CFTR, CC10, and CC26 are present in taste cells of rat circumvallate papillae, and their immunoreactivity is expressed, to a different extent, in subsets of taste cells that express α-gustducin. The presence of CFTR, CC10, and CC26 in taste bud cells and their coexpression pattern with α-gustducin confirms and extends our previous findings in airway epithelium, lending further credence to the notion that chemoreception and secretion may be related processes. © The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved
p130Cas/Cyclooxygenase-2 axis in the control of mesenchymal plasticity of breast cancer cells
No full textIntroduction: Intrinsic plasticity of breast carcinoma cells allows them to undergo a transient
and reversible conversion into mesenchymal cells to disseminate into distant organs, where
they can re-differentiate to an epithelial-like status to form a cohesive secondary mass. The
p130Cas scaffold protein is over-expressed in human ER+ and HER2+ breast cancer where it
contributes to cancer progression, invasion and resistance to therapy. However, its role in
regulating mesenchymal aggressive breast cancer cells remains to be determined. The aim of
this study was to investigate the molecular and functional involvement of this adaptor protein
in breast cancer cell plasticity.
Methods: We used silencing strategies and rescue experiments to evaluate phenotypic and
biochemical changes from mesenchymal to epithelial traits in breast tumor cell lines. In the
mouse A17 cell model previously related to mesenchymal cancer stem cells and basal-like
breast cancer, we biochemically dissected the signaling pathways involved and performed
functional in vivo tumor growth ability assays. The significance of the signaling platform was
assessed in a human setting through the use of specific inhibitors in aggressive MDA-MB-
231 subpopulation LM2-4175 cells. To evaluate the clinical relevance of the results, we
analyzed publicly available microarray data from the Netherlands Cancer Institute and from
the Koo Foundation Sun-Yat-Sen Cancer Center.
Results: We show that p130Cas silencing induces loss of mesenchymal features, by downregulating
Vimentin, Snail, Slug and Twist transcriptional factors, resulting in the
acquirement of epithelial-like traits. Mechanistically, p130Cas controls Cyclooxygenase-2
transcriptional expression, which in turn contributes to p130Cas-dependent maintenance of
mesenchymal phenotype. This cascade of events also compromises in vivo tumor growth
through inhibition of cell signaling controlling cell cycle progression. c-Src and JNK kinases
are sequential players in p130Cas/ Cyclooxygenase-2 axis and their pharmacological
inhibition is sufficient to down-regulate Cyclooxygenase-2 leading to an epithelial
phenotype. Finally in silico microarray data analysis indicates that p130Cas and
Cyclooxygenase-2 concomitant over-expression predicts poor survival and high probability
of breast tumor recurrence.
Conclusions: Overall, these data identify a new p130Cas/Cyclooxygenase-2 axis as a crucial
element in the control of breast tumor plasticity, opening new therapeutic strategies leading to
inhibition of these pathways in aggressive breast carcinoma
p130Cas/Cyclooxygenase-2 axis in the control of mesenchymal plasticity of breast cancer cells
No full textIntroduction:
Intrinsic plasticity of breast carcinoma cells allows them to undergo a transient and reversible conversion into mesenchymal cells to disseminate into distant organs, where they can re-differentiate to an epithelial-like status to form a cohesive secondary mass. The p130Cas scaffold protein is overexpressed in human ER+ and HER2+ breast cancer where it contributes to cancer progression, invasion and resistance to therapy. However, its role in regulating mesenchymal aggressive breast cancer cells remains to be determined. The aim of this study was to investigate the molecular and functional involvement of this adaptor protein in breast cancer cell plasticity.
Methods:
We used silencing strategies and rescue experiments to evaluate phenotypic and biochemical changes from mesenchymal to epithelial traits in breast tumor cell lines. In the mouse A17 cell model previously related to mesenchymal cancer stem cells and basal-like breast cancer, we biochemically dissected the signaling pathways involved and performed functional in vivo tumor growth ability assays. The significance of the signaling platform was assessed in a human setting through the use of specific inhibitors in aggressive MDA-MB-231 subpopulation LM2-4175 cells. To evaluate the clinical relevance of the results, we analyzed publicly available microarray data from the Netherlands Cancer Institute and from the Koo Foundation Sun Yat-Sen Cancer Center.
Results:
We show that p130Cas silencing induces loss of mesenchymal features, by downregulating Vimentin, Snail, Slug and Twist transcriptional factors, resulting in the acquirement of epithelial-like traits. Mechanistically, p130Cas controls Cyclooxygenase-2 transcriptional expression, which in turn contributes to p130Cas-dependent maintenance of mesenchymal phenotype. This cascade of events also compromises in vivo tumor growth through inhibition of cell signaling controlling cell cycle progression. c-Src and JNK kinases are sequential players in p130Cas/ Cyclooxygenase-2 axis and their pharmacological inhibition is sufficient to downregulate Cyclooxygenase-2 leading to an epithelial phenotype. Finally, in silico microarray data analysis indicates that p130Cas and Cyclooxygenase-2 concomitant overexpression predicts poor survival and high probability of breast tumor recurrence.
Conclusions:
Overall, these data identify a new p130Cas/Cyclooxygenase-2 axis as a crucial element in the control of breast tumor plasticity, opening new therapeutic strategies leading to inhibition of these pathways in aggressive breast carcinoma
Relativistic ⟨ σ v rel ⟩ in the calculation of relics abundances : a closer look
No full textIn this paper we clarify the relation between the invariant relativistic relative velocity Vr, the Møller velocity ¯v, and the nonrelativistic relative velocity vr. Adopting Vr as the true physical relative velocity for pair collisions in a nondegenerate relativistic gas, we show that in the frame comoving with the gas (i) a probability density function P(Vr) for Vr exists, (ii) an exact formula for the mean value ⟨Vr⟩ exists, (iii) the thermally averaged cross section times relative velocity ⟨σvrel⟩ that appears in the density evolution equation for thermal relics is reformulated only in terms of Vr and P(Vr) in a manifestly Lorentz invariant form, and (iv) the frame-dependent issues of the standard formulation in terms of the Møller velocity, as well as “superluminal” relative velocities, are not present in this formulation. Furthermore, considering the annihilation of dark matter into a particle-antiparticle pair f¯f, in the cases mf=0, mf=m, and mf≫m, we find that the coefficients of the low velocity expansion of ⟨σVr⟩ admit an exact analytical representation in terms of the Meijer G functions that can be reduced to combinations of modified Bessel functions of the second kind.The author acknowledges N. Fornengo and M. Peiro for useful discussions during the 9th MultiDark workshop, Halcala de Henares, November 6-9, 2013, Spain, where some of the results of the present paper were presented. Work supported in part by MultiDark under Grant No. CSD2009-00064 of the Spanish MICINN Consolider-Ingenio 2010 Program. Further support is provided by the MICINN Project FPA2011-23781 and by the Grant MICINN-INFN(PG21) AIC-D-2011-0724.Ciencias Integrada
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