6,860 research outputs found

    Alberto Parolini

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    Botanico: Parolini, Alberto (1788-1867). Botanico-viaggiatore in Sicilia, Grecia, Asia minore, raccoglitore della flora Veneta e corrispondente di Bertoloni e Parlatore. Titolo ed estremi cronologici riportati manoscritti sul recto, dove compare anche la nota: Da: Visiani, Biogr. di Parolini, 1867. 1 fotografia : albumina ; 135 x 92 mm. Vai alla scheda bibliografica: https://galileodiscovery.unipd.it/discovery/fulldisplay?context=L&vid=39UPD_INST:VU1&search_scope=MyInst_and_CI&tab=Everything&docid=alma99001597809020604

    The Higgs as a Supersymmetric Nambu-Goldstone Boson

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    This thesis deals with the idea that the Higgs scalar doublet of the Standard Model is a Goldstone boson arising from a spontaneous breaking of an approximate global symmetry, driven by new physics effects, otherwise unobserved. This would regulate the behavior of the Higgs potential with the aim of addressing the Standard Model hierarchy problem, limiting the validity of the Standard Model as an effective theory to processes at ener- gies below a cutoff around the TeV scale. After introducing this paradigm, also reviewing some literature, we describe few explicit models, minimal in some sense, built in the context of supersymmetric field theories. We show the details of the constructions, in particular its novel properties given by the presence of supersymmetry. We take into account the most important experimental constraints and we argue that some versions of these theories can be soon tested at collider experiments

    Application of molecular analysis to genetic counseling in the Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS)

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    The Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS) is a severe X-linked, recessive disorder, with a high mortality rate at early age due to hemorrhages, infections, and lymphoid malignancies. The molecular pathogenesis of the disease is unknown. Carrier females of WAS are clinically and immunologically normal, thus precluding carrier detection by simple laboratory tests. Major advances in molecular genetics have allowed mapping of the WAS gene to the pericentromeric short arm of the X chromosome, and have made carrier detection and prenatal diagnosis feasible by segregation analysis with closely linked polymorphic DNA markers. Furthermore, the observation that carriers of WAS exhibit a unilateral inactivation of the X chromosome in hematopoietic cells has provided a new tool for carrier detection. However, critical interpretation of molecular analysis data is essential to provide accurate genetic counseling to WAS families

    Amniotic membrane patching promotes ischemic rat heart repair

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    The amniotic membrane has long been applied for wound healing and treatment of ophthalmological disorders, even though the mechanisms underlying its actions remain to be clarified. Recently, cells derived from fetal membranes of human term placenta have raised strong interest in regenerative medicine for their stem cell potential and immunomodulatory features. Our study aimed to investigate the possible utility of amniotic membrane to limit postischemic cardiac injury. A fragment of human amniotic membrane was applied onto the left ventricle of rats that had undergone ischemia through left anterior descending coronary artery ligation. Echocardiographic assessment of morphological and functional cardiac parameters was then performed over a 3-month period. We demonstrated that application of an amniotic membrane fragment onto ischemic rat hearts could significantly reduce postischemic cardiac dysfunction. The amniotic membrane-treated rats showed higher preservation of cardiac dimensions and improved cardiac contractile function in terms of higher left ventricle ejection fraction, fractional shortening, and wall thickening. These improvements were apparent by day 7 after application of the amniotic membrane, persisted for at least 2 months, and occurred independently of cardiac injury severity. No engraftment of amniotic cells was detected into host cardiac tissues. Our results suggest that use of amniotic membrane may constitute a convenient vehicle for supplying cells that produce cardioprotective soluble factors, and reinforce the notion that this tissue constitutes a cell source with clinical potential that has yet to be completely revealed

    Amniotic mesenchymal tissue cells inhibit dendritic cell differentiation of peripheral blood and amnion resident monocytes

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    Cells derived from the amniotic membranes of human term placenta have drawn much interest for their characteristics of multipotency and low immunogenicity, supporting a variety of possible clinical applications in the field of cell transplantation and regenerative medicine. We have previously shown that cells derived from the mesenchymal region of human amnion (AMTC) can strongly inhibit T-lymphocyte proliferation. In this study, we demonstrate that AMTC can block differentiation and maturation of monocytes into dendritic cells (DC), preventing the expression of the DC marker CD1a and reducing the expression of HLA-DR, CD80, and CD83. The monocyte maturation block resulted in impaired allostimulatory ability of these cells on allogeneic T cells. In attempting to define the mechanisms responsible for these findings, we have observed that the presence of AMTC in differentiating DC cultures results in the arrest of the cells to the G(0) phase and abolishes the production of inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-alpha, CXCL10, CXCL9, and CCL5. Finally, we also demonstrate that the monocytic cells present in the amniotic mesenchymal region fail to differentiate toward the DC lineage. Taken together, our data suggest that the mechanisms by which AMTC exert immumodulatory effects do not only relate directly to T cells, but also include inhibition of the generation and maturation of antigen-presenting cells. In this context, AMTC represent a very attractive source of multipotent allogeneic cells that promise to be remarkably valuable for cell transplantation approaches, not only due to their low immunogenicity, but also because of the added potential of modulating immune responses, which could be fundamental both for controlling graft rejection after transplantation and also for controlling diseases characterized by inflammatory processes

    Molecular signature detection of circulating tumor cells using a panel of selected genes

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    Circulating tumor cell (CTC) detection in peripheral blood of colon and other epithelial cancer patients is becoming a scientifically recognised indicator for the presence of primary tumors and/or metastasis. The resulting need to further develop CTC detection-based systems for improved diagnosis, prognosis and assessment of therapy efficacy in tumour patients has prompted the application of different approaches, including expression analysis of tissue-specific and epithelial genes. In this context, lack of specificity of the analysed genes remains a fundamental problem for reliable CTC detection. In this study, we have selected a panel of highly specific epithelial genes: cytokeratin 20 (CK20), cytokeratin 19 (CK19), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and guanylyl cyclase C (GCC), and performed RT-PCR analysis to assess their expression in total blood and in different cell fractions of peripheral blood (PBMC and CD45-negative population) of cancer patients and healthy controls. Our results demonstrate that analysis of a single gene in a CTC-enriched population (CD45(-) peripheral blood cells) of cancer patients allows detection of a CTC molecular signature in at most 63.3% of cases, while analysis of all four genes performed in all three sample types increases the detection of positive patient samples to 87.7%. Healthy controls did not show positivity for any combination of these genes, although positivity was observed for the CEA marker alone, which was detected in 3 (6.6%) out of 45 donors, and only in the CD45(-) fraction. Here, we demonstrate that combined analysis of the genes above, in multiple blood fractions, results in a highly specific and sensitive CTC detection system in patients with metastatic solid tumors. Therefore, we believe that validation on a large scale of this approach, which demonstrates higher specificity in patients compared to controls, could become a relevant CTC screening test in patients with established metastatic disease, and furthermore, may also be useful for evaluating the possible presence of CTCs before the onset of clinically manifested metastatic spreading

    [Poesia] Três poemas de Alberto Secama

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    Three poems by Alberto Secama. About the author: Alberto Secama is an Angolan poet who has poems published on many websites and on facebook:https://www.facebook.com/Xungurra/abouthttp://www.pordentrodaafrica.com/cultura/africa-em-verso-rio-kwanza-por-alberto-secamahttp://www.pordentrodaafrica.com/cultura/africa-em-verso-zong-por-alberto-secamahttp://www.pordentrodaafrica.com/cultura/coluna-africa-em-verso-o-sol-la-fora-por-alberto-secamaTres poemas de Alberto Secama. Sobre el autor: Alberto Secama es un poeta angoleño que tiene poemas publicados en varios sitios y en el facebook:https://www.facebook.com/Xungurra/abouthttp://www.pordentrodaafrica.com/cultura/africa-em-verso-rio-kwanza-por-alberto-secamahttp://www.pordentrodaafrica.com/cultura/africa-em-verso-zong-por-alberto-secamahttp://www.pordentrodaafrica.com/cultura/coluna-africa-em-verso-o-sol-la-fora-por-alberto-secamaTrês poemas de Alberto Secama. Sobre o autor: Alberto Secama é um poeta angolano que possui poemas publicados em vários sites e no facebook:https://www.facebook.com/Xungurra/abouthttp://www.pordentrodaafrica.com/cultura/africa-em-verso-rio-kwanza-por-alberto-secamahttp://www.pordentrodaafrica.com/cultura/africa-em-verso-zong-por-alberto-secamahttp://www.pordentrodaafrica.com/cultura/coluna-africa-em-verso-o-sol-la-fora-por-alberto-secam

    Isolation and characterization of mesenchymal cells from human fetal membranes

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    Bone marrow (BM) multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) present with multipotent differentiation potential and immunomodulatory properties. As an alternative to bone marrow, we have examined fetal membranes, amnion and chorion, of term human placenta as a potential source of multipotent MSCs. Here we show that amnion mesenchymal cells (AMCs) and chorion mesenchymal cells (CMCs), isolated by mechanical separation and subsequent enzymatic digestion, demonstrate plastic adherence and fibroblast-like morphology and are able to form colonies that could be expanded for at least 15 passages. By FACS analysis, AMCs and CMCs were shown to be phenotypically similar to BM-MSCs and, when cultured in differentiation media, they demonstrated high morphogenetic plasticity by differentiating into osteocytes, chondrocytes and adipocytes. In an attempt to isolate cells with MSC characteristics from human fetal membranes, AMCs and CMCs expressing CD271 were enriched by immunomagnetic isolation and were demonstrated to possess higher clonogenic and osteogenic differentiation potential than CD271-depleted fractions. Based on these findings, amnion and chorion can be considered as a novel and convenient source of adult MSC
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