170,110 research outputs found
Somatostatin signal transduction in thyroid parafollicular C cells
No full textThe effects of somatostatin (SRIF) through its receptors (SSTRs) has been explored in many tissues, and here we discuss the role of the SRIF-SSTR system in human parafollicular C cells, reporting recent data on the effects of selective SSTR agonists on parafollicular C cells, that suggest new therapeutic approaches for medical treatment of medullary thyroid carcinoma. Moreover, the possible pathways involved in SRIF signalling in parafollicular C cells are discusse
Energy content of SRF from RMSW in the Trentino Province as a results of biowaste collection strategies
No full textAn analysis of the residual municipal solid waste resulted from a highly efficient selective collection is presented for an Italian case study. The dynamics of selective collection and residual municipal solid waste composition is described in order to understand the evolution of the sector. A detailed characterization of calorific value, Cl content and Hg content has been performed in order to discuss the potential classification of the residual municipal solid waste of the studied area as solid recovered fuel (after simplified treatments, mostly of homogenization). The obtained results point out the important role of food waste collection in this fram
Energy content of SRF from RMSW in the Trentino Region as a results of biowaste collection strategies
No full textAn analysis of the residual municipal solid waste resulted from a highly efficient selective collection is presented for an Italian case study. The dynamics of selective collection and residual municipal solid waste composition is described in order to understand the evolution of the sector. A detailed characterization of calorific value, Cl content and Hg content has been performed in order to discuss the potential classification of the residual municipal solid waste of the studied area as solid recovered fuel (after simplified treatments, mostly of homogenization). The obtained results point out the important role of food waste collection in this frame
Municipal solid waste selective collection and tourism
No full textThis paper concerns the interaction between tourism and the selective collection of municipal solid waste (MSW). Data for an Italian province are shown, zooming in on five municipalities characterised by the high presence of tourists along the year. Information on the selective collection organisation is presented (also based on the presence of eco-centers). The highest tourist months are in winter and summer and their effect is seen in the increase of the factions connected with the tourists meals and also the increase of residual MSW. The monthly peaks of waste generation are very high, but the final results in terms of selective collection efficiency seem to not be affected (being even higher than 80%, a value that is better than the one obtained at provincial scale). Also the presence of decentralised landfills did not discourage the source separation that changed significantly in about a decade. Moreover, the trend of tourists towards shorter periods of holiday does not affect selective collection; possibly because they are used to coming back to the same municipality, where they have already learned the local principles of source separation. © 2014 WIT Press
Direct regulation of pituitary proopiomelanocortin by STAT3 provides a novel mechanism for immuno-neuroendocrine interfacing
No full textNeuroendocrine ACTH secretion responds to peripheral inflammatory and stress signals. We previously demonstrated that the proinflammatory cytokine, leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), affects the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) by stimulating in vitro and in vivo pituitary proopiomelanocortin (POMC) gene expression and ACTH secretion and by potentiating the action of hypothalamic corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH). Whereas pathways shown thus far to regulate POMC expression exclusively involve cAMP or calcium, we here describe a direct and indirect STAT3-dependent regulation of POMC transcription by LIF. Using progressive 5'-deletions of POMC promoter, we identified a LIF-responsive -407/-301 region that contains two juxtaposed sequences within -399/-379 related to a STAT3 DNA-binding motif. Each sequence within -399/-379 separately corresponds to a low-affinity and direct binding site for STAT3, but, in combination, these sequences bind STAT3 cooperatively and with high affinity. Moreover, LIF-activated STAT3 indirectly mediates LIF corticotroph action by inducing and potentiating CRH-induced c-fos and JunB expression and binding to the POMC AP-1 element. We therefore conclude that both a direct and indirect route mediate LIF-induced STAT3 activation of POMC transcription. Demonstration of STAT3-dependent regulation of the POMC gene represents a powerful mechanism for immuno-neuroendocrine interfacing and implies a direct stimulation of ACTH secretion by inflammatory and stress-derived STAT3-inducing cytokines
Regulation of the neuroendocrine system: C-cell of the thyroid
No full textDescrizione dell'anatomi a fisiologia delle cellule C parafollicolari della tiroid
Field measurements in river embankments: validation and management with spatial database and webGIS
No full textThis study focuses on the development of a system with a spatial database and a webGIS able to store, validate and display the data to assist the decision makers in managing Early Warning Systems for river embankment failure. In order to prevent misleading results it is essential to have a tool able of managing a large number of data for checking their reliability and for locating them in the space. In this paper, special attention was paid in the development of procedures to assess the reliability of the measures. For this purpose the database includes all the information needed to describe the instrument performance, such as the sand pack size and casing diameter of open-standpipe piezometers for evaluating their time lag, and the calibration curves of transducers with the possibility of their updating. The position of the non-functioning instruments is identified through the analysis of the electrical signal and spatial displays, while the analyses of the redundancy and coherence of measures is used for detecting doubtful data. Database and webGIS was applied to the monitoring data of an embankment of the Adige River in Northern Italy. The database and webGIS system has proved to be a suitable and effective tool for the management and validation of real-time data and periodical field measurements
Hazard evaluation supported by spatial database and web-GIS
No full textThe real-time evaluation of hazard associated to natural or man-made phenomena requires the management of geospatial and temporal data, most of them collected by using automatic monitoring systems. If a theoretical model for interpretation has been defined, these data are first used to validate and calibrate the model, and then to identify the areas influenced by the hazardous phenomena and for predicting their evolution. In order to prevent misleading results it is therefore essential to have a tool able of managing a large number of data for checking their reliability and for locating them in the space. This study focuses on the development of a spatial database and a web-GIS able to storage, validate and display the data to assist the decision makers in managing an Early Warning Systems (EWS). By developing a Sensor Observation Service (SOS) the database could be linked to the sensors (including geospatial data and manual measures), and the web-GIS could interact with users for displaying the data and collecting more additional information.
The database was set up by using PostgreSQL and Post GIS; the web-GIS displays the time series of data through graphs made with Open Flash Charts.
Special attention was paid in the development of procedures to assess the reliability of the measures. For this purpose the database includes all the information needed to describe the instrument performance, such as the sand pack size and casing diameter of open-standpipe piezometers for evaluating their time lag, and the calibration curves of transducers with the possibility of their updating. The position of the non-functioning instruments is identified through the analysis of the electrical signal and spatial displays, while the analyses of the redundancy and coherence of measures is used for detecting doubtful data.
Database and web-GIS was applied to the monitoring data of an embankment of the Adige River in Northern Italy. Measures of groundwater pressure, soil vertical displacements, soil and instrument temperature, meteorology and water level of the river were processed. To date the monitoring system has been used to support the research activities, and the database and the web-GIS has facilitated the analysis and data sharing
Spatial database and web-GIS for managing and validating river embankment monitoring data
No full textThanks to the increasing development of ICT, river embankments would become safer by using Early Warning Systems (EWS). Accordingly, the real-time assessment of the stability of river embankments should analyze a large number of geospatial and temporal data, such as ground surface, geology, hydraulic and mechanical soil characteristics, water level in the river, groundwater pressure, surface and soil displacements, meteorology.
This study focuses on the development of a system (Fig. 1) made of a spatial database (DBMS) and a webGIS able to storage, validate, mapping and display the data to assist the decision makers in managing an EWS. By developing a Sensor Observation Service (SOS) the database could be linked to the sensors (including geospatial data and manual measures), and the webGIS could interact with users for displaying the data and collecting more additional information. The database was set up by using PostgreSQL and Post GIS; the webGIS displays the time series of data through graphs made with Open Flash Charts.
Special attention was paid in the development of procedures to assess the reliability of the measurements. For this purpose the database includes all the information needed to describe the instrument conformance, such as the sand pack size and casing diameter of open-standpipe piezometers for evaluating their time lag, and the calibration curves of transducers with the possibility of their updating. The non-functioning instruments are identified through the analysis of the electrical signal and their positions are displayed by maps. The analysis of the redundancy and coherence of measurements is used for detecting doubtful data.
The system, combining a spatial DBMS and a webGIS, was applied to the monitoring data of an embankment of the Adige River in Northern Italy (Fig. 2). Measurements of groundwater pressure, soil vertical displacements, soil and instrument temperature, meteorology and water level of the river were processed
Finding a path to overcome chemoresistance
No full textMultidrug resistance is a significant obstacle to providing effective chemotherapy to many cancer patients, leading to failure of several medical treatments, with dramatic consequences for the patients. Resistance to chemotherapy is associated with the overexpression of P-glycoprotein (P-gp), resulting in increased efflux of chemotherapic agents from cancer cells. P-gp is a 170 Kd transmembrane glycoprotein, encoded by the multidrug resistance gene 1 (MDR1), which is expressed in many cancer cell lines and human tissues. Several reports describe the successful overcoming of drug resistance by inactivation of MDR1 function or expression, and, recently, an important role for cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) has been reported in modulating MDR1 function. Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) is a malignant tumor originating from thyroid parafollicular C cells, which is highly resistant to chemotherapy, and, so far, nonsurgical approaches to MTC treatment have met with inconsistent results. Many other endocrine-related cancers (i.e. breast cancer), as well as endocrine gland cancers (i.e. adrenocortical cancer) may display chemoresistance or develop such phenotype after the first chemotherapy courses.
The aim of the proposed research is to explore the possible pathways for overcoming multidrug resistance by treatment with compounds inhibiting COX-2 activity. It has been demonstrated that COX-2 activity dose-dependently induces P-gp function
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