Melanocytes Affect Nodal Expression and Signaling in Melanoma Cells: A Lesson from Pediatric Large Congenital Melanocytic Nevi

Expression of Nodal, a Transforming Growth Factor-beta (TGF-β) related growth factor, is associated with aggressive melanoma. Nodal expression in adult dysplastic nevi may predict the development of aggressive melanoma in some patients. A subset of pediatric patients diagnosed with giant or large congenital melanocytic nevi (LCMN) has shown increased risk for development of melanoma. Here, we investigate whether Nodal expression can help identify the rare cases of LCMN that develop melanoma and shed light on why the majority of these patients do not. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining results show varying degree of Nodal expression in pediatric dysplastic nevi and LCMN. Moreover, median scores from Nodal IHC expression analysis were not significantly different between these two groups. Additionally, none of the LCMN patients in this study developed melanoma, regardless of Nodal IHC levels. Co-culture experiments revealed reduced tumor growth and lower levels of Nodal and its signaling molecules P-SMAD2 and P-ERK1/2 when melanoma cells were grown in vivo or in vitro with normal melanocytes. The same was observed in melanoma cells cultured with melanocyte conditioned media containing pigmented melanocyte derived melanosomes (MDM). Since MDM contain molecules capable of inactivating radical oxygen species, to investigate potential anti-oxidant effect of MDM on Nodal expression and signaling in melanoma, melanoma cells were treated with either N-acetyl-l-cysteine (NAC), a component of the anti-oxidant glutathione or synthetic melanin, which in addition to providing pigmentation can also exert free radical scavenging activity. Melanoma cells treated with NAC or synthetic melanin showed reduced levels of Nodal, P-SMAD2 and P-ERK1/2 compared to untreated melanoma cells. Thus, the potential role for Nodal in melanoma development in LCMN is less evident than in adult dysplastic nevi possibly due to melanocyte cross-talk in LCMN capable of offsetting or delaying the pro-melanoma effects of Nodal via anti-oxidant effects of MDM.     

Comparison of drilled hole quality evaluation in CFRP/CFRP stacks using optical and ultrasonic non-destructive inspection

In aeronautical industry, stringent requirements relate to the quality of drilled holes in carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) composite laminates as low hole quality determines poor assembly tolerance, structural properties reduction, and risk for long-term part performance. Non-destructive quality control techniques were applied to drilled CFRP laminate stacks for aeronautical applications to characterize the material damage induced by drilling in order to assess the hole quality for product acceptability. Experimental metrology procedures, including optical measurements and ultrasonic non-destructive evaluation, were employed to appraise both external and internal induced material damage in holes machined under diverse drilling conditions. The optical inspection procedure, comparable to the visual inspection method regularly utilized in industry, provided delaminated area evaluations that are underestimated in the case of severe drilling conditions by up to 7% for hole exit and up to 5% for hole entry. In the case of less severe drilling conditions, the underestimation was limited to <2.5% for both hole exit and hole entry, which can be considered a practically negligible disparity.     

SmartK: Smart cards in operating systems at kernel level

A smart card is a tamper-resistant miniature computer that performs some basic computations on input a secret information. So far, smart cards have been widely used for securing many digital transactions (e.g., pay television, ATM machines).We focus on the implementation of operating system security services leveraging on smart cards. This very challenging feature allows one to personalize some functionalities of the operating system by simply changing a smart card. Current solutions for integrating smart card features in operating system services require at least a partial execution of some of the operating system functionalities at “user level”. Unfortunately, system functionalities built on top of components lying at both kernel and user levels may negatively affect the overall system security, due to the introduction of multiple points of failure.In this work, we present the design and implementation of SmartK: a framework that integrates features of smart cards uniquely in the Linux kernel. In order to validate our approach, we propose a host of enhancements to the Linux operating system built on top of SmartK: 1) in-kernel clients' authentication with Kerberos; 2) execution of trusted code; 3) key management in secure network filesystems.In particular, we present an experimental Linux OS distribution (SalSA), which addresses the security issues related to downloading packages and to updating an operating system through the Internet.     

β-Cyclodextrin Inclusion Complex to Improve Physicochemical Properties of Pipemidic Acid: Characterization and Bioactivity Evaluation

The aptitude of cyclodextrins (CDs) to form host-guest complexes has prompted an increase in the development of new drug formulations. In this study, the inclusion complexes of pipemidic acid (HPPA), a therapeutic agent for urinary tract infections, with native β-CD were prepared in solid state by kneading method and confirmed by FT-IR and ¹H NMR. The inclusion complex formation was also characterized in aqueous solution at different pH via UV-Vis titration and phase solubility studies obtaining the stability constant. The 1:1 stoichiometry was established by a Job plot and the inclusion mechanism was clarified using docking experiments. Finally, the antibacterial activity of HPPA and its inclusion complex was tested on P. aeruginosa, E. coli and S. aureus to determine the respective EC_50s and EC_90s. The results showed that the antibacterial activity of HPPA:β-CD against E. coli and S. aureus is higher than that of HPPA. Furthermore, HPPA and HPPA:β-CD, tested on human hepatoblastoma HepG2 and MCF-7 cell lines by MTT assay, exhibited, for the first time, antitumor activities, and the complex revealed a higher activity than that of HPPA. The use of β-CD allows an increase in the aqueous solubility of the drug, its bioavailability and then its bioactivity.     

The d-index: Discovering dependences among scientific collaborators from their bibliographic data records

The evaluation of the work of a researcher and its impact on the research community has been deeply studied in literature through the definition of several measures, first among all the h-index and its variations. Although these measures represent valuable tools for analyzing researchers?? outputs, they usually assume the co-authorship to be a proportional collaboration between the parts, missing out their relationships and the relative scientific influences. In this work, we propose the d-index, a novel measure that estimates the dependence degree between authors on their research environment along their entire scientific publication history. We also present a web application that implements these ideas and provides a number of visualization tools for analyzing and comparing scientific dependences among all the scientists in the DBLP bibliographic database. Finally, relying on this web environment, we present case and user studies that highlight both the validity and the reliability of the proposed evaluation measure.     

An Adaptive Control System to Deliver Interactive Virtual Environment Content to Handheld Devices

Wireless communication advances have enabled emerging video streaming applications to mobile handheld devices. For example, it is possible to display and interact with complex 3D virtual environments on mobile devices that don’t have enough computational and storage capabilities (e.g. smart phones, PDAs) through remote rendering techniques, where a server renders 3D data and streams the corresponding image flow to the client. However, due to fluctuations in bandwidth characteristics and limited mobile device CPU capabilities, it is extremely challenging to design effective systems for streaming interactive multimedia over wireless networks. This paper presents a novel approach based on a controller that can automatically adjust streaming parameters basing on feedback measures from the client device. Experimental results prove the effectiveness of the proposed solution in coping with bandwidth changes, thus providing high Quality of Service (QoS) in remote visualizations.     

Trusted virtual domains: Color your network

Trusted Virtual Domains (TVDs) provide a secure IT infrastructure offering a homogeneous and transparent enforcement of access control policies on data and network resources. In this article, we give an overview of the fundamental ideas and basic concepts behind TVDs, present a realization of TVDs, and discuss application scenarios.     

Desmin and troponin T are degraded faster in type IIb muscle fibers than in type I fibers during postmortem aging of porcine muscle

A novel approach was applied in this study to directly evaluate the effect of muscle fiber type on postmortem protein degradation. Porcine muscle fibers were isolated from longissimus muscle at day 1, 3, and 6 postmortem. Fibers were sorted by immunochemical myosin heavy chain isoform typing. Western blot analysis of fibers pooled separately into type I or IIb showed that the relative amounts of 39- and 50-kDa desmin degradation fragments at day 6, and 28- to 31-kDa fragments of troponin T fast type isoform (fTnT) at day 1 and 6 postmortem were higher in type IIb than in type I fibers. At day 6 troponin T slow type isoform (sTnT) was less degraded than fTnT in type I fibers. These results indicated greater rate and extent of proteolysis in type IIb than in type I fibers and higher susceptibility of fTnT to proteolysis than that of sTnT isoform.     

Effects of sulfate ions and slightly acidic pH conditions on Cr(VI) adsorption onto silica gelatin composite

The feasibility of utilizing CTAB–silica gelatin composite (C-SGC) to remove hexavalent chromium from aqueous solutions under different conditions was investigated. Removal of chromate was assessed through evaluation of the adsorption kinetics of chromate ions on the composite under equilibrium conditions in the presence of sulfate ions and at a slightly acidic pH condition (pH 5.8). Adsorption competition tests in the presence of sulfate ions showed that Cr(VI) was still effectively adsorbed from aqueous solution regardless of the presence of the competing anions. In fact, the adsorption kinetics performed at different initial chromate concentrations were unaffected by the presence of 100 mg L^?1 sulfate ions (pH 7.5). The equilibrium adsorption data were fitted by Freundlich adsorption isotherms which confirmed that the adsorption efficiency of chromium on the CTAB–silica gelatin composite was unchanged in the presence of sulfate ions. Further, the adsorption process was shown to be pH dependent and more efficient at slightly acidic pH (5.8). These findings demonstrated a high specificity of the CTAB–silica gelatin composite for chromium, and highlight the possibility of using this matrix for efficient removal of chromium from industrial wastewater without the need to eliminate contaminant sulfate ions.     

Physico-chemical characterisation of the inhalable particulate matter (PM10) in an urban area: an analysis of the seasonal trend

Between October 1998 and February 2000, 11 particulate samplings were conducted in an urban area of Rome to evaluate the seasonal trend of PM10 characteristics: seven samplings were made at ground-level and four 30 m above ground level. The samples were analysed by scanning electron microscopy equipped with an EDS X-ray attachment and by transmission electron microscopy and an electron energy-loss spectrometer. The airborne particulate matter was characterised from a physico-chemical point of view to provide information on the particle composition and on the compounds carried on their surface. The data sets, consisting of the atomic concentrations of the constituent chemical elements of the fine (PM3.3) and of the coarse (PM10-3.3) particulate, were subjected to cluster analysis to determine the principal components of PM10. In the particulate matter, the statistical analysis methods allowed us to identify seven groups (clusters) of particles: C-rich particles; carbonates; silica; silicates; sulfates; Fe-rich particles; and metals. Carbonaceous and silicate particles with a surface coating containing S were observed. This sulfur-enriched coating turned out to be a PM3.3 feature strongly dependent upon season.