Search results for " Small"

Rappresentazioni e territorio nelle dinamiche del turismo: il caso della Lonely Planet Sicily

2018

L’attuale dibattito sul riordino territoriale del Paese rende nuovamente centrale il concetto di territorio che, da sempre, in una prospettiva geografica pone problemi definitori. Esso può essere, infatti, oggetto di produzioni simboliche e (ri)semantizzazioni in grado di ridefinirlo e di creare specifiche modalità di interazione. A questo proposito, il presente lavoro intende proporre una riflessione su alcune dinamiche di produzione e riproduzione simbolica che interessano il concetto di territorio nel turismo, ambito in cui si può osservare una relazione diretta tra rappresentazione del territorio (intesa anche come narrazione) e possibilità d’azione. In particolare, attraverso il caso s…

Facebook as a Small World: a topological hypothesis

2011

Facebook is becoming a pervasive entity as its social, cultural and media ramifications grow deep and entrenched in our daily life. Its nature of a complex system of interactions, bearing a strong similarity to networks built through individual choices and systems shaped by evolu- tionary pressure, makes it an interesting target for research. Scale-free Small World networks, recently popularized by Barabasi, are a topological class pertaining to both these domains, whose members have resilience to disruption and short intermediate connections between nodes. In this paper we show that the topological structure of a specific subset of Facebook, gathered using data from a self-report online qu…

Come è piccolo il mondo in rete: una ipotesi small-world sulla topologia di Facebook

2009

In questo lavoro viene presentata una prima ipotesi di modellizzazione della struttura comunicativa e sociale di Facebook a partire dalle risposte fornite da un totale di 1001 utenti Facebook ad un questionario di self-report 1 appositamente predisposto. Oltre a fornire una serie di elementi sui meccanismi cognitivi, comunicativi e sociali nonché sulle motivazioni all’uso di Facebook, i suddetti dati hanno offerto la possibilità di verificare se la struttura topologica di Facebook può essere assimilabile ad una rete small-world.

Significance of Autologous Interleukin-6 Production in the HA22T/VGH Cell Model of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

2006

Cancer cells may often support their own growth, survival, and drug resistance by autocrine/paracrine loops based on the production of different factors; results from us and others have shown that similar interleukin-6 (IL-6)-related loops are operative in multiple myeloma and prostate or renal cancer. Because this aspect has not been investigated in detail for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), we have examined it in HA22T/VGH cells. These differ from other primary liver cancer cell lines (that is, HepG2, HuH-6, and HuH-7) in that enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) showed the HA22T/VGH cells to secrete remarkable amounts of IL-6 (16.8 ng/10(6) cells/24 h); this production, due to const…

The clinical relevance of low-density-lipoproteins size modulation by statins.

2006

The predominance of small, dense low density lipoproteins (LDL) has been accepted as an emerging cardiovascular risk factor by the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III; in fact, LDL size seems to be an important predictor of cardiovascular events and progression of coronary heart disease. Several studies have also shown that the therapeutical modulation of LDL size is of great benefit in reducing the risk of cardiovascular events. Hypolipidemic treatment is able to alter LDL subclass distribution and statins are currently the most widely used lipid-lowering agents. Statins are potent inhibitors of hydroxy-methyl-glutaryl-coenzyme A reductase, the rate-limiting en…

Advanced Statistical Tools for Six Sigma and other Industrial Applications

Six Sigma is a methodological approach and philosophy for quality improvement in operations management; its main objectives are identifying and removing the causes of defects, and minimizing variability in manufacturing and business processes. To do so, Six Sigma combines managerial and statistical tools, with the creation of a dedicated organizational structure. In this doctoral thesis and the three years of study and research, we have had the purpose to advance the potential applications of the methodology and its tools; with a specific attention on issues and challenges that typically prevent the realization of the expected financial and operational gains that a company pursue in applyin…

The mitotic kinase Aurora-A promotes distant metastases by inducing epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in ERα+ breast cancer cells

2013

In this study, we demonstrate that constitutive activation of Raf-1 oncogenic signaling induces stabilization and accumulation of Aurora-A mitotic kinase that ultimately drives the transition from an epithelial to a highly invasive mesenchymal phenotype in estrogen receptor α-positive (ERα(+)) breast cancer cells. The transition from an epithelial- to a mesenchymal-like phenotype was characterized by reduced expression of ERα, HER-2/Neu overexpression and loss of CD24 surface receptor (CD24(-/low)). Importantly, expression of key epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers and upregulation of the stemness gene SOX2 was linked to acquisition of stem cell-like properties such as the ab…

Multifunctional Cationic PeptoStars as siRNA Carrier: Influence of Architecture and Histidine Modification on Knockdown Potential.

2019

RNA interference provides enormous potential for the treatment of several diseases, including cancer. Nevertheless, successful therapies based on siRNA require overcoming various challenges, such as poor pharmacokinetic characteristics of the small RNA molecule and inefficient cytosolic accumulation. In this respect, the development of functional siRNA carrier systems is a major task in biomedical research. To provide such a desired system, the synthesis of 3-arm and 6-arm PeptoStars is aimed for. The different branched polypept(o)idic architectures share a stealth-like polysarcosine corona for efficient shielding and a multifunctional polylysine core, which can be independently varied in s…

Intrinsically disordered protein PID-2 modulates Z granules and is required for heritable piRNA-induced silencing in the Caenorhabditis elegans embryo

2020

Abstract In Caenorhabditis elegans, the piRNA (21U RNA) pathway is required to establish proper gene regulation and an immortal germline. To achieve this, PRG‐1‐bound 21U RNAs trigger silencing mechanisms mediated by RNA‐dependent RNA polymerase (RdRP)‐synthetized 22G RNAs. This silencing can become PRG‐1‐independent and heritable over many generations, a state termed RNA‐induced epigenetic gene silencing (RNAe). How and when RNAe is established, and how it is maintained, is not known. We show that maternally provided 21U RNAs can be sufficient for triggering RNAe in embryos. Additionally, we identify PID‐2, a protein containing intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs), as a factor required …

proTRAC - a software for probabilistic piRNA cluster detection, visualization and analysis

2012

Abstract Background Throughout the metazoan lineage, typically gonadal expressed Piwi proteins and their guiding piRNAs (~26-32nt in length) form a protective mechanism of RNA interference directed against the propagation of transposable elements (TEs). Most piRNAs are generated from genomic piRNA clusters. Annotation of experimentally obtained piRNAs from small RNA/cDNA-libraries and detection of genomic piRNA clusters are crucial for a thorough understanding of the still enigmatic piRNA pathway, especially in an evolutionary context. Currently, detection of piRNA clusters relies on bioinformatics rather than detection and sequencing of primary piRNA cluster transcripts and the stringency …