Search results for "Modelling"

The human impact on ecology of marine organisms: the EEB experience

2010

Melanoma cells release extracellular vesicles which contain RNA-binding proteins able to bind the mRNA encoding histone H1°

2015

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are produced by most prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells; tumour cells, however, release much higher amounts of EVs, which contain cancer-specific proteins and RNAs. Molecules carried by EVs are captured by surrounding cells, which then undergo profound phenotypic modifications. G26/24 oligodendroglioma cells release, for example, EVs containing FasL and TRAIL, which induce apoptosis in rat cortical neurons and astrocytes in culture. By metabolic labelling of cells, EV-mediated horizontal transfer of radioactive proteins was clearly demonstrated. Among the proteins present in EVs produced by oligodendroglioma cells, extracellular matrix remodelling proteases, and t…

RNA as a carrier of epigenetic information

2017

Both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells release into the extracellular matrix membrane-bound structures of different sizes, origin and composition, collectively called extracellular vesicles (EVs) [1]. Tumor cells, in particular, use EVs to transfer both nucleic acids and proteins to the surrounding normal cells, thus inducing in them transformed behaviours or killing them. G26/24 oligodendroglioma cells, for example, transfer by EVs pro-apoptotic proteins, such as TRAIL and Fas-Ligand [2], extracellular matrix remodelling proteases (such as ADAMTS) [3], and even the H1.0 histone protein [4]. Another tumour cell line, with a different tissue origin (A375 melanoma cells) releases into the medi…

METHYLOMIC SIGNATURE AND MOLECULAR MODELLING TO BETTER UNDERSTAND AUTOPHAGY INDUCED BY PHYTOCHEMICAL IN CACO-2 CELLS

2019

The binomial “autophagy-cancer” is intricate and methylomic studies can help to understand it by changing point of view from a gene level to an -omic one. Recently, autophagy-modulating properties of several phytochemicals have attracted attention in anticancer research. We evaluated whether Indicaxanthin (IND), the peculiar known beneficial phytochemical of prickly pear, seasonally available in the southern Italy, could induce autophagy in Caco2 cells, and whether it results from an epigenomic modification and/or a direct molecular interaction. IND increased autophagy in Caco-2 cells; the methylomic signature, obtained by Reduced Representation Bisulfite Sequencing (15 million of clusters)…

The Boltzmann factor through experiments and simulations

2009

The Boltzmann factor is at the basis of a great amount of thermodynamic and statistical physics, both classical and quantum. It describes the behaviour of natural systems that are exchanging energy with the environment. However, why does the expression have this specific form? The Feynman Lectures on Physics justifies it heuristically by reference to the “exponential atmosphere” example. Thermodynamics textbooks usually give a more or less complete explanation that mainly involves the mathematical analysis, where it is hard to see the logic flow. Moreover, the necessary mathematics is not at the level of high school or college students’ preparation. Here we present an experiments and a simu…

Italian Primary School prospective teachers beliefs about knowledge construction: a case study about models

2012

In this paper we discuss a study on the approaches to modeling of students of the 4-year Primary School Teacher program at the University of Palermo, Italy. The answers to a specially designed questionnaire are analyzed on the basis of an a-priori analysis made using a general scheme of reference on the epistemology of mathematics and physics. The study is performed by using quantitative data analysis methods, i.e. analysis of implicative and similarity trees. Dans ce papier, nous menons une étude relative à l’approche de la notion de modélisation par des étudiants de 4ème année de formation à la fonction de professeur d’école primaire à l’Université de Palerme, Italie. Les réponses à un qu…

3D structural modeling and restoration in fold-and-thrust belts: examples from the Kumeta and Busambra Mts., NW Sicily (Italy)

2018

The Sicilian Fold and Thrust belt (SFTB) is a structurally complex area where along-strike variations of structural styles, shortening amounts, exhumation rates and amounts of syn-tectonic sedimentation frequently occur. Moreover strong differential clockwise rotations around vertical axes affected the different tectonic units during their emplacement. This complexity, coupled with debatable or incomplete subsurface dataset (e.g., available 2D onshore seismic lines) allowed previous authors to propose different interpretations for the tectonic evolution of the SFTB since Cenozoic time. The study area, located in the Western sector of the SFTB comprises the Kumeta and Busambra ridges (derive…

Inside The Glaciers Project: Laser Scanning Of The Grotta Del Gelo (Mount Etna, Italy)

2017

As part of activities of the “Inside the Glaciers” project, managed by an Italian team of speleologists and geologists with the purpose of studying several ice-caves in Europe and South America, a research campaign was recently carried out in Mount Etna (Sicily, Italy). This volcano is the highest active in Europe and hosts more than 200 caves including Grotta del Gelo (Ice Cave) which is located on the Northern flank of Mount Etna at an altitude of about 2040 m a.s.l. This cave was formed during the Etna’s long and most destructive eruption dated from 1614 to 1624 and is one of the most famous because it hosts a small glacier, maybe the southernmost of the Northern hemisphere. Aim of this …

Mathematical modelling of pressure oscillations in sewer pressurization

2008

SEWER PRESSURIZATION MODELLING BY A RIGID-COLUMN METHOD

2008

Mathematical modelling of pressurization transient by a rigid-column method is studied based on previous laboratory testing. Of course, such a method is not able to simulate the experimental intense pressure oscillations; however, it is considerably simpler than other feasible methods and more easily implementable within drainage network models. Starting from this operative point of view, the paper aims at recognizing “what” and “how much” of the transient can be simulated by a rigid-column method. Actually, better results were obtained than it was expected. The model proves to be successful in simulation of the filling pipe stage as well as the stabilization stage of flow to the final stea…