Commercially Pure Titanium foils, were irradiated using a pulsed Nd:YAG laser under ambient air, in order to produce and characterize a well controlled surface texture (roughness and waviness) that ...enhances osseointegration. To study the peri-implant reparative process response, the laser treated Ti foils were implanted in the tibia of 10 male Wistar rats. At 14 days post-implantation, the histological analysis showed a tendency to more bone formation compared to the untreated control implants. The formation of a layer of TiN on the surface and the obtained roughness, have been demonstrated to improve bone response.
The chemical, physical and biological processes occurring in the rhizosphere can influence plant growth by modifying root associated microorganisms and nutrient cycles. Although rhizosphere has been ...widely investigated, little is known about the rhizosphere effect of pioneer plants in soils of periglacial environments. The knowledge of the processes controlling soil–plant relationships in these severe environments may help understanding the ecological evolution of newly deglaciated surfaces. We selected three plants Helianthemum nummularium (L.) Mill. subsp. grandiflorum (Scop.), Dryas octopetala (L.), and Silene acaulis (L.) Jacq. subsp. cenisia (Vierh.) P. Fourn. that sparsely occupy deglaciated areas of central Apennines (Italy), with the aim to assess changes between rhizosphere and bulk soil in terms of physical, chemical, and biological properties. The three plants considered showed to have different rhizosphere effect. Helianthemum induced a strong rhizosphere effect through a synergistic effect between root activity and a well adapted rhizosphere microbial community. Dryas did not foster a microbial community structure specifically designed for its rhizosphere, but consumes most of the energetic resources supplied by the plant to make nutrients available. Conversely to the other two species, Silene produced slight soil changes in the rhizosphere, where the microbial community had a structure, abundance and activity similar to those of the bulk soil. The ability to colonize harsh environments of Silene is probably linked to the shape and functions of its canopy rather than to a functional rhizosphere effect.
This study showed that the rhizosphere effect differed by species also under high environmental pressure (periglacial conditions, poorly developed soil), and the activity of roots and associated microbial community is decisive in modifying the soil properties, so to create a suitable environment where plants are able to grow.
•Rhizosphere and bulk soil of three plants species from a periglacial environment were sampled.•Different plants produced distinct rhizosphere effects even in extreme ecosystems.•Microbial community was decisive in modifying soil properties.•Among the plants species tested, Helianthemum had the strongest rhizosphere effect.
Analogue modelling of wrench tectonics typically utilizes a rigid basement with a velocity discontinuity under a brittle or brittle-viscous cover, such as in Riedel experiments, which confines fault ...localization in the overlaying model. However, such a set-up is hardly compatible with modeling brittle-ductile systems such as the upper and lower crust or a brittle sedimentary cover overlying a viscous evaporitic layer. To achieve a more realistic experimental approach, Bruno Vendeville designed an alternative experimental set-up decoupling the basement from the brittle overburden with a viscous layer in which the basement is not involved. In this configuration, strike-slip movement is driven laterally rather than from the base up, facilitated by “weak zones” that preferentially localize the deformation during shortening and enable sliding between compartments. This original approach provides greater flexibility for modeling complex strike-slip settings, allowing for more freedom for strike-slip structures to form and evolve through time.
Although the experiments described in this work were conducted in the late 1990s, the co-authors have chosen to revisit and adapt this earlier work for this Special Issue to underscore Bruno's influence on another aspect of salt tectonics and his pioneering foresight in the field of analogue modelling.
•Wrench zones have traditionally been modeled using basal discontinuities.•An alternative brittle-viscous set-up utilizing weak zones is presented.•Wrenching is triggered by shortening without to involve the rigid basement.•This set-up provides greater freedom for the formation and evolution of strike-slip structures.•The style of the wrench zone varies according to the degree of lateral confinement.
Little is known about the characteristics and genesis of particles <2 mm in size that adhere to the surface of soil rock fragments, termed skeleton water-extractable fines (SWEF). To focus on the ...origin and role of SWEF in soil genesis, we investigated physical, chemical, and mineralogical properties of SWEF, fine earth, and rock fragments (ranked according to their size as 2–4 mm, 4–10 mm, and >10 mm) of volcanic Entisols. These soils were chosen because they formed from highly porous rock fragments whose anfractuosities and vesicles may be niches in which formation, accumulation, and modification of fine particles is favored. Results suggested that in the soil profiles studied, the SWEF, being more weathered than the fine earth, was not a transitional material between rock fragments and fine earth, as found in other cases. The genesis of the SWEF seemed to happen inside the vesicles of the rock fragments, where fine materials produced by weathering of the vesicle walls, derived from roots colonizing vesicles and carried through illuviation, can accumulate. In the vesicles, mineral and organic matter underwent alteration and evolution, probably favored by the presence of an active microbial community. Conversely, the evolution of the fine earth occurred outside the clasts, where it experienced different weathering conditions. With time, the weathering processes inside the vesicles caused the breakdown of the vesicle walls, facilitating the progressive reduction of the clasts size and the consequent mixing of SWEF with the fine earth. The processes that were responsible for the formation and evolution of the SWEF could be considered a pedogenic driving force.
IntroductionProgress in the development of effective cancer treatments is limited by the availability of tumour models that accurately reflect patient tumour with regards to histopathology, genomic ...landscape, and therapeutic response. To accomplish these needs, patient-derived tumour xenografts (PDX) were developed in recent years. Although they closely mirror structural and molecular features of the tumour of origin, PDXs still retain important restrictions related to maintenance costs and large-scale screening. To overcome this issue, we have established a novel platform of 2D cell lines (xeno-cell lines, XL) derived from PDXs of colorectal cancer (CRC) from which patient’s germline gDNA was available. We have characterised XL-cells at multiple levels to assess their suitability as patient avatars to interrogate functional networks in colorectal cancer.Material and methodsExome and expression analysis were performed on the entire xeno-cell line collection. Biomarkers of response and resistance to anti-HER therapy have been annotated in cell lines and pharmacological analysis to validate drug targets has been accordingly completed.Results and discussionsAll XL-cells showed an epithelial-like morphology and phenotype, as also confirmed by EMT biomarker analysis. Genetic features (mutation and copy number profiles) were consistently preserved between PDXs and matched cell models, and expression analysis revealed XL-line collection as a significant representative of all CRC subtypes (CMS and CRIS subgroups). Whole exome and RNA-seq analyses allowed the identification of molecular biomarkers of response and resistance to targeted therapies, including EGFR and HER2 blockade. Genotype-driven responses observed in vitro in XL-cells were confirmed in vivo in the corresponding PDX.ConclusionThe XL-cell line platform represents a valuable preclinical tool for functional gene validation and proof of concept studies of novel therapeutics in colorectal cancer.
To investigate how soil properties affect throughfall and stemflow, we conducted a study in a forest of central Italy over a full hydrologic year to compare the chemical composition and the water ...fluxes of the throughfall and stemflow generated by Turkey oaks (Quercus cerris L.). The study was achieved on two adjacent areas that showed the same topography, supported Turkey oaks of the same height (about 20 m) and age (about 60 years), and received uniform precipitation (835 mm year−1). However, the two areas differed for soil reaction, one being acidic (area A, mean profile-weighted pHH2O = 5.84) and the other sub-alkaline (area B, mean profile-weighted pHH2O = 7.55). The branching angle and canopy volume of the oaks differed statistically (Wilcoxon signed-rank test at α = 0.05) between areas, with the slender trees of area A having more upward thrust branches. As a consequence, the oaks of area A produced more stemflow per unit canopy surface than those of area B, as indicated by the amount of stemflow per unit soil surface (15-cm radius) around the trunk base and by the stemflow funneling ratio per basal area (FP,B). The annual fluxes determined for 17 solutes were higher in throughfall than in rainfall, except for F and HCO3, reflecting the enrichment and acidification of the precipitation water as it flows through the canopy. For the full hydrological year, the enrichment ratios (EP,B and EP,T) indicated that the stemflow of area A was more enriched than that of area B for the following solutes: total N, TOC, total acidity, carboxylic acidity, phenolic acidity, and NH4. Several significant differences in throughfall (electrical conductivity, Ca, Mg, K, NO3, total N, total organic C, organic anions) and in stemflow (pH, electrical conductivity, Ca, Mg, Na, Cl, NO3, HCO3) chemistry were observed between areas over the course of three time-series of rainfall events (throughfall series T1, from September to November 2004; throughfall series T2, from December 2004 to February 2005; stemflow series S1, from March to September 2004). The study further demonstrated the existence of strong links between the significant differences in soil properties (pH, exchangeable Ca and K, effective cation exchange capacity, total and organic C content, mineralogy) and the significant differences in throughfall and stemflow chemistry (pH, HCO3, Ca, K, electrical conductivity) recorded between the two areas. The main processes involved in the short-scale spatial differentiation of throughfall and stemflow at the site appeared to be either soil-dominated like pedogenesis, mineral weathering and organic matter transformation, or tree-mediated such as elemental biocycling.
•Soil affects the throughfall/stemflow chemistry generated by Quercus cerris.•Soil may induce modification of Turkey oak's branching angle and canopy volume.•Stemflow is more enriched (EP,B and ET,B) by the more slender trees.•Throughfall/stemflow differences occur for three time-series of rainfall events.•Differences in soil properties and in throughfall/stemflow are strongly linked.
In the LHCb experiment a wide variety of Monte Carlo simulated samples needs to be produced for the experiment's physics program. Monte Carlo productions are handled centrally similarly to all ...massive processing of data in the experiment. In order to cope with the large set of different types of simulation samples, necessary procedures based on common infrastructures have been set up with a numerical event type identification code used throughout. The various elements in the procedure, from writing a configuration for an event type to deploying them on the production environment, from submitting and processing a request to retrieving the sample produced as well as the conventions established to allow their interplay will be described. The choices made have allowed a high level of automation of Monte Carlo productions that are handled centrally in a transparent way with experts concentrating on their specific tasks. As a result the massive Monte Carlo production of the experiment is efficiently processed on a world-wide distributed system with minimal manpower.
A search for a long-lived scalar particle χ is performed, looking for the decay B+→K+χ with χ→μ+μ− in pp collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3 fb−1, collected by the LHCb ...experiment at center-of-mass energies of s=7 and 8 TeV. This new scalar particle, predicted by hidden sector models, is assumed to have a narrow width. The signal would manifest itself as an excess in the dimuon invariant mass distribution over the Standard Model background. No significant excess is observed in the accessible ranges of mass 250<m(χ)<4700 MeV/c2 and lifetime 0.1<τ(χ)<1000 ps. Upper limits on the branching fraction B(B+→K+χ(μ+μ−)) at 95% confidence level are set as a function of m(χ) and τ(χ), varying between 2×10−10 and 10−7. These are the most stringent limits to date. The limits are interpreted in the context of a model with a light inflaton particle.
The possible role of the cyclodextrin charge in the interaction with an acidic drug such as naproxen (p
K
a 4.8) has been evaluated. Sulfobutylether-ß-cyclodextrin (SBE-ßCyd) and ...trimethylammonium-ß-cyclodextrin (TMA-ßCyd) were selected as, respectively, anionically and cationically charged carriers and their performance was compared with that of the parent ß-cyclodextrin (ßCyd) and of its methyl-derivative (MeßCyd) previously found as the best partner for the drug. Interactions in solution were investigated by phase-solubility, fluorescence and circular dichroism analyses. Equimolar drug–carrier products prepared by different techniques (blending, cogrinding, sealed-heating, colyophilization) were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray powder diffractometry and tested for drug dissolution properties. Anionic charges of SBE-ßCyd did not negatively influence interactions in unbuffered aqueous solutions (pH ≈5) with the acidic drug. In fact, it was a very effective carrier, exhibiting solubilizing and complexing properties considerably better than the parent ßCyd and comparable to those of MeßCyd. On the contrary, the positive charges of TMA-ßCyd did not favour interactions with the counter-ionic drug (despite the presence of about 60% ionised drug) and it was less efficacious also than native ßCyd. Therefore, the role of the Cyd charge on the complexing and solubilizing properties towards naproxen was not important whereas other factors, such as steric hindrance effects and favourable hydrophobic interactions were significant in determining the drug affinity for the Cyd inclusion. Solid state studies evidenced similar amorphizing properties of both charged Cyds towards naproxen. On the other hand, dissolution tests, in agreement with solution studies, showed that all products with SBE-ßCyd exhibited significantly better dissolution properties than the corresponding ones with TMA-ßCyd. A clear influence of the preparation method of drug–Cyd solid systems on the performance of the end product was also observed. Colyophilization was the most effective technique, followed by the cogrinding one. Colyophilized product with SBE-ßCyd allowed a 10-times increase in drug dissolution efficiency (D.E.) (with respect to the five-times increase obtained with the corresponding coground product) and a reduction of
t
50% from about 60
min (for the coground product) to less than 2
min.
We describe the case of a 14-year-old boy hospitalized for multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children who developed atrial fibrillation during the acute phase and a transient Brugada type 1 ...pattern in the subacute phase. Eight months later, a provocative test with ajmaline confirmed the suspicion of Brugada syndrome. (
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