Ovarian cancer is the second most common gynaecologic malignancy and the main cause of death from gynaecologic cancer, due to late diagnosis and chemoresistance. Studies have reported the role of ...cysteine in cancer, by contributing for hydrogen sulphide (H
S) generation and as a precursor of glutathione (GSH). However, the role of cysteine in the adaptation to hypoxia and therapy response remains unclear. We used several ovarian cancer cell lines, ES2, OVCAR3, OVCAR8, A2780 and A2780cisR, to clarify cysteine relevance in ovarian cancer cells survival upon hypoxia and carboplatin. Results show that ES2 and OVCAR8 cells presented a stronger dependence on cysteine availability upon hypoxia and carboplatin exposure than OVCAR3 cells. Interestingly, the A2780 cisR, but not A2780 parental cells, benefits from cysteine upon carboplatin exposure, showing that cysteine is crucial for chemoresistance. Moreover, GSH degradation and subsequent cysteine recycling pathway is associated with ovarian cancer as seen in peripheral blood serum from patients. Higher levels of total free cysteine (Cys) and homocysteine (HCys) were found in ovarian cancer patients in comparison with benign tumours and lower levels of GSH were found in ovarian neoplasms patients in comparison with healthy individuals. Importantly, the total and S-Homocysteinylated levels distinguished blood donors from patients with neoplasms as well as patients with benign from patients with malignant tumours. The levels of S-cysteinylated proteins distinguish blood donors from patients with neoplasms and the free levels of Cys in serum distinguish blood from patients with benign tumours from patients with malignant tumours. Herein we disclosed that cysteine contributes for a worse disease prognosis, allowing faster adaptation to hypoxia and protecting cells from carboplatin. The measurement of serum cysteine levels can be an effective tool for early diagnosis, for outcome prediction and follow up of disease progression.
This study employs a randomized field experiment to causally identify what type of signal is likely to complement another signal in the context of financing technology ventures. The study examines ...the effect of product certification by expert intermediaries, prominent customers, and social proof (that is, others’ interest in investing in a venture) on interest in investing. These three signals are primarily signals of a venture’s product, market, and investment characteristics, respectively. The study finds that signals of product certification and prominent customers, and product certification and social proof are complements. In particular, investors who were able to view the combined product certification and prominent customer signals have a 72% higher likelihood of indicating an interest in making an equity investment than those who did not receive any of the three signals. Similarly, investors who were able to view the combined product certification and social proof signals have a 65% higher likelihood of indicating an interest in investing. These results suggest that in the context of technology ventures, a signal about product characteristics is the key to unlocking the value of signals of market or investment characteristics.
This paper was accepted by Gustavo Manso, finance.
Up to 27 May 2022, Portugal has detected 96 confirmed cases of monkeypox. We describe 27 confirmed cases (median age: 33 years (range: 22-51); all males), with an earliest symptom onset date of 29 ...April. Almost all cases (n = 25) live in the Lisbon and Tagus Valley health region. Most cases were neither part of identified transmission chains, nor linked to travel or had contact with symptomatic persons or with animals, suggesting the possible previously undetected spread of monkeypox.
In recent years, the wealth of technological development revolutionised our ability to collect data in geosciences. Due to the unprecedented level of detail of these datasets, geomorphologists are ...facing new challenges, giving more in-depth answers to a broad(er) range of fundamental questions across the full spectrum of the Earth's (and Planetary) processes. This contribution builds on the existing literature of geomorphometry (the science of quantitative land-surface analysis) and feature extraction (translate land surface parameters into extents of geomorphological elements). It provides evidence of critical themes as well as emerging fields of future research in the digital realm, supporting the likely effectiveness of geomorphometry and feature extractions as they are advancing the theoretical, empirical and applied dimension of geomorphology. The review further discusses the role of geomorphometric legacies, and scientific reproducibility, and how they can be implemented, in the hope that this will facilitate action towards improving the transparency, and efficiency of scientific research, and accelerate discoveries in geomorphology. In the current landscape, substantial changes in landforms, ecosystems, land use, hydrological routing, and direct anthropogenic modifications impact systems across the full spectrum of geomorphological processes. Although uncertainties in the precise nature and likelihood of changes exist, geomorphometry and feature extraction can aid exploring process regimes and landscape responses. Taken together, they can revolutionise geomorphology by opening the doors to improved investigations crossing space and time scales, blurring the boundaries between traditional approaches and computer modelling, and facilitating cross-disciplinary research. Ultimately, the exploitation of the available wealth of digital information can help to translate our understanding of geomorphic processes, which is often based on observations of past or current conditions, into the rapidly changing future.
•Geomorphology and geomorphometry share a need to define landforms objectively and reproducibly•Feature extraction and geomorphometry revolutionised geomorphology across spatiotemporal scales•This brings many new insights but also presents challenges in geomorphological methods and techniques•We need techniques capable of revealing emergent aspects of multidimensional space-time interactions between form and process•Easily reproducible science, open data, code and data-driven geomorphometry, remove barriers to advancement
Wind power is expanding globally. Simultaneously, a growing number of conflicts against large-scale wind farms are emerging in multiple locations around the world. As these processes occur, new ...questions arise on how electricity from wind is being generated, how such energy is flowing within societies, and how these production-flows are being shaped by specific power structures. The present paper explores the expanding geography of wind energy conflicts by analyzing 20 case studies from across the Americas, Africa, Asia and Europe. Based on the Environmental Justice Atlas database, it reflects on how land pressures and patterns of uneven development emerge as two features of the current expansion of wind farms. Following a relational analysis, these patterns are examined to interpret the plural instances of opposition emerging throughout the rural spaces of the world. The article argues that previously unexplored forms of collective action are expanding the scope and content of the “wind energy debate”. In addition to the claims of “landscape” and “wildlife protection” addressed by the existing literature, this study sheds light on the rural/peripheral contexts where opposition emerges through the defense of indigenous territories, local livelihoods and communal development projects. The study contends that these “emerging storylines” embrace an environmental justice perspective when challenging the socially unequal and geographically uneven patterns reproduced by the ecological modernization paradigm. From this lens, cases of local opposition are not interpreted as selfish forces blocking a low-carbon transition, but instead, are understood as political instances that enable a wider discussion about the ways such transition should take place.
FungalRoot Soudzilovskaia, Nadejda A.; Vaessen, Stijn; Barcelo, Milagros ...
The New phytologist,
August 2020, Letnik:
227, Številka:
3
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
• Testing of ecological, biogeographical and phylogenetic hypotheses of mycorrhizal traits requires a comprehensive reference dataset about plant mycorrhizal associations.
• Here we present a ...database, FungalRoot, which summarizes publicly available data about vascular plant mycorrhizal type and intensity of root colonization by mycorrhizal fungi, accompanied with rich metadata. We compiled and digitized data about plant mycorrhizal colonization in nine widespread languages.
• The present version of the FungalRoot database contains 36 303 species-by-site observations for 14 870 plant species, tripling the previously available compiled information about plant mycorrhizal associations. Based on these data, we provide a recommended list of genuslevel plant mycorrhizal associations, based on the majority of data for species and careful analysis of conflicting data. The majority of ectomycorrhizal and ericoid mycorrhizal plants are trees (92%) and shrubs (85%), respectively. The majority of arbuscular and nonmycorrhizal plant species are herbaceous (50% and 70%, respectively).
• Our publicly available database is a powerful resource for mycorrhizal scientists and ecologists. It features possibilities for dynamic updating and addition of data about plant mycorrhizal associations. The new database will promote research on plant and fungal biogeography and evolution, and on links between above- and belowground biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.
In recent years, great interest has been focused on using natural antioxidants in food products, due to studies indicating possible adverse effects that may be related to the consumption of synthetic ...antioxidants. A variety of plant materials are known to be natural sources of antioxidants, such as herbs, spices, seeds, fruits and vegetables. The interest in these natural components is not only due to their biological value, but also to their economic impact, as most of them may be extracted from food by-products and under-exploited plant species. This article provides an overview of current knowledge on natural antioxidants: their sources, extraction methods and stabilization processes. In addition, recent studies on their applications in the food industry are also addressed; namely, as preservatives in different food products and in active films for packaging purposes and edible coatings.
Ovarian cancer is the second most common gynaecologic malignancy and the most common cause of death from gynaecologic cancer, especially due to diagnosis at an advanced stage, when a cure is rare. As ...ovarian tumour grows, cancer cells are exposed to regions of hypoxia. Hypoxia is known to be partially responsible for tumour progression, metastasis and resistance to therapies. These suggest that hypoxia entails a selective pressure in which the adapted cells not only have a fitness increase under the selective environment, but also in non-selective adverse environments. In here, we used two different ovarian cancer cell lines - serous carcinoma (OVCAR3) and clear cell carcinoma (ES2) - in order to address the effect of cancer cells selection under normoxia and hypoxia mimicked by cobalt chloride on the evolutionary outcome of cancer cells. Our results showed that the adaptation to normoxia and CoCl.sub.2 mimicked hypoxia leads cells to display opposite strategies. Whereas cells adapted to CoCl.sub.2 mimicked hypoxia conditions tend to proliferate less but present increased survival in adverse environments, cells adapted to normoxia proliferate rapidly but at the cost of increased mortality in adverse environments. Moreover, results suggest that cysteine allows a quicker response and adaptation to hypoxic conditions that, in turn, are capable of driving chemoresistance. We showed that cysteine impacts the adaptation of cancer cells to a CoCl.sub.2 mimicked hypoxic environment thus contributing for hypoxia-drived platinum-based chemotherapeutic agents' resistance, allowing the selection of more aggressive phenotypes. These observations support a role of cysteine in cancer progression, recurrence and chemoresistance.
Linking processes and patterns Pagliarin, Sofia
Urban studies (Edinburgh, Scotland),
12/2018, Letnik:
55, Številka:
16
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Governance dynamics and spatial planning regulations are significant factors in the occurrence (or containment) of urban sprawl. However, qualitative investigations of the planning regulatory systems ...and practices, and governance arrangements that cumulatively stimulate suburbanisation, typically remain detached from land-change analyses. Based on the concept of institutional frames of spatial planning systems, this article elucidates how governance dynamics and spatial planning practices, at different scales, can partially explain suburban land-use patterns. The territorial transformations of two Southern European metropolitan regions, Barcelona and Milan, are examined through land-use data (1990–2012) at different territorial scales. Demographic (1991–2011) and administrative (2011) data are also analysed. In-depth interviews about individual and collective land management practices have been carried out, as well as document analysis concerning spatial planning laws and regulations. This research shows that the metropolitan character of urban sprawl originates from local planning practices mainly performed by municipal authorities through land-use micro-transformations. Further, it highlights the decisive role that higher-level institutions can play in land containment. Urban sprawl is hence not necessarily an unplanned phenomenon, but rather a ‘differently planned’ local and regional land-use strategy.
治理机制和空间规划法规是城市蔓延发生（或受到遏制）的重要因素。然而，规划监管体系和实践的定性调查以及累积式刺激郊区化的治理安排通常与土地变迁的分析脱节。基于空间规划系统框架的概念，本文阐述了不同规模的治理机制和空间规划实践如何部分解释了郊区土地利用模式。我们通过土地利用数据 (1990–2012) 在不同的地域尺度上考察了南欧两个大都市区巴塞罗那和米兰的领土转变。文章同时分析了人口数据 (1991–2011) 和行政 (2011) 数据。我们对个人和集体土地管理实践做了深入采访，并记录了对空间规划法律法规的分析。本研究表明，大都市的城市蔓延源于当地主要由市政当局通过土地利用微调而实施的规划实践。此外，它凸显了上级机构在土地遏制方面可以发挥的决定性作用。因此，城市蔓延不一定是一个无计划的现象，而是一个“以不同方式规划”的地方和区域土地利用战略。
The Stroop Color and Word Test Scarpina, Federica; Tagini, Sofia
Frontiers in psychology,
04/2017, Letnik:
8
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The Stroop Color and Word Test (SCWT) is a neuropsychological test extensively used to assess the ability to inhibit cognitive interference that occurs when the processing of a specific stimulus ...feature impedes the simultaneous processing of a second stimulus attribute, well-known as the Stroop Effect. The aim of the present work is to verify the theoretical adequacy of the various scoring methods used to measure the Stroop effect. We present a systematic review of studies that have provided normative data for the SCWT. We referred to both electronic databases (i.e., PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar) and citations. Our findings show that while several scoring methods have been reported in literature, none of the reviewed methods enables us to fully assess the Stroop effect. Furthermore, we discuss several normative scoring methods from the Italian panorama as reported in literature. We claim for an alternative scoring method which takes into consideration both speed and accuracy of the response. Finally, we underline the importance of assessing the performance in all Stroop Test conditions (word reading, color naming, named color-word).
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