Vitrociset (Italy)

PurposeA novel experimental model based on a 3D reconstructed human oesophageal epithelium model (HO2E) has been developed to investigate the structural and functional changes of the oesophageal epithelium following exposure to a solution of HCl 0.1 N (pH = 1.2) mirroring GERD microenvironment condition.MethodsThe barrier structure modification after the exposure to the acid solution on HO2E tissues was investigated immediately after damage induction and after 1 hour post incubation and compared to HO2E tissues exposed to phosphate buffered saline solution. Immunofluorescence (IF) was applied to quantify the expression and localization of barrier function proteins: Claudin-1 (CLDN-1), Claudin-4 (CLDN-4), Zonulin-1 (ZO-1), E-Cadherin and Mucin-1 (MUC1). Barrier functionality was measured by TEER.ResultsIn the acidic microenvironment, TEER measurement has shown some limitations and results were not applicable, whereas the evaluation of protein localization and quantification provided clear and robust evidence of the damage which occurred to the epithelium barrier structure. CLDN-4 expression significantly decreased after exposure to acid. ZO-1 protein appeared upregulated immediately after exposure to HCl and was mainly localized in the cytoplasm and not on the cell membrane. This different localization was also observed for CLND-1. CLDN-1, MUC1 and, to a lower extent, ZO-1 expression increased during the post-incubation period.ConclusionThe relevant tissue biomarkers identified, CLDN-1 and MUC1, can be used to monitor TJ structure and epithelial barrier recovery after acid-induced damage which, in our experimental conditions, were non-destructive and suitable for recovery studies. The established model can be useful to investigate the mechanism of action of formulations acting on this specific pathophysiological condition and/or designed to potentiate the physiological defense mechanisms of oesophageal mucosa.

ObjectiveDermis spheroids from different donors (40 and 50 years old) were developed from primary fibroblasts to demonstrate their capacity to synthetize and organize the main dermal structural components when cultured in 3D microenvironment, forming endogenous de novo ECM according to their potential metabolic activity.MethodsDermis spheroids were produced from primary human dermal fibroblasts at early passages in hanging drop culture system. Dermis models were characterized in terms of spheroid diameter, PICP release, collagen III and CD44 expression.ResultsAn increase of collagen III synthesis (101%) was found in the young donor compared to the old donor (23.5%) after seven days of culture by immunofluorescence. The progressive ECM assembly over the time and dermis maturation was showed by Masson’s trichrome staining and by immunofluorescence for collagen III and CD44; both molecules significantly accumulated in the dermal compartment from day seven to day 10 of culture with a global decrease for both spheroid models after 21 days of culture.ConclusionOur results showed that specific culture conditions in the 3D scaffold-free microenvironment allowed the physiological and progressive ECM assembly of miniaturized dermis models reflecting phenotypic profile features of “young” and “old” native tissue from which cells were isolated with a potential application to personalized care approaches in dermatological research on aging processes and medicine.

This paper presents an analysis of the automation domain in the European Space Sector.From this history some conclusions are drawn showing how the same errors are being made several times.The ongoing European project EGS-CC is not exempt of such problematic and therefore as it is explained some issues are being raised by possible stakeholders.In the paper also, both solutions and questions proposed that players should considered for the close future.

Urban air pollution causes deleterious effects on human health and the environment. To meet stringent standards imposed by the European Commission, advanced measurement methods are required. Remote sensing techniques, such as light detection and ranging (LiDAR), can be a valuable option for evaluating particulate matter (PM), emitted by vehicles in urban traffic, with high sensitivity and in shorter time intervals. Since air quality problems persist not only in large urban areas, a measuring campaign was specifically performed in a suburban area of Crotone, Italy, using both a compact LiDAR system and conventional instruments for real-time vehicle emissions monitoring along a congested road. First results reported in this paper show a strong dependence between variations of LiDAR backscattering signals and traffic-related air pollution levels. Moreover, time-resolved LiDAR data averaged in limited regions, directly above conventional monitoring stations at the border of an intersection, were found to be linearly correlated to the PM concentration levels with a correlation coefficient between 0.75 and 0.84.

Profumo proposes operational weather routing services for the maritime community, based on cooperative collection of meteo-marine data from commercial vessels. The idea is to establish a cooperative schema where meteo-marine data is collected from standard on-board instrumentation. Acquired data is used in the Profumo Service Center to provide enhanced meteo-marine forecast and nowcast capabilities on a local scale. Meteo-marine conditions are important not only for the safety of navigation but also for the economics of commercial activities.

Archimedes is a pathfinder experiment aimed at verifying the feasibility of measuring the interaction of vacuum fluctuations with gravity. The future experiment should measure the force that the earth's gravitational field exerts on a Casimir cavity by using a balance as the small force detector. Archimedes analyzes the important parameters of the future experiment and experimentally explores solutions to the most critical problems.

Aeronautical safety communication via satellite presents some interesting challenges, one of which is the problem of passing inelastic traffic (generated by real time events) over a limited bandwidth communication channel. Today’s aviation standards prescribe the use of a reliable transport protocol, a proposition that is inherently incompatible with inelastic traffic. Though network capacity should be sized for the normal peak load, one must assume that unusually high peak loads will occasionally occur, leading to congestion. This paper describes the concept of an application layer gateway, capable of mitigating congestion by re-ordering and, if necessary, selectively discarding messages in accordance with set rules. A demonstration test bed is described. Test results, confirming the capability of the gateway to relieve congestion, are also given.

The Cluster mission was launched in 2000 to investigate for 3 years the interaction between the solar wind and the Earth magnetosphere. The mission has been extended until end 2009. The batteries of the four spacecraft are well beyond their design life and have started to fail. The power situation first became critical during the long eclipses in September 2006. The available battery power on one spacecraft could not support the heaters and the On-Board Computer. New operational strategies were developed to prevent a dangerous cool down of the spacecraft and to regain control after each eclipse after a power down. This paper describes the preparation and gradual implementation of new operational procedures and tools enabling a small team to perform routinely and simultaneously several spacecraft recoveries from survival mode.