Insulin signaling in insulin resistance states and cancer: A modeling analysis

Insulin resistance is the common denominator of several diseases including type 2 diabetes and cancer, and investigating the mechanisms responsible for insulin signaling impairment is of primary importance. A mathematical model of the insulin signaling network (ISN) is proposed and used to investigate the dose-response curves of components of this network. Experimental data of C2C12 myoblasts with phosphatase and tensin homologue (PTEN) suppressed and data of L6 myotubes with induced insulin resistance have been analyzed by the model. We focused particularly on single and double Akt phosphorylation and pointed out insulin signaling changes related to insulin resistance. Moreover, a new characterization of the upstream signaling of the mammalian target of rapamycin complex 2 (mTORC2) is presented. As it is widely recognized that ISN proteins have a crucial role also in cell proliferation and death, the ISN model was linked to a cell population model and applied to data of a cell line of acute myeloid leukemia treated with a mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitor with antitumor activity. The analysis revealed simple relationships among the concentrations of ISN proteins and the parameters of the cell population model that characterize cell cycle progression and cell death

Scoring system to evaluate analytical performance of laboratories participating in an EQA scheme for hormones

To allow laboratories an easy evaluation of thei own analytical performance, a new scoring system has been adopted in the External Quality Assessment (EQA) scheme for hormones (Immunocheck EQA; 1300 participants in Italy and in France; 18 control samples/year; 16 analytes). The score is assigned both to the results of a single assay (assay score) and cumulatively to all results of samples assayed in a control cycle (cycle score). Assay score. Each result is scored according to its deviation from target value expressed in SD units (Z-value). In detail the scores are: 4 (excellent) if Z <0.5, 3 (good) if 0.5<Z<1, 2 (sufficient) if 1<Z<2, 1 (inadequate) if 2<Z<3, -2 (unacceptable) if Z>3. Z-value is computed as ratio of percent deviation from target and "state-of-the-art" imprecision. Method mean is assumed as target; "state-of-the-art" imprecision is computed as mean CV of the methods most used in the survey (within-method, between-laboratories imprecision). Cycle score. The sum of score assigned to all samples assayed in a control cycle, normalised by the maximum achievable total score and expressed as tenth, describes the analytical performance off the laboratory. As an example, cycle score for fT4 assay was found better than 6/10 for 82% of participants, between 3/10 and 6/10 for 14% and worse than 3/10 for the remaining 4%.NON DISPONIBIL

Programmi di valutazione esterna di qualit? EQAS-CNR: gestione integrata di differenti VEQ attraverso l&#039;uso dell&#039;Information & Communication Technology

not availableLa Qualit? dei servizi ? un fattore d&#039;importanza crescente. Diffondere la cultura della qualit? diventa una pratica fondamentale a garanzia dell&#039;utente finale portando un beneficio indiretto anche al fornitore del servizio. I programmi di Valutazione Esterna di Qualit? (VEQ) sono fondamentali nel Sistema Qualit? dei laboratori clinici. In tutti i sistemi di valutazione e di accreditamento dei laboratori, i programmi di VEQ appaiono come elementi indispensabili per garantire in maniera obiettiva la competenza professionale e la qualit? delle prestazioni stimolando un continuo miglioramento. Il poster descrive le scelte effettuate nella progettazione ed implementazione del sistema informativo EQAS-CNR per la gestione delle VEQ

Evoluzione dei programmi di Valutazione Esterna di Qualit?

Not availableL\u27Istituto di Fisiologia Clinica del CNR di Pisa (IFC-CNR) organizza da oltre 20 anni i programmi di Valutazione Esterna di Qualit? (VEQ) di ormoni e marcatori tumorali. Nel corso degli anni, per rendere pi? facilmente interpretabili i riepiloghi preparati per i partecipanti, numerose modifiche sono state introdotte nella elaborazione e nella presentazione dei dati. inoltre l\u27applicazione della ICT (Information and Communication Techonology), ha apportato importanti e significativi miglioramenti alle modalit? di gestione e di trasmissione dell\u27informazione (invio a IFC-CNR del modulo risposta, invio ai laboratori dei riepiloghi periodici e cumulativi, comunicazioni ai partecipanti)

P019. Transcutaneous supraorbital neurostimulation in “de novo” patients with migraine without aura: the first Italian experience

Transcutaneous supraorbital neurostimulation (tSNS) has been recently found superior to sham stimulation for episodic migraine prevention in a randomized trial. We evaluated both the safety and efficacy of a brief period of tSNS in a group of patients with migraine without aura (MwoA)

From Darboux-Egorov system to bi-flat FF-manifolds

Motivated by the theory of integrable PDEs of hydrodynamic type and by the generalization of Dubrovin's duality in the framework of $F$-manifolds due to Manin [22], we consider a special class of $F$-manifolds, called bi-flat $F$-manifolds. A bi-flat $F$-manifold is given by the following data $(M, \nabla_1,\nabla_2,\circ,*,e,E)$, where $(M, \circ)$ is an $F$-manifold, $e$ is the identity of the product $\circ$, $\nabla_1$ is a flat connection compatible with $\circ$ and satisfying $\nabla_1 e=0$, while $E$ is an eventual identity giving rise to the dual product *, and $\nabla_2$ is a flat connection compatible with * and satisfying $\nabla_2 E=0$. Moreover, the two connections $\nabla_1$ and $\nabla_2$ are required to be hydrodynamically almost equivalent in the sense specified in [2]. First we show that, similarly to the way in which Frobenius manifolds are constructed starting from Darboux-Egorov systems, also bi-flat $F$-manifolds can be built from solutions of suitably augmented Darboux-Egorov systems, essentially dropping the requirement that the rotation coefficients are symmetric. Although any Frobenius manifold possesses automatically the structure of a bi-flat $F$-manifold, we show that the latter is a strictly larger class. In particular we study in some detail bi-flat $F$-manifolds in dimensions n=2, 3. For instance, we show that in dimension 3 bi-flat $F$-manifolds are parametrized by solutions of a two parameters Painlev\'e VI equation, admitting among its solutions hypergeometric functions. Finally we comment on some open problems of wide scope related to bi-flat $F$-manifolds.Comment: 32 pages, eliminated a remark at the end of proof of Theorem 6.

Nonlinear Analysis of the Eckhaus Instability: Modulated Amplitude Waves and Phase Chaos with Non-zero Average Phase Gradient

We analyze the Eckhaus instability of plane waves in the one-dimensional complex Ginzburg-Landau equation (CGLE) and describe the nonlinear effects arising in the Eckhaus unstable regime. Modulated amplitude waves (MAWs) are quasi-periodic solutions of the CGLE that emerge near the Eckhaus instability of plane waves and cease to exist due to saddle-node bifurcations (SN). These MAWs can be characterized by their average phase gradient $\nu$ and by the spatial period P of the periodic amplitude modulation. A numerical bifurcation analysis reveals the existence and stability properties of MAWs with arbitrary $\nu$ and P. MAWs are found to be stable for large enough $\nu$ and intermediate values of P. For different parameter values they are unstable to splitting and attractive interaction between subsequent extrema of the amplitude. Defects form from perturbed plane waves for parameter values above the SN of the corresponding MAWs. The break-down of phase chaos with average phase gradient $\nu$ > 0 (``wound-up phase chaos'') is thus related to these SNs. A lower bound for the break-down of wound-up phase chaos is given by the necessary presence of SNs and an upper bound by the absence of the splitting instability of MAWs.Comment: 24 pages, 14 figure

eEQAS: Internet in External Quality Assessment Schemes

Not availableIFC-CNR si occupa da oltre 20 anni di programmi di Valutazione Esterna di Qualit? (External Quality Assessment Schemes, EQAS) in immunometria. Oltre 1000 laboratori italiani e di altri paesi europei partecipano ai programmi Immunocheck (ormoni), Oncocheck (marcatori tumorali) e Serocheck (marcatori di infettivit?). Un nuovo sistema di gestione basato sul web ? stato sviluppato per Immunocheck. L\u27utilizzo nell\u27EQAS dell\u27ICT (Information and Communication Tecnology) e di un sistema di gestione basato sul web velocizza i processi automatici e manuali (evidenziando risultati anomali), aumenta l\u27interazione permettendo ai laboratori un accesso diretto ai propri dati, velocizza la produzione dei report, riduce la probabilit? di errori e incrementa l\u27affidabilit? statistica delle informazioni attraverso la capacit? di gestire un numero elevato di partecipanti. I dati sono archiviati per mezzo di un database relazionale la cui interfaccia ? costituita da un sito web di amministrazione (gestione dell\u27anagrafica e dei dati relativi agli esercizi di controllo, analisi statistica) e da un sito web dedicato ai partecipanti; quest\u27ultimo permette di inserire i risultati delle analisi effettuate sui campioni di controllo. La correttezza dei dati inseriti ? verificabile dai laboratorio grazie alla ricevuta inviata immediatamente e automaticamente tramite e-mail. I laboratori possono ottenere il report, prodotto in formato PDF, via e-mail o scaricandolo a richiesta dal sito; il report viene generato nel momento in cui viene richiesto (on-demand), utilizzando i dati pi? recenti disponibili in archivio. Il formato PDF offre ulteriori vantaggi quali la possibilit? di stampare il report con un layout definito all\u27origine e non variabile e la possibilit? di apporre al file del report una firma digitale con valore legale. I dati contenuti nel report, corredati di informazioni aggiuntive, sono disponibili per i laboratori anche attraverso pagine web dinamiche. Tutto il sistema ? stato sviluppato utilizzando software libero. Il numero dei partecipanti Immunocheck che usa Internet ? in costante aumento; tuttavia il massimo vantaggio ottenibile dal sistema si avr? con l\u27adesione di tutti i partecipanti rendendo possibile una consistente riduzione del tempo che intercorre tra le analisi dei laboratori e la produzione dei report