Università degli studi di Cassino e del Lazio Meridionale

What will 5G be? What it will not be is an incremental advance on 4G. The previous four generations of cellular technology have each been a major paradigm shift that has broken backward compatibility. Indeed, 5G will need to be a paradigm shift that includes very high carrier frequencies with massive bandwidths, extreme base station and device densities, and unprecedented numbers of antennas. However, unlike the previous four generations, it will also be highly integrative: tying any new 5G air interface and spectrum together with LTE and WiFi to provide universal high-rate coverage and a seamless user experience. To support this, the core network will also have to reach unprecedented levels of flexibility and intelligence, spectrum regulation will need to be rethought and improved, and energy and cost efficiencies will become even more critical considerations. This paper discusses all of these topics, identifying key challenges for future research and preliminary 5G standardization activities, while providing a comprehensive overview of the current literature, and in particular of the papers appearing in this special issue.

Reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RISs) are an emerging transmission technology for application to wireless communications. RISs can be realized in different ways, which include (i) large arrays of inexpensive antennas that are usually spaced half of the wavelength apart; and (ii) metamaterial-based planar or conformal large surfaces whose scattering elements have sizes and inter-distances much smaller than the wavelength. Compared with other transmission technologies, e.g., phased arrays, multi-antenna transmitters, and relays, RISs require the largest number of scattering elements, but each of them needs to be backed by the fewest and least costly components. Also, no power amplifiers are usually needed. For these reasons, RISs constitute a promising software-defined architecture that can be realized at reduced cost, size, weight, and power (C-SWaP design), and are regarded as an enabling technology for realizing the emerging concept of smart radio environments (SREs). In this paper, we (i) introduce the emerging research field of RIS-empowered SREs; (ii) overview the most suitable applications of RISs in wireless networks; (iii) present an electromagnetic-based communication-theoretic framework for analyzing and optimizing metamaterial-based RISs; (iv) provide a comprehensive overview of the current state of research; and (v) discuss the most important research issues to tackle. Owing to the interdisciplinary essence of RIS-empowered SREs, finally, we put forth the need of reconciling and reuniting C. E. Shannon’s mathematical theory of communication with G. Green’s and J. C. Maxwell’s mathematical theories of electromagnetism for appropriately modeling, analyzing, optimizing, and deploying future wireless networks empowered by RISs.

As the standardization of 5G solidifies, researchers are speculating what 6G will be. The integration of sensing functionality is emerging as a key feature of the 6G Radio Access Network (RAN), allowing for the exploitation of dense cell infrastructures to construct a perceptive network. In this IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications (JSAC) Special Issue overview, we provide a comprehensive review on the background, range of key applications and state-of-the-art approaches of Integrated Sensing and Communications (ISAC). We commence by discussing the interplay between sensing and communications (S&C) from a historical point of view, and then consider the multiple facets of ISAC and the resulting performance gains. By introducing both ongoing and potential use cases, we shed light on the industrial progress and standardization activities related to ISAC. We analyze a number of performance tradeoffs between S&C, spanning from information theoretical limits to physical layer performance tradeoffs, and the cross-layer design tradeoffs. Next, we discuss the signal processing aspects of ISAC, namely ISAC waveform design and receive signal processing. As a step further, we provide our vision on the deeper integration between S&C within the framework of perceptive networks, where the two functionalities are expected to mutually assist each other, i.e., via communication-assisted sensing and sensing-assisted communications. Finally, we identify the potential integration of ISAC with other emerging communication technologies, and their positive impacts on the future of wireless networks.

During the rapid rise in COVID-19 illnesses and deaths globally, and notwithstanding recommended precautions, questions are voiced about routes of transmission for this pandemic disease. Inhaling small airborne droplets is probable as a third route of infection, in addition to more widely recognized transmission via larger respiratory droplets and direct contact with infected people or contaminated surfaces. While uncertainties remain regarding the relative contributions of the different transmission pathways, we argue that existing evidence is sufficiently strong to warrant engineering controls targeting airborne transmission as part of an overall strategy to limit infection risk indoors. Appropriate building engineering controls include sufficient and effective ventilation, possibly enhanced by particle filtration and air disinfection, avoiding air recirculation and avoiding overcrowding. Often, such measures can be easily implemented and without much cost, but if only they are recognised as significant in contributing to infection control goals. We believe that the use of engineering controls in public buildings, including hospitals, shops, offices, schools, kindergartens, libraries, restaurants, cruise ships, elevators, conference rooms or public transport, in parallel with effective application of other controls (including isolation and quarantine, social distancing and hand hygiene), would be an additional important measure globally to reduce the likelihood of transmission and thereby protect healthcare workers, patients and the general public.

We present the first results of the Fermilab National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL) Muon g -2 Experiment for the positive muon magnetic anomaly a g -2=2. The anomaly is determined from the precision measurements of two angular frequencies. Intensity variation of high-energy positrons from muon decays directly encodes the difference frequency a between the spin-precession and cyclotron frequencies for polarized muons in a magnetic storage ring. The storage ring magnetic field is measured using nuclear magnetic resonance probes calibrated in terms of the equivalent proton spin precession frequency 0

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify and describe the most prominent research areas connected with “Big Data” and propose a thorough definition of the term. Design/methodology/approach – The authors have analysed a conspicuous corpus of industry and academia articles linked with Big Data to find commonalities among the topics they treated. The authors have also compiled a survey of existing definitions with a view of generating a more solid one that encompasses most of the work happening in the field. Findings – The main themes of Big Data are: information, technology, methods and impact. The authors propose a new definition for the term that reads as follows: “Big Data is the Information asset characterized by such a High Volume, Velocity and Variety to require specific Technology and Analytical Methods for its transformation into Value.” Practical implications – The formal definition that is proposed can enable a more coherent development of the concept of Big Data, as it solely relies on the essential strands of current state-of-the-art and is coherent with the most popular definitions currently used. Originality/value – This is among the first structured attempts of building a convincing definition of Big Data. It also contains an original exploration of the topic in connection with library management.

Airborne transmission is a pathway of contagion that is still not sufficiently investigated despite the evidence in the scientific literature of the role it can play in the context of an epidemic. While the medical research area dedicates efforts to find cures and remedies to counteract the effects of a virus, the engineering area is involved in providing risk assessments in indoor environments by simulating the airborne transmission of the virus during an epidemic. To this end, virus air emission data are needed. Unfortunately, this information is usually available only after the outbreak, based on specific reverse engineering cases. In this work, a novel approach to estimate the viral load emitted by a contagious subject on the basis of the viral load in the mouth, the type of respiratory activity (e.g. breathing, speaking, whispering), respiratory physiological parameters (e.g. inhalation rate), and activity level (e.g. resting, standing, light exercise) is proposed. The results showed that high quanta emission rates (>100 quanta h−1) can be reached by an asymptomatic infectious SARS-CoV-2 subject performing vocalization during light activities (i.e. walking slowly) whereas a symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 subject in resting conditions mostly has a low quanta emission rate (<1 quantum h−1). The findings in terms of quanta emission rates were then adopted in infection risk models to demonstrate its application by evaluating the number of people infected by an asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 subject in Italian indoor microenvironments before and after the introduction of virus containment measures. The results obtained from the simulations clearly highlight that a key role is played by proper ventilation in containment of the virus in indoor environments.

MicroRNAs are short regulatory RNAs that negatively modulate protein expression at a post-transcriptional level and are deeply involved in the pathogenesis of several types of cancers. Here we show that miR-221 and miR-222, encoded in tandem on chromosome X, are overexpressed in the PC3 cellular model of aggressive prostate carcinoma, as compared with LNCaP and 22Rv1 cell line models of slowly growing carcinomas. In all cell lines tested, we show an inverse relationship between the expression of miR-221 and miR-222 and the cell cycle inhibitor p27Kip1. We recognize two target sites for the microRNAs in the 3′ untranslated region of p27 mRNA, and we show that miR-221/222 ectopic overexpression directly results in p27 down-regulation in LNCaP cells. In those cells, we demonstrate that the ectopic overexpression of miR-221/222 strongly affects their growth potential by inducing a G1 to S shift in the cell cycle and is sufficient to induce a powerful enhancement of their colony-forming potential in soft agar. Consistently, miR-221 and miR-222 knock-down through antisense LNA oligonucleotides increases p27Kip1 in PC3 cells and strongly reduces their clonogenicity in vitro. Our results suggest that miR-221/222 can be regarded as a new family of oncogenes, directly targeting the tumor suppressor p27Kip1, and that their overexpression might be one of the factors contributing to the oncogenesis and progression of prostate carcinoma through p27Kip1 down-regulation. MicroRNAs are short regulatory RNAs that negatively modulate protein expression at a post-transcriptional level and are deeply involved in the pathogenesis of several types of cancers. Here we show that miR-221 and miR-222, encoded in tandem on chromosome X, are overexpressed in the PC3 cellular model of aggressive prostate carcinoma, as compared with LNCaP and 22Rv1 cell line models of slowly growing carcinomas. In all cell lines tested, we show an inverse relationship between the expression of miR-221 and miR-222 and the cell cycle inhibitor p27Kip1. We recognize two target sites for the microRNAs in the 3′ untranslated region of p27 mRNA, and we show that miR-221/222 ectopic overexpression directly results in p27 down-regulation in LNCaP cells. In those cells, we demonstrate that the ectopic overexpression of miR-221/222 strongly affects their growth potential by inducing a G1 to S shift in the cell cycle and is sufficient to induce a powerful enhancement of their colony-forming potential in soft agar. Consistently, miR-221 and miR-222 knock-down through antisense LNA oligonucleotides increases p27Kip1 in PC3 cells and strongly reduces their clonogenicity in vitro. Our results suggest that miR-221/222 can be regarded as a new family of oncogenes, directly targeting the tumor suppressor p27Kip1, and that their overexpression might be one of the factors contributing to the oncogenesis and progression of prostate carcinoma through p27Kip1 down-regulation. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) 5The abbreviations used are: miRNA, microRNA; UTR, untranslated region; siRNA, small interfering RNA; PCa, prostate cancer; MTS, 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2h-tetrazolium, inner salt. are a wide class of small, noncoding RNAs that negatively regulate protein expression at the post-transcriptional level. Through the specific targeting of the 3′ UTRs of multicellular eukaryotic mRNAs, miRNAs down-regulate gene expression by either inducing degradation of target mRNAs or impairing their translation (1Kim V.N. Mol. Cell. 2005; 19: 1-15Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (152) Google Scholar, 2Petersen C.P. Bordeleau M.E. Pelletier J. Sharp P.A. Mol. Cell. 2006; 21: 533-542Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (565) Google Scholar). The expression of many microRNAs was shown to be temporally and spatially regulated, whereas the disruption of their physiological expression patterns was associated with several examples of human tumorigenesis, suggesting that they may play a role as a novel class of oncogenes or tumor suppressor genes (3Gregory R.I. Shiekhattar R. Cancer Res. 2005; 65: 3509-3512Crossref PubMed Scopus (572) Google Scholar). In fact, single or small sets of microRNAs were demonstrated to be dysregulated in diverse cancer subtypes including Burkitt lymphoma (4Metzler M. Wilda M. Busch K. Viehmann S. Borkhardt A. Genes Chromosomes Cancer. 2004; 39: 167-169Crossref PubMed Scopus (503) Google Scholar), colorectal cancer (5Michael M.Z. O'Connor S.M. van Holst Pellekaan N.G. Young G.P. James R.J. Mol. Cancer Res. 2003; 12: 882-891Google Scholar), lung cancer (6Takamizawa J. Konishi H. Yanagisawa K. Tomida S. Osada H. Endoh H. Harano T. Yatabe Y. Nagino M. Nimura Y. Mitsudomi T. Takahashi T. Cancer Res. 2004; 64: 3753-3756Crossref PubMed Scopus (2164) Google Scholar), breast cancer (7Iorio M.V. Ferracin M. Liu C.G. Veronese A. Spizzo R. Sabbioni S. Magri E. Pedriali M. Fabbri M. Campiglio M. Menare S. Palazzo J.P. Rosenberg A. Musiani P. Volinia S. Nenci I. Calin G.A. Querzoli P. Negrini M. Croce C.M. Cancer Res. 2005; 65: 7065-7070Crossref PubMed Scopus (3498) Google Scholar), papillary thyroid carcinoma (8He H. Jazdzewski K. Li W. Liyanarachchi S. Nagy R. Volinia S. Calin G.A. Liu C.G. Franssila K. Suster S. Kloos R.T. Croce C.M. de la Chappelle A. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 2005; 102: 19075-19080Crossref PubMed Scopus (1075) Google Scholar), hepatocellular carcinoma (9Murakami Y. Yasuda T. Saigo K. Urashima T. Toyoda H. Okanoue T. Shimotohno K. Oncogene. 2006; 25: 2537-2545Crossref PubMed Scopus (1037) Google Scholar), and glioblastoma (10Chan J.A. Cancer Res. 2005; 65: 6029-6033Crossref PubMed Scopus (2240) Google Scholar, 11Ciafre S.A. Galardi S. Mangiola A. Ferracin M. Liu C-G. Sabatino G. Negrini M. Maira G. Croce C.M. Farace M.G Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 2005; 334: 1351-1358Crossref PubMed Scopus (953) Google Scholar). The general rule stemming from these studies is that the non-physiological modulation of micro-RNA expression frequently characterizes cancer, thus making the comprehension of microRNA expression an important goal for diagnostic and prognostic applications, especially when this knowledge is further strengthened by the discovery of the molecular targets specifically modulated by microRNAs. Prostate cancer, the most common malignant disease in the Western world, causes about 80,000 deaths a year in Europe (12Bracarda S. Crit. Rev. Oncol. Hematol. 2005; 56: 379-396Crossref PubMed Scopus (90) Google Scholar). Despite considerable efforts made in recent years to understand prostate tumorigenesis, the molecular mechanisms involved in its initiation and progression remain largely unknown. Among factors whose misregulation was tightly linked to prostate cancer (PCa) progression, the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p27Kip1 is a well established marker of poor prognosis as it was shown that absent or decreased p27Kip1 expression is associated with high tumor grade and poor prognosis of PCa and of several other human cancers (13Tsihlias J. Kapusta L. Slingerland J. Annu. Rev. Med. 1999; 50: 401-423Crossref PubMed Scopus (291) Google Scholar, 14Macri E. Loda M. Cancer Metastasis Rev. 1998; 17: 337-344Crossref PubMed Scopus (67) Google Scholar, 15Lloyd R.V. Erickson L.A. Jin L. Kulig E. Qian X. Cheville J.C. Scheithauer B.W. Am. J. Pathol. 1999; 154: 313-323Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (549) Google Scholar, 16Cheville J.C. Lloyd R.V. Sebo T.J. Cheng L. Erickson L. Bostwick D.G. Lohse C.M. Wollan P. Mod. Pathos. 1998; 11: 324-328PubMed Google Scholar, 17Tsihlias J. Kapusta L.R. DeBoer G. Morava-Protzner I. Zbieranowski I. Bhattacharya N. Catzavelos G.C. Klotz L.H. Slingerland J.M. Cancer Res. 1998; 58: 542-548PubMed Google Scholar, 18Yang R.M. Naitoh J. Murphy M. Wang H.J. Phillipson J. deKernion J.B. Loda M. Reiter R.E. J. Urol. 1998; 159: 941-945Crossref PubMed Scopus (277) Google Scholar). It is also well known that p27Kip1 regulation, both in physiological and pathological conditions, is exerted mostly at a post-transcriptional level (19Belletti B. Nicoloso M.S. Schiappacassi M. Chimienti E. Berton S. Lovat F. Colombatti A. Baldassarre G. Curr. Med. Chem. 2005; 12: 1589-1605Crossref PubMed Scopus (77) Google Scholar). In this work we describe the differential expression of two microRNAs, miR-221 and miR-222, encoded in tandem from a gene cluster located on chromosome X, in three human prostate carcinoma cell lines, the androgen-independent, strongly aggressive PC3 cell line, the androgen-responsive 22Rv1, and the androgen dependent, slowly growing LNCaP, which represent models of distinct stages of prostate carcinoma progression. Consistently with the proposed role of microRNAs as regulators of key components of cell cycle progression, here we identify p27Kip1 as a target for miR-221/miR-222. We show that p27Kip1 expression in the three PCa cell lines inversely correlates with that of miR-221/miR-222, and that the ectopic overexpression of miR-221 or both microRNAs in LNCaP, where they are normally almost undetectable, has deep consequences on the proliferation rate and the cell cycle phase distribution. We propose that p27Kip1 is an important functional target for miR-221/222 in prostate carcinoma, and that the modulation of these microRNAs might be used as a molecular marker to characterize the progression of this tumor. Cell Lines and Transfections—All cell lines were maintained in RPMI 1640 medium supplemented with 10% heat-inactivated fetal bovine serum, 20 mm l-glutamine, 100 units/ml of penicillin G sodium, and 100 μg/ml streptomycin sulfate in a humidified atmosphere containing 5% CO2 at 37 °C. Transfections were performed by Lipofectamine 2000 reagent (Invitrogen) using 8 μg of plasmid DNA in Opti-MEM I (Invitrogen), as recommended by the manufacturer. For transient transfections, 7 μg of pCDNA(+)3.1-based plasmids were co-transfected with a 1:7 relative amount of a reporter plasmid, pEGFP-C3 (Clontech), to monitor transfection efficiency. Cells were analyzed by fluorescence microscopy 48 h after transfection to calculate the transfection efficiency. For each well, the cell number in four random microscopic fields was counted and transfection efficiency for each sample was estimated as the mean value of green fluorescent protein expressing cells over 100 cells per field. When establishing stable transfectants, the transfected cells were selected by adding 0.4 to the of 3′ of the human gene was using and and of the in to the was used to by inverse the plasmid LNCaP cells were transfected by Lipofectamine 2000 (Invitrogen) with or plasmid Cells were 48 h and with to the were performed in miR-222, and cluster were by from human DNA using the miR-221 miR-221 miR-222 miR-222 The of were by and the of (Invitrogen) for miR-222, and sites for miR-221 and expression was by after 48 h from transfection in LNCaP and cells and p27 LNA oligonucleotides miR-221 and miR-222 were from were transfected by Lipofectamine 2000 (Invitrogen) PC3 cells at a of the cells were and miRNAs and p27 protein 7 were for at in p27 were from and transfected by Lipofectamine 2000 LNCaP cells at a of 100 Cell was by using Cell with in which cells a were in a and for h to to the of the The cell growth was at 48 and h after the cellular the 20 of were to 100 of and for h at 37 and the was at were performed in of miR-222 LNCaP Cells and Cell were in a for h to to the of the well, and transfected with or using h after this cells were transfected with the of or siRNA, with 100 miR-222 or a in this in to the transfection with miRNA, and cell growth was by from that at and growth was by soft as LNCaP or PC3 cells per were in on of a containing agar. In the or or LNA cells were h after were at 37 at 5% CO2 in a humidified for and with for mm LNCaP or mm PC3 in were counted a microscopic at was performed in on two and was from LNCaP, and cells with reagent (Invitrogen) to the For of μg of were on 10% and to The specific with kinase in the of miR-222, and were with or transfected cells were in and at 37 for 48 Cells were with for with and for at with to DNA in cells were with μg/ml for h at cells were in of and with of for in the cells were and in containing μg/ml for on a using For cells were transfected and at 37 °C. cells were and in in and with μg/ml and μg/ml for at 37 °C. were performed each of three μg of protein was on and to The of p27 expression were by using the or the a expression were by The or was using Western were with or MicroRNAs miR-221 and miR-222 in PC3 Cells in LNCaP and 22Rv1 and to of goal was to for microRNAs in prostate this we three human PCa cell lines, LNCaP, and 22Rv1, three stages of prostate carcinoma progression. performed by that the microRNAs miR-221 and miR-222 show a differential they are in PC3 cells, from a of an androgen-independent, aggressive whereas they are almost absent in LNCaP, from a of an slowly growing carcinoma The expression in the 22Rv1 cell line, an androgen-responsive cell line, was undetectable, in LNCaP We performed a C.P. S. Res. 2006; PubMed Scopus Google for target mRNAs of both and we that the 3′ of human two sites by the miR-221 and miR-222 In fact, the of these two miRNAs are and target the located at and of the miR-222 and miR-221 is at in the 3′ of p27 mRNA, where it is also associated with the relationship inversely p27Kip1 and miR-221 and miR-222, we by p27 expression in the three prostate carcinoma cell Western that p27 is in LNCaP and 22Rv1, whereas it is strongly in PC3 cells The of these results a that the expression of miR-221 and miR-222 might be one of the mechanisms to negatively regulate p27Kip1 in prostate carcinoma cells. The of miR-222, or p27Kip1 in LNCaP and 22Rv1 Cells and the of the MicroRNAs p27Kip1 in PC3 these microRNAs p27Kip1 expression in LNCaP cellular we analyzed the consequences of the ectopic expression of miR-221 and We made three and miR-222, or the region with miR-221 and miR-222 encoded in the of that LNCaP cells with or high of the microRNAs, whereas expression was in cells. results were with the 22Rv1 cell line was in all of the miRNAs in the cells. Western performed on the cells that the p27Kip1 protein was in both LNCaP and 22Rv1 cells expressing the single miRNAs or a of as compared with cells transfected with the strongly the that miR-221 and miR-222 regulate p27Kip1 expression in LNCaP and 22Rv1 cells. the of these miRNAs in PC3 cells, where they are normally we miR-221 or miR-222 we transfected PC3 cells with LNA antisense oligonucleotides targeting either miR-221 or miR-222, and we analyzed the on p27 PC3 cells transfected with and LNA a in miR-221 and miR-222 when compared with cells transfected with LNA a microRNA in these cells the of miR-221 or miR-222 was by an of p27 protein of about The results that we by both the overexpression and the of miR-221 miR-222 the of p27 as an target of in LNCaP, 22Rv1, and PC3 PCa cell The of the 3′ of p27 of a to miR-221 and show that the 3′ of p27 sites for the with miR-221 and miR-222 and is for the of these miRNAs on p27 we the 3′ region of the and we used this reporter to LNCaP cells. The reporter was transfected LNCaP cells transfected with plasmids or that the of miR-222, or miR-221 and miR-222 in tandem strongly expression as relative The of was in all transfected cell lines, either expressing miR-221 or miR-222, or a of miR-221 and the when we as a reporter a plasmid the 3′ of p27 where two sites for miR-221 and miR-222 were by we a on compared with LNCaP cells that results the the 3′ of p27 as a target for miR-221 and miR-222, and that the two sites thus strongly to the the post-transcriptional of the The of miR-221/222 of LNCaP Cells and a to the S of Cell is known to play a key role as a of cell cycle progression, strongly We the cell growth potential of transfected LNCaP cells expressing miR-222, or both miR-221 and miR-222 was as a of the demonstrated p27 the results of an where cell of LNCaP cells is compared with that of the the expression of the microRNAs a in growth rate at h after the of the both in the of miR-221 or miR-222 or the two microRNAs in results a in a we performed to show that a of p27 by from microRNA expression to when we transfected LNCaP cells with that were to p27 of about we a in cell as compared with cells p27 in LNCaP cells, either by miR-221/222 expression or by is sufficient to induce a cell growth strongly the p27 of these of we a where we the proliferation by microRNAs in LNCaP cells transfected with The of this was to and the cellular to miR-221 or miR-222 When one of the microRNAs, miR-222, was transfected LNCaP cells with we after 48 h from miR-222 and miR-222 to to the of p27 protein and to the growth is at when the functional consequences of p27 are We LNCaP cell cycle phase through that LNCaP cells expressing miR-222, or the miR-221/222 cluster a in S phase as compared with cells, with a of the G1 for cell growth cell cycle phase was also by cells from G1 S phase results demonstrate the of miR-221 and miR-222 to a cell cycle and the role of these two miRNAs as regulators of p27Kip1. The of miR-221 or miR-222 the of LNCaP and miR-221/222 It in PC3 of cellular is the of tumor cells to in an in a the of expression on this cell we the of transfected LNCaP cells to and to when at in soft agar. shown in and LNCaP cells expressing miR-221 or miR-222 many the cells for and for results that miR-221 and miR-222 expression affects of tumor cell In we compared the of miR-221 and miR-222 expression with that of on the potential of LNCaP cells. The by LNCaP cells with were those by LNCaP cells with a and as for proliferation we the of results in both of which of small was used to target we also that the of miR-221 and miR-222 through LNA antisense oligonucleotides in PC3 cells was to strongly the number of the growing in soft and in with about the of p27 after transfection with LNA that directly miR-221 and miR-222 to p27 and to the in cell the of In the an growing number of a between several of human cancer and the expression of microRNAs a A. Rev. Cancer. 2006; PubMed Scopus Google Scholar). Despite the of work that has to in a of the were the targets of the microRNAs that were shown to be specifically modulated in it is that comprehension of the functional role of microRNAs in oncogenesis be by their of in each of in this work we on a of microRNAs, miR-221 and miR-222, overexpressed in the specific of prostate The we here are on that this of miRNAs are in a PCa cell line from a strongly aggressive tumor other cell lines from slowly growing and these PCa cell lines are as models of stages of PCa progression S. PubMed Scopus Google Scholar), we that the expression of miR-221/222 in PC3 aggressive cells might be a marker of their is strengthened by that one and modulated by miR-221/222 in PCa cell lines, is the cell cycle inhibitor p27Kip1, in the family of tumor Through the we demonstrated that at two sites are in the 3′ we that miR-221 and miR-222 are inversely linked to those of p27 expression in 22Rv1, and in LNCaP cell the ectopic expression of these miRNAs or their knock-down are to induce the on p27 expression in LNCaP, 22Rv1, and PC3 cells. We functional about the role of miR-221 and miR-222 in PCa, by that the expression of these microRNAs is per to induce an enhancement of LNCaP cell growth which is and to that by a specific of In this in cell growth is tightly linked to the G1 to S shift we in the cells, which is in with modulation of a known of the cell cycle is by their to in an a to the of PCa cells. The potential was strongly when miR-221 or miR-222 were overexpressed in LNCaP cells, and was in PC3 cells where miR-221 and miR-222 were through LNA thus with a further about the of this microRNA in PCa The inverse between the inhibitor p27 and prognosis in several human including prostate carcinoma, is well known E. Loda M. Cancer Metastasis Rev. 1998; 17: 337-344Crossref PubMed Scopus (67) Google Scholar, J. M. J. Cell. PubMed Scopus Google Scholar). p27 is an in prostate carcinoma as it is frequently in which is as a carcinoma Am. J. Pathol. 1999; Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus Google Scholar). The that p27 is a tumor suppressor is of for the of as it be in with the regulatory of microRNAs by the amount of their We that this regulatory exerted by miR-221/222 on the of p27 protein in the cell might be as of the made of several post-transcriptional mechanisms a of p27 amount to and at in one by that describe an modulation of miR-221 miR-222 in a of the of which is also known to be by p27 or miR-221 and miR-222 are overexpressed in of the and S. Calin G.A. Liu C.G. S. A. F. R. M. Ferracin M. N. G. A. A. Negrini M. Croce C.M. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 2006; PubMed Scopus Google Scholar, Y. J. J. Cancer. PubMed Scopus Google Scholar), and are strongly in papillary thyroid carcinoma (8He H. Jazdzewski K. Li W. Liyanarachchi S. Nagy R. Volinia S. Calin G.A. Liu C.G. Franssila K. Suster S. Kloos R.T. Croce C.M. de la Chappelle A. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 2005; 102: 19075-19080Crossref PubMed Scopus (1075) Google Scholar). miR-222 is a marker of hepatocellular carcinoma well of the overexpressed about in the (9Murakami Y. Yasuda T. Saigo K. Urashima T. Toyoda H. Okanoue T. Shimotohno K. Oncogene. 2006; 25: 2537-2545Crossref PubMed Scopus (1037) Google Scholar). miR-221 and miR-222 was also in a as associated with important of poor prognosis G.A. Ferracin M. A. G. M. M.V. R. Fabbri M. R. T. F. R. L. H. Volinia S. Liu C.G. T.J. Negrini M. Croce C.M. N. J. Med. 2005; PubMed Scopus Google Scholar). We demonstrated that miR-221 and miR-222 are the most microRNAs in glioblastoma S.A. Galardi S. Mangiola A. Ferracin M. Liu C-G. Sabatino G. Negrini M. Maira G. Croce C.M. Farace M.G Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 2005; 334: 1351-1358Crossref PubMed Scopus (953) Google Scholar), and we also that suggest the of a between miR-221/222 overexpression and p27 down-regulation in this model of human tumor. S. A. and M. In three was the modulation of miR-221 and miR-222 in with the of their which was the kinase in one miR-221 and miR-222 to be in an cell line with a overexpression of N. L. E. R. F. F. S. M. Calin G.A. Liu C.G. A. Croce C.M. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 2005; 102: PubMed Scopus Google Scholar), whereas in the other the two miRNAs in tandem were overexpressed in papillary thyroid carcinoma, a down-regulation of (8He H. Jazdzewski K. Li W. Liyanarachchi S. Nagy R. Volinia S. Calin G.A. Liu C.G. Franssila K. Suster S. Kloos R.T. Croce C.M. de la Chappelle A. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 2005; 102: 19075-19080Crossref PubMed Scopus (1075) Google Scholar). In a the overexpression of miR-221 and miR-222 in their to the of cell by targeting its L. A. L. M. L. K. A. S. G. 2006; PubMed Scopus Google Scholar), suggesting a role for miR-221 and miR-222 as of the of new in physiological and pathological We that which identify p27Kip1 as a target for miR-221 and miR-222 in the of prostate carcinoma cell lines, a of the of gene it is well known and that the relationship between microRNAs and target mRNAs is a to as the can be by one miRNA, and that the of many and which miRNAs target one 3′ is strongly by the specific cellular 2005; PubMed Scopus Google Scholar). that targets in the of cell proliferation may as a tumor suppressor in cancers and as an in on which targets are in that specific cellular In results suggest that overexpression of miR-221 and miR-222 may to the growth and progression of prostate carcinoma, at in by p27 functional studies are for the comprehension of the molecular of the of this carcinoma, and new to targeting specific tumor as the overexpressed microRNAs. We are to and for and We are to for the

During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, an outbreak occurred following attendance of a symptomatic index case at a weekly rehearsal on 10 March of the Skagit Valley Chorale (SVC). After that rehearsal, 53 members of the SVC among 61 in attendance were confirmed or strongly suspected to have contracted COVID-19 and two died. Transmission by the aerosol route is likely; it appears unlikely that either fomite or ballistic droplet transmission could explain a substantial fraction of the cases. It is vital to identify features of cases such as this to better understand the factors that promote superspreading events. Based on a conditional assumption that transmission during this outbreak was dominated by inhalation of respiratory aerosol generated by one index case, we use the available evidence to infer the emission rate of aerosol infectious quanta. We explore how the risk of infection would vary with several influential factors: ventilation rate, duration of event, and deposition onto surfaces. The results indicate a best-estimate emission rate of 970 ± 390 quanta/h. Infection risk would be reduced by a factor of two by increasing the aerosol loss rate to 5 h−1 and shortening the event duration from 2.5 to 1 h.

After about a decade of intense research, spurred by both economic and operational considerations, and by environmental concerns, energy efficiency has now become a key pillar in the design of communication networks. With the advent of the fifth generation of wireless networks, with millions more base stations and billions of connected devices, the need for energy-efficient system design and operation will be even more compelling. This survey provides an overview of energy-efficient wireless communications, reviews seminal and recent contribution to the state-of-the-art, including the papers published in this special issue, and discusses the most relevant research challenges to be addressed in the future.

Adaptation and innovation are extremely important to the manufacturing industry. This development should lead to sustainable manufacturing using new technologies. To promote sustainability, smart production requires global perspectives of smart production application technology. In this regard, thanks to intensive research efforts in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), a number of AI-based techniques, such as machine learning, have already been established in the industry to achieve sustainable manufacturing. Thus, the aim of the present research was to analyze, systematically, the scientific literature relating to the application of artificial intelligence and machine learning (ML) in industry. In fact, with the introduction of the Industry 4.0, artificial intelligence and machine learning are considered the driving force of smart factory revolution. The purpose of this review was to classify the literature, including publication year, authors, scientific sector, country, institution, and keywords. The analysis was done using the Web of Science and SCOPUS database. Furthermore, UCINET and NVivo 12 software were used to complete them. A literature review on ML and AI empirical studies published in the last century was carried out to highlight the evolution of the topic before and after Industry 4.0 introduction, from 1999 to now. Eighty-two articles were reviewed and classified. A first interesting result is the greater number of works published by the USA and the increasing interest after the birth of Industry 4.0.

The recent Covid-19 pandemic has had significant psychological and social effects on the population. Research has highlighted the impact on psychological well-being of the most exposed groups, including children, college students, and health workers, who are more likely to develop post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, and other symptoms of distress. The social distance and the security measures have affected the relationship among people and their perception of empathy toward others. From this perspective, telepsychology and technological devices assume important roles to decrease the negative effects of the pandemic. These tools present benefits that could improve psychological treatment of patients online, such as the possibility to meet from home or from the workplace, saving money and time and maintaining the relationship between therapists and patients. The aim of this paper is to show empirical data from recent studies on the effect of the pandemic and reflect on possible interventions based on technological tools.

Magnetite nanoparticles (Fe₃O₄) represent the most promising materials in medical applications. To favor high-drug or enzyme loading on the nanoparticles, they are incorporated into mesoporous materials to form a hybrid support with the consequent reduction of magnetization saturation. The direct synthesis of mesoporous structures appears to be of interest. To this end, magnetite nanoparticles have been synthesized using a one pot co-precipitation reaction at room temperature in the presence of different bases, such as NaOH, KOH or (C₂H₅)₄NOH. Magnetite shows characteristics of superparamagnetism at room temperature and a saturation magnetization (Ms) value depending on both the crystal size and the degree of agglomeration of individual nanoparticles. Such agglomeration appears to be responsible for the formation of mesoporous structures, which are affected by the pH, the nature of alkali, the slow or fast addition of alkaline solution and the drying modality of synthesized powders.

Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRDs) are a global crisis facing the aging population and society as a whole. With the numbers of people with ADRDs predicted to rise dramatically across the world, the scientific community can no longer neglect the need for research focusing on ADRDs among underrepresented ethnoracial diverse groups. The Alzheimer's Association International Society to Advance Alzheimer's Research and Treatment (ISTAART; alz.org/ISTAART) comprises a number of professional interest areas (PIAs), each focusing on a major scientific area associated with ADRDs. We leverage the expertise of the existing international cadre of ISTAART scientists and experts to synthesize a cross-PIA white paper that provides both a concise "state-of-the-science" report of ethnoracial factors across PIA foci and updated recommendations to address immediate needs to advance ADRD science across ethnoracial populations.

Although Big Data is a trending buzzword in both academia and the industry, its meaning is still shrouded by much conceptual vagueness. The term is used to describe a wide range of concepts: from the technological ability to store, aggregate, and process data, to the cultural shift that is pervasively invading business and society, both drowning in information overload. The lack of a formal definition has led research to evolve into multiple and inconsistent paths. Furthermore, the existing ambiguity among researchers and practitioners undermines an efficient development of the subject. In this paper we have reviewed the existing literature on Big Data and analyzed its previous definitions in order to pursue two results: first, to provide a summary of the key research areas related to the phenomenon, identifying emerging trends and suggesting opportunities for future development; second, to provide a consensual definition for Big Data, by synthesizing common themes of existing works and patterns in previous definitions.

Recently, the so-called cell-free (CF) massive MIMO architecture has been introduced, wherein a very large number of distributed access points simultaneously and jointly serve a much smaller number of mobile stations. This letter introduces a user-centric (UC) virtual cell approach to CF massive MIMO, wherein each user is served only by a limited number of access points. The UC approach requires less backhaul overhead than the CF approach, and outperforms the latter in terms of achievable rate-per-user for the vast majority of the users in the network.

A dorsal frontoparietal network, including regions in intraparietal sulcus (IPS) and frontal eye field (FEF), has been hypothesized to control the allocation of spatial attention to environmental stimuli. One putative mechanism of control is the desynchronization of electroencephalography (EEG) alpha rhythms (approximately 8-12 Hz) in visual cortex in anticipation of a visual target. We show that brief interference by repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) with preparatory activity in right IPS or right FEF while subjects attend to a spatial location impairs identification of target visual stimuli approximately 2 s later. This behavioral effect is associated with the disruption of anticipatory (prestimulus) alpha desynchronization and its spatially selective topography in parieto-occipital cortex. Finally, the disruption of anticipatory alpha rhythms in occipital cortex after right IPS- or right FEF-rTMS correlates with deficits of visual identification. These results support the causal role of the dorsal frontoparietal network in the control of visuospatial attention, and suggest that this is partly exerted through the synchronization of occipital visual neurons.

The CRESST experiment is a direct dark matter search which aims to measure interactions of potential dark matter particles in an Earth-bound detector. With the current stage, CRESST-III, we focus on a low energy threshold for increased sensitivity towards light dark matter particles. In this paper we describe the analysis of one detector operated in the first run of CRESST-III (05/2016--02/2018) achieving a nuclear recoil threshold of 30.1 eV. This result was obtained with a 23.6 g ${\mathrm{CaWO}}_{4}$ crystal operated as a cryogenic scintillating calorimeter in the CRESST setup at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS). Both the primary phonon (heat) signal and the simultaneously emitted scintillation light, which is absorbed in a separate silicon-on-sapphire light absorber, are measured with highly sensitive transition edge sensors operated at $\ensuremath{\sim}15\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{mK}$. The unique combination of these sensors with the light element oxygen present in our target yields sensitivity to dark matter particle masses as low as $160\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{MeV}/{\mathrm{c}}^{2}$.

Fifth-generation (5G) cellular communications promise to deliver the gigabit experience to mobile users, with a capacity increase of up to three orders of magnitude with respect to current long-term evolution (LTE) systems. There is widespread agreement that such an ambitious goal will be realized through a combination of innovative techniques involving different network layers. At the physical layer, the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) modulation format, along with its multiple-access strategy orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), is not taken for granted, and several alternatives promising larger values of spectral efficiency are being considered. This article provides a review of some modulation formats suited for 5G, enriched by a comparative analysis of their performance in a cellular environment, and by a discussion on their interactions with specific 5G ingredients. The interaction with a massive multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) system is also discussed by employing real channel measurements.

Airborne transmission is a recognized pathway of contagion; however, it is rarely quantitatively evaluated. The numerous outbreaks that have occurred during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic are putting a demand on researchers to develop approaches capable of both predicting contagion in closed environments (predictive assessment) and analyzing previous infections (retrospective assessment). This study presents a novel approach for quantitative assessment of the individual infection risk of susceptible subjects exposed in indoor microenvironments in the presence of an asymptomatic infected SARS-CoV-2 subject. The application of a Monte Carlo method allowed the risk for an exposed healthy subject to be evaluated or, starting from an acceptable risk, the maximum exposure time. We applied the proposed approach to four distinct scenarios for a prospective assessment, highlighting that, in order to guarantee an acceptable risk of 10−3 for exposed subjects in naturally ventilated indoor environments, the exposure time could be well below one hour. Such maximum exposure time clearly depends on the viral load emission of the infected subject and on the exposure conditions; thus, longer exposure times were estimated for mechanically ventilated indoor environments and lower viral load emissions. The proposed approach was used for retrospective assessment of documented outbreaks in a restaurant in Guangzhou (China) and at a choir rehearsal in Mount Vernon (USA), showing that, in both cases, the high attack rate values can be justified only assuming the airborne transmission as the main route of contagion. Moreover, we show that such outbreaks are not caused by the rare presence of a superspreader, but can be likely explained by the co-existence of conditions, including emission and exposure parameters, leading to a highly probable event, which can be defined as a “superspreading event”.