Electroweak Multi-Higgs Production: A Smoking Gun for the Type-I Two-Higgs-Doublet Model.

Extending the Higgs sector of the standard model (SM) by just one additional Higgs doublet field leads to the two-Higgs-doublet model (2HDM). In the type-I Z_{2}-symmetric limit of the 2HDM, all the five new physical Higgs states can be fairly light, O(100)  GeV or less, without being in conflict with current data from the direct Higgs boson searches and the B-physics measurements. In this Letter, we establish that the new neutral as well as the charged Higgs bosons in this model can all be simultaneously observable in the multi-b final state.

Game-theoretic link relevance indexing on genome-wide expression dataset identifies putative salient genes with potential etiological and diapeutics role in colorectal cancer.

Diapeutics gene markers in colorectal cancer (CRC) can help manage mortality caused by the disease. We applied a game-theoretic link relevance Index (LRI) scoring on the high-throughput whole-genome transcriptome dataset to identify salient genes in CRC and obtained 126 salient genes with LRI score greater than zero. The biomarkers database lacks preliminary information on the salient genes as biomarkers for all the available cancer cell types.

Lexicographic solutions for coalitional rankings.

In many real world situations, the design of social rankings over agents or items from a given raking over groups or coalitions, to which these agents or items belong to, is of big interest. With this aim, we revise the lexicographic excellence solution and introduce two novel solutions which, moreover, take into account the size of the groups. We present some desirable axioms which are interpreted in this context.

Identifying the Salient Genes in Microarray Data: A Novel Game Theoretic Model for the Co-Expression Network.

Microarray techniques are used to generate a large amount of information on gene expression. This information can be statistically processed and analyzed to identify the genes useful for the diagnosis and prognosis of genetic diseases. Game theoretic tools are applied to analyze the gene expression data.

Game theoretic centrality: a novel approach to prioritize disease candidate genes by combining biological networks with the Shapley value.

Background: Complex human health conditions with etiological heterogeneity like Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) often pose a challenge for traditional genome-wide association study approaches in defining a clear genotype to phenotype model. Coalitional game theory (CGT) is an exciting method that can consider the combinatorial effect of groups of variants working in concert to produce a phenotype. CGT has been applied to associate likely-gene-disrupting variants encoded from whole genome sequence data to ASD; however, this previous approach cannot take into account for prior biological knowledge.

Long-lived particles at the energy frontier: the MATHUSLA physics case.

We examine the theoretical motivations for long-lived particle (LLP) signals at the LHC in a comprehensive survey of standard model (SM) extensions. LLPs are a common prediction of a wide range of theories that address unsolved fundamental mysteries such as naturalness, dark matter, baryogenesis and neutrino masses, and represent a natural and generic possibility for physics beyond the SM (BSM). In most cases the LLP lifetime can be treated as a free parameter from the [Formula: see text]m scale up to the Big Bang Nucleosynthesis limit of [Formula: see text] m.

Presence of aggregates of smooth endoplasmic reticulum in MII oocytes affects oocyte competence: molecular-based evidence.

Study Question: Does the presence of aggregates of smooth endoplasmic reticulum (SERa) impact the transcriptome of human metaphase II (MII) oocytes?.

Summary Answer: The presence of SERa alters the molecular status of human metaphase II oocytes.

What Is Known Already: Oocytes presenting SERa are considered dysmorphic.

An application of the Shapley value to the analysis of co-expression networks.

We study the problem of identifying relevant genes in a co-expression network using a (cooperative) game theoretic approach. The Shapley value of a cooperative game is used to asses the relevance of each gene in interaction with the others, and to stress the role of nodes in the periphery of a co-expression network for the regulation of complex biological pathways of interest. An application of the method to the analysis of gene expression data from microarrays is presented, as well as a comparison with classical centrality indices.

[Early and mid-term results of the transapical aortic valve Symetis Acurate TA: a viable solution in high-risk patients with severe vascular disease].

Background: Aortic valve stenosis is the most common valvular disease in the elderly. Transcatheter aortic valve implantation represents a viable alternative to conventional aortic valve replacement. In our Department, the transapical approach is the preferred method in patients with severe peripheral vascular disease.

A genome-wide microRNA profiling indicates miR-424-5p and miR-503-5p as regulators of ALK expression in neuroblastoma.

The discovery of missense mutations of gene identified this receptor tyrosine kinase as a therapeutic target in neuroblastoma (NB). Moreover, a high level of ALK protein has been associated with metastatic NB cases and with a worse prognosis, suggesting that also ALK overexpression is involved in NB tumorigenesis. Since miRNAs play key roles in the regulation of gene expression we aimed at identifying those miRNAs that can regulate ALK in NB.

Safety and efficacy of non-continuous echocardiography-guided pericardiocentesis: a single-center study of 478 patients.

Background: There are limited contemporary data on the safety and efficacy of echocardiography-guided pericardiocentesis in Italy. The aim of the study was to evaluate safety and efficacy of pericardiocentesis, performed with non-continuous echocardiography monitoring. All the procedures performed at Department of Cardiovascular Disease, Ospedali Riuniti Ancona, from January 2001 to June 2013, were retrospectively analyzed to determine risks connected to the procedure and its success rate.

Storage time does not modify the gene expression profile of cryopreserved human metaphase II oocytes.

Study Question: Does storage time have any impact on the transcriptome of slowly frozen cryopreserved human metaphase II (MII) oocytes?

Summary Answer: The length of cryostorage has no effect on the gene expression profile of human MII oocytes.

What Is Known Already: Oocyte cryopreservation is a widely used technique in IVF for storage of surplus oocytes, as well as for fertility preservation (i.e.

Epigenetic Silencing of DKK3 in medulloblastoma.

Medulloblastoma (MB) is a malignant pediatric brain tumor arising in the cerebellum consisting of four distinct subgroups: WNT, SHH, Group 3 and Group 4, which exhibit different molecular phenotypes. We studied the expression of Dickkopf (DKK) 1-4 family genes, inhibitors of the Wnt signaling cascade, in MB by screening 355 expression profiles derived from four independent datasets. Upregulation of DKK1, DKK2 and DKK4 mRNA was observed in the WNT subgroup, whereas DKK3 was downregulated in 80% MBs across subgroups with respect to the normal cerebellum (p < 0.

High genomic instability predicts survival in metastatic high-risk neuroblastoma.

We aimed to identify novel molecular prognostic markers to better predict relapse risk estimate for children with high-risk (HR) metastatic neuroblastoma (NB). We performed genome- and/or transcriptome-wide analyses of 129 stage 4 HR NBs. Children older than 1 year of age were categorized as "short survivors" (dead of disease within 5 years from diagnosis) and "long survivors" (alive with an overall survival time ≥ 5 years).

Bone marrow-infiltrating human neuroblastoma cells express high levels of calprotectin and HLA-G proteins.

Metastases in the bone marrow (BM) are grim prognostic factors in patients with neuroblastoma (NB). In spite of extensive analysis of primary tumor cells from high- and low-risk NB patients, a characterization of freshly isolated BM-infiltrating metastatic NB cells is still lacking. Our aim was to identify proteins specifically expressed by metastatic NB cells, that may be relevant for prognostic and therapeutic purposes.

Age-dependent accumulation of genomic aberrations and deregulation of cell cycle and telomerase genes in metastatic neuroblastoma.

About 50% of children with neuroblastoma (NB) show a metastatic disease and have a poor prognosis. However, disease progression is greatly variable and depends on patients' age and MYCN oncogene amplification. To investigate the role of patients' age in tumor aggressiveness, we performed array-CGH and gene expression profiles of three groups (G) of metastatic NBs: G1, stage 4S patients and MYCN single copy (MYCN-) tumors; G2, stage 4 patients, ≤ 18 months of age, MYCN- tumors and favorable outcome and G3, Stage 4 patients, ≥ 19 months with unfavorable outcome.

The role of transthoracic echocardiography in the diagnosis and management of acute type A aortic syndrome.

Background: Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) has been traditionally considered inadequate for the diagnosis of acute type A aortic syndrome (AAAS). In the last decade, high-resolution probes and harmonic imaging have been implemented in new echocardiographic systems. However, studies assessing the diagnostic accuracy of TTE for the identification of AAAS in large populations using modern ultrasound technology are lacking.

Bone marrow of neuroblastoma patients shows downregulation of CXCL12 expression and presence of IFN signature.

Background: At diagnosis, children with neuroblastoma (NB) present with either localized or metastatic disease. Since the mechanisms responsible for BM invasion are not well known, we investigated the transcriptome of resident BM cells from NB patients as compared to healthy children.

Procedure: Ninety-two and 88 children with localized and metastatic NB, respectively, and 15 healthy children were included in the study.

Gene expression profiling identifies eleven DNA repair genes down-regulated during mouse neural crest cell migration.

Neural Crest Cells (NCCs) are transient multipotent migratory cells that derive from the embryonic neural crest which is itself derived from the margin of the neural tube. DNA repair genes are expressed in the early stages of mammalian development to reduce possible replication errors and genotoxic damage. Some birth defects and cancers are due to inappropriate or defective DNA repair machinery, indicating that the proper functioning of DNA repair genes in the early stages of fetal development is essential for maintaining DNA integrity.

Identification and quantification of selected inflammatory genes modulated by leflunomide and prednisone treatment in early rheumatoid arthritis patients.

Objectives: The present study evaluates the effects of combined leflunomide (LEF) and low dose of prednisone therapy, on selected inflammatory gene expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of early rheumatoid arthritis (ERA) patients by gene microarray analysis and quantitative real time-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR).

Methods: Ten ERA patients (mean age 53 ± 10 years) were assigned as untreated (group 1) or pre-treated (group 2) with prednisone (5 mg/day for 3 months) after informed consent and ethics committee approval. Five sex- and age-matched healthy subjects were used as controls (CNT).

Using coalitional games on biological networks to measure centrality and power of genes.

Motivation: The interpretation of gene interaction in biological networks generates the need for a meaningful ranking of network elements. Classical centrality analysis ranks network elements according to their importance but may fail to reflect the power of each gene in interaction with the others.

Results: We introduce a new approach using coalitional games to evaluate the centrality of genes in networks keeping into account genes' interactions.

Inflammatory gene profile in early rheumatoid arthritis and modulation by leflunomide and prednisone treatment.

The effects of low dose prednisone (PD) alone or in combination with leflunomide (LEF) were tested on inflammatory gene expression in early rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Ten RA patients were assigned as group A (untreated)and group B (pretreated with PD 5 mg/day for 3 months -T0). Therefore, both groups were treated with LFN (20mg/day).

Transcribed-Ultra Conserved Region expression is associated with outcome in high-risk neuroblastoma.

Background: Neuroblastoma is the most common, pediatric, extra-cranial, malignant solid tumor. Despite multimodal therapeutic protocols, outcome for children with a high-risk clinical phenotype remains poor, with long-term survival still less than 40%. Hereby, we evaluated the potential of non-coding RNA expression to predict outcome in high-risk, stage 4 neuroblastoma.

Combining Shapley value and statistics to the analysis of gene expression data in children exposed to air pollution.

Background: In gene expression analysis, statistical tests for differential gene expression provide lists of candidate genes having, individually, a sufficiently low p-value. However, the interpretation of each single p-value within complex systems involving several interacting genes is problematic. In parallel, in the last sixty years, game theory has been applied to political and social problems to assess the power of interacting agents in forcing a decision and, more recently, to represent the relevance of genes in response to certain conditions.

Identification of low intratumoral gene expression heterogeneity in neuroblastic tumors by genome-wide expression analysis and game theory.

Background: Neuroblastic tumors (NTs) are largely comprised of neuroblastic (Nb) cells with various quantities of Schwannian stromal (SS) cells. NTs show a variable genetic heterogeneity. NT gene expression profiles reported so far have not taken into account the cellular components.