Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia

About: Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia is a facility organization based out in Genoa, Italy. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Robot & Humanoid robot. The organization has 4561 authors who have published 14595 publications receiving 437558 citations. The organization is also known as: Italian Institute of Technology & IIT.

Re-identification with RGB-D sensors

Abstract: People re-identification is a fundamental operation for any multi-camera surveillance scenario. Until now, it has been performed by exploiting primarily appearance cues, hypothesizing that the individuals cannot change their clothes. In this paper, we relax this constraint by presenting a set of 3D soft-biometric cues, being insensitive to appearance variations, that are gathered using RGB-D technology. The joint use of these characteristics provides encouraging performances on a benchmark of 79 people, that have been captured in different days and with different clothing. This promotes a novel research direction for the re-identification community, supported also by the fact that a new brand of affordable RGB-D cameras have recently invaded the worldwide market.

The neural basis of human tool use.

Abstract: In this review, we propose that the neural basis for the spontaneous, diversified human tool use is an area devoted to the execution and observation of tool actions, located in the left anterior supramarginal gyrus (aSMG). The aSMG activation elicited by observing tool use is typical of human subjects, as macaques show no similar activation, even after an extensive training to use tools. The execution of tool actions, as well as their observation, requires the convergence upon aSMG of inputs from different parts of the dorsal and ventral visual streams. Non-semantic features of the target object may be provided by the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) for tool-object interaction, paralleling the well-known PPC input to anterior intraparietal (AIP) for hand-object interaction. Semantic information regarding tool identity, and knowledge of the typical manner of handling the tool, could be provided by inferior and middle regions of the temporal lobe. Somatosensory feedback and technical reasoning, as well as motor and intentional constraints also play roles during the planning of tool actions and consequently their signals likewise converge upon aSMG. We further propose that aSMG may have arisen though duplication of monkey AIP and invasion of the duplicate area by afferents from PPC providing distinct signals depending on the kinematics of the manipulative action. This duplication may have occurred when Homo Habilis or Homo Erectus emerged, generating the Oldowan or Acheulean Industrial complexes respectively. Hence tool use may have emerged during hominid evolution between bipedalism and language. We conclude that humans have two parietal systems involved in tool behavior: a biological circuit for grasping objects, including tools, and an artifactual system devoted specifically to tool use. Only the latter allows humans to understand the causal relationship between tool use and obtaining the goal, and is likely to be the basis of all technological developments.

Probing Short-Range Protein Brownian Motion in the Cytoplasm of Living Cells

Abstract: The translational motion of molecules in cells deviates from what is observed in dilute solutions. Theoretical models provide explanations for this effect but with predictions that drastically depend on the nanoscale organization assumed for macromolecular crowding agents. A conclusive test of the nature of the translational motion in cells is missing owing to the lack of techniques capable of probing crowding with the required temporal and spatial resolution. Here we show that fluorescence-fluctuation analysis of raster scans at variable timescales can provide this information. By using green fluorescent proteins in cells, we measure protein motion at the unprecedented timescale of 1 μs, unveiling unobstructed Brownian motion from 25 to 100 nm, and partially suppressed diffusion above 100 nm. Furthermore, experiments on model systems attribute this effect to the presence of relatively immobile structures rather than to diffusing crowding agents. We discuss the implications of these results for intracellular processes.

Proteasome machinery is instrumental in a common gain-of-function program of the p53 missense mutants in cancer.

Abstract: In cancer, the tumour suppressor gene TP53 undergoes frequent missense mutations that endow mutant p53 proteins with oncogenic properties. Until now, a universal mutant p53 gain-of-function program has not been defined. By means of multi-omics: proteome, DNA interactome (chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing) and transcriptome (RNA sequencing/microarray) analyses, we identified the proteasome machinery as a common target of p53 missense mutants. The mutant p53–proteasome axis globally affects protein homeostasis, inhibiting multiple tumour-suppressive pathways, including the anti-oncogenic KSRP–microRNA pathway. In cancer cells, p53 missense mutants cooperate with Nrf2 (NFE2L2) to activate proteasome gene transcription, resulting in resistance to the proteasome inhibitor carfilzomib. Combining the mutant p53-inactivating agent APR-246 (PRIMA-1MET) with the proteasome inhibitor carfilzomib is effective in overcoming chemoresistance in triple-negative breast cancer cells, creating a therapeutic opportunity for treatment of solid tumours and metastasis with mutant p53. Walerych et al. show that p53 missense mutants upregulate the proteasome and increase breast cancer cell resistance to proteasome inhibitors. Combined inhibition of p53 mutants and the proteasome leads to increased therapeutic efficacy.