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In the Makran area, a wide accretionary wedge is originated by the north-dipping subduction of the Neo-Tethyan oceanic lithosphere. The rear of the accretionary wedge is represented by the North Makran Domain that consists of an imbricate stack of tectonic units derived from the closure of the North Makran oceanic basin. This oceanic basin opened southward of the Eurasia continental margin during the Early Cretaceous. The Bajgan Complex is interpreted as an Early Paleozoic or older metamorphic basement representing the remnants of the Bajgan-Durkan continental microplate located at the southern rim of the North Makran oceanic basin. This microplate plays thus a key-role in the so far proposed reconstructions of the evolution of the whole Makran area. The Bajgan Complex consists of Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous meta-ophiolites and related meta-sediments, both affected by HP-LT metamorphism. The HP-LT metamorphism has been overprinted by epidote amphibolite to greenschist facies metamorphism in the Late Cretaceous during the progressive exhumation of the Bajgan Complex up to shallow structural levels. The incompatible trace elements ratios of meta-igneous rocks indicate a subduction-unrelated chemical affinity for these meta-ophiolites. Our study clearly indicates that the Bajgan Complex cannot be considered as a continental basement of pre-Mesozoic age. Consequently, the closure of the North Makran oceanic basin cannot be related to a collision between a microcontinent and the continental margin of the Lut Block.

The pre-Alpine history of the Venaco-Ghisoni Unit, a continental unit belonging to the Alpine Corsica (France), was reconstructed on the basis of U–Pb dating of zircon and allanite. Zircon was separated from a metagranitoid and an epidote-bearing metagabbro and analyzed by Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). Magmatic ages ranging from 291 to 265 Ma were obtained for the metagranitoid samples and 276.9 ± 1.1 Ma for the epidote-bearing metagabbro. This geochronological dataset, combined with field observations, microstructural and cathodoluminescence analysis demonstrate that in the Early Permian, the Variscan basement of the Venaco-Ghisoni Unit was intruded first by the granitoid and then by the gabbro. Allanite was identified in the metagranitoid and exhibit an U–Pb age of 225 ± 8 Ma. We interpret this age as reflecting metamorphism associated to the Late Triassic rifting predating the opening of the Piemonte-Liguria Ocean. The absence of middle Eocene—Oligocene zircon and allanite overgrowths is compatible with the low metamorphic conditions (

The introduction of Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) has modified the natural history of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection, leading to an increase in the life expectancy of the patients living with HIV (PLWH). Similar to other oncogenic viruses, EBV increases the risk of developing cancer in immune-depressed hosts, including HIV-infected people. The adherence to anti-retroviral therapy (ART) is important in the management of cancer in HIV-positive patients even if ART has a less favorable impact on EBV related tumors if compared with its impact on AIDS-defining cancers. This review is focused on the epidemiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis, management and therapy of EBV-associated tumors in the setting of HIV infection.

The area between the Asco and Golo valleys in Central Corsica, France (latitudes 42°47′95″N to 42°37′96″N, longitudes from 9°11′82″E to 9°20′72″E) is a key-sector to investigate the stratigraphic and tectonic setting of Alpine Corsica. This sector includes (from the structurally lowest to the highest) the Hercynian Corsica, that represents the European continental margin not deeply involved in the convergence processes, and a stack of oceanic and continental units belonging to the Alpine Corsica, i.e. the domain strongly affected by the Alpine deformation and metamorphism in the Late Cretaceous-Paleogene. The 1:15,000 scale geological map illustrates the tectonic features of Alpine Corsica stack with a special focus to the Lower Units, the units derived from the European thinned continental margin involved in the Alpine convergence.

The subduction of continental crust is now a matter of fact but which are the mechanisms and the factors controlling the exhumation of continental units and their coupling with oceanic units are still a matter of debate. We herein present the tectono-metamorphic study of selected continental units belonging to the Alpine Corsica (Corte area, Central Corsica, France). The tectonic pile in the study area features thin slices of oceanic units (i.e. Schistes Lustres Complex) tectonically stacked between the continental units (i.e. the Lower Units), which record a pressure–temperature-deformation (P-T-d) evolution related to their burial, down to P-T-peak conditions in the blueschist facies and subsequent exhumation during the Late Cretaceous – Early Oligocene time span. The metamorphic conditions were calculated crossing the results of three different thermobarometers based on the HP-LT metapelites. The continental units only recorded the P-peak conditions of 1.2 GPa-250 °C, up to the T-peak conditions of 0.8 GPa-400 °C, and the retrograde path up to LP-LT conditions. The metamorphic record of the oceanic units includes part of the prograde path occurring before the peak conditions reached at 1.0 GPa-250 °C followed by the last metamorphic event related to LP-LT conditions. The results indicate that each unit experienced a multistage independent pressure–temperature-deformation (P-T-d) evolution and suggest that the oceanic and continental units were coupled during the rising of the last ones at about 10 km of depth, where the oceanic units were stored at the base of the wedge. Subsequently they were deformed together by the last ductile deformation event during exhumation. We propose a mechanism of tectonic erosion at the base of the wedge, by which slices of Schistes Lustres Complex were removed at the roof of the plate interface during the exhumation of the Lower Units.

The Alpine Corsica represents a segment of the Alpine collisional belt. In its western edge, it is characterized by the close association of continental units deformed under high-pressure metamorphic conditions (Lower Units) and oceanic units showing a metamorphism ranging from high-pressure (Schistes Lustres Complex) to very low-grade conditions (Upper Units). This paper provides a complete review of the relationships between the continental and oceanic units in selected five areas where the stratigraphic features, deformation history, metamorphic P-T path and tectonic setting are available for each unit. The collected data indicate that the oceanic units occur not only at the top of the continental ones, as generally proposed in the literature, but also intercalated within them. Such relationships were achieved at shallow structural level during the late stage of exhumation, when the continental units were tectonically coupled with the oceanic units which were dragged as slices from the orogenic wedge. The coupling probably occurred immediately before the transition from syn- to post-orogenic geodynamic regime that affected the whole Alpine-Apennine collisional system in the early Oligocene. After the coupling, the stack of oceanic and continental units experienced a further exhumation-related deformation before their final exposure at the surface.

The area between Golo and Tavignano valleys in Central Corsica (latitudes 42°23'12,18''N to 42°18'24,60''N, longitudes 9°07'49,30''E to 9°11'35,90''E) is characterized by the occurrence of continental metamorphic units belonging to the Lower Units of Alpine Corsica. These units, also known as Corte Slices, represent the fragments of the European continental margin involved in the continental subduction and the subsequent collision, both resulting from the closure of the Ligure-Piemontese oceanic Basin. These units are thus characterized by complex, polyphased deformation history developed under blueschist to greenschist metamorphic facies conditions during the Late Eocene to Early Miocene time span. In the study area, the Corte Slices have been investigated by a multidisciplinary approach consisting of a detailed mapping associated with meso- and micro-structural analyses and estimate of the P-T conditions of the metamorphic events. The 1:10,000 scale geological map illustrates the results of this approach that has provided a detailed snapshot of the stratigraphic and structural setting of Corte Slices.

In Corsica, continental units (the Lower Units) affected by high-pressure metamorphism represent the remains of the European margin deformed during the Alpine orogeny. In order to document how Alpine deformation and metamorphism changed along the European margin involved in the Alpine subduction, we selected three key areas: the Corte, Cima Pedani, and Ghisoni transects. The three transects show a broadly similar lithostratigraphy. They are characterized by a Variscan basement intruded by Permo-Carboniferous metagranitoids, and by a sedimentary cover including Mesozoic carbonates and middle to late Eocene breccias and sandstones. The three transects recorded a similar deformation history with three deformation phases. Thermo-baric estimations, instead, reveal that each unit was exhumed along an independent retrograde path within the orogenic Alpine wedge. In particular, the lowest units of the Lower Units stack were exhumed along an isothermal path, whereas those located at upper structural levels experienced progressive heating.

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common and malignant primary brain tumor in adults. The current treatment regimes for glioblastoma demonstrated a low efficiency and offer a poor prognosis. Advancements in conventional treatment strategies have only yielded modest improvements in overall survival. The heat shockproteins, heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) and Hsp90, serve these pivotal roles in tumor cells and have been identified as effective targets for developing therapeutics. This topic review summarizes the current preclinical and clinical evidences and rationale to define the potential of HO-1 and Hsp90 in GBM progression and chemoresistance.