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Molecular and cellular investigations on apoptosis-like cell death in human and animal Plasmodium parasites
No full textBecause of emerging resistances against the main antimalarial drugs there is an increasing need for new drugs with alternative targets. As a new target apoptosis can be considered as an appropriate option to attain this goal. There is little information available about programme cell death (PCD) in Plasmodium parasites, and the few we know comes from studies on PCD in P. falciparum and P. berghei. The general objective in this study was increasing the knowledge on P. vivax biology focusing on PCD apoptosis-like processes topic. The specific objectives were:\ud
1- Genetic characterization of two putative PCD genes: Plasmodium vivax apoptosis related protein (PvARP) and of P. vivax meta-caspase 1 (PvMC1). 2- Set-up of P. vivax short term in vitro cultures to study morphological features of PCD.\ud
3- Investigation at the ultra-structural level of morphological aspects of apoptosis-like phenomenon in Plasmodium by using P. falciparum and P. berghei as study model.\ud
In this study, Plasmodium vivax apoptosis related protein (PvARP), P. vivax meta-caspase 1 (PvMCA1), P. falciparum meta-caspase 1 (PfMCA1) and P. vivax merozoite surface protein-1(PvMSP1) genes were characterized using PCR method among Plasmodium isolates collected from malaria patients with different origins of the world. PCR products of PvMCA1, PvARP and PfMCA1 genes were sequenced. Also Reverse Transcription-PCRs (RT-PCR) of PvMCA1, PvARP and PvMSP1 genes were performed among thirty frozen blood samples.\ud
Analysis of the PvMCA1 gene clearly showed size polymorphism and among isolates analyzed, four different allele sizes were distinguished. Within 30 of the vivax isolates analyzed, four different allele sizes were detected for PvMSP1 gene. Characterization of PfMCA1 gene on thirty falciparum isolates did not show any variations on the basis of molecular length of amplicons. Characterization and sequencing of PvARP gene led to detection of the gene consisting 1975 nucleotides including 7 exons and 6 introns. PvARP amplicons among all analyzed isolates did not show any size variation. Specific RT-PCR products for PvARP and PvMSP1 genes were detected in ten of thirty samples, whereas PvMCA1 analysis amplified fragments only in two samples.\ud
To carry out of Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) analyses, P. falciparum infected erythrocytes were obtained from continuous cultures. Also P. berghei infected erythrocytes were collected from untreated and treated infected BALB/c mice with Auranofin. Moreover a Short-term in vitro culture was set up for P. vivax and the parasites were treated with staurosporine and chloroquine. Incubation was stopped after 12 and 18-h stimulation. TEM sections were prepared from RBC pellets using specimen preparation process for TEM. Electron micrographs of different stages of P. falciparum and P. berghei were prepared and the different structures of the parasites were specified through comparison with the references. We couldn’t obtain TEM photos of P. vivax from the short term culture samples, due to the very low initial parasitemia and the disappearing of parasite in the treated samples.\ud
In this study for the first time, size polymorphism in the P. vivax metacaspase 1 was identified. Recently, metacaspase proteins have identified in Plasmodium species and potentially involved in PCD of the malaria parasites. To know more about genetic diversity in vivax populations could provide useful information for the implementation of malaria control activities. We confirmed the presence of 7 exons and 6 introns in PvARP similar to PfARP gene. The absence of RT-PCR products of PvMCA1 in eight samples positively amplified for PvARP and PvMSP1 suggests the\ud
hypothesis that probably these results could be associated with expression rate of PvMCA1.\ud
In the TEM part of the study, the morphological changes of P. berghei exposed to the Auranofin were explored as a model in the frame of PCD study and structural alterations including vacuolization and parasite cell lysis with leakage of cytosol were observed. Although interesting results has been achieved in TEM samples from treated P. berghei, we have to consider these as preliminary results and more studies are recommended. To reproduce TEM protocol used with falciparum and berghei for P. vivax was hampered by a list of problems reported as follows:\ud
1) The inability to maintain P. vivax in continues cultures. 2) The difficult in recovering viable P. vivax parasites after the preservation in liquid nitrogen 3) The problems occurred during transport of fresh blood samples from endemic area to the equipped laboratory. 4) The problems to find other patients with higher level of parasitemia in an endemic area in Iran.\ud
In this study, we succeeded in providing new information about the genetics of P. vivax and we believe that the TEM protocol we set up using P. falciparum and P. berghei could be a useful and crucial tool to study at the ultra-structural level the biology of this still neglected human parasite
Aree industriali dismesse: quale tema di Architettura? Conservare, Ri-fare, Ri-formare: riprogettare la dismissione industriale
No full textLE RELAZIONI VIRTUOSE TRA INNOVAZIONE E AMBIENTE: Un modello di Parco Scientifico e Tecnologico Reticolare ed\ud Eco-orientato per le Marche\ud POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION AND ENVIRONMENT: A model of an Eco-oriented Science and Technology Park Network for the Marche Region
No full textInnovation and Environment, in this historical moment, are two words in fashion and sometimes abused because of a society that identifies herself with the power of Slogan. But, beyond a catastrophist social vision and adopting a positive attitude, today, their strength, is to be combined, that is in the ability to relate matters belonging to them and to contribute to the birth of a new cultural model of intervention. It is necessary to explain what these words mean and which are the aspects related to them taken into consideration in this work. The former refers to the section of Technological Innovation and particularly to the aspects and fields of Research and Production. The latter, instead, pays attention to Environmental Matter, seen as a social priority that becomes innate to social dynamics at the basis of human growth. It is just in these backgrounds, halfway between climatic emergency, the brain drain and an economic-productive system in the doldrums, that also inside environmental problem becomes necessary to change tack supporting actions based on relational systems, of exchange and synergies among actors in play and preferring local dimensions that exploit the peculiarities of each territory.\ud
So in this way it is how this research will be organised. It will be made up of three areas of enquiry, with the exigency to reason about new directions in order to promote the technological Innovation for the environment.\ud
The first area enquiry, is focused on innovation/Environment and in particular what are the ways in which these two themes come together today.\ud
The second one makes reference to the sustainability of an eco-oriented innovation: how much is innovation in environmental terms considered an element of competitiveness? Which are the economic costs? Which are the issues related to the sphere of research?\ud
It is just this last question that underlines one of structural problems of Italian innovation system and that is the management of research and technological transfer in connection with entrepreneurial system. On this subject the attempt is to try thinking critically about difficulties to reconcile research production with the demand and the innovation exigencies of entrepreneurial world. A difficult task that, at least in intentions, seems undertaken by Science and Technology Parks (STP), theme of reflection of the second area of enquiry and main topic of research.\ud
So the STP is a theme widely discussed by a large part of scientific literature; here it is taken the definition of APSTI (Italian Association Science and Technology Parks) that is “organizations working in order to increase the competitiveness of the territory of own competence through the starting up and the management of projects of research and development, transfer of technology and development of business, running a system of relations among firms, universities and research centres, civil services and credit institutions”; as the STP are places responsible for the innovation production and technological transfer in productive entrepreneurial scope, the research shows that according to an eco-oriented logic, the STP could be considered as new promotion and production instruments of Innovation for Environment; so, starting from the analysis and comparison of Italian and European study cases, the research wants to reason about specific aspects of the problem: above all the fact of being physical places responsible for innovation production and technological transfer; the relation system among these organizations, the research scope and the entrepreneurial system; the eco-oriented character of some of these ones and territorial repercussions.\ud
So the final aim of the research is to suggest an Eco-oriented STP system that emerges by different characteristics and opportunities of the reference territorial context: the territory of the Marche.\ud
This is, the third area of enquiry, a system structured on the so-called Marche’s Model, a term coined by the economist of the Marche Giorgio Fuà. A system where economical aspects are deeply integrated with morphologic landscape, environmental and socio-cultural ones notwithstanding it is a model with limits, above all in front of scenarios of globalization and the coming of oriental markets. It is trapped between decline and turning point. On the other hand it is a system with a big attention to environmental problems as demonstrate the Energy Environment Regional Plan, approved in 2005, that shows a big push to energy conservation and to use renewable sources and a gradual tendency of firms to acknowledge, in a different way, the directions of the plan. This is added to a big property of vacant productive sites that, as regards the final aim of research, are suggested as ideal locations for the knots of network of Eco-oriented STP.\ud
Finally, the research makes use of particular computer technologies support: Territorial Informative Systems or GIS, because of the need to adopt a scientific- methodological overtures that develop observations and not-extemporary operations and the need to compare themselves with territorial themes
L’Università per la formazione: il contributo della psicologia nelle facoltà umanistiche.
No full textSome Constrained Control Problems with Applications in Industrial Engineering
No full textHandling constraints in control system design is an important issue in most, if not all, real world problems. On the other hand, it is generally true that higher levels of performance are associated with operating on, or near, constraint boundaries. Thus, a designer really cannot ignore constraints without incurring a performance penalty. Several constrained control problems have been treated in this thesis. In the framework of linear systems with saturating actuators three issues have been considered: unbounded invariant strips and stabilization by means of linear feedbacks, robust stabilization via sliding mode control, explicit characterization of null controllable regions. Moreover an optimal control problem for cooperative multi robot localization in the presence of energy constraints has been studied.\u
Seasonal characterization of lipid component in\ud sheep milk from different areas of Marche region
No full textThis study was conducted on sheep milk to determine the fat composition in flocks of different breeds (Suffolk, Fabrianese, Sopravvissana, Sarda) living in Marche region\ud
areas (central Italy). Samples were collected from December to July and the fatty acid profile, cholesterol content, lipid peroxidation status and antioxidant activity of lipid\ud
extracts were analyzed. The results show high levels of saturated fatty acids (SAT) for each period of the year\ud
considered. The amount of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) is several times higher than polyunsaturated ones (PUFA). An increase in PUFA content is present in samples\ud
collected in May and July. The oxidation index is near similar for all the samples and this was probably relates with the antioxidant activity of different lipid extracts.\ud
The CLA content increases from May to July. Experiments were done also to evaluate eventual differences between morning and afternoon milking. Finally a comparision\ud
with fresh “Pecorino” and six months aged cheese was determined.The results here reported are of importance since the conjugated linoleic acids (CLA)content in cheese will depend on the CLA content of milk itself and this should be taken into account due to the beneficial effects of CLA isomers in human health.\ud
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Keywords: sheep milk; fatty acids; CLA; lipid peroxidation; antioxidant activity
Quality of (Digital) Services in e-Government
Get PDFInternet growth in the nineties supported government ambition to provide better services to citizens through the development of Information and Communication Technologies based solutions. Thanks to the Lisbon conference, which in 2000 covered and investigated this topic, e-government has been recognized as one of the major priorities in Public Administration innovation process. As a matter of\ud
fact in the last 10 years the number of services provided to citizens through Information and Communication Technologies has increased rapidly. Nevertheless the increasing rate, the access and usage of digital services do not follow the same trend. Nowadays Public Administrations deliver many electronic services which\ud
are seldom used by citizens. Different reasons contribute to the highlighted situation.\ud
The main assumption of the thesis is that quality of e-government digital services strongly affects real access to services by citizens. According to the complexity of quality in e-government, one of the main challenges was to define a suitable quality model. To reach such aim, domain-dependent characteristics on the services delivery have been investigated. The defined model refers to citizen,\ud
technology and service related quality characteristics. Correspondingly a suitable way to represent, assess, and continuously improve services quality according to\ud
such domain requirements has been introduced.\ud
Concerning the service related quality aspects a methodology and a tool permitting to formally and automatically assess the quality of a designed service with\ud
respect to the quality model has been defined. Starting from an user friendly notation, both for service and quality requirements, the proposed methodology has\ud
been implemented as an user friendly tool supported by a mapping from user friendly notations to formal language. The tool allows to verify formally via model checking, if the given service satisfies one by one the quality requirements addressed by the quality model.\ud
Additionally in some case an unique view on e-government service quality is quite useful. A mathematical model provides a single value for quality starting from the assessment of all the requirements defined in the quality model. It relies on the following activities: homogeneity, interaction and grouping.\ud
A set of experiments has been performed in order to validate the goodness of the work. Services already implemented in a local Public Administration has\ud
been considered. Literature review and domain experts knowledge were the main drivers of this work. It proofs the goodness of the quality model, the application of formal techniques in the complex field of study such as e-government and the quality aggregation via the mathematical model.\ud
This thesis introduces advance research in e-government by providing the contributions that quality oriented service delivery in Public Administration promotes services used by the citizens. Further applications of the proposed approaches could be investigated in the areas of practical benchmarking and Service Level Agreement specification
