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L'Economia di solidarietà: il Fattore C studiato attraverso la Social Network Analysis
No full textThis thesis is an empirical research carried out in two indigenous associations –one Peruvian and the other Chilean-; which work according to solidarity economy principles; I spent two months in each. The theoretical framework adopted is developed by Luis Razeto. He discovered the presence of the solidarity as an economic factor and called it: factor C. The C letter represents the joint actions, such as: “Cooperation, Community and Collaboration” (Razeto 2015c). The research objectives are two: to check if the case studies are really part of solidarity economy and to point out Factor C effects on individuals, the associations as a whole and its capacity to be an attractive force for the operator outside the solidarity movement. The methodology is the social network analysis (SNA). I administered two specific surveys and operationalized the factor C through the calculation of structural indicators. It was possible to prove that factor C is really at work in both case studies and to check its effects. The indicators show that the groups are tight. The individuals are reinforced. It is a force of attraction due to the partaking of members in solidarity economy networks. A limit of the methodology is that SNA surveys are always difficult to be administered because they involve sensitive data. An advantage, network data allow to track the interaction between case studies and the social environment, this allow to grasp the presence of threats and opportunities to their growth
Morphological, chemical and genetic characterization of Citrus monstruosa, an endemism of Sardinia
Full text linkThe taxonomy and phylogeny of the genus Citrus is rather complicated because of its interspecific sexual reproduction capacities, extended apomictic reproduction and high phenotypic variability. The hybridization might have played an important role in the development of cultivated species of Citrus.
In Sardinia the notice of a peculiar citrus named Pompia (Citrus x monstruosa), was observed for the first time in 18th century. This cultivated citrus is limited to a restricted area of the island and its taxonomic classification is quite ambiguous and most often recognized as related to citron. The fruit pulp is not consumed but its pericarp is used to make candies and its essential oils appears to be suitable for cosmetic use and phytotherapy.
The aim of the present work is to study the genetic origin and diversity of Pompia specimens collected in different areas of Sardinia and compare them with known Citrus species through genetic analysis and her morphological and chemical description. The genetics analysis highlights its hybrid origin, similar to lemon, resulting from a cross between C. aurantium and C. medica where the citron was the pollinator. Moreover, our results have led to the characterization of the Pompia fruit phenotype and the profile of its essential oil. These results may be useful to increase the knowledge about the origin of this peculiar plant
PE_PGRS3: a new player in <i>Mycobacterium tuberculosis</i> pathogenesis
Full text linkThe M. tuberculosis (Mtb) genome contains around 60 pe_pgrs genes, whose role and function remain elusive. In this study, two PE_PGRS proteins with high sequence homology were selected and investigated (PE_PGRS3 and PE_PGRS4), with PE_PGRS3 characterized by the presence of a C-terminal domain rich in arginine. Interestingly, full-length PE_PGRS3 protein is expressed by Mtb strains but not by other MTBC subspecies causing disease in animals. A gene reporter system was developed to investigate in M. smegmatis (Msm) the expression pattern of these genes. Fluorescence microscopy, FACS and transcriptional analysis indicated that the two genes are differentially regulated, with pe_pgrs3 but not pe_pgrs4 being expressed only when mycobacteria are cultivated in low inorganic phosphate (iPhos). Expression of pe_pgrs3 in low iPhos correlated with the upregulation of relA in Msm recombinant strains and Mtb, suggesting that pe_pgrs3 is involved in the stringent response. Overexpression of the PE_PGRS3, and of its functional deletion mutant (PE_PGRS3ΔCt), in Msm were obtained by expressing these genes under control of hbhA promoter. Interestingly, Msm strains overexpressing PE_PGRS3 showed enhanced ability to entry in macrophages and epithelial cells compared to Msm expressing PE_PGRS3ΔCt or Msm parental strain. No differences in the ability of these strains to survive intracellularly were measured. These results provide new insights on the role of PE_PGRS3 in TB pathogenesis
Development of a biosensor telemetry system for monitoring fermentation in craft breweries
No full textThe development and applications of biosensors in the food industry has had a rapid grown due to their sensitivity, specificity and simplicity of use with respect to classical analytical methods. In this study, glucose and ethanol amperometric biosensors integrated with a wireless telemetry system were developed and used for the monitoring of top and bottom fermentations in beer wort samples. The collected data were in good agreement with those obtained by reference methods. The simplicity of construction, the low cost and the short time of analysis, combined with easy interpretation of the results, suggest that these devices could be a valuable alternative to conventional methods for monitoring fermentation processes in the food industry
Brainstem excitability in hemifacial spasm and post-facial palsy synkinesias and effects of botulinum toxin
Full text linkBackground: Hemifacial Spasm (HFS) and Post-facial Palsy Syndrome (PFPS) are characterised by synkinesias which electrophysiological hallmark is the lateral spread of the blink reflex, but functional and anatomical evidence of this phenomenon is lacking.
Objectives: To evaluate brainstem excitability in the facial and trigeminal pathways of the affected and unaffected side in HFS and PFPS and modifications induced by botulinum toxin treatment (BoNT-A).
Methods: the Blink Reflex (BR), BR Recovery Cycle (BRRC) and Masseter Inhibitory Reflex (MIR) were assessed in HFS (n=10) and PFPS (n=7), before and after BoNT-A. Facial palsy (FP; n=4), used as lesional model, and and healthy controls (n=8), were also assessed.
Results: BR and MIR were normal in all groups. In all patients BRRC analysis revealed a central hyperexcitability pattern following direct and indirect stimulation on both affected (p=0.000007) and unaffected (p=0.00007) sides, with highest effect at 500 ms interstimulus interval. BoNT-A injection did not affect this pattern in all patient groups.
Conclusions: These preliminary results may indicate a brainstem compensatory attempt in response to a facial damage which is severe and temporary in PFPS and subtler but persistent in HFS. Central effects of BoNT-A should be searched at a higher level than the brainstem
Identification and characterization of cytogenetic profile in olfactory neuroblastoma by array comparative genomic hybridization
No full textAim: the Olfactory Neuroblastoma (ONB) is an uncommon malignant tumor arising from the olfactory epithelium. Due to its rarity, the molecular and cytogenetic profiles are not well-known. The aim of the study is to better define the cytogenetic profile of ONB analyzed by Comparative Genomic Hybridization on Microarray (a-CGH) and identify possible correlations with clinical and pathological features.
Materials and methods: 13 patients affected with ONB were collected and treated at Ospedale di Circolo of Varese, University of Insubria. At the Section of Biology and Medical Genetic, the DNA was extracted and isolated. We asseyed 14 samples using a-CGH technique: ten primary tumors, two relapsed tumors and two samples were from the same patient at onset and at relapse.
Results: our results on chromosome imbalances highlight the highly heterogeneous presentation: seven of 13 samples showed multiple numerical changes and very few structural ones, while four samples showed an opposite pattern; one samples showed no imbalances. We did not reach firm evidence of any recurrent specific imbalances either at level of entire chromosomes or chromosome segments.
Conclusion: Gain of chromosome 19 is the only corrispondence with literature data concerning an entire chromosome and most segmental gains and losses found in our cohort of patients are different from those indicated in the literature: the only similarities are the gain of 20q13 and the loss of segments of chromosome 15 and 22
Diverse neighborhood design principle for Arrival city of ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) 2015: a case study of Chiang Mai, Thailand
Full text linkThe year 2015 will be another step toward diversity in Thailand due to the initiation for ASEAN Economic Community. Unfortunately, the urban neighborhoods who will be facing this population dynamic were left out of policy planning table. This is going against many literatures as scholars have been suggesting for more focuses on local community level where native and migrant will meet. These encounters could result in both social cohesion community or tension, separation that lead to social segregation. Various studies support that good-quality physical environments are significant stimulator for diversity, including space for interaction, amenities, cultural spaces, public infrastructure. Henceforward, this research is trying to address the neighborhood diversity. Through the cultivation of diverse neighborhood design principle (DNDP) factors from comparative case studies. We found 20 key factors essential for DNDP. In final part of the research we attempted to implement the DNDP in real neighborhood of Chiang Mai along with gaming simulation tools. Eventually, we learned that DNDP with the GS have the ability to promote mutual understanding among local stakeholders and prompt the acceptance of diversity concept that stimulate a powerful dialogue and leads to new local initiation for diverse neighborhood planning. And this is proved to be the fabric that can hold local society together by pushing the boundary of more active communication and breakdown stigma walls for good
Effect of maternal separation on ethanol drinking and acute stress: involvement of ethanol consumption during pregnancy
Full text linkIt is known that stressful events during gestational and postnatal period are crucial for the
development of psychopathologies in adulthood.
It is widely accepted that prenatal ethanol exposure during late pregnancy is one of the most
consisted method that leads to alcohol abuse behavior in young and/or adults later in life.
In order to evaluate the interaction between prenatal ethanol exposure and early life stress, a group
of pregnant rats (EtOH) was treated intra-gastrically with 1g/Kg of ethanol solution later in
gestation from 17 to GD 20. The offspring were then subjected to daily maternal separation (MS)
for 3hs from PND 3 until PND 15.
Since ethanol treatment and maternal separation stimulates the HPA axis response we evaluate
whether the exposure to alcohol in this delicate perinatal could affect HPA axis response to acute
foot-shock stress as well as maternal behavior, reflecting in the quality of maternal care. Our results
show that the association of the two stressors (EtOH and MS) leads to a significant decrease in the
CTS and AP plasma level. Furthermore, EtOH-MS group shows a greater acute foot-shockmediated
increase of CTS and AP plasma levels compared to EtOH-NMS group. In agreement with
this hormonal response, elevated plus maze test revealed anxiety-like behavior of the EtOH-MS
group respect to EtOH-NMS counterpart.
In addition, our data showed that prenatal ethanol treatment failed to induce changes in maternal
care behavior.
One goal of our study was to establish whether the association of two stressors (prenatal ethanol
treatment and early maternal separation) could lead to changes in alcohol consumption preference
in adolescent and adult male offspring. We used the Ascending Ethanol Paradigm (Martinetti et al.,
2006), that consist in giving ascending concentrations (from 0.01% to 20%) of ethanol both in
adolescence and in adulthood.
Our data show that there are no differences among the four experimental groups in terms of
preference toward ethanol consumption. However, the VEH-MS show a clear behavior preference
toward 0.1-1% range of ethanol concentrations.
Overall, these results suggest that stressful experiences during pregnancy and childhood may
change the acute stress-responsiveness of HPA axis in adult rats. Furthermore, there is not evident
interaction between pre and postnatal stress regarding the effect on drinking behavior. Furthermore,
these animals probably came out from two closely stressful events differently from adults that have
had much more time to recovery from each other. This could partially explain the lack of difference
in ethanol consumption attitude. Further studies may help to better understand some molecular
mechanisms underlying these observed differences between adult and adolescent offspring
subjected to stress early in life
Past experience supports future choices for cropping systems management: the Italian long-term agro-ecosystem experiments (LTAEs) through the IC-FAR network
Full text linkThe research project IC-FAR (www.icfar.it) was designed with the idea to ensure continuity to the Italian long-term agroecosystem experiments (LTAEs) and evaluate if the old LTAEs, designed many years ago, can provide opportunities to address nowadays agronomic research questions and challenges. This PhD thesis was entirely developed in the IC-FAR framework. The work is divided into two chapters which represent two different scientific papers. In the first chapter, a recursive partitioning analysis was used to explore how long term tillage practices, N fertilization rate and their interaction with meteorological factors can explain the crop inter-annual yield variability in a cereal two-year rotation under rainfed Mediterranean conditions. In the second chapter the long-term effects of different tillage management practices on SOC stock dynamics were assessed in some rainfed cereal cropping systems under current and future climate scenarios using the IC-FAR datasets and an ensemble of crop models. The different methodologies used in this thesis have underlined the relevance and opportunities that LTAEs can provide in understanding the processes controlling agroecosystem long term dynamics. Furthermore LTAEs have also showed to be an invaluable source of information for cropping system modelling approaches, as they allow a robust calibration of model simulations of the long-term sustainability of cropping systems
Biomolecular characterization of <i>Ovis aries</i> Papillomavirus 3 in ovine cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma
Full text linkPapillomaviruses (PVs) are associated with benign and malignant tumors of the skin and mucous membranes in humans and animals. Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is the most common form of skin cancer in sheep and several risk factors, such as PV infection, could increase the risk of tumor development.
In this thesis, we aim to explore the possible involvement of ovine PVs in cutaneous SCC of the sheep, elucidating the pathways involved in viral neoplastic transformation.
Forty SCCs were evaluated by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), in situ hybridization (ISH) and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to assess the presence, cellular localization and viral transcriptional activity of ovine PVs. Shotgun proteomic analysis and immunohistochemistry (IHC) were performed to identify and validate infection related proteins.
OaPV3 DNA was detected in 26/40 (65%) SCCs by PCR and in 18/40 (45%) SCCs by ISH. The OaPV3 transcriptional activity was shown in 24/40 (60%) SCCs by RT-PCR. The overexpression of proteins related to the apoptosis and cell death pathways was detected in OaPV3 positive SCCs by the shotgun proteomic analysis. Among the overexpressed proteins, the significant deregulation of the cytokeratin 13 detected in OaPV3 positive SCCs was confirmed by IHC.
The detection of OaPV3 in a high number of SCCs and the identification of infection related proteins, suggest that the viral infection could represent a key factor in the onset of ovine cutaneous SCC