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Studio delle proprietà tecnologiche e funzionali di <i>Lactobacillus</i> spp. e stafilococchi coagulasi-negativi isolati da salsiccia di pecora
No full textLactic acid bacteria (LAB) and coagulase negative staphylococci (CNS) are the main groups involved in sausage fermentation and ripening. LAB are important for safety guarantee of products, while CNS are important for their proteolytic and lipolytic properties. In this study, we identified and analyzed the technological and safety-related properties in LAB and CNS isolated from Sardinian sheep sausage. We found the following dominant bacteria species: Lactobacillus plantarum, L. brevis, Staphylococcus xylosus, S. equorum and S. pasteuri. Concerning to the technological properties, Lactobacillus plantarum showed an important growth capacity, high acidification activity and good lipolytic activity. The proteolytic properties of most CNS, were notable against sarcoplasmic protein, and S. pasteuri showed the highest lipolytic activity. About safety aspects, L. plantarum showed antimicrobial properties against important food borne pathogen. In relation to antibiotic resistance, we found mostly intrinsic resistance in tested strains. About biogenic amine production, strains confirm their safety feature: only L. brevis strains and one S. pasteuri produced tyramine. Some L. plantarum and S. xylosus strains have been shown to possess desirable technological and safety characteristics, therefore are good candidates as starter cultures in the sausage manufacturing
A Biogeochemical analysis of Mediterranean ecosystems and the response to nitrogen deposition: an insight on the carbon and nitrogen cycle in Mediterranean Ecosystems
Get PDFThe carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycles have been drastically altered by humans as result of the increasing demand for energy, raw material and food. Combustion of fossil fuels and increasing industrial activities are linked with the emission of carbon dioxide (CO2), which is largely responsible for the rise in atmospheric CO2 concentration during the past 50 years. At the same time, there has also been an increase in the concentration of oxidized (NOX) and reduced (NH3) nitrogenous compounds in the atmosphere, largely attributable to vehicular traffic and agricultural practice. In dry and hot conditions of the Mediterranean, the interaction of reactive N with plants and soils didn’t receive much attention. The thesis strongly contributes to fill this knowledge gap with research on the belowground part of the cycles. The work has been part of NitroMed, exciting new network of N deposition experiments in the Mediterranean. More specifically this PhD dissertation bring an insights to the role of N emission in Mediterranean basin through a review of existing literature (ch2), an improved understanding on the role of biocrusts in dryland ecosystem functioning (ch3), an in-depth understanding on how increased N deposition can first stimulate and in the longer term (or at higher deposition rates) break organic matter mineralisation in soils (ch4) and an elegant proposal of mechanistic understanding on N deposition effects on soil biological activity and C mineralization (ch5)
Los Bronces antropomorfos sardos de la Cerdeña nurágica
Get PDFIl proposito di questo lavoro è quello di fornire un quadro d’insieme delle società sarde e del loro percorso storico nei primi secoli del primo millennio a.C. attraverso lo studio della piccola plastica antropomorfa il cui repertorio figurativo, insieme alle altre categorie di oggetti di bronzo destinato ad essere accolte nei luoghi di culto, costituisce una fonte di informazione di grande importanza relativamente al modo in cui gli antichi abitanti dell’isola rappresentavano il loro sistema di valori, gli equilibri tra le differenti componenti sociali ed il rapporto con il mondo degli esseri supremi e degli antenati. Il catalogo dei reperti integra il corpus dei bronzetti pubblicato nel 1966 da Lilliu con esemplari di recente acquisizione alcuni dei quali ancora inediti
Varianti genetiche associate con la massa ventricolare sinistra in pazienti con ipertensione essenziale mai trattata
Get PDFAim: To investigate the association of common genetic variants with left ventricular mass using a genome wide approach in a large cohort of never treated mild-to-moderate essential hypertensive subjects and propose a pilot, weighted “genetic risk score” that aggregates the measures of risk of raised LVM.
Materials and Methods: The association of genetic variants with LVM (trans-thoracic echocardiography) was investigated by a genome-wide association analysis in 966 never treated mild-to-moderate EH patients.
Results: ROCK1, IGF1, CACNA1D, FGFR1, TRAF5, SOX5, and KSR2 genes were identified in our study as putative modulators of LVM. The combination of these susceptibility loci into a “weighted genetic risk score” shows consistent discriminatory power to predict the risk of raised LVM in our cohort.
Conclusions: Our GWAS allowed us to pinpoint genes whose role cardiac hypertrophy has been demonstrated in previously publications by different authors. Moreover, we highlighted the usefulness of an aggregate measure of risk of LVH to discriminate high-risk subjects. Future work is needed to better characterize the regions identified in our study, to assess the functional role of putative genetic variants and to confirm our proposed “genetic risk score”
Epigenetic modifications associated with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) onset and progression
Get PDFIn the recent years a growing amount of evidence indicates the functional significance of epigenetics in various aspects of neural function and dysfunction. Alterations in chromatin structure resulting in long lasting changes in gene expression have been associated to many different aspects of neuronal biology, including neurodegenerative disorders such Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). ALS is predominantly sporadic and environmental triggers may be involved in disease initiation. In this respect, the epigenome can provide the key to transform the genetic information into phenotype. Alterations in the epigenetic machinery and/or epigenetic modifications can be considered a readout of disease onset and progression and an ideal target for therapeutic interventions. My PhD thesis is, indeed, focused on different aspect of epigenetic modifications in ALS cellular and animal models. By in vitro and in vivo assays I demonstrate that some epigenetic markers, linked to transcriptional activation or repression, are selectively altered in cellular and animal model of ALS. Moreover I observed a physical interaction between the ALS-causing gene TDP43 and the histone deacetylases 1 (HDAC1). Finally, I demonstrate that perturbation of HDAC1 level or activity affects TDP-43-induced cell damage. Although preliminary, these data can be extended by testing more specific HDAC1 inhibitors which can be chemically optimized by computational biology approaches
La Responsabilità sociale dell’azienda pubblica: evidenze alla luce di un’analisi empirica nel sistema universitario italiano
No full textThe work project aims to help Institutions understand the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility.
The research contain a review of literature focused on CSR. Also include an analysis of the official documents on CSR published by the Italian Universities.
The central question is what is CSR, how and for whom is created.
The project’s objectives are to:
1. Provide a clear definition of CSR.
2. Use Social Report to illustrate how organizations might provide public managers a set of guiding principles that orient Institutions to take ethical attitude and finally to improve Public Value.
3. Clarify the components and processes of CSR in order to facilitate its future capture and measurement.
4. Understand where gaps occur in achieving CSR.
The correct implementation of CSR with a bottom-up collaboration both shareholder and stakeholder, it allows Institutions to create a new concept of Public Value.
The Public Value created in Academic Institutions can play a dual role in the society:
• First, explaining their student and families that the academic process allows them to acquire skills and knowledge to face the world of work.
• Second to improve the dissemination of knowledge in the society.
The University has always been the only Institution able to pass these virtues. Therefore it is necessary that Universities are guaranteed greater autonomy to better understand the changes in society and develop policies to enable the recovery of social legitimization in the Public Sector
DUST Desert Upon Sardinian Territory
No full textIntercontinental dust transport represents one of the mechanisms of microbial dispersion, contributing to biodiversity of ecosystems and impacting on human health when of pathogenic nature. Studies on airborne dust microbiology have just begun reporting variable densities of microorganisms depending on seasons and environmental conditions, in particular a low number of culturable microrganisms, only 1%.
In this study, a combined culture-dependent and independent DNA-based analyses via NGS of 16S genes was applied for the first time to investigate the airborne dust microbiology in air sampled during dust events at two opposite coastal sites of italian Island Sardinia, which represents the crossroad of wind circulation from Africa towards Europe.
The results of culturable method showed that microrganisms possessing adaptive strategies to persist in the atmosphere during dust transportation survived, as Gram positive Bacillus spp and filamentous fungi.
By using NGS analysis, we observed distinct differences in bacterial community composition. A major conserved core microbiome was evidenced but increases in species richness and presence of specific taxa were observed in relation to each wind regime and seasons. Taxa which can feature strains with clinical implications were also detected. Data suggested the existence of a main pattern facilitating airborne bacteria dispersion and local scale migration after the dry seasons, which offers a refined interpretive understanding of overall environmental microbiology dynamics
MiRNAs in the vitreous humor of patients affected by idiopathic epiretinal membrane and macular hole
No full textPurpose
The aim of the present study was to assess the expression of miRNAs in the Vitreous Humor (VH) of patients with Macular Hole (MH) and Epiretinal Membrane (ERM) compared to a control group.
Methods
In this prospective, comparative study, 2-ml of VH was extracted from the core of the vitreous chamber in consecutive patients who underwent standard vitrectomy for ERM and MH. RNA was extracted and TaqMan® Low Density Arrays (TLDAs) were used to profile the transcriptome of 754 miRNAs. Results were validated by single TaqMan® assays. Finally, we created a biological network of differentially expressed miRNA targets and their nearest neighbors.
Results
Overall 10 eyes with MH, 16 eyes with idiopathic ERM and 6 controls were enrolled in the study. Profiling data identified 5 miRNAs differentially expressed in patients affected by MH and ERM with respect to controls. Four were downregulated (miR-19b, miR-24, miR-155, miR-451) and 1 was downregulated (miR-29a); TaqMan® assays of the VH of patients affected by MH and ERM, with respect to controls, showed that the most differentially expressed were miR-19b (FC -9.13, p: < 0.00004), mir-24 (FC -7.52, p: < 0.004) and miR-142-3p (FC -5.32, p: < 0.011). Our network data showed that deregulation of differentially expressed miRNAs induces an alteration of several pathways associated with genes involved in both MH and ERM.
Conclusion
The present study suggests that disregulation of miR-19b, miR-24 and miR-142-3p, might be related to the alterations that characterize patients affected by MH and ERM
Climate change influences on annual cork growth and quality
No full textThis study aims i) to study the inter and intra-population variability of annual cork growth rate in relation to climatic
anomalies and ii) to identify possible adaptive traits in order to drive strategic breeding programmes to favour species adaptation
Environmental characterization and cork oak presence by toponyms in Sardinia: an ethnoecological approach
No full textThis work analyzes cork oak toponyms in Sardinia aiming at (i) resuming the ecological gradient of environmental factors behind vernacular names of place, (ii) testing a methodology to evaluate if conservative meaning of plant names respects the potential vegetation of Cork Oak as dominant forest species and (iii) actual land use