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The Use of cork in antiquity: some archaeological data in Sardinia
No full textIn this paper, we report some archaeological data from Sardinian contexts useful to summarize the use of the cork and the cork oak in antiquity. This use has its roots in the prehistory of Sardinia Island. Many archaeological researches document that it was already used during the Nuragic period (Bronze Age). The cork was extracted and processed in order to obtain plates, foils, planks, shavings and it was shaped to create various artefacts, such as footwear, containers, boxes, cases, stoppers, etc. Cork wedges were also used in nuragic dry stonewalls as thermal insulating
Monitoring raw cork TCA content in Sardinian woodlands
No full textThe studies on stopper contamination by TCA have focused on manufacturing phase and on relations between the wine and the cork. Less numerous are the forest and environmental monitoring research useful to evaluate whether different management models of the cork stands may have an influence on the process
Studies on the meristematic and e2f-dependent gene expression in Arabidopsis thaliana plants
Get PDFThis thesis focuses on two studies concerning some aspects of cell proliferation and development in plants. The first part describes additional results completing the characterization of the three AtDRTS genes of Arabidopsis thaliana, which code for bifunctional dihydrofolate reductase/thymidylate synthase enzymes whose activity is fundamental in proliferating cells. These analyses allowed the identification of different AtDRTS isoforms, some of which are expected to encode monofunctional dihydrofolate reductases, and revealed common and distinctive patterns of expressions that suggest redundant as well as specific roles of the three genes. The characterization of the AtDRTS promoters revealed distinctive features and an E2F-dependent repression of both AtDRTS2 and AtDRTS3. Moreover, evidence has been obtained that the first intron of AtDRTS2 and the intragenic region containing the second intron of AtDRTS1 play crucial roles in the control of promoter activity in the root meristems. Moreover, analyses conducted within this thesis revealed that the first intron of AtDRTS2 is able to confer strong activity in root apical meristem to a non-meristematic plant promoter. The second part of this thesis describes studies conducted to evaluate the regulation in planta of a synthetic promoter, named E2F-Minimal-35S (EM35S), that is expected to be specifically activated by E2F factors, important regulators of cell cycle progression in both plants and animals. Transgenic Arabidopsis plants harboring a construct in which the synthetic promoter drives the expression of the GUS reporter allowed the detection of the E2F-dependent transcriptional activation in different tissues. Moreover, these plants have been used to investigate the cell cycle-dependent regulation of the EM35S promoter activity as well as the effects of epigenetic mechanisms and phosphorylation/dephosphorylation events
LRRK2 effect on dopamine receptor trafficking: implication in Parkinson’s disease
Get PDFParkinson disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder affecting 4 million people worldwide. It is characterized by the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the Substantia Nigra pars compacta (SNpc) and by the presence of cytoplasmic inclusion bodies (Lewy bodies). Cell death leads to a profound depletion of dopamine neurotransmitter involved mainly in the control of the movement. Mutations in LRRK2 (leucine-rich repeat kinase 2) gene (PARK8; OMIM 609007) are responsible for one of the autosomal-dominant forms of Parkinson’s disease. Up to date, the LRRK2 biological function is largely unknown. LRRK2 has been found in different subcellular districts that play a crucial role in the control of vesicular trafficking: ER, Golgi apparatus and associated vesicles, cytoskeleton, lipid raft and lysosomes. The results of this work indicates that PD-associated mutant G2019S LRRK2 impairs dopamine receptor D1 internalization, leading to an alteration in signal transduction. Moreover, the mutant forms of LRRK2 affect dopamine receptor D2 turnover by decreasing the rate of the receptor trafficking from the Golgi complex to the cell membrane. Collectively, these findings are consistent with the conclusion that LRRK2 influences the motility of neuronal vesicles and the neuronal receptor trafficking
Valutazioni cliniche e immunologiche in pazienti affetti da HBV cronico durante la terapia con analoghi nucleosidici/nucleotidici e Peg-IFN: studio pilota per la prevenzione dell'epatocarcinoma
Get PDFAim: HBV infection in adults is often self-limiting and results in an acute hepatitis but in 10% of infected adults we have the development of a chronic infection.
Recently at Department of Infectious Diseases of the University of Sassari we have been observed important clinical data of 6 patients with chronic HBV with peripheral neuropathy NUCs correlated; subsequently for these patients has been blocked administration of NUCs changing the therapeutic plane doing a switch with PEG-IFN Into the period of therapeutic switch, we found a clinic resolution of infection and during follow-up time, we observed in two patient, a complete seroconversion anti-HBsAg. In order to study the progress of immune response they were selected three patients being treated with NUCs at least 5 years in the various phases of the therapeutic switch with PEG-IFN until follow-up. Methods: at different intervals of time during and after the therapeutic switch, we stimulated ex vivo blood samples of patients and healthy controls, with three different pool of recombinant peptides of HBV genotype D (core, polymerase, surface) and we were performed flow cytometric analysis.
Results: during administration of PEG-IFN we found for one patient, between 4th week of treatment and 2n d follow-up, on the lymphocytes subpopulation of CD4+, an increase of IL17 cytokine, with peak about of 3.6%. induced by core peptides. We observed a similar production of IL-17 also dependent of CD8+, but with a peak at the fourth week during treatment at the ALT peak. Conclusion: realistically the switch with PEG-IFN has immunomodulatory activity through the control of specific CD8+, preventing massive liver injury and stimulating innate response mediate by NK cells that restrict viral infection
Cardiac and vascular characteristics and gender-related modifications induced by ageing in the founder population of SardiNIA project (ProgeNIA)
Get PDFBackground. Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death and disability in Western countries and this is expected to worsen as the population is aging. Aging induces structural and functional changes in the heart and vessels which increase the likelihood of cardiovascular events. Little data is available about gender-related and population-related differences in cardiovascular adaptation to aging. In 2001 the SardiNIA (ProgeNIA) project began in Sardinia. It’s brief was to identify the genetic determinants of complex traits associated with aging in 6148 volunteers with documented Sardinian parentage, enrolled in four villages in the Ogliastra province. In 2013 echocardiography was introduced to investigate the structural and functional cardiac traits.
Aim. 1) To describe the clinical and echocardiographic characteristics of a large sample of the SardiNIA cohort; 2) To assess the normal values of the echocardiographic parameters and the best method of their indexation for body size (height, weight, body mass index, body surface area), in a sample free of cardiovascular diseases; 3) To investigate the effects of ageing on the heart and aorta and the gender-specific differences.
Methods. Of the original 6148 SardiNIA volunteers, 3131 subjetcs underwent a transthoracic echocardiogram according to a standardized protocol and were enrolled in this study. Complete clinical and laboratory data and good quality 2D and M-mode echocardiographic images were available in 2926 of them (47.6% of the whole SardiNIA cohort). All the echocardiographic images were analyzed by a single expert cardiologist. The following parameters were measured: end-diastolic left ventricular (LV) internal diameter (EDD) and volume (EDV), interventricular septum, posterior wall thickness, LV mass (LVM), ejection fraction (EF), stroke volume (SV), transmitral early (E) and atrial (A) flow velocity and their ratio (E/A), left atrial diameter (LAD) and volume (LAV), aortic root and ascending aorta dimensions. According to clinical and laboratory data, office blood pressure, ABPM, ECG and echocardiography, 1977 subjects (62% women) were free of diabetes and apparent cardiovascular disease and were considered normal.
Results. The prevalence of some cardiovascular risk factors in the SardiNIA sample group was quite low, probably due to the relatively young mean age of the sample, but genetic and environmental factors may also play a role. Gender-specific normal reference values of the major echocardiographic parameters were obtained, after normalizing for body surface area (BSA). In the Sardinian population ageing is associated with significant left ventricular remodelling, left atrial enlargement and diastolic dysfunction, while systolic function is preserved. It is noteworthy that all these changes are quantitatively more pronounced in women.
Discussion. This study provides normal reference values of the echocardiographic indices, specific for the Sardinian population. The best method of their indexation resulted in being the isometric scaling using BSA, whereas the allometric methods of normalizing LVM (LVM/height2.7 and LVM/height1.7) overestimated LVM in the smallest subjects (mostly women) of the Sardinian population, with potential distorsive effect in estimating the true prevalence of LV hypertrophy. This data suggests that the best methods of indexing LVM for body size depend on the anthropometric
characteristics of the study population. In the Sardinian population, ageing is associated with significant left ventricular remodelling, left atrial enlargement, aortic dilatation and diastolic dysfunction, while systolic function is preserved. It is worth noting that all these changes are more pronounced in women
Apprendere e valutare per competenze: una proposta operativa per il tirocinio professionale di servizio sociale
No full textFormulating competencies for professional training of Social Work, according to the new paradigm in Higher Education, is not an easy act, but demands for a deep insight in the ethical and methodological elements of the profession, as well as a significant attention to the moral attitudes and professional identity of the students who are to become future Social Workers. Furthermore, educational responsibility asks for close consideration and care for society’s needs as well as sound understanding and control of the labour market.
On such premises and by taking into account the learning objectives that were developed by International Organizations, in this work will be analyzed the training for Social Work, with the purpose of understanding what competencies a student should acquire in practice and how they will be evaluated by the various actors involved. Will be presented, therefore, an operational proposal, the result of a bibliographic study and an empirical research articulated in several phases, for promoting and strengthening holistic experiential learning processes. A flexible tool, subdivided into knowledge, skills and competencies, both for the first cycle and the second cycle of studies, that takes into account the needs of the various stakeholders for a transformative learning. A learning that helps future social workers to become critically reflective in acting, flexible in getting into new situations and able to innovate by being agents of change
La Collezione di antichità a Lowther Castle
No full textThis thesis is devoted to the collection of antique sculpture formerly in Lowther Castle, dispersed between 1947 and 1970.
The collection was formed by the second Earl of Lonsdale in the middle of the XIX century mostly by acquiring objects from older British collections which were being dismembered in those years. The core of the collection was made up of Roman and Romano-British antiquities, but there was remarkable Greek section, and some Etruscan and Egyptian objects as well. In order to framing the collection in the social and cultural conditions which brought to its formation, the first chapters are devoted to the story of the Lowther family and their seat in Westmorland, keeping an eye on the development of antiquarian culture in Georgian and Victorian England. Involving the use of unpublished archive sources, great attention has been paid to the lines of formation of the collection by tracing the origin of each object up to its first attestations, proving how the taste for antiquity developed in XVII-XVIII century in Italy survived in the British Victorian era.
Through the observation of the international market of antiquities from the mid-twentieth century to the present it has been possible to define the new locations of many of the objects formerly in Lowther Castle. In the catalog, which is the main core of the work, the objects have been individually described and archaeologically studied in order to being placed in an historical production context
Applicazioni tecnico metodologiche per il miglioramento della performance riproduttiva nel cane di allevamento
Get PDFBreeders often complain about a decreased fertility and veterinarians are more and more requested to solve fertility problems.
In this study 5 breeds of dogs were selected on the basis of an infertility anamnesis. Newfoundland, English Bulldog, Hold English Mastiff, Great Dane and Dogue de Bordeaux. The purpose of this research was to determine the correlation between various fertility parameters and try to improve the production. There was no relation between parity and breeds in our population. In this study, there were more natural covers in great danes as compared to other breeds. English bulldogs and Old English Mastiffs in particular had significantly less natural breeding. There were significantly more positive pregnancy diagnoses in both primiparous and multiparous bitches in all breeds but in the great danes. This suggests a reduced fertility in that breed. Considering the number of puppies produced by a particular tecnic of insemination there is an effect only in Great Dane. In that breed, it seems that natual breeding is more efficient than the Artificial Insemination. A significant effect of the breed on the type of delivery was demonstrated (more c-sections in Bulldogs and Mastiffs, more natural deliveries in Newfoundland and Dogues de Bordeaux and no difference in Great Danes). Primiparous were not less likely to give birth naturally than multiparous bitches.
Perpetuating artificial reproduction in dogs that, under natural conditions, could never contribute to the genetic pool, the low fertility in some bloodlines is probably explained by wrong breeder selection
Increased seroreactivity to proinsulin and homologous mycobacterial peptides in latent autoimmune diabetes in adults
No full textLatent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults (LADA) is a slowly progressing form of immune-mediated diabetes that combines phenotypical features of type 2 diabetes (T2D) with the presence of islet cell antigens detected in type 1 diabetes (T1D). Heterogeneous clinical picture have led to the classification of patients based on the levels of antibodies against glutamic acid decarboxylase 65 (GADA) that correlate with clinical phenotypes closer to T1D or T2D when GADA titers are high or low, respectively. To date, LADA etiology remains elusive despite numerous studies investigating on genetic predisposition and environmental risk factors. To our knowledge, this is the first study aimed at evaluation of a putative role played by Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) as an infective agent in LADA pathogenesis. MAP is known to cause chronic enteritis in ruminants and has been associated with autoimmune disorders in humans. We analyzed seroreactivity of 223 Sardinian LADA subjects and 182 healthy volunteers against MAP-derived peptides and their human homologs of proinsulin and zinc transporter 8 protein. A significantly elevated positivity for MAP/proinsulin was detected among patients, with the highest prevalence in the 32-41-year-old T1D-like LADA subgroup, supporting our hypothesis of a possible MAP contribution in the development of autoimmunity