706 research outputs found
Multiwavelength observations of N 66 in the SMC: unveiling photodissociation interfaces and star formation
No full textWe present new observations of the major star-forming region N66 in the Small Magellanic Cloud and of its surroundings, which add to those presented in Contursi et al. (2000, Paper I). High-sensitivity CO observations allowed the detection of molecular gas associated with the H II region, for which a high-resolution image in [O III] lambda 5007 is presented. We also present images in the v(1-0) S(1) line of H-2 at 2.12 mu m and in the adjacent continuum. This material reveals an interesting photodissociation region. We show that the molecular gas that has not yet been photodissociated by the UV radiation of the stars is in hot, dense clumps with a very small surface filling factor. We discovered several embedded stars or stellar associations, and suggest that three successive stellar generations have already taken place in less than 3 million years
A letra de Pascual Contursi na consolidação formal do tango
No full textPascual Contursi (1888-1932) is considered the creator of tango-canción and the themes amuros and milonguitas, published in “Mi noche triste” and “Flor de fango” are also considered the foundation of this musical style. However, a stylistic and formal review of his tangos highlights Contursi\u27s crucial contribution to the principles of contrastive symmetry and condensation that consolidated the structure of tango in all of its artistic manifestations. Formally, the strengthening of isometric verses coupled with rhyme on the last syllable, the tension between static description and dynamic narration, the minimalistic setting, the theatrical dialogue of the apostrophe, a counterpoint between the first and second person, as well as the systematic use of lunfardo whose adoption entails, by itself, a contrast against the standard variety of language. Such findings contribute to temper Contursi’s presumed image as a naive and schematic poet.Los estudios en tango han erigido a Pascual Contursi (1888-1932) a la condición de fundador del tango-canción y sus dos situaciones axiales, amuros y milonguitas, encarnados respectivamente en “Mi noche triste” y “Flor de fango”. Sin embargo, una revisión estilística de sus tangos pone de relieve el crucial aporte de Contursi a los principios de simetría contrastiva y condensación que consolidaron la estructura del tango en sus diversas expresiones artísticas. En lo formal, el afianzamiento de versos isométricos aunados por la rima aguda, la tensión entre la descripción estática y la narración dinámica, la ambientación minimalista, el dialogismo teatral del apóstrofe, contrapunto entre el yo y tú líricos, así como el sistemático empleo del lunfardo cuya adopción entraña, de suyo, una oposición a la variedad estándar de la lengua. Hallazgos semejantes contribuyen a recalibrar la impronta contursiana de poeta ingenuo y esquemático.Os estudos em tango elevaram Pascual Contursi (1888-1932) ao status de criador do tango-canção e de suas duas situações axiais, amuros e milonguitas, encarnadas respetivamente em “Mi noche triste” e “Flor de fango”. No entanto, uma revisão estilística de seus tangos sublinha a crucial contribuição de Contursi para os princípios de simetria contrastiva e condensação que consolidaram a estrutura do tango nas suas várias manifestações artísticas. Formalmente, a união de versos isométricos aliados à rima afiada, a tensão entre a descrição estática e a narração dinâmica, a ambientação minimalista, o diálogo teatral do apóstrofo, um contraponto entre o eu e você lírico, bem como o uso sistemático de lunfardo cuja adoção envolve, em si, um contraste com a variedade padrão da língua. Achados semelhantes contribuem para construir a marca contursiana de um poeta ingênuo e esquemático
Flame: A flexible data reduction pipeline for near-infrared and optical spectroscopy
No full textWe present flame, a pipeline for reducing spectroscopic observations obtained with multislit near-infrared and optical instruments. Because of its flexible design, flame can be easily applied to data obtained with a wide variety of spectrographs. The flexibility is due to a modular architecture, which allows changes and customizations to the pipeline, and relegates the instrument-specific parts to a single module. At the core of the data reduction is the transformation from observed pixel coordinates (x, y) to rectified coordinates (λ, γ). This transformation consists in the polynomial functions λ(x, y) and γ(x, y) that are derived from arc or sky emission lines and slit edge tracing, respectively. The use of 2D transformations allows one to wavelength calibrate and rectify the data using just one interpolation step. Furthermore, the γ(x, y) transformation includes also the spatial misalignment between frames, which can be measured from a reference star observed simultaneously with the science targets. The misalignment can then be fully corrected during the rectification, without having to further resample the data. Sky subtraction can be performed via nodding and/or modelling of the sky spectrum; the combination of the two methods typically yields the best results. We illustrate the pipeline by showing examples of data reduction for a near-infrared instrument (LUCI at the Large Binocular Telescope) and an optical one (LRIS at the Keck telescope)
A three-dimensional electronic report of a venous echo color Doppler of the lower limbs: MEVeC®
No full textAldo Innocente Galeandro,1 Pietro Scicchitano,2 Annapaola Zito,2 Cristina Galeandro,2 Michele Gesualdo,2 Francesco Ciciarello,3 Annagrazia Cecere,2 Andrea Marzullo,4 Vincenzo Contursi,5 Annamaria Annicchiarico,1 Marco Matteo Ciccone2 1Department of Science and Technology, University of Bari, Bari, Italy; 2Cardiovascular Diseases Section, Department of Emergency and Organ Transplantation (DETO), University of Bari, Bari, Italy; 3Department of Cardiovascular, Respiratory, Geriatric and Morphologic Sciences of "Umberto I" Polyclinic of Rome, "Sapienza" University, Rome, Italy; 4Department of Emergency and Organ Transplantation (DETO), Pathology Division, Medical School, University of Bari, Bari, Italy; 5Italian Society for Interdisciplinary Primary Care, Bari, Italy Background: The reports of ultrasound evaluation of lower limb veins are difficult to understand by general practitioners (GPs) and physicians who are not specialized. We developed software for a three-dimensional (3D) electronic report of venous hemodynamic mapping (MEVeC®) in order to represent lower limb venous vasculature in a 3D way. The aim of the study is to compare the novel 3D report with the standard report. Methods: Thirty subjects (medical students and GPs) evaluated a standard report and a novel 3D report of the lower limb veins of a prespecified patient. The cases were randomly and blindly taken from an archive of 100 cases. GPs and students answered a questionnaire made up of 13 questions that were structured in order to investigate the readability and comprehension of the two reports. A score ranging from 0 to 10 (0= not understandable; 10= full comprehension) was attributed to each report for each question according to the readability of the venous scheme proposed. Results: The scores from each question of the questionnaire were compared. The 3D report (MEVeC®) obtained higher scores than those from the evaluation of the standard report (P<0.0001). Each question revealed the superiority of the 3D report (MEVeC®) as compared with the standard report of the ultrasound evaluation of lower limbs. When dividing the scores according to percentiles, the 3D report (MEVeC®) still continued to show more readability than the standard report in a statistically significant way (P<0.0001). Conclusion: The new 3D report (MEVeC®) concerning ultrasound evaluation of lower limb veins is more reproducible than the standard report when evaluated by medical physicians not specialized in the evaluation of the vein tree of lower limbs. Keywords: vein 3D report, ultrasound evaluation, lower limb veins, standard repor
A letra de Pascual Contursi na consolidação formal do tango
No full textPascual Contursi (1888-1932) is considered the creator of tango-canción and the themes amuros and milonguitas, published in “Mi noche triste” and “Flor de fango” are also considered the foundation of this musical style. However, a stylistic and formal review of his tangos highlights Contursi's crucial contribution to the principles of contrastive symmetry and condensation that consolidated the structure of tango in all of its artistic manifestations. Formally, the strengthening of isometric verses coupled with rhyme on the last syllable, the tension between static description and dynamic narration, the minimalistic setting, the theatrical dialogue of the apostrophe, a counterpoint between the first and second person, as well as the systematic use of lunfardo whose adoption entails, by itself, a contrast against the standard variety of language. Such findings contribute to temper Contursi’s presumed image as a naive and schematic poet.Los estudios en tango han erigido a Pascual Contursi (1888-1932) a la condición de fundador del tango-canción y sus dos situaciones axiales, amuros y milonguitas, encarnados respectivamente en “Mi noche triste” y “Flor de fango”. Sin embargo, una revisión estilística de sus tangos pone de relieve el crucial aporte de Contursi a los principios de simetría contrastiva y condensación que consolidaron la estructura del tango en sus diversas expresiones artísticas. En lo formal, el afianzamiento de versos isométricos aunados por la rima aguda, la tensión entre la descripción estática y la narración dinámica, la ambientación minimalista, el dialogismo teatral del apóstrofe, contrapunto entre el yo y tú líricos, así como el sistemático empleo del lunfardo cuya adopción entraña, de suyo, una oposición a la variedad estándar de la lengua. Hallazgos semejantes contribuyen a recalibrar la impronta contursiana de poeta ingenuo y esquemático.Os estudos em tango elevaram Pascual Contursi (1888-1932) ao status de criador do tango-canção e de suas duas situações axiais, amuros e milonguitas, encarnadas respetivamente em “Mi noche triste” e “Flor de fango”. No entanto, uma revisão estilística de seus tangos sublinha a crucial contribuição de Contursi para os princípios de simetria contrastiva e condensação que consolidaram a estrutura do tango nas suas várias manifestações artísticas. Formalmente, a união de versos isométricos aliados à rima afiada, a tensão entre a descrição estática e a narração dinâmica, a ambientação minimalista, o diálogo teatral do apóstrofo, um contraponto entre o eu e você lírico, bem como o uso sistemático de lunfardo cuja adoção envolve, em si, um contraste com a variedade padrão da língua. Achados semelhantes contribuem para construir a marca contursiana de um poeta ingênuo e esquemático
Structure, function and unexplored properties of fuselloviruses-encoded transcription factors
No full textObjective: Archaeal viruses are predicted to encode for a wide variety of transcriptional regulators. The majority of these gene products do not have detectable homologues in the databases other than in related hyperthermophilic viral genomes, thus leading to the necessity of performing structural and functional analyses to unravel their role. Archaeal transcription regulators resemble the bacterial ones at structural level but operate in an eukaryal-like transcriptional context (1). Therefore, it is expected that in this “hybrid” transcriptional apparatus, peculiar and not yet characterized mechanisms for the regulation of expression are employed and novel folds and/or functions might be discovered. Fuselloviridae is one of the best-characterized families of crenarchaeal viruses, whose members have been used as model systems to understand the mechanisms underpinning the transcription process at structural and functional level.
Methods: Putative transcription factors encoded by pSSVx and SSV1 have been studied with the purpose of determining their structure and/or dissecting their regulative mechanisms. In this regard, a combination of approaches, ranging from DNA-protein interaction assays to structure determination techniques, has been used.
Results: The discovery and characterization of the SSV1-encoded regulator F55 (2) helped to shed light on the molecular mechanisms governing the maintenance of the SSV1 lysogeny. This protein has been proved to bind, in vitro and in vivo, to the viral genome at the promoters of the UV-inducible (Tind), of the early transcripts (T5 and T6) as well as of its own transcript (Tlys). Indeed, band-shift and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays confirmed the interaction of F55 with these regulative regions and its dissociation soon after UV irradiation of SSV1 lysogenic cells.
The structure of two proteins encoded by the hybrid plasmid/virus pSSVx has been solved by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction, revealing that ORFc-68 bears a looped-hinged-helix motif (3) whereas Stf76 assumes a winged helix-turn-helix fold (4). These DNA-binding proteins interact specifically with target sequences located within promoters of their gene, thus regulating their own expression. Despite the resemblance of the overall fold to that of bacterial transcription regulators, both ORFc68 and Stf76 display peculiar structural features.
Interestingly, a 28aa-long stretch of the Stf76 amino acid sequence (named Pep37V-64R) that encompasses the DNA-binding domain was in silico predicted to be a potential cationic antimicrobial peptide (CAMP) and tested for antimicrobial and antifungal activities towards several strains. It was revealed that both Gram+ and Gram- strains were sensitive to the action of Pep37V-64R, possibly as a consequence of membrane disaggregation and/or of the retained ability of Pep37V-64R to interact with nucleic acids. Further biochemical and structural studies on this peptide are underway.
Conclusion: Altogether these analyses expand the current knowledge about the structures adopted by archaeal transcription factors and their mechanisms of action. Moreover, it has been revealed that the domain of Achaea might represent a potential reservoir of bioactive peptides.
References:
1. Contursi et al. (2013) Extremophiles, 17(6):881-895
2. Fusco et al., (2013) J Virol, 87(10):5926-5936
3. Contursi et al., (2011) Biochem J, 435(1):157-166
4. Contursi et al., (2014) Nucleic Acids Res, [Epub ahead of print] doi: 10.1093/nar/gku21
The Contursi Family 20 years later. intrafamilial phenotypic variability of the SNCA p.A53T mutation
No full textThe SNCA/alpha-synuclein p.A53T mutation segregating in the Contursi kindred was the first mutation ever described in inherited Parkinson’s disease.Through the direct examination of 10 subjects from a branch of the Contursi kindred and the collection of data on 11 other members affected by history, we could highlight the relevant intrafamilial phenotypic variability in carriers of the SNCA
p.A53T mutation
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