76 research outputs found
Il toponimo SnT nella stele IM 4018 del Serapeum di Menfi e la prima testimonianza della Bella-Fondazione (SnT-nfr.t)
No full textSnT-nfr.t, literally “the Beautiful Foundation”, was one of the most important religious center in the VII nome of Lower Egypt. It is attested in several geographic inscriptions of the Ptolemaic and Roman Period. Scholars are aware of a single source that testifies SnT-nfr.t toponym before the Ptolemaic Period: the coffin of Onurisnakht, “priest of Amon-Ra, lord of SnT-nfr.t”, dated to the IV century BC and now preserved in the Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien. The stela Louvre IM 4018 (A) from Serapeum in Memphis, belonging to Pedihoremheb and his brother Horo, is the key to backdate the attestation of the toponym SnT-nfr.t to the VI century BC. Indeed, the stela, dated to the 4th year of the reign of Darius I (518 BC), mentions a toponym SnT and provides a strong link with the god Ha, since Udjahorresenet, the father of Pedihoremheb, is stated to be a priest of Ha. Three other documents support the identification of the lemma SnT as an abbreviated form of SnT-nfr.t and connect it with the VII nome of Lower Egypt: B) three geographical texts (Edfu I 331, 16, papyrus Carlsberg 182, Dendera X, 86, 5) and the gold scarab Louvre E 10697, bearing the title Hm nTr HA aA nb Imnt.t, “priest of Ha, the great, lord of West”, show that the god Ha is the main god in the VII nome; C) a geographic inscription, engraved on the second western
chapel of Osiris at Dendera (Dendera X, 118, 9-10), proves that the toponym SnT-nfr.t is used for the name of a demon of the VII nome of Lower Egypt; D) a geographic inscription, engraved on the chapel of Sokar at Edfu (Edfu I, 194, 2), places the demon’s name as attested in Dendera inscription beside the abbreviation SnT. They clearly refer to the same toponym, SnT-nfr.t/¤nT and they connect it to the Western Harpoon province
An Open Source/Real-Time AFM Architecture to Perform Customizable Force Spectroscopy Experiments
No full textAn Open Source/Real-Time AFM Architecture to Perform Customizable Force Spectroscopy Experiment
Determination of physical properties of an elastomeric polymer by AFM stretching experiments
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The in vitro anti-amyloidogenic activity of the mediterranean red seaweed halopithys incurva
No full textNeurodegenerative diseases are generally characterized by the presence of neurotoxic amyloid aggregates underlying progressive neuronal death. Since ancient times, natural compounds have been used as curative agents for human health. Amyloid research is constantly looking for safe natural molecules capable of blocking toxic amyloid aggregates’ formation. From the marine environment, seaweeds are recognized as rich reservoirs of molecules with multiple bioactivities, including the anti-amyloidogenic activity. Here, hydroalcoholic extracts of two seasonal samples of the Mediterranean red seaweed Halophytis incurva (HIEs) were characterized by the HPLC-DAD-MS analysis. The H. incurva anti-amyloidogenic role was explored by incubating both HIEs with hen egg white lysozyme (HEWL), a well-known protein model widely used in amyloid aggregation experiments. The aggregation kinetics and morphological analysis of amyloid aggregates were performed by ThT and AFM analysis, respectively, while their cytotoxicity on SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cells was examined by MTT assay. HIEs showed a different efficacy, probably dependent on their metabolic composition, both in inhibiting amyloid fibrillation and in obtaining short and less toxic pre-fibrillary aggregates. Overall, this work sheds light, for the first time, on a Mediterranean red seaweed as a promising renewable resource of bioactive compounds, potentially useful in preventing the formation of toxic amyloid aggregates
Optical fibre nanotips fabricated by a dynamic chemical etching for sensing applications
No full textNanoprobe tips are key components in many applications such as scanning probe microscopes, nanoscale imaging, nanofabrication and sensing. This paper describes a dynamic chemical etching method for the fabrication of optical nanoprobes. The tips are produced by mechanically rotating and dipping a silica optical fibre in a chemical etching solution (aqueous hydrofluoric acid) covered with a protection layer. Using different dynamic regimes of the mechanical movements during the chemical etching process, it is possible to vary the cone angle, the shape, and the roughness of the nanoprobes. It is found that the tip profiles are determined by the nonlinear dynamic evolution of the meniscus of the etchant near the fibre. Computational fluid dynamic simulations have been performed, showing that different flow regimes correspond to different shear forces acting on the forming nanotip, in agreement with experimental results. With this method, a high yield of reproducible nanotips can be obtained, thus overcoming the drawbacks of conventional etching techniques. Typical tip features are short taper length (∼200 μm), large cone angle (up to 40°), and small probe tip dimension (less than 30 nm)
Cerato-Populin and Cerato-Platanin, Two Non-Catalytic Proteins from Phytopathogenic Fungi, Interact with Hydrophobic Inanimate Surfaces and Leaves
No full textBased on sequence homology, several fungal Cys-rich secreted proteins have been grouped in the ceratoplatanin (CP) family, which comprises at least 40 proteins involved mainly in eliciting defense-related responses. The core member of this family is cerato-platanin, a moderately hydrophobic protein with a double w–b barrel fold. CP and the recently identified orthologous cerato-populin (Pop1) are involved in host–fungus interaction, and can be considered non-catalytic fungal PAMPs. CP is more active in inducing defense when in an aggregated conformation than in its native form, but little is known about other CP-orthologous proteins. Here, we cloned, expressed, and purified recombinant Pop1, which was used to characterize the protein aggregates. Our results suggest that the unfolded, self-assembled Pop1 is more active in inducing defense, and that the unfolding process can be induced by interaction with hydrophobic inanimate surfaces such as Teflon, treated mica, and gold sheets. In vivo, we found that both CP and Pop1 interact with the hydrophobic cuticle of leaves. Therefore, we propose that the interaction of these proteins with host cuticle waxes could induce unfolding and consequently trigger their PAMP-like activity
Dynamical Chemical Etching for Fabrication of Optical Fibre Nanotips
No full textOptical fibre nanotips are the key components in many applications such as nanoscale imaging and sensing. In this paper we describe and study a dynamic chemical etching method for the fabrication of optical nanoprobes. Our method allows to control of the shape and roughness of a fibre optical nanoprobe, by a combination of mechanical movements coupled to chemical etching. The stripped optical fibre end is dipped into a vial containing an aqueous hydrofluoric acid solution covered with a protection layer. The vial and the optical fibre are connected to motors allowing them to rotate independently around the fibre and the vial axis respectively. The basic idea of our method is to use rotation movements to generate different kind of flows inside the vial, which will be reflect in different kind of shapes and surface characteristics of the obtained nanoprobes. Different regimes can be generated by changing the ratio between the angular velocities and the ratio between the radii of optical fibre and vial, ranging from laminar flow to the onset of chaotic flow (Taylor-Couette flow theory). Computational fluid dynamic analysis show that different flow regimes correspond to different shear forces acting on the forming nanotip, in agreement with experimental results
Characterization of ordered aggregates of cerato-platanin and their involvement in host interactions
No full textEnabling reliable usability assessment and comparative analysis of medical software: a comprehensive framework for multimodal biomedical imaging platforms
No full textPurpose: A literature review reveals that, at the moment, all usability tests for Software as a Medical Device (SaMD) are designed in compliance with international standards but it also reveals a lack of formalization in the implementation and administration of such usability tests, which prevents the comparison of results from different tests for the same class of SaMD. This study aims to provide a reproducible usability testing framework for SaMD to establish a standardized protocol which can ensure repeatability and comparisons of similar SaMD for the visualization of medical images and data. Methods: The devised protocol aligns with international standards and literature recommendations for usability and human factors engineering. It encompasses participant selection, testing environments, equipment setup for various testing methods (HDMI vs. wireless), and hardware interfaces (keyboard/mouse vs. touchscreen), as well as the roles of the required testers. The protocol consists of two distinct sections: exploratory tasks and specific scenarios, to assess software functions and real-life tasks, respectively. Effectiveness and efficiency are evaluated using video analysis and a custom Stopwatch software, while user satisfaction is measured through post-test questionnaires. Results: The usability testing protocol was applied to a Multimodal Biomedical Imaging Platform All-in-One software developed by Imaginalis S.r.l. (Sesto Fiorentino, Italy) for validation. The results of the usability testing protocol applied to the case-study software demonstrate good values of software’s effectiveness and efficiency, along with user satisfaction supporting the prior heuristic evaluation. The outcomes confirm the robustness, applicability, and reproducibility of the usability testing protocol, aligning with best practices. Conclusions: The proposed usability testing framework enables reliable usability assessment and comparative analysis of medical software. Furthermore, the obtained results can serve as a reference for assessing other biomedical imaging platforms under development or ready for release. © The Author(s) 2024
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