113,699 research outputs found
Colori della pelle, diversità somatiche e culturali negli albi illustrati: una ricerca nella scuola dell'infanzia.
No full textIl libro è il risultato dell’incontro sinergico e proficuo fra le autrici (Italia, Francia, Brasile) le cui affinità nel campo della ricerca empirica e le risonanze del loro “credo pedagogico” si sono rivelate motrici di una sfida cui non potevano sottrarsi.
Si tratta di una sfida complessa, al contempo urgente, volta a investigare in profondità le rappresentazioni di diversità negli albi illustrati considerati rilevanti mediatori nella trasmissione culturale, nell’identità infantile, nonché nella formazione dell’immaginario dei bambini e delle bambini. Immaginario che può essere “contaminato” sfavorevolmente dalla presenza di immagini e contenuti permeati da stereotipi e pregiudizi.
Alcuni interrogativi tessono e intrecciano come files rouges i saggi del libro: si può leggere senza stereotipi? Quali rappresentazioni di diversità di genere, somatica, melaninica e culturale veicolano gli albi illustrati?
Sollecitati da queste domande generative, entriamo dunque nelle quattro indagini che animano questa “impresa” polifonica e transnazionale
Discovery of multi-target probes for neurodegenerative diseases via ligand design
No full textThe multifactorial nature of major neurodegenerative diseases and the current failures of the different drugs in clinical trials represent the logical foundation for a multi-target drug discovery approach to combat these devastating diseases [1].
As additional positive points, the simplification of the therapeutic regimen and a lower risk of polypharmacy in geriatric population further strengthen its validity in comparison with drug combinations [2]. However, at this moment the afore-mentioned advantages can be outweighed by the difficulties still experienced by medicinal chemists in the discovery and development of novel multi-target drugs (MTDs). In fact, albeit methods such as fragment-based and computational drug discovery are showing promising potential in accelerating the process, the hit identification and optimization stages of MTDs still poses more challenges than those of single-target drugs. Besides these methods, the ligand-based approach is still the method of choice, especially in the academia. In most cases, two starting structures and/or their pharmacophoric elements are combined to incorporate both activities in a new single chemical entity. Alternatively, a single fragment able to recognize even with modest affinity more than one target (dubbed by us “universal template”) can serve as core scaffold to be decorated with appendages to generate higher affinity compounds [3]. Herein, we discuss several examples of both types of compounds, taken from our own research devoted to the rational discovery of MTDs against Alzheimer’s and prion diseases.
[1] Cavalli, A.; Bolognesi, M. L.; Minarini, A.; Rosini, M.; Tumiatti, V.; Recanatini, M.; Melchiorre, C. Multi-target-directed ligands to combat neurodegenerative diseases. J. Med. Chem., 2008, 51, 347-72.
[2] Bolognesi, M. L.; Matera, R.; Minarini, A.; Rosini, M.; Melchiorre, C. Alzheimer's disease: new approaches to drug discovery. Curr Opin Chem Biol, 2009, 13, 303-8.
[3] Discovery of Multi-Target Agents for Neurological Diseases via Ligand Design. Bolognesi, M.L., Melchiorre, C., Van der Schyf, C.J., and Youdim, M.B.H. in: RSC Drug Discovery Series No. 21, Designing Multi-Target Drugs. Edited by: J. Richard Morphy and C. John Harris, 2012, Royal Society of Chemistry, United Kingdom, pp. 290-31
Extraction of primitives and objects from hshapes
No full textThis paper deals with 3D morphological studies of architecture surveyed with TLS to allow the modelling of a Renaissance villa in a BIM environment; the aim is to create Renaissance objects to be shaped into a parametric software and made recognizable in a BIM environment balancing level of accuracy and shortness of workflow. The approach of this study lies in the comparison of different workflows, using different BIM software and apps, useful to extract transverse ridge or primitive ribs from the point cloud of walls as vaulted ceilings, shape accurate objects, considering their level of detail and their morphological and typological aspect. The first steps of Data Processing from 3D Survey started with an accurate cleaning and transformation in appropriate but different format to be analysed into different environment and treated for a modelling phase. The different results of the different workflow have been compared to measure grade of simplification, when existent, of the single objects compared. The case study deepens the entrance of a Renaissance Villa in Tuscany, Villa di Poggio a Caiano, in its main elevation considering the vaults of porches and entrances as barrel vaults or lunette-like with double-curved nails
Ferredoxin–NADP+ reductases of Apicomplexa: unique properties of protozoan plant–type enzymes
No full textPlant-type ferredoxin-NADP+ reductases (FNRs) are a family of flavin-dependent dehydrogenases/electron transferases ubiquitous in plant plastids, cyanobacteria and some eubacteria (1). Recently, FNRs have been identified in the apicoplast of apicomplexan parasites, which includes the causative agents of malaria and toxoplasmosis. FNRs from Toxoplasma gondii (TgFNR) and Plasmodium falciparum (PfFNR) have been cloned and characterized (2, 3). Whereas TgFNR failed to yield crystals suitable for X-ray analysis, the crystal structure of PfFNR has been determined (3). Compared to FNRs from other sources, PfFNR displays a significantly lower catalytic efficiency and poorer NADH/NADPH selectivity (3). These features of PfFNR have been interpreted on the basis of the peculiar structure of its NADP(H)-binding site. Furthermore, PfFNR undergoes an unprecedented NADP-triggered, redox-dependent homodimerization process leading to enzyme inactivation, which could represent a physiologic mechanism of enzyme regulation. PfFNR has been shown to be involved in the biosynthesis of isoprenoid precursors (4), which is the site of action of known antiplasmodial compounds. On this basis, apicomplexan FNRs have been proposed as a possible new target for novel antiparasitic drugs (2).
References
1. Aliverti, A., Pandini, V., Pennati, A., de Rosa, M., and Zanetti, G., Arch. Biochem. Biophys., 474, 283-291 (2008).
2. Seeber, F., Aliverti, A., and Zanetti, G., Curr. Farm. Des., 11, 3159-7312 (2005).
3. Milani, M., Balconi, E., Aliverti, A., Mastrangelo, E., Seeber, F., Bolognesi, M., and Zanetti, G., J. Mol. Biol., 367, 501-513 (2007).
4. Röhrich, R.C., et al., FEBS Lett., 579, 6433–6438 (2005)
Optimization of VR application in texturing cultural heritage
No full textThe research question underlying this short essay refers to the possibility of realizing through a well-established workflow a high level of immersivity in the VR representation of Cultural Heritage to be used as a working tool by architects and renovators as well as heritage scholars. At present active or passive 3D scanning techniques are a known reality where the choice of data acquisition system depends both on the final purpose and characteristics of the object to be surveyed. With the maturity achieved in point cloud acquisition, post processing phases and the development of BIM-based systems, the model has given the possibility to become a repository of information related to the existing, to be used for maintenance or renovation processes. If the model can represent the existing with a certain level of detail, it can be assumed that a differentiated Level of Immersivity can be organized depending on the specific needs it intends to fulfil. In the context of renovation or preservation of Cultural Heritage, the potential offered by VR becomes more interesting when it can provide a realistic portrait not only of the geometry, but also of the materiality and state of preservation of the buildings. This research opens new possibilities to develop tools to aid designers and renovators in degradation analysis, intervention projects, and scheduled maintenance. The research question starts analyzing the possibility of creating photorealistic immersive environments that are easy to access, organized based on surveys of existing heritage buildings using specific datasets
author-bios-SRD-19-0063.R1 – Supplemental material for The Network Structure of Police Misconduct
No full textSupplemental material, author-bios-SRD-19-0063.R1 for The Network Structure of Police Misconduct by George Wood, Daria Roithmayr and Andrew V. Papachristos in Socius</p
Upgrade of Exciter for Synchronous Generators basing on the Hybrid Excitation Concept
No full textIn the classical brushless arrangement, the field current of wound-field synchronous generators (SGs) is provided by exciters through rotating diode rectifiers. The control of the SG field current is achieved indirectly by regulating the field current of the exciter, whose excitation winding is stationary. This paper investigates the possibility to equip the exciter with hybrid excitation by adding surface-mounted permanent magnets (PMs). While a hybrid PM-field winding exciter has already been proposed in a recent work, where the selected condition was the rated no-load operation of the SG, in this paper the PMs are designed to sustain the generating set (genset) operation at a suitably selected load condition. This permits to further reduce the excitation losses of the exciter and to operate the genset even in case of full failure in the exciter field system, including the related electronic controller
When school language and culture enter the home : testing children as a ‘school-aligned’ parental activity
No full textSince Bronfenbrenner’s claims on the ecology of human development, an
impressive amount of research has explored the ways in which children’s
primary social worlds (i.e., family and school) connect and potentially create an osmotic ecological milieu. In the building of the so-called ‘familyschool partnership’, homework plays a crucial role. Being a school activity
carried out inside the home, it is a key site for implementing parental involvement and a crucial occasion where cultural models of ‘good parent’ and
‘good pupil’ are instantiated. This video-based, conversation analytic study
shows a specific activity taking place while parents assist their children with
homework: testing. The analysis shows that parents deploy a ‘school-like’
interactive conduct by reproducing the standards, morality, and linguistic
practices of the school. In so doing, they comply with the contemporary
model of ‘good parent as school partner’ and socialize their children into
the culture of the school by turning them into ‘good pupils’.
Keywords: homework; family-school partnership; test; parental involvement; ethnography-informed conversation analysis
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