428 research outputs found
The impact of affective touch on physiological self-regulation among preschool-age children: The influence of emotional context and effortful control
No full textThe role of affective touch in modulating emotion processing among preschool children
No full textRecognizing emotional expressions is a prerequisite for understanding others' feelings and intentions, a key component of social interactions that develops throughout childhood. In multisensory social environments, touch may be crucial for emotion processing, linking external sensory information with internal affective states. The current study investigated whether affective touch facilitates recognition of emotional expressions throughout childhood. Preschool children (N = 121 3- to 6-year-olds) were presented with different tactile stimulations followed by an emotion-matching task. Results revealed that affective touch fosters the recognition of negative emotions and increases the speed of association of positive emotions, highlighting the centrality of tactile experiences for socioemotional understanding. The current research opens new perspectives on how to support emotional recognition with potential consequences for the development of social functioning
Confronto tra diverse fasi mobili per la determinazione in hplc di carnosina, anserina, l-istidina, 3-metil-l-istidina
No full textRIASSUNTO Scopo della ricerca è stato quello di determinare la miglior fase mobile che in condizioni isocratiche ed alla temperatura di derivatizzazione post colonna di 50°C consentisse la separazione dei picchi della carnosina, anserina e dei loro componenti. Partendo da una fase mobile costituita da 20% acetonitrile e 80% di soluzione 6 mM HCl + 0,48 moli/litro di NaCl, sono state preparate fasi mobili con % di acetonitrile a decrescere (15-10-5) fino al raggiungimento della separazione completa dei picchi. La fase mobile che ha permesso la totale separazione delle molecole è stata quella costituita dal 5% di acetonitrile. Le rette di regressione di ciascuna molecola hanno mostrato R2 di correlazione estremamente elevati (∼1) per un intervallo di concentrazione compreso tra 62.5 – 0.5 ng/20μl evidenziando una elevata accuratezza (∼100%) ed un aumento della sensibilità per ogni composto a tutte le concentrazioni utilizzate. Quindi, se l’aumento della temperatura della reazione di derivatizzazione post colonna con o-ftalaldeide (OPA) ha prodotto un forte incremento della sensibilità di rilevazione di questi composti ed in particolare modo della l-istidina e della 3-metil-l–istidina (∼70%), l’utilizzazione di una diversa fase mobile ha consentito la separazione di tutti i composti e principalmente la carnosina dalla 3-metil-l-istidina che in condizioni isocratiche mostrano tempi di ritenzione molto ravvicinati. In conclusione la possibilità di poter determinare esigue concentrazioni di questi composti con una adeguata sensibilità ed un’elevata accuratezza può consentire di rilevarli anche in quei compartimenti dell’organismo dove la loro presenza appare molto ridotta. SUMMARY This research proposes an high-performance-liquid-chromatography (HPLC) method for a quantitative detection of carnosina, anserine, l-histidine and 3-methyl-l-histidine, with ophthalaldehyde (OPA) post column derivatisation by isocratic elution. For this purpose some mobile-phases were prepared with scalar acetonitrile concentrations. The best mobile phase for a complete separation of all molecules was composed of Acetonitrile and 6mM Hydrochloric acid with 0,48 M sodium chloride solution (5%:95% v/v). The regression lines, obtained by a range of concentration between 62.5 – 0.5 ng/20μl for all substances showed a very high values of R2 (∼1) indicating a very high sensibility and accuracy (∼100%) of this new mobile phase in isocratic conditions. Temperature increase of post column derivatisation (50°C) with (OPA) showed a greater sensibility for l-histidine and 3-methyl-l-histidine detection (∼70%) and the new mobile phase in isocratic conditions produced a complete separation for all compound and in particular way between carnosine and 3-methyl-l-histidine. The high sensibility of this HPLC method can detect histidine dipeptides and correlated compounds l-histidine and 3-methyl-l-histidine in animal tissues where can be present in different and very low concentrations. In addition this very simple and fast method could be used to histidine dipeptides detection in biological compartments were their concentrations could be very low
Effetto della variazione di temperatura sulla reazione di derivatizzazione post colonna con ortoftalaldeide dei dipeptidi istidinici e loro componenti
No full textRIASSUNTO Scopo della ricerca è stato quello di effettuare la derivatizzazione post colonna con ortoftalaldeide (OPA) dei dipeptidi istidinici (carnosina e anserina) e dei loro componenti (listidina e 3-metil-l-istidina) a varie temperature in modo da determinare quella alla quale tali sostanze producono la massima risposta in termini quantitativi. Per quanto riguarda i dipeptidi istidinici la temperatura ottimale per la reazione di derivatizzazione con OPA va dai 35°C per la carnosina ai 45°C - 50°C per l’anserina con un aumento rispettivo della superficie dei picchi di circa il 4% e 9% rispetto alla temperatura di 30°C. L’interpolazione dei dati della temperatura e della superficie dei picchi dei due dipeptidi, visto l’andamento non lineare, è stata effettuata rispettivamente con equazione polinomiale di terzo grado (R2= 0,990) e quarto grado (R2=0,992). Per la l-istidina e 3-metil-l-istidina la temperatura ottimale risulta quella compresa tra i 55°C e i 60°C ma in questo caso si osserva un incremento costante della superficie del picco con l’aumentare della temperatura (R2=0,998 per la l-istidina e un R2=0,999 per la 3- metil-l-istidina). Per questi ultimi due componenti l’aumento della superficie dei picchi rispetto alla temperatura di 30°C risulta essere molto elevato (?70%). La riproducibilità dei valori delle superfici dei picchi sia dei dipeptidi istidinici che dei loro componenti risulta elevata, con un bassissimo coefficiente di variazione a tutte le temperature utilizzate, mostrando come la reazione di derivatizzazione sia altamente stabile. Questi dati mostrano come l’incremento di sensibilità e quindi della superficie del picco al variare della temperatura di derivatizzazione ed a parità di concentrazione sia ridotto per i dipeptidi istidinici mentre sia notevolmente elevato per i loro componenti. In conclusione questa ricerca mostra come con l’aumentare della temperatura sia possibile aumentare l’efficienza, la sensibilità e l’accuratezza della metodica HPLC usata per la determinazione di questi composti che risultano presenti in molti compartimenti dell’organismo in concentrazioni ampiamente variabili in quanto specie specifiche ed anche quantitativamente molto ridotte specialmente per quanto riguarda la 3-metil-l-istidina. SUMMARY The aim of this research was to make the o-phthalaldehyde (OPA) post-column derivatisation at different temperatures of histidine dipeptides (carnosine, anserine), L-histidine and 3-methyl-L-histidine to establish which temperature is the best to obtain highest sensibility of detection of this compounds. As regard anserine and carnosine, results showed that the best temperature of derivatisation reaction was between 45°C - 50°C for anserine and between 35-45 °C for carnosine with an increase of peak area of 9% respect to temperature of 30 °C. For L-histidine and 3-methyl-Lhistidine this research showed that the optimal temperature was between 55°C - 60°C with an increase of peak area at every temperature of derivatisation reaction (R2=0,998 for L-histidine and R2=0,999 for 3-methyl-L-histidine). For this latter the increase of peak area respect to temperature of 30 °C was more of 70 %. The reproducibility of the method (for histidine dipeptides, L-histidine and 3-methyl-Lhistidine) was very high with a very low coefficient of variation at all temperatures of derivatisation; it showed that the derivatisation reaction was very stable. Therefore all data showed that the increase of sensibility (associated to growing of temperature) was very high for histidine and 3-methyl-L-histidine while it was reduced for histidine dipeptides. In conclusion this research showed that the increase of derivatisation. temperature permitted to obtain an higher sensibility efficiency of HPLC method used for detection of histidine dipeptides that are present in animal tissues at different and very low concentrations
Emotion Recognition in Preterm and Full-Term School-Age Children
No full textChildren born preterm (<37 weeks' gestation) show a specific vulnerability for socio-emotional difficulties, which may lead to an increased likelihood of developing behavioral and psychiatric problems in adolescence and adulthood. The accurate decoding of emotional signals from faces represents a fundamental prerequisite for early social interactions, allowing children to derive information about others' feelings and intentions. The present study aims to explore possible differences between preterm and full-term children in the ability to detect emotional expressions, as well as possible relationships between this ability and socio-emotional skills and problem behaviors during everyday activities. We assessed 55 school-age children (n = 34 preterm and n = 21 full-term) with a cognitive battery that ensured comparable cognitive abilities between the two groups. Moreover, children were asked to identify emotional expressions from pictures of peers' faces (Emotion Recognition Task). Finally, children's emotional, social and behavioral outcomes were assessed with parent-reported questionnaires. The results revealed that preterm children were less accurate than full-term children in detecting positive emotional expressions and they showed poorer social and behavioral outcomes. Notably, correlational analyses showed a relationship between the ability to recognize emotional expressions and socio-emotional functioning. The present study highlights that early difficulties in decoding emotional signals from faces may be critically linked to emotional and behavioral regulation problems, with important implications for the development of social skills and effective interpersonal interactions
Synchrony of Caresses: Does Affective Touch Help Infants to Detect Body-Related Visual–Tactile Synchrony?
No full textBodily self-awareness, that is the ability to sense and recognize our body as our own, involves the encoding and integration of a wide range of multisensory and motor signals. Infants’ abilities to detect synchrony and bind together sensory information in time and space critically contribute to the process of gradual bodily self-awareness. In particular, early tactile experiences may have a crucial role in promoting self-other differentiation and developing bodily self-awareness. More specifically affective touch, slow and gentle touch linked to the neurophysiologically specialized system of C-tactile afferents, provides both information about the body from within (interoception) and outside (exteroception), suggesting it may be a key component contributing to the experience of bodily self-awareness. The present study aimed to investigate the role of affective touch in the formation and modulation of body perception from the earliest stages of life. Using a preferential looking task, 5-month-old infants were presented with synchronous and asynchronous visuo–tactile body-related stimuli. The socio-affective valence of the tactile stimuli was manipulated by means of the velocity [CT-optimal (slow) touch vs. CT-suboptimal (fast) touch] and the source of touch (human hand vs. brush). For the first time, we show that only infants that were stroked using a brush at slow velocity displayed a preference for the visual–tactile synchronous video, suggesting that CT-optimal touch might help infants to detect body-related visual–tactile synchrony, independently from the source of touch. Our results are in line with findings from adults and indicate that affective touch might have a critical role in the early development of bodily self-awareness
Effetto dell’esercizio sulla cortisolemia ed insulinemia in trottatori giovani ed adulti
No full textLa Chiesa dell' Emilia-Romagna
No full textTratta della formazione e trasformazione delle diocesi nella regione emiliano-romagnola, a seguito della cristianizzazione durante il periodo tardo antico; la loro dipendenza dalla metropoli prima romana, poi milanese e infine ravennate; la istituzione, in epoca moderna, di più arcidiocesi. Sono stati presi in esame le strutture pastorali (pievi e parrocchie), le istituzioni monastiche, i santuari; i concili e sinodi di grande rilevanza storica. Infine sono state tratteggiate le figure storiche più note: papi, uomini di cultura, di governo ecclesiastico e della carità, che agirono lungo i secoli nella regione
Intermediate states in the binding process of folic acid to folate receptor α: Insights by molecular dynamics and metadynamics
No full textFolate receptor α (FRα) is a cell surface, glycophosphatidylinositol-anchored protein which has focussed attention as a therapeutic target and as a marker for the diagnosis of cancer. It has a high affinity for the dietary supplemented folic acid (FOL), carrying out endocytic transport across the cell membrane and delivering the folate at the acidic pH of the endosome. Starting from the recently reported X-ray structure at pH 7, 100 ns classical molecular dynamics simulations have been carried out on the FRα-FOL complex; moreover, the ligand dissociation process has been studied by metadynamics, a recently reported method for the analysis of free-energy surfaces (FES), providing clues on the intermediate states and their energy terms. Multiple dissociation runs were considered to enhance the configurational sampling; a final clustering of conformations within the averaged FES provides the representative structures of several intermediate states, within an overall barrier for ligand escape of about 75 kJ/mol. Escaping of FOL to solvent occurs while only minor changes affect the FRα conformation of the binding pocket. During dissociation, the FOL molecule translates and rotates around a turning point located in proximity of the receptor surface. FOL at this transition state assumes an "L" shaped conformation, with the pteridin ring oriented to optimize stacking within W102 and W140 residues, and the negatively charged glutamate tail, outside the receptor, interacting with the positively charged R103 and R106 residues, that contrary to the bound state, are solvent exposed. We show that metadynamics method can provide useful insights at the atomistic level on the effects of point-mutations affecting functionality, thus being a very promising tool for any study related to folate-targeted drug delivery or cancer therapies involving folate uptake
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