1,135 research outputs found
Exploiting the molecular diversity of the synapse to investigate neuronal communication: A guide through the current toolkit
No full textChemical synapses are tiny and overcrowded environments, deeply embedded inside brain tissue and enriched with thousands of protein species. Many efforts have been devoted to developing custom approaches for evaluating and modifying synaptic activity. Most of these methods are based on the engineering of one or more synaptic protein scaffolds used to target active moieties to the synaptic compartment or to manipulate synaptic functioning. In this review, we summarize the most recent methodological advances and provide a description of the involved proteins as well as the operation principle. Furthermore, we highlight their advantages and limitations in relation to studies of synaptic transmission in vitro and in vivo. Concerning the labelling methods, the most important challenge is how to extend the available approaches to the in vivo setting. On the other hand, for those methods that allow manipulation of synaptic function, this limit has been overcome using optogenetic approaches that can be more easily applied to the living brain. Finally, future applications of these methods to neuroscience, as well as new potential routes for development, are discussed
Bacteriophages and Their Immunological Applications against Infectious Threats
No full textBacteriophage therapy dates back almost a century, but the discovery of antibiotics led to a rapid decline in the interests and investments within this field of research. Recently, the novel threat of multidrug-resistant bacteria highlighted the alarming drop in research and development of new antibiotics: 16 molecules were discovered during 1983–87, 10 new therapeutics during the nineties, and only 5 between 2003 and 2007. Phages are therefore being reconsidered as alternative therapeutics. Phage display technique has proved to be extremely promising for the identification of effective antibodies directed against pathogens, as well as for vaccine development. At the same time, conventional phage therapy uses lytic bacteriophages for treatment of infections and recent clinical trials have shown great potential. Moreover, several other approaches have been developed in vitro and in vivo using phage-derived proteins as antibacterial agents. Finally, their use has also been widely considered for public health surveillance, as biosensor phages can be used to detect food and water contaminations and prevent bacterial epidemics. These novel approaches strongly promote the idea that phages and their proteins can be exploited as an effective weapon in the near future, especially in a world which is on the brink of a “postantibiotic era.
Mapping hailstorm damage on winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) using a microscale UAV hyperspectral approach
No full textHailstorms pose a direct threat to agriculture, often causing yield losses and worseningfarmers’ agricultural activity. Traditional methods of hail damage estimation, conducted byinsurance field inspectors, have been questioned due to their complexity, partial subjectiv-ity, and lack of accounting for spatial variability. Therefore, remote sensing integration inthe estimation process could provide a valuable aid. The focus of this study was on winterwheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and its response to damage in the near-infrared (NIR) spec-tral region, with a particular emphasis on the study of brown pigments as a proxy for yielddamage estimation and mapping. An experiment was conducted during two cropping sea-sons (2020–2021 and 2021–2022) at two sites, simulating hail damage at critical floweringand milky stages using a specifically designed prototype machinery with low, medium, andhigh damage gradients compared to undamaged conditions in plots with a minimum of 400m 2 area. After the damage simulation, hyperspectral visible-NIR reflectance was measuredwith Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) flights, and measurements of chlorophyll and of leafarea index (LAI) were contextually taken. Final yield per treatment was recorded using acombine. An increase in absorbance in the NIR region (780–950 nm) was observed andevaluated using a spectral mixture analysis (SMA) after selecting representative damagedand undamaged vegetation spectra to map the damage. The abundance of damaged end-member pixels per treatment resulted in a good relationship with the final yield (R2 = 0.73),identifying the most damaged areas. The absorbance feature was further analysed with anewly designed multispectral index (TAI), which was tested against a selection of indicesand resulted in the highest relationship with the final yield (R2 = 0.64). Both approacheswere effective in highlighting the absorbance feature over different dates and developmentstages, defining an effective mean for hailstorm damage mapping in winter wheat
Jacopo Sadoleto: De Laocoontis statua (1506) (FONTES 5)
No full textWhen the statue of Laocoon and his two sons in the clutch of the serpents was discovered near the Colosseum at the beginning of 1506 the excitement was great, and young Jacopo Sadoleto, later a cardinal, then a devoted humanist, composed a poem on this masterpiece based on classical verse. Sadoleto’s text is not without echoes of Vergil’s famous lines about Laocoon and his fate, and with an astonishingly independent judgment on the quality of the subject. This text has been printed in various modern publications on Sadoleto, respect to the Laocoon, but only the edition by the present author, produced in 1992, offered a critical text based on a comparison of all extant printed versions from the 16th and 17th centuries, along with a brief linguistic commentary. Since no other attempt to recover the original text and no more recent commentary have hitherto appeared, the text and commentary of the 1992 publication are here reprinted in a partly abridged, partly enlarged form in order to provide the interested scholar with a reliable text and some linguistic basics as materials for further interpretation
Influence of the nature of the electrode material and process variables on the kinetics of the chlorine evolution reaction. (I) The case of IrO2-based electrocatalysts
No full textKinetic studies on the chlorine evolution reaction (ChlER) on oxide-based materials have been the subject of a number of papers since the seventies, following the introduction of DSAs (Dimensionally Stable Anodes) in chlor-alkali plants. On the basis of experimental data, different pathways have been proposed for the reaction over the years. Actually, specific experimental conditions and different approaches in sample preparation may lead to conflicting explanations. In the present paper, the ChlER kinetics has been studied at four electrode materials based on iridium and titanium oxides (with a 1:2 molar ratio). Electrodes were synthetized at two temperatures (350 and 450 °C) and by two different preparation methods: physical vapor deposition (rf-magnetron sputtering) and a conventional sol-gel technique, using special precursors developed in our laboratory. Both methodologies guarantee a high level of reproducibility. As also observed by other authors, experimental data have shown a lack of linearity in Tafel plots, high b slopes and reaction orders with respect to chloride ≤ 1, which have been justified on the basis of a Volmer-Heyrovsky pathway, by considering a model proposed by Tilak and Conway in 1992. This approach highlighted the role of the adsorbed intermediates, also at low overpotentials, for all electrode materials. To analyze further the kinetics, Langmuir and Frumkin models for intermediates adsorption were considered. Values for the lateral interaction parameter g were estimated, which ranged between 1 and 10, in all cases. Concerning the effect of pH, its influence on the ChlER rate seems to be related only with electrode surface modifications, without any involvement of protons in the rate determining step of the process. A slight inhibiting effect was assessed, by increasing the protons concentration. Eventually, impedance spectroscopy analysis did not appear sensitive to intermediate adsorption, plausibly because of the low variation of the coverage within the Tafel region; a poorly resolved contribution related to porosity was found in the case of samples prepared at 350 °C.Kinetic studies on the chlorine evolution reaction (ChlER) on oxide-based materials have been the subject of a number of papers since the seventies, following the introduction of DSAs (Dimensionally Stable Anodes) in chlor-alkali plants. On the basis of experimental data, different pathways have been proposed for the reaction over the years. Actually, specific experimental conditions and different approaches in sample preparation may lead to conflicting explanations. In the present paper, the ChlER kinetics has been studied at four electrode materials based on iridium and titanium oxides (with a 1:2 molar ratio). Electrodes were synthetized at two temperatures (350 and 450 °C) and by two different preparation methods: physical vapor deposition (rf-magnetron sputtering) and a conventional sol-gel technique, using special precursors developed in our laboratory. Both methodologies guarantee a high level of reproducibility. As also observed by other authors, experimental data have shown a ..
I resti ossei animali provenienti dall’abitato dell’età del Ferro di Tortoreto-La Fortellezza (TE)
No full textI resti ossei animali analizzati in questo articolo provengono dallo scavo di Tortoreto-La Fortellezza (Teramo) effettuato negli scorsi anni Ottanta, che ha interessato un tratto marginale dell’insediamento situato sull’estrema propaggine meridionale della dorsale collinare. In particolare, si presentano le faune rinvenute nel deposito formatosi per lo scarico dei prodotti delle attività domestiche e per la sistemazione del pendio relativo all’abitato sviluppatosi nella prima età del Ferro
I resti ossei animali provenienti dall’abitato dell’età del Ferro di Tortoreto-La Fortellezza (TE)
No full textI resti ossei animali analizzati in questo articolo provengono dallo scavo di Tortoreto-La Fortellezza (Teramo) effettuato negli scorsi anni Ottanta, che ha interessato un tratto marginale dell’insediamento situato sull’estrema propaggine meridionale della dorsale collinare. In particolare, si presentano le faune rinvenute nel deposito formatosi per lo scarico dei prodotti delle attività domestiche e per la sistemazione del pendio relativo all’abitato sviluppatosi nella prima età del Ferro
Tempi funerari nella necropoli di Grotta Gramiccia. Problematiche e potenzialità della seriazione dei contesti nel rapporto con l'ideologia funeraria della prima età del Ferro
No full textLa necropoli di Grotta Gramiccia rappresenta il campione più rappresentativo delle attestazioni funerarie del panorama della prima età del Ferro all'antico centro etrusco di Veio. L'intervento intende approfondire alcuni aspetti metodologici legati all'analisi cronologica del sepolcreto mediante l'applicazione delle tecniche di seriazione con strumenti informatici
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