149 research outputs found

    Protocol for detecting mitochondria extracellular vesicles of brown adipose tissue in mice

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    Brown adipose tissue (BAT) is mitochondria rich, enabling high oxidative metabolism for non -shivering thermogenesis. The release of large/small extracellular vesicles (EVs) containing mitochondria or mitochondrial fragments, termed mitoEVs, may support mitochondrial quality control or intercellular communication. We present a protocol to isolate and characterize mito-EVs. We detail steps for BAT processing, cell debris removal, differential centrifugation (dC), and mitoEV analysis by flow cytometry and immunoblotting assays. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Rosina et al.

    I rilievi per la mostra e il libro su Biagio Rossetti

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    Nel 1960 Bruno Zevi diede alle stampe il volume Biagio Rossetti architetto ferrarese. Il primo urbanista moderno europeo. Nell’opera, che conta 727 pagine, sono presenti 200 disegni di rilievo riferibili ad una parte delle architetture indagate: si tratta di 19 edifici, di cui 12 civili e 7 sacri. In chiusura al volume Zevi sintetizza gli eventi che resero possibile la realizzazione prima della famosa mostra Identità di Biagio Rossetti, inaugurata il 28 giugno 1956 nel Ridotto del Teatro Comunale e, quattro anni dopo, dell’imponente libro, indicando i nomi di coloro che collaborarono all’iniziativa. L’autore cita la prof. Luisa Balboni sindaco di Ferrara, e l’assessore alle BB. AA. Mario Roffi che nel 1955 si rivolsero all’allora preside dell’Istituto Universitario di Architettura di Venezia, Giuseppe Samonà per celebrare il 440° anniversario della morte di Rossetti. Zevi afferma che «[...] gli studenti ed io accettammo con entusiasmo di ordinare una mostra: dedicai il mio corso al maestro ferrarese, mentre gli allievi del primo anno rilevarono vari monumenti, e quelli del secondo, con la guida del mio assistente dott. Giuseppe Mazzariol, svolsero indagini documentate in una serie di tesine.» Questo scritto propone alcune riflessioni sul ruolo del rilievo nella vicenda editoriale zeviana e nei suoi esiti.In 1960, Bruno Zevi published the book Biagio Rossetti architetto ferrarese. Il primo urbanista moderno europeo. In the 727 page long work, there are 200 survey drawings, some of which refer to the investigated architectures: these are 19 buildings (twelve non-religious and seven religious). At the end of the publication, Zevi summarizes the events that made the realization of the book possible before the famous exhibition Identità di Biagio Rossetti, inaugurated on June 28 1956 in the Ridotto of the Municipal Theater. Four years later, the imposing book indicated the names of those who collaborated in the initiative. The author quotes prof. Luisa Balboni, mayor of Ferrara, and the assessore BB. AA. Mario Roffi, who in 1955 contacted the then dean of the University Institute of Architecture in Venice, Giuseppe Samonà to celebrate the 440th anniversary of Rossetti's death. Zevi says "[...] the students and I enthusiastically accepted to organize an exhibition: I dedicated my course to the celebrated Ferrara architect, the first-year students surveyed various monuments, while those of the second year carried out documented investigations in a series of papers with the guidance of my assistant Dr Giuseppe Mazzariol." This paper offers some reflections on the survey's role in Zevy’s work and its outcomes

    Antioxidant property of Propofol in the ischemic and reperfused human skeletal muscle

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    Background. Oxygen-derived free radicals (ROS) are involved in tissue damage during muscle ischemia and reperfusion. Recent in vitro studies have demonstrated that a beneficial effect of Propofol (2,6 diisopropylphenol) lies on its free radical scavenging properties. The current study therefore examined whether Propofol is effective against the peroxidative damage induced by ROS in human skeletal muscle in the course of acute ischemia and reperfusion. Methods. A homogeneous group of patients (n=20) undergoing orthopedic surgery was subjected to handline tourniquet at 350 At for 60 min following by 20 min postischemic reperfusion. In skeletal muscle samples (m. vastus lat.) malondyaldeide (MDA), catalase (CAT) and uric acid levels were analyzed before tourniquet application, after 60 min of ischemia and then after 20 min following reperfusion. To ten subjects Propofol was supplied as bolus (5 mg/kg, body weight) during the ischemic interval. The tissue concentrations of MDA, CAT and Uric Acid were measured by spectrophotometric and phluorimetric methods comparing the values with the data obtained in an untreated group of patients (n = 10). Results. In all patients ischemic injury significantly increased MDA, and Uric Acid contents with a concomitant decrease in CAT levels. When reperfused the Propofol treated group showed an evident decrease in MDA Uric, and CAT gradients in respect of ischemic tissue. On the contrary rapid reoxygenation implies a highly significant increase in MDA as far as Uric Acid contents, while Catalase levels were unchanged. Conclusions. The current study demonstrated that in the human skeletal muscle Propofol attenuates the lipid peroxidation induced by ischemia and reperfusion and this beneficial action of Propofol is probably correlated with the free radical scavenging properties of this molecule

    Intraperitoneal Oxygen/Ozone Treatment Decreases the Formation of Experimental Postsurgical Peritoneal Adhesions and the Levels/Activity of the Local Ubiquitin-Proteasome System

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    We have investigated whether an oxygen/ozone (95%O2/5%O3) mixture would have potential against the formation of experimental postsurgical peritoneal adhesions. In two groups of rats, one control intraperitoneally injected with 3 mL/rat of O2 and one intraperitoneally injected with oxygen/ozone mixture (3 mL/rat equivalent to 300 μg/kg ozone), we induced a midline laparotomy and an enterotomy at the level of the ileum to encourage the formation of peritoneal adhesions. Samples were taken from the parietal peritoneal tissue to assess the formation of adhesions 0 and 10 days after the surgical procedure and to assess the levels of ubiquitin and 20S proteasome. We found decreased formation of postsurgical peritoneal adhesions after treatment of the rats with 300 μg/kg ozone associated with a decreased levels of ubiquitin and 20S proteasome subunit within the adhered tissue. Oxygen/ozone mixture is potentially useful for approaching the post-surgical peritoneal adhesions, and the UPS system is involved in this

    Money, politics and a future for the international financial system

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    In developing the architecture for a financial system, the challenge is to combine deregulation and safety nets against systemic failure with effective prudential regulation and oversight. The author analyzes three approaches to choosing an adequate regulatory framework for a financial system. a) Those most worried about panic and herd behavior tend to favor relatively extensive controls on financial institutions'activities, including controls on interest rates and on the volume and direction of lending. b) Those most concerned about moral hazard advocate abolishing controls and safety nets, seeing the solution is stronger market discipline and reduced powers and discretion for regulators. c) Mainstream opinion advocates a mix of measures, to both strengthen market discipline and improve regulatory oversight. The approach a county opts for depends on 1) which monetary and exchange rate regime it chooses, 2) whether it is more concerned about moral hazard or about panic and herd behavior, and 3) how the politics of reform shape its solutions. The author suggests a scenario for development of the global financial system over the next two or three decades that assumes that the final outcome will resemble the market solution - not because that is the optimal policy choice but because of how political weakness will interact with advances in settlement technology. In the author's scenario, the world moves toward a monetary system in which fixed exchange rate systems or de facto currency competition limit the power of central banks. This limits options for discretionary and open-ended liquidity support to help deal with systemic financial crises. The costs of inflexible exchange rates are moderated by new types of wage contracts, using units of account that are correlated with the shocks a particular industry or kind of contract faces -- thus maintaining the positive aspects of monetary systems with flexible nominal exchange rates. Mistrust in monetary authorities and the emergence of private settlements lead to a return of asset-backed money as the means of payment. The disciplines on financial systems come to resemble somewhat those of historical"free banking"systems, with financial institutions requiring high levels of equity and payments systems protected only by limited, fully funded safety nets.Banks&Banking Reform,Fiscal&Monetary Policy,Financial Intermediation,Payment Systems&Infrastructure,Economic Theory&Research,Banks&Banking Reform,Economic Theory&Research,Macroeconomic Management,Financial Intermediation,Financial Economics

    The hidden author: an interpretation of Petronius' Satyricon

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    The Satyricon of Petronius, a comic novel written in the first century A.D., is famous today primarily for its amazing banquet tale, "Trimalchio's Feast." But this episode is only one part of the larger picture of life during Nero's rule presented in the work. In this accessible discussion of Petronius's masterful use of parody, Gian Biagio Conte offers an interpretation of the Satyricon as a whole. He combines the scholarly precision of close reading with a significant, original theoretical model.At the heart of his interpretation, Conte reveals the technique of the "hidden author" that Petronius employs at the expense of his characters, in particular the teller of the story, Enclopius. By remaining hidden outside the narrative, Petronius invites the reader to smile at the folies de grandeur that occur in a culture of scholars and declaimers. Yet as Conte shows, behind the parody and inexhaustible humor of the Satyricon lies an unexpectedly serious lament. For those familiar with the Satyricon, as well as for new readers, Conte's book will be a reliable, enjoyable guide to the wonders the Satyricon contains
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