3,522 research outputs found
Reconstruction of partially amputated external ear with costal cartilage graft: case report.
No full textMany causes are responsible for secondary anomalies of the outer ear, such as: car accidents, sport- or work-related accidents, assaults, bites from animals or humans, benign or malignant tumours, burns and the effects of surgical interventions of the ear (plastic surgery on the ear or attempts at correction of primary malformations of the ear). The anatomical complexity of the ear makes its reconstruction particularly complicated with post-operative results that are often disappointing. The Authors describe their experience in the reconstruction of a partially amputated outer ear following a dog bite. The therapeutic protocol required various surgical stages. Initially, a cutaneous expander was applied at the level of the mastoid in order to ensure a sufficient quantity of local skin. The second stage was to remove cartilage from the ribs, followed by construction of a cartilaginous model of the ear and its insertion into the subcutaneous mastoid region after removal of the cutaneous expander and any residual ear cartilage. The last stage was to separate the neo-formed outer ear from the mastoid skin with the insertion of a cartilage graft to the posterior region of the reconstructed ear. This graft was covered by the occipital fascia rotated at 180 degrees and by a skin graft removed from the pubis. The postoperative result was satisfactory with recuperation of a good aesthetic appearance of the ear. Aim of the present report is to describe the surgical technique employed in the reconstruction of secondary anomalies of the ear and to highlight errors committed during this procedure. These considerations have allowed us to stress some fundamental elements in the reconstruction of the ear. In particular, the watershed was the awareness that we had to create a cartilaginous model that respected, as far as possible, the anatomy of the outer ear with all its ridges, trenches and cavities. This as well as ensuring a sufficient quantity of local skin in order to cover the cartilaginous graft and, therefore, reduce the risk of exposing the cartilage and subsequent infection, to guarantee an optimal end result
Spazio urbano e identità culturale. Note sul pensiero di J. M. Lotman
No full textL'articolo propone una ricostruzione critica e teorica del ruolo occupato dalla semiotica dello spazio urbano e dai modelli strutturali dello spazio nelle teorie semiotiche della scuola russa, ed in particolare nel pensiero di J. M. Lotman, il fondatore della scuola semiotica di Tartu-Mosca. Fine dell'articolo è mostrare i punti di connessione del pensiero lotmaniano con le teorie strutturali elaborate nell'ambito francese a partire dagli studi di F. de Saussure e L. Hjelmslev contribuendo ad una storia della semiotica nell'ambito della teoria del linguaggio
New view in the mammary asymmetry treatments [Nuove prospettive nel trattamento delle asimmetrie mammarie]
No full textAim. Breast asymmetry is a huge chapter of breast abnormalities. Surgical therapy is the exclusive one. The breast of women can vary in shape, volume and position, thus creating esthetic, social and psychological problems. Methods. We classified breast asymmetry into 6 categories and then we treated them with different surgical techniques: reduction mammaplasty according to Planas; augmentation mammaplasty with prosthesis; grafts or both; ultimately mammaprosthesis (association of mastopessy and prosthesis). We obtained satisfactory esthetic results often with one surgery procedure. Rarely we performed 2 or more procedures of symmetry. We treated 77 patients suffering from breast asymmetry. We excluded in this study the gigantomastic asymmetry (anomaly determined by severe and asymmetric mammary hypertrophy). Results. We found a low number of complications at short and long term. These results are likely due to the ability of the surgeon in the appropriated preoperative evaluation of the patients and of their expectancy and correct surgical techniques. Conclusion. We tried to obtain 3 results: shape and position of the sick breast as same as possible to the contralateral breast and less evident scars located in hidden regions
"Nuovi" processi migratori in Italia: fuga di cervelli o circolazione di talenti?
No full textScopo di questo contributo è quello di cercare di analizzare, attraverso l’interpre-
tazione dei dati disponibili, le principali caratteristiche quantitative e qualitative di
questo fenomeno. Si cercherà così di indagare quali siano le cause che generano tali
flussi, per comprendere se esse siano legate soprattutto alla crisi economica, politica e
culturale, che attualmente affligge in particolare l’Europa o se siano dettate, in qualche
misura, da fattori di natura più strutturale, connaturati alla situazione economica, poli-
tica e istituzionale del nostro Paese. A riguardo, si prenderà in considerazione anche la
capacità dell’Italia di attirare “cervelli” dal resto del mondo, tentando di identificare i
più importanti ed influenti fattori di attrazione, in generale, e la loro significatività al
livello nazionale. Si cercherà, inoltre, di comprendere quando la libera circolazione dei
cervelli tra le diverse aree geografiche del mondo costituisca un processo “naturale” e
virtuoso, elemento caratterizzante di un mondo globalizzato e quando esso alimenti
invece dinamiche cumulative dagli impatti complessivamente negativi sul tessuto pro-
duttivo, ma anche sociale e culturale. Altri aspetti che saranno oggetto di studio del
presente lavoro riguardano la tipologia delle misure di carattere politico e normativo
che possono essere adottate per arginarlo
A comparative study between spermine oxidase and bovine serum amine oxidase in differential scanning calorimetry and on cytotoxicity on cancer cell lines
No full textSpermine oxidase (SMO) is a FAD-containing enzyme while bovine serum amine-oxidase (BSAO) is a copper amine oxidase and both are able to oxidize polyamines. They play a dominant role in the highly regulated mammalian polyamines catabolism. Spermine oxidase specifically oxidizes spermine (SPM) producing spermidine (SPD), the reactive oxygen species H2O2 and the aldehyde 3-aminopropanal, each with the potential to produce cellular damages and pathologies (1). BSAO deaminates SPM and SPD to H2O2, aldehyde acrolein and ammonia. Since SPM represents a common substrate for SMO and BSAO enzymatic activities, a comparative study was performed on both enzymes in presence of SPM on several tumor cell lines melanoma (M14) and colon adenocarcinoma (LoVo) wild type and their MDR counterparts. SPM is a tetramine that plays mandatory roles in several cell functions, such as DNA synthesis, cellular proliferation, modulation of ion channels function and cellular signaling (1). Our previous studies demonstrated that BSAO and SPM added to human cancer cells induce cytotoxicity and overcome the MDR phenotype (2). We have performed in vitro experiments treating the above human cancer cell lines both phenotype wild type and MDR with SMO in presence of several concentrations of SPM (0-80 μM) for 60 min at 37°C. Cytotoxicity induced by SPM oxidation metabolites, such as H2O2 and the aldehyde 3-aminopropanal, was greater in MDR cells than in the corresponding wild-type ones (WT), maybe due to an increased mitochondrial activity. To get structural information a comparative study was also carried out on both enzymes, by differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) (3). The thermal stability of BSAO and SMO is studied by differential scanning calorimetry with a MicroCal MC-2D instrument. Differential scanning calorimetry permits detection of overall changes in protein structure correlated with changes in thermal stability of one or more calorimetric domains. This is particularly important in the case of BSAO and SMO, proteins for which only a little structural information is available. Our previous studies demonstrated that the thermal denaturation profile of the dimeric BSAO is characterized by three distinct endothermic peaks (Tm 58°C, 71.3°C, 77.9°C) (3). The deconvolution of the thermal profile required five two-state transitions, revealed for the dimeric protein a five domain structure, while the monomeric SMO displays one single, endothermic peak (Tm 63°C). The peak may be deconvoluted into two transitions and reveals the presents of two non similar size calorimetric domains: the lowest temperature domain is described by a non two-state transition and the highest temperature domain is described by a two-state transition. The thermal denaturation is irreversible after heating to 100°C.
Since the treatments with BSAO/SPM and SMO/SPM increased the amount of reactive oxygen species (ROS) inside the cells, higher in MDR than WT ones, we hypothesize that the enhancement of amine oxidase activity in tissues, undergoing pathological proliferative phenomena, may reasonably be exploited in the treatment of neoplastic diseases, mainly against MDR tumors.
References:
1- Cervelli M, Amendola R, Polticelli F, Mariottini P (2012). Spermine oxidase ten years later , AminoAcids 42 :441-450
2-Agostinelli, E., Condello, M., Molinari, A., Tempera, G., Viceconte, N., Arancia, G. (2009)
Cytotoxicity of spermine oxidation products to multidrug resistant melanoma M14 ADR2 cells:
Sensitization by the MDL 72527 lysosomotropic compound
International Journal of Oncology 35: 485-498
3) Giartosio A, Agostinelli E and Mondovì B (1988). Domains in bovine serum amine oxidase.
Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm. 154: 66-72
ITS2 RRNA EVOLUTION AND ITS CONGRUENCE WITH THE PHYLOGENY OF MURICID NEOGASTROPODS (CENOGASTOPODA, MURICOIDEA)
No full textRegimi alimentari e regimi politici. Il caso del fascismo italiano
No full textL’obiettivo di questo contributo è riflettere sul rapporto fra regimi alimentari e regimi politici conside-rando come caso di studio il fascismo italiano.Cercheremo di mettere in evidenza la molteplicità del rapporto fra regime politico e regimi alimentari utilizzando il quadrato delle assiologie di consumo elaborato da J. M. Floch (1990) come una bussola concettuale, articolando attraverso di esso –in modo certamente parziale, dati i limiti di questo lavoro –i regimi alimentari proposti alcuni testi dell’epoca, tutti legati, sebbene in forme molto diverse (e per-sino violandone le regole), al genere discorsivo del ricettario.Sarà così possibile osservare come dalla messa in correlazione della cucina futurista, di quella quoti-diana della “massaia italiana”e di quella “di guerra” –tutte e tre oggetto di pubblicazioni durante il regime fascista –emergano forme molto diverse di valorizzazione del cibo edell’atto culinario, ma che si muovono sempre sul crinale della relazione fra dimensione pratica e medicalizzazione utopica della cucina, con significative ibridazioni fra questi due campi e l’apparizione –accanto alla dimensione utopica –del tentativo futurista di fare del cibo una opera d’arte e del suo consumo una forma di vita ludico-artistica
Comparative structure analysis of vertebrate U17 small nucleolar RNA (snoRNA)
No full textIntron-encoded U17 RNA is a member of the
H/ACA box class of small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs)
involved in ribosomal RNA (rRNA) maturation. U17
snoRNA shows typical characteristics of guide RNAs,
which specify sites of pseudouridylation on the precursor
rRNA (pre-rRNA). However, in spite of the presence of
H and ACA boxes and short regions complementary to
the pre-rRNA, its secondary structure does not show any
evident pseudouridylation pocket. Moreover, its length is
larger than the typical one of snoRNAs and it shows a
more complex secondary structure compared to the canonical
hairpin–hinge–hairpin–tail architecture. Greater
knowledge of eukaryotic U17 snoRNA structure is
needed to understand its precise function. Comparative
molecular studies of this snoRNA with different vertebrates
is still limited to a few cases. With the aim of
increasing our understanding of the U17 snoRNA secondary
structure, we cloned the U17 snoRNA coding
sequence from 10 additional vertebrate taxa. On the basis
of structure homology derived from sequence comparison
and thermodynamic prediction, we propose a vertebrate
consensus secondary structure and novel conserved
sequence boxes for U17 snoRNA. Host gene localization
of U17 coding sequence and its ability to serve as a guide
sequence for RNA/RNA interaction has been evolutionarily
traced from fish to mammals. It is interesting to
note that turtle U17 snoRNAs show a noncanonical ACA box, mainly consisting in the GCA box. Microinjections
in X. laevis oocytes of in vitro synthesized turtle transcripts
containing the U17 RNA sequence which have
canonical ACA, wild-type GCA, and mutated CCA and
UCA boxes resulted in efficient production of mature
U17 snoRNA
La politica dell’intervento pubblico nell’ordinamento italiano. La programmazione fra Costituzione economica italiana e Costituzione europea
No full textWhere Do the Brainy Italians Go?
No full textThis paper studies the major determinants that affect the country choice of the talented Italian scientists and researchers who have at least a bachelor’s from Italy and live abroad. There are three alternative country choices: the US/Canada, the UK, and other EU countries. On average, the brainy Italians exhibit a higher predicted probability to go to the US. Ceteris paribus, both push and pull factors are important. While having a Ph.D. from outside Italy predicts the UK choice, having extra working experience from outside Italy predicts migration to other EU countries. Those who stay abroad temporarily for two to four years are definitely more likely to go to the UK. Specialization in the fields of humanities, social sciences, and health are strong determinants of migration to the UK. For the move to the US, while the humanities area is a significant deterrent, health is a positive deciding factor. Lack of funds in Italy constitutes a significant push to the US.brain drain, skilled migration, Italy, push-pull factors
- …
