1,721,159 research outputs found
Il coinvolgimento degli artisti nel Teatro delle Orsoline 15 di Mario Ricci, 1962-1965. Il teatro come laboratorio concreto d'incontro con le arti visive
No full textIl saggio intende analizzare il contributo degli artisti visivi nel Teatro Immagine di Mario Ricci a Roma, fra il 1962 e il 1965. La versione del Nuovo Teatro italiano proposta da Mario Ricci tramite la collaborazione della neoavanguardia artistica si pone in un confine labile fra le modalità linguistiche delle arti visive e del teatro, dove il ruolo del pittore come scenografo muta e l'apparato scenico diviene accadimento scenico
Design Doing: The service designer role in a society where everybody designs
No full textThe article has the main aim of introducing the characters that define a new framework of practices for innovation that can be called “Design Doing”.
The so called “Design Doing” will provide a new course of action in which the Service Designer act as a professional that conceive ad hoc co-design paths to be carried out with the stakeholders in order to foster innovation
RT-QuIC analysis of peripheral tissues and body fluids collected from patients with primary and secondary tauopathies
Full text linkNeurodegenerative diseases(NDs)are fatal and incurable conditionscharacterized bythe progressive accumulation in specific brain regions of abnormally folded(misfolded)proteins, which are considered disease-specific biomarkers (DSB).These misfoldedproteins are able to spread through neuroanatomical connected regions and to accelerate the conformational conversion of native monomers (seeding), thus progressively amplifying the pathological process. Primary tauopathies are NDs associated withthe accumulation of misfolded tau and include Corticobasal degeneration (CBD), Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), Frontotemporal dementia and parkinsonism linked to chromosome 17 (FTDP-17) and other cases of Frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Alzheimer’s disease (AD) can be considered a secondary tauopathy as it is characterized by tau misfolding in addition to amyloid-β (Aβ) protein deposition. Synucleinopathies comprise a group of NDsassociated with the accumulation of misfolded α-synuclein (αS), including Parkinson’s disease (PD) and other atypical parkinsonisms known as Multiple system atrophy (MSA) and Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB).Given the overlap between clinical symptoms amongNDsand the lackofsensitive and specificdiagnostic tests, the definite diagnosis of NDs lay on neuropathological detectionof these misfolded proteinsin post-mortembrain tissues. However, recent findings have raised the possibility that trace-amount of DSBmight circulate in peripheral tissues and body fluids of affected individuals, thus constituting easily accessiblebiomarkers. For this reason, in my PhD projectweevaluated the ability of an extremely sensitivetechnique, named Real-Time Quaking Induced Conversion (RT-QuIC), to detect seeding activity of misfolded tau eventually present in peripheral tissues, such as olfactory mucosa (OM), and body fluids(urine and cerebrospinal fluid)collected from patients with clinical diagnosis of primary (FTDP-17, FTD, PSP, CBD) and secondary (AD) tauopathies.RT-QuIC assaywas optimized using a recombinant tau protein fragment named tauK18 (4R-tau)as substrate, whose aggregation was efficiently triggered(seeded) by the addition of minute amount (attograms) of tauK18 pre-formed fibrils (PFFs)previouslygenerated in vitro.We demonstrated that tauK18 RT-QuIC assay wasable to detect seeding activity of misfolded tau contained in brain samples of neuropathologically confirmed cases of FTDP-17, PSP,and AD. Thus, we performed RT-QuIC analysis of (i) OM, (ii) CSF and (iii) exosomes extracted from urine samples collected from patients with different primary and secondary tauopathies. As a comparison,we included in theanalysis samples belonging topatients with different synucleinopathies (PD,MSA,and DLB), Multiple sclerosis (MS), Non-demented patients (NDP) and healthy controls (HC). Results showed that tauK18 RT-QuIC assay was able to detect tau seeding activity in CBD and PSP OM samples, but also in some PD, MSA, DLB and MS cases. Similarly, RT-QuIC analysis of CSF samples displayed smalldifferences in tauseeding activity between AD and NDP cases. On the other hand, RT-QuIC analysis of urinary exosomes revealed that AD, FTD and CBD samples triggered tauK18 aggregation with higher efficiency if compared to HC, thus potentially discriminating between tauopathies and healthy subjects. We investigated the ability of PFFs generated in vitrofrom other NDs-associated proteins (3R-tau fragment named tauK19, αS, Aβ1-40,and Aβ1-42) to influence tauK18 aggregation (cross-seeding) and we found that some conformational variants of αS PFFs were able to cross-seed tauK18 aggregation, thus representing a potential issue for our assayand possibly explaining results obtained with theanalysis of OM samples. Moreover, preliminary structural analysis showed that final reaction productswere characterized by different morphologies when seeded by different (i) OM samples or by (ii) PFFs generated in vitrofrom tauK19, αS, Aβ1-40,and Aβ1-42, suggesting that biophysical assessments might help in discriminating between different seeding-competent samples. Although further retrospective analysis isrequired to confirm results obtained with ourtauK18 RT-QuIC assay, this preliminary study might lay the basis for the development of a new diagnostic approachwhich combines RT-QuIC and biophysical techniques to detect tau seeding activity in peripheral tissues and body fluids of patients with tauopathiesand to discriminatebetween different pathological conditions
Long Noncoding RNA “EPR” controls epithelial cell proliferation by coordinating CDKN1A transcription and mRNA decay in response to TGF-β
No full textLong noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are emerging as regulators of fundamental biological processes. Here we report on the functional characterization of an intergenic lncRNA (lincRNA) expressed in epithelial tissues which we termed EPR (Epithelial cell Program Regulator). EPR is rapidly downregulated by TGF-β and its sustained expression largely reshapes the transcriptome, favors the acquisition of epithelial traits, and reduces cell proliferation in cultured mammary gland cells as well as in an animal model of orthotopic transplantation. EPR generates a small peptide that localizes at epithelial cell junctions but the RNA molecule per se accounts for the vast majority of EPR-induced gene expression changes. Mechanistically, EPR interacts with chromatin and regulates Cdkn1a gene expression by affecting both its transcription and mRNA decay through its association with the transcription factor SMAD3 and the mRNA decay promoting factor KHSRP, respectively. We propose that EPR enables epithelial cells to control proliferation by modulating waves of gene expression in response to stimuli
Giovanni Carandente alla Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna di Roma (1955-1961)
No full textL'incarico di Giovanni Carandente come ispettore alle mostre alla Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna di Roma, nella seconda metà degli anni Cinquanta, sancisce l'inizio del suo impegno sistematico sul fronte della cultura artistica contemporanea, nel luogo che allora costituiva l'unica sede museale italiana a essa votata. In questo contesto, lo studioso arriva a dare con il suo operato un contributo fondamentale all'indirizzo espositivo e didattico promosso dall'allora direttrice, Palma Bucarelli, partecipando attivamente, così, a una delle fasi di maggiore militanza del museo nel proporre gli esiti più attuali dell'"arte moderna". Quella che emergerà non è la visione di uno storico dell'arte prestato occasionalmente a restituire i fatti salienti della realtà artistica contemporanea, ma l'azione di un vero e proprio critico militante alle prese con l'"aspro territorio dell'arte d'oggi".
Attraverso lo studio di fonti inedite, si è potuta restituire a Carandente la paternità di audaci scelte allestitive, come pure l'ideazione di cicli di conferenze didattiche capaci di presentare al pubblico alcuni temi al centro del dibattito storico-artistico contemporaneo. Sul fronte del programma espositivo sarà esemplare il caso della mostra di Jackson Pollock (1958), in occasione della quale lo studioso determina il modo i cui il pubblico è chiamato a interfacciarsi con la dirompente novità della pittura dello statunitense. Dal punto di vista del programma didattico emergeranno invece due tematiche ricorrenti su cui si impernia lo sguardo sul contemporaneo di Carandente: l'arte astratta presentata quale linguaggio proprio dell'attualità e il rinnovamento del teatro portato avanti dall'avanguardia artistica nel Novecento, con una particolare predilezione per il balletto, da lui inteso come una sorta di scultura in movimento
Corpi femminili e modelli culturali. L’educazione alimentare come strategia di prevenzione al conformismo
No full textThe Social Innovation Journey Toolbox
Full text linkSocial Innovation Incubation model developed by the EU funded project TRANSITION. It is a Journey into social innovation incubation: an evolving sequence of actions, activities and tools experimented by the TRANSITION Scaling Centres with the aim to help incubators and practitioners in developing their own journeys of scaling social innovation.
Inspired by the the Social Innovation Spiral by the Young Foundation and Nesta and shaped by POLIMI Desis Lab, who used their design expertise to develop and visualize the model, the Social Innovation Journey is conceived as action format, focusing on the sequence of steps social innovators may go through acquiring the skills and capabilities they need to grow and increase the level of positive impact on the wider society
The effect of pollination mode on seed performance of Gentiana lutea: A laboratory evaluation of seed germinability
No full textGentiana lutea L. (yellow gentian, Gentianaceae) is a protected orophyte of central and southern Europe, mainly threatened by the uncontrolled collection of its rhizome, used in traditional medicine and for liquor production. The species is self-compatible, but outcrossing mediated by pollinators is needed to obtain a viable progeny. In this study, we considered five natural populations belonging to the four subspecies of G. lutea. We performed controlled pollinations in the field (self- versus cross-pollination) followed by seed germination tests in laboratory conditions, adding a solution of gibberellic acid, in order to evaluate the seed performance. A cumulative index of inbreeding depression was calculated considering maternal reproductive output as well as seed performance traits. Seed weight and seed germination performance was similar between seeds resulting from naturally pollinated and pollen-augmented flowers and higher compared to selfed flowers, highlighting a disadvantage of selfing and the importance of cross-pollen transfer in natural conditions. However, in the small and isolated population of G. lutea subsp. symphyandra on Mt Grande we found a general reduction in seed germination rate, likely due to increased selfing or mating among close relatives as a consequence of a severe bottleneck. We discuss our results with regards to implications for conservation practices
CIMULACT (Citizen and Multi-Actor Consultation on Horizon 2020): first draft of social needs based research programme scenarios. An illustrated proposal for the set of research programmes addressing the overarching social needs derived from the citizens’ visions.
No full textCIMULACT engages citizens, along with a wide range of other actors, in redefining the European Research and Innovation agenda and thereby making it relevant and accountable to society. This report documents one important interim result of this co-creation process: the 48 drafts for social needs based research programmes, the so called “research programme scenarios”. These drafts formed the basis for developing the final research topics that CIMULACT suggests to be considered within Horizon 2020 or national research and innovation agendas
Biosystematic studies on the mountain plant Gentiana lutea L. reveal variability in reproductive traits among subspecies
No full textBackground: Taxonomic analysis provides a basic understanding for taxon identification and contributes to preliminary information for several branches of applied biology, while studies on reproductive strategies and plant fitness are essential to interpret population status and dynamics. Aims: We tested the reliability of diagnostic characters for identification and to characterise sexual resource allocation, the breeding system and seed predation among subspecies of Gentiana lutea. Methods: We analysed morphological characters in 70 herbarium specimens. In five natural populations we counted pollen and ovule numbers, assessed reproductive output after pollination treatments and evaluated pre-dispersal predation. Results: Taxonomic traits previously indicated as diagnostic were not sufficient to discriminate among subspecies. The pollen number and pollen:ovule (P:O) ratio varied strongly among subspecies; self-pollinated flowers produced a significantly lower number of seeds than open-pollinated flowers. Retention of empty fruits and high levels of pre-dispersal seed predation were observed in every case. Conclusions: The variation of P:O ratios among subspecies suggests different efficiency in pollen transfer. The species is self-compatible, nevertheless all subspecies require pollen vectors to enhance cross pollination and viable seed production. Fruit retention may have evolved as a strategy to reduce predation, ensuring higher plant fitness
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