50 research outputs found
Mediologie decameroniane. Boccaccio e le origini dello spazio letterario moderno = Mediology of Decameron: Boccaccio and the origins of the modern literary space
No full textHow to read a classic of literature such as the Decameron through a mediological approach? According to a first reflection on the general structure of the work, the author investigates the reasons making the text a decisive moment of rupture and innovation in the history of communication and culture. Main issues concern: Firstly, the medium's invention we are used to calling "literature", through the abandonment of the late medieval forms of written textuality. Significant changes in the medium's structure are related with the silent reading spread, and with the new social life complexity in cities. Secondly, the awareness of the reality-phenomenon ambiguity, and the consequent need to face it through a full sensorial experience: With Boccaccio emerged a revanche of the image, imagination, eros, in contrast with the pressure of the logical order of the normative and allegorical writing, and that opposition was regulated giving narrative expression to open conflicts. Thirdly, the introduction of a particular storytelling technology based on the ambiguity of discourse and situations, being interpreted on several levels. Finally, the spaces metaphorical values: Florence, the plague city, as an overturning for a new necessary beginning; and the garden in the "cornice", as a recognition of the subject sensitive nature in its relationship with the world
Un unico Stato israelo-palestinese: l'inseguimento di un'utopia? Oltre la soluzione "a due Stati"
No full textNapoli e Pompei nell’Encyclopédie
No full textThe entries “Naples”, “Herculanum”, “Pompeii” in the Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers
(1751-1772) are of different lengths and depths. These are entries that on the one hand report some of the effects of the archeological
discoveries which amaze Europe during those years, while on the other they impose themselves as testimonies of some explanatory
techniques (and of some imperfections) which are typical of the ripest “encyclopedism”. Their author De Jaucourt carries out a dedicated
and significant work of construction and divulgation and he brings to the attention of the subscribers of the Encyclopédie the treasures
at the core of the Vesuvius land
Naples et Pompeii nell'Encyclopédie
No full textThe entries “Naples”, “Herculanum”, “Pompeii” in the Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers
(1751-1772) are of different lengths and depths. These are entries that on the one hand report some of the effects of the archeolo gical
discoveries which amaze Europe during those years, while on the other they impose themselves as testimonies of some explanatory
techniques (and of some imperfections) which are typical of the ripest “encyclopedism”. Their author De Jaucourt carries out a d edicated
and significant work of construction and divulgation and he brings to the attention of the subscribers of the Encyclopédie the treasures
at the core of the Vesuvius land
Surface Plasmon Resonance as a Tool for Ligand Binding Investigation of Engineered GPR17 Receptor, a G Protein Coupled Receptor Involved in Myelination
No full textThe aim of this study was to investigate the potential of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) spectroscopy for the measurement of real-time ligand-binding affinities and kinetic parameters for GPR17, a G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) of major interest in medicinal chemistry as potential target in demyelinating diseases. The receptor was directly captured, in a single-step, from solubilized membrane extracts on the sensor chip through a covalently bound anti-6x-His-antibody and retained its ligand binding activity for over 24 h. Furthermore, our experimental setup made possible, after a mild regeneration step, to remove the bound receptor without damaging the antibody, and thus to reuse many times the same chip. Two engineered variants of GPR17, designed for crystallographic studies, were expressed in insect cells, extracted from crude membranes and analyzed for their binding with two high affinity ligands: the antagonist Cangrelor and the agonist Asinex 1. The calculated kinetic parameters and binding constants of ligands were in good agreement with those reported from activity assays and highlighted a possible functional role of the N-terminal residues of the receptor in ligand recognition and binding. Validation of SPR results was obtained by docking and molecular dynamics of GPR17-ligands interactions and by functional in vitro studies. The latter allowed us to confirm that Asinex 1 behaves as GPR17 receptor agonist, inhibits forskolin-stimulated adenylyl cyclase pathway and promotes oligodendrocyte precursor cell maturation and myelinating ability
Functional Heterodimerization between the G Protein-Coupled Receptor GPR17 and the Chemokine Receptors 2 and 4: New Evidence
No full textGPR17, a G protein-coupled receptor, is a pivotal regulator of myelination. Its endogenous ligands trigger receptor desensitization and downregulation allowing oligodendrocyte terminal maturation. In addition to its endogenous agonists, GPR17 could be promiscuously activated by pro-inflammatory oxysterols and chemokines released at demyelinating lesions. Herein, the chemokine receptors CXCR2 and CXCR4 were selected to perform both in silico modelling and in vitro experiments to establish their structural and functional interactions with GPR17. The relative propensity of GPR17 and CXCR2 or CXCR4 to form homo- and hetero-dimers was assessed by homology modelling and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, and co-immunoprecipitation and immunoenzymatic assay. The interaction between chemokine receptors and GPR17 was investigated by determining receptor-mediated modulation of intracellular cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP). Our data show the GPR17 association with CXCR2 or CXCR4 and the negative regulation of these interactions by CXCR agonists or antagonists. Moreover, GPR17 and CXCR2 heterodimers can functionally influence each other. In contrast, CXCR4 can influence GPR17 functionality, but not vice versa. According to MD simulations, all the dimers reached conformational stability and negative formation energy, confirming the experimental observations. The cross-talk between these receptors could play a role in the development of the neuroinflammatory milieu associated with demyelinating events
A Critique of Pope Francis’s Laudato si’
No full textThis is a critique of Pope Francis’s encyclical Laudato si’. The author summarizes and examines Pope Francis’s description of the problem, analysis of the roots of the problem, and proposed solution of the problem within the context of the Roman Catholic tradition. The author concludes that the encyclical abandons rigorous argument, as it lists complaints without offering substantive alternatives
What Is Bioethics Without Christianity?
No full textThe author uses the essays in this issue as a springboard for making
three points. First, he argues that most, if not all, current institutional
versions of Christianity have failed to provide a meaningful framework for the
spiritual life. Second, he argues that there is no ethics other than
Judeo-Christian ethics and that there can be no bioethics other than
Judeo-Christian bioethics. Finally, he argues that the overriding issue we
face is not whether to address bioethical issues from a Christian perspective
or from a non-Christian perspective, but rather whether we shall address
biological and medical issues from an ethical or a scientific-technological
perspective
Cytochrome oxidase subunit VI of Trypanosoma brucei is imported without a cleaved presequence and is developmentally regulated at both RNA and protein levels
No full textMitochondrial respiration in the African trypanosome undergoes dramatic developmental stage regulation. This requires co-ordinated control of components encoded by both the nuclear genome and the kinetoplast, the unusual mitochondrial genome of these parasites. As a model for understanding the co-ordination of these genomes, we have examined the regulation and mitochondrial import of a nuclear-encoded component of the cytochrome oxidase complex, cytochrome oxidase subunit VI (COXVI). By generating transgenic trypanosomes expressing intact or mutant forms of this protein, we demonstrate that COXVI is not imported using a conventional cleaved presequence and show that sequences at the N-terminus of the protein are necessary for correct mitochondrial sorting. Analyses of endogenous and transgenic COXVI mRNA and protein expression in parasites undergoing developmental stage differentiation demonstrates a temporal order of control involving regulation in the abundance of, first, mRNA and then protein. This represents the first dissection of the regulation and import of a nuclear-encoded protein into the cytochrome oxidase complex in these organisms, which were among the earliest eukaryotes to possess a mitochondrion
