125 research outputs found
Fare spazio. Conversazione con Simona Bertozzi
No full textIn the fragmented panorama of contemporary performing arts, the work of the dancer and choreographer Simona Bertozzi is characterized by the rigorous and visionary interweaving of theoretical intention and scenic praxis. The present conversation aims to highlight acts of thought and operating procedures, in a gesture of extroversion that - without pretending in any way to exhaust its complexity - intends to provide some precise access keys to an untamed and scientific creative universe. Bertozzi analyzes in detail principles and methods of creation put into action in the different training and creative contexts in which she operates, explaining the basic elements of a practice that is constituted by "rigor, amazement, resonance, wonder".Nel frammentato panorama della danza e delle arti performative contemporanee, il percorso della danzatrice e coreografa Simona Bertozzi si caratterizza per il rigoroso e visionario intreccio fra intenzionalità teorica e prassi scenica. La presente conversazione cerca di mettere in luce atti di pensiero e procedure operative, in un gesto di estroflessione che - senza pretendere in alcun modo di esaurirne la complessità - intende fornire alcune precise chiavi di accesso a un universo creativo indomito e scientifico. Bertozzi analizza dettagliatamente poetiche, principi e modalità di creazione messi in azione nei diversi contesti, formativi e/o produttivi in cui si trova a operare, esplicitando gli elementi basilari di una prassi che si costituisce di «rigore, stupore, risonanza, meraviglia»
Threonine aldolase and alanine racemase: novel examples of convergent evolution in the superfamily of vitamin B6-dependent enzymes
No full textVitamin B(6)-dependent enzymes may be grouped into five evolutionarily unrelated families, each having a different fold. Within fold type I enzymes, L-threonine aldolase (L-TA) and fungal alanine racemase (AlaRac) belong to a subgroup of structurally and mechanistically closely related proteins, which specialised during evolution to perform different functions. In a previous study, a comparison of the catalytic properties and active site structures of these enzymes suggested that they have a catalytic apparatus with the same basic features. Recently, recombinant D-threonine aldolases (D-TAs) from two bacterial organisms have been characterised, their predicted amino acid sequences showing no significant similarities to any of the known B(6) enzymes. In the present work, a comparative structural analysis suggests that D-TA has an alpha/beta barrel fold and therefore is a fold type III B(6) enzyme, as eukaryotic ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) and bacterial AlaRac. The presence of both TA and AlaRac in two distinct evolutionary unrelated families represents a novel and interesting example of convergent evolution. The independent emergence of the same catalytic properties in families characterised by completely different folds may have not been determined by chance, but by the similar structural features required to catalyse pyridoxal phosphate-dependent aldolase and racemase reactions
Unraveling Cell-Cell Communication in Fibromuscular Dysplasia: Insights from single-cell RNA sequencing in Ubr4 Knockout Mice
No full textL-Threonine aldolase, serine hydroxymethyltransferase and fungal alanine racemase. A subsgroup of strictly related enzymes specialized for different functions
No full textSerine hydroxymethyltransferase (SHMT) is a member of the fold type I family of vitamin B6-dependent enzymes, a group of evolutionarily related proteins that share the same overall fold. The reaction catalysed by SHMT, the transfer of Cbeta of serine to tetrahydropteroylglutamate (H4PteGlu), represents in the cell an important link between the breakdown of amino acids and the metabolism of folates. In the absence of H4PteGlu and when presented with appropriate substrate analogues, SHMT shows a broad range of reaction specificity, being able to catalyse at appreciable rates retroaldol cleavage, racemase, aminotransferase and decarboxylase reactions. This apparent lack of specificity is probably a consequence of the particular catalytic apparatus evolved by SHMT. An interesting question is whether other fold type I members that normally catalyse the reactions which for SHMT could be considered as 'forced errors', may be close relatives of this enzyme and have a catalytic apparatus with the same basic features. As shown in this study, l-threonine aldolase from Escherichia coli is able to catalyse the same range of reactions catalysed by SHMT, with the exception of the serine hydroxymethyltransferase reaction. This observation strongly suggests that SHMT and l-threonine aldolase are closely related enzymes specialized for different functions. An evolutionary analysis of the fold type I enzymes revealed that SHMT and l-threonine aldolase may actually belong to a subgroup of closely related proteins; fungal alanine racemase, an extremely close relative of l-threonine aldolase, also appears to be a member of the same subgroup. The construction of three-dimensional homology models of l-threonine aldolase from E. coli and alanine racemase from Cochliobolus carbonum, and their comparison with the SHMT crystal structure, indicated how the tetrahydrofolate binding site might have evolved and offered a starting point for further investigations
Molecular epidemiology and prevalence of mutations in Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains from an Italian northeastern area
No full textKaempferol glycosides from Lobularia maritima and their potential role in plant interactions
No full textSix kaempferol glycosides, four of them characterized for the first time, were isolated from the leaf extract of Lobularia maritima. The structural elucidation was performed by a combined approach using Electrospray-Ionization Triple-Quadrupole Mass-Spectrometric (ESI/TQ/MS) techniques, and 1D- and 2D-NMR experiments (1H, 13C, DEPT, DQ-COSY, TOCSY, ROESY, NOESY, HSQC, HMBC, and HSQC-TOCSY). The isolated kaempferol derivatives have different disaccharide substituents at C(3) and four of them have a rhamnose unit at C(7). To evaluate their potential allelopathic role within the herbaceous plant community, the compounds, as well as the aglycone obtained from enzymatic hydrolysis, have been tested in vitro on three coexisting plant species, Dactylis hispanica, Petrorhagia velutina, and Phleum subulatum. The results obtained allow us to hypothesize that the type of the sugar modulates the biological response. The bioassay data, analyzed by a multivariate approach, and grouping the compounds on the basis of the number of sugar units and the nature of carbohydrates present in the disaccharide moiety, indicate a structure - activity relationship. © 2009 Verlag Helvetica Chimica Acta AG, Zürich
Placental and Fetal Metabolic Reprogramming in Pregnancies with Intrauterine Growth Restriction
No full text: The high-altitude hypoxia model demonstrates that insufficiently oxygenated placentas activate compensatory mechanisms to ensure fetal survival, hinging on the transcription factor hypoxia-inducible factor-1. The aim of the present study is to investigate whether and when similar mechanisms are also activated during intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR). A retrospective observational study evaluated a series of umbilical cord blood samples, which provide a realistic representation of the fetal intrauterine status, collected from a cohort of preterm and term neonates, both affected and not affected by IUGR. Results demonstrate that preterm IUGR fetuses receive a lower supply of oxygen and glucose from the placenta, along with a greater provision of lactate and carbon dioxide compared to non-IUGR neonates. Simultaneously, preterm IUGR fetuses increase oxygen extraction and reduce lactate production. These differences between IUGR and non-IUGR placentas and fetuses disappear as the term of pregnancy approaches. In conclusion, this study suggests that hypoperfused placentas in preterm pregnancies with IUGR activate a metabolic reprogramming aimed at favoring glycolytic metabolism to ensure fetal oxygenation, even though the availability of glucose for the fetus is reduced. Consequently, preterm IUGR fetuses activate gluconeogenetic metabolic reprogramming, despite it being energetically expensive. These metabolic adaptations disappear in the last weeks of pregnancy, likely due to physiological placental aging that increases the fetoplacental availability of oxygen. Placental oxygenation appears to be the main driver of metabolic reprogramming; however, further studies are necessary to identify the underlying biological mechanisms modulated by oxygen
Design, synthesis and biological activity evaluation of peptide-based collagen turnover modulators
No full textAugmented Fine-Grained Defect Prediction for Code Review
No full textCode review is a widely used technique to support software quality. It is a manual activity, often subject to repetitive and tedious tasks that increase the mental load of reviewers and compromise their effectiveness. The developer-centered nature of code review can represent a bottleneck that does not scale in large systems with the consequence of com- promising firms’ profits. This challenge has led to an entire line of research on code review improvement.In this thesis, we present our results and remarks on the effectiveness of using fine- grained defect prediction in code review while investigating what are the information needs that lead a proper code review. We started reimplementing the state of the art of defect prediction to understand its replicability; then, we evaluated this model in a more realistic scenario that is typically considered. To improve defect prediction techniques, we come up with a fine-grained just-in-time defect prediction model that anticipates the prediction at commit time and reduces the granularity at the file level. After that, we explored how to improve further prediction performance by using alternative sources of information. We conducted a comprehensive investigation of code comments written by both open and closed source developers. Finally, to understand how to improve code review further, we explored from a reviewers’ perspective what is the information that reviewers need to lead a proper code review.Our findings show that the state of the art of defect prediction, when evaluated in a realistic scenario, cannot be directly used to support code review. Furthermore, we assessed that alternative sets of metrics, anticipated feedback, and fine-grained suggestions represent independent directions to improve prediction performance. Finally, we discovered that research must create intelligent tools that other than predict defects must satisfy actual reviewers’ needs, such as expert selection, splittable changes, realtime communication, and self summarization of changes.Software Engineerin
sj-docx-2-eso-10.1177_23969873241247745 – Supplemental material for Early seizures and risk of epilepsy and death after intracerebral haemorrhage: The MUCH Italy
No full textSupplemental material, sj-docx-2-eso-10.1177_23969873241247745 for Early seizures and risk of epilepsy and death after intracerebral haemorrhage: The MUCH Italy by Alessandro Pezzini, Barbara Tarantino, Marialuisa Zedde, Simona Marcheselli, Giorgio Silvestrelli, Alfonso Ciccone, Maria Luisa DeLodovici, Lucia Princiotta Cariddi, Simone Vidale, Maurizio Paciaroni, Cristiano Azzini, Marina Padroni, Massimo Gamba, Mauro Magoni, Massimo Del Sette, Rossana Tassi, Ivo Giuseppe De Franco, Anna Cavallini, Rocco Salvatore Calabrò, Manuel Cappellari, Elisa Giorli, Giacomo Giacalone, Corrado Lodigiani, Mara Zenorini, Francesco Valletta, Gianni Cutillo, Guido Bonelli, Giorgia Abrignani, Paola Castellini, Antonio Genovese, Lilia Latte, Maria Claudia Trapasso, Chiara Ferraro, Francesco Piancatelli, Rosario Pascarella, Ilaria Grisendi, Federica Assenza, Manuela Napoli, Claudio Moratti, Maurizio Acampa and Mario Grassi in European Stroke Journal</p
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