The contribution focuses on the role of cities in the implementation of the so-called Green Deal, the ambitious program proposed by the European Commission, in accordance with the objectives set by ...the Paris Agreements, to implement the use of clean energy resources, favour the circular economy, restore biodiversity and reduce pollution. The Plan, which for the seven-year period 2021-2027 has a budget of economic resources of 100 billion Euro, aims to involve in transcalar perspective all territorial and administrative levels of the Member States and thus contribute to the achievement, in 2050, of climate neutrality. The main objective of the work is then to concentrate, with descriptive intent, on the policies that, in Italy, are being activated at local level in coherence with the European perspectives. In particular, reference will be made to the initiatives proposed and sponsored in Italy by the Committee of the Regions of which a critical overview is proposed. A further reflection will be dedicated to how digital innovation is called to support the macro-policies of energy transition in the EU.
On the 31 December 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) was informed of a cluster of cases of pneumonia of unknown origin detected in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China. The infection spread ...first in China and then in the rest of the world, and on the 11th of March, the WHO declared that COVID-19 was a pandemic. Taking into consideration the mortality rate of COVID-19, about 5-7%, and the percentage of positive patients admitted to intensive care units being 9-11%, it should be mandatory to consider and take all necessary measures to contain the COVID-19 infection. Moreover, given the recent evidence in different hospitals suggesting IL-6 and TNF-α inhibitor drugs as a possible therapy for COVID-19, we aimed to highlight that a dietary intervention could be useful to prevent the infection and/or to ameliorate the outcomes during therapy. Considering that the COVID-19 infection can generate a mild or highly acute respiratory syndrome with a consequent release of pro-inflammatory cytokines, including IL-6 and TNF-α, a dietary regimen modification in order to improve the levels of adiponectin could be very useful both to prevent the infection and to take care of patients, improving their outcomes.
Spermatozoa in animal species are usually highly elongated cells with a long motile tail attached to a head that contains the haploid genome in a compact and often elongated nucleus. In Drosophila ...melanogaster, the nucleus is compacted two hundred-fold in volume during spermiogenesis and re-modeled into a needle that is thirty-fold longer than its diameter. Nuclear elongation is preceded by a striking relocalization of nuclear pore complexes (NPCs). While NPCs are initially located throughout the nuclear envelope (NE) around the spherical nucleus of early round spermatids, they are later confined to one hemisphere. In the cytoplasm adjacent to this NPC-containing NE, the so-called dense complex with a strong bundle of microtubules is assembled. While this conspicuous proximity argued for functional significance of NPC-NE and microtubule bundle, experimental confirmation of their contributions to nuclear elongation has not yet been reported. Our functional characterization of the spermatid specific Mst27D protein now resolves this deficit. We demonstrate that Mst27D establishes physical linkage between NPC-NE and dense complex. The C-terminal region of Mst27D binds to the nuclear pore protein Nup358. The N-terminal CH domain of Mst27D, which is similar to that of EB1 family proteins, binds to microtubules. At high expression levels, Mst27D promotes bundling of microtubules in cultured cells. Microscopic analyses indicated co-localization of Mst27D with Nup358 and with the microtubule bundles of the dense complex. Time-lapse imaging revealed that nuclear elongation is accompanied by a progressive bundling of microtubules into a single elongated bundle. In Mst27D null mutants, this bundling process does not occur and nuclear elongation is abnormal. Thus, we propose that Mst27D permits normal nuclear elongation by promoting the attachment of the NPC-NE to the microtubules of the dense complex, as well as the progressive bundling of these microtubules.
Sudden cardiac death (SCD) represents about 25% of deaths in clinical cardiology. The identification of risk factors for SCD is the philosopher's stone of cardiology and the identification of ...non-invasive markers of risk of SCD remains one of the most important goals for the scientific community.The aim of this review is to analyze the state of the art around the heart rate variability (HRV) as a predictor factor for SCD.HRV is probably the most analyzed index in cardiovascular risk stratification technical literature, therefore an important number of models and methods have been developed.Nowadays, low HRV has been shown to be independently predictive of increased mortality in post- myocardial infarction patients, heart failure patients, in contrast with the data of the general population.Contrariwise, the relationship between HRV and SCD has received scarce attention in low-risk cohorts. Furthermore, in general population the attributable risk is modest and the cost/benefit ratio is not always convenient.The HRV evaluation could become an important tool for health status in risks population, even though the use of HRV alone for risk stratification of SCD is limited and further studies are needed.
The present contribution is based on the methodological approach and on the typical objectives of cultural geography that sees the cultural work as an important source to read the territorial and ...landscape contexts. Through this paper we then want to critically report about the 1954 short documentary Isole di Fuoco (Islands of Fire), awarded in Cannes, that the director Vittorio De Seta mainly shot on the volcanic island of Stromboli, in Sicily, during an eruption occurred in 1954.
Constitutive heterochromatin represents a significant portion of eukaryotic genomes, but its functions still need to be elucidated. Even in the most updated genetics and molecular biology textbooks, ...constitutive heterochromatin is portrayed mainly as the ‘silent’ component of eukaryotic genomes. However, there may be more complexity to the relationship between heterochromatin and gene expression. In the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, a model for heterochromatin studies, about one-third of the genome is heterochromatic and is concentrated in the centric, pericentric, and telomeric regions of the chromosomes. Recent findings indicate that hundreds of D. melanogaster genes can ‘live and work’ properly within constitutive heterochromatin. The genomic size of these genes is generally larger than that of euchromatic genes and together they account for a significant fraction of the entire constitutive heterochromatin. Thus, this peculiar genome component in spite its ability to induce silencing, has in fact the means for being quite dynamic. A major scope of this review is to revisit the ‘dogma of silent heterochromatin’.
In the most updated genetics and molecular biology textbooks, constitutive heterochromatin is regarded mainly as the silent component of eukaryotic genomes.In D. melanogaster hundreds of transcriptionally active genes can live and work properly within constitutive heterochromatin; a genomic environment with the long-term reputation of being inhospitable to transcription.Because the heterochromatic genes of D. melanogaster are large, a significant portion of constitutive heterochromatin in this model organism appears to be active, even though the absolute number of genes is small (<300 in a population of ~14 000). Thus, while constitutive heterochromatin appears condensed, much of it is accessible to transcription, contributing to the phenotype.Dynamic changes in epigenetic regulators, such as HP1, histone modifications, and chromatin remodelers, may play a role in the expression of D. melanogaster heterochromatic genes during cellular differentiation and development.
The nutrients and their potential benefits are a new field of study in modern medicine for their positive impact on health. Curcumin, the yellow polyphenolic compound extracted from Curcuma longa ...species, is widely used in traditional Ayurvedic medicine to prevent and contrast many diseases, considering its antioxidant, immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, cardio-protective, nephron-protective, hepato-protective, anti-neoplastic, and anti-rheumatic proprieties. In recent years, the investigations of curcumin have been focused on its application to aging and age-associated diseases. Aging is a physiological process in which there is a decreasing of cellular function due to internal or external stimuli. Oxidative stress is one of the most important causes of aging and age-related diseases. Moreover, many age-related disorders such as cancer, neuroinflammation, and infections are due to a low-grade chronic systemic inflammation. Curcumin acting on different proteins is able to contrast both oxidative stress than inflammation. In the brain, curcumin is able to modulate inflammation induced by microglia. Finally in brain tumors curcumin is able to reduce tumor growth by inhibition of telomerase activity. This review emphasizes the anti-aging role of curcumin focusing on its mechanism to counteract aging in the brain. Moreover, new formulations to increase the bioavailability of curcumin are discussed.
This paper aims to retrace, through a critic study of the scientific debate, the Belìce Valley’s territorial context after the 1968 violent earthquake and to identify the actual development ...perspectives of the area. By using official dataset and consolidated bibliography we identify the peculiar weakness of the socio-economical structure of Belìce Valley, a marginal territory of Sicily (Italy), when the earthquake stroke, but also the start of a local identity building process in the aftermath of the seism. We also recognize, in the LAG—Local Action Group—strategy, a possibility to strenghten, nowadays, the local development of the area through the utilization of its milieu and its own potentialities.
The objective of this study was to investigate the association between physical fitness and body mass index categories (obesity, OB; overweight, OW; normal-weight, NW; and underweight, UW) in ...prepubertal children. Anthropometric and physical fitness characteristics were collected from a convenience sample of 30472 Italian schoolchildren (6-11 years old). Six field-based tests were used: Léger, agility shuttle, long jump, frontal throw of the basketball, Sit & Reach and standing balance. Significant differences were found in the anthropometric characteristics, physical fitness and weight status prevalence between girls and boys (p<0.05) and, except for flexibility, by age class (p<0.05). Obese children performed worse than their NW counterparts in aerobic capacity (p<0.001), agility (p<0.001), muscular power of the lower limb (p<0.001) and balance (p<0.001). Conversely, children with obesity showed greater upper limb power than NW children (p<0.001). The discrepancy in physical fitness between OB and NW children increased in older girls (flexibility, p = 0.002; muscular power of the lower and upper limb, p = 0.002 and p = 0.005) and boys (aerobic capacity, p = 0.009; agility, p = 0.006; standing balance, p = 0.019; muscular power of the lower and upper limb, p<0.001 and p = 0.011) compared to their younger counterparts. On the other hand, UW children performed worse than NW children mainly in terms of muscular power of the arms (p<0.001). Additionally, there was an increasing disparity in the frontal throw test scores of UW and NW girls (p = 0.003) and boys (p = 0.011) in older children compared to younger children. In conclusion, the effect of body mass index on children's physical fitness intensifies with age. OB and OW negatively affect aerobic capacity, agility, lower limb power and balance but positively affect upper limb power. UW negatively affects upper limb power. This study underscores the importance of preventing childhood OW, OB, and UW in early life to promote children's health and proper fitness development.
The Neurochemistry of Autism Marotta, Rosa; Risoleo, Maria C; Messina, Giovanni ...
Brain sciences,
03/2020, Letnik:
10, Številka:
3
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) refers to complex neurobehavioral and neurodevelopmental conditions characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, restricted and repetitive patterns ...of behavior or interests, and altered sensory processing. Environmental, immunological, genetic, and epigenetic factors are implicated in the pathophysiology of autism and provoke the occurrence of neuroanatomical and neurochemical events relatively early in the development of the central nervous system. Many neurochemical pathways are involved in determining ASD; however, how these complex networks interact and cause the onset of the core symptoms of autism remains unclear. Further studies on neurochemical alterations in autism are necessary to clarify the early neurodevelopmental variations behind the enormous heterogeneity of autism spectrum disorder, and therefore lead to new approaches for the treatment and prevention of autism. In this review, we aim to delineate the state-of-the-art main research findings about the neurochemical alterations in autism etiology, and focuses on gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glutamate, serotonin, dopamine, N-acetyl aspartate, oxytocin and arginine-vasopressin, melatonin, vitamin D, orexin, endogenous opioids, and acetylcholine. We also aim to suggest a possible related therapeutic approach that could improve the quality of ASD interventions. Over one hundred references were collected through electronic database searching in Medline and EMBASE (Ovid), Scopus (Elsevier), ERIC (Proquest), PubMed, and the Web of Science (ISI).
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