Variational techniques in the numerical simulation of molecular dynamics trajectories and of wetting on rough surfaces

This thesis is devoted to the study of two different problems arising from the numerical simulation of physical phenomena. However, the motivation, the method followed and the goals pursued are the same. As I hope to have exhaustively demonstrated in the following pages, my belief is that variational techniques can be the appropriate bridge between theory and experiment, between mathematical modeling and numerical simulation...

Gene-targeted embryonic stem cells: real-time PCR assay for estimation of the number of neomycin selection cassettes

In the preparation of transgenic murine ES cells it is important to verify the construct has a single insertion, because an ectopic neomycin phosphortransferase positive selection cassette (NEO) may cause a position effect. During a recent work, where a knockin SCA28 mouse was prepared, we developed two assays based on Real-Time PCR using both SYBR Green and specific minor groove binder (MGB) probes to evaluate the copies of NEO using the comparative delta-delta Ct method versus the Rpp30 reference gene

Exploiting Web Technologies to Connect Business Process Management and Engineering

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Molecular and Clinical Links between Drug-Induced Cholestasis and Familial Intrahepatic Cholestasis

Idiosyncratic Drug-Induced Liver Injury (iDILI) represents an actual health challenge, accounting for more than 40% of hepatitis cases in adults over 50 years and more than 50% of acute fulminant hepatic failure cases. In addition, approximately 30% of iDILI are cholestatic (drug-induced cholestasis (DIC)). The liver's metabolism and clearance of lipophilic drugs depend on their emission into the bile. Therefore, many medications cause cholestasis through their interaction with hepatic transporters. The main canalicular efflux transport proteins include: 1. the bile salt export pump (BSEP) protein (ABCB11); 2. the multidrug resistance protein-2 (MRP2, ABCC2) regulating the bile salts' independent flow by excretion of glutathione; 3. the multidrug resistance-1 protein (MDR1, ABCB1) that transports organic cations; 4. the multidrug resistance-3 protein (MDR3, ABCB4). Two of the most known proteins involved in bile acids' (BAs) metabolism and transport are BSEP and MDR3. BSEP inhibition by drugs leads to reduced BAs' secretion and their retention within hepatocytes, exiting in cholestasis, while mutations in the ABCB4 gene expose the biliary epithelium to the injurious detergent actions of BAs, thus increasing susceptibility to DIC. Herein, we review the leading molecular pathways behind the DIC, the links with the other clinical forms of familial intrahepatic cholestasis, and, finally, the main cholestasis-inducing drugs

Defective Neurogenesis in Citron Kinase Knockout Mice by Altered Cytokinesis and Massive Apoptosis

AbstractCitron-kinase (Citron-K) has been proposed by in vitro studies as a crucial effector of Rho in regulation of cytokinesis. To further investigate in vivo its biologic functions, we have inactivated Citron-K gene in mice by homologous recombination. Citron-K−/− mice grow at slower rates, are severely ataxic, and die before adulthood as a consequence of fatal seizures. Their brains display defective neurogenesis, with depletion of specific neuronal populations. These abnormalities arise during development of the central nervous system due to altered cytokinesis and massive apoptosis. Our results indicate that Citron-K is essential for cytokinesis in vivo but only in specific neuronal precursors. Moreover, they suggest a novel molecular mechanism for a subset of human malformative syndromes of the CNS

Progetto ImmaginAzione

Questo è il progetto realizzato per l'hackaton 2020+20, svoltosi nell'ambito del Festival della Partecipazione di Bologna. L'obiettivo è immaginare lo scenario di un futuro desiderabile, in linea con le necessità del nostro tempo e con le necessità che crediamo saranno rilevanti nel futuro. Il progetto affronta i temi della relazione città campagna, cittadinanza e comunità, governo, istruzione, mobilità, sanità e ambiente, e prevede: 1. Analisi del contesto attuale 2. Scenario che si desidera realizzare nel 2040 3. Scenario intermedio al 2030 4. Azioni che le istituzioni e la cittadinanza devono porre in essere per passare dall’analisi del contesto attuale allo scenario 2030 5. Azioni che le istituzioni e la cittadinanza devono porre in essere per passare dallo scenario 2030 allo scenario 204