Examination of behavioral lateralizations in juvenile tarantulas in the presence of prey odors

The functional and/or structural specialization of the left or right side of the brain (behavioral lateralization) has substantial impacts on the interactions an animal makes with other organisms and its surroundings. While this has been extensively shown throughout vertebrates, it has recently been demonstrated in various taxa of invertebrates. Despite this, its presence in arachnids, and specifically tarantulas, remains poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to determine whether behavioral lateralization is present in the juvenile tarantulas Pterinochilus murinus and Brachypelma albopilosum in response to prey odors. If behavioral lateralization was found, I aimed to detennine how it differed between species and at what level it evolved at (population vs individual). To do this, I analyzed the directional choice of each tarantula in a Tmaze under four different prey conditions: cricket in both arms, cricket in right arm, cricket in left arm, cricket absent. I found that a large proportion of the tarantulas from each species made no directional choice for the duration of each trial. Of the tarantulas that did make a directional choice across trials there was not a significant difference in the number of individuals to go left or right (p\u3e0.5). The lack of significance was likely influenced low number of individuals that made a directional choice; however, each species showed a higher proportion of individuals turning towards the left for all of the conditions except for one. This is the first study to date examining the presence of behavioral lateralization in juvenile tarantulas

The Political Properties: Pro- and Anti-Augustan Readings of Propertius Book Four

Propertius was a Roman elegist writing during the early years of Augustus’ reign as emperor. His fourth and final book of elegies has long confounded scholars due to its drastic shift in subject matter from love elegy to aetiology. So, too, did the poet’s political stance seem to change: vehemently anti-Augustus in his earlier books, a number of poems in his fourth seem to extol both the sociopolitical climate of Augustan Rome as well as the emperor himself. But should we take the poet’s words at face value? In light of his inexplicable change in political allegiance, this thesis examines whether Propertius’ words are sincere or whether he is using them to subvert the emperor’s authority right under his nose. A close analysis of the text and an understanding of the massive political and social upheaval of Augustus’ early rule yield two competing readings, one decidedly anti-Augustan, the other sincerely pro-Augustan

La certezza del diritto nell’età del processo formulare. Conoscibilità dello ius e prevedibilità degli esiti giudiziali tra ‘modello repubblicano’ e ‘modello imperiale’: il contributo di Labeone

These considerations are focused on the topic of ‘legal certainty’ in the age of the formulary trial. The ‘generic’ players of the two aspects of ‘legal certainty’ examined (‘certainty-knowability’ of the law and ‘security-predictability’ of judicial decisions) appear to have been – for ‘knowability’ – the jurists, in their advisory activity, and – for ‘predictability’ – the praetor, in the composition of the formula for a concrete controversy. The sources, however, show signs of a ‘stratification’ of the dialectic between a republican ‘model’ and an imperial ‘model’ of ‘certainty of law’. The ‘certainty-knowability’ oscillates between the typically republican knowledge mediation of the jurist and the immediate knowability of the imperial laws. The ‘securitypredictability’ of judicial decisions oscillates between the composition of the formulas of the magistrate and the ‘ius publice respondendi ex auctoritate principis’ introduced by Augustus. The ‘specific’ player of the resistance, at the beginning of the new imperial age, of the ‘certainty-knowability’ and ‘security-predictability’ proper of the ‘republican model’ appears to have been a jurist of republican spirit, named Labeo

Le attività di intelligence delle mafie

L’intervento del Generale Pasquale Angelosanto affronta il tema delle attività difensive, di ricerca informativa e di controinformazione utili a contrastare il fenomeno mafioso. Sottolineando l’importanza di conoscere il “nemico”, identifica il processo di intelligence come strumento fondamentale per affrontare le organizzazioni mafiose, nella misura in cui contribuisce a individuarne i “Centri di Gravità”, “punti di forza” verso i quali dirigere le attività  investigative.General Pasquale Angelosanto's contribution addresses the issue of defensive activities, information research and counter-information useful for countering the Mafia. By stressing the importance of knowing the "enemy", he identifies the intelligence process as a fundamental tool for dealing with mafia organizations, since it allow law enforcement agencies to identify their "Centres of Gravity", "strengths" towards which to direct the investigative activity

Role of Genetic and Acquired Prothrombotic Risk Factors in Genesis of Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss.

The methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase C677T mutation, factor V G1691A (factor V Leiden) mutation, prothrombin G20210A mutation and 8 other laboratory values associated with increased thrombotic risk were analyzed in 40 patients with sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSHL). The results were compared with those obtained from 120 controls not affected by SSHL. We found a statistically significant higher frequency of hyperhomocysteinemia in the SSHL group compared with controls, and that this was also associated with the presence of homozygosity for the MTHFR C677T mutation. The study results suggest that SSHL might be caused, among other factors, by a combination of these 2 variables. We suggest that this analysis of the MTHFR C677T mutation should be further investigated to establish the etiology of SSHL, and that the same analysis should be taken into account in those patients with high levels of homocysteine

High antigen levels induce an exhausted phenotype in a chronic infection without impairing T cell expansion and survival.

Chronic infections induce T cells showing impaired cytokine secretion and up-regulated expression of inhibitory receptors such as PD-1. What determines the acquisition of this chronic phenotype and how it impacts T cell function remain vaguely understood. Using newly generated recombinant antigen variant-expressing chronic lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) strains, we uncovered that T cell differentiation and acquisition of a chronic or exhausted phenotype depend critically on the frequency of T cell receptor (TCR) engagement and less significantly on the strength of TCR stimulation. In fact, we noted that low-level antigen exposure promotes the formation of T cells with an acute phenotype in chronic infections. Unexpectedly, we found that T cell populations with an acute or chronic phenotype are maintained equally well in chronic infections and undergo comparable primary and secondary expansion. Thus, our observations contrast with the view that T cells with a typical chronic infection phenotype are severely functionally impaired and rapidly transition into a terminal stage of differentiation. Instead, our data unravel that T cells primarily undergo a form of phenotypic and functional differentiation in the early phase of a chronic LCMV infection without inheriting a net survival or expansion deficit, and we demonstrate that the acquired chronic phenotype transitions into the memory T cell compartment

A Role for the Chemokine RANTES in Regulating CD8 T Cell Responses during Chronic Viral Infection

RANTES (CCL5) is a chemokine expressed by many hematopoietic and non-hematopoietic cell types that plays an important role in homing and migration of effector and memory T cells during acute infections. The RANTES receptor, CCR5, is a major target of anti-HIV drugs based on blocking viral entry. However, defects in RANTES or RANTES receptors including CCR5 can compromise immunity to acute infections in animal models and lead to more severe disease in humans infected with west Nile virus (WNV). In contrast, the role of the RANTES pathway in regulating T cell responses and immunity during chronic infection remains unclear. In this study, we demonstrate a crucial role for RANTES in the control of systemic chronic LCMV infection. In RANTES−/− mice, virus-specific CD8 T cells had poor cytokine production. These RANTES−/− CD8 T cells also expressed higher amounts of inhibitory receptors consistent with more severe exhaustion. Moreover, the cytotoxic ability of CD8 T cells from RANTES−/− mice was reduced. Consequently, viral load was higher in the absence of RANTES. The dysfunction of T cells in the absence of RANTES was as severe as CD8 T cell responses generated in the absence of CD4 T cell help. Our results demonstrate an important role for RANTES in sustaining CD8 T cell responses during a systemic chronic viral infection

L’acquisizione del fondo librario appartenuto a Gaetano Sciascia, libero docente in diritto romano tra l'Italia e il Brasile

Nella seduta del 17 novembre 2015, il Consiglio di Amministrazione della Sapienza - Università di Roma ha preso atto del D.R. n. 2973 del 28 settembre 2015 con il quale il Rettore Eugenio Gaudio ha autorizzato l’allora Preside della Facoltà di Giurisprudenza dell’Ateneo romano, Paolo Ridola, ad accettare il fondo librario appartenuto al defunto libero docente in Diritto romano Gaetano Sciascia, costituito da circa 500 volumi di studi giusromanistici e concesso dal figlio ed erede Tommaso Sebastiano Sciascia, Presidente del Tribunale di Frosinone dal 2008 al 2015 e venuto anch’egli a mancare nel giugno del 2019 all’età di settantaquattro anni. I numerosi volumi ottenuti in donazione dal figlio Tommaso Sebastiano – molto sensibile alla formazione romanistica in ragione del lascito, spirituale prim’ancora che materiale, del padre – sono andati ad arricchire il patrimonio librario della biblioteca dell’Istituto, facendo tornare all’attivo del catalogo alcuni titoli che, nel corso degli anni, erano purtroppo andati smarriti. Segue biografia e profilo scientifico di Gaetano Sciascia (1914-1994)