UVB radiation induced effects on cells studied by FTIR spectroscopy

We have made a preliminary analysis of the results about the eVects on tumoral cell line (lymphoid T cell line Jurkat) induced by UVB radiation (dose of 310 mJ/cm^2) with and without a vegetable mixture. In the present study, we have used two techniques: Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and flow cytometry. FTIR spectroscopy has the potential to provide the identiWcation of the vibrational modes of some of the major compounds (lipid, proteins and nucleic acids) without being invasive in the biomaterials. The second technique has allowed us to perform measurements of cytotoxicity and to assess the percentage of apoptosis. We already studied the induction of apoptotic process in the same cell line by UVB radiation; in particular, we looked for correspondences and correlations between FTIR spetroscopy and flow cytometry data finding three highly probable spectroscopic markers of apoptosis (Pozzi et al. in Radiat Res 168:698-705, 2007). In the present work, the results have shown significant changes in the absorbance and spectral pattern in the wavenumber protein and nucleic acids regions after the treatments

Target BACRIM: Blurring fact and fiction to create an interactive documentary game

Target: BACRIM is an immersive and interactive documentary game that exposes the atrocities of Colombia’s paramilitary forces in one of its most violent regions. The producers combine both non - fiction and fiction to create a game that places the user at the heart of the story. Through this docufiction , which is anchored in augmented reality, the user or participant experiences danger first - hand. For the user, this violence is a game. For the people who live in this region, it is a reality. Target: BACRIM wants to blur tha t distinction. We therefore create a world, where fiction and non - fiction are interrelated, where genres merge and where individual disciplines escape the shackles of tradition to converge and create an interactive documentary that places user experience a t its cor

A new modelling approach of evaluating preventive and reactive strategies for mitigating supply chain risks

Supply chains are becoming more complex and vulnerable due to globalization and interdependency between different risks. Existing studies have focused on identifying different preventive and reactive strategies for mitigating supply chain risks and advocating the need for adopting specific strategy under a particular situation. However, current research has not addressed the issue of evaluating an optimal mix of preventive and reactive strategies taking into account their relative costs and benefits within the supply network setting of interconnected firms and organizations. We propose a new modelling approach of evaluating different combinations of such strategies using Bayesian belief networks. This technique helps in determining an optimal solution on the basis of maximum improvement in the network expected loss. We have demonstrated our approach through a simulation study and discussed practical and managerial implications

RENATO FERRAZ: AMIGO E PARCEIRO

Texto sobre Renato Ferraz escrito por seu amigo Trípoli F. B. Gaudenzi

Looted Art and Restitution in the Twentieth Century – Towards a Global Perspective

Introducing the Journal of Contemporary History Special Issue ‘The Restitution of Looted Art in the 20th Century’, this article proposes a framework for writing the history of looting and restitution in transnational and global perspective. By comparing and contextualizing instances of looting and restitution in different geographical and temporal contexts, it aims to overcome existing historiographical fragmentations and move past the overwhelming focus on the specificities of Nazi looting through an extended timeframe that inserts the Second World War into a longer perspective from the nineteenth century up to present day restitution practices. Particular emphasis is put on the interlinked histories of denazification and decolonization. Problematizing existing analytical, chronological and geographical frameworks, the article suggests how a combination of comparative, entangled and global history approaches can open up promising new avenues of research. It draws out similarities, differences and connections between processes of looting and restitution in order to discuss the extent to which looting and restitution were shaped by – and shaped – changing global networks.This Special Issue originated from the international conference ‘Looted Art and Restitution in the Twentieth Century: Europe in transnational and global perspective’ morganized at Cambridge on 18–20 September 2014 thanks to the generous support of Newnham College, Cambridge, the Trevelyan Fund (Faculty of History, Cambridge) and the Journal of Contemporary History

RNA-Seq reveals that overexpression of TcUBP1 switches the gene expression pattern toward that of the infective form of Trypanosoma cruzi

Trypanosomes regulate gene expression mainly by using posttranscriptional mechanisms. Key factors responsible for carrying out this regulation are RNA-binding proteins, affecting subcellular localization, translation, and/or transcript stability. Trypanosoma cruzi U-rich RNA-binding protein 1 (TcUBP1) is a small protein that modulates the expression of several surface glycoproteins of the trypomastigote infective stage of the parasite. Its mRNA targets are known, but the impact of its overexpression at the transcriptome level in the insect-dwelling epimastigote cells has not yet been investigated. Thus, in the present study, by using a tetracycline-inducible system, we generated a population of TcUBP1-overexpressing parasites and analyzed its effect by RNA-Seq methodology. This allowed us to identify 793 up- and 371 downregulated genes with respect to the wildtype control sample. Among the upregulated genes, it was possible to identify members coding for the TcS superfamily, MASP, MUCI/II, and protein kinases, whereas among the downregulated transcripts, we found mainly genes coding for ribosomal, mitochondrial, and synthetic pathway proteins. RNA-Seq comparison with two previously published datasets revealed that the expression profile of this TcUBP1- overexpressing replicative epimastigote form resembles the transition to the infective metacyclic trypomastigote stage. We identified novel cis-regulatory elements in the 30 -untranslated region of the affected transcripts and confirmed that UBP1m, a signature TcUBP1 binding element previously characterized in our laboratory, is enriched in the list of stabilized genes. We can conclude that the overall effect of TcUBP1 overexpression on the epimastigote transcriptome is mainly the stabilization of mRNAs coding for proteins that are important for parasite infection

Le nuove potenzialit\ue0 del doppio posizionamento strategico

La figura di un influenzatore pu\uf2 assumere connotazioni diverse in termini di effettivaincisivit\ue0 sul processo di scelta del consumatore, nonch\ue9 in funzione del livello dicoinvolgimento ed interesse che l\u2019influenzatore pu\uf2 manifestare nell\u2019orientare le scelte delcliente finale. Il paper propone riflessioni sulla teoria del doppio posizionamento, ovverodella necessit\ue0 per l\u2019impresa di considerare anche un altro soggetto nelle sue valutazionistrategiche. Tali riflessioni valutano limiti, requisiti e condizioni di validit\ue0 di tale strategia,nonch\ue8 l\u2019applicazione su alcuni comparti per comprendere inoltre eventuali evoluzioni neicontesti (in particolare in Italia), nei mercati o nei supporti tecnologici

RNA-seq data exploration after trypanosome RNA-binding protein UBP1 expression is altered by CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing and overexpression

Material suplementario en: doi:10.1016/j.dib.2024.110156Previous studies have shown that overexpression of the Trypanosoma cruzi U-rich RNA-binding protein 1 (TcUBP1) in insect-dwelling epimastigotes results in a gene expression pattern resembling that of the infective form of the pathogen. Here, we used CRISPR-Cas9-induced edition of TcUBP1 and full-length protein overexpression in epimastigote cells to monitor transcriptomic changes during the epimastigote-to-metacyclic trypomastigote stage transition of T. cruzi. This dataset includes the bioinformatics analysis of three different RNA-seq samples, each with three biological replicates, showing differential mRNA abundances. The current transcriptome report has the potential to shed light on the quantitative variances in the expression of significan

Factors affecting adherence to guidelines for antithrombotic therapy in elderly patients with atrial fibrillation admitted to internal medicine wards

Current guidelines for ischemic stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation or flutter (AFF) recommend Vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) for patients at high-intermediate risk and aspirin for those at intermediate-low risk. The cost-effectiveness of these treatments was demonstrated also in elderly patients. However, there are several reports that emphasize the underuse of pharmacological prophylaxis of cardio-embolism in patients with AFF in different health care settings. AIMS: To evaluate the adherence to current guidelines on cardio-embolic prophylaxis in elderly (> 65 years old) patients admitted with an established diagnosis of AFF to the Italian internal medicine wards participating in REPOSI registry, a project on polypathologies/polytherapies stemming from the collaboration between the Italian Society of Internal Medicine and the Mario Negri Institute of Pharmacological Research; to investigate whether or not hospitalization had an impact on guidelines adherence; to test the role of possible modifiers of VKAs prescription. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed registry data collected from January to December 2008 and assessed the prevalence of patients with AFF at admission and the prevalence of risk factors for cardio-embolism. After stratifying the patients according to their CHADS(2) score the percentage of appropriateness of antithrombotic therapy prescription was evaluated both at admission and at discharge. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression models were employed to verify whether or not socio-demographic (age >80years, living alone) and clinical features (previous or recent bleeding, cranio-facial trauma, cancer, dementia) modified the frequency and modalities of antithrombotic drugs prescription at admission and discharge. RESULTS: Among the 1332 REPOSI patients, 247 were admitted with AFF. At admission, CHADS(2) score was ≥ 2 in 68.4% of patients, at discharge in 75.9%. Among patients with AFF 26.5% at admission and 32.8% at discharge were not on any antithrombotic therapy, and 43.7% at admission and 40.9% at discharge were not taking an appropriate therapy according to the CHADS(2) score. The higher the level of cardio-embolic risk the higher was the percentage of antiplatelet- but not of VKAs-treated patients. At admission or at discharge, both at univariable and at multivariable logistic regression, only an age >80 years and a diagnosis of cancer, previous or active, had a statistically significant negative effect on VKAs prescription. Moreover, only a positive history of bleeding events (past or present) was independently associated to no VKA prescription at discharge in patients who were on VKA therapy at admission. If heparin was considered as an appropriate therapy for patients with indication for VKAs, the percentage of patients admitted or discharged on appropriate therapy became respectively 43.7% and 53.4%. CONCLUSION: Among elderly patients admitted with a diagnosis of AFF to internal medicine wards, an appropriate antithrombotic prophylaxis was taken by less than 50%, with an underuse of VKAs prescription independently of the level of cardio-embolic risk. Hospitalization did not improve the adherence to guideline

Can the adoption of circular economy practices foster supply chain resilience and performance improvements?

While a growing literature is showing interest in the circular economy (CE) paradigm, there is still a lack of consensus on whether the adoption of CE practices can help to cope with supply risks arising from an increasingly uncertain business environment in order to increase supply chain resilience (SCRES) and improve a firm's performance. Through a survey of Italian enterprises engaged with CE practices, this study aims to fill this literature gap, investigating whether the adoption of CE practices can initiate a path of increased SCRES, which can lead firms to improve their overall performance, thus proactively responding to environments characterised by high levels of supply risk. This study contributes to the debates about the paths connecting CE practices and firms' performance, especially in the context of vulnerabilities and disturbances, empirically demonstrating how firms might exploit the potential of CE by investing in SCRES. This study sheds light on the relationship between CE and SCRES, particularly underlying the most relevant paths of relationships between CE and those SCRES capabilities that can lead to performance improvements, particularly when the level of supply risk increases