Galectin genes: regulation of expression.

In this review we have summarized the more recent studies on the expression of mammalian galectins. One interesting observation that can be made is that in most of microarrays and/or differential display analysis performed in recent years one or more galectins have been picked up. From a critical evaluation of the pertinent studies the main conclusion that can be drawn is that, although it is not yet clear whether the 14 galectins identified so far have functions in common, a striking common feature of all galectins is the strong modulation of their expression during development, differentiation stages and under different physiological or pathological conditions. This suggests that the expression of different galectins is finely tuned and possibly coordinated. In spite of these observations it is rather unexpected that very few studies have been performed on the molecular mechanisms governing the activity of galectin genes

Polynomial Interpolation of Function Averages on Interval Segments

Motivated by polynomial approximations of differential forms, we study analytical and numerical properties of a polynomial interpolation problem that relies on function averages over interval segments. The usage of segment data gives rise to new theoretical and practical aspects that distinguish this problem considerably from classical nodal interpolation. We will analyse fundamental mathematical properties of this problem as existence, uniqueness and numerical conditioning of its solution. We will provide concrete conditions for unisolvence, explicit Lagrange-type basis systems for its representation, and a numerical method for its solution. To study the numerical conditioning, we will provide concrete bounds of the Lebesgue constant in a few distinguished cases.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figure

Measuring logical competences and soft skills when enrolling in a university degree course

Logical abilities are a ubiquitous ingredient in all those contexts that take into account soft skills, argumentative skills or critical thinking. However, the relationship between logical models and the enhancement of these abilities is rarely explicitly considered. Two aspects of the issue are particularly critical in our opinion, namely: (i) the lack of statistically relevant data concerning these competences; (ii) the absence of reliable indices that might be used to measure and detect the possession of abilities underlying the above-mentioned soft skills. This paper aims to address both aspects of this topic by presenting the results of a research we conducted in the period October – December 2020 on students enrolled in various degree courses at the University of Florence. To the best of our knowledge, to date this is the largest available database on the subject in the Italian University System. It has been obtained by a three-stage initiative. We started from an “entrance” examination for assessing the students' initial abilities. This test comprised ten questions, each of which was centered on a specific reasoning construct. The results we have collected show that there is a widespread lack of understanding of basic patterns that are common in the everyday way of arguing. Students then underwent a short training course, using formal logic techniques in order to strengthen their abilities, and afterwards took an “exit” examination, replicating the structure and the questions difficulty of the entrance one in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the course. Results show that the training was beneficial

Structure and Cytotoxic Properties of Some Selected Gold(III) Complexes

We prepared four representative square planar gold(III) complexes - [AuCl3(Hpm)], [AuCl2(esal)], [AuCl(dien)]Cl2 and [Au(en)2]Cl3 -and characterized them both in the solid state and in solution. Thereafter, the cytotoxicity of these compounds was evaluated in vitro against the A2780 human ovarian tumor cell line that was used as the reference cell line. Remarkably, ali these gold(III) complexes showed significant cytotoxic effects, [AuCl2(esal)] showing a potency comparable to cisplatin. The present gold(III) complexes were also tested on the corresponding cisplatin-resistant line and revealed they were able to overcome resistance to cisplatin to a large extent. The implications of these findings for the development of new gold(III) complexes to be tested as antitumor agents are discussed

Chapter A structural equation model to measure logical competences

Logical abilities are a ubiquitous ingredient in all those contexts that take into account soft skills, argumentative skills or critical thinking. However, the relationship between logical models and the enhancement of these abilities is rarely explicitly considered. Two aspects of the issue are particularly critical in our opinion, namely: (i) the lack of statistically relevant data concerning these competences; (ii) the absence of reliable indices that might be used to detect and measure the possession of abilities underlying the aforementioned skills. This paper addresses both aspects of this topic by presenting the results of a research that we conducted between October and December 2020 on students enrolled in various degree courses at the University of Florence. The dataset has been collected by a three-stage initiative. We started from an entrance examination to assess the students' initial abilities. This test included ten questions, each regarding a specific aspect of logical reasoning. Then, students underwent a short training course to strengthen their knowledge of logic. At the end of the short course, students underwent a final examination to evaluate the effectiveness of the training. To verify the effectiveness of the training program we used students’ characteristics into a Structural Equation Model comparing the distribution of abilities before and after the training

4-(3-Methyl­anilino)-N-[N-(1-methyl­ethyl)carbamo­yl]pyridinium-3-sulfon­amidate (torasemide) methanol 0.25-solvate 0.25-hydrate

The title compound, C16H20N4O3S·0.25CH4O·0.25H2O, is a hydrate/methanol solvate of torasemide, a diuretic drug used in the treatment of hypertension. The asymmetric unit contains two torasemide mol­ecules and half-occupied methanol and water mol­ecules. It is isomorphous with the previously reported nonsolvated T–II form of torasemide. The water mol­ecules contribute to the stability of the structure by participating in an extensive system of O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds; N—H⋯N and N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds are also present. Both asymmetric mol­ecules of torasemide form inversion dimers in the crystal

Modulation of Cox-1, 5-, 12- and 15-Lox by popular herbal remedies used in southern Italy against psoriasis and other skin diseases.

Acanthus mollis (Acanthaceae), Achillea ligustica, Artemisia arborescens and Inula viscosa (Asteraceae) are used in Southern Italy against psoriasis and other skin diseases that occur with an imbalanced production of eicosanoids. We here assessed their in vitro effects upon 5-, 12-, 15-LOX and COX-1 enzymes as well as NFκB activation in intact cells as their possible therapeutic targets. All methanol crude extracts inhibited both 5-LOX and COX-1 activities under 200 µg/mL, without significant effects on the 12-LOX pathway or any relevant in vitro free radical scavenging activity. NFκB activation was prevented by all extracts but A. mollis. Interestingly, A. ligustica, A. arborescens and A. mollis increased the biosynthesis of 15(S)-HETE, an anti-inflammatory eicosanoid. A. ligustica (IC50 =49.5 µg/mL) was superior to Silybum marianum (IC50 =147.8 µg/mL), which we used as antipsoriatic herbal medicine of reference. Its n-hexane, dichloromethane and ethyl acetate fractions had also inhibitory effects on the LTB4 biosynthesis (IC50 s=9.6, 20.3 and 68 µg/mL, respectively) evidencing that the apolar extracts of A. ligustica are promising active herbal ingredients for future phytotherapeutical products targeting psoriasis

2-(1,2,3,4-Tetra­hydro-1-naphth­yl)imidazolium chloride monohydrate

In the title compound, C13H15N2 +·Cl−·H2O, the ions and water mol­ecules are ­connected by N—H⋯Cl, O—H⋯Cl, NH⋯Cl⋯HO, NH⋯Cl⋯HN and OH⋯Cl⋯HO inter­actions, forming discrete D(2) and D 2 1(3) chains, C 2 1(6) chains and R 4 2(8) rings, leading to a neutral two-dimensional network. The crystal structure is further stabilized by π–π stacking inter­actions [centroid–centroid distance = 3.652 (11) Å]

Lysophosphatidic Acid Signaling Axis Mediates Ceramide 1-Phosphate-Induced Proliferation of C2C12 Myoblasts.

Sphingolipids are not only crucial for membrane architecture but act as critical regulators of cell functions. The bioactive sphingolipid ceramide 1-phosphate (C1P), generated by the action of ceramide kinase, has been reported to stimulate cell proliferation, cell migration and to regulate inflammatory responses via activation of different signaling pathways. We have previously shown that skeletal muscle is a tissue target for C1P since the phosphosphingolipid plays a positive role in myoblast proliferation implying a role in muscle regeneration. Skeletal muscle displays strong capacity of regeneration thanks to the presence of quiescent adult stem cells called satellite cells that upon trauma enter into the cell cycle and start proliferating. However, at present, the exact molecular mechanism by which C1P triggers its mitogenic effect in myoblasts is lacking. Here, we report for the first time that C1P stimulates C2C12 myoblast proliferation via lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) signaling axis. Indeed, C1P subsequently to phospholipase A2 activation leads to LPA1 and LPA3 engagement, which in turn drive Akt (protein kinase B) and ERK1/2 (extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1/2) activation, thus stimulating DNA synthesis. The present findings shed new light on the key role of bioactive sphingolipids in skeletal muscle and provide further support to the notion that these pleiotropic molecules might be useful therapeutic targets for skeletal muscle regeneration