From art to astrophysics: how art inspires science communication. A show for planetariums to convey astronomical concepts throughout images, dialogue and art exhibition.

The process which gives life to artworks because painters are inspired by the charm of the Sky is a well-known process. Beauty and mystery of Cosmos have always given mankind, and still give, a lot of masterpieces, from the Halley comet painted by Giotto in the Scrovegni Chapel to the Starry Nights by Vincent Van Gogh. But, what to say about the opposite process? How could art inspire science? In many ways but we propose here one in a format appropriate for science communication. We start from some paintings of Alessandro Rinaldi, an Italian quoted artist present at 54th Biennale International Art Exhibition of Venice. Focusing our attention on few Rinaldi paintings representing some cosmic scenes, such as starry skies, constellations, moons, we will perform a dialogue between Science and Art, played by two women. The dialogue will be written assembling skills in astrophysics, science communication, screenwriting and art. Final product will be a drama performed in a particular theatre, built primarily for educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky: a planetarium. Public will be involved in an immersive show of artistic and astronomical images, and will listen to the two characters, Lady A and Lady S, discussing both artistic and scientific aspects of each painting: from the raw material used for painting to the real knowledge of represented celestial objects. Few, selected and correct astronomical notions will be conveyed in a new, funny and attractive way also for people not quite interested in science. The proposed format could be regarded as new for science outreach, where Astronomy could be replaced with Natural and Environmental Sciences, while dialogues around scientific issues could be performed inside planetariums as well on other stages. But there is more: well also tell public that Science doesn’t make Art loose her charm and beauty, rather she makes her stronger because mindful of her potential; Art doesn’t make science loose her strictness and reliability, rather she makes her stronger because mindful of her beauty. Public will have the opportunity of seeing real artworks in a exhibit inside the planetarium and filling in a questionnaire before and after the show. In this way changing in scientific notions and the related perception of artworks will be collected in order to have a realistic feedback about the efficiency of our project

C4BQ0: a genetic marker of familial HCV-related liver cirrhosis.

Source Department of Medicine and Pneumology, V Cervello Hospital, Via Trabucco 180, 90146 Palermo, Italy. [email protected] Abstract BACKGROUND AND METHODS: Host may have a role in the evolution of chronic HCV liver disease. We performed two cross-sectional prospective studies to evaluate the prevalence of cirrhosis in first degree relatives of patients with cirrhosis and the role of two major histocompatibility complex class III alleles BF and C4 versus HCV as risk factors for familial clustering. FINDINGS: Ninety-three (18.6%) of 500 patients with cirrhosis had at least one cirrhotic first degree relative as compared to 13 (2.6%) of 500 controls, (OR 7.38; CI 4.21-12.9). C4BQ0 was significantly more frequent in the 93 cirrhotic patients than in 93 cirrhotic controls without familiarity (Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium: chi2 5.76, P = 0.016) and in 20 families with versus 20 without aggregation of HCV related cirrhosis (29.2% versus 11.3%, P = 0.001); the association C4BQ0-HCV was found almost only in cirrhotic patients with a family history of liver cirrhosis. CONCLUSIONS: Our studies support the value of C4BQ0 as a risk indicator of familial HCV related cirrhosis

PCSK9-D374Y mediated LDL-R degradation can be functionally inhibited by EGF-A and truncated EGF-A peptides: An in vitro study

Background and aims: Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) binds to low density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) through the LDLR epidermal growth factor-like repeat A (EGF-A) domain and induces receptor internalization and degradation. PCSK9 has emerged as a novel therapeutic target for hypercholesterolemia. Clinical studies with PCSK9 inhibiting antibodies have demonstrated strong LDL-c lowering effects, but other therapeutic approaches using small molecule inhibitors for targeting PCSK9 functions may offer supplementary therapeutic options. The aim of our study was to evaluate the effect of synthetic EGF-A analogs on mutated (D374Y) PCSK9-D374Y mediated LDLR degradation in vitro. Methods: Huh7 human hepatoma cells were transiently transfected to overexpress the gain-of-function D374Y PCSK9 mutation, which has been associated with severe hypercholesterolemia in humans. Results: Transient transfection of cells with PCSK9-D374Y expression vector very effectively enhanced degradation of mature LDLR in Huh7. Treatment with both EGF-A and EGF-A truncated peptides inhibited this effect and showed increased LDLR protein in Huh7 cells transfected with PCSK9-D374Y in a clear concentration dependent manner. Huh7 transfected cells treated with increasing concentration of EGF-A analogs also showed an increase internalization of labeled Dil-LDL. Conclusions: The result of our study shows that EGF-A analogs are able to effectively hamper the enhanced degradation of LDLR in liver cells expressing PCSK9-D374Y

Role of prothrombotic polymorphisms in successful or unsuccessful aging

The study of the genetic profile of centenarians aims to identify the genes and allelic variants which may influence a greater life expectancy and that can be considered as predisposing factors associated to the aging diseases, such as Alzheimer. Centenarians, that represent a cohort of selected survivors, show an hypercoagulability state characterised by striking signs of high coagulation enzyme activity, as directly assessed by the tested higher plasma level of some important factors involved in the haemostasis balance. Anyway, these individuals seem to have a reduced susceptibility to dementia, as well as to cardiovascular events. In this study we analyze the frequencies of Leiden Factor V polymorphism (G1691A), and G20210A of prothrombin (FII) in three cohorts of subjects: patients with Alzheimer\u2019s disease (unsuccessful aging), nonagenarians (successful aging) and young healthy controls, to assess whether allelic variants associated to the modification of haemostatic system function, may play a role in the protection or susceptibility to Alzheimer disease, as well as to reach a successful aging. No significant differences were observed in the frequencies of the three groups studied. These results indicate that the presence or absence of the gene variants examined did not influence the achievement of advanced age and are not risk factors for Alzheimer\u2019s disease. The state of hypercoagulability and the possession of these risk alleles appear to be compatible with the achievement of longevity and are not implied as risk factors in Alzheimer disease development

The T.O.S.C.A. Project: Research, Education and Care

Despite recent and exponential improvements in diagnostic- therapeutic pathways, an existing “GAP” has been revealed between the “real world care” and the “optimal care” of patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). We present the T.O.S.CA. Project (Trattamento Ormonale dello Scompenso CArdiaco), an Italian multicenter initiative involving different health care professionals and services aiming to explore the CHF “metabolic pathophysiological model” and to improve the quality of care of HF patients through research and continuing medical education

Indole derivatives useful for treating resistance to antitumor agents

The use of a group of indole compounds of formula (I) is described for treating tumours which have developed resistance to antitumour drugs. The compounds of formula (I) can be used in monotherapy, to treat tumours affected by drug resistance, or in co-therapy, as synergistic enhancers of the action of the aforesaid antitumour drugs. In addition, pharmaceutical compositions are described which comprise the indole derivatives of formula (I) in association with antitumour drugs the activity of which is to be enhance

Indole and Azaindole Derivatives For the Treatment of Inflammatory and Autoimmune Diseases

The use is described of compounds of formula (I) wherein A is chosen from a phenyl or a heterocyclic ring with 5 or 6 members containing up to two heteroatoms chosen from nitrogen, oxygen and sulfur, X and Y represent carbon or nitrogen, and R1-R6 are as described in the specification, in the prevention and/or treatment of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases