Applicazione di un metodo spettroscopico innovativo per la determinazione di pigmenti in oli di oliva extravergine e confronto con un metodo cromatografico

L’attività svolta in questo lavoro di tesi è stata finalizzata alla convalida di una metodologia analitica per la determinazione e quantificazione diretta mediante spettroscopia UV/Vis dei pigmenti in oli di oliva extravergine e non. La prima parte del lavoro di tesi è stata svolta presso il Laboratorio dell’Azienda Salov SPA (sede a Massarosa), dove è stato validato un metodo di quantificazione degli analiti investigati tramite l’ausilio di HPLC/DAD, già messo appunto in precedenza dal Dottor Serani e Dottor Piacenti [1]. La seconda parte invece è stata svolta presso il Dipartimento di Chimica e Chimica Industriale. Sono stati presi in esame differenti casi studio in modo da avere una panoramica generica delle possibili applicazioni di questo nuovo metodo spettroscopico [2]. Per fare ciò è stata anche effettuata una valutazione dei risultati ottenuti confrontandola con una metodologia cromatografica, HPLC/DAD. In definitiva si è anche cercato di integrare il metodo, introducendo, nel set di pigmenti in precedenza selezionati, un nuovo carotenoide, riscontrando un effettivo miglioramento del metodo. Tale lavoro di tesi è dunque esplicativo delle potenzialità del metodo spettroscopico per la determinazione di pigmenti in oli di oliva extravergine ed una buona base di partenza per la ricerca nel campo olistico

Put a RING on it: regulation and inhibition of RNF8 and RNF168 RING finger E3 ligases at DNA damage sites

RING (Really Interesting New Gene) domain-containing E3 ubiquitin ligases comprise a large family of enzymes that in combination with an E2 ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme, modify target proteins by attaching ubiquitin moieties. A number of RING E3s play an essential role in the cellular response to DNA damage highlighting a crucial contribution for ubiquitin-mediated signaling to the genome surveillance pathway. Among the RING E3s, RNF8 and RNF168 play a critical role in the response to double stranded breaks, one of the most deleterious types of DNA damage. These proteins act as positive regulators of the signaling cascade that initiates at DNA lesions. Inactivation of these enzymes is sufficient to severely impair the ability of cells to respond to DNA damage. Given their central role in the pathway, several layers of regulation act at this nodal signaling point. Here we will summarize current knowledge on the roles of RNF8 and RNF168 in maintaining genome integrity with particular emphasis on recent insights into the multiple layers of regulation that act on these enzymes to fine-tune the cellular response to DNA lesions

Pigments in Extra‐Virgin Olive Oil: Authenticity and Quality

Pigments, divided into carotenoids and chlorophyll derivatives, are responsible for the colour of extra‐virgin olive oil (EVOO). The concentration of pigments in EVOO depends on several factors, such as the maturity of olives before oil production, the cultivar and the geographic origin of olives. Pigments naturally degrade in olive oil (OO) during storage, and they may decompose due to light, temperature and oxygen exposure. The nature and concentration of pigments in EVOOs are different from seed oils, and this is a base of their use to reveal oil treatments and sophistication. In this chapter, the analytical methods, mainly chromatographic and spectroscopic, applied to identify and quantify pigments are overviewed. In particular, the applications of these methods to check the authenticity and the quality of extra‐virgin olive oil are discussed

Progressive Telomere Dysfunction Causes Cytokinesis Failure and Leads to the Accumulation of Polyploid Cells

Most cancer cells accumulate genomic abnormalities at a remarkably rapid rate, as they are unable to maintain their chromosome structure and number. Excessively short telomeres, a known source of chromosome instability, are observed in early human-cancer lesions. Besides telomere dysfunction, it has been suggested that a transient phase of polyploidization, in most cases tetraploidization, has a causative role in cancer. Proliferation of tetraploids can gradually generate subtetraploid lineages of unstable cells that might fire the carcinogenic process by promoting further aneuploidy and genomic instability. Given the significance of telomere dysfunction and tetraploidy in the early stages of carcinogenesis, we investigated whether there is a connection between these two important promoters of chromosomal instability. We report that human mammary epithelial cells exhibiting progressive telomere dysfunction, in a pRb deficient and wild-type p53 background, fail to complete the cytoplasmatic cell division due to the persistence of chromatin bridges in the midzone. Flow cytometry together with fluorescence in situ hybridization demonstrated an accumulation of binucleated polyploid cells upon serial passaging cells. Restoration of telomere function through hTERT transduction, which lessens the formation of anaphase bridges by recapping the chromosome ends, rescued the polyploid phenotype. Live-cell imaging revealed that these polyploid cells emerged after abortive cytokinesis due to the persistence of anaphase bridges with large intervening chromatin in the cleavage plane. In agreement with a primary role of anaphase bridge intermediates in the polyploidization process, treatment of HMEC-hTERT cells with bleomycin, which produces chromatin bridges through illegimitate repair, resulted in tetraploid binucleated cells. Taken together, we demonstrate that human epithelial cells exhibiting physiological telomere dysfunction engender tetraploid cells through interference of anaphase bridges with the completion of cytokinesis. These observations shed light on the mechanisms operating during the initial stages of human carcinogenesis, as they provide a link between progressive telomere dysfunction and tetraploidy

Multicentre Italian study of SARS-CoV-2 infection in children and adolescents, preliminary data as at 10 April 2020

Data on features of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in children and adolescents are scarce. We report preliminary results of an Italian multicentre study comprising 168 laboratory-confirmed paediatric cases (median: 2.3 years, range: 1 day-17.7 years, 55.9% males), of which 67.9% were hospitalised and 19.6% had comorbidities. Fever was the most common symptom, gastrointestinal manifestations were frequent; two children required intensive care, five had seizures, 49 received experimental treatments and all recovered

Why High-Performance Modelling and Simulation for Big Data Applications Matters

Modelling and Simulation (M&S) offer adequate abstractions to manage the complexity of analysing big data in scientific and engineering domains. Unfortunately, big data problems are often not easily amenable to efficient and effective use of High Performance Computing (HPC) facilities and technologies. Furthermore, M&S communities typically lack the detailed expertise required to exploit the full potential of HPC solutions while HPC specialists may not be fully aware of specific modelling and simulation requirements and applications. The COST Action IC1406 High-Performance Modelling and Simulation for Big Data Applications has created a strategic framework to foster interaction between M&S experts from various application domains on the one hand and HPC experts on the other hand to develop effective solutions for big data applications. One of the tangible outcomes of the COST Action is a collection of case studies from various computing domains. Each case study brought together both HPC and M&S experts, giving witness of the effective cross-pollination facilitated by the COST Action. In this introductory article we argue why joining forces between M&S and HPC communities is both timely in the big data era and crucial for success in many application domains. Moreover, we provide an overview on the state of the art in the various research areas concerned

Itens lexicais estrangeiros e itens culturais específicos em Things fall apart: um estudo de estilo das traduções para o português com base em corpus

Exportado OPUSMade available in DSpace on 2019-08-13T00:37:07Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 disserta__o_cristina_lazzerini.pdf: 1714991 bytes, checksum: 7ef0a5ae232e55eba3c90fad4e0db07d (MD5) Previous issue date: 5O estudo apresentado nesta dissertação investiga o estilo da tradução sob a perspectiva do uso de itens lexicais estrangeiros e itens culturais específicos em um corpus composto por um texto literário pós-colonial em inglês nigeriano e duas traduções para o português. O objetivo é averiguar a existência de padrões de uso diferenciados de itens lexicais estrangeiros, entre eles os itens culturais específicos, nos textos traduzidos e as presumíveis consequências no significado desses textos. O uso desses itens em textos literários traduzidos foi abordado em pesquisas afiliadas aos Estudos da Tradução Baseados em Corpus (FRANKENBERG-GARCIA, 2005) e aos estudos de estilo da tradução e do tradutor (SALDANHA, 2011a e MAGALHÃES e BLAUTH, 2015) sem que certas especificidades da escrita pós-colonial pudessem ser consideradas. O romance Things Fall Apart, de Chinua Achebe, apresenta elevada frequência de itens lexicais estrangeiros e itens culturais específicos em ibo, utilizados pelo autor para a construção da experiência de seu povo, para posicionar seu texto como resistente à hegemonia da língua do colonizador e para marcar alteridade. A análise estilística desenvolvida neste estudo utilizou a etapa descritiva da estilística tradutória (MALMKJAER 2003, 2004) e ferramentas e métodos da linguística de corpus, fazendo interface com os Estudos da Tradução Baseados em Corpus, os Estudos Descritivos da Tradução (AIXELÁ, 1996) e a linguística sistêmico-funcional (HALLIDAY e HASAN, 1976 e HALLIDAY e MATTHIESSEN, 2014). Os resultados alcançados mostram que a estratégia geral adotada pelos tradutores para a tradução dos itens lexicais estrangeiros e itens culturais específicos seguiu a estratégia de Achebe para a inserção do vocabulário ibo no romance. Entretanto, as mudanças de tradução em relação a esses itens resultaram em textos normalizados, mais explícitos - especialmente a tradução brasileira - e mais coesos que o texto fonte. A investigação dessas mudanças tradutórias identificou motivação diferente de uso de itens lexicais estrangeiros e itens culturais específicos nos textos traduzidos, acarretando construção de significados distintos nas traduções em relação ao texto fonte. Dessa forma, o uso de itens lexicais estrangeiros e itens culturais específicos nos textos traduzidos, apesar de ainda construir experiencialmente a cultura ibo, atenua a diferença em relação ao Outro e, consequentemente, a função de resistência à territorialidade do colonizador.This study investigates the style of translation from the perspective of the use of foreign lexical items and culture specific items in a corpus compiled with a post-colonial literary text in Nigerian English and two translations into Portuguese. The aim is to examine differentiated patterns of foreign lexical item use, among them the culture specific items in the translated texts and the presumable consequences in the meaning of these texts. The use of these items in translated literary texts was addressed in research affiliated to Corpus Based Translation Studies (FRANKENBERG-GARCIA, 2005) and to studies of the style of translation/translator (SALDANHA, 2011a; MAGALHÃES; BLAUTH, 2015). These studies did not take into account certain specificities of post-colonial writing. The novel Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, presents a high frequency of foreign lexical items and culture specific items in igbo, used by the author to construe the experience of his people, as well as to position his text as resistant to the hegemony of the language of the colonizer and to emphasize Otherness in it. The stylistic analysis carried out in this study uses the descriptive procedure of translational stylistics (MALMKJAER 2003, 2004) and tools and methods of corpus linguistics, with the support of Corpus Based Translation Studies, Descriptive Translation Studies (AIXELÁ, 1996) and systemic-functional linguistics (HALLIDAY and HASAN, 1976 and HALLIDAY and MATTHIESSEN, 2014). The findings show the general strategy adopted by the translators for the translation of foreign lexical items and culture specific items were the same strategy the author used to incorporate igbo vocabulary into the novel. However, translation shifts related to these items resulted in normalized, as well as more explicit - especially the Brazilian translation - and more cohesive texts than the source text. The investigation of these translation shifts identified different motivation for the use of foreign lexical items and culture specific items in the translated texts, which seem to have construed distinct meanings in the translations in relation to the source text. It showed the use of foreign lexical items and culture specific items in the translated texts still experientially construes the igbo culture; however, it attenuates the difference in relation to the Other and, consequently, the function of resisting the territoriality of the colonizer

ITENS LEXICAIS ESTRANGEIROS COMO TRAÇO ESTILÍSTICO EM THINGS FALL APART:

Este artigo investiga o uso de itens lexicais estrangeiros (ILEs) como traço estilístico em duas traduções para o português de Things Fall Apart. Utiliza a estilística tradutória para identificar e descrever padrões de uso de ILEs, empregando procedimentos e usando ferramentas da linguística de corpus para buscar os dados estatísticos gerais do corpus e os dados referentes ao uso de ILEs. Resultados parciais do estudo identificam mudanças estilísticas ocorridas nas traduções, as quais sugerem que os tradutores empregam diferentes estratégias para tratar os ILEs

Pigments in Extra-Virgin Olive Oils Produced in Tuscany (Italy) in Different Years

Pigments are responsible for the color of olive oils, and are an important ingredient that is directly related to the quality of this food. However, the concentration of pigments can vary significantly depending on the climate conditions, harvesting time, and olive cultivars. In this work, we quantified the main pigments in several extra-virgin olive oils produced from a blend of three cultivars (Moraiolo, Frantoio, and Leccino) typical of Tuscany (Italy) harvested in three different years: 2012, 2013, and 2014. Pigments—namely, β-carotene, lutein, pheophytin A, and pheophytin B—were quantified by a method based on the mathematical analysis of the near ultraviolet-visible absorption spectra of the oils. Data were analyzed by a multivariate statistical approach. The results show that the pigments’ content of extra-virgin olive oils produced in 2014 can be well distinguished with respect to previous years. This can be explained by the anomalous climate conditions, which strongly affected Italy and, in particular, Tuscany, where the olives were harvested. This study represents an interesting example of how pigment content can be significant in characterizing olive oils. Moreover, this is the first report of pigment quantification in extra-virgin olive oils produced in Tuscany

Determinazione dei pigmenti e loro legame con parametri di qualità e autenticità dell'olio di oliva extravergine

Una delle caratteristiche peculiari dell’olio di oliva extravergine è il suo colore, che è dovuto alla presenza di una classe di composti minoritari: i pigmenti. La determinazione quantitativa dei pigmenti, ovvero delle concentrazioni dei carotenoidi, delle clorofille e dei loro derivati, può essere fatta utilizzando vari metodi sperimentali, suddivisi in metodi cromatografici e metodi spettroscopici. In questo lavoro si passeranno in rassegna questi due approcci, soffermandoci sugli ultimi sviluppi che hanno consentito di analizzare molti campioni di olio di oliva extravergine di diverse cultivar, provenienze geografiche e sottoposti a varie condizioni di conservazione. Questi studi sono stati utili ad individuare dei parametri associati al contenuto dei pigmenti in grado di definire l’autenticità e la qualità di un olio aprendo a interessanti prospettive applicative