IMAGINING CULTURES OF COOPERATION: UNIVERSITIES NETWORKING TO FACE THE NEW DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGES

The Proceedings of the CUCS Torino 2013 Congress (19-21 September 2013) represent the final step of a scientific project and of an organisational and relational process that have proved challenging, engaging and ultimately rewording. At the same time the Proceedings testify the growing contribution by the Italian universities to the debate on international development and set a new beginning towards the next CUCS Congress to be held in 2015 in Brescia, as well as towards a more tight and effective cooperation between Politecnico di Torino, University of Turin and all the other actors involved in international development cooperation within the territory of Turin and Piedmont (international organisations, local institutions, NGOs, foundations, private companies…)

Heat Sensing Receptor TRPV1 Is a Mediator of Thermotaxis in Human Spermatozoa

The molecular bases of sperm thermotaxis, the temperature-oriented cell motility, are currently under investigation. Thermal perception relies on a subclass of the transient receptor potential [TRP] channels, whose member TRPV1 is acknowledged as the heat sensing receptor. Here we investigated the involvement of TRPV1 in human sperm thermotaxis. We obtained semen samples from 16 normozoospermic subjects attending an infertility survey programme, testis biopsies from 6 patients with testicular germ cell cancer and testis fine needle aspirates from 6 patients with obstructive azoospermia undergoing assisted reproductive technologies. Expression of TRPV1 mRNA was assessed by RT-PCR. Protein expression of TRPV1 was determined by western blot, flow cytometry and immunofluorescence. Sperm motility was assessed by Sperm Class Analyser. Acrosome reaction, apoptosis and intracellular-Ca2+ content were assessed by flow cytometry. We found that TRPV1 mRNA and protein were highly expressed in the testis, in both Sertoli cells and germ-line cells. Moreover, compared to no-gradient controls at 31°C or 37°C (Ctrl 31°C and Ctrl 37°C respectively), sperm migration towards a temperature gradient of 31-37°C (T gradient) in non-capacitated conditions selected a higher number of cells (14,9 ± 4,2×106 cells T gradient vs 5,1± 0,3×106 cells Ctrl 31°C and 5,71±0,74×106 cells Ctrl 37°C; P = 0,039). Capacitation amplified the migrating capability towards the T gradient. Sperms migrated towards the T gradient showed enriched levels of both TRPV1 protein and mRNA. In addition, sperm cells were able to migrate toward a gradient of capsaicin, a specific agonist of TRPV1, whilst capsazepine, a specific agonist of TRPV1, blocked this effect. Finally, capsazepine severely blunted migration towards T gradient without abolishing. These results suggest that TRPV1 may represent a facilitating mediator of sperm thermotaxis

Global-local plug-in for high-fidelity composite stress analysis in ABAQUS

This paper introduces a user-friendly tool for accurate stress prediction in laminate shell models in ABAQUS. The aim is to provide users with a code for the fast computation of three-dimensional solutions that overcome the limitations of classical shell models and facilitate the use of advanced composite failure criteria consistently. The methodology is based on a two-step global/local technique, denoted to as element-wise (EW), in which accurate local models with 3D capabilities stem from individual shell elements. The local analysis exploits refined laminated theories accounting for layer-wise deformations. Numerical examples on a typical aircraft structure serve as assessments to show the tool capabilities in handling various failure mode onsets., e.g., fiber breakage and matrix cracking

Avaliação da incidência de brusone em arroz (Oryza sativa L.) de terras altas sob cultivo com diferentes dosagens de agrosilício e rotação de cultura com soja (Glycine max (L.) Merrill) em sistema de plantio direto.

O Brasil é o oitavo produtor mundial de arroz. No Maranhão, o arroz é cultivado em consórcio com outras culturas, destacando-se o feijão e o milho, sendo pouco frequente o cultivo isolado. A cultura do arroz é afetada por diversos fatores, sendo as doenças fúngicas uma das principais responsáveis pela perda da produtividade. No entanto o agrosilício (silicato de cálcio, magnésio e silício) tem sido testado em diversos experimentos, pois o silício aumenta a resistência da planta. O presente trabalho objetivou analisar a resposta da planta ao agrosilício, considerando a incidência de doenças e estabelecer a dose mais eficiente de silicato de cálcio e magnésio para compor o manejo integrado de doenças do arroz, no estado do Maranhão. O experimento foi instalado nas dependências do Parque de Exposição de Imperatriz-MA, pertencente ao Sindicato Rural de Imperatriz, situado a BR 010, em uma área cultivada no ano anterior com soja (Glycine max (L.) Merrill). Em delineamento de blocos ao caso com parcelas subdivididas e quatro repetições, os cinco tratamentos são compostos pelas doses de silício (0, 1, 2, 4, 8 t/ha de silicato de cálcio e magnésio - Agrosilício). De acordo com os dados das análises estatísticas não houve diferença significativa entre nenhuma das dosagens de silício aplicadas para o controle das doenças: brusone nas folhas, brusone nas panículas, sendo necessária a condução de novos experimentos para indicar-se a melhor dosagem de agrosilício a ser aplicada ao solo para redução das doenças do arroz

Estudo da viabilidade de isolados de Sarocladium oryzae e Magnaporthe oryzae oriundos da Coleção de Fitopatógenos da Embrapa Arroz e Feijão.

O presente trabalho objetivou avaliar a viabilidade dos isolados de So armazenados ao longo de quatro anos e isolados de Py armazenados a mais de três décadas em métodos específicos de conservação

Screening of bacterial isolates antagonists and suppressors of blast in rice plants.

Grain yields of rice (Oryza sativa) are affected globally by rice blast (Magnaporthe oryzae). The main objective of this study was to identify isolates of rhizobacterial antagonists of M. oryzae (BRM10781) and screen the most effective isolates for suppressing rice blast under greenhouse conditions. Two assays (E1 and E2) were performed with 22 treatments in a completely randomized design with three replicates. E1 investigated in vitro antagonism between 21 isolates and M. oryzae under laboratory conditions. The E2 experiments were conducted under greenhouse conditions, with rice cultivar BRS Primavera seeds in plastic trays containing 3 kg of fertilized soil. After 21 days, the rice leaves were spray-inoculated with a bacterial cell suspension (1 × 108 CFU) and M. oryzae (3 × 105 conidia.mL-1) or with water (absolute control). Seven isolates, Serratia marcescens (BRM65918, BRM65923, BRM65926, and BRM63532), Bacillus cereus (BRM65919), Stenotrophomonas nitritireducens (BRM65917), and Priestia megaterium (BRM65929), reduced radial growth of M. oryzae colonies from 80.26 to 77.33%. The best leaf blast severity reducers were Pseudomonas nitroreducens (BRM32112), B. thuringiensis (BRM65928), P. megaterium (BRM65916), S. marcescens (BRM65918), S. nematodiphila (BRM63522), and Enterobacter hormaechei (BRM65925), varying from 97 to 95% respectively. The isolate BRM65918 (S. marcescens) showed the best efficiency for both antagonism and disease suppression, indicating its potential as a bioproduct for the biocontrol of rice blast in rice plants

Mass-dependent cuts in longitudinal phase space

Longitudinal phase space analyses as introduced by van Hove provided a simplified method of separating different reaction production mechanisms. Cuts in the longitudinal phase space can help to select specific reaction kinematics but also induce nonflat acceptance effects in angular distributions. We show that in photoproduction reactions dominated by t-channel exchanges, selection of meson or baryon production over a large mass range can be optimized through calculating mass-dependent cut limits compared to cuts on a van Hove plot sector alone. A cut is presented that improves this selection of one type of hadron production by rejecting another. In addition we demonstrate that using cuts in longitudinal phase space preserves sufficient information to reliably extract observables from the angular distribution of the final state particles.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures, copyright AP

Photoproduction of K+ K- Meson Pairs on the Proton

The exclusive reaction γp → pK+K− was studied in the photon energy range 3.0–3.8 GeV and momentum transfer range 0.6 \u3c −t\u3c 1.3 GeV2. Data were collected with the CLAS detector at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. In this kinematic range the integrated luminosity was approximately 20 pb−1. The reaction was isolated by detecting the K+ and the proton in CLAS, and reconstructing the K− via the missing-mass technique. Moments of the dikaon decay angular distributions were extracted from the experimental data. Besides the dominant contribution of the ϕ meson in the P wave, evidence for S − P interference was found. The differential production cross sections dσ=dt for individual waves in the mass range of the ϕ resonance were extracted and compared to predictions of a Regge-inspired model. This is the first time the t-dependent cross section of the S-wave contribution to the elastic K+K− photoproduction has been measured

Whole-brain dynamics differentiate among cisgender and transgender individuals

How the brain represents gender identity is largely unknown, but some neural differences have recently been discovered. We used an intrinsic ignition framework to investigate whether there are gender differences in the propagation of neural activity across the whole-brain and within resting-state networks. Studying 29 trans men and 17 trans women with gender incongruence, 22 cis women, and 19 cis men, we computed the capability of a given brain area in space to propagate activity to other areas (mean-ignition), and the variability across time for each brain area (node-metastability). We found that both measurements differentiated all groups across the whole brain. At the network level, we found that compared to the other groups, cis men showed higher mean-ignition of the dorsal attention network and node-metastability of the dorsal and ventral attention, executive control, and temporal parietal networks. We also found higher mean-ignition values in cis men than in cis women within the executive control network, but higher mean-ignition in cis women than cis men and trans men for the default mode. Node-metastability was higher in cis men than cis women in the somatomotor network, while both mean-ignition and node-metastability were higher for cis men than trans men in the limbic network. Finally, we computed correlations between these measurements and a body image satisfaction score. Trans men's dissatisfaction as well as cis men's and cis women's satisfaction toward their own body image were distinctively associated with specific networks in each group. Overall, the study of the whole-brain network dynamical complexity discriminates gender identity groups, functional dynamic approaches could help disentangle the complex nature of the gender dimension in the brain