Sinestesia e pseudosinestesia. Un'analisi contrastiva Italiano-Tedesco nella pubblicita'

In questo studio viene analizzato il fenomeno linguistico della sinestesia. Grazie all’affermarsi della Linguistica Cognitiva sono state condotte numerose indagini che hanno rilevato una presenza consistente di sinestesie nel linguaggio comune. È stato attestato che la sinestesia linguistica, a differenza della sinestesia letteraria, è un fenomeno ascrivibile al livello "langue" poiché possiede una valenza oggettiva che gli permette di diffondersi anche tra culture diverse. Sono numerose, infatti le analisi contrastive tra due o anche più lingue. La mia indagine ha preso in esame due lingue: l’italiano e il tedesco. Il campo d’indagine preso in esame è quello della pubblicità. Sono stati analizzati 78 numeri della rivista italiana “L’Espresso”, e altrettanti del settimanale equivalente tedesco “Der Spiegel”. I fenomeni sinestetici individuati nelle pubblicità non sono risultati essere molto numerosi né in italiano né in tedesco. In linea generale sono state registrate tendenze simili in entrambe le lingue, anche se sono emersi alcuni elementi di differenziazione

Enhanced photogeneration of polaron pairs in neat semicrystalline donor-acceptor copolymer films via direct excitation of interchain aggregates

We investigate the photogeneration of polaron pairs (PPs) in neat films of the semicrystalline donor–acceptor semiconducting copolymer PCPDTBT. Carefully selecting the solution-processing procedures, we obtain films with different amounts of crystallinity and interchain aggregation. We compare the photogeneration of PPs between the films by monitoring their photoinduced absorption in ultrafast pump–probe experiments, selectively exciting nonaggregated or aggregated polymer chains. The direct photoexcitation of interchain π-aggregates results in prompt (<100 fs) charge generation. Compared to the case where nonaggregated chains are excited, we find an 8-fold increase in the prompt PP to singlet-exciton ratio. We also show that highly crystalline lamellar nanostructures not containing π-stacked or any light-absorbing aggregates do not improve the efficiency of PP photogeneration. Our results show that light absorption from interchain aggregates is highly beneficial for charge photogeneration in semiconducting polymers and should be taken into account when optimizing film morphologies for photovoltaic devices

Ubiquitin-dependent Degradation of p73 Is Inhibited by PML

p73 has been identified recently as a structural and functional homologue of the tumor suppressor p53. Here, we report that p73 stability is directly regulated by the ubiquitin–proteasome pathway. Furthermore, we show that the promyelocytic leukemia (PML) protein modulates p73 half-life by inhibiting its degradation in a PML–nuclear body (NB)–dependent manner. p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase–mediated phosphorylation of p73 is required for p73 recruitment into the PML-NB and subsequent PML-dependent p73 stabilization. We find that p300-mediated acetylation of p73 protects it against ubiquitinylation and that PML regulates p73 stability by positively modulating its acetylation levels. As a result, PML potentiates p73 transcriptional and proapoptotic activities that are markedly impaired in Pml−/− primary cells. Our findings demonstrate that PML plays a crucial role in modulating p73 function, thus providing further insights on the molecular network for tumor suppression

Near infrared ultrafast pump-probe spectroscopy with ZrF4-BaF2-LaF3-AlF3-NaF fiber supercontinuum

We report on the performance of a setup designed for femtosecond pump-probe spectroscopy in the near infrared (NIR) spectral region. We generate a supercontinuum (SC) probe by coupling 140 fs light pulses at 1550 nm into a ZrF4-BaF2-LaF3-AlF3-NaF (ZBLAN) fiber. The combined high nonlinearity and transparency of the ZBLAN fluoride glass allows us to obtain a SC probe from 1 to 2.6 μm. The NIR pulses are used to demonstrate a proof of principle experiment probing the relaxation of photo induced excitations in a conjugated polymer:fullerene blend film. The results show the possibility to perform fibre based NIR SC femtosecond spectroscopy at &gt;100 KHz repetition rate and using lasers with pulse energy just above 300 nJ

Mechanism of metabolic control. Target of rapamycin signaling links nitrogen quality to the activity of the Rtg1 and Rtg3 transcription factors.

De novo biosynthesis of amino acids uses intermediates provided by the TCA cycle that must be replenished by anaplerotic reactions to maintain the respiratory competency of the cell. Genome-wide expression analyses in Saccharomyces cerevisiae reveal that many of the genes involved in these reactions are repressed in the presence of the preferred nitrogen sources glutamine or glutamate. Expression of these genes in media containing urea or ammonia as a sole nitrogen source requires the heterodimeric bZip transcription factors Rtg1 and Rtg3 and correlates with a redistribution of the Rtg1p/Rtg3 complex from a predominantly cytoplasmic to a predominantly nuclear location. Nuclear import of the complex requires the cytoplasmic protein Rtg2, a previously identified upstream regulator of Rtg1 and Rtg3, whereas export requires the importin-beta-family member Msn5. Remarkably, nuclear accumulation of Rtg1/Rtg3, as well as expression of their target genes, is induced by addition of rapamycin, a specific inhibitor of the target of rapamycin (TOR) kinases. We demonstrate further that Rtg3 is a phosphoprotein and that its phosphorylation state changes after rapamycin treatment. Taken together, these results demonstrate that target of rapamycin signaling regulates specific anaplerotic reactions by coupling nitrogen quality to the activity and subcellular localization of distinct transcription factors