La Sonata del Claro de Luna de Yannis Ritsos

Yannis Ritsos (1909-1990) es uno de los poetas más influyentes de la generación griega de 1930, análoga a la generación del ‘27 en España. Los poetas de esa generación trajeron el surrealismo a la poesía griega, y, algunos como Ritsos, un claro compromiso político, reflejado en su poesía. Su obra más conocida/traducida es de carácter políticamente comprometido, de tono seco y épico. La "Sonata del claro de luna", el poema aquí traducido, es de un lirismo marcadamente diferente, y es menos conocido, aunque sea de una belleza y recursos artísticos impactantes.Yannis Ritsos (1909-1990) is one of the most influential poets of the socalled 1930 generation of Greek poets (analogous to the 1927 one in Spain) who introduced surrealism in Greek poetry, and for some, such as Ritsos, a strong political engagement reflected in their poetry. His most read/translated work is imbued by a politically engaged, stark and epic tone. The poem translated/presented herewith is of a markedly different, lyrical character, and is less well-known, despite its arresting beauty and artistic elements

Histone Modifications as an Intersection Between Diet and Longevity

Histone modifications are key epigenetic regulators that control chromatin structure and gene transcription, thereby impacting on various important cellular phenotypes. Over the past decade, a growing number of studies have indicated that changes in various histone modifications have a significant influence on the aging process. Furthermore, it has been revealed that the abundance and localization of histone modifications are responsive to various environmental stimuli, such as diet, which can also affect gene expression and lifespan. This supports the notion that histone modifications can serve as a main cellular platform for signal integration. Hence, in this review we focus on the role of histone modifications during aging, report the data indicating that diet affects histone modification levels and explore the idea that histone modifications may function as an intersection through which diet regulates lifespan. A greater understanding of the epigenetic mechanisms that link environmental signals to longevity may provide new strategies for therapeutic intervention in age-related diseases and for promoting healthy aging

Agia marina and Peristereònas: two new epipalaeolithic sites on the Island of Lemnos (Greece)

The surveys carried out along the coasts of the island of Lemnos (Greece) have led to the discovery of new Late Epipalaeolithic sites at Agia Marina and Peristereonas. Peristereonas yielded a knapped stone assemblage that is strictly comparable with that from Ouriakos, a site located along the south-eastern coast of the same island, while the artefacts from Agia Marina are more problematic to interpret because they are probably to be attributed to a slightly different period. However, the most characteristic artefacts recovered from the sites are represented by microlithic geometrics obtained by abrupt, bipolar, or direct retouch, end scrapers, and different types of exhausted cores and technical pieces, which help us reconstruct the operational sequence employed for the manufacture of the armatures. The aim of the paper is to contribute to the interpretation of the characteristics of the Late Epipalaeolithic assemblages discovered on the island and to frame them into the general picture of the end of the Pleistocene in this part of the Aegean. The artefacts from the sites show unique characteristics, without parallels to the knapped stone assemblages of the same period so far recovered along the coasts of the Aegean Sea, the eastern Mediterranean, the Levant, and the Black Sea.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Agia Marina and Peristereònas: Two New Epipalaeolithic Sites on the Island of Lemnos (Greece)

The surveys carried out along the coasts of the Island of Lemnos (Greece) have led to the discovery of new Late Epipalaeolithic sites at Agia Marina and Peristereònas. Peristereònas yielded a knapped stone assemblage which is strictly comparable with that from Ouriakos, a site located along the south-eastern coast of the same island, while the artefacts from Agia Marina are more problematic to interpret, because they are probably to be attributed to a slightly different chronological period. However, the most characteristic artefacts recovered from the sites are represented by microlithic geometrics obtained by abrupt, bipolar or direct retouch, end scrapers, and different types of exhausted cores and technical pieces, which help us reconstruct the operative chain employed for the manufacture of the armatures. The scope of the paper is to contribute to the interpretation of the characteristics of the Late Epipalaeolithic assemblages discovered in the island, and to frame them into the general picture of the end of the Pleistocene period in this part of the Aegean. The artefacts from the sites show some unique characteristics, which do not find parallels in the knapped stone assemblages of the same period so far recovered along the coasts of the Aegean Sea, the eastern Mediterranean and the Levan

Cover Picture: Ann. Phys. 2'2018

In article number 1700256, Emanuele Verrelli and co‐workers propose that cluster beam deposition of sub‐2nm magic number Au clusters, Au20 and Au55, on flat surfaces reveals a rich evolution of the phenomena taking place at substrate level. New magic number clusters have been formed via coalescence of neighbouring clusters, such as Au561. Experimental and simulation results reveal that neighbouring clusters on the substrate coalesce only when the distance from their nearest neighbour cluster is below a critical mark of 0.5 nm

Microdosimetry of electrons in liquid water using the low-energy models of Geant4

The biological effects of ionizing radiation at the cellular level are frequently studied using the well-known formalism of microdosimetry, which provides a quantitative description of the stochastic aspects of energy deposition in irradiated media. Energy deposition can be simulated using Monte Carlo codes, some adopting a computationally efficient condensed-history approach, while others follow a more detailed track-structure approach. In this work, we present the simulation of microdosimetry spectra and related quantities (frequency-mean and dose-mean lineal energies) for incident monoenergetic electrons (50 eV-10 keV) in spheres of liquid water with dimensions comparable to the size of biological targets: base pairs (2 nm diameter), nucleosomes (10 nm), chromatin fibres (30 nm) and chromosomes (300 nm). Simulations are performed using the condensed-history low-energy physics models ( Livermore and Penelope ) and the track-structure Geant4-DNA physics models, available in the Geant4 Monte Carlo simulation toolkit. The spectra are compared and the influence of simulation parameters and different physics models, with emphasis on recent developments, is discussed, underlining the suitability of Geant4-DNA models for microdosimetry simulations. It is further shown that with an appropriate choice of simulation parameters, condensed-history transport may yield reasonable results for sphere sizes as small as a few tens of a nanometer

An implementation of discrete electron transport models for gold in the Geant4 simulation toolkit

Gold nanoparticle (GNP) boosted radiation therapy can enhance the biological effectiveness of radiation treatments by increasing the quantity of direct and indirect radiation-induced cellular damage. As the physical effects of GNP boosted radiotherapy occur across energy scales that descend down to 10 eV, Monte Carlo simulations require discrete physics models down to these very low energies in order to avoid underestimating the absorbed dose and secondary particle generation. Discrete physics models for electron transportation down to 10 eV have been implemented within the Geant4-DNA low energy extension of Geant4. Such models allow the investigation of GNP effects at the nanoscale. At low energies, the new models have better agreement with experimental data on the backscattering coefficient, and they show similar performance for transmission coefficient data as the Livermore and Penelope models already implemented in Geant4. These new models are applicable in simulations focussed towards estimating the relative biological effectiveness of radiation in GNP boosted radiotherapy applications with photon and electron radiation sources

Support Induced Effects on the Ir Nanoparticles Activity, Selectivity and Stability Performance under CO2 Reforming of Methane.

The production of syngas (H2 and CO)-a key building block for the manufacture of liquid energy carriers, ammonia and hydrogen-through the dry (CO2-) reforming of methane (DRM) continues to gain attention in heterogeneous catalysis, renewable energy technologies and sustainable economy. Here we report on the effects of the metal oxide support (γ-Al2O3, alumina-ceria-zirconia (ACZ) and ceria-zirconia (CZ)) on the low-temperature (ca. 500-750 ∘C) DRM activity, selectivity, resistance against carbon deposition and iridium nanoparticles sintering under oxidative thermal aging. A variety of characterization techniques were implemented to provide insight into the factors that determine iridium intrinsic DRM kinetics and stability, including metal-support interactions and physicochemical properties of materials. All Ir/γ-Al2O3, Ir/ACZ and Ir/CZ catalysts have stable DRM performance with time-on-stream, although supports with high oxygen storage capacity (ACZ and CZ) promoted CO2 conversion, yielding CO-enriched syngas. CZ-based supports endow Ir exceptional anti-sintering characteristics. The amount of carbon deposition was small in all catalysts, however decreasing as Ir/γ-Al2O3 > Ir/ACZ > Ir/CZ. The experimental findings are consistent with a bifunctional reaction mechanism involving participation of oxygen vacancies on the support's surface in CO2 activation and carbon removal, and overall suggest that CZ-supported Ir nanoparticles are promising catalysts for low-temperature dry reforming of methane (LT-DRM)

A novel methylated analogue of L-Mimosine exerts its therapeutic potency through ROS production and ceramide-induced apoptosis in malignant melanoma

Melanoma is an aggressive and highly metastatic type of skin cancer where the design of new therapies is of utmost importance for the clinical management of the disease. Thus, we have aimed to investigate the mode of action by which a novel methylated analogue of L-Mimosine (e.g., L-SK-4) exerts its therapeutic potency in an in vitro model of malignant melanoma. Cytotoxicity was assessed by the Alamar Blue assay, oxidative stress by commercially available kits, ROS generation, caspase 3/7 activation and mitochondrial membrane depolarisation by flow cytometry, expression of apoptosis-related proteins by western immunoblotting and profiling of lipid biosynthesis by a metabolomic approach. Overall, higher levels of ROS, sphingolipids and apoptosis were induced by L-SK-4 suggesting that the compound’s therapeutic potency is mediated through elevated ROS levels which promote the upregulation of sphingolipid (ceramide) biosynthesis thus leading to the activation of both extrinsic and intrinsic apoptosis, in an experimental model of malignant melanoma