The Ideal Candidate. Analysis of Professional Competences through Text Mining of Job Offers

The aim of this paper is to propose analytical tools for identifying peculiar aspects of job market for graduates. We propose a strategy for dealing with daa tat have different source and nature

Unintended Detrimental Effects of Environmental Policy: The Green Paradox and Beyond

Well-intended policies aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions may have unintended undesirable consequences. Recently, a large literature has emerged showing under what conditions this so-called 'Green Paradox' may occur. We review this literature and identify the key mechanisms behind these paradoxical policy outcomes and highlight avenues for future research

CleAir monitoring system for particulate matter. A case in the Napoleonic Museum in Rome

Monitoring the air particulate concentration both outdoors and indoors is becoming a more relevant issue in the past few decades. An innovative, fully automatic, monitoring system called CleAir is presented. Such a system wants to go beyond the traditional technique (gravimetric analysis), allowing for a double monitoring approach: the traditional gravimetric analysis as well as the optical spectroscopic analysis of the scattering on the same filters in steady-state conditions. The experimental data are interpreted in terms of light percolation through highly scattering matter by means of the stretched exponential evolution. CleAir has been applied to investigate the daily distribution of particulate matter within the Napoleonic Museum in Rome as a test case

From local networks of SMEs to virtual districts?

Industrial districts as local networks of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) rooted their competitiveness in a mix of economic relationships and social ties. Recently, network technologies have promised gains of efficiency through a reduction in transaction costs and showed new commercial opportunities for small firms. Despite the morphological similarities between industrial districts and network technologies, a longitudinal analysis of ICT diffusion within Italian districts shows that the foreseen convergence between the district economic model and new technologies should not be taken for granted. The observed specific evolutionary paths concerning technology innovation in local systems also opens-up issues of economic policy

Denitrification-derived nitric oxide modulates biofilm formation in Azospirillum brasilense

Azospirillum brasilense is a rhizobacterium that provides beneficial effects on plants when they colonize roots. The formation of complex bacterial communities known as biofilms begins with the interaction of planktonic cells with surfaces in response to appropriate signals. Nitric oxide (NO) is a signaling molecule implicated in numerous processes in bacteria, including biofilm formation or dispersion, depending on genera and lifestyle. Azospirillum brasilense Sp245 produces NO by denitrification having a role in root growth promotion. We analyzed the role of endogenously produced NO on biofilm formation in A. brasilense Sp245 and in a periplasmic nitrate reductase mutant (napA::Tn5; Faj164) affected in NO production. Cells were statically grown in media with nitrate or ammonium as nitrogen sources and examined for biofilm formation using crystal violet and by confocal laser microscopy. Both strains formed bio- films, but the mutant produced less than half compared with the wild type in nitrate medium showing impaired nitrite production in this condition. NO measurements in biofilm confirmed lower values in the mutant strain. The addition of a NO donor showed that NO influences biofilm formation in a dose-dependent manner and reverses the mutant phenotype, indicating that Nap positively regulates the formation of biofilm in A. brasilense Sp245.Fil: Arruebarrena Di Palma, Andrés. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata; Argentina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires Sur. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Pereyra, Cintia Mariana. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires Sur. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata; ArgentinaFil: Moreno Ramírez, Lizbeth. Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla; MéxicoFil: Xiqui Vazquez, Maria L.. Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla; MéxicoFil: Baca, Beatriz E.. Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla; MéxicoFil: Pereyra, María Alejandra. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires Sur. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Lamattina, Lamattina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas; ArgentinaFil: Creus, Cecilia Mónica. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires Sur. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Inverse association of circulating SIRT1 and adiposity. A study on underweight, normal weight, and obese patients

Context: Sirtuins (SIRTs) are NAD+-dependent deacetylases, cellular sensors to detect energy availability, and modulate metabolic processes. SIRT1, the most studied family member, influences a number of tissues including adipose tissue. Expression and activity of SIRT1 reduce with weight gain and increase in conditions of starvation. Objective: To focus on SIRT1 plasma concentrations in different conditions of adiposity and to correlate SIRT1 with fat content and distribution, energy homeostasis and inflammation in under-weight, normal-weight, and obese individuals. Materials and Methods: 21 patients with anorexia nervosa, 26 normal-weight and 75 patients with obesity were evaluated. Body fat composition by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, ultrasound liver adiposity, echocardiographic epicardial fat thickness (EFT), inflammatory (ESR, CRP, and fibrinogen), and metabolic (FPG, insulin, LDL- and HDL-cholesterol, triglycerides) parameters, calculated basal metabolic rate (BMR) and plasma SIRT1 (ELISA) were measured. Results: SIRT1 was significantly higher in anorexic patients compared to normal-weight and obese patients (3.27 ± 2.98, 2.27 ± 1.13, and 1.36 ± 1.31 ng/ml, respectively). Linear regression models for each predictor variable adjusted for age and sex showed that SIRT1 concentration was inversely and significantly correlated with EFT, fat mass %, liver fat content, BMR, weight, BMI, WC, LDL-cholesterol, insulin, ESR. Stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed that age and EFT were the best independent correlates of SIRT1 (β = -0.026 ± 0.011, p = 0.025, and β = -0.516 ± 0.083, p < 0.001, respectively). Conclusions: Plasma SIRT1 shows a continuous pattern that inversely follows the whole spectrum of adiposity. SIRT1 significantly associates with EFT, a strong index of visceral fat phenotype, better than other indexes of adiposity studied here

Physical activity and hypocaloric diet recovers osteoblasts homeostasis in women affected by abdominal obesity.

Obesity is a multifactorial disease linked to metabolic chronic disorders such as diabetes, and hypertension. Also, it has recently been associated with skeletal alterations and low bone mineral density. We previously demonstrated that exposure of osteoblasts to sera of sedentary subjects affected by obesity alters cell homeostasis in vitro, leading to disruption of intracellular differentiation pathways and cellular activity. Thus, the purpose of the present study has been to evaluate whether sera of sedentary obese women, subjected to physical activity and hypocaloric diet, could recover osteoblast homeostasis in vitro as compared to the sera of same patients before intervention protocol. To this aim, obese women were evaluated at time 0 and after 4, 6, and 12 months of individualized prescribed physical activity and hypocaloric diet. Dual-energy-X-ray absorptiometry measurements were performed at each time point, as well as blood was collected at the same points. Cells were incubated with sera of subjects before and after physical activity as described: obese at baseline and after for 4, 6, and 12 months of physical activity and nutritional protocol intervention. Osteoblasts exposed to sera of patients, who displayed increased lean and decreased fat mass (from 55.5 ± 6.5 to 57.1 ± 5.6% p ≤ 0.05; from 44.5 ± 1.1 to 40.9 ± 2.6% p ≤ 0.01 respectively), showed a time-dependent increase of Wnt/β-catenin signaling, versus cells exposed to sera of obese patients before intervention protocol, suggesting recovery of osteoblast homeostasis upon improvement of body composition. An increase in β-catenin nuclear accumulation and nuclear translocation was also observed, accompanied by an increase in Adiponectin receptor 1 protein expression, suggesting positive effect on cell differentiation program. Furthermore, a decrease in sclerostin amount and an increase of type 1 procollagen amino-terminal-propeptide were depicted as compared to baseline, proportionally to the time of physical activity, suggesting a recovery of bone remodeling modulation and an increase of osteoblast activity induced by improvement of body composition. In conclusion, our results show for the first time that sera of obese sedentary women who increased lean mass and decreased fat mass, by physical activity and hypocaloric diet, rescue osteoblasts differentiation and activity likely due to a reactivation of Wnt/β-catenin-pathway, suggesting that a correct life style can improve skeletal metabolic alteration induced by obesity

Composition of Arthropod Species Assemblages in Bt-expressing and Near Isogenic Eggplants in Experimental Fields

The environmental impact of genetically modified (GM) plants in experimental fields has been examined in several ways, in particular with respect to the dynamics of specific nontarget organisms. The approach of sampling for biodiversity in agroecosystems to compare complex patterns could also be useful in studying potential disruptions caused by GM crops. In this study, we set up replicated field plots of Bt-expressing eggplants and near isogenic untransformed eggplants as a control. We monitored the presence and abundance of herbivore and predator arthropods in weekly visual samplings of the plant canopy for three growing seasons (2001-2003). Insect species were pooled in organismal taxonomic units (OTUs); three multivariate methods were used to compare species assemblage as an estimate of insect biodiversity. This multistep statistical approach proved to be efficient in recognizing association patterns, as evidenced by the data for the target species Leptinotarsa decemlineata Say (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) clearly showing a significant association with the control plots. All the analyses indicate a comparable species assemblage between transgenic and near isogenic eggplant areas. Our results suggest that some taxa may warrant more specific study. For example, Alticinae beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) were alternatively more abundant in either of the two treatments, and their overall abundance was significantly higher on transgenic eggplants. In light of these results and because of their taxonomic proximity to the target species, these herbivores may represent an important nontarget group to be further studied. Moreover, some sap feeders (e.g., Homoptera: Cicadellidae) were more abundant on Bt-expressing plants in some samples in all 3 y