L’apodemia di Solone e l’inalterabilità delle sue leggi. La versione di Erodoto

The aim of the article is to identify the tradition to which the Herodotean version of Solonian’s apodemia (latency) can be traced. While scholars recognised the dependence of the later sources (Aristotle and Plutarch) on Herodotus and also identified the alternative traditions to Herodotus to which Aristotle and Plutarch would have referred, the origin of the Herodotean version of the story remains debated, generally explained by the dependence on traditions outside the polis such as the tradition of the Seven Wise Men or the "legend" of Greek legislators. This article discusses the hypotheses already put forward in order to identify the possible cultural matrix of the Herodotean version and considers the possibility of identifying its most plausible context of elaboration in the oral traditions of the polis. Herodotus offers the version of a story that he knows through Athenian traditions that had fixed its main contents: (a) the pact established between citizens and legislator in the phase of the origins of Athenian democratic legislation; (b) the role in that pact of the sworn commitment not to repeal any law for ten years. Thus we have a story that is already structured, rather than being an uncritical collection of data, and whose context of elaboration is more plausible in the Athenian cultural environment

La «farsa» delle due delegazioni ateniesi ricevute a Farige da Filippo III Arrideo e Poliperconte: l’ultimo dramma prima della morte di Focione

Gli ultimi capitoli della Vita di Focione scritta da Plutarco di Cheronea raccontano i drammatici eventi che precedettero la morte del generale e politico ateniese. Tra questi è un singolare episodio del quale Focione, suo malgrado, fu tra i protagonisti principali: l’incontro avvenuto in una località della Grecia centrale, chiamata Farige, fra il re macedone Filippo Arrideo, accompagnato dai suoi philoi e dal reggente del regno Poliperconte, e una duplice delegazione ateniese. Le modalità dell’incontro fra le autorità macedoni e la duplice ambasceria ateniese meritano di essere riconsiderate per diversi motivi. Uno di questi è il particolarissimo ambiente nel quale il re Filippo Arrideo, accompagnato da un consiglio di notabili macedoni, ricevette i delegati ateniesi: sotto a un baldacchino d’oro che il reggente Poliperconte aveva fatto innalzare e sotto al quale aveva fatto sedere sia il re che i suoi philoi. Ugualmente interessante è il ruolo svolto in questa occasione da Filippo Arrideo e dal consiglio macedone che lo accompagna. Entrambi infatti, pur sotto il controllo del reggente Poliperconte, interagiscono direttamente con i delegati ateniesi. Infine, il carattere della discussione tra i delegati ateniesi e i Macedoni assume un peso rilevante rispetto alla ricostruzione degli eventi che seguirono alla restaurazione democratica di Atene e alla comprensione dei rapporti che i democratici ateniesi stabilirono con Poliperconte in quella occasione.The last chapters of the Life of Phocion written by Plutarch of Cheronea recount the dramatic events that preceded the death of the Athenian general and politician Phocion. Among these is a singular episode in which Phocion, despite himself, was one of the main protagonists: the meeting that took place in a town in central Greece, called Pharige, between the Macedonian king PhilipArrhidaeus, accompanied by his philoi and the regent Polyperchon, and a dual Athenian delegation. The modalities of the meeting between the Macedonian authorities and the dual Athenian embassy deserve to be reconsidered for several reasons. One of these is the very special environment in which king Philip Arrhidaeus, accompanied by a council of Macedonian notables, received the Athenian delegates: under a golden canopy that the regent Polyperchon had raised and under which he had seated both the king and his philoi. Equally interesting is the role played on this occasion by Philip Arrhidaeus and the Macedonian council that accompanies it. Both, in fact, though under the control of the regent Polyperchon, interact directly with the Athenian delegates. Finally, the negotiation between the Athenian delegates and the Macedonian court is significant for our reconstruction of events that followed the restoration of democracy in Athens and the connections that the Athenian democrats developed with Polyperchon on that occasion

Differential effects of phytotherapic preparations in the hSOD1 Drosophila melanogaster model of ALS

The present study was aimed at characterizing the effects of Withania somnifera (Wse) and Mucuna pruriens (Mpe) on a Drosophila melanogaster model for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). In particular, the effects of Wse and Mpe were assessed following feeding the flies selectively overexpressing the wild human copper, zinc-superoxide dismutase (hSOD1-gain-of-function) in Drosophila motoneurons. Although ALS-hSOD1 mutants showed no impairment in life span, with respect to GAL4 controls, the results revealed impairment of climbing behaviour, muscle electrophysiological parameters (latency and amplitude of ePSPs) as well as thoracic ganglia mitochondrial functions. Interestingly, Wse treatment significantly increased lifespan of hSDO1 while Mpe had not effect. Conversely, both Wse and Mpe significantly rescued climbing impairment, and also latency and amplitude of ePSPs as well as failure responses to high frequency DLM stimulation. Finally, mitochondrial alterations were any more present in Wse-but not in Mpe-Treated hSOD1 mutants. Hence, given the role of inflammation in the development of ALS, the high translational impact of the model, the known anti-inflammatory properties of these extracts, and the viability of their clinical use, these results suggest that the application of Wse and Mpe might represent a valuable pharmacological strategy to counteract the progression of ALS and related symptom

Sardinia Radio Telescope wide-band spectral-polarimetric observations of the galaxy cluster 3C 129

We present new observations of the galaxy cluster 3C 129 obtained with the Sardinia Radio Telescope in the frequency range 6000-7200 MHz, with the aim to image the large-angular-scale emission at high-frequency of the radio sources located in this cluster of galaxies. The data were acquired using the recently-commissioned ROACH2-based backend to produce full-Stokes image cubes of an area of 1 deg x 1 deg centered on the radio source 3C 129. We modeled and deconvolved the telescope beam pattern from the data. We also measured the instrumental polarization beam patterns to correct the polarization images for off-axis instrumental polarization. Total intensity images at an angular resolution of 2.9 arcmin were obtained for the tailed radio galaxy 3C 129 and for 13 more sources in the field, including 3C 129.1 at the galaxy cluster center. These data were used, in combination with literature data at lower frequencies, to derive the variation of the synchrotron spectrum of 3C 129 along the tail of the radio source. If the magnetic field is at the equipartition value, we showed that the lifetimes of radiating electrons result in a radiative age for 3C 129 of t_syn = 267 +/- 26 Myrs. Assuming a linear projected length of 488 kpc for the tail, we deduced that 3C 129 is moving supersonically with a Mach number of M=v_gal/c_s=1.47. Linearly polarized emission was clearly detected for both 3C 129 and 3C 129.1. The linear polarization measured for 3C 129 reaches levels as high as 70% in the faintest region of the source where the magnetic field is aligned with the direction of the tail.Comment: 19 pages, 17 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

(1)H-NMR analysis provides a metabolomic profile of patients with multiple sclerosis

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the metabolomic profiles of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and to define the metabolic pathways potentially related to MS pathogenesis. METHODS: Plasma samples from 73 patients with MS (therapy-free for at least 90 days) and 88 healthy controls (HC) were analyzed by (1)H-NMR spectroscopy. Data analysis was conducted with principal components analysis followed by a supervised analysis (orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis [OPLS-DA]). The metabolites were identified and quantified using Chenomx software, and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were calculated. RESULTS: The model obtained with the OPLS-DA identified predictive metabolic differences between the patients with MS and HC (R2X = 0.615, R2Y = 0.619, Q2 = 0.476; p < 0.001). The differential metabolites included glucose, 5-OH-tryptophan, and tryptophan, which were lower in the MS group, and 3-OH-butyrate, acetoacetate, acetone, alanine, and choline, which were higher in the MS group. The suitability of the model was evaluated using an external set of samples. The values returned by the model were used to build the corresponding ROC curve (area under the curve of 0.98). CONCLUSION: NMR metabolomic analysis was able to discriminate different metabolic profiles in patients with MS compared with HC. With the exception of choline, the main metabolic changes could be connected to 2 different metabolic pathways: tryptophan metabolism and energy metabolism. Metabolomics appears to represent a promising noninvasive approach for the study of M

Mucuna pruriens (Velvet bean) Rescues Motor, Olfactory, Mitochondrial and Synaptic Impairment in PINK1(B9) Drosophila melanogaster Genetic Model of Parkinson's Disease

The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster (Dm) mutant for PTEN-induced putative kinase 1 (PINK1B9) gene is a powerful tool to investigate physiopathology of Parkinson's disease (PD). Using PINK1B9 mutant Dm we sought to explore the effects of Mucuna pruriens methanolic extract (Mpe), a L-Dopa-containing herbal remedy of PD. The effects of Mpe on PINK1B9 mutants, supplied with standard diet to larvae and adults, were assayed on 3–6 (I), 10–15 (II) and 20–25 (III) days old flies. Mpe 0.1% significantly extended lifespan of PINK1B9 and fully rescued olfactory response to 1-hexanol and improved climbing behavior of PINK1B9 of all ages; in contrast, L-Dopa (0.01%, percentage at which it is present in Mpe 0.1%) ameliorated climbing of only PINK1B9 flies of age step II. Transmission electron microscopy analysis of antennal lobes and thoracic ganglia of PINK1B9 revealed that Mpe restored to wild type (WT) levels both T-bars and damaged mitochondria. Western blot analysis of whole brain showed that Mpe, but not L-Dopa on its own, restored bruchpilot (BRP) and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) expression to age-matched WT control levels. These results highlight multiple sites of action of Mpe, suggesting that its effects cannot only depend upon its L-Dopa content and support the clinical observation of Mpe as an effective medication with intrinsic ability of delaying the onset of chronic L-Dopa-induced long-term motor complications. Overall, this study strengthens the relevance of using PINK1B9 Dm as a translational model to study the properties of Mucuna pruriens for PD treatment

Analysis and applications of respiratory surface EMG:report of a round table meeting

Surface electromyography (sEMG) can be used to measure the electrical activity of the respiratory muscles. The possible applications of sEMG span from patients suffering from acute respiratory failure to patients receiving chronic home mechanical ventilation, to evaluate muscle function, titrate ventilatory support and guide treatment. However, sEMG is mainly used as a monitoring tool for research and its use in clinical practice is still limited—in part due to a lack of standardization and transparent reporting. During this round table meeting, recommendations on data acquisition, processing, interpretation, and potential clinical applications of respiratory sEMG were discussed. This paper informs the clinical researcher interested in respiratory muscle monitoring about the current state of the art on sEMG, knowledge gaps and potential future applications for patients with respiratory failure.</p

Analysis and applications of respiratory surface EMG:report of a round table meeting

Surface electromyography (sEMG) can be used to measure the electrical activity of the respiratory muscles. The possible applications of sEMG span from patients suffering from acute respiratory failure to patients receiving chronic home mechanical ventilation, to evaluate muscle function, titrate ventilatory support and guide treatment. However, sEMG is mainly used as a monitoring tool for research and its use in clinical practice is still limited-in part due to a lack of standardization and transparent reporting. During this round table meeting, recommendations on data acquisition, processing, interpretation, and potential clinical applications of respiratory sEMG were discussed. This paper informs the clinical researcher interested in respiratory muscle monitoring about the current state of the art on sEMG, knowledge gaps and potential future applications for patients with respiratory failure.</p