518 research outputs found
Proteostatic regulation in neuronal compartments
Neurons continuously adapt to external cues and challenges, including stimulation, plasticity-inducing signals and aging. These adaptations are critical for neuronal physiology and extended survival. Proteostasis is the process by which cells adjust their protein content to achieve the specific protein repertoire necessary for cellular function. Due to their complex morphology and polarized nature, neurons possess unique proteostatic requirements. Proteostatic control in axons and dendrites must be implemented through regulation of protein synthesis and degradation in a decentralized fashion, but at the same time, it requires integration, at least in part, in the soma. Here, we discuss current understanding of neuronal proteostasis, as well as open questions and future directions requiring further exploration
Trace metal distributions in Posidonia oceanica and sediments from Taranto Gulf (Ionian Sea, Southern Italy)
Distribution of metals (Hg, Pb, Sn, Cu, Cd and Zn) was determined in sediments and in different tissues of Posidonia oceanica collected from San Pietro Island, Taranto Gulf (Ionian Sea, Southern Italy). In seagrass, results, compared with metal concentrations in sediments, showed that the highest concentrations of Hg, Pb, Sn and Cu were found in the roots, while in the green leaves were found the highest levels of Cd and Zn. Instead the lowest metal concentrations were found in the basal part of the leaf. Levels of metals in the leaves were similar to those found by other authors in uncontaminated areas of the Mediterranean Sea. Mercury levels in roots were correlated to levels in sediments. This could demonstrate the plant memorizes sediments contamination . This study reinforces the usefulness and the relevance of Posidonia oceanica as an indicator of spatial metal contamination and an interesting tool for environmental quality evaluation
Heavy metals monitoring in mussels Mytilus galloprovincialis from the Apulian coasts (Southern Italy)
Concentrations of six heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Pb and Zn) and one semi-metal (As) were determined in tissues of mussels Mytilus galloprovincialis collected along the Apulian coasts (Mediterranean sea). This project, performed in 2009, was targeted toward the assessment of levels and spatial distribution of metals in the environment in order to evaluate the coastal water quality using mussels as bioindicators and health risk for mussel consumers.The concentrations (mg/kg d.w.) of these metals ranged from 6.35 to 76.17 for arsenic (As), 0.38 to 2.54 for cadmium (Cd), 0.96 to 9.46 for chromium (Cr), 5.26 to 19.22 for copper (Cu), 0.10 to 0.81 for mercury (Hg), 25.00 to 110.51 for zinc (Zn) and from 0.37 to 3.25 for lead (Pb). These levels were lower than the permissible limits set by European Commission and FAO with the exception for Cr in three sampling stations. Evaluation of the risk associated to molluscs consumption for human health suggested that there is no evident risk for a moderate Mytilus g. consumer, however heavy metals concentrations must be monitored periodically and carefully with respect to the consumers health
Post Quantum Cryptography from Mutant Prime Knots
By resorting to basic features of topological knot theory we propose a
(classical) cryptographic protocol based on the `difficulty' of decomposing
complex knots generated as connected sums of prime knots and their mutants. The
scheme combines an asymmetric public key protocol with symmetric private ones
and is intrinsecally secure against quantum eavesdropper attacks.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figure
Ataxia with oculomotor apraxia type 2: a clinical, pathologic, and genetic study
BACKGROUND: Ataxia with oculomotor apraxia type 2 (AOA2) is characterized by
onset between age 10 and 22 years, cerebellar atrophy, peripheral neuropathy,
oculomotor apraxia (OMA), and elevated serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) levels.
Recessive mutations in SETX have been described in AOA2 patients.
OBJECTIVE: To describe the clinical features of AOA2 and to identify the SETX
mutations in 10 patients from four Italian families.
METHODS: The patients underwent clinical examination, routine laboratory tests,
nerve conduction studies, sural nerve biopsy, and brain MRI. All were screened
for SETX mutations.
RESULTS: All the patients had cerebellar features, including limb and truncal
ataxia, and slurred speech. OMA was observed in two patients, extrapyramidal
symptoms in two, and mental impairment in three. High serum AFP levels, motor and
sensory axonal neuropathy, and marked cerebellar atrophy on MRI were detected in
all the patients who underwent these examinations. Sural nerve biopsy revealed a
severe depletion of large myelinated fibers in one patient, and both large and
small myelinated fibers in another. Postmortem findings are also reported in one
of the patients. Four different homozygous SETX mutations were found (a
large-scale deletion, a missense change, a single-base deletion, and a
splice-site mutation).
CONCLUSIONS: The clinical phenotype of oculomotor apraxia type 2 is fairly
homogeneous, showing only subtle intrafamilial variability. OMA is an inconstant
finding. The identification of new mutations expands the array of SETX variants,
and the finding of a missense change outside the helicase domain suggests the
existence of at least one more functional region in the N-terminus of senataxin
(3+1)-dimensional topological quantum field theory from a tight-binding model of interacting spinless fermions
Currently, there is much interest in discovering analytically tractable (3+1)-dimensional models that describe interacting fermions with emerging topological properties. Towards that end we present a three-dimensional tight-binding model of spinless interacting fermions that reproduces, in the low-energy limit, a (3+1)-dimensional Abelian topological quantum field theory called the BF model. By employing a mechanism equivalent to Haldane's Chern insulator, we can turn the noninteracting model into a three-dimensional chiral topological insulator. We then isolate energetically one of the two Fermi points of the lattice model. In the presence of suitable fermionic interactions, the system, in the continuum limit, is equivalent to a generalized (3+1)-dimensional Thirring model. The low-energy limit of this model is faithfully described by the BF theory. Our approach directly establishes the presence of (2+1)-dimensional BF theory at the boundary of the lattice and it provides a way to detect the topological order of the model through fermionic density measurements
How personality relates to distress in parents during the COVID-19 lockdown: The mediating role of child’s emotional and behavioral difficulties and the moderating effect of living with other people
Since the initiation of the COVID-19 lockdown, Italian parents have been forced to manage their children at home. The present study aimed at investigating the psychological distress of parents during the lockdown, identifying contributing factors. An online survey was administered to 833 participants from 3 to 15 April 2020. Mediation and moderated mediation models were run to explore the association between parent neuroticism and parent distress, mediated by child hyperactivity–inattention and child emotional symptoms, and the moderating effect of living only with child(ren) on the direct and indirect effects of parent neuroticism on parent distress. For parents living only with child(ren), high levels of psychological distress depended exclusively on their levels of neuroticism. For parents living with at least one other person in addition to child(ren), distress levels were also mediated by child behavioral and emotional difficulties. Motherhood emerged as a significant factor contributing to greater distress. Furthermore, parent psychological distress decreased in line with increased child age. The results confirm that neuroticism is an important risk factor for mental health. Preventive measures should be primarily target multicomponent families with younger children and directed towards parents who are already known to present emotional instability and to parents of children who have received local mental health assistance for behavioral and/or emotional difficulties
List of requirements on formalisms and selection of appropriate tools
This deliverable reports on the activities for the set-up of the modelling environments for the evaluation activities of WP5. To this objective, it reports on the identified modelling peculiarities of the electric power infrastructure and the information infrastructures and of their interdependencies, recalls the tools that have been considered and concentrates on the tools that are, and will be, used in the project: DrawNET, DEEM and EPSys which have been developed before and during the project by the partners, and M\uf6bius and PRISM, developed respectively at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign and at the University of Birmingham (and recently at the University of Oxford)
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