Deamidation at Asparagine and Glutamine As a Major Modification upon Deterioration/Aging of Proteinaceous Binders in MuralPaintings

Proteomic strategies are herein proved to be a complementary approach to the well established amino acid composition analysis for the characterization of the aging and deterioration phenomena occurring to proteinaceous materials in works-of-art. Amino acid analyses on several samples demonstrated that proteins in the frescoes from the Camposanto Monumentale in Pisa are deteriorated as revealed by the decrease in Met, Lys, and Tyr content and by the presence in all the samples of amino malonic acid as a result of Ser, Phe, and Cys oxidation. Proteomic analysis identified deamidation at Asn and Gln as a further major event occurred. This work paves the way to the exploitation of proteomic strategies for the investigation of the molecular effects of aging and deterioration in historical objects. Results show that proteomic searches for deamidation by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) could constitute a routine analysis for paintings or any artistic and historic objects where proteins are present. Peptides that can be used as molecular markers when casein is present were identified

Raman analysis on 18th century painted wooden statues

A micro-Raman investigation on four wooden polychrome sculptures of Jan Geernaert (1704-1777), a Flemish sculptor who worked in Italy in the 18th century, is presented. The statues, representing the Holy Virgin Mary, with the infant Jesus in three of them, were created in the period 1750-1770 and are all made by poplar wood. The purpose of the micro-Raman investigations was to identify the original pigments used in 18th century, after later repainting interventions. In all statues, wood is covered by a groundwork, made by gypsum and animal glue. All pigments were identified, both in the original pictorial cover or in later repainted layers. Pigments were spread on a white lead layer (the so called imprimitura). Attention was particularly focused on the blue colours of the Holy Virgin mantle. In the external repainted layers, Prussian blue (Iron(II,III) hexacyanoferrate(II,III)) was found, together with ultramarine blue, a synthetic pigment, alternative to natural precious lapis lazuli, accessible on or after 1828. In one case, phthalocyanine blue is found, confirming a recent (later than 1930-35) restoration. The original skin colours are obtained by white lead and cinnabar (HgS), while the repainted layers are made by mixing chrome yellow (PbCrO4, synthesized in 1809), zinc yellow (ZnCrO4, 1809), red lead (Pb3O4), ultramarine blue, cinnabar, hematite (Fe2O3), goethite (-FeOOH), calcite (CaCO3) and white lead

X-ray spectral and timing characteristics of the stars in the young open cluster IC 2391

We present X-ray spectral and timing analysis of members of the young open cluster IC 2391 observed with the XMM-Newton observatory. We detected 99 X-ray sources by analysing the summed data obtained from MOS1, MOS2 and pn detectors of the EPIC camera; 24 of them are members, or probable members, of the cluster. Stars of all spectral types have been detected, from the early-types to the late-M dwarfs. Despite the capability of the instrument to recognize up to 3 thermal components, the X-ray spectra of the G, K and M members of the cluster are well described with two thermal components (at kT$_1 \sim$ 0.3-0.5 keV and kT$_2 \sim$ 1.0-1.2 keV respectively) while the X-ray spectra of F members require only a softer 1-T model. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test applied to the X-ray photon time series shows that approximately 46% of the members of IC 2391 are variable with a confidence level $>$99%. The comparison of our data with those obtained with ROSAT/PSPC, nine years earlier, and ROSAT/HRI, seven years earlier, shows that there is no evidence of significant variability on these time scales, suggesting that long-term variations due to activity cycles similar to that on the Sun are not common, if present at all, among these young stars.Comment: Astronomy & Astrophysics, in pres

The State-of-the-Art HST Astro-Photometric Analysis of the core of \omega Centauri. III. The Main Sequence's Multiple Populations Galore

We take advantage of the exquisite quality of the Hubble Space Telescope 26-filter astro-photometric catalog of the core of Omega Cen presented in the first paper of this series and the empirical differential-reddening correction presented in the second paper in order to distill the main sequence into its constituent populations. To this end, we restrict ourselves to the five most useful filters: the magic "trio" of F275W, F336W, and F438W, along with F606W and F814W. We develop a strategy for identifying color systems where different populations stand out most distinctly, then we isolate those populations and examine them in other filters where their sub-populations also come to light. In this way, we have identified at least 15 sub-populations, each of which has a distinctive fiducial curve through our 5-dimensional photometric space. We confirm the MSa to be split into two subcomponents, and find that both the bMS and the rMS are split into three subcomponents. Moreover, we have discovered two additional MS groups: the MSd (which has three subcomponents) shares similar properties with the bMS, and the MSe (which has four subcomponents), has properties more similar to those of the rMS. We examine the fiducial curves together and use synthetic spectra to infer relative heavy-element, light-element, and Helium abundances for the populations. Our findings show that the stellar populations and star formation history of Omega Cen are even more complex than inferred previously. Finally, we provide as a supplement to the original catalog a list that identifies for each star which population it most likely is associated with.Comment: 22 pages, 17 figures (most in lower res), 2 tables, accepted for publication in Ap

Compact QED3_3 - a simple example of a variational calculation in a gauge theory

We apply a simple mean field like variational calculation to compact QED in 2+1 dimensions. Our variational ansatz explicitly preserves compact gauge invariance of the theory. We reproduce in this framework all the known results, including dynamical mass generation, Polyakov scaling and the nonzero string tension. It is hoped that this simple example can be a useful reference point for applying similar approximation techniques to nonabelian gauge theories.Comment: 18 pages, OUTP- 94-23 P, TPI-MINN-94/37-

Morpho‐physiological classification of italian tomato cultivars (Solanum lycopersicum l.) according to drought tolerance during vegetative and reproductive growth

Irrigation is fundamental for agriculture but, as climate change becomes more persistent, there is a need to conserve water and use it more efficiently. It is therefore crucial to identify cultivars that can tolerate drought. For economically relevant crops, such as tomatoes, this purpose takes on an even more incisive role and local agrobiodiversity is a large genetic reservoir of promising cultivars. In this study, nine local Italian cultivars of tomatoes plus four widely used commercial cultivars were considered. These experienced about 20 d of drought, either at vegetative or reproductive phase. Various physio‐morphological parameters were monitored, such as stomatal conductance (gs), photosynthesis (A), water use efficiency (WUE), growth (GI) and soil water content (SWC). The different responses and behaviors allowed to divide the cultivars into three groups: tolerant, susceptible, and intermediate. The classification was also confirmed by a principal component analysis (PCA). The study, in addition to deepening the knowledge of local Italian tomato cultivars, reveals how some cultivars perform better under stress condition than commercial ones. Moreover, the different behavior depends on the genotype and on the growth phase of plants. In fact, the Perina cultivar is the most tolerant during vegetative growth while the Quarantino cultivar is mostly tolerant at reproductive stage. The results suggest that selection of cultivars could lead to a more sustainable agriculture and less wasteful irrigation plans

Testing the chemical tagging technique with open clusters

Context. Stars are born together from giant molecular clouds and, if we assume that the priors were chemically homogeneous and well-mixed, we expect them to share the same chemical composition. Most of the stellar aggregates are disrupted while orbiting the Galaxy and most of the dynamic information is lost, thus the only possibility of reconstructing the stellar formation history is to analyze the chemical abundances that we observe today. Aims. The chemical tagging technique aims to recover disrupted stellar clusters based merely on their chemical composition. We evaluate the viability of this technique to recover co-natal stars that are no longer gravitationally bound. Methods. Open clusters are co-natal aggregates that have managed to survive together. We compiled stellar spectra from 31 old and intermediate-age open clusters, homogeneously derived atmospheric parameters, and 17 abundance species, and applied machine learning algorithms to group the stars based on their chemical composition. This approach allows us to evaluate the viability and efficiency of the chemical tagging technique. Results. We found that stars at different evolutionary stages have distinct chemical patterns that may be due to NLTE effects, atomic diffusion, mixing, and biases. When separating stars into dwarfs and giants, we observed that a few open clusters show distinct chemical signatures while the majority show a high degree of overlap. This limits the recovery of co-natal aggregates by applying the chemical tagging technique. Nevertheless, there is room for improvement if more elements are included and models are improved.Comment: accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics. Corrected typo