Die Bedeutung zeitlicher Strukturen für die musikalische Entwicklung

Eine der schwierigsten Fragen bezüglich der musikalischen Entwicklung des Kindes betrifft zweifellos die Besonderheit des musikalischen Phänomens im allgemeinen, nämlich seine Erscheinungsweise in der Zeit. Diese unterwirft das Individuum bestimmten kognitiven Zwängen, die in Bezug stehen zur Struktur der Klangstimuli. Letztere können aufgrund ihres Ablaufs in der Zeit als zusammenhängende Ganze nur auf dem Weg über komplexe mentale Prozesse erfaßt werden, die Systeme von Schemata ins Spiel bringen, welche mit den Strukturen einer "operativen Zeit" (im Sinne Piagets) verbunden sind. Diese letztere begründet sich auf das Ineinandergreifen von Dauern- und Ordnungsbeziehungen, die die Zustandsveränderungen des klingenden Ganzen koordinieren. In dieser Hinsicht stellen sich in der Musik Probleme, die verschieden von jenen sind, denen Psychologen und Pädagogen im Bereich der visuellen Künste begegnen. (DIPF/Orig.

Gender e generi letterari: il caso di Goliarda Sapienza

Inclassificabile è L’arte della gioia di Goliarda Sapienza. E non solo per la forma singolare o per il contenuto scandaloso del libro ma anche perché non è facile collocarlo con precisione nella storia della letteratura italiana del Novecento. Infatti, prendendo in considerazione il momento della redazione del romanzo, constatiamo che esso esorbita dai limiti di tempo definiti dagli organizzatori del convegno (gli anni Duemila) giacché l’opera, come si sa, venne scritta dall’autrice per un in..

Chimie : un vecteur vert

National audienceLes faits, longtemps sujets à discussion, sont désormais là. Le cinquième rapport du GIEC (2013) qualifie d'« extrêmement probable » un lien entre les dérèglements climatiques observés depuis 1950 et les variations de la composition de l'atmosphère terrestre provoqués par l'augmentation forte et récente des activités anthropiques. L'implication directe des gaz à effet de serre dans les phénomènes climatiques, et en particulier du dioxyde de carbone dont la concentration a augmenté de 40 % depuis l'époque préindustrielle, est toute aussi probable..

Langerin-Heparin Interaction: Two Binding Sites for Small and Large Ligands as revealed by a combination of NMR Spectroscopy and Cross-Linking Mapping Experiments

Langerin is a C-type lectin present on Langerhans cells that mediates capture of pathogens in a carbohydrate-dependent manner, leading to subsequent internalization and elimination in the cellular organelles called Birbeck granules. This mechanism mediated by langerin was shown to constitute a natural barrier for HIV-1 particle transmission. Besides interacting specifically with high mannose and fucosylated neutral carbohydrate structures, langerin has the ability to bind sulfated carbohydrate ligands as 6-sulfated galactosides in the Ca2+ dependent binding site. Very recently langerin was demonstrated to interact with sulfated glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), in a Ca2+ independent way, resulting in the proposal of a new binding site for GAGs. Based on those results, we have conducted a structural study of the interactions of small heparin (HEP) like oligosaccharides with langerin in solution. Heparin-bead cross-linking experiments, an approach specifically designed to identify HEP/HS binding sites in proteins were first carried out and experimentally validated the previously proposed model for the interaction of Lg ECD with 6 kDa HEP. High-resolution NMR studies of a set of 8 synthetic HEP-like trisaccharides harboring different sulfation patterns demonstrated that all of them bound to langerin in a Ca2+ dependent way. The binding epitopes were determined by STD NMR and the bound conformations by transferred NOESY experiments. These experimental data were combined with docking and molecular dynamics and resulted in the proposal of a binding mode characterized by the coordination of calcium by the two equatorial hydroxyl groups OH3 and OH4 at the non-reducing end. The binding also includes the carboxylate group at the adjacent iduronate residue. Such epitope is shared by all the 8 ligands, explaining the absence of any impact on binding from their differences in substitution pattern. Finally, in contrast to the small trisaccharides, we demonstrated that a longer HEP-like hexasaccharide, bearing an additional O-sulfate group at the non-reducing end, which precludes binding to the Ca2+ site, interacts with langerin in the previously identified Ca2+ independent binding site

Structure and engineering of tandem repeat lectins

International audience(100 − 120 words) Through their ability to bind complex glycoconjugates, lectins have unique specificity and potential for biomedical and biotechnological applications. In particular, lectins with short repeated peptides forming carbohydrate-binding domains are not only of high interest for understanding protein evolution but can also be used as scaffold for engineering novel receptors. Synthetic glycobiology now provides the tools for engineering the specificity of lectins as well as their structure, multivalency and topologies. This review focuses on the structure and diversity of two families of tandem-repeat lectins, i.e. β-trefoils and β-propellers, demonstrated as the most promising scaffold for engineering novel lectins

Simulation de processus objets : Etude de faisabilité pour une application à la segmentation d'image

Dans cette étude, nous comparons l'efficacité de deux techniques de simulation par chaînes de Markov (MCMC) de processus aléatoires sur des ensembles d'objets géométriques : l'algorithme de naissance-mort et celui de Metropolis--Hastings-Green. Les comparaisons sont effectuées sur différents modèles de processus objets de type attractif présentant un intérêt en traitement d'image. Nous appliquons ensuite ces méthodes de simulation à la segmentation d'image. Pour cela, nous nous plaçons dans le cadre bayésien : nous définisson- s donc un modèle a priori attractif simple sur des objets rectangulaires, ainsi qu'un terme d'attache aux données garantissant l'adéquation des objets à l'image. Nous utilisons ensuite un recuit simulé pour extraire les différentes zones de l'image. Des tests sont effectués sur des images synthétiques

Expeditive synthesis of trithiotriazine-cored glycoclusters and inhibition of <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i> biofilm formation

International audienceReadily accessible, low-valency glycoclusters based on a triazine core bearing D-galactose and L-fucose epitopes are able to inhibit biofilm formation by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. These multivalent ligands are simple to synthesize, are highly soluble, and can be either homofunctional or heterofunctional. The galactose-decorated cluster shows good affinity for Pseudomonas aeruginosa lectin lecA. They are convenient biological probes for investigating the roles of lecA and lecB in biofilm formation

Biochemical and structural characterization of the novel sialic acid-binding site of Escherichia coli heat-labile enterotoxin LT-IIb

International audienc

Engineering of PA-IIL lectin from Pseudomonas aeruginosa – Unravelling the role of the specificity loop for sugar preference

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Lectins are proteins of non-immune origin capable of binding saccharide structures with high specificity and affinity. Considering the high encoding capacity of oligosaccharides, this makes lectins important for adhesion and recognition. The present study is devoted to the PA-IIL lectin from <it>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</it>, an opportunistic human pathogen capable of causing lethal complications in cystic fibrosis patients. The lectin may play an important role in the process of virulence, recognizing specific saccharide structures and subsequently allowing the bacteria to adhere to the host cells. It displays high values of affinity towards monosaccharides, especially fucose – a feature caused by unusual binding mode, where two calcium ions participate in the interaction with saccharide. Investigating and understanding the nature of lectin-saccharide interactions holds a great potential of use in the field of drug design, namely the targeting and delivery of active compounds to the proper site of action.</p> <p>Results</p> <p><it>In vitro </it>site-directed mutagenesis of the PA-IIL lectin yielded three single point mutants that were investigated both structurally (by X-ray crystallography) and functionally (by isothermal titration calorimetry). The mutated amino acids (22–23–24 triad) belong to the so-called specificity binding loop responsible for the monosaccharide specificity of the lectin. The mutation of the amino acids resulted in changes to the thermodynamic behaviour of the mutants and subsequently in their relative preference towards monosaccharides. Correlation of the measured data with X-ray structures provided the molecular basis for rationalizing the affinity changes. The mutations either prevent certain interactions to be formed or allow formation of new interactions – both of afore mentioned have strong effects on the saccharide preferences.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Mutagenesis of amino acids forming the specificity binding loop allowed identification of one amino acid that is crucial for definition of the lectin sugar preference. Altering specificity loop amino acids causes changes in saccharide-binding preferences of lectins derived from PA-IIL, via creation or blocking possible binding interactions. This finding opens a gate towards protein engineering and subsequent protein design to refine the desired binding properties and preferences, an approach that could have strong potential for drug design.</p