Inhibition of cell migration and invasion mediated by the TAT-RasGAP317-326 peptide requires the DLC1 tumor suppressor.

TAT-RasGAP317-326, a peptide corresponding to the 317-326 sequence of p120 RasGAP coupled with a cell-permeable TAT-derived peptide, sensitizes the death response of various tumor cells to several anticancer treatments. We now report that this peptide is also able to increase cell adherence, prevent cell migration and inhibit matrix invasion. This is accompanied by a marked modification of the actin cytoskeleton and focal adhesion redistribution. Interestingly, integrins and the small Rho GTP-binding protein, which are well-characterized proteins modulating actin fibers, adhesion and migration, do not appear to be required for the pro-adhesive properties of TAT-RasGAP317-326. In contrast, deleted in liver cancer-1, a tumor suppressor protein, the expression of which is often deregulated in cancer cells, was found to be required for TAT-RasGAP317-326 to promote cell adherence and inhibit migration. These results show that TAT-RasGAP317-326, besides its ability to favor tumor cell death, hampers cell migration and invasion

LA GESTIONE DEL RISCHIO NEL SETTORE DEI BENI CULTURALI: MUSEI, BIBLIOTECHE, ARCHIVI

contenuti del volume “La gestione del rischio nel settore dei beni culturali: musei, biblioteche, archivi”, secondo della Collana “La Formazione e la Ricerca nel settore dei Beni Culturali e Ambientali”, sono riconducibili preliminarmente ad un excursus storico sulla situazione normativa in materia di sicurezza dei beni culturali in Italia e a livello internazionale con la conseguente trattazione di procedure di valutazione e prevenzione, linee guida e sistemi di sicurezza, in particolare, negli ambienti confinati. Si rivolge, quindi, l’attenzione alle varie tipologie di rischio e alle corrispondenti metodologie scientifiche in un confronto di percorsi metodologici e monitoraggi stabiliti anche da Organizzazioni Internazionali, affrontando alcuni casi di studio che, nell’ambito del Laboratorio Diagnostico per i Beni Culturali del Dipartimento di Beni Culturali dell’Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, sono stati oggetto di studio e applicazione

Fiscal Policy Regimes in Resource-Rich Economies

We analyse fiscal policy in resource-rich economies using a novel Bayesian regime-switching panel model. The identified regimes capture pro- or countercyclical fiscal behaviour, while the switches between the regimes have the interpretation of changes in fiscal policy. Applying the model to sixteen oil-producing economies, we show that fiscal policy has alternated between a procyclical and countercyclical regime multiple times over the sample. Furthermore, we find fiscal policy to be the most volatile in the procyclical regime and that the probability of being in the procyclical regime is higher for OPEC countries rather than non OPEC countries. We also show that following either an increase or decrease in oil revenues, the growth in government expenditure mostly increases, suggesting there is an upward bias in expenditures in oil-producing countries. These are new findings in the literature

Spaces of Memory

In the last decade, museums, memorials and monuments have become the battlefield for competing and conflicting visions of the past and the hegemonic or counter memories of the so-called “difficult heritage” or “traumatic heritage”. Far from being mere spaces of musealization that freeze and fix dominant narratives of the past, spaces of memory are increasingly turning into sites of negotiations and reconfigurations of meaning in which social and political identities are debated, strengthened, or weakened in reference to the traumatic experiences of the past which they “represent”. Yet, what does it mean to spatially represent a (traumatic) memory, and what is a space of memory? In expanding and, simultaneously, problematizing Pierre Nora’s (Nora 1996) category of lieu de mémoire, the way we think of spaces of memory aims at an in-depth examination of the peculiar yet specific ways of re-thinking the nexus between space and memory: how do we elaborate, activate, and make visible spaces for memory? This question points to the dynamic construction that underlines the production and connection of spatiality and memory, as well as to the coexistence of a plurality of meanings and experiences that characterize spaces of memory

IMPOVERISHMENT OF SICILIAN (ITALY) HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL ASSETS BY AN ALIEN INSECT SPECIES: THE CASE OF THE RED PALM WEEVIL.

Alien invasive species (IAS) have a disastrous impact on the biodiversity, cultural heritage and economy of a geographic area. The case of the Red Palm Weevil (RPW), an IAS that attacks the non-native palm species Phoenix canariensis, but also native species Chaemerops humilis, especially in urban and peri-urban areas, is reported. These palm trees have played an important role in Sicilian history and cultural heritage since the period of the Arab invasion. The accidental introduction of the RPW has remarkably changed the Sicilian panorama. In this study the chronology and the severity of the effects of RPW on palms so far detected, is reported. In only 7 years the RPW has drastically changed the aesthetic value and perception of the natural and cultural heritage in Sicily. Results suggest that the Precautionary Principle should be applied when IAS may impact on natural and cultural heritage

Magnetic field tuning of antiferromagnetic Yb3_{3}Pt4_{4}

We present measurements of the specific heat, magnetization, magnetocaloric effect and magnetic neutron diffraction carried out on single crystals of antiferromagnetic Yb$_{3}$Pt$_{4}$, where highly localized Yb moments order at $T_{\rm N}=2.4$ K in zero field. The antiferromagnetic order was suppressed to $T_{\rm N}\rightarrow 0$ by applying a field of 1.85 T in the $ab$ plane. Magnetocaloric effect measurements show that the antiferromagnetic phase transition is always continuous for $T_{\rm N}>0$, although a pronounced step in the magnetization is observed at the critical field in both neutron diffraction and magnetization measurements. These steps sharpen with decreasing temperature, but the related divergences in the magnetic susceptibility are cut off at the lowest temperatures, where the phase line itself becomes vertical in the field-temperature plane. As $T_{\rm N}\rightarrow0$, the antiferromagnetic transition is increasingly influenced by a quantum critical endpoint, where $T_{\rm N}$ ultimately vanishes in a first order phase transition.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure

A high efficiency, low background detector for measuring pair-decay branches in nuclear decay

We describe a high efficiency detector for measuring electron-positron pair transitions in nuclei. The device was built to be insensitive to gamma rays and to accommodate high overall event rates. The design was optimized for total pair kinetic energies up to about 7 MeV.Comment: Accepted for publication by Nucl. Inst. & Meth. in Phys. Res. A (NIM A

A topologically unique alternating {Co III 3 Gd III 3 } magnetocaloric ring

The adiabatic temperature change of the star-shaped {CoIII3GdIII3} magnetocaloric ring is enhanced via topological control over the assembly process, by using a pre-formed {CoII(H6L)} building block that undergoes oxidation to CoIII, successfully separating the GdIII ions