The Gelasian (Late Villanyan-MN17) diversified micromammal assemblage with Mimomys pliocaenicus from Coste San Giacomo (Anagni basin, central Italy), taxonomy and comparison with selected european sites

The Gelasian site of Coste San Giacomo (CSG) (central Italy) provides a unique opportunity to investigate the faunal and environmental changes occurred in Mediterranean Europe during the Early Pleistocene. The finding of both large and small mammal fauna has a great biochronological and palaeoenvironmental value. In this work the description of the small mammal assemblage is presented and discussed in detail for the first time. Twelve taxa, belonging to three orders, have been in fact identified and described (six Rodentia, one Lagomorpha and five Eulipotyphla). In particular, the CSG small mammal assemblage has provided the largest collection in Europe of Mimomys pliocaenicus and, for this reason, it can be considered as a reference. Finally, the occurrence of the Desmaninae subfamily is reported for the first time in Italy. © 2015 Associazione Teriologica Italiana

Spatial dispersion effects upon local excitation of extrinsic plasmons in a graphene micro-disk

Excitation of surface plasmon waves in extrinsic graphene is studied using a full-wave electromagnetic field solver as analysis engine. Particular emphasis is placed on the role played by spatial dispersion due to the finite size of the two-dimensional material at the micro-scale. A simple instructive set up is considered where the near field of a wire antenna is held at sub-micrometric distance from a disk-shaped graphene patch. The key-input of the simulation is the graphene conductivity tensor at terahertz frequencies, being modeled by the Boltzmann transport equation for the valence and conduction electrons at the Dirac points~(where a linear wave-vector dependence of the band energies is assumed). The conductivity equation is worked out in different levels of approximations, based on the relaxation time ansatz with an additional constraint for particle number conservation. Both drift and diffusion currents are shown to significantly contribute to the spatially dispersive anisotropic features of micro-scale graphene. More generally, spatial dispersion effects are predicted to influence not only plasmon propagation free of external sources, but also typical scanning probe microscopy configurations. The paper set the focus on plasmon excitation phenomena induced by near field probes, being a central issue for the design of optical devices and photonic circuits

Macaca sylvanus Linnaeus 1758 from the Middle Pleistocene of Quecchia Quarry (Brescia, Northern Italy)

During the Plio-Pleistocene the Barbary macaque, Macaca sylvanus Linnaeus, 1758 was widely distributed throughout Europe and North Africa (Szalay and Delson, 1979; Delson, 1980; Rook et al., 2001), and it became extinct in Europe during the Late Pleistocene (Elton and O’Regan, 2014). Nowadays this primate is still present in North Africa and a small population has been reintroduced at Gibraltar (Modolo et al., 2005). The taxonomy of the Plio-Pleistocene European macaques is still debated but many authors agree in considering all the fossils as belonging to the M. sylvanus lineage, while the Pleistocene endemic M. majori Azzaroli, 1946 from Sardinia (Italy) has been considered a distinct valid species (Rook and O’Higgins, 2005). The occurrence of this species is documented from Late Pliocene to Late Pleistocene sites located in Northern and Central Italy. Here we describe unpublished dentognathic remains of Macaca sylvanus from the Middle Pleistocene site of Quecchia Quarry (Botticino, Brescia, North Italy)

Bioturbation experiments in the Venice Lagoon

Short experiments (14–21 days) were carried out during autumn 1998 and spring 1999 at one selected site of the Venice Lagoon to measure bioturbation activities and mixing rates, as well as to obtain quantitative information on benthos functionality. Fluorescent sediment particles (luminophores, 63–350 μm) were introduced as pulse inputs at the sediment surface. The concentration–depth profiles of the tracer were simulated with a new advection– diffusion–non local model applied under non-steady state conditions. This allowed the quantification of the mixing parameters associated with different mechanisms: biodiffusion (Db), bioadvection (W) and non-local mixing (Ke,z1, z2). A parameter RS (removed sediment) was also calculated to account for the flux of sediment due to nonlocal transport. Results show that bioturbation was dominated by biodiffusion in autumn and by bioadvection in spring. Mean mixing parameters Db, W, and RS changed from 3.09 to 0.87 cm2 y−1, from 0.93 to 15.50 y−1 and from 5.85 to 7.79 g cm−2 y−1, respectively

The role of histone variant H2A.Z in the regulation of gene expression in breast cancer cells

Pendant mes trois ans de thèse, j'ai étudié les mécanismes de régulation génique impliqués dans le cancer du sein. Je me suis intéressé en particulier à la régulation épigénétique du gène p21 dans les cellules cancéreuses mammaires hormono-indépendantes, ERa-négatives (MDA-MB231).Nous avons démontré que l'activation du gène p21 dans ces cellules était p53 indépendante, stimulée en utilisant des inhibiteurs des histones deacétylases et contrôlée par l'acétylation du variant d'histone H2A.Z. Mes études ont permis la rédaction et publication d'un article (Bellucci et al., 2013 [1]). Selon les cellules utilisées, l'expression du gène p21 peut toutefois être p53 dépendante ou indépendante et le mécanisme d'activation du gène p21, via les HDACi, reste peu compris. Par ailleurs, il a été démontré, dans autres systèmes cellulaires, que la régulation de p21 dépendait de la localisation du variant d'histone H2A.Z. Nous avons montré que dans les cellules MDA-MB231 (p53- négatives), H2A.Z est lié fortement au site d'initiation de la transcription du gène p21. Un traitement à la Trichostatin A (TSA), un inhibiteur des histone-deacétylases, augmente l'acétylation de H2A.Z favorisant ainsi l'expression de p21. A l'opposé, une cellule déplétée en H2A.Z ne répond plus aux HDACi. Nous avons démontré que la présence du variant d'histone H2A.Z dans sa forme acétylé était importante pour l'expression de p21. En utilisant comme gène modèle celui de la Cycline D1, nous avons montré que l'acétylation de H2A.Z joue un rôle fondamental dans la régulation de la transcription en présence et en absence du récepteur aux œstrogènes. De plus, nous avons identifié des enzymes impliqués dans l'acétylation de H2A.Z (Tip60) et dans le remodelage de la chromatine (Tip48), nous permettant de proposer un modèle pour l'activation de la transcription de ce gène.During my PhD, I studied the mechanisms of regulation of gene expression in breast cancer. In particular, I was interested in the epigenetic regulation of p21 gene expression in an estrogen receptor negative breast cancer cells (MDA-MB231 cells). We found that in these cells a TSA treatment stimulated p21 expression and increased acetylation of H2A.Z present at the p21 promoter. H2A.Z was strongly associated with the transcription start site of p21. Moreover, depleting the cellular pool of H2A.Z compromised p21 activation and response to HDACi. Acetylation of H2A.Z rather than its association of regulatory element per se was important for p21 expression. My studies led to a publication (Bellucci et al., 2013 [1]) which shows that p21 gene activation in MDA-MB231 cells is p53-independent and controlled by the H2A.Z histone variant and its acetylation. Normally, activation of p21 expression can be p53-independent or dependent, according to the cell system used. But the mechanism behind p21 activation, via HDACi, remains poorly understood. Moreover, p21 regulation depends on the binding of the histone variant H2A.Z. Using the Cyclin D1 gene as a model, I also participated in a project, which shows how, in this case too, H2A.Z acetylation is critical for gene regulation in estrogen receptor positive and negative breast cancer cells. We identified the enzymes involved in H2A.Z acetylation (Tip60) and in chromatin remodeling (Tip48), to propose a model for transcription activation of this gene

Reactivity of platinum(II) triphenylphosphino complexes with nitrogen donor divergent ligands

Dinuclear platinum(II) complexes [{PtCl2(PPh3)}2(μ-N–N)], where N–N is a divergent bidentate nitrogen ligand, were prepared by reacting cis-[PtCl2(PPh3)(NCMe)] with N–N in a Pt/N–N molar ratio 2. The (trans,trans)-isomers were obtained as kinetic products and recovered in good yields and high purity {1, N–N = pyrazine (pyrz); 2, N–N = 4,4′-bipyridyl (bipy); 3, N–N = piperazine (pipz); 4, N–N = p-xylylendiamine (xylN2)}. Cis-[PtCl2(PPh3)(NCMe)] was also reacted with the tridentate divergent ligand 2,4,6-tris-(pyrid-4′-yl)1,3,5-triazine (py3TRIA) in molar ratio 3 with formation of the trinuclear (trans,trans,trans)-[{PtCl2(PPh3)}3(μ-py3TRIA)], 5. On the other hand, the treatment of cis-[PtCl2(PPh3)(NCMe)] with the monodentate pyridine (py) produced a mixture of both trans-[PtCl2(PPh3)(py)] (6a) and cis-[PtCl2(PPh3)(py)] (6b). The reactions of cis-[PtCl2(PPh3)(NCMe)] with N–N = pyrz, bipy, pipz, carried out with a Pt/N–N molar ratio 1, were monitored by 31P NMR spectroscopy. Equilibria were observed in solution, involving dinuclear (trans–trans)-[{PtCl2(PPh3)}2(μ-N–N)], mononuclear [PtCl2(PPh3)(N–N)] and free N–N. The addition of an excess of the divergent ligand allowed the complete conversion to the corresponding mononuclear complexes. With the heteroaromatic ligands both geometric isomers were observed (7a, 7b and 8a, 8b, for pyrz and bipy derivatives, respectively) while with pipz the trans-isomer only was detected, 9. In the system involving bipy, the scarcely soluble dinuclear (cis,cis)-[{PtCl2(PPh3)}2(μ-bipy)], 2b, was also obtained. Products 2, 2b, 3·2(CHCl3) and 6a·0.5(C2H4 Cl2) were structurally characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction methods

Investing in volunteering: measuring social returns of volunteer recruitment, training, and management

In this paper, we analyse the costs and benefits of the investments that non-profit organizations (NPOs) make for the recruitment, training and management of volunteers. Our main research question is whether we can apply the Social Return on Investment (SROI) to the identification and quantification of social returns in monetary terms. We believe that the “SROI of volunteering” may represent an effective instrument of internal control for NPOs for improving efficiency and sustainability. In order to verify the feasibility and appropriateness of the SROI approach, we present a case-study on the Italian association Dynamo Camp, which works with children with serious illness through the organization of summer camps that offer “recreational therapy.” We believe that the presented methodology has the potential to contribute to the debate about the socio-economic impact organizations create for volunteers and for society at large