La vittima e il carnefice: The Portage to San Cristόbal of A.H. di George Steiner e Christopher Hampton

Il romanzo “The Portage to San Cristόbal of A.H.” di George Steiner (1981), da cui deriva l’omonimo adattamento teatrale di Christopher Hampton (1983), affronta il tema della complicità fra vittime e carnefici

Food waste in the eye of the consumer: antecedents and consequences of consumer-generated food waste

Paper 1. Consumers\u2019 orientation to imperfect fruits and vegetables: a multi-faceted phenomenon. Paper 2. The Role of Food Processing in Making Imperfection Beautiful: The Physical Processing of Imperfect Produce as a Way to Improve Attitude and Reduce Food Waste. Paper 3. Consumers\u2019 Reactions to Food Waste: Internal Attribution, Guilt and Compensatory Behaviors

Coeliac Disease, a model of food-induced inflammatory disease

Coeliac Disease, a model of food-induced inflammatory disease Celiachia, un modello di patologia infiammatoria indo:a da alimen; M. Vi&oria Barone Background/aim. Epidemiological studies, have associated the increase in chronic inflammatory diseases, such as diabetes, atherosclerosis, asthma, chronic liver disease, autoimmune diseases, degenerative diseases and inflammatory bowel diseases to the spread of the so-called " Western diet”. The Mediterranean diet has increasingly been regarded as the gold-stantard diet for human health. The nutrients exert their effects on tissue inflammation, either by direct action on the cells, or because they regulate the composition of the intestinal microbiota. The enterocyte and the intestinal immunocompetent cells, are equipped with complex systems to "feel" the food and to respond to them. Even cereals (and in particular wheat) can cause intestinal inflammation, for example in celiac disease. The intestinal damage from gluten (the complex of soluble alcohol proteins in wheat) in celiac disease consists of inflammation and remodelling of the mucosa, with flattening of the villi and hypertrophy of the crypts. There are two main types of inflammatory response to gluten peptides in celiac disease (1): there is the adaptive response mediated by CD4 + T cells to some peptides: the 33 mer of A-Gliadin, resistant to gastric digestion, is a prototype endoluminal and parietal intestinal. The peptide is deamidated by tissue transglutaminase (tTG) and presented by class II histocompatibility antigens, DQ2 and DQ8, to CD4 + T cells, with Th1-type response, mediated by gamma interferon and other proinflammatory cytokines. Then there is the response, not mediated by T cells, to other peptides: the peptide 31-43 of A-gliadin (P 31-43) is the prototype. P 31-43, which is part of peptide 31-55, is resistant to gastric and intestinal digestion and causes inflammation with multiple mechanisms, the best known of which consists of a stress / innate and proliferative response, mediated by EGF and IL15 (2). Peptide P31-43 is also a growth factor for various cell lines and for the enterocyte of celiac, as it is able to activate the EGF-EGFR system, the most powerful mitogen present in our body. The gliadin-induced proliferation of celiac crypt is not only dependent on EGF but also on IL15. The proliferation of crypt enterocytes and the innate immune response to celiac gliadin are regulated by a cooperation between EGF and IL15. P31-43 induce also a stress/innate immune response involving interferon α (IFN-α) (3). Thus a double action of gliadin is delineated in the induction of the mucosal damage of celiac subjects. On the one hand, gliadin can activate the T-mediated response and on the other it can induce an innate/ inflammatory response. The combined effects of this double action induce the typical lesion of the celiac mucosa. But what causes the sensitivity to gliadin peptides in celiac cells is not really clear. In this study, we describe a stressed/inflamed celiac cellular phenotype in enterocytes and fibroblasts probably due to an alteration in the early-recycling endosomal system. Moreover we show that celiac cells are more sensitive to the gliadin peptide P31-43 and IL15 than controls. This phenotype is reproduced in control cells by inducing a delay in early vesicular trafficking. Methods. For organ culture studies, biopsy fragments from duodenum were obtained from CD patients with villous atrophy controls, affected by gastroesophageal reflux, and CD patients on GFD (Gluten free diet). Fibroblasts were cultured from skin and intestinal biopsies obtained from CD patients, (GFD, GCD) and controls. We used double immunofluorescence staining, western blotting and immunoprecipitation to evaluate EGFR and EEA1 levels and co- localization in fibroblasts and biopsy fragment from patients with CD and controls. We transfected cells with siHRS and mRNA analysis was perfomed to evaluate the levels of EEA1. Results. We found in CD biopsies and fibroblasts an increase of markers of the innate immune response (EGFR, IL15-R α, MXA) and of the inflammatory response (NFkB). CD cells (enterocytes and fibroblasts) presented a constitutive alteration in the intracellular vesicular system at the level of the early-recycling compartment. In fact, in CD enterocytes and fibroblasts, the numbers of early vesicles were increased, and the EGF/EGFR trafficking was delayed in the early endocytic vesicles; moreover, the decay of the EGFR was prolonged, and TfR levels were increased. We induced a delay in early endocytic trafficking by transfecting cells with siHRS in control cells and rendered them more sensitive to gliadin treatment using as read out STAT5 and NFkB levels. Conclusions. In the present study we show that cells from celiac disease patients present a delay of the endocytic trafficking and are more sensitive to the wheat gliadin peptide P31-43 than control cells. We also found that inducing delays in early vesicular trafficking leads to a celiac-like cellular phenotype, carachterized by inflammation and activation of innate immunity, thus implicating the early-recycling endosomal system in celiac disease. This constitutive lesion might mediate the stress/innate immune response to gliadin, which in turn triggers the gliadin-specific T-cell response. 1) Barone MV, Troncone R, Auricchio S.Gliadin peptides as triggers of the proliferative and stress/ innate immune response of the celiac small intestinal mucosa. Int J Mol Sci. 2014 15(11):20518-37. 2) Barone MV, Zimmer KP. Endocytosis and transcytosis of gliadin peptides. Mol Cell Pediatr. 2016 3:8. 3) Nanayakkara M, Lania G, Maglio M, Auricchio R, De Musis C, Discepolo V, Miele E, Jabri B, Troncone R, Auricchio S, Barone MV.P31-43, an undigested gliadin peptide, mimics and enhances the innate immune response to viruses and interferes with endocytic trafficking: a role in celiac disease.Sci Rep. 2018 8:1082

Pectic enzymes as potential enhancers of ascorbic acid production through the D-galacturonate pathway in Solanaceae

The increase of L-Ascorbic Acid (AsA) content in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is a common goal in breeding programs due to its beneficial effect on human health. To shed light into the regulation of fruit AsA content, we exploited a Solanum pennellii introgression line (IL12-4-SL) harbouring one quantitative trait locus that increases the content of total AsA in the fruit. Biochemical and transcriptomic analyses were carried out in fruits of IL12-4-SL in comparison with the cultivated line M82 at different stages of ripening. AsA content was studied in relation with pectin methylesterase (PME) activity and the degree of pectin methylesterification (DME). Our results indicated that the increase of AsA content in IL12-4-SL fruits was related with pectin de-methylesterification/degradation. Specific PME, polygalacturonase (PG) and UDP-D-glucuronic-acid-4-epimerase (UGlcAE) isoforms were proposed as components of the D-galacturonate pathway leading to AsA biosynthesis. The relationship between AsA content and PME activity was also exploited in PMEI tobacco plants expressing a specific PME inhibitor (PMEI). Here we report that tobacco PMEI plants, altered in PME activity and degree of pectin methylesterification, showed a reduction in low methylesterified pectic domains and exhibited a reduced AsA content. Overall, our results provide novel biochemical and genetic traits for increasing antioxidant content by marker-assisted selection in the Solanaceae family

Effect of electrical stimulation and others genetic and environmental factors on colour of lamb meat

The research aimed to assess the effect of breed, sex, age at slaughter, rearing system and electrical stimulation on some colorimetric characteristics measured on the muscles Longissimus dorsi (LD), Gluteobiceps (Gb), Semimembranosus (Sm) and Rectus femoris (RF) of lambs belonging to the genetic types Gentile di Puglia (GP), Ile de France (IF) and the cross-breeds F1, F2 and F3. The IF lambs provided meat with the highest value of hue and lightness and the lowest chroma and redness. The F1 lambs showed the highest values of redness while the F2 crossbreed significantly differed from the other three genetic types only in pH, which was always the lowest. The F3 crossbreed revealed similar behaviour to the other genetic types, except for the pH which was always higher than in GP, F1 and F2. The differences between sexes were restricted to L* and pH values, being higher in the male. The lambs slaughtered at 56 days showed high a* values, while b* and hue were on average higher in younger lambs (35 days). The lambs reared with maternal milk in comparison with the artificially reared ones provided meat with the highest a* chroma and b* and the lowest hue values. Electrical stimulation of the carcass seems to have produced the same effects as the usual ageing time in cold store. The RF muscle provided the brightest meat; Sm showed the highest values of b* and chroma; LD provided the “darkest” meat and the lowest values of b* and hue; Gb produced a lower a* value than muscles LD, RF and Sm

The hybrid enigma: The importance of self-construal for the effectiveness of communication messages promoting sustainable behaviour

Transition towards more sustainable diets is imminent and marketers are looking for guidance on type of the advertising appeal that could effectively persuade consumers to buy products that could support this transition, such as hybrid products. While prior research has investigated the value of self-interest/-transcendent goal appeals and independent/interdependent self-construal, only a small number of studies have investigated these factors in combination. Therefore, we conducted a representative cross-national study involving almost 2000 consumers from Denmark, Spain, and the UK, to experimentally investigate the effect of self-interest (health) vs. self-transcendent goal (environment) and independent vs. interdependent self-construal on consumers’ attitudes. The results showed that perceived product quality mediates the effect of goals on consumers’ product attitudes, such that messages focused on the environment are more effective when interdependent self-construal is activated, while messages leveraging on health are more effective when independent self-construal is activated. This research suggests that advertising efforts and communication campaigns that rely on consumers’ goals should account for self-construal to induce higher levels of perceived product quality and efficiently boost consumers’ product attitudes and purchase behaviour

Use of weaning concentrate in the feeding suckling kids: effects on meat quality

The effect of a feeding supplementation with starter concentrate on “Capretto” meat production and its qualitative characteristics was investigated. The results showed that the effect of concentrate supplementation did not influence the slaughter weight, slaughter and dissection data, tissue composition and meat chemical composition of the pelvic limb. No differences were found for rheological characteristics of LD meat, except cohesiveness values, which were higher in the concentrate group kids

Delayed acellular dermal matrix assisted prepectoral breast reconstruction: Preliminary results.

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Food handling practices and expiration dates: Consumers’ perception of smart labels

Household food waste is a major sustainability problem to solve. Smart labels can alleviate the contributing factor of incorrect interpretation of expiration date labels. However, so far little research has studied consumer handling practices and perceptions of such labels in the context of use. We address this through a qualitative, asynchronous and text-based focus group study with 18 UK smart label early adopter and mainstream consumers, using the case of smart labels on red meat packaging. Results show that consumers are heavily reliant on either expiration date or their own senses, and that trust in the label is a key factor towards including smart labels in everyday food handling practices. Findings imply that in-store demonstrations and information would support and foster uptake of smart labels