Influenze islamiche sulla Commedia: una ricerca non conclusa

Viene descritto il dibattutissimo e ampiamente frequentato tema della questione delle influenze di testi di tradizione islamica sull’impostazione e sui contenuti della Commedia

Structure and bactericidal activity of an antibiotic dodecapeptide purified from bovine neutrophils.

Cytoplasmic granules of neutrophils store a variety of cationic polypeptides, which exert in vitro a potent antibacterial action and are potentially involved in host defense mechanisms. From an acid extract of bovine neutrophil granules we have purified over 2,000-fold a dodecapeptide exhibiting bactericidal activity against both Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus at 10(-7)-10(-5) M concentration. The purification procedure involved only two steps of ion-exchange and reversed-phase chromatography. The peptide, named bactenecin, has the amino acid sequence, Arg-Leu-Cys-Arg-Ile-Val-Val-Ile-Arg-Val-Cys-Arg, maintained in a cyclic structure by a disulfide bond between the two cysteine residues. Computer modeling of the dodecapeptide resulted in a conformation in which the chain adopts an antiparallel extended structure forming a gamma turn at residue 7

An Effective Approach for Injecting Faults in Wireless Sensor Networks Operating Systems

This paper presents an effective approach for injecting faults/errors in WSN nodes operating systems. The approach is based on the injection of faults at the assembly level. Results show that depending on the concurrency model and on the memory management, the operating systems react to injected errors differently, indicating that fault containment strategies and hang-checking assertions should be implemented to avoid spreading and activations of errors

Exploratory approach for network behavior clustering in LoRaWAN

The interest in the Internet of Things (IoT) is increasing both as for research and market perspectives. Worldwide, we are witnessing the deployment of several IoT networks for different applications, spanning from home automation to smart cities. The majority of these IoT deployments were quickly set up with the aim of providing connectivity without deeply engineering the infrastructure to optimize the network efficiency and scalability. The interest is now moving towards the analysis of the behavior of such systems in order to characterize and improve their functionality. In these IoT systems, many data related to device and human interactions are stored in databases, as well as IoT information related to the network level (wireless or wired) is gathered by the network operators. In this paper, we provide a systematic approach to process network data gathered from a wide area IoT wireless platform based on LoRaWAN (Long Range Wide Area Network). Our study can be used for profiling IoT devices, in order to group them according to their characteristics, as well as detecting network anomalies. Specifically, we use the k-means algorithm to group LoRaWAN packets according to their radio and network behavior. We tested our approach on a real LoRaWAN network where the entire captured traffic is stored in a proprietary database. Quite important is the fact that LoRaWAN captures, via the wireless interface, packets of multiple operators. Indeed our analysis was performed on 997, 183 packets with 2169 devices involved and only a subset of them were known by the considered operator, meaning that an operator cannot control the whole behavior of the system but on the contrary has to observe it. We were able to analyze clusters’ contents, revealing results both in line with the current network behavior and alerts on malfunctioning devices, remarking the reliability of the proposed approach

Intravenous Tirofiban With Intra-Arterial Urokinase and Mechanical Thrombolysis in Stroke

Background and Purpose— To evaluate preliminarily efficacy and safety of intravenous tirofiban combined with mechanical clot disruption and urokinase in patients with stroke attributable to major cerebral artery occlusion. Methods— Eleven consecutive patients with stroke attributable to acute occlusion of a major cerebral artery were treated with an intravenous bolus injection of the platelet glycoprotein IIb/IIIa antagonist tirofiban combined with heparin and by endovascular procedures including mechanical thrombolysis and locally delivered urokinase. Of the 11 cases, 9 involved angioplasty and 2 only microcatheter and microguidewire manipulation. Results— There were 7 patients with internal carotid or middle cerebral artery occlusion treated within 6 hours and 4 patients with basilar artery occlusion treated within 12 hours of symptom onset. Median National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score on admission was 20. After the interventional procedure, vessel recanalization was partial (thrombolysis in myocardial infarction grade flow 2 [TIMI 2]) in 7 patients and absent or insufficient in 4 patients. Twenty-four hours after the procedure, all the patients but 1 improved substantially, and on control angiography, the occluded vessel was totally patent (TIMI 3) in 10 of the 11 patients. One patient with partial recanalization did not improve and died 3 months later from pulmonary embolism. Neither a symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage nor systemic bleedings requiring blood transfusion occurred in any patient. At discharge, median NIHSS score was 2. The 3-month outcome was excellent in 8 patients (modified Rankin Scale [mRS] 0 to 1), good in 2 patients (mRS 2), and poor in 1 patient (mRS 6). Conclusions— The combination of intravenous tirofiban with intra-arterial mechanical clot disruption and urokinase may be successful in reopening an occluded major cerebral vessel without increasing the hemorrhagic risk and with good functional outcome. This strategy cannot be recommended as the systematic treatment of stroke attributable to major cerebral artery occlusion until tested in a controlled study design

Freeze-dried spermatozoa: An alternative biobanking option for endangered species

In addition to the iconic wild species, such as the pandas and Siberian tigers, an ever-increasing number of domestic species are also threatened with extinction. Biobanking of spermatozoa could preserve genetic heritages of extinct species, and maintain biodiversity of existing species. Because lyophilized spermatozoa retain fertilizing capacity, the aim was to assess whether freezedried spermatozoa are an alternative option to save endangered sheep breeds. To achieve this objective, semen was collected from an Italian endangered sheep breed (Pagliarola), and a biobank of cryopreserved and freeze-dried spermatozoa was established, and evaluated using IVF (for frozen spermatozoa) and ICSI procedures (for frozen and freeze-dried spermatozoa). As expected, the fertilizing capacity of cryopreserved Pagliarola’s spermatozoa was comparable to commercial semen stocks. To evaluate the activating capability of freeze-dried spermatozoa, 108 MII sheep oocytes were subjected to ICSI, and allocated to two groups: 56 oocytes were activated by incubation with ionomycin (ICSI-FDSa) and 52 were not activated (ICSI-FDSna). Pronuclear formation (2PN) was investigated at 14–16 h after ICSI in fixed presumptive zygotes. Only artificially activated oocytes developed into blastocysts after ICSI. In the present study, freeze-dried ram spermatozoa induced blastocyst development following ICSI at a relatively high proportion, providing evidence that sperm lyophilization is an alternative, low cost storage option for biodiversity preservation of domestic species

italian High‑Speed Railway Stations and the Attractivity Index: the Downscaling Potential to Implement Coworking as Service in Station

This article introduces a methodology to evidence the current attractiveness level of Italian high-speed railway stations in a GIS environment, involving station services and fow parameters. The model has been elevant to detect stations with lower attractive capacity, and afterward, to implement the station attractivity, the work proposed employing a coworking spaces strategy as a service in station. Coworking spaces produce enefts both for the traveler and the transport company. These places became part of the services ofered within railway stations since they are fow providers able to change appearance and idea of experience at station. In France, a coworking strategy has been created from the collaboration of Regus, leader company in coworking spaces supply, and the French railway group (SNCF). The Italian railway company (Ferrovie dello Stato) does not consider the attractiveness potential of coworking in the management of station resources; coworking spaces in Italy are placed outside stations. Accordingly, Torino Porta Susa station has been identifed as one of the stations with low attractivity capacity from the methodology implemented, and it has been chosen as the case study to implement the coworking strategy. The choice of Torino Porta Susa is accurate also for showing the value of associating coworking as urban policies support. The coworking strategy can implement attractiveness levels and, in a long-term future perspective, encourage sustainable mobility target

A network analysis on cloud gaming: Stadia, GeForce Now and PSNow

Cloud gaming is a new class of services that promises to revolutionize the videogame market. It allows the user to play a videogame with basic equipment while using a remote server for the actual execution. The multimedia content is streamed through the network from the server to the user. This service requires low latency and a large bandwidth to work properly with low response time and high-definition video. Three of the leading tech companies, (Google, Sony and NVIDIA) entered this market with their own products, and others, like Microsoft and Amazon, are planning to launch their own platforms in the near future. However, these companies released so far little information about their cloud gaming operation and how they utilize the network. In this work, we study these new cloud gaming services from the network point of view. We collect more than 200 packet traces under different application settings and network conditions for 3 cloud gaming services, namely Stadia from Google, GeForce Now from NVIDIA and PS Now from Sony. We analyze the employed protocols and the workload they impose on the network. We find that GeForce Now and Stadia use the RTP protocol to stream the multimedia content, with the latter relying on the standard WebRTC APIs. They result in bandwidth-hungry and consume up to 45 Mbit/s, depending on the network and video quality. PS Now instead uses only undocumented protocols and never exceeds 13 Mbit/s

Metagenomic Characterization and Volatile Compounds Determination in Rumen from Saanen Goat Kids Fed Olive Leaves

Simple Summary The aim of this study was to characterize the rumen microbiota of Saanen goat kids fed olive leaves through a high-throughput approach based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing; furthermore, the parallel characterization of rumen volatile profile by solid-phase microextraction coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry has been performed. Twenty goat kids were randomly assigned to two groups. The first group received a basal diet, while in the second one the diet was supplemented with olive leaves. The results showed the dietary supplementation to be able to affect the microbial community in the rumen. Significant differences were specifically observed between the two groups at genera and even family levels characterized by a higher abundance of cellulolytic bacteria in the rumen of goat kids fed olive leaves. In addition, the analysis of volatile compounds at the rumen level has allowed us to highlight differences in relation to the diet and the presence, in the rumen of goat kids fed olive leaves, of compounds indicative of health status. The accumulation and disposal of by-products deriving from the agro-food industry represents a problem both from an economic and environmental point of view. The use of these matrices in zootechnical nutrition could represent a feasible solution. The aim of the study was to examine the effect of a diet containing olive leaves (OL), a by-product of the olive industry, on the ruminal microbial community of Saanen goat kids and on volatile organic compounds (VOCs) produced during the digestion. Twenty goat kids were randomly divided into two groups of ten goat kids each. The control group (CTR) was fed with a standard diet, while the experimental group (OL+) received a custom-formulated diet containing 10 % OL on a dry matter (DM) basis. After 30 days of trial, genomic DNA was extracted from the rumen liquor and prepared for 16S rRNA-gene sequencing to characterize the rumen microbiota; furthermore, rumen VOCs were also characterized by solid-phase microextraction coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The Shannon's alpha index was not significantly different between the two groups, on the contrary, Bray-Curtis (p < 0.01) and Jaccard (p < 0.01) distances evidenced that feed affected microbial community. Eleven genera were influenced by OL supplementation, with a significant increase (p < 0.05) in Paludibacter, Fibrobacter, Sphaerochaeta Christensenella, Rikenella, Oligosphaera, Candidatus Endomicrobium, Anaerovorax, and Atopobium was observed, while the percentages of Bacteroides and Selenomonas were reduced (p < 0.05). Differences were also observed between the two groups at the family level (p < 0.004). Fibrobacteriaceae, Christensenellaceae, Coriobacteriaceae, Oligosphaeraceae, Candidatus Endomicrobium, and Planctomycetaceae were significantly higher (p < 0.05) in goat kids fed OL diet compared to CTR, while the levels of other identified families, Succinivibrionaceae and Bifidobacteriaceae, were opposite (p < 0.05). Finally, results showed that the main phyla in both groups were Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes; however, no significant differences in the relative abundance of any phyla were observed between the two groups. In addition to what has been reported, the analysis of VOCs at the rumen level showed the ability of the OL integration to induce an increase in hexanoic acid and a parallel decrease in decanal. Furthermore, only in OL+ samples there was the accumulation of alpha-terpineol to which a wide range of interesting biological properties is attributed.The presence of VOCs associated with health status suggests a favorable role of OL in preserving and improving animal welfare