Interessi cittadini, finanze regie e istituzioni parlamentari nella Sardegna del tardo Medioevo

Il saggio si propone di ricostruire, partendo dalla storiografia sul tema e attraverso l’esame degli atti dei Parlamenti del Regno di Sardegna convocati da Alfonso V nel 1421 e da Ferdinando II fra il 1481 e il 1504, il ruolo delle città all’interno dell’assemblea parlamentare, il rapporto tra le diverse realtà urbane ed il potere regio – rappresentato nell’isola dal viceré e dagli alti funzionari dell’amministrazione regia – , l’onere economico che stesse città si assumevano con l’approvazione del donativo. La documentazione parlamentare offre uno spaccato della Sardegna reale, con i sui conflitti e con i suoi molteplici problemi, soprattutto di natura economica, ai quali danno voce le città e più in generale le componenti stamentarie che siedono in Parlamento

„es war ihm, als“ Irreale Vergleichssätze als Darstellungsmodus des Wahnsinns in Georg Büchners Erzählung Lenz

The importance of complex illness themes, in particular those of mental illness, has already been emphasized in numerous scientific articles regarding the literary work of Georg Büchner. It is particularly evident that Büchner draws on his medical knowledge into the literary text. In Lenz (1835) he experiments like a scientist with themes, images and structures from his scientific sources. This article opens with a comparative discussion of the narrative structures used in psychological case descriptions of the early 1800s and the ones used in Büchner’s Lenz. As the comparison reveals, the use of metaphors referring to mental illness, as well as the use of the narrative expression “es war ihm, als” (it seemed to him as if) characterize the peculiarity of Büchner’s narrative. Furthermore, this article examines the grammatical and rhetorical functioning of the expression “es war ihm, als” and suggests that it should be understood as a medium which introduces a new perspective on critical aspects of Büchner’s contemporary society

KI in der Schule: Digitale Lehrkonzepte und Anwendungsbeispiele für den Fremdsprachenunterricht

ZusammenfassungIn diesem Beitrag geht es um eine Methode zum Verständnis literarischer Texte mit Hilfe von maschinell erstellten Analysemodellen. Der Beitrag beschreibt die Methode und reflektiert darüber. Ausgehend von den Ausführungen Morettis wird zunächst die Frage nach alternativen Lesetechniken beantwortet. Mit dem Begriff Distant Reading beschreibt Franco Moretti eine neue Form des Textwissens, wobei das Abstandnehmen vom Text durch den Einsatz digitaler Mittel die Entdeckung von Formen und Modellen ermöglicht und somit zu konkreten Ergebnissen für den Interpreten führt. Im zweiten Teil werden konkrete Beispiele aus der Unterrichtspraxis gezeigt. Schülerinnen und Schüler analysieren das erste Kapitel des Romans Effi Briest und erarbeiten die Fragestellung mithilfe von Voyant Tools. Es handelt sich dabei nicht um digitale Werkzeuge, die rein mechanische Eingaben verlangen, sondern um Instrumente, die Text- und Spracherschließungen unterstützen und durch Häufigkeitsdiagramme Muster erkennen lassen

miR-146a controls CXCR4 expression in a pathway that involves PLZF and can be used to inhibit HIV-1 infection of CD4+ T lymphocytes

Abstract MicroRNA miR-146a and PLZF are reported as major players in the control of hematopoiesis, immune function and cancer. PLZF is described as a miR-146a repressor, whereas CXCR4 and TRAF6 were identified as miR-146a direct targets in different cell types. CXCR4 is a co-receptor of CD4 molecule that facilitates HIV-1 entry into T lymphocytes and myeloid cells, whereas TRAF6 is involved in immune response. Thus, the role of miR-146a in HIV-1 infection is currently being thoroughly investigated. In this study, we found that PLZF mediates suppression of miR-146a to control increases of CXCR4 and TRAF6 protein levels in human primary CD4 + T lymphocytes. We show that miR-146a upregulation by AMD3100 treatment or PLZF silencing, decreases CXCR4 protein expression and prevents HIV-1 infection of leukemic monocytic cell line and CD4 + T lymphocytes. Our findings improve the prospects of developing new therapeutic strategies to prevent HIV-1 entry via CXCR4 by using the PLZF/miR-146a axis

DNA methylation enables recurrent endogenization of giant viruses in an animal relative.

5-Methylcytosine (5mC) is a widespread silencing mechanism that controls genomic parasites. In eukaryotes, 5mC has gained complex roles in gene regulation beyond parasite control, yet 5mC has also been lost in many lineages. The causes for 5mC retention and its genomic consequences are still poorly understood. Here, we show that the protist closely related to animals Amoebidium appalachense features both transposon and gene body methylation, a pattern reminiscent of invertebrates and plants. Unexpectedly, hypermethylated genomic regions in Amoebidium derive from viral insertions, including hundreds of endogenized giant viruses, contributing 14% of the proteome. Using a combination of inhibitors and genomic assays, we demonstrate that 5mC silences these giant virus insertions. Moreover, alternative Amoebidium isolates show polymorphic giant virus insertions, highlighting a dynamic process of infection, endogenization, and purging. Our results indicate that 5mC is critical for the controlled coexistence of newly acquired viral DNA into eukaryotic genomes, making Amoebidium a unique model to understand the hybrid origins of eukaryotic DNA

HIV-1 Infection of T cells and macrophages are differentially modulated by virion-associated Hck: a nef-dependent phenomenon

The proline repeat motif (PxxP) of Nef is required for interaction with the SH3 domains of macrophage-specific Src kinase Hck. However, the implication of this interaction for viral replication and infectivity in macrophages and T lymphocytes remains unclear. Experiments in HIV-1 infected macrophages confirmed the presence of a Nef:Hck complex which was dependent on the Nef proline repeat motif. The proline repeat motif of Nef also enhanced both HIV-1 infection and replication in macrophages, and was required for incorporation of Hck into viral particles. Unexpectedly, wild-type Hck inhibited infection of macrophages, but Hck was shown to enhance infection of primary T lymphocytes. These results indicate that the interaction between Nef and Hck is important for Nef-dependent modulation of viral infectivity. Hck-dependent enhancement of HIV-1 infection of T cells suggests that Nef-Hck interaction may contribute to the spread of HIV-1 infection from macrophages to T cells by modulating events in the producer cell, virion and target cell

A compact, multi-sensor laser scanning head for processing and monitoring micro-spot welding

In order to improve the reliability of micro-spot welding of metal parts in production such as e.g. in electron guns for TV picture tubes, real-time information about the evolution of the welding process should be available to allow on-line modification of the laser parameters. Such information can be derived from a set of sensors that are mounted on a laser-scanning head. Different sensors are used to monitor the optical fiber output power to determine the evolution of temperature during the spot welding process, to measure plasma emission and back-reflected laser light. A vision channel and a CCD camera are used to control the position of the laser spot on the parts to be processed. The compact scanning head is composed of a tip/tilt laser scanner, a collimating lens and a focusing lens. The scanner is fast steering, with a bandwidth of 700Hz, and can tilt by +/-3.5 degrees with a repeatability better than 50 mu rad. The settling time for maximum deflection is less than 10ms. The scanning lens is a newly developed focusing lens designed to replace commercial cumbersome scanning lenses such as F-theta lenses, which have large volume, weight and price. This lens is based on the well-known Cooke triplet design and guarantees a constant shape of the spot all over the scan surface and is specially well suited for high power beam delivery. The scan field achieved by the system is limited to 25mm x 25mm. The laser used for this application is a pulsed Nd:YAG laser delivered by an optical fiber to the optical head. However, the system can be adapted to different types of lasers. Laser micro-spot welding on copper substrate has been performed in the frame of the Brite-Euram project MAIL. Smaller tolerances (a factor of 2 less) on the spot diameters were obtained in the case of a sensor controlled operation compared to the case where sensor control is not used

Cellular heat shock factor 1 positively regulates human immunodeficiency virus-1 gene expression and replication by two distinct pathways

Human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) infection leads to changes in cellular gene expression, which in turn tend to modulate viral gene expression and replication. Cellular heat shock proteins (HSPs) are induced upon heat shock, UV irradiation and microbial or viral infections. We have reported earlier Nef-dependent induction of HSP40 leading to increased HIV-1 gene expression; however, the mechanism of induction remained to be elucidated. As expression of HSPs is regulated by heat shock factors (HSFs), we have now studied the role of HSF1 not only in Nef-dependent HSP40 induction but also in HIV-1 gene expression. Our results show that HSF1 is also induced during HIV-1 infection and it positively regulates HIV-1 gene expression by two distinct pathways. First, along with Nef it activates HSP40 promoter which in turn leads to increased HIV-1 gene expression. Second, HSF1 directly interacts with newly identified HSF1 binding sequence on HIV-1 LTR promoter and induces viral gene expression and replication. Thus, the present work not only identifies a molecular basis for HSF1-mediated enhancement of viral replication but also provides another example of how HIV-1 uses host cell machinery for its successful replication in the host