Exploring the determinants of metal sensing in Salmonella typhimurium using FrmR, a non-metal sensing RcnR/CsoR family member

Salmonella FrmR, a member of the RcnR/CsoR family of metalloregulators, has been characterised during the course of this work and was coincidentally confirmed to bind specifically to the frmRA operon, which encodes a putative Zn(II)-requiring class III alcohol dehydrogenase. FrmR shares a high degree of similarity with Ni(II)/Co(II)-sensing RcnR, in particular conserving two residues of a so-called WXYZ motif required to detect metals. Metal-binding properties of FrmR were therefore extensively investigated in vitro and its ability, or otherwise, to respond to metals explored in vivo. FrmR binds Zn(II), Cu(I), Co(II) and Ni(II), adopting different geometries, and always involving a mercapto group from the only cysteine residue (Cys35). Moreover, KZn(II)FrmR is only slightly below the range of affinity found for other zinc sensors. Since FrmR fails to sense metals in cells, where only formaldehyde is detected, questions about which parameters are required in metal regulation in Salmonella and, in general, in bacteria were investigated. A single-point mutation (Glu64 His) allows FrmR to sense cellular zinc and cobalt. FrmR and E64HFrmR have been consequently used as a case of study to test hypotheses about the mechanisms determining which metals are detected by a given sensor in cells. In addition, the ability of FrmR to detect cellular formaldehyde has been investigated, and a reaction mechanism tested by site-directed mutagenesis in vitro. Salmonella Ni(II)/Co(II)-sensing RcnR has been characterised, and employed to test the specificity of formaldehyde responsiveness of FrmR. By a single point-mutation (Ser2 Pro), the Ni(II)/Co(II)-sensing RcnR has been successfully switched to a formaldehyde sensor in vitro, further endorsing the proposed mechanism. Investigation of FrmR structure has been pursued by producing apo- and Zn(II)-bounded FrmR and E64HFrmR crystals, which were then analysed at the Diamond Light Source. The best dataset has been processed to obtain a 3D-structure

How complex an intron may be? The example of the first intron of the CTP synthase gene of Drosophila melanogaster

In eukaryotes, maturation of primary transcripts into mature messenger RNAs involves the elimination of parts of the gene called ‘introns’. The biological significance of introns is not yet completely understood. It has been demonstrated that introns may contain other genes, or regulatory sequences that may be involved in transcriptional control, or also being involved in alternative splicing mechanisms. However, these functions explain the role of only a small number of them, and it is very difficult to formulate any generalization. The CTP synthase gene of Drosophila melanogaster is characterized by the presence of a long first intron (approximately 7.2 kilobases) whose role is currently unknown. In the present report we analyzed in silico the content of this intron, and found that it contains at least three interesting sub-sequences. Two of them are homologous to the CTP synthase itself and to a putative nucleotide pyrophosphatase, respectively. The third is a short stretch of DNA able to fold into a thermodynamically stable hairpin and showing homology with other 19 sequences from 21 genes inside the D. melanogaster genome. These findings suggest a complex yet very accurate way of controlling gene expression inside the fruit fly

Y RNA in cell cycle progression and cancer

A growing amount of evidence demonstrates the role of non-coding RNAs (ncRNA) in the etiopathogenesis of cancer. ncRNA are the product of the transcription of genes which are not further translated into proteins, thus they exert their functions as they are or more frequently after post-transcriptional modifications. In the last decades, several different classes of ncRNA had been described, both long (lncRNA) and short (sncRNA). The former are molecules usually longer than 200 nucleotides (nt), while the latter usually include species of a few tens of nucleotides in length, although exceptions are present (for example, circRNA span a length of 100-1600nt; snoRNA are 60-300nt). Y RNA belong to the sncRNA family and are in the range of ca. 80-120nt. Here we summarize the current knowledge about Y RNA biology, their role in normal cellular homeostasis, and their expression variations in human cancers

The teaching of English grammar based on the students’ age : Teachers’ and students’ cognitions and the classroom practice

Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the MA degree in English with an orientation in Applied Linguistics from the National University of Córdoba, Argentina.This thesis is a case study of six EFL classes in different educational settings in Bahía Blanca, Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It examines the cognitions of both teachers and students in these classes. The general aim of this work is to explore teachers’ cognitions about the teaching and learning of English grammar considering students’ age and compare them with both their students’ cognitions and their own classroom practices. In doing so, mismatches between teachers’ perceptions and students’ expectations may be detected, as well as discrepancies between teachers’ beliefs and pedagogical decisions. In order to achieve all this, a mixed methods design was adopted, using three different instruments (questionnaires, interviews and classroom observations), and content analysis and statistical analysis to interpret the data. Results show that, whereas half of the teachers coincide with their learners in their perceptions, the other half differed. In general terms, students seem to favour an explicit approach to grammar teaching and learning, especially adult learners. Instead, the teachers are more inclined towards implicit teaching and learning of grammar, regardless of the leaners’ age. However, for various reasons, their classroom practices were mostly explicit, often causing a mismatch. As previous research also suggests, those cases where inconsistencies are found emphasise the need to address teacher-student differences so as to avoid a negative impact on the teaching and learning process.Fil: Piergentili, Romina Soledad. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Lenguas; Argentina

Open Access repositories for scientific literature and research data

The Open Access Repository (OAR) project was started to implement Open Access policies and to preserve and share the scientific research results, including research data, of INFN authors. With the approval of the “Disciplinare per l’accesso aperto ai prodotti della ricerca dell’INFN” document, in July 2023, OAR officially became the INFN's institutional repository. In the past two years we studied the optimization of our institutional repository through the bulk upload of both digital and scanned documents, such as INFN Technical Notes and documents related to the ADONE project (1969-1993). Moreover, since 2023, a collaboration with INFN-CNAF has been established to migrate the current instance of the repository (v3) to an updated InvenioRDM (CERN) release (v11.0: the current latest stable release at the time of writing). To better support the OAR migration recent activities have been mainly focused on the record upload process, exploiting the following topics: authentication, metadata customization, author and entity names disambiguation and product approval flow management. In addition to the study of the repository structure, we worked on communication as well, introducing the tool to users through a specific website, and user training activities about the use of OAR

Evaluation of time difference of arrival (Tdoa) networks performance for launcher vehicles and spacecraft tracking

Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) networks could support spacecraft orbit determination or near-space (launcher and suborbital) vehicle tracking for an increased number of satellite launches and space missions in the near future. The evaluation of the geometry of TDOA networks could involve the dilution of precision (DOP), but this parameter is related to a single position of the target, while the positioning accuracy of the network with targets in the whole celestial vault should be evaluated. The paper presents the derivation of the MDOP (minimum dilution of precision), a parameter that can be used for evaluating the performance of TDOA networks for spacecraft tracking and orbit determination. The MDOP trend with respect to distance, number of stations and target altitude is reported in the paper, as well as examples of applications for network performance evaluation or time precision requirement definitions. The results show how an increase in the baseline enables the inclusion of more impactive improvements on the MDOP and the mean error than an increase in the number of stations. The target altitude is demonstrated as noninfluential for the MDOP trend, making the networks uniformly applicable to lower altitude (launchers and suborbital vehicles) and higher altitude (Low and Medium Earth Orbits satellites) spacecraft

Technology transfer from HEP computing to the medical field: overview and application to dosimetry

We show how nowadays it is possible to achieve the goal of accuracy and fast computation response in radiotherapic dosimetry using MonteCarlo methods, together with a grid computing model. We present a complete, fully functional prototype system for brachytherapy, entirely based on open source software systems originally developed for High Energy Physics experiments. It integrates a Geant4-based simulation component, an AIDA-based dosimetric analysis, a web-based user interface, and distributed processing either on a local computing farm or on geographically spread nodes. Thanks to the object-oriented approach adopted for the architecture, the work presented can be easily extended to become a general purpose dosimetric system, capable to address all radiotherapic techniques. An extension for application to dosimetric studies for IMRT is in progress

L'analisi delle pubblicazioni come supporto alla gestione dei contratti Read&Publish dell'INFN

Con la crescente diffusione dei contratti trasformativi diventa necessario stabilire una costante collaborazione tra le biblioteche e gli istituti di ricerca, per favorire la transizione verso la scienza aperta con costi sostenibili. In questo lavoro viene presentato uno studio di analisi delle pubblicazioni dei corresponding authors dell’INFN, al fine di supportare efficacemente la gestione dei contratti editoriali di tipo "read&publish". La ricerca è stata realizzata consultando i dati presenti in Web of Science, applicando determinati filtri di ricerca e operando un confronto con le ricerche svolte in precedenza e con le informazioni fornite da determinati editori. I dati raccolti hanno consentito all’INFN di negoziare in modo più efficace con gli editori, tenendo conto del numero delle pubblicazioni dei propri ricercatori negli anni precedenti. Verranno illustrate alcune delle problematiche riscontrate nel corso della ricerca: varianti del nome dell’ente, indicizzazione delle riviste nel database bibliografico Web of Science, affiliazioni indicate dal corresponding author. La ricerca si propone come punto di partenza per un’analisi più dettagliata delle pubblicazioni degli autori INFN, come la scelta delle sedi editoriali, le tendenze all’autoarchiviazione, l’evoluzione delle collaborazioni scientifiche, e per avviare, inoltre, un confronto tra le risorse presenti nei diversi database dell’INFN, in vista del popolamento dell’archivio istituzionale Open Access Repository. In conclusione, sarà evidenziata l’importanza dell'analisi dei dati sulle pubblicazioni scientifiche per ottimizzare la gestione dei contratti editoriali in un ente di ricerca, dando rilievo al ruolo ricoperto dalle biblioteche nelle attività di promozione della scienza aperta

Lives on the Edge

This paper analyses the current living conditions of inmates held in Italian penitentiaries, by attempting to highlight the main issues and struggles of both convicts and those who work in correctional institutions; it also deals with the issue concerning the requests of assisted suicide in prison. Imprisonment, as well-known, deeply affects the life of an inmate who is deprived of his individual freedom. Despite the “pain” the sentence inflicts, respect for the prisoner’s human dignity should always be ensured. Such respect for one’s dignity, despite falls and vulnerabilities, should guide all penal processes and, in particular, when passing a penal sentence. The pandemic, however, has increased the pre-existing inequalities and problems, (including those social) of lives in penitentiaries; thus not only implementing legislative measures, has become ever more imperative, in order to ensure the provision under Art. 27, sub. 3, of the Constitution and respect the dignity of inmates, which cannot be undermined, not even by a penal sentence. Keywords: Inmates   - Prison – Suicide - Dignity - Fundamental rightsIl contributo analizza le condizioni di vita attuali dei detenuti nelle carceri italiane, tentando di mettere in evidenza le principali problematiche e difficoltà che si trovano a vivere le persone ristrette e chi opera negli Istituti penitenziari e affrontando il tema della richiesta di suicidio assistito in carcere. La pena detentiva, come noto, incide profondamente nella vita del condannato, privato della propria libertà personale. Nonostante tale “sofferenza” inflitta dalla pena, al carcerato dovrebbe essere sempre garantito il rispetto della dignità umana. Tale rispetto della dignità, nonostante le cadute e le fragilità, dovrebbe orientare tutta la “vicenda” penale e, in particolare, l’esecuzione della pena. La pandemia ha, invece, aumentato le disuguaglianze già presenti e le difficoltà, anche relazionali, di chi vive nel carcere, rendendo sempre più urgenti interventi, non solo legislativi, per rendere effettivo quanto disposto dal terzo comma dell’art. 27 della Costituzione e rispettare la dignità del detenuto, che neanche la pena può sopprimere Parole chiave: detenuti, carcere, suicidio, dignità, diritti fondamental