143 research outputs found

    Deposito e autorizzazione sismica

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    Lo scopo di tale pubblicazione è di offrire una panoramica generale sulle leggi e sulle procedure che disciplinano la denuncia dei lavori per autorizzazione sismica e per deposito sismico delle opere civili sul territorio nazionale e, in particolare, nella Regione Campania. Si intende cioè offrire una lettura semplificata di tali leggi, fornendo indicazioni pratiche e dirette ai professionisti. Il presente lavoro vuole essere di supporto sia per gli operatori del settore delle costruzioni, quali tecnici e costruttori, sia per i committenti per facilitare l’orientamento in un iter burocratico purtroppo spesso poco chiaro e appesantito. Tale lavoro parte da un inquadramento legislativo nazionale, ma inevitabilmente focalizza sulle leggi regionali della Campania poiché ogni regione, nel corso degli anni, si è disciplinata da sé in merito alle procedure di deposito sismico e autorizzazione sismica

    A stochastic model for CD4+ T cell proliferation and dissemination network in primary immune response

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    The study of the initial phase of the adaptive immune response after first antigen encounter provides essential information on the magnitude and quality of the immune response. This phase is characterized by proliferation and dissemination of T cells in the lymphoid organs. Modeling and identifying the key features of this phenomenon may provide a useful tool for the analysis and prediction of the effects of immunization. This knowledge can be effectively exploited in vaccinology, where it is of interest to evaluate and compare the responses to different vaccine formulations. The objective of this paper is to construct a stochastic model based on branching process theory, for the dissemination network of antigen-specific CD4+ T cells. The devised model is validated on in vivo animal experimental data. The model presented has been applied to the vaccine immunization context making references to simple proliferation laws that take into account division, death and quiescence, but it can also be applied to any context where it is of interest to study the dynamic evolution of a population. Copyright:© 2015 Boianelli et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

    Simplified Model for Strengthening Design of Beam–Column Internal Joints in Reinforced Concrete Frames

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    The beam-column joints are very restricted areas in which the internal forces, generated by boundary elements, act on the concrete core and reinforcing bars with a very high gradient. They are the link between horizontal and vertical structural elements, and therefore, they are directly involved in the transfer of seismic forces. Thus, they are crucial to study the seismic behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) structures. To fully understand the seismic performances and failure modes of beam-column joints in RC buildings, a simplified analytical model of joint behavior is proposed and theoretical simulations are performed. The aim of the model, focusing on internal perimetric joints, is to identify the strength hierarchy in terms of capacity for different failure modes (namely failure of cracked joint, bond failure of passing through bars, flexural/shear failures of columns or beams). It could represent a tool for the designers of new joints to quantify the performance of new structures, but also as a tool for the designers of external strengthening of existing joints in order to calculate the benefits of the retrofit and pushing the initial failure to a more desirable failure mode. Further, some experimental results of tests available in the scientific literature are reported, analyzed and compared

    Analisi di settore: il software

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    Indice: Definizione del business - Quadro macroeconomico - Analisi della domanda - Analisi del sistema competitivo

    Enhanced Immunogenicity of Mitochondrial-Localized Proteins in Cancer Cells.

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    Epitopes derived from mutated cancer proteins elicit strong antitumor T-cell responses that correlate with clinical efficacy in a proportion of patients. However, it remains unclear whether the subcellular localization of mutated proteins influences the efficiency of T-cell priming. To address this question, we compared the immunogenicity of NY-ESO-1 and OVA localized either in the cytosol or in mitochondria. We showed that tumors expressing mitochondrial-localized NY-ESO-1 and OVA proteins elicit significantdly higher frequencies of antigen-specific CD8+ T cells in vivo. We also demonstrated that this stronger immune response is dependent on the mitochondrial location of the antigenic proteins, which contributes to their higher steady-state amount, compared with cytosolic localized proteins. Consistent with these findings, we showed that injection of mitochondria purified from B16 melanoma cells can protect mice from a challenge with B16 cells, but not with irrelevant tumors. Finally, we extended these findings to cancer patients by demonstrating the presence of T-cell responses specific for mutated mitochondrial-localized proteins. These findings highlight the utility of prioritizing epitopes derived from mitochondrial-localized mutated proteins as targets for cancer vaccination strategies.S

    New Insights into the Apoptotic Process in Mollusks: Characterization of Caspase Genes in Mytilus galloprovincialis

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    Apoptosis is an essential biological process in the development and maintenance of immune system homeostasis. Caspase proteins constitute the core of the apoptotic machinery and can be categorized as either initiators or effectors of apoptosis. Although the genes encoding caspase proteins have been described in vertebrates and in almost all invertebrate phyla, there are few reports describing the initiator and executioner caspases or the modulation of their expression by different stimuli in different apoptotic pathways in bivalves. In the present work, we characterized two initiator and four executioner caspases in the mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis. Both initiators and executioners showed structural features that make them different from other caspase proteins already described. Evaluation of the genes’ tissue expression patterns revealed extremely high expression levels within the gland and gills, where the apoptotic process is highly active due to the clearance of damaged cells. Hemocytes also showed high expression values, probably due to of the role of apoptosis in the defense against pathogens. To understand the mechanisms of caspase gene regulation, hemocytes were treated with UV-light, environmental pollutants and pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) and apoptosis was evaluated by microscopy, flow cytometry and qPCR techniques. Our results suggest that the apoptotic process could be tightly regulated in bivalve mollusks by overexpression/suppression of caspase genes; additionally, there is evidence of caspase-specific responses to pathogens and pollutants. The apoptotic process in mollusks has a similar complexity to that of vertebrates, but presents unique features that may be related to recurrent exposure to environmental changes, pollutants and pathogens imposed by their sedentary nature

    Finding New Enzymes from Bacterial Physiology: A Successful Approach Illustrated by the Detection of Novel Oxidases in Marinomonas mediterranea

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    The identification and study of marine microorganisms with unique physiological traits can be a very powerful tool discovering novel enzymes of possible biotechnological interest. This approach can complement the enormous amount of data concerning gene diversity in marine environments offered by metagenomic analysis, and can help to place the activities associated with those sequences in the context of microbial cellular metabolism and physiology. Accordingly, the detection and isolation of microorganisms that may be a good source of enzymes is of great importance. Marinomonas mediterranea, for example, has proven to be one such useful microorganism. This Gram-negative marine bacterium was first selected because of the unusually high amounts of melanins synthesized in media containing the amino acid l-tyrosine. The study of its molecular biology has allowed the cloning of several genes encoding oxidases of biotechnological interest, particularly in white and red biotechnology. Characterization of the operon encoding the tyrosinase responsible for melanin synthesis revealed that a second gene in that operon encodes a protein, PpoB2, which is involved in copper transfer to tyrosinase. This finding made PpoB2 the first protein in the COG5486 group to which a physiological role has been assigned. Another enzyme of interest described in M. mediterranea is a multicopper oxidase encoding a membrane-associated enzyme that shows oxidative activity on a wide range of substrates typical of both laccases and tyrosinases. Finally, an enzyme very specific for l-lysine, which oxidises this amino acid in epsilon position and that has received a new EC number (1.4.3.20), has also been described for M. mediterranea. Overall, the studies carried out on this bacterium illustrate the power of exploring the physiology of selected microorganisms to discover novel enzymes of biotechnological relevance
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