Portraying the life cycle of ideas in social psychology through functional (textual) data analysis: a toolkit for digital history

This paper presents a method for the digital history of a discipline (social psychology in this application) through the analysis of scientific publications. The titles of a comprehensive set of papers published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (1965–2021) were collected, yielding a total of 10,222 items. The corpus thus constructed underwent several stages of preprocessing until the final conversion into a terms x time-points matrix, where terms are stemmed words and multi-words. After normalizing frequencies via a chi square-like transformation, clusters of words portraying similar temporal patterns were identified by functional (textual) data analysis and distance-based curve clustering. Among the best candidates in terms of the number of clusters, the solutions with six, nine and thirteen clusters (from lower to higher resolution) have been chosen and the nesting relationship demonstrated. They reveal—at different levels of granularity—increasing, decreasing, and stable keywords trends, highlighting methods, theories, and application domains that have become more popular in recent years, lost popularity, or have remained in common use. Moreover, this method allows to highlight historical issues (such as crises in the discipline or debates over the use of terms). The results highlight the core topics of social psychology in the past and today, underlying the crucial contribution of this method for the digital history of a discipline

The long noncoding RNA neuroLNC regulates presynaptic activity by interacting with the neurodegeneration-associated protein TDP-43

The cellular and the molecular mechanisms by which long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) may regulate presynaptic function and neuronal activity are largely unexplored. Here, we established an integrated screening strategy to discover lncRNAs implicated in neurotransmitter and synaptic vesicle release. With this approach, we identified neuroLNC, a neuron-specific nuclear lncRNA conserved from rodents to humans. NeuroLNC is tuned by synaptic activity and influences several other essential aspects of neuronal development including calcium influx, neuritogenesis, and neuronal migration in vivo. We defined the molecular interactors of neuroLNC in detail using chromatin isolation by RNA purification, RNA interactome analysis, and protein mass spectrometry. We found that the effects of neuroLNC on synaptic vesicle release require interaction with the RNA-binding protein TDP-43 (TAR DNA binding protein-43) and the selective stabilization of mRNAs encoding for presynaptic proteins. These results provide the first proof of an lncRNA that orchestrates neuronal excitability by influencing presynaptic function

Airborne pollen: a potential warning alert for tickborne encephalitis risk

The circulation of tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEv) depends on population dynamics of host tick and rodents, which in turn depend on nutrient resources. Tree seeds are the main food for rodents, and their fluctuating production is strongly correlated to pollen abundance. Our study aims to fill the gap and investigate whether airborne pollen is directly associated to recorded TBEv human cases in the Alpine biogeographical region. Materials and Methods We focused our study within the province of Trento (northern Italy, 6,000km2, 500,000 inhabitants). The territory is included in the Alpine biogeographical region (EEA Report No 1/2002) and the main forest tree species growing within a 5-km radius from the pollen sampler are represented by hop-hornbeam (Ostrya carpinifolia Scop.), beech (Fagus sylvatica L.), spruce (Picea abies L.), pine (Pinus sylvestris L. and P. nigra J. F. Arnold), downy oak (Quercus pubescens Willd.), manna ash (Fraxinus ornus L.), and hazel (Corylus avellana L.). Airborne pollen concentration has been monitored since 1989 at Fondazione Edmund Mach, in San Michele all’Adige (Latitude 46.19 N, Longitude 11.13 E, 220 m a.s.l.), while TBEv human cases have been recorded since 1992 by the local Public Health Agency. Airborne pollen was sampled by a Hirst-type trap, processed, and analyzed following conventional techniques and standardized protocols (UNI EN 16868:2019). First, we statistically investigated the association between the annual total pollen concentration of the dominant arboreal plant taxa and the annual number of TBEv human cases (1989-2020) with different time lags by univariate linear models. Consequently, we built a full model by considering all significant covariates, we computed all possible sub-models and finally we selected the best (the one with the lowest Akaike’s Information Criterion score). Results and Discussion We found a significant positive association between pollen abundances for beech (p=0.04), oak p=0.012), hop hornbeam (p=0.013) and TBEv human cases with a two-year lag (Figure 1). All other lags and taxa resulted in non-significant relationships. Subsequently, we identified the best model, which considered only hop-hornbeam and oak pollen quantities, both with positive coefficients, consistently with the univariate analysis. Conclusions To the best of our knowledge, this is the first attempt at quantifying the potential relationship between airborne pollen abundances of tree species and TBEv infections, based on a three-decade time series of data. If validated at a larger spatial scale, pollen data might therefore be used to realize an early warning system for the risk of TBEv transmission, two years in advance. Moreover, as pollen monitoring is routinely performed worldwide at multiple sites and provides quantitative measures, the association between pollen abundances and TBEv infections could be replicated in different biogeographical regions

High- and low-mobility stages in the synaptic vesicle cycle.

Synaptic vesicles need to be mobile to reach their release sites during synaptic activity. We investigated vesicle mobility throughout the synaptic vesicle cycle using both conventional and subdiffraction-resolution stimulated emission depletion fluorescence microscopy. Vesicle tracking revealed that recently endocytosed synaptic vesicles are highly mobile for a substantial time period after endocytosis. They later undergo a maturation process and integrate into vesicle clusters where they exhibit little mobility. Despite the differences in mobility, both recently endocytosed and mature vesicles are exchanged between synapses. Electrical stimulation does not seem to affect the mobility of the two types of vesicles. After exocytosis, the vesicle material is mobile in the plasma membrane, although the movement appears to be somewhat limited. Increasing the proportion of fused vesicles (by stimulating exocytosis while simultaneously blocking endocytosis) leads to substantially higher mobility. We conclude that both high- and low-mobility states are characteristic of synaptic vesicle movement

Ecological factors associated to the invasion by alien Aedes species in the province of Trento, northern Italy

Aedes albopictus, Ae. koreicus and Ae. japonicus are of increasing public health concerns in Europe. In Trentino province (northern Italy), an established population of Aedes albopictus is reported since late 90’ (1) whilst Ae. koreicus was detected for the first time in 2013 (2). The most recently introduced IMS in our province is Ae. japonicus, recorded in 2022 (Arnoldi D., personal communication). To get an insight into the ecological process affetting IMS abilty to establish into new areas and to obtain a number of parametrs of utility to develop risk maps and predictive mathematical models, we carried out a series of investigation combining filed observation and laboratory experiments. Here we summarise some of the results so far obtained

Interactions of melatonin with mammalian mitochondria. Reducer of energy capacity and amplifier of permeability transition.

Melatonin, a metabolic product of the amino acid tryptophan, induces a dose-dependent energy drop correlated with a decrease in the oxidative phosphorylation process in isolated rat liver mitochondria. This effect involves a gradual decrease in the respiratory control index and significant alterations in the state 4/state 3 transition of membrane potential (ΔΨ). Melatonin, alone, does not affect the insulating properties of the inner membrane but, in the presence of supraphysiological Ca2+, induces a ΔΨ drop and colloid-osmotic mitochondrial swelling. These events are sensitive to cyclosporin A and the inhibitors of Ca2+ transport, indicative of the induction or amplification of the mitochondrial permeability transition. This phenomenon is triggered by oxidative stress induced by melatonin and Ca2+, with the generation of hydrogen peroxide and the consequent oxidation of sulfydryl groups, glutathione and pyridine nucleotides. In addition, melatonin, again in the presence of Ca2+, can also induce substantial release of cytochrome C and AIF (apoptosis-inducing factor), thus revealing its potential as a pro-apoptotic agent

Assessment of health claims in the field of bone: a view of the Group for the Respect of Ethics and Excellence in Science (GREES)

Health claims for food products in Europe are permitted if the nutrient has been shown to have a beneficial nutritional or physiological effect. This paper defines health claims related to bone health and provides guidelines for the design and the methodology of clinical studies to support claims

Development of a conceptual framework for integrated analysis and assessment of agricultural systems in SEAMLESS-IF

Production Economics,

Protein lifetimes in aged brains reveal a proteostatic adaptation linking physiological aging to neurodegeneration

Aging is a prominent risk factor for neurodegenerative disorders (NDDs); however, the molecular mechanisms rendering the aged brain particularly susceptible to neurodegeneration remain unclear. Here, we aim to determine the link between physiological aging and NDDs by exploring protein turnover using metabolic labeling and quantitative pulse-SILAC proteomics. By comparing protein lifetimes between physiologically aged and young adult mice, we found that in aged brains protein lifetimes are increased by ~20% and that aging affects distinct pathways linked to NDDs. Specifically, a set of neuroprotective proteins are longer-lived in aged brains, while some mitochondrial proteins linked to neurodegeneration are shorter-lived. Strikingly, we observed a previously unknown alteration in proteostasis that correlates to parsimonious turnover of proteins with high biosynthetic costs, revealing an overall metabolic adaptation that preludes neurodegeneration. Our findings suggest that future therapeutic paradigms, aimed at addressing these metabolic adaptations, might be able to delay NDD onset

Field emission properties of carbon nanotube arrays grown in porous anodic alumina

AbstractCarbon nanotubes (CNTs), with their excellent electronic properties and extremely high aspect ratio, represent an ideal material for building electron sources based on field emission. Fowler‐Nordheim equation describes quite successfully the field emission phenomenon, especially for single or isolated tips. However, some complications arise when populations of CNTs are considered, where collective effects and large variability in the emitters features influence the measured I–V characteristics. In this work, the emission properties of multi‐walled CNTs grown within ordered anodic alumina templates are investigated. These CNT matrices produce current densities up to some tens of mA/cm2, and the field enhancement factor for collective emission sources can be estimated. Such material can be modelled as an ordered and uniform array of emitters and a simulation of the electrostatic field on the emission tips can be done in order to evaluate the field enhancement factor and its dependence on various geometries. This allows comparing predictions from simulation and experimental measurements, in a direct way. (© 2009 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim