Evaluation of the activity of the immune system and age-related tissue markers in Turquoise killifish \ud (Nothobranchius furzeri, Jubb 1971) \ud and their role in cell ageing\ud

Currently the Turquoise Killifish is considered the best animal model suitable for aging research. \ud This annual fish, from south east Africa, shows an exceptionally adaptive behaviour to dry periods: indeed, due to this extreme environmental characteristics, the life cycle of Nothobranchius furzeri is very fast, with an average lifespan of just about 8-9 weeks, making this species (more similar to highly developed vertebrates than nematodes or fruit flies) highly practical for aging studies. \ud The present study has evaluated the activity of the immune system as well as the expression of AGE-RAGE system, cell-damage related proteins (Bcl2, p53), mitosis activity marker (PCNA), and pro-apoptosis activity by T.U.N.E.L. method on the liver of four lifespan-specific strains of Turquoise Killifish (Nothobranchius furzeri, Jubb 1971), correlating the results with aging processes and tumor incidence. Some groups underwent caloric restriction in order to module their expected lifespan.\ud The results demonstrated an increase of age-related lesions along with the age in all the strains tested, due to a decrease of cellular-turn-over. This aspect was also influenced by the strain of the fish: longest lifespan strains showed later the similar lesions than short lifespan strains. Moreover caloric restriction groups showed lower incidence and severity of hepatic degeneration than control groups. Furthermore, there was a linear correspondence between the age of the model and its expected lifespan with the incidence and severity of neoplasm. The same relationship could be found in the expression of cell-damage related proteins (p53, Bcl2), age-related markers (AGE-RAGE system) and pro-apoptosis activity, as well as in the development of neoplasms. These results demonstrated the high feasibility of this fish as an excellent model to study the effects of aging processes and cancer genesis.\u

Multi-scale theoretical approach to X-ray absorption spectra in disordered systems: an application to the study of Zn(II) in water

We develop a multi-scale theoretical approach aimed at calculating from first principles X-ray absorption spectra of liquid solutions and disordered systems. We test the method by considering the paradigmatic case of Zn(II) in water which, besides being relevant in itself, is also of interest for biology. With the help of classical molecular dynamics simulations we start by producing bunches of configurations differing for the Zn(II)-water coordination mode. Different coordination modes are obtained by making use of the so-called dummy atoms method. From the collected molecular dynamics trajectories, snapshots of a more manageable subsystem encompassing the metal site and two solvation layers are cut out. Density functional theory is used to optimize and relax these reduced system configurations employing a uniform dielectric to mimic the surrounding bulk liquid water. On the resulting structures, fully quantum mechanical X-ray absorption spectra calculations are performed by including core-hole effects and core-level shifts. The proposed approach does not rely on any guessing or fitting of the force field or of the atomic positions of the system. The comparison of the theoretically computed spectrum with the experimental Zn K-edge XANES data unambiguously demonstrates that among the different a priori possible geometries, Zn(II) in water lives in an octahedral coordination mode.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure

In-Transit Televisions: Productive Patterns and Urban Imageries of Mobility

Il termine go-tv fa riferimento a i sistemi di videocomunicazione collocati a bordo di mezzi di trasporto e in ambienti collegati, ad alto transito di passeggeri. Limitando l’analisi al territorio italiano, la ricerca intende ricostruire le coordinate storiche del suo sviluppo, inquadrandolo entro il più ampio contesto dei media contemporanei. Da un punto di vista teorico, sono considerati sia il legame del mezzo con l’ambiente urbano, sia le interconnessioni tra comunicazione, mobilità e trasporti, riflesse nel particolare statuto sociale e topologico chiamato in causa dai suoi luoghi di consumo. Dall’approvvigionamento alla messa in onda dei contenuti, cardine speculativo del lavoro è la disamina, su base esplorativa, delle consuetudini commerciali e professionali sottese a questo speciale canale di distribuzione audiovisiva, nel quadro di apposite pratiche d’azienda, campionate nel solco degli studi sulla produzione mediale. Tre sono gli snodi principali del progetto: la proposta di una definizione univoca del fenomeno, condivisibile dai diversi attori coinvolti nella filiera, una prima modellizzazione del suo profilo mediale e una mappatura dei principali casi di go-tv rinvenibili a livello nazionale, arricchita da una serie di studi di caso."Go-tv" refers to video-communication systems located onboard transportation vehicles and in connected venues, in high-transit locations. The research focuses on the Italian territory and provides the main historical coordinates of the development of this medium, framed within the wider context of contemporary media. From a theoretical level, the dissertation considers both the relation between this medium and the urban environment and the interconnections between communication, mobility, and transportation. Its consumption places, indeed, call into question a particular sociological and topological status. The main output of this work consists of an explorative analysis of the commercial and professional habits underlying this particular channel of audiovisual distribution, which is examined in the wake of media production studies. The project revolves around three main points: the proposal of a univocal definition of the phenomenon, a tentative modelling of its media profile and a mapping of the main cases of Italian go-tvs, complemented by a series of case studies

Individual and sex-related differences in pain and relief responsiveness are associated with differences in resting-state functional networks in healthy volunteers

Pain processing is associated with neural activity in a number of widespread brain regions. Here, we investigated whether functional connectivity at rest between these brain regions is associated with individual and sex-related differences in thermal pain and relief responsiveness. Twenty healthy volunteers (ten females) were scanned with functional magnetic resonance imaging in resting conditions. Half an hour after scanning, we administered thermal pain on the back of their right hand and collected pain and relief ratings in two separate runs of twelve stimuli each. Across the whole group, mean pain ratings were associated with decreased connectivity at rest between brain regions belonging to the default mode and the visual resting-state network. In men, pain measures correlated with increased connectivity within the visual resting-state network. In women, in contrast, decreased connectivity between this network and parietal and prefrontal brain regions implicated in affective cognitive control were associated with both pain and relief ratings. Our findings indicate that the well documented individual variability and sex differences in pain sensitivity may be explained, at least in part, by network dynamics at rest in these brain regions

TRADUÇÃO BRASILEIRA, COMENTADA E ANOTADA, DE "ZUR AUFFASSUNG DER APHASIEN – EINE KRITISCHE STUDIE" DE SIGMUND FREUD

RESUMO: A presente comunicação tem por objetivo apresentar as diretrizes de uma pesquisa com a língua alemã em um trabalho de grau da pós-graduação (nível de mestrado) envolvendo a tradução. Seguindo uma tradição que, na Universidade de São Paulo, remonta aos anos de 1960, tal pesquisa apresenta a tradução de um texto inédito e inaugural de SIGMUND FREUD, acompanhado de notas e comentários, e desenvolve-se da prática de traduzir para a reflexão ancorada numa perspectiva teórica dos Estudos da Tradução (VERMEER 1990, SNELL-HORNBY 2006, entre outros.). Nesta comunicação, serão revelados os bastidores do trabalho de tradução do texto Zur Auffassung der Aphasien – Eine kritische Studie, para o que serão apresentados exemplos extraídos da fase de análise do texto a ser traduzido e enfocadas dificuldades específicas não apenas nos diferentes níveis da análise lingüística, mas também do contexto científico-cultural em que o texto se insere. A partir da análise e das diferentes tentativas de reescritura, sugere-se então a redação de notas e comentários, que vinculam o trabalho de traduzir à perspectiva teórica adotada. ABSTRACT: This communication presents the guidelines for a research with the German language in a work of post-graduate degree (master's level) involving translation. Following a tradition that, at the University of Sao Paulo, had it's beginning at the years of 1960, this research shows the translation of an inaugural text of Sigmund FREUD, accompanied by notes and comments, and develops itself from the practice of translating to reflection, anchored to a theoretical perspective of the Translation Studies (VERMEER 1990, SNELL - HORNBY 2006, among others.). In this communication will be revealed the backgrounds of the translation's work of the text "Zur Auffassung der Aphasien - Eine kritische Studie". There will be presented examples taken from the text's analysis stage of translation and focused on specific difficulties not only in different levels of linguistic analysis, but the scientific and cultural context in which the text falls. From the analysis and the various attempts to rewriting will appear then the writing of notes and comments, which bind the work of translating to the theoretical approach adopted

Age of Insomnia Onset Correlates with a Reversal of Default Mode Network and Supplementary Motor Cortex Connectivity

Insomnia might occur as result of increased cognitive and physiological arousal caused by acute or long acting stressors and associated cognitive rumination. This might lead to alterations in brain connectivity patterns as those captured by functional connectivity fMRI analysis, leading to potential insight about primary insomnia (PI) pathophysiology as well as the impact of long-term exposure to sleep deprivation. We investigated changes of voxel-wise connectivity patterns in a sample of 17 drug-naïve PI patients and 17 age-gender matched healthy controls, as well as the relationship between brain connectivity and age of onset, illness duration, and severity. Results showed a significant increase in resting-state functional connectivity of the bilateral visual cortex in PI patients, associated with decreased connectivity between the visual cortex and bilateral temporal pole. Regression with clinical scores originally unveiled a pattern of increased local connectivity as measured by intrinsic connectivity contrast (ICC), specifically resembling the default mode network (DMN). Additionally, age of onset was found to be correlated with the connectivity of supplementary motor area (SMA), and the strength of DMN←→SMA connectivity was significantly correlated with both age of onset (R2 = 41%) and disease duration (R2 = 21%). Chronic sleep deprivation, but most importantly early insomnia onset, seems to have a significant disruptive effect over the physiological negative correlation between DMN and SMA, a well-known fMRI marker of attention performance in humans. This suggests the need for more in-depth investigations on the prevention and treatment of connectivity changes and associated cognitive and psychological deficits in PI patients

Peculiarities of Functional Connectivity—including Cross-Modal Patterns—in Professional Karate Athletes: Correlations with Cognitive and Motor Performances

Professional karate is a sport activity requiring both physical and psychological skills that have been associated with a better "global neural efficacy." By means of resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI), we investigated the neural correlates of cognitive and kinematic abilities in a group of 14 professional karateka and 14 heathy matched controls. All subjects underwent an extensive cognitive test battery for the identification of individual multidimensional cognitive profile and rs-fMRI scans investigating functional connectivity (FC). Moreover, kinematic performances in athletes were quantified by the Ergo-Mak, an integrated system developed for measuring motor reactivity, strength, and power of athletic gestures. Karateka performed significantly better than controls in the visual search task, an ability linked with increased positive correlations in FC between the right superior parietal lobe and bilateral occipital poles. Kinematic performances of athletic feats were sustained by increased positive correlations between subcortical (cerebellum and left thalamus) and cortical (inferior frontal cortex, superior parietal cortex, superior temporal cortex) regions. An unexpected FC increase between auditory and motor-related areas emerged in karateka, possibly reflecting a cross-modal coupling due to the continuous exposure to either internal or external auditory cues, positing this sensory channel as a possible target for novel training strategies. Results represent a further step in defining brain correlates of "neural efficiency" in these athletes, whose brain can be considered a model of continuous plastic train-related adaptation

Interaction between Neuroanatomical and Psychological Changes after Mindfulness-Based Training

Several cross-sectional studies have documented neuroanatomical changes in individuals with a long history of meditation, while a few evidences are available about the interaction between neuroanatomical and psychological changes even during brief exposure to meditation. Here we analyzed several morphometric indexes at both cortical and subcortical brain level, as well as multiple psychological dimensions, before and after a brief -8 weeks- Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) training program, in a group of 23 meditation naïve-subjects compared to age-gender matched subjects. We found a significant cortical thickness increase in the right insula and the somatosensory cortex of MBSR trainees, coupled with a significant reduction of several psychological indices related to worry, state anxiety, depression and alexithymia. Most importantly, an interesting correlation between the increase in right insula thickness and the decrease in alexithymia levels during the MBSR training were observed. Moreover, a multivariate pattern classification approach allowed to identify a cluster of regions more responsive to MBSR training across subjects. Taken together, these findings documented the significant impact of a brief MBSR training on brain structures, as well as stressing the idea of MBSR as a valuable tool for alexithymia modulation, also originally providing a plausible neurobiological evidence of a major role of right insula into mediating the observed psychological changes