Antimicrobial activity of some plant essential oils against Listeria monocytogenes

The antimicrobial activity of 32 plant essential oils commonly used in food industry was examined against four strains of Listeria monocytogenes and one strain of Listeria innocua . Two different procedures were carried out to test the essential oils, a paper disc diffusion method and an inhibition curve. In the former procedure an absolute ethanolic solution (1:5 v/v) of each oil was tested on the plates inoculated with a bacterial concentration of 106 CFU/ml. Five of the 32 essential oils (cinnamon, clove, origanum, pimento, and thyme) showed antibacterial activity. Some of the five oils were also tested at lower concentration (1:50 v/v). The inhibition curve to study antilisteric efficacies of the five oils in a saline solution system was examined. Pimento oil showed marked and rapid activity (generally within 1 h of exposure), whereas clove, origanum, and thyme oils showed a more slow activity. The antilisteric activity of the tested oils seems to be strain dependent. A L. monocytogenes strain was also tested in a food matrix (minced pork meat) against thyme essential oil. Minced pork meat with thyme oil reduced the L. monocytogenes population by ca. 100-fold over the first week of storage

L'inquinamento atmosferico e acustico nelle citt : dall'emergenza all'intervento ordinario

Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR). Biblioteca Centrale / CNR - Consiglio Nazionale delle RichercheSIGLEITItal

Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in FHC-silenced cells: the role of CXCR4/CXCL12 axis

Abstract Background Ferritin plays a central role in the intracellular iron metabolism; the molecule is a nanocage of 24 subunits of the heavy and light types. The heavy subunit (FHC) is provided of a ferroxidase activity and thus performs the key transformation of iron in a non-toxic form. Recently, it has been shown that FHC is also involved in additional not iron-related critical pathways including, among the others, p53 regulation, modulation of oncomiRNAs expression and chemokine signalling. Epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a cellular mechanism by which the cell acquires a fibroblast-like phenotype along with a decreased adhesion and augmented motility. In this work we have focused our attention on the role of the FHC on EMT induction in the human cell lines MCF-7 and H460 to elucidate the underlying molecular mechanisms. Methods Targeted silencing of the FHC was performed by lentiviral-driven shRNA strategy. Reconstitution of the FHC gene product was obtained by full length FHC cDNA transfection with Lipofectamine 2000. MTT and cell count assays were used to evaluate cell viability and proliferation; cell migration capability was assayed by the wound-healing assay and transwell strategy. Quantification of the CXCR4 surface expression was performed by flow cytometry. Results Experimental data indicated that FHC-silenced MCF-7 and H460 cells (MCF-7shFHC, H460shFHC) acquire a mesenchymal phenotype, accompanied by a significant enhancement of their migratory and proliferative capacity. This shift is coupled to an increase in ROS production and by an activation of the CXCR4/CXCL12 signalling pathway. We present experimental data indicating that the cytosolic increase in ROS levels is responsible for the enhanced proliferation of FHC-silenced cells, while the higher migration rate is attributable to a dysregulation of the CXCR4/CXCL12 axis. Conclusions Our findings indicate that induction of EMT, increased migration and survival depend, in MCF-7 and H460 cells, on the release of FHC control on two pathways, namely the iron/ROS metabolism and CXCR4/CXCL12 axis. Besides constituting a further confirmation of the multifunctional nature of FHC, this data also suggest that the analysis of FHC amount/function might be an important additional tool to predict tumor aggressiveness

DANT (Decision and New Technologies)

Il progetto di ricerca si inserisce nell\u2019ambito del quadro delineato dal progetto \u201cDipartimenti di Eccellenza\u201d sul tema \u201cDiritto e Innovazione. Europa e Cina di fronte alle sfide della globalizzazione\u201d. Esso intende indagare alcune delle implicazioni che le nuove tecnologie e pi\uf9 in generale le nuove acquisizioni scientifiche hanno sulla \u201cdecisione\u201d. Il termine \u201cdecisione\u201d, sotto il profilo giuridico, ricorre in molteplici ambiti: dall\u2019attivit\ue0 giurisdizionale (la \u201cdecisione\u201d del giudice), a quella amministrativa (le modalit\ue0 di esercizio del potere amministrativo) fino a coinvolgere, non ultimo, l\u2019ampio spettro della regolamentazione dei rapporti tra privati (l\u2019attivit\ue0 contrattuale \ue8 sempre il frutto di una \u201cdecisione\u201d). Per lungo tempo il diritto ha rappresentato, nel mondo occidentale, un fattore relativamente stabile di costruzione razionale di principi e regole al \u201cpasso\u201d con i tempi. Il diritto consuetudinario ha messo al centro il tempo e la durata come formanti del fenomeno giuridico. La scientificizzazione (si pensi alla fase matura del diritto romano e a quella del diritto medievale \u2018sapienziale\u2019) ha poggiato su una piattaforma caratterizzata da una forte storicit\ue0 e da dinamiche di elaborazione/interpretazione di categorie e di regole capaci di promuovere una graduale evoluzione. Il razionalismo giuridico, in et\ue0 moderna, ha introdotto nuovi elementi (si pensi alla calcolabilit\ue0) ma ha continuato a vedere nell\u2019\u201cuso moderno\u201d del diritto romano un deposito di principi e concetti. Anche di fronte alla rivoluzione industriale e all\u2019impatto delle nuove tecniche tra Otto e Novecento (mezzi a vapore, energia elettrica, motore a scoppio, telefono, ecc.) il giurista ha sempre valorizzato il registro della \u201ctradizione\u201d ricorrendo agli strumenti ermeneutici antichi (basti pensare all\u2019analogia) per \u201cleggere\u201d i nuovi fenomeni e cercare di \u201cgovernarli\u201d dal punto di vista legislativo, giudiziale e scientifico. Il giurista si \ue8 sempre mosso cercando un punto mediano tra la tradizione e l\u2019innovazione. Il giurista del XXI secolo continuer\ue0 a \u201cpensare\u201d e operare in questo modo o dovr\ue0 invece mutare forma mentis e modus operandi? Queste domande acquistano un senso preciso considerando come, negli ultimi anni, lo straordinario sviluppo/combinazione delle nuove tecnologie ha cominciato ad incidere radicalmente su tutti gli aspetti della vita individuale e sociale al punto da far pensare a nuove dimensioni come il \u201ctrans-umano\u201d e il \u201cpost-umano\u201d. Nell\u2019ambito delle rivoluzioni del digitale l\u2019utilizzazione sempre pi\uf9 estesa degli algoritmi e dell\u2019intelligenza artificiale apre senza dubbio nuovi complessi scenari e suggerisce al giurista, anzitutto, di tentare di comprenderne il funzionamento e le potenzialit\ue0. La presente ricerca \u2013 in una prospettiva storica, tecnico-giuridica, interdisciplinare \u2013 intende approfondire alcuni profili emergenti come la cd. \u201cdecisione giudiziale robotizzata\u201d, la cd. \u201cdecisione robotica nel diritto amministrativo\u201d, il problema dell\u2019erosione dell\u2019autonomia nelle contrattazioni, in particolare nel commercio on line e, in genere, nei contratti dei consumatori, nonch\ue9 quello relativo alle nuove frontiere della responsabilit\ue0 civile con riferimento ai processi di automazione, in specie quelli connessi al settore driverless. Il carattere pluridisciplinare e intersettoriale dell\u2019attivit\ue0 del gruppo di ricerca, che si avvale di competenze proprie dell\u2019area giuridica e di quella ingegneristica, consentir\ue0 di riflettere su questi temi in maniera integrata coniugando l\u2019expertise tecnico-informatica sui profili connessi all\u2019intelligenza artificiale e alla robotica con le riflessioni giuridiche sul tema cruciale della decisione

Two sides of the same coin? Unraveling subtle differences between human embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells by Raman spectroscopy

Background: Human pluripotent stem cells, including embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells, hold enormous promise for many biomedical applications, such as regenerative medicine, drug testing, and disease modeling. Although induced pluripotent stem cells resemble embryonic stem cells both morphologically and functionally, the extent to which these cell lines are truly equivalent, from a molecular point of view, remains controversial. Methods: Principal component analysis and K-means cluster analysis of collected Raman spectroscopy data were used for a comparative study of the biochemical fingerprint of human induced pluripotent stem cells and human embryonic stem cells. The Raman spectra analysis results were further validated by conventional biological assays. Results: Raman spectra analysis revealed that the major difference between human embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells is due to the nucleic acid content, as shown by the strong positive peaks at 785, 1098, 1334, 1371, 1484, and 1575 cm-1, which is enriched in human induced pluripotent stem cells. Conclusions: Here, we report a nonbiological approach to discriminate human induced pluripotent stem cells from their native embryonic stem cell counterparts