Analysis of the potential contamination risk of groundwater resources circulating in areas with anthropogenic activities

The area investigated is located in the province of Brindisi (Italy). It is a generally flat area separated from the nearby carbonatic plateau of the Murgia by quite indistinct and high fault scarps. As regards the geological features, carbonatic basement rocks and post-cretaceous terrains made up of calabrian calcarenites and middle-upper Pleistocenic marine terraced deposits can be distinguished. <P style='line-height: 20px;'> In the examined area there are two different hydrogeological environments. The first is represented by deep groundwater, the main groundwater resource in Apulia. <P style='line-height: 20px;'> The second hydrogeological environment, now of lesser importance than the deep aquifer in terms of size and use, is made up of some small shallow groundwater systems situated in post-calabrian sands and located in the eastern area. <P style='line-height: 20px;'> During some sampling cycles carried out in the studied area, water was withdrawn from both the deep aquifer and from the shallow groundwater. For every sample, the necessary parameters were determined for the physical and chemical characterisation of two different hydrogeological environments. Moreover, some chemical parameters indicating anthropogenic activities were determined. <P style='line-height: 20px;'> Analysis of the aerial distribution of the measured parameters has shown some main areas subject to different conditions of contamination risk, in accordance with the hydrogeological and geological features of the investigated area. <P style='line-height: 20px;'> In the south-eastern part of the investigated area, the important action performed by the surface aquifer for protecting the deep groundwater from contamination of anthropogenic origin is clear.<p> On the other hand, in the shallow groundwater, areas of nitrate and nitrite contamination have been identified, which result from the extensive use of fertilizers

Co-designing convivial tools to support participation in community radio

Connectivity made possible by the diffusion of digital technologies has offered new possibilities for the public to interact with media, including radio. However, interactions are often framed by globally managed platforms, owned by companies with values based on maximizing profit, rather than prioritising Illich’s forms of conviviality. In this article, we draw on experiences from the Grassroot Wavelengths project that introduces an innovative peer-to-peer platform to support the creation and management of community radio stations. We offer insight into the practices of participation in community media, where the users influence decisions concerning the technology, the content, the actors and the organization policy of the radio station, through a participatory design approach. These collaborations between researchers and users, together with a focus on the development of relational assets in local contexts, are fundamental in an attempt to design a platform that fosters conviviality and offers an alternative way to consider participation in community media

Studi sul metabolismo degli sfingolipidi in cellule in coltura : modificazione del pattern gangliosidico in fibroplasti umani : il fenomeno dello "shedding" in fibroplasti umani ed in cellule granulari di cervelletto di ratto

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In other words. Writing research as ethico-onto-epistemic practice

This paper aims to uncover the agential character of writing re- search in the light of the concept of ethico-onto-epistemology. Theoretically, it unpacks the debate around reflexivity and the performativity of theories and methods, underlining the active role of writing research accounts that do not just “capture” the world, but rather enact multiple worlds. This argu- ment is developed with the support of empirical accounts belonging to an ethnographic study in a telecommunication company, which are informed by conceptual sensibilities from STS and Feminist Science Studies intended as two related yet distinct theoretical frameworks. I conclude by arguing that taking up the call for ethico-onto-epistemology when writing research ac- counts call us to trouble the character of writing as a neutral practice, and to grapple with the power of accounting for – thus producing – multiple realities that differ in terms of epistemological, ethical and political relations

Efflux of sphingolipids metabolically labeled with [1-3H]sphingosine, L-[3-3H]serine and [9,10-3H]palmitic acid from normal cells in culture

The membrane complex lipids of human fibroblasts and differentiated rat cerebellar granule cells in culture were metabolically radiolabeled with [1-3H]sphingosine, L-[3-3H]serine and [9,10-3H]palmitic acid. A relevant efflux of radioactive sphingolipids and phosphatidylcholine was obsd. from cells to the culture medium in the presence of fetal calf serum. This event was independent of the concn. and structure of the metabolic precursor administered to cells, and it was linearly time-dependent. The radioactive lipid patterns present in the medium were different from those present in the cells. Radioactive sphingomyelin and ganglioside GM3 contg. short acyl chains were the main species present in the medium from human fibroblasts, while sphingomyelin and GD3 ganglioside in that from neuronal cells. In the absence of proteins in the culture medium, the efflux of complex lipids was much lower than in the presence of serum, and the patterns of released mols. were again different from those of cells. [on SciFinder (R)

A 12-month treatment with tenofovir does not impair bone mineral accrual in HIV-infected children

Background: Short-term use of tenofovir (TDF) has been associated with bone mineral loss in adults and children. Objective: To assess whether the substitution of stavudine with TDF would result in decreased bone mineral content (BMC) and bone mineral density (BMD) accrual in HIV-infected children. Methods: The lumbar spine and whole-body BMC and BMD were measured by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry in 16 HIV-infected children (age range: 6.4-17.9 years) on stable highly active antiretroviral therapy. Bone measurements were obtained 12 months before the switch, at baseline, and 12 months after switching to TDF. Expected changes in bone measurements were calculated from cross-sectional data obtained from 166 healthy children. Results: The BMC and BMD increments observed before switching therapy did not differ from expected increments. Similarly, the changes detected during treatment with TDF did not differ significantly from those calculated in healthy controls. Conclusions: Substitution to a TDF-containing antiretroviral regimen does not seem to impair bone mineral accrual in children showing a good immunologic response to antiretroviral treatment

Changes of the ganglioside pattern and content in human fibroblasts by high density cell population subculture progression

In this study we show that the ganglioside content and pattern of human skin fibroblasts change along the process of cell subculture progression by varying the cell density. GM3, GD3 and GD1a were components of the total cell ganglioside mixtures extracted from cells, but GD1a was in all the extracts a minor component or very scant. Other gangliosides present in traces were not characterised. The fibroblast ganglioside content of 52 pools of cells obtained from 5 different cell lines cultured at variable cell density ranged from 2.0 to 13.1 nmoles per mg of cell protein. The molar ratio between GM3 and GD3 varied from 418 to 0.6 in the ganglioside mixtures, as determined by densitometric quantitative analysis after thin layer chromatographic separation. Both the ganglioside content and the GM3/GD3 molar ratio were constant along several passages of subculture progression performed by plating cells collected at confluence. Instead, when the subculture progression was performed by plating cells collected at a few days after reaching confluence, a progressive increase of the ganglioside content was observed. GD3 increased proportionally more than GM3 so that a progressive decrease of the ratio between GM3 and GD3 was observed. In some experiments, GD3 was very scant at the beginning of the progression, while it was near 30% after 5 passages under these conditions. The progressive increase of GD3 along the high density cell population subculture progression was associated to a moderate increase of the mRNA GD3 synthase

Sphingolipid uptake by cultured cells : complex aggregates of cell sphingolipids with serum proteins and lipoproteins are rapidly catabolized

Human fibroblasts, rat neurons, and murine neuroblastoma cells, cultured in the presence of fetal calf serum, were fed with [1- super(3)H]sphingosine to radiolabel sphingolipids. The fate of cell sphingolipids, the release of sphingolipids in the culture medium, the interaction of sphingolipids with the proteins and lipoproteins of fetal calf serum, and the fate of sphingolipids taken up by the cells were investigated. For this latter purpose, the culture medium containing radioactive sphingolipids was delivered to nonlabeled cells. The presence of tritium at position 1 of sphingosine allowed us to follow the extent of sphingolipid catabolism by measuring the production of radioactive phosphatidylethanolamine and proteins by recycling the radioactive ethanolamine formed during sphingosine catabolism and the production of tritiated water. We confirmed that in cells the recycling of sphingosine occurred to a high extent and that only a minor portion of cell sphingolipids was catabolized to the small fragments of ethanolamine and water. Cell sphingolipids were released in the culture medium, where they formed large lipoproteic aggregates at a rate of about 12% per day. Released sphingolipids were taken up by the cells and catabolized to the sphingosine and then to ethanolamine, and recycling of sphingosine was not observed. This suggests that in the presence of fetal calf serum in the culture medium, exogenous sphingolipids directly reach the lysosomes, were they are entirely catabolized. Thus, the trafficking of sphingolipids from cells to the extracellular environment and from this to other cells does not allow the modification of the plasma membrane composition