L’oasi tranquilla dell’Orto botanico di Cagliari: cronistoria della formazione universitaria di Eva Mameli Calvino

Al suo arrivo a Cuba, a trentaquattro anni, Eva Mameli in Italia era già attiva docente e ricercatrice, con una solida preparazione universitaria alle spalle. Furono proprio gli anni di formazione dapprima nell’Università di Cagliari e poi in quella di Pavia, ad offrirle un ambiente fertile di opportunità per l’esercizio successivo della professione. Di fondamentale importanza furono quei professori e studiosi che ne fomentarono la passione per le discipline scientifiche e la ricerca: primo fra tutti, il cattedratico di origini siciliane Giuseppe Oddo che – pur meno citato nelle ricostruzioni biografiche rispetto ad altri suoi maestri più noti sulla scena accademica internazionale come Giovanni Briosi o Gino Pollacci – rappresentò per Eva il punto di contatto tra i due atenei. In questi intensi anni di formazione, ci furono poi altre importanti presenze come quella del fratello Efisio, docente di chimica prima a Cagliari e poi a Pavia; accattivante anche l’ipotesi che la giovane studentessa abbia frequentato il corso di una delle scienziate più note dell’epoca, Rina Monti, prima donna ad aver raggiunto una cattedra universitaria dopo la costituzione del Regno d’Italia. Figure esemplari e docenti illustri di un’epoca che la stessa Eva così ricordava: «Le miti figure dei miei maestri tornano oggi alla mia memoria. Con loro si lavorava, pur sapendo che per molti anni sarebbe stata una vita di sacrifici. Ricordo gli inizi, nell’oasi tranquilla dell’Orto botanico di Cagliari, ogni pianta che si scrutava, nei primi anni di studio, era uno scrigno di tesori nascosti, un mucchio di domande – e il dubbio: riuscirò? – e il desiderio: se riuscissi!» . Obiettivo di questo articolo è pertanto far luce sulle tappe formative e professionali anteriori alla partenza di Eva Mameli per Cuba e sviscerare i documenti anche inediti, come il libretto universitario, per cercare di evidenziare i legami con quei docenti che contribuirono alla formazione della risoluta scienziata di origine sassarese

El español americano de Jorge Ibargüengoitia: mexicanismos y topónimos en 'La Ley de Herodes', a medio siglo de su publicación

Una mirada a la lengua literaria de Jorge Ibargüengoitia, nos devuelve la sabrosa complejidad y mestizaje de los mexicanismos, y por extensión de los americanismos

VIDAS. Tredici racconti da Cuba

Una schiera di scrittori, alcuni già affermati a livello internazionale, altri in procinto di diventarlo, descrivono con coraggio e fantasia, nei tredici racconti che compongono questa antologia, la nuova realtà letteraria di Cuba. Storie a volte inserite nel solco della tradizione, altre che mirano chiaramente a riformulare l’idea della “cubanità”, altre ancora che rifuggono le vicende locali per narrare uno spazio e un tempo indefiniti, un luogo dell’anima lontano dalle contingenze storiche, racconti che tutti insieme riescono però a colpire il lettore con la loro prospettiva inedita e priva di artificio. Un’intrigante miscela di generi, stili e tecniche narrative diverse che attraverso un’alternanza tra ottimismo e disincanto, sconcerto e speranza raccontano una Cuba quanto mai attuale alle prese con un cambiamento lento, difficile, ma anche inarrestabile

Atriplex mollis desf. Aerial parts: extraction procedures, secondary metabolites and color analysis

A method using high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with a photodiode array detector was proposed for the rapid characterization of different phenolic constituents from the extracts of Atriplex mollis aerial parts. Atriplex species are known for their multiple biological activities, but no information is available in the literature about A. mollis. With the aim to firstly characterize the main secondary metabolites of this plant, so as to orient better the biological evaluation, we applied three different extraction procedures and compared the chromatographic results. Microwave-assisted extraction gave the best yield and recovery of important compounds such as gallic acid, catechin, chlorogenic acid, p-OH benzoic acid, rutin, sinapinic acid, t-ferulic acid, naringenin and benzoic acid. These constituents belong to three important chemical classes: phenolic acids, flavonoids and monoterpenes. Color evaluation and analysis of chlorophylls (a and b) and carotenoids complete the preliminary profile of this plant. From these analyses, Atriplex mollis is a source of bioactive compounds (especially rutin, t-ferulic acid and gallic acid) and could be recommended as a plant of phyto-pharmaceutical relevance, opening new perspectives on this salt-tolerant plant

Effects of Dietary Supplementation with Honeybee Pollen and Its Supercritical Fluid Extract on Immune Response and Fillet’s Quality of Farmed Gilthead Seabream (Sparus aurata)

The awareness of the correlation between administered diet, fish health and products’ quality has led to the increase in the research for innovative and functional feed ingredients. Herein, a plant-derived product rich in bioactive compounds, such as honeybee pollen (HBP), was includ-ed as raw (HBP) and as Supercritical Fluid Extracted (SFE) pollen (HBP_SFE) in the diet for gilt-head seabream (Sparus aurata). The experiment was carried out on 90 fish with an average body weight of 294.7 ± 12.8 g, divided into five groups, according to the administration of five diets for 30 days: control diet (CTR); two diets containing HBP at 5% (P5) and at 10% (P10) level of in-clusion; two diets containing HBP_SFE, at 0.5% (E0.5) and at 1% (E1) level of inclusion. Their ef-fects were evaluated on 60 specimens (336.2 ± 11.4 g average final body weight) considering the fish growth, the expression of some hepatic genes involved in the inflammatory response (il-1β, il-6 and il-8) through quantitative real-time PCR, and physico-chemical characterization (namely color, texture, water holding capacity, fatty acid profile and lipid peroxidation) of the fish fillets monitored at the beginning (day 0) and after 110 days of storage at −20 °C. The results obtained showed that the treatment with diet E1 determined the up-regulation of il-1β, il-6, and il-8 (p < 0.05); however, this supplementation did not significantly contribute to limiting the oxidative stress. Nevertheless, no detrimental effect on color and the other physical characteristics was observed. These results suggest that a low level of HBP_SFE could be potentially utilized in aq-uaculture as an immunostimulant more than an antioxidant, but further investigation is neces-sary

Variation of the Myelin Oligodendrocyte Glycoprotein gene is not primarily associated with multiple sclerosis in the Sardinian population

Background. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is consistently associated with particular HLA-DRB1-DQB1 haplotypes. However, existing evidence suggests that variation at these loci does not entirely explain association of the HLA region with the disease. The MOG locus is a prime positional and functional candidate for such additional predisposing effects but the analysis is complicated by the strong, albeit labyrinthine pattern of linkage disequilibrium in the region. Here we have assessed the association of MOG variation with MS in the Sardinian population to see if it represents an independent contributor to MS predisposition. Results. After re-sequencing the MOG gene in 21 healthy parents of MS patients we detected 134 variants, 33 of which were novel. A set of 40 informative SNPs was then selected and assessed for disease association together with 1 intragenic microsatellite in an initial data set of 239 MS families. This microsatellite and 11 SNPs were found to be positively associated with MS, using the transmission disequilibrium test, and were followed up in an additional 158 families (total families analysed = 397). While in these 397 families, 8 markers showed significant association with MS, through conditional tests we determined that these MOG variants were not associated with MS independently of the main DRB1-DQB1 disease associations. Conclusion. These results indicate that variation within the MOG gene is not an important independent determinant of MS-inherited risk in the Sardinian population

Vitamin D responsive elements within the HLA-DRB1 promoter region in Sardinian multiple sclerosis associated alleles

Vitamin D response elements (VDREs) have been found in the promoter region of the MS-associated allele HLA-DRB1*15:01, suggesting that with low vitamin D availability VDREs are incapable of inducing *15:01 expression allowing in early life autoreactive T-cells to escape central thymic deletion. The Italian island of Sardinia exhibits a very high frequency of MS and high solar radiation exposure. We test the contribution of VDREs analysing the promoter region of the MS-associated DRB1 *04:05, *03:01, *13:01 and *15:01 and non-MS-associated *16:01, *01, *11, *07:01 alleles in a cohort of Sardinians (44 MS patients and 112 healthy subjects). Sequencing of the DRB1 promoter region revealed a homozygous canonical VDRE in all *15:01, *16:01, *11 and in 45/73 *03:01 and in heterozygous state in 28/73 *03:01 and all *01 alleles. A new mutated homozygous VDRE was found in all *13:03, *04:05 and *07:01 alleles. Functionality of mutated and canonical VDREs was assessed for its potential to modulate levels of DRB1 gene expression using an in vitro transactivation assay after stimulation with active vitamin D metabolite. Vitamin D failed to increase promoter activity of the *04:05 and *03:01 alleles carrying the new mutated VDRE, while the *16:01 and *03:01 alleles carrying the canonical VDRE sequence showed significantly increased transcriptional activity. The ability of VDR to bind the mutant VDRE in the DRB1 promoter was evaluated by EMSA. Efficient binding of VDR to the VDRE sequence found in the *16:01 and in the *15:01 allele reduced electrophoretic mobility when either an anti-VDR or an anti-RXR monoclonal antibody was added. Conversely, the Sardinian mutated VDRE sample showed very low affinity for the RXR/VDR heterodimer. These data seem to exclude a role of VDREs in the promoter region of the DRB1 gene in susceptibility to MS carried by DRB1* alleles in Sardinian patients

Exploring the Role of Killer Cell Immunoglobulin-Like Receptors and Their HLA Class I Ligands in Autoimmune Hepatitis

Background Natural killer cells are involved in the complex mechanisms underlying autoimmune diseases but few studies have investigated their role in autoimmune hepatitis. Killer immunoglobulin-like receptors are key regulators of natural killer cell-mediated immune responses. Methods and Findings KIR gene frequencies, KIR haplotypes, KIR ligands and combinations of KIRs and their HLA Class I ligands were investigated in 114 patients diagnosed with type 1 autoimmune hepatitis and compared with a group of 221 healthy controls. HLA Class I and Class II antigen frequencies were compared to those of 551 healthy unrelated families representative of the Sardinian population. In our cohort, type 1 autoimmune hepatitis was strongly associated with the HLA-B18, Cw5, DR3 haplotype. The KIR2DS1 activating KIR gene and the high affinity HLA-C2 ligands were significantly higher in patients compared to controls. Patients also had a reduced frequency of HLA-Bw4 ligands for KIR3DL1 and HLA-C1 ligands for KIR2DL3. Age at onset was significantly associated with the KIR2DS1 activating gene but not with HLA-C1 or HLA-C2 ligand groups. Conclusions The activating KIR gene KIR2DS1 resulted to have an important predictive potential for early onset of type 1 autoimmune hepatitis. Additionally, the low frequency of the KIR-ligand combinations KIR3DL1/HLA-Bw4 and KIR2DL3/HLA-C1 coupled to the high frequency of the HLA-C2 high affinity ligands for KIR2DS1 could contribute to unwanted NK cell autoreactivity in AIH-1