Expediente Sra Eva Mameli de Calvino, utile e forestiera botanica a Cuba

Abstract: «Expediente Sra Eva Mameli de Calvino», a valuable foreign botanist in Cuba. Cuba still remembers Eva Mameli, Italo Calvino’s mother, as the first woman to hold an executive position in the field of agriculture. Through the recently restored Dossier Eva Mameli, kept in the Cuban archives, you can confirm the agenda of her main activities in the caribeña island. You will find the authorized missions, the undertaking by ministerial decree of the first executive office as the director of the Department of Botany on December 1, 1920, “by virtue of her knowledge” and with an annual fee of 2,400 Cuban pesos, a paid license for “personal issues” lasting one month as asked by Mameli herself on the day of Italo’s birth. During those 5 years in Central America, well as directing the Department of Botany of the Estación Experimental Agronómica di Santiago de las Vegas, together with Mario Calvino, she promotes agricultural schools for the settlers’ children, fosters women’s education in science and agriculture, supports a range of outreach activities for children as the holiday tree, and social as the Día de las Madres and – every October 10 – the commemoration of the beginning of the Cuban independence struggles, thus fully immersing in the cultural life of the place that hosts her.Resumen: Cuba todavía recuerda a Eva Mameli, madre del escritor Italo Calvino, como la primera mujer en cubrir un cargo directivo en el sector de la agricultura. A través del recientemente restaurado Expediente Sra Eva Mameli de Calvino, custodiado en los archivos cubanos, es posible confirmar el calendario de sus principales actividades durante los años pasados en la isla caribeña. Allí encontramos de nuevo las misiones autorizadas y las licencias recibidas, y la asunción por decreto ministerial del primer cargo de dirección del departamento de botánica el primero de diciembre de 1920 “en virtud de sus conocimientos” y con una compensación anual de 2.400 pesos cubanos. Durante los cinco años de estancia en Centroamérica, además de dirigir el departamento de botánica en la Estación Experimental Agronómica de Santiago de las Vegas, al lado de Mario Calvino, promueve escuelas agrarias para los hijos de los colonos, fomenta la instrucción femenina científica y agraria, apoya una serie de actividades divulgativas en favor de los niños como la “fiesta del árbol” y sociales como el “Día de las Madres” y – cada 10 de octubre – la conmemoración del inicio de las luchas independentistas cubanas, adentrándose plenamente en la vida cultural del lugar que la acoge. **

Prefazione

Ne “Il filosofo dichiara” prende corpo un mondo per nulla sconosciuto ai comuni mortali, racchiuso dentro quelle quattro mura domestiche in cui viene servita una cena a base di pietanze erre: ricordi, rimpianti e rancori. A partire dalle rivalità tra i protagonisti della pièce – il Professore e Pato Bermúdez – si svela la pericolosa relazione tra potere e conoscenza e i privilegi che tale vincolo offre. Questa satira rivolta al sistema accademico e al mondo della politica pubblica riflette chi usa la filosofia e il sapere per tentare una scalata sociale e godere delle ricompense e chi invece si rifiuta di entrare a far parte delle fila dei potenti ma mediocri. Un teatro nel teatro come nella più tradizionale delle proposte, dove il protagonista recita e a sua volta interpreta un personaggio, e si esercita sulle battute con la moglie che gli chiede di improvvisare. Un teatro più vero della realtà

Mucuna pruriens (Velvet bean) Rescues Motor, Olfactory, Mitochondrial and Synaptic Impairment in PINK1(B9) Drosophila melanogaster Genetic Model of Parkinson's Disease

The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster (Dm) mutant for PTEN-induced putative kinase 1 (PINK1B9) gene is a powerful tool to investigate physiopathology of Parkinson's disease (PD). Using PINK1B9 mutant Dm we sought to explore the effects of Mucuna pruriens methanolic extract (Mpe), a L-Dopa-containing herbal remedy of PD. The effects of Mpe on PINK1B9 mutants, supplied with standard diet to larvae and adults, were assayed on 3–6 (I), 10–15 (II) and 20–25 (III) days old flies. Mpe 0.1% significantly extended lifespan of PINK1B9 and fully rescued olfactory response to 1-hexanol and improved climbing behavior of PINK1B9 of all ages; in contrast, L-Dopa (0.01%, percentage at which it is present in Mpe 0.1%) ameliorated climbing of only PINK1B9 flies of age step II. Transmission electron microscopy analysis of antennal lobes and thoracic ganglia of PINK1B9 revealed that Mpe restored to wild type (WT) levels both T-bars and damaged mitochondria. Western blot analysis of whole brain showed that Mpe, but not L-Dopa on its own, restored bruchpilot (BRP) and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) expression to age-matched WT control levels. These results highlight multiple sites of action of Mpe, suggesting that its effects cannot only depend upon its L-Dopa content and support the clinical observation of Mpe as an effective medication with intrinsic ability of delaying the onset of chronic L-Dopa-induced long-term motor complications. Overall, this study strengthens the relevance of using PINK1B9 Dm as a translational model to study the properties of Mucuna pruriens for PD treatment

Atomic-resolution monitoring of protein maturation in live human cells by NMR

We use NMR directly in live human cells to describe the complete post-translational maturation process of human superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1). We follow, at atomic resolution, zinc binding, homodimer formation and copper uptake, and discover that copper chaperone for SOD1 oxidizes the SOD1 intrasubunit disulfide bond through both copper-dependent and copper-independent mechanisms. Our approach represents a new strategy for structural investigation of endogenously expressed proteins in a physiological (cellular) environment

Eva Mameli y Mario Calvino: una presencia soslayada en el México revolucionario

Según el testimonio de Eva Mameli, esposa y colega del científico agrónomo Mario Calvino, padres del escritor Italo Calvino, fue el embajador mexicano Joaquín Casasús quien en un viaje a Italia conoció los trabajos del entonces joven catedrático Calvino, y le propuso trabajar en México, consi- guiéndole el nombramiento de jefe de la División de Horticultura de la Estación Agraria Central. Gracias en parte a la consulta del recientemente restaurado en Cuba “Expediente Sra. Eva Mameli de Calvino”, es posible documentar la estancia en América Latina del matrimonio Calvino, pioneros en estudios de botánica y agricultura en México desde 1909 y en Cuba desde 1917

Specchietto retrovisore

Abstract Specchietto retrovisore raccoglie i testi più rappresentativi di Juan Villoro, scritti lungo trent’anni e selezionati dallo stesso autore. Questo archivio narrativo si divide in due generi essenziali: il racconto, dove l’umorismo, la tragedia e il tradimento convivono con naturalezza e tracciano sentieri unici; e la cronaca, in cui uno sguardo eccezionale rivela l’infinità di sfaccettature che conforma la condizione umana e definisce la nostra epoca: la politica, la famiglia, i viaggi, il rock, i misteri della vita letteraria. Un mosaico di pezzi scelti, un volume fondamentale sia per i conoscitori che per chi si avvicina per la prima volta al lavoro di uno degli scrittori contemporanei più letti e apprezzati in America Latina

Il filosofo dichiara

Ne “Il filosofo dichiara” prende corpo un mondo per nulla sconosciuto ai comuni mortali, racchiuso dentro quelle quattro mura domestiche in cui viene servita una cena a base di pietanze erre: ricordi, rimpianti e rancori. A partire dalle rivalità tra i protagonisti della pièce – il Professore e Pato Bermúdez – si svela la pericolosa relazione tra potere e conoscenza e i privilegi che tale vincolo offre. Questa satira rivolta al sistema accademico e al mondo della politica pubblica riflette chi usa la filosofia e il sapere per tentare una scalata sociale e godere delle ricompense e chi invece si rifiuta di entrare a far parte delle fila dei potenti ma mediocri. Un teatro nel teatro come nella più tradizionale delle proposte, dove il protagonista recita e a sua volta interpreta un personaggio, e si esercita sulle battute con la moglie che gli chiede di improvvisare. Un teatro più vero della realtà

Maternal separation alters neuronal spine density and neurogenesis in the hippocampus of pups and mother

The vulnerability of the hippocampus to the negative effects of stress, particularly when experienced early in life, is one of the key translational neuroscience discoveries of the 20th century. Indeed, the quality of perinatal environment and postnatal experience has been shown to predict vulnerability to psychopathologies and cognitive function in the adult. The proposed study aims to improve the knowledge of the adaptive allostatic changes elicited by adverse experiences during lifetime. We focus on adverse experiences that involve mother-infant relationship disruption. In the present study the mothers was separated for three hours a day from their pups after delivery. The amount of BDNF, Activity–Regulated Cytoskeletal protein (Arc), dendritic spines and neurogenesis was measured in hippocampus of female rats at the weaning and in the hippocampus of pups at 21, 30 and 60 days after birth. All these parameters were markedly decreased in the in hippocampus of mother or pups, respect to the amount found in the mother or pups bred in normal conditions. The motherhood-induced increase the neuronal plasticity as well as the reversal by pups separation suggest a crucial role of these proteins in the regulation of rat maternal care

Changes on neuronal plasticity in physiological (pregnancy and postpartum) and stressed conditions

Neural plasticity, also known as neuroplasticity is the capability of neurons to changes the structure, function and organization of neurons in response to new experiences. It specifically refers to strengthening or weakening nerve connections or adding new nerve cells based on environmental stimuli. These processes are responsible for physiological changes, learning and the formation of appropriate responses to external event. Neural plasticity is among the most important aspects of the field of modern neuroscience and its study is leading to a better understanding of brain development. In this work the neuroplasticity, in particularly the BDNF and Arc proteins levels, density of dendritic spines and neurogenesis, was studied after different conditions, such as during pregnancy and after delivery or after a prolonged stress, such as maternal separation and social isolation. Our studies have shown an increase in BDNF and Arc proteins levels, density of dendritic spines and neurogenesis during pregnancy and after delivery, in constrast was observed a reduction of BDNF and Arc proteins levels, density of dendritic spines and neurogenesis after a prolonged stress. These results demonstrate that physiological changes or social environments can have significant effects on neuronal plasticity