On Morphic Actions and Integrability of LA-Groupoids

Lie theory for the integration of Lie algebroids to Lie groupoids, on the one hand, and of Poisson manifolds to symplectic groupoids, on the other, has undergone tremendous developements in the last decade, thanks to the work of Mackenzie-Xu, Moerdijk-Mrcun, Cattaneo-Felder and Crainic-Fernandes, among others. In this thesis we study - part of - the categorified version of this story, namely the integrability of LA-groupoids (groupoid objects in the category of Lie algebroids), to double Lie groupoids (groupoid objects in the category of Lie groupoids) providing a first set of sufficient conditions for the integration to be possible. Mackenzie's double Lie structures arise naturally from lifting processes, such as the cotangent lift or the path prolongation, on ordinary Lie theoretic and Poisson geometric objects and we use them to study the integrability of quotient Poisson bivector fields, the relation between "local" and "global" duality of Poisson groupoids and Lie theory for Lie bialgebroids and Poisson groupoids.Comment: Ph.D. Thesis, 14+iv+137 Page

Effetti della pandemia da covid-19 e della Didattica a Distanza (DAD) sulle abilità di lettura in bambini normo-lettori

Due to covid-19 pandemic, in February 2020 Italian government decided to take action in order to reduce physical contact and contain the spread of the virus; among the other measures, face-to-face teaching was suspended. All along 2020 and for the major part of 2021 online teaching replaced face-to-face teaching. Teachers and parents were unprepared for this kind of didactic activities and online modality varied during the lockdown months and among different schools.  Different studies analyzed the outcome of these online modalities, mostly on pathological samples (Baschenis et al., 2021).  We conducted a longitudinal study in order to investigate whether online teaching had a negative effect on reading skills development in Italian children typical readers. We recruited forty-nine children from a primary school in Alessandria (Piedmont, Italy) and assessed their reading skills before (T1) and after (T2) covid-19 pandemic. All children with learning disabilities, cognitive and sensory impairments were excluded from our sample. Children attended third grade at T1 and fifth grade at T2. We evaluated reading speed, accuracy and comprehension; data from existing literature has been used to confront our sample with the population of children typical readers. We compared the results obtained at T1 and T2; our findings show that our sample reached the expected improvement in reading fluency. The subjects obtained a significant improvement in reading comprehension as well, but existing data are insufficient to determine if the improvement reached by our sample is the same as expected. Therefore, we can state that online teaching has not worsened reading skills development in typical readers

Extra virgin olive oil and cardiovascular diseases: benefits for human health

The cardioprotective properties of Mediterranean Diet were demonstrated for the first time from the Seven Country Study. In the last few decades, numerous epidemiological studies, as well as intervention trial, confirmed this observation, pointing out the close relationship between the Mediterranean diet and cardiovascular diseases. In this context, extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), the most representative component of this diet, seems to be relevant in lowering the incidence of cardiovascular events, including myocardial infarction and stroke. From a chemical point of view, 98-99% of the total weight of EVOO is represented by fatty acids, especially monounsaturated fatty acids such as oleic acid. Tocopherols, polyphenols and other minor constituents represent the remaining 1-2%. All these components may potentially contribute to "health maintenance" with their beneficial effects by EVOOO

Correlation between US-PSV and 64-Row MDCTA with Advanced Vessel Analysis in the Quantification of 50–70% Carotid Artery Stenosis

Purpose. To correlate ultrasonographic peak systolic velocity (US-PSV) and 64-row multidetector computed tomography angiography (MDCTA) with advanced vessel analysis (AVA) software in the quantification of 50–70% carotid artery stenosis. Materials and methods. 199 consecutive patients (247 arteries) with internal carotid artery (ICA) or third proximal bifurcation stenosis. Each patient was studied by duplex US (DUS) and 64-row MDCTA with AVA software. Results. DUS showed PSV measurements less than 125 cm/s in 51 carotid stenosis and a value greater than this in 196 arteries. 64-row MDCTA AVA software showed a grade of stenosis less than 50% in 42 carotid arteries while a greater 70% was found in 4 carotid arteries; then, carotid arteries with stenosis percentage between 50% and 70% were 201. Linear regression analysis showed a good linear correlation (r = 0.88) between MDCTA-AVA software percentage stenosis and PSV: between 50% grade of stenosis and PSV value corresponding to 133,6 cm/sec and between 70% stenosis and PSV value corresponding to 268 cm/sec. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value(PPV), negative predictive value(NPV) of this analysis were 93%, 82%, 97%, 75%, respectively. Conclusion. Linear correlation between PSV data and grade of stenosis from 50% to 70% obtained with 64-row MDCTA AVA software. Main PSV value corresponding to 50% and 70% grade of stenosis at AVA analysis

Resistance to Plasmopara viticola in a grapevine segregating population is associated with stilbenoid accumulation and with specific host transcriptional responses

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Downy mildew, caused by the oomycete <it>Plasmopara viticola</it>, is a serious disease in <it>Vitis </it><it>vinifera</it>, the most commonly cultivated grapevine species. Several wild <it>Vitis </it>species have instead been found to be resistant to this pathogen and have been used as a source to introgress resistance into a <it>V. vinifera </it>background. Stilbenoids represent the major phytoalexins in grapevine, and their toxicity is closely related to the specific compound. The aim of this study was to assess the resistance response to <it>P. viticola </it>of the Merzling × Teroldego cross by profiling the stilbenoid content of the leaves of an entire population and the transcriptome of resistant and susceptible individuals following infection.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A three-year analysis of the population's response to artificial inoculation showed that individuals were distributed in nine classes ranging from total resistance to total susceptibility. In addition, quantitative metabolite profiling of stilbenoids in the population, carried out using HPLC-DAD-MS, identified three distinct groups differing according to the concentrations present and the complexity of their profiles. The high producers were characterized by the presence of <it>trans</it>-resveratrol, <it>trans</it>-piceid, <it>trans</it>-pterostilbene and up to thirteen different viniferins, nine of them new in grapevine.</p> <p>Accumulation of these compounds is consistent with a resistant phenotype and suggests that they may contribute to the resistance response.</p> <p>A preliminary transcriptional study using cDNA-AFLP selected a set of genes modulated by the oomycete in a resistant genotype. The expression of this set of genes in resistant and susceptible genotypes of the progeny population was then assessed by comparative microarray analysis.</p> <p>A group of 57 genes was found to be exclusively modulated in the resistant genotype suggesting that they are involved in the grapevine-<it>P. viticola </it>incompatible interaction. Functional annotation of these transcripts revealed that they belong to the categories defense response, photosynthesis, primary and secondary metabolism, signal transduction and transport.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study reports the results of a combined metabolic and transcriptional profiling of a grapevine population segregating for resistance to <it>P. viticola</it>. Some resistant individuals were identified and further characterized at the molecular level. These results will be valuable to future grapevine breeding programs.</p