Archiviazione e annotazione del parlato nell'Atlante Linguistico della Sicilia

Il pluridecennale interesse dell\u2019Atlante Linguistico della Sicilia (ALS) nei riguardi dei dialetti dell\u2019Isola ha consentito la raccolta di ormai diverse migliaia di documenti orali in grado di testimoniare l\u2019esperienza linguistica e buona parte di ci\uf2 che rimane della cultura tradizionale nella Sicilia contemporanea. Il contributo illustra, in un primo momento, i criteri di archiviazione dei documenti sonori dell\u2019Archivio delle Parlate Siciliane (APS), suddivisi in diversi corpora in ragione degli specifici progetti o ambiti di ricerca per i quali sono state effettuate la registrazione. Ciascun corpus costituisce, in sostanza, un fondo documentario, omogeneo relativamente alla tipologia escussiva rispondente allo specifico obiettivo della ricerca. Sia pur costruito, sul piano informatico, in modo tale da funzionare autonomamente, questa Banca delle parlate costituisce soltanto il primo basilare modulo di un complesso sistema informativo. Questo contributo si concentra soltanto sulla fase del trattamento dei file sonori per l\u2019analisi delle informazioni desunte dal parlato, e precisamente sulla fase della trascrizione e del markup delle trascrizioni stesse. Sono introdotte, dunque, le condizioni teorico-metodologiche che sottostanno alle scelte procedurali: creare la possibilit\ue0 di consultare agevolmente non soltanto quelle porzioni del documento individuate come singole \u201crisposte\u201d a uno specifico quesito, ma anche di risalire ai rispettivi contesti linguistici e interlocutori; evitare la frammentazione del testo/documento, la decontestualizzazione del tratto linguistico di volta in volta sottoposto ad analisi e la destrutturazione delle dinamiche interattive che l\u2019hanno prodotto; evitare (grazie all\u2019allineamento delle trascrizione al segnale acustico) che le \uabinformazioni\ubb \u2013 una volta interpretate, incorniciate e divenute \uabdati\ubb \u2013 perdano ogni rapporto con il documento sonoro, che testimonia anche il contesto linguistico e pragmatico nel quale sono occorse e nel quale continuano, in certo qual modo, a rivivere. Viene illustrato infine, e come esempio, lo schema logico per l\u2019annotazione di testi di interesse etnodialettale

PHYSIOLOGICAL AND INDUCED APOPTOSIS IN SEA URCHIN LAEVAE UNDERGOING METAMORPHOSIS

Paracentrotus lividus embryos at the early pluteus stage undergo spontaneous apoptosis. Using a TUNEL (TdT-mediated dUTP Nick-End Labelling) assay on whole mount embryos, we showed that there was a different distribution of the apoptotic cells in different optical sections. Not more than 20% of cells in plutei were spontaneously apoptotic, as confirmed by the counts of dissociated ectoderm and intestine cells. Observation of larva stages closer to metamorphosis confirmed that apoptosis is a physiological event for the development of the adult. In particular, larvae at different developmental stages showed apoptotic cells in the oral and aboral arms, intestine, ciliary band and both apical and oral ganglia. Moreover, we found that the number of apoptotic cells decreased in later larva stages, possibly because in the organism approaching metamorphosis, a smaller number of cells needs to be eliminated. Furthermore, combined phorbol ester (TPA) and heat shock treatment enhanced apoptosis by increasing the number of cells involved in the phenomenon

Cadmium induces the expression of specific stress proteins in sea urchin embryos

Marine organisms are highly sensitive to many environmental stresses, and consequently, the analysis of their bio-molecular responses to different stress agents is very important for the understanding of putative repair mechanisms. Sea urchin embryos represent a simple though significant model system to test how specific stress can simultaneously affect development and protein expression. Here, we used Paracentrotus lividus sea urchin embryos to study the effects of time-dependent continuous exposure to subacute/sublethal cadmium concentrations. We found that, between 15 and 24 h of exposure, the synthesis of a specific set of stress proteins (90, 72-70, 56, 28, and 25 kDa) was induced, with an increase in the rate of synthesis of 72-70 kDa (hsps), 56 kDa (hsp), and 25 kDa, which was dependent on the lengths of treatment. Recovery experiments in which cadmium was removed showed that while stress proteins continued to be synthesized, embryo development was resumed only after short lengths of exposure

Detection of vitellogenin in a subpopulation of sea urchin coelomocytes

Sea urchin vitellogenin is a high molecular weight glycoprotein, which is the precursor of the major yolk protein present in the unfertilized egg. Vitellogenin processing into the major yolk protein and its further enzymatic cleavage during sea urchin embryonic development, has been extensively described, and the adhesive properties of the processed molecule have been studied. The function of vitellogenin in the adult, where it has been found in the coelomic fluid of both male and female individuals, is still unknown, although its role on promoting the adhesion of embryonic cells has been shown. In this report we describe the detection of vitellogenin in lysates of whole circulating coelomocytes of both male and female sea urchins of the species Paracentrotus lividus. By metrizoic acid gradients we purified total coelomocytes into six subpopulations that were tested for the occurrence of the molecule using vitellogenin-specific polyclonal antibodies. We detected vitellogenin only in the coelomocyte subpopulation called colorless spherule cells, packed in kidney-shaped granules located around the nucleus. We also showed that coelomocytes respond to stress conditions by discharging vitellogenin into the medium. This result together with previous observations on the adhesive properties of the molecule suggest a role for vitellogenin in the clotting phenomenon occurring after host invasion

Effects of exposure to gadolinium on the development of geographically and phylogenetically distant sea urchins species

Gadolinium (Gd), a metal of the lanthanide series used as contrast agent for magnetic resonance imaging, is released into the aquatic environment. We investigated the effects of Gd on the development of four sea urchin species: two from Europe, Paracentrotus lividus and Arbacia lixula, and two from Australia, Heliocidaris tuberculata and Centrostephanus rodgersii. Exposure to Gd from fertilization resulted in inhibition or alteration of skeleton growth in the plutei. The similar morphological response to Gd in the four species indicates a similar mechanism underlying abnormal skeletogenesis. Sensitivity to Gd greatly varied, with the EC50 ranging from 56 nM to 132 μM across the four species. These different sensitivities highlight the importance of testing toxicity in several species for risk assessment. The strong negative effects of Gd on calcification in plutei, together with the plethora of marine species that have calcifying larvae, indicates that Gd pollution is urgent issue that needs to be addressed

Immune-mediated desquamative gingivitis and optical coherence tomography diagnostic patterns: Clinical implication from a systematic review

Desquamative Gingivitis (DG) comprises heterogeneous clinical manifestations of numerous immune-mediated muco-cutaneous diseases. Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) has been proposed as a valuable diagnostic support even if, to date, there are no standardized OCT-diagnostic patterns applicable to DGs. A systematic review was performed to detect existing data on in vivo OCT diagnostic patterns of the most common immune-mediated DGs (i.e., pemphigus vulgaris, mucous membrane pemphigoid and oral lichen planus). It has been found that OCT exhibits specific patterns that address the diagnosis of DG by pemphigus vulgaris (i.e., intraepithelial unilocular blister, reduced epithelial thickness, presence of acantholytic cells in the blister) and by mucous membrane pemphigoid (i.e., subepithelial multilocular blister, presence of inflammatory infiltrate), but not by oral lichen planus. These patterns could offer an attractive diagnostic OCT framework to support the clinical preliminary assessment and monitoring of these complex pathological conditions

Cellular and molecular bases of biomineralization in sea urchin embryos

Sea urchin embryos construct their skeleton following a precise gene-regulated time- and space-dependent programme, in concert with factors promoting cell adhesion and differentiation. The biomineral is deposited in a privileged extracellular space produced by the fused filopodia processes of the primary mesenchyme cells, the only cells producing a set of necessary matrix proteins. More than ten years ago we showed for the first time that signals from ectoderm cells promoted the expression of one of the major skeleton matrix genes by the primary mesenchyme cells. Since then, many of the crucial steps of this complex activation cascade, from ectoderm cells to embryonic spicules, have been elucidated. The experimental production of skeleton malformations, induced by the exposure to toxic metals or ionizing radiations, served as model to dissect the molecular mechanisms leading to biomineralization. With the aim of understanding the sea urchin skeleton physiology, we analysed the expression of well-known and newly-identified biomineral-related genes, including those coding for growth and transcription factors as well as for skeleton matrix proteins. This review summarizes our recent findings on sea urchin embryo skeletogenesis, with a particular attention to the role played by cellular and molecular signaling, approached by the use of experimentally induced skeleton malformations