THE DIGITALPUBLIC ADMINISTRATION. LEGAL RULES AND ORGANIZATIONAL MODELS

Although the achievement of electronic public administration and digitalization is a tormented process with ups and downs, innovation policies have been able to start up a revolutionary process, silently and steadily, that slowly but inevitably will lead to the realization of the so-called e-government. Its components have mainly cultural, organizational and technological characteristics. The application of the rules that govern the establishment of digital public administration comes up against a residual and persistent incapacity of public administration to jettison the ballast of an administrative organization still rooted in the 19th century. Regulations and technologies imply an innovation process that requires in the first place a rethinking of the organization of public administration by the use of ICT, the Web and dematerialization, and the implementation of legal and technological tools to guarantee security. At the same time, it requires a re-thinking of national and European law, and the preparation of common homogeneous organizational patterns to carry out at medium-term. The process needs a new educational approach and suitable pedagogical technologies developed within the European lifelong learning programme (LLP) to foster a European culture of public administration that interests both civil servants and citizens dealing with public administrative issues.E-government, Electronic Public Administration, ICT, Legal Rules, Organizational Models, European Lifelong Learning, Pedagogical Technologies.

The Ribosomal Protein RpL22 Interacts In Vitro with 5′-UTR Sequences Found in Some Drosophila melanogaster Transposons

Mobility of eukaryotic transposable elements (TEs) are finely regulated to avoid an excessive mutational load caused by their movement. The transposition of retrotransposons is usually regulated through the interaction of host- and TE-encoded proteins, with non-coding regions (LTR and 5′-UTR) of the transposon. Examples of new potent cis-acting sequences, identified and characterized in the non-coding regions of retrotransposons, include the insulator of gypsy and Idefix, and the enhancer of ZAM of Drosophila melanogaster. Recently we have shown that in the 5′-UTR of the LTR-retrotransposon ZAM there is a sequence structured in tandem-repeat capable of operating as an insulator both in Drosophila (S2R+) and human cells (HEK293). Here, we test the hypothesis that tandem repeated 5′-UTR of a different LTR-retrotransposon could accommodate similar regulatory elements. The comparison of the 5′-UTR of some LTR-transposons allowed us to identify a shared motif of 13bp, called Transposable Element Redundant Motif (TERM). Surprisingly, we demonstrated, by Yeast One-Hybrid assay, that TERM interacts with the D. melanogaster ribosomal protein RpL22. The Drosophila RpL22 has additional Ala-, Lys- and Prorich sequences at the amino terminus, which resembles the carboxy-terminal portion of histone H1 and histone H5. For this reason, it has been hypothesized that RpL22 might have two functions, namely the role in organizing the ribosome, and a potential regulatory role involving DNA-binding similar to histone H1, which represses transcription in Drosophila. In this paper, we show, by two independent sets of experiments, that DmRpL22 is able to directly and specifically bind DNA of Drosophila melanogaster

Verso una definizione delle “near-death experiences”: dimensioni fisiologiche, psicologiche e culturali

Riassunto: Il fenomeno delle “near-death experiences” (NDE), esperienze soggettive intense e profonde, è caratterizzato dalla percezione di essere in una dimensione diversa da quella ordinaria, di aver abbandonato il proprio corpo e, con esso, la dimensione spazio-temporale del mondo fisico. Il termine NDE è utilizzato per indicare esperienze simili occorse in condizioni cliniche molto diverse, ad esempio l’arresto cardiaco, il coma, lo svenimento o l’assunzione di sostanze psicotrope. In questo lavoro si considerano esclusivamente quelle esperienze sperimentate in condizioni di prossimità alla morte. Il fenomeno viene discusso confrontando gli elementi più comunemente presenti nelle NDE di soggetti occidentali con quelli riportati da soggetti di altre culture. Le varie esperienze pre-morte sono discusse in funzione dei contenuti riportati e delle modalità con cui si sono verificate. Infine, lo stato di coma è stato valutato come condizione di “near-death” nell’ottica di considerare la morte come un processo.Parole chiave: Near-death Experiences; Cultura; Coscienza; Memoria; Arresto cardiaco; Coma Towards a definition of “near-death experiences”: Physiologic, psychologic and cultural dimensionsAbstract: The phenomenon of near-death experiences (NDE), intense and profound subjective experiences, is characterized by the perception of being in a different dimension from the ordinary one, of having abandoned one’s body and, with it, the space-time dimension of the physical world. The term NDE has been used to indicate similar experiences that occurred in very different clinical conditions, namely cardiac arrest, coma, fainting, use of psychotropic substances, etc. In what follows will be considered only experiences taking place in conditions of proximity to death. The phenomenon will be discussed comparing elements most commonly present in NDEs of Western subjects with those reported by subjects from other cultures. The various near-death experiences will be discussed in according to the contents reported and the ways in which they occurred. Finally, the state of coma was considered as a near-death condition under the assumption of death as a process.Keywords: Near-Death Experiences; Culture; Consciousness; Memory; Cardiac Arrest; Com

Generation of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells from Patients with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and their induction to Neurons

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is an X-linked recessive disease characterized by deficient expression of the cytoskeletal protein dystrophin. DMD has been associated with intellectual disability and mental retardation (MR) and is present in about a third of all patients. Loss of Dp71, the major dystrophin-gene product in brain, and the dystrophin associated proteins (DAPs) are thought to contribute to severity of MR, but the specific function of the neural dystrophin proteins are poorly understood for a limited access to DMD patients brain tissue (1). Differentiation of induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSCs) provides an opportunity to generate an unlimited supply of living neurons genetically identical to those present in patients. In this study we obtained DMD-iPSCs from peripheral blood mononuclear cells of DMD patients with cognitive impairment and we performed morphological (fluorescence and electron microscopy), molecular (Western Blot and Real Time PCR) and functional (electrophysiology) characterization both of iPSC-derived Neural Stem Cells (NSCs) and the differentiated neurons. Preliminary data showed a reduction of Dp71 and DAPs proteins, including the AQP4, potassium channel Kir4.1, α- and β-dystroglycan (α/βDG) and α-syntrophin (αSyn), both at transcriptional and traductional level, coupled with membrane dys-arrangment in DMD-iPSCs compared with healthy iPSCs. Moreover, we demonstrated that the neurons obtained from the differentiation of iPSCs derived from DMD patient showed after confocal analysis, altered cytoskeleton and reduction in Dp71expression, and by single-cell imaging experiments and electrophysiology, altered intracellular calcium homeostasis, in analogy with what shown in the dystrophic mdx mouse neurons (2). Overall these results showed that the Dp71 and DAPs alterations affect also the neural precursor as well as the differentiated neurons in DMD patients, so suggesting a key role in the pathogenesis of neurocognitive deficits in DMD disease

Altered Gene Expression Encoding Cytochines, Grow Factors and Cell Cycle Regulators in the Endometrium of Women with Chronic Endometritis

To evaluate the expression of genes encoding cytokines, grow factors and cell cycle regulators in the proliferative endometrium of women with chronic endometritis (CE) compared to controls. We performed a case-control study on seven women with CE as diagnosed by hysteroscopy and histology (Cases) compared to six women without CE (Controls). All women underwent diagnostic hysteroscopy plus endometrial biopsy during the mid-proliferative phase of the menstrual cycle. Endometrial samples were divided into two different aliquots for histological and molecular analyses. The endometrial expression profile of 16 genes encoding proteins involved in the inflammatory process, proliferation and cell cycle regulation/apoptosis was assessed by using high-throughput qPCR. Study endpoints were between-group differences in the expression of VEGF A, VEGF B, VEGF C, EGF, TNF, TGF B1, IFNG, TP73, TP73L, BAXva, CDC2, CDC2va, CCND3, CCNB1, BAX and IL12. RESULTS: VEGF A, VEGF B, VEGF C, EGF, TNF, TGF B1, IFNG, TP73, TP73L, BAXva, CDC2, CDC2va, CCND3, CCNB1 were significantly overexpressed in women with CE compared to controls, while BAX and IL12 had similar expression between groups. In women with CE, we found an altered endometrial expression of genes involved in inflammatory, cell proliferation, and apoptosis processes. The dominance of proliferative and anti-apoptotic activity in CE may potentially promote the development of polyps and hyperplastic lesions

Mosquitoes LTR Retrotransposons: A Deeper View into the Genomic Sequence of Culex quinquefasciatus

A set of 67 novel LTR-retrotransposon has been identified by in silico analyses of the Culex quinquefasciatus genome using the LTR_STRUC program. The phylogenetic analysis shows that 29 novel and putatively functional LTR-retrotransposons detected belong to the Ty3/gypsy group. Our results demonstrate that, by considering only families containing potentially autonomous LTR-retrotransposons, they account for about 1% of the genome of C. quinquefasciatus. In previous studies it has been estimated that 29% of the genome of C. quinquefasciatus is occupied by mobile genetic elements

Downstream Services for Rice Crop Monitoring in Europe: From Regional to Local Scale

The ERMES agromonitoring system for rice cultivations integrates EO data at different resolutions, crop models, and user-provided in situ data in a unified system, which drives two operational downstream services for rice monitoring. The first is aimed at providing information concerning the behavior of the current season at regional/rice district scale, while the second is dedicated to provide farmers with field-scale data useful to support more efficient and environmentally friendly crop practices. In this contribution, we describe the main characteristics of the system, in terms of overall architecture, technological solutions adopted, characteristics of the developed products, and functionalities provided to end users. Peculiarities of the system reside in its ability to cope with the needs of different stakeholders within a common platform, and in a tight integration between EO data processing and information retrieval, crop modeling, in situ data collection, and information dissemination. The ERMES system has been operationally tested in three European rice-producing countries (Italy, Spain, and Greece) during growing seasons 2015 and 2016, providing a great amount of near-real-time information concerning rice crops. Highlights of significant results are provided, with particular focus on real-world applications of ERMES products and services. Although developed with focus on European rice cultivations, solutions implemented in the ERMES system can be, and are already being, adapted to other crops and/or areas of the world, thus making it a valuable testing bed for the development of advanced, integrated agricultural monitoring systems

26th Annual Computational Neuroscience Meeting (CNS*2017): Part 3 - Meeting Abstracts - Antwerp, Belgium. 15–20 July 2017

This work was produced as part of the activities of FAPESP Research,\ud Disseminations and Innovation Center for Neuromathematics (grant\ud 2013/07699-0, S. Paulo Research Foundation). NLK is supported by a\ud FAPESP postdoctoral fellowship (grant 2016/03855-5). ACR is partially\ud supported by a CNPq fellowship (grant 306251/2014-0)

Regolazione ed espressione dei geni per la glutamina sintetasi in Drosophila melanogaster

Dottorato di ricerca in genetica ed evoluzione molecolare. Coordinatore M. Rocchi. Tutore R. CaizziConsiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche - Biblioteca Centrale - P.le Aldo Moro, 7, Rome; Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale - P.za Cavalleggeri, 1, Florence / CNR - Consiglio Nazionale delle RichercheSIGLEITItal