Patterns of geographical distribution of toxigenic cyanobacterial species and oligotypes in the perialpine lake district

Eco-AlpsWater (EAW) is a major European project co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Interreg Alpine Space program (www.alpine-space.eu/projects/eco-alpswater). The aim of the initiative is to integrate traditional water monitoring approaches implemented in the Alpine region and in Europe (Water Framework Directive-WFD) with high throughput sequencing technologies (HTS). In this work we will present the rationale and results obtained in the Italian hydrographic network, with a focus on large subalpine lakes and cyanobacterial communities determined on samples collected in pelagic areas and rocky-shore biofilms (Lake Garda). Overall, the pelagic and biofilm samples showed distinct communities, with only a few shared species and oligotypes (amplicon sequence variants) mostly belonging to the Chroococcales. One of the most widespread pelagic species in the Italian district and the whole Alpine region was Planktothrix rubescens. In contrast, Tychonema bourrellyi showed consistent populations only in the southern subalpine lake district. The normalized DNA sequence abundances of these two species were highly correlated with the microcystin and anatoxin-a concentrations, demonstrating a high consistency of the results obtained by HTS and metabolomic profiling, and a high ability of HTS to predict the toxigenic potential due to the production of hepatotoxins and neurotoxins in inland waters

NALP3 inflammasome upregulation and CASP1 cleavage of the glucocorticoid receptor cause glucocorticoid resistance in leukemia cells

Glucocorticoids are universally used in the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), and resistance to glucocorticoids in leukemia cells confers poor prognosis. To elucidate mechanisms of glucocorticoid resistance, we determined the prednisolone sensitivity of primary leukemia cells from 444 patients newly diagnosed with ALL and found significantly higher expression of CASP1 (encoding caspase 1) and its activator NLRP3 in glucocorticoid-resistant leukemia cells, resulting from significantly lower somatic methylation of the CASP1 and NLRP3 promoters. Overexpression of CASP1 resulted in cleavage of the glucocorticoid receptor, diminished the glucocorticoid-induced transcriptional response and increased glucocorticoid resistance. Knockdown or inhibition of CASP1 significantly increased glucocorticoid receptor levels and mitigated glucocorticoid resistance in CASP1-overexpressing ALL. Our findings establish a new mechanism by which the NLRP3-CASP1 inflammasome modulates cellular levels of the glucocorticoid receptor and diminishes cell sensitivity to glucocorticoids. The broad impact on the glucocorticoid transcriptional response suggests that this mechanism could also modify glucocorticoid effects in other diseases

ANALISI DI SISTEMI DI ORIENTAMENTO SPAZIALE E WAYFINDING PER IL PROGETTO DI AMBIENTI A ELEVATA COMPLESSITA’ AMBIENTALE

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Chapter 6: The Essential Role of Electrode Materials in ECL Applications

Electrochemiluminescence (ECL) is a phenomenon that occurs in the proximity of the electrode surface, since the radicals involved in the formation of the light-emitting excited states are generated after an electrochemical stimulus. The choice of the electrode material is crucial for the light generation, because it influences the kinetic of the heterogeneous electron transfer reaction. For this reason, the deep understanding of the whole ECL system, of the relative target application under development, is of fundamental importance for the proper choice of the electrode material. In the present chapter, different electrode materials are reported for different ECL applications, ranging from noble gold electrodes, through transparent electrodes for ECL and microscopy techniques combination, to carbon-based electrodes, which present fast kinetics for coreactant oxidation. Their electrochemical behaviour and their ECL efficiencies have been reported mainly with [Ru(bpy)3]2+/TPrA coreactant system in \u201coxidative-reduction\u201d mechanism, but other coreactants have been used, such as peroxydisulfate and benzoyl peroxide in \u201creductive-oxidation\u201d mechanism. A comprehensive and exhaustive electrochemical study of the above-written materials will be presented in the next pages

Dye-doped nanomaterials: Strategic design and role in electrochemiluminescence

Electrochemiluminescence (ECL) is luminescence induced by an electrochemical stimulus. As an analytical technique, ECL represents an ideal marriage between electrochemical and spectroscopic methods. In this review, we highlight some of the most recent developments in the field of ECL employing doped nanomaterials as emitters, particularly the strategies to design-doped nanomaterials and the advantage of their use over single luminophores for ECL signal enhancement, which is desirable for highly sensitive bio- and immuno-assays as well as environmental investigations

Nanostructuring methylammonium lead iodide perovskite by ultrafast nano imprinting lithography

We report the nanopatterning of the methylammonium lead iodide (MAPbI3) perovskite, a polycrystalline hybrid organic-inorganic semiconductor with very promising perspectives for photovoltaic and optoelectronic applications. Nanopatterning of MAI is obtained via Pulsed-NIL technology, an ultrafast version of the thermal nanoimprint lithography (NIL) based on stamps with integrated heaters. By Pulsed-NIL we were able to replicate onto the hybrid perovskite structures with details at the sub-100 nm scale, in spite of its crystalline nature. This work shows a new possibility for the exploitation of organo-metal halide perovskites in optoelectronic devices with more complex architectures than just planar films

Electrogenerated chemiluminescence from metal complexes-based nanoparticles for highly sensitive sensors applications

The coupling of nanomaterials, and nanoparticles in particular, with one of the most powerful transduction techniques, electrochemiluminescence (ECL), i.e., chemiluminescence triggered by electrochemical reactions at electrodes, has recently provided sensing tools with unprecedented sensitivity limits. This review aims to give an overview of the state of the art in the field over the last 5 years, i.e., a time span covering over 80% of the scientific production in this context. The results herein discussed would demonstrate that the use of nanoparticles in the ECL technique represents one of the most interesting research lines for the development of ultrasensitive analytical tools, offering an insight to recognize and select the best nanomaterials for ECL signal amplification, with particular emphasis in biosensing