Management and creation of a new tourist route in the National Park of the Sibillini Mountains using GIS Software, for economic development

This analysis is focused in a small portion of territory in central Italy where the National Park of Sibillini mountains is located. This Park strongly needs a tourist and economic development, so the possibility of creating a new tourist route has been considered. GIS software was used to create and manage the route, using orthophotos and digitizing the required data. The main goal of this study is represented by the creation of an evaluation system for the route, composed by numerous informations managed statistically through GIS software, assessing slope, type of route, road surface, hiking difficulties and passage through towns. This procedure allows a significant improvement in the local economy and a more rational use of available resources, including human ones

Do Postures of Distal Effectors Affect the Control of Actions of Other Distal Effectors? Evidence for a System of Interactions between Hand and Mouth

The present study aimed at determining whether, in healthy humans, postures assumed by distal effectors affect the control of the successive grasp executed with other distal effectors. In experiments 1 and 2, participants reached different objects with their head and grasped them with their mouth, after assuming different hand postures. The postures could be implicitly associated with interactions with large or small objects. The kinematics of lip shaping during grasp varied congruently with the hand posture, i.e. it was larger or smaller when it could be associated with the grasping of large or small objects, respectively. In experiments 3 and 4, participants reached and grasped different objects with their hand, after assuming the postures of mouth aperture or closure (experiment 3) and the postures of toe extension or flexion (experiment 4). The mouth postures affected the kinematics of finger shaping during grasp, that is larger finger shaping corresponded with opened mouth and smaller finger shaping with closed mouth. In contrast, the foot postures did not influence the hand grasp kinematics. Finally, in experiment 5 participants reached-grasped different objects with their hand while pronouncing opened and closed vowels, as verified by the analysis of their vocal spectra. Open and closed vowels induced larger and smaller finger shaping, respectively. In all experiments postures of the distal effectors induced no effect, or only unspecific effects on the kinematics of the reach proximal/axial component. The data from the present study support the hypothesis that there exists a system involved in establishing interactions between movements and postures of hand and mouth. This system might have been used to transfer a repertoire of hand gestures to mouth articulation postures during language evolution and, in modern humans, it may have evolved a system controlling the interactions existing between speech and gestures

Trend analysis of streamflows in relation to precipitation. A case study in central Italy

The monitoring of water resources is becoming increasingly important for humid temperate climates in light of climate change, which shows a generalised increase in temperatures and a decrease in precipitation, which is not generalised but relative to the area of interest. In this context, it is interesting to understand what the climatic changes have been, in terms of precipitation and how they have affected streamflows, by analysing them on a monthly basis. At the basin scale, interpolations were carried out with geostatistical methods using GIS software, spatialising the areal distribution of precipitation and obtaining an average value that can be correlated with water flows. As a pilot project, this research analysed the Upper Potenza basin in relation to the flow rates of the Potenza River over two reference periods, from 1964 to 1979 and from 2005 to 2020. The results show a decreasing trend in streamflows within the studied basin, while the precipitation trend decreases for the period 1964–1979 and increases for the period 2005–2020. Effective precipitation, in turn, shows a rather pronounced decrease in the more recent 2005–2020 period, due to climate change influencing the increase in temperature and consequently, the increase in evapotranspiration. In this context, it is significant to note that the Pearson correlation coefficient of streamflow to effective rainfall for both periods is about 0.8, suggesting that the net of anthropogenic disturbances, streamflow and actual precipitation maintain a high correlation. This model could be exported to other territories, in order to gain a global view for a better understanding and subsequent adaptation to ongoing climate change

Expedient synthesis of pseudo-Pro-containing peptides: Towards constrained peptidomimetics and foldamers

The reaction of sulfonyl peptides containing l- or d-configured Ser or Thr with bis(succinimidyl) carbonate in the presence of a catalytic amount of a base affords, in solution or in the solid phase, the corresponding peptides with one or two, consecutive or alternate oxazolidin-2-ones (Oxd). The Oxd ring can be regarded to as a pseudo-Pro with an exclusively trans conformation of the preceding peptide bond; homochiral Oxd-containing peptides adopt extended conformations, while the presence of a d-configured Oxd favours folded conformations. © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2012

Analysis of Snow Cover in the Sibillini Mountains in Central Italy

Research on solid precipitation and snow cover, especially in mountainous areas, suffers from problems related to the lack of on-site observations and the low reliability of measurements, which is often due to instruments that are not suitable for the environmental conditions. In this context, the study area is the Monti Sibillini National Park, and it is no exception, as it is a mountainous area located in central Italy, where the measurements are scarce and fragmented. The purpose of this research is to provide a characterization of the snow cover with regard to maximum annual snow depth, average snow depth during the snowy period, and days with snow cover on the ground in the Monti Sibillini National Park area, by means of ground weather stations, and also analyzing any trends over the last 30 years. For this research, in order to obtain reliable snow cover data, only data from weather stations equipped with a sonar system and manual weather stations, where the surveyor goes to the site each morning and checks the thickness of the snowpack and records, it were collected. The data were collected from 1 November to 30 April each year for 30 years, from 1991 to 2020; six weather stations were taken into account, while four more were added as of 1 January 2010. The longer period was used to assess possible ongoing trends, which proved to be very heterogeneous in the results, predominantly negative in the case of days with snow cover on the ground, while trends were predominantly positive for maximum annual snow depth and distributed between positive and negative for the average annual snow depth. The shorter period, 2010–2022, on the other hand, ensured the presence of a larger number of weather stations and was used to assess the correlation and presence of clusters between the various weather stations and, consequently, in the study area. Furthermore, in this way, an up-to-date nivometric classification of the study area was obtained (in terms of days with snow on the ground, maximum height of snowpack, and average height of snowpack), filling a gap where there had been no nivometric study in the aforementioned area. The interpolations were processed using geostatistical techniques such as co-kriging with altitude as an independent variable, allowing fairly precise spatialization, analyzing the results of cross-validation. This analysis could be a useful tool for hydrological modeling of the area, as well as having a clear use related to tourism and vegetation, which is extremely influenced by the nivometric variables in its phenology. In addition, this analysis could also be considered a starting point for the calibration of more recent satellite products dedicated to snow cover detection, in order to further improve the compiled climate characterizatio

Interpolation of rainfall through polynomial regression in the Marche Region (Central Italy)

Notwithstanding its small size (less than 10000 km2), because of its varied topography, ranging from the Apennines Range (up to more than 2000 m amsl) to coastal environments, the Marche Region (the Adriatic side of Central Italy), is characterized by many different types of climate. In this region there are no fully satisfactory models to interpolate and generalize rainfall data from the 111available meteorological recording stations; however, in this study an innovative way to interpret data linking precipitation to many topographic parameters is introduced. Based on those considerations, statistical analyses were carried out on rainfall historical series in order to assess significantly variations during the last 60 years and to create a model capable of explaining rainfall distribution based on geo-graphical and topographic parameters. Thus on one hand was highlighted a significant decrease of rainfall from 1961-1990 to 1991-2016, over the whole period, in the hilly and mountainous sectors (100-200 mm), while closer to the coast the difference is slight (about 0 – 100 mm), on the other the new model highlights the presence of some outliers, which may lead to a better comprehension of climatic dynamics in this area

Grasp It Loudly! Supporting Actions with Semantically Congruent Spoken Action Words

Evidence for cross-talk between motor and language brain structures has accumulated over the past several years. However, while a significant amount of research has focused on the interaction between language perception and action, little attention has been paid to the potential impact of language production on overt motor behaviour

Integrin-Targeting Dye-Doped PEG-Shell/Silica-Core Nanoparticles Mimicking the Proapoptotic Smac/DIABLO Protein

Cancer cells demonstrate elevated expression levels of the inhibitor of apoptosis proteins (IAPs), contributing to tumor cell survival, disease progression, chemo-resistance, and poor prognosis. Smac/DIABLO is a mitochondrial protein that promotes apoptosis by neutralizing members of the IAP family. Herein, we describe the preparation and in vitro validation of a synthetic mimic of Smac/DIABLO, based on fluorescent polyethylene glycol (PEG)-coated silica-core nanoparticles (NPs) carrying a Smac/DIABLO-derived pro-apoptotic peptide and a tumor-homing integrin peptide ligand. At low \u3bcM concentration, the NPs showed significant toxicity towards A549, U373, and HeLa cancer cells and modest toxicity towards other integrin-expressing cells, correlated with integrin-mediated cell uptake and consequent highly increased levels of apoptotic activity, without perturbing cells not expressing the \u3b15 integrin subunit

Functional Selectivity and Antinociceptive Effects of a Novel KOPr Agonist

Kappa opioid receptor (KOPr) agonists represent alternative analgesics for their low abuse potential, although relevant adverse effects have limited their clinical use. Functionally selective KOPr agonists may activate, in a pathway-specific manner, G protein-mediated signaling, that produces antinociception, over \u3b2-arrestin 2-dependent induction of p38MAPK, which preferentially contributes to adverse effects. Thus, functionally selective KOPr agonists biased toward G protein-coupled intracellular signaling over \u3b2-arrestin-2-mediated pathways may be considered candidate therapeutics possibly devoid of many of the typical adverse effects elicited by classic KOPr agonists. Nonetheless, the potential utility of functionally selective agonists at opioid receptors is still highly debated; therefore, further studies are necessary to fully understand whether it will be possible to develop more effective and safer analgesics by exploiting functional selectivity at KOPr. In the present study we investigated in vitro functional selectivity and in vivo antinociceptive effects of LOR17, a novel KOPr selective peptidic agonist that we synthesized. LOR17-mediated effects on adenylyl cyclase inhibition, ERK1/2, p38MAPK phosphorylation, and astrocyte cell proliferation were studied in HEK-293 cells expressing hKOPr, U87-MG glioblastoma cells, and primary human astrocytes; biased agonism was investigated via cAMP ELISA and \u3b2-arrestin 2 recruitment assays. Antinociception and antihypersensitivity were assessed in mice via warm-water tail-withdrawal test, intraperitoneal acid-induced writhing, and a model of oxaliplatin-induced neuropathic cold hypersensitivity. Effects of LOR17 on locomotor activity, exploratory activity, and forced-swim behavior were also assayed. We found that LOR17 is a selective, G protein biased KOPr agonist that inhibits adenylyl cyclase and activates early-phase ERK1/2 phosphorylation. Conversely to classic KOPr agonists as U50,488, LOR17 neither induces p38MAPK phosphorylation nor increases KOPr-dependent, p38MAPK-mediated cell proliferation in astrocytes. Moreover, LOR17 counteracts, in a concentration-dependent manner, U50,488-induced p38MAPK phosphorylation and astrocyte cell proliferation. Both U50,488 and LOR17 display potent antinociception in models of acute nociception, whereas LOR17 counteracts oxaliplatin-induced thermal hypersensitivity better than U50,488, and it is effective after single or repeated s.c. administration. LOR17 administered at a dose that fully alleviated oxaliplatin-induced thermal hypersensitivity did not alter motor coordination, locomotor and exploratory activities nor induced pro-depressant-like behavior. LOR17, therefore, may emerge as a novel KOPr agonist displaying functional selectivity toward G protein signaling and eliciting antinociceptive/antihypersensitivity effects in different animal models, including oxaliplatin-induced neuropathy

Esmethadone (REL-1017) and Other Uncompetitive NMDAR Channel Blockers May Improve Mood Disorders via Modulation of Synaptic Kinase-Mediated Signaling

This article presents a mechanism of action hypothesis to explain the rapid antidepressant effects of esmethadone (REL-1017) and other uncompetitive N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) antagonists and presents a corresponding mechanism of disease hypothesis for major depressive disorder (MDD). Esmethadone and other uncompetitive NMDAR antagonists may restore physiological neural plasticity in animal models of depressive-like behavior and in patients with MDD via preferential tonic block of pathologically hyperactive GluN2D subtypes. Tonic Ca2+ currents via GluN2D subtypes regulate the homeostatic availability of synaptic proteins. MDD and depressive behaviors may be determined by reduced homeostatic availability of synaptic proteins, due to upregulated tonic Ca2+ currents through GluN2D subtypes. The preferential activity of low-potency NMDAR antagonists for GluN2D subtypes may explain their rapid antidepressant effects in the absence of dissociative side effects