Formule di magia aggressiva nei testi di defissione greci: considerazioni pragmatiche e testuali

The article provides some considerations on the pragmatic and textual structure of aggressive magical texts. Starting from studies on the notion of performativity, it then investigates other possible textual and theory of enunciation models, to seek to explain the structural and morpho-syntactic variety of aggressive magical texts.L’articolo fornisce alcune considerazioni circa la struttura pragmatica e testuale dei testi di magia aggressiva. A partire dagli studi sulla nozione di performatività, vengono indagati altri possibili modelli testuali e di teoria dell’enunciazione che possano dare ragione della varietà strutturale e morfo-sintattica presenti nei testi di magia aggressiva

From Inscriptions to Lexica and Back: A Platform for Editing and Linking the Languages of Ancient Italy

Available language technology is hardly applicable to scarcely attested ancient languages, yet their digital semantic representation, though challenging, is an asset for the purpose of sharing and preserving existing cultural knowledge. In the context of a project on the languages and cultures of ancient Italy, we took up this challenge. This paper thus describes the development of a user friendly web platform, EpiLexO, for the creation and editing of an integrated system of language resources for ancient fragmentary languages centered on the lexicon, in compliance with current digital humanities and Linked Open Data principles. EpiLexo allows for the editing of lexica with all relevant cross-references: for their linking to their testimonies, as well as to bibliographic information and other (external) resources and common vocabularies. The focus of the current implementation is on the languages of ancient Italy, in particular Oscan, Faliscan, Celtic and Venetic; however, the technological solutions are designed to be general enough to be potentially applicable to different contexts and scenarios

Ultrasensitive mass sensor fully integrated with complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor circuitry

Nanomechanical resonators have been monolithically integrated on preprocessed complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor(CMOS) chips. Fabricatedresonatorsystems have been designed to have resonance frequencies up to 1.5 MHz. The systems have been characterized in ambient air and vacuum conditions and display ultrasensitive mass detection in air. A mass sensitivity of 4ag/Hz has been determined in air by placing a single glycerine drop, having a measured weight of 57 fg, at the apex of a cantilever and subsequently measuring a frequency shift of 14.8 kHz. CMOS integration enables electrostatic excitation, capacitive detection, and amplification of the resonance signal directly on the chip

Gabapentin treatment in a patient with KCNQ2 developmental epileptic encephalopathy

De novo variants in KCNQ2 encoding for Kv7.2 voltage-dependent neuronal potassium (K+) channel subunits are associated with developmental epileptic encephalopathy (DEE). We herein describe a the clinical and electroencephalographic (EEG) features of a child with early-onset DEE caused by the novel KCNQ2 p.G310S variant. In vitro experiments demonstrated that the mutation induces loss-of-function effects on the currents produced by channels incorporating mutant subunits; these effects were counteracted by the selective Kv7 opener retigabine and by gabapentin, a recently described Kv7 activator. Given these data, the patient started treatment with gabapentin, showing a rapid and sustained clinical and EEG improvement over the following months. Overall, these results suggest that gabapentin can be regarded as a precision therapy for DEEs due to KCNQ2 loss-of-function mutations

La modellazione semantica delle entità testuali: Il modello CRMtex e la descrizione ontologica dei testi antichi

This paper presents CRMtex, an ontological model based on CIDOC CRM developed since 2015 to support the study of ancient documents. The model is intended to identify relevant textual entities and to model the scientific process related to the investigation of ancient texts and their features in order to foster integration with other Cultural Heritage research fields. CRMtex is able to identify and define in a clear and unambiguous way the main entities involved in the study and edition of ancient handwritten texts and to describe them by means of appropriate ontological instruments in a multidisciplinary perspective. The CRMtex model also provides tools for managing this kind of complexity by defining classes and properties for describing a handwritten text in all its aspects, from its creation (and/or destruction) in the past, down to its present conservation, investigation and study by scholars, including its transcription, translation, interpretation and publication. The full compatibility of CRMtex with the CIDOC CRM ontology and its extensions ensures persistent interoperability of data encoded by means of its entities with other semantic information produced in cultural heritage and Digital Humanities.Questo articolo presenta CRMtex, un modello ontologico basato su CIDOC CRM sviluppato dal 2015 per supportare lo studio di documenti antichi. Il modello ha lo scopo di identificare entità testuali rilevanti e modellare il processo scientifico relativo allo studio dei testi antichi e delle loro caratteristiche al fine di favorire l'integrazione con altri campi di ricerca relativi al patrimonio culturale. CRMtex è in grado di identificare e definire in modo chiaro e univoco le principali entità coinvolte nello studio e nell'edizione di testi manoscritti e di descriverle mediante opportuni strumenti ontologici in una prospettiva multidisciplinare. Il modello CRMtex fornisce inoltre strumenti per gestire questo tipo di complessità definendo classi e proprietà per descrivere un testo manoscritto in tutti i suoi aspetti, dalla sua creazione (e/o distruzione) nel passato, fino alla sua attuale conservazione, indagine e studio da parte degli studiosi, compresa la sua trascrizione, traduzione, interpretazione e pubblicazione. La piena compatibilità di CRMtex con l'ontologia CIDOC CRM e le sue estensioni garantisce l'interoperabilità persistente dei dati codificati per mezzo delle sue entità con altre informazioni semantiche prodotte nell’ambito dei Beni Culturali e delle Digital Humanities

Describing Inscriptions of Ancient Italy. The ItAnt Project and Its Information Encoding Process

This paper discusses the challenges addressed in the digital scholarly encoding of the fragmentary texts of the languages of Ancient Italy according to the TEI/EpiDoc Guidelines in XML format. This contribution describes the solutions and customisations that have been adopted for dealing with the peculiarities of our epigraphical documentation and with the formalisation of epigraphical information deemed interesting for data retrieval in a historical linguistic perspective. The making of a digital corpus consisting of new critical editions of selected inscriptions is a work carried out in the context of the project "Languages and Cultures of Ancient Italy. Historical Linguistics and Digital Models", which aims to investigate the languages of Ancient Italy by combining the traditional methods, proper to historical linguistics, with methods and technologies proper to the digital humanities and computational lexicography. More specifically, the purpose of the project is to create a collection of interrelated digital language resources which comprise: 1) the digital corpus of texts editions; 2) a computational lexicon compliant with the Web Semantic requirements; 3) a relevant bibliographic reference dataset encoded according to the FRBRoo/LRMoo specifications. Additionally, selected textual data and scientific interpretations will be encoded by using CIDOC CRM and its extensions, namely CRMtex and CRMinf. The present contribution tackles one of the main aspects of the project, and proposes significant innovations in the encoding of critical editions for epigraphic texts of fragmentary languages, which will hopefully foster future interoperability and integration with other external datasets, a paramount concern of the project

Synthesis of 6-amino-6-deoxyhyaluronan as an intermediate for conjugation with carboxylate-containing compounds: application to hyaluronan-camptothecin conjugates

A novel methodology for making drug conjugates using hyaluronan as a carrier was developed. This strategy involves a completely regioselective two-step synthesis of 6-amino-6-deoxyhyaluronan, which is then easily functionalized with drugs through a suitable linker. The case of hyaluronan\u2013camptothecin conjugates is described, making use of a simple succinate linker. The antitumor activity of new hyaluronan derivatives prepared is at present under evaluation

Response to microplastic exposure: An exploration into the sea urchin immune cell proteome

It is now known that the Mediterranean Sea currently is one of the major hotspot for microplastics (MPs; < 5 mm) pollution and that the risks will be even more pronounced in the coming years. Thus, the in-depth study of the mechanisms underlying the MPs toxicity in key Mediterranean organisms, subjected to high anthropic pressures, has become a categorical imperative to pursue. Here, we explore for the first time the sea urchins immune cells profile combined to their proteome upon in vivo exposure (72 h) to different concentrations of polystyrene-microbeads (micro-PS) starting from relevant environmental concentrations (10, 50, 103, 104 MP/L). Every 24 h, immunological parameters were monitored. After 72 h, the abundance of MPs was examined in various organs and coelomocytes were collected for proteomic analysis based on a shotgun label free proteomic approach. While sea urchins treated with the lowest concentration tested (10 and 50 micro-PS/L) did not show the presence of micro-PS in any tissue, in the specimens exposed to the highest concentration (103 and 104 micro-PS) there was an internalisation of 9.75 ± 2.75 and 113.75 ± 34.5 MP/g, respectively. Proteomic analyses revealed that MPs exposure altered coelomocytes protein profile not only compared to the control group but also among the different micro-PS concentrations and these variations are micro-PS concentration dependent. The proteins exclusively expressed in the coelomocytes of specimens exposed to MPs are mainly metabolite interconversion enzymes, involved in cellular processes, indicating a severe alteration of the cellular metabolic pathways. Overall, these findings provide new insights on the mode of action of MPs in the sea urchin immune cells both at the molecular and cellular level

Synthesis of 6-O-methotrexylhyaluronan as a drug delivery system

Selective halogenation of hyaluronan and partial halogen substitution by methotrexate led to 6-chloro-6-deoxy-6-O-methotrexylhyaluronan, a potential antitumor drug. The remaining halogen could be further substituted by a second organic carboxylate, leading to mixed esters. 6-O-Acetyl-6-O-methotrexylhyaluronan and 6-O-butyryl-6-O-methotrexylhyaluronan were thus synthesized and characterized by NMR spectroscopy