Genes and miRNAs as Hurdles and Promoters of Corticospinal Tract Regeneration in Spinal Cord Injury

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a devastating lesion to the spinal cord, which determines the interruption of ascending/descending axonal tracts, the loss of supraspinal control of sensory-motor functions below the injured site, and severe autonomic dysfunctions, dramatically impacting the quality of life of the patients. After the acute inflammatory phase, the progressive formation of the astrocytic glial scar characterizes the acute-chronic phase: such scar represents one of the main obstacles to the axonal regeneration that, as known, is very limited in the central nervous system (CNS). Unfortunately, a cure for SCI is still lacking: the current clinical approaches are mainly based on early vertebral column stabilization, anti-inflammatory drug administration, and rehabilitation programs. However, new experimental therapeutic strategies are under investigation, one of which is to stimulate axonal regrowth and bypass the glial scar. One major issue in axonal regrowth consists of the different genetic programs, which characterize axonal development and maturation. Here, we will review the main hurdles that in adulthood limit axonal regeneration after SCI, describing the key genes, transcription factors, and miRNAs involved in these processes (seen their reciprocal influencing action), with particular attention to corticospinal motor neurons located in the sensory-motor cortex and subjected to axotomy in case of SCI. We will highlight the functional complexity of the neural regeneration programs. We will also discuss if specific axon growth programs, that undergo a physiological downregulation during CNS development, could be reactivated after a spinal cord trauma to sustain regrowth, representing a new potential therapeutic approach

Dendritic Bundles, Minicolumns, Columns, and Cortical Output Units

The search for the fundamental building block of the cerebral cortex has highlighted three structures, perpendicular to the cortical surface: (i) columns of neurons with radially invariant response properties, e.g., receptive field position, sensory modality, stimulus orientation or direction, frequency tuning etc., (ii) minicolumns of radially aligned cell bodies and (iii) bundles, constituted by the apical dendrites of pyramidal neurons with cell bodies in different layers. The latter were described in detail, and sometimes quantitatively, in several species and areas. It was recently suggested that the dendritic bundles consist of apical dendrites belonging to neurons projecting their axons to specific targets. We review the concept above and suggest that another structural and computational unit of cerebral cortex is the cortical output unit, i.e., an assembly of bundles of apical dendrites and their parent cell bodies including each of the outputs to distant cortical or subcortical structures, of a given cortical locus (area or part of an area). This somato-dendritic assembly receives inputs some of which are common to the whole assembly and determine its radially invariant response properties, others are specific to one or more dendritic bundles, and determine the specific response signature of neurons in the different cortical layers and projecting to different targets

An easy mixed-method analysis tool to support rural development strategy decision-making for beekeeping

The EU has long-recognised the functions and contributions of beekeeping in sustainable rural area development. In 2018, the EU adopted the Pollinator Initiative to strengthen its pollinator conservation policies. To support the design of effective rural development actions, this work describes and tests an easy-to-apply, mixed-method tool for use with SWOT analysis. A two-step methodology was trialled with beekeepers in Piedmont Region (NW Italy). In step one, two independent groups of beekeepers operating in separate protected and intensive agricultural areas completed a SWOT matrix. In step two, three expert panels (beekeeper association leaders, honey market organisation leaders, and entomologists) prioritised the effects of the SWOT items with a quantitative weighting and rating process. Results suggest that the sector needs better-targeted incentives and that ‘soft’ policies on extension, advisory, and institutional measures could play a relevant role. The method was also confirmed as suitable for use with non-expert evaluators, such as policy officers and practitioners

Total brood removal and other biotechniques for the sustainable control of varroa mites in honey bee colonies: Economic impact in beekeeping farm case studies in Northwestern Italy

Honey bee colonies are affected by many threats, and the Varroa mite represents one of the most important causes of honey bee disease. The control of the Varroa population is managed by different methods, and in recent years, biotechnical practices are considered preferable to chemical approaches in order to safeguard honey bee health and avoid residues in bee products as well as the appearance of acaricide resistance. However, little is known about the economic performance of beekeeping exploitations in relation to the methods used for tackling Varroa. This study aims to investigate the economic impact of total brood removal (TBR) as a biotechnique to keep Varroa mites under control, and compare this to other common biotechniques and chemical Varroa control in numerous Italian beekeeping case studies. A pool of economic and technical indexes was proposed. The proposed index pool can be included in the development of an expert system (such as a decision support system) able to address the optimal management of this very complex activity, which requires natural resources, land protection, capital and high technical skills. The result showed that the adoption of the TBR biotechnique vs. other biotechniques led to an increase in terms of total revenue (increase values ranging from 11% to 28%) even though more labor is needed (increase values ranging from 43 to 83 min/hive) and a loss of honey production could be recorded in some cases. Additionally, the total expenses, represented mainly by supplemental nutrition and treatments with oxalic acid, affected the economic results of the biotechnical practices. The use of biotechniques vs. chemical control resulted in decreased treatment costs and increased feeding costs. The advantages resulting from not using synthetic acaricides (which are dangerous for honey bee and human health as well as the environment) as well as the advantages linked to the production of new nuclei (which are involved in the maintenance of bee stock and counteract the decline in honey bee population) and pollination ecosystem services could make beekeeping farms more resilient over time

Analysis of navigation pattern in the sport of rowing

The effect of weather and environmental conditions on sports has been extensively studied over the last few years (Pezzoli et al., 2010). Based upon the studies of Lobozewicz (1981) and of Kay and Vamplew (2002), Pezzoli and Cristofori (2008) have studied the impact of some specific environmental parameters over different sports using a particular impact index divided into five classes. This analysis clearly shows that most of the outdoor sport activities are strongly influenced by the variation of meteorological parameters. However the impact of meteorological conditions on outdoor sport activities has not yet been extensively studied. The aim of this research is to show that an accurate assessment of wind and wave parameters enables decisive improvements in both training and race strategy planning. Furthermore this analysis provide a very innovative working method for the applied sport research. The work has been based on in-situ measurements of both environmental and performance parameters (wind direction, wind velocity, boat speed and stroke rate) made over different classes and in different race conditions during the 2009 FISA World Championship (Poznan, Poland). In particular a detailed environmental analysis was performed by measuring the wind direction, the wind speed and by evaluating the significant wave height and the wave peak period for each class during the semi-final phase and the final phase. It should be noted that, since wind is a key parameter affecting not only the boat speed but also the race strategy, the assessment of the wind velocity and of the wind direction has been made in connection with the boat movement. The comparison between coupled wind-wave data, boat speed and stroke rate evidently demonstrates that only crews that managed the adaption to changing in the environmental conditions from semi-final to final phase of the race, were able to get better results. References Kay, J., & Vamplew, W. (2002) Weather beaten: sport in the British climate. London: Ed. Mainstream Publishing. Lobozewicz, T. (1981) Meteorology in sport. Frankfurt: Ed. Sportverlag. Pezzoli, A,, Moncalero, M., Boscolo, A., Cristofori, E., Giacometto, F., Gastaldi, S., & Vercelli, G. (2010) The meteo-hydrological analysis and the sport performance: which are the connections? The case of the XXI Winter Olympic Games, Vancouver 2010, Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness, 50: 19-20. Pezzoli, A., & Cristofori, E. (2008) Analisi, previsioni e misure meteorologiche applicate agli sport equestri, in: 10th Congress "New findings in equine practices, Druento: Centro Internazionale del Cavallo Ed., p.38-4

Topic Maps e XTM per l'e-learning

Topic Maps are a methodology whose aim is describing knowledge structures and associating them with information resources. XML Topic Maps (XTM) is an XML-based encoding scheme to represent topic maps and similar knowledge structures (e.g. semantic networks, associative networks, concept maps, mind maps, etc.). In this paper Topic Maps and XTM are proposed as a knowledge representation system to be exploited in e-learning environments for a suited integration with semantic web technologies. They may be a useful tool to facilitate the design of learning contents and their delivery in diverse contexts. After a short survey of the Topic Maps standardization process, in this paper key elements and characteristics of TM and XTM paradigm are described. Then it is briefl y discussed about Topic Maps applications in e-learning context and also a short survey of related works is presente