Calibration of a Master Gear

Questo rapporto tecnico descrive la taratura di un segmento di anello di un cuscinetto a sfere. L’INRIM ha progettato il segmento di anello che è stato quindi prodotto dalla MG Marposs S.p.a. di Torino. La taratura è stata eseguita con la macchina a coordinate CMM/ST001 dell’INRIM. Questo lavoro si colloca all’interno del Progetto DriveTrian (ENG56) come deliverable 2.2.3.This technical report describes the calibration of a ball bearing ring segment. INRIM designed the ring segment to be representative of bearing rings Ø > 1 m and MG Marposs S.p.a. (Turin, Italy) manufactured the workpiece. The calibration has been performed with the coordinate measuring machine CMM/ST001 at INRIM. The present work is related to the deliverable 2.2.3 of Drive Train Poject (ENG56)

EXPERIMENTAL EDUCATIONAL PROCESSES IN KINDERGARTEN: MOTOR AND SPORTS DIDACTICS AT THE SERVICE OF THE TRAINING GROWTH OF CHILDREN

Kindergarten is the first educational environment, external to the family, in which each individual begins to relate to a group of peers. It is evident how important it is to lay the educational foundations in this context, so as to establish the basic conditions for training the future youth of tomorrow. In this perspective, the inclusion of experimental educational protocols in the educational curriculum of preschools could play a fundamental role. This Paper shows the application of an experimental educational protocol focused on motor and sports education, and analyzes the results in terms of educational growth and pedagogy compared to a control group that, instead, continued with regular school activities. The objective is to bring to light the educational benefits that an experimental motor and sports education approach is able to generate in children, and the extent to which training, starting from kindergarten, should be oriented in this direction

Regulation of ISWI chromatin remodelling activity

The packaging of the eukaryotic genome into chromatin facilitates the storage of the genetic information within the nucleus, but prevents the access to the underlying DNA sequences. Structural changes in chromatin are mediated by several mechanisms. Among them, ATP-dependent remodelling complexes belonging to ISWI family provides one of the best examples that eukaryotic cells evolved to finely regulate these changes. ISWI-containing complexes use the energy derived from ATP hydrolysis to rearrange nucleosomes on chromatin in order to favour specific nuclear reactions. The combination of regulatory nuclear factors associated with the ATPase subunit as well as its modulation by specific histone modifications, specializes the nuclear function of each ISWI-containing complex. Here we review the different ways by which ISWI enzymatic activity can be modulated and regulated in the nucleus of eukaryotic cells

Forest ecotone survey by line intersect sampling

Given their ecological relevance, the survey of ecotones is of considerable interest in forest multiresource inventory. To this end, it is useful to set up survey procedures to provide efficient and reliable information about the length of such elements within the landscape mosaic. This note demonstrates a procedure based upon line intersect sampling on remotely sensed imagery. The estimate of ecotone length per unit area is obtained by visual interpretation of the changes from forest to other land use classes along each sampling line. The experimentation carried out in two test areas within forest landscapes of central Italy proves the operative soundness of the proposed procedure, which is more efficient than the classical approach by forest polygon delineation and perimeter mensuration in a GIS environment. Under the examined conditions, samples based on a moderately high number of lines characterized by relatively long length prove to be more efficient than those based on shorter survey units.L'articolo è disponibile sul sito dell'editore www.nrcresearchpress.co

Emerging Roles for hnRNPs in post-transcriptional regulation: what can we learn from flies?

Heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoproteins (hnRNPs) are a highly conserved family of RNA-binding proteins able to associate with nascent RNAs in order to support their localization, maturation and translation. Research over this last decade has remarked the importance of gene regulatory processes at post-transcriptional level, highlighting the emerging roles of hnRNPs in several essential biological events. Indeed, hnRNPs are key factors in regulating gene expression, thus, having a number of roles in many biological pathways. Moreover, failure of the activities catalysed by hnRNPs affects various biological processes and may underlie several human diseases including cancer, diabetes and neurodegenerative syndromes. In this review, we summarize some of hnRNPs' roles in the model organism Drosophila melanogaster, particularly focusing on their participation in all aspects of post-transcriptional regulation as well as their conserved role and involvement in the aetiology of human pathologies

Automatic DC voltage precision resistive divider with ratios between 10:1 and 107:1

At INRIM a DC Voltage precision resistive divider performing decade ratios from 10:1 to 107:1 was built. It can be automatically calibrated with a top-class calibrator and a precision multimeter calibrated in terms of deviation from linearity. It is made up of 90 kΩ, 9 kΩ, 900 Ω, 90 Ω, 9 Ω, 0.9 Ω, 90 mΩ and 10 mΩ bulk metal foil resistors connected in series, in four-terminal configuration. Peculiarities of the calibration method of the divider are: the evaluation of the DMM input impedance to correct its readings minimizing the load error and a solution to reduce the emfs effect of the relays. These operations are made during the calibration of the divider. The calibration and use uncertainties of the divider span respectively from 6.1 × 10 7 to 5.9 × 10 4 and from 6.7 × 10 7 to 6.5 × 10 4. The project is transferable to secondary laboratories in the framework of the INRIM knowledge transfer task

A Protein Nuclear Extract from D. melanogaster Larval Tissues

Preparation of protein nuclear extracts is often the first step to study in vitro biological processes occurring in the nucleus of the eukaryotic cell. Nuclear extracts have been extensively used in different model organisms to identify and study protein function in nuclei. Drosophila embryos can be collected in large quantities and have been the source of choice for the production of protein nuclear extracts. However, most of Drosophila in vivo studies on protein function are conducted in larval tissues. Here we report a new method to produce highly stable large-scale protein nuclear extracts from whole Drosophila larvae that are suited for a variety of biochemical analyses

Geospatial analysis of woodland fire occurrence and recurrence in Italy

This research note aims to exemplify the potential of annual time series of wildfire geodatasets to quantify fire occurrence and recurrence amongst different woodland types at large scale, under an international forestry perspective. The study covers a time series of areas affected by wildfire between 2007 and 2014 in Italy. A GIS operation of geometric intersection was carried out between burned areas geodataset time series and Corine Land Cover. Mediterranean pine forest, high maquis, transitional woodland-shrub and high oro-Mediterranean pine forest are the woodland types most preferred in terms of fire occurrence and recurrence. Large fires and megafires hold a significant share of total burned area. An unexpected finding is the huge impact of fires in wildland-urban-interface areas. The proposed analysis provides spatial information that is central to any approach to fire management at large scale. Research findings provide support that can be used e.g. for advancements in research, prioritization of fire prevention, suppression measures, economic incentive allocation, and urban and peri-urban planning