Nell'ambito di uno studio realizzato in collaborazione tra due diversi istituti del CNR, ricercatori hanno sviluppato nuovi nanomateriali in oro con straordinarie capacità di trasmissione. La ricerca è stata pubblicata in ACS Nano (Impact Factor 13.942), una delle riviste più importanti e prestigiose al mondo nel settore delle nanotecnologie. La ricerca è stata condotta dal team CNR-Nanotec coordinato da Antonio De Luca in collaborazione con il team dell'ISASI-CNR coordinato da Lucia Petti ...

INT6/eIF3e is a highly conserved protein involved in several processes and downregulated in many human cancers. In this work, we show that loss of Int6 alters spindle microtubule behavior in mitosis, and hence affects the accuracy of chromosome segregation, by regulating the stability of specific mitotic proteins. Article: The Drosophila orthologue of the INT6 oncoprotein regulates mitotic microtubule growth and kinetochore structure Renda F, Pellacani C, Strunov A, Bucciarelli E, Naim V, ...

Come le differenze individuali nella struttura e funzione cerebrale siano legate al modo in cui ci comportiamo e proviamo emozioni e' una di quelle domande "esistenziali" alla quale gli scienziati cercano di dare una risposta da anni. Benchè risultati conclusivi non siano ancora disponibili, i dati raccolti fino ad ora hanno mostrato un forte legame tra la "forma" di alcune aree cerebrali e le varie caratteristiche di personalità. E' la conclusione di un recente studio effettuato da un team ...

The correct synchronization of development of the different tissues of the male organ (stamen) in flowers is essential for male fertility in self-pollinating plants. In this work we demonstrate that the correct distribution of auxin, a plant morphogen, is essential to ensure this synchronization in the model plant Arabidopsis, and that the middle layer - a stamen tissue of previously unknown function - is crucial in generating a developmentally instructive auxin distribution. These findings ...

Over the last two decades, biological sciences have undergone radical transformation through the development of new research technologies that have produced a real explosion in the amount of data available. Just think of the modern genomic sequencing techniques that have made the sequencing of the human genome, different animal and plant organisms, and many microorganisms simpler, less expensive and more reliable with enormous benefits for diagnosis and treatment of diseases. In the wake of the ...

Resistance to cancer chemotherapeutics, e.g. taxanes and anthracyclines, is largely due to the overexpression of efflux pumps, in particular ABCB1 (P-glycoprotein or MDR1). Resistance leads to poor clinical outcome. Overexpression of a group of genes that surround the ABCB1 genomic locus (the ABCB1 amplicon), including Sorcin (SRI), may contribute to the establishment of the multidrug-resistant phenotype. Here we show that: i) Sorcin is overexpressed in several tumors and cancer cell lines, in ...

Cancer cells show profoundly altered mitotic divisions, and mitotic proteins are viewed as potential targets of novel antineoplastic drugs. Here, we have developed an in silico virtual screening to identify one small molecule targeting the interaction surface between microtubules and the kinetochore protein Hec1, thereby blocking microtubule dynamics. This small molecule effectively inhibits neoplastic growth, both in cultured cancer cells and in murine xenograft models, by promoting mitotic ...

Particular attention is given to the study of mitochondri¬al biogenesis and its regulation under physiopathological conditions. Indeed, mitochondria, organelles equipped with membranes for energy transduction, have a pivotal role in the cell response to various kind of stress. The following topics are studied in detail: i) molecules of the mitochondrial membrane, such as cardiolipin, ii) aspects of mitochondrial bioenergetics under physiopathological and metabolic con¬ditions; iii) ...

The concept is emerging that the persisting memory T lymphocytes in the bone marrow (BM) is essential for immunological memory and successful response to vaccination, yet many questions remain unsolved. Di Rosa has proposed that the BM is essentially a nest for the homeostatic proliferation of memory T cells. Other researchers propose that the BM is rather a storage depot for memory T cells (debate in Nat Rev Immunol, april 2016). In 2016, Di Rosa proposed the "dual-niche" hypothesis, offering ...

Gli adolescenti con gravi comportamenti antisociali presentano evidenti anomalie cerebrali rispetto ai coetanei che non soffrono di questo disturbo: è quanto emerge da una ricerca recentemente pubblicata sulla rivista internazionale Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. Lo studio è stato condotto dalle Università di Cambridge e Southampton in collaborazione con l'Università Tor Vergata e il Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR). I ricercatori che hanno partecipato allo studio ...

Braccio di Ferro, con la sua tipica pipa permanentemente in bocca e gli avambracci nerboruti, è un uomo di mare dall'aspetto un po' buffo che si trova sovente in situazioni rissose con Bruto, imponente marinaio attaccabrighe dalla barba folta e nera. L'arma segreta di Braccio di Ferro sono gli spinaci, un alimento ricco di diverse sostanze nutritive tra cui i nitrati. Recenti studi scientifici suggeriscono che l'ossido nitrico, prodotto derivante dai nitrati, svolge diverse funzioni ...

Sometimes, under certain circumstances, we know that problems that are in general hard to solve become easy for certain input instances. Of course, we have to be able to recognize such "lucky instances"and therefore we have to be able to characterize their "lucky properties" and exploit the characterization to devise efficient recognition algorithms. In other words we have to be able to answer the following question efficiently: "Is this instance a lucky one"; if the answer is yes then we are ...

Production of a ship is a very complex task, representing the synthesis of an intense design activity: all the relevant parameters affecting the mission of the ship are considered in this phase. However, some of these parameters are changing in time, i.e. the payload may increase or reduce due to the different market demands: if the variations are not negligible, a review of the project could be economically advantageous after some years, identifying a modification of the hull able to produce an ...

A synergic collaboration between soft-matter physicists and molecular biologists of nucleic acid has yielded the realization of a new nano-material, DNA-hydrogel, liquid at low and high temperatures (≤20°C, > 45°C) and gelifies at 32/40°C. The liquid DNA hydrogel at 20°C can be easily injected into the organism and then quickly gelifies at body temperature (37°C). The abilty to gelify at 37°C is the starting point for the design and development of novel DNA-hydrogels as carriers ...

AMICA (Analysis of the oral microbiome during hormonal cycle and its alterations in menopausal women) is a project proposed by young ICB-CNR women researchers, directed by Dr. Fabiana Piscitelli, which aims to analyze and characterize the women salivary microbiome in function of changes in hormone levels (FSH, LH, progesterone and estradiol) during menstruation and menopause. For this reason, it is enlisting women volunteers of childbearing age and menopause between 25-70 years. Two are the main ...

Bacteria are highly adaptable and can live in very hostile environments. Hydrogen sulphide (H2S) is a small gas molecule produced by bacteria in our intestine, and is a powerful inhibitor of cellular respiration by blocking the enzyme responsible for oxygen consumption in human cells. The aim of this study was to assess the hypothesis that some enzymes help bacteria to produce energy and survive despite the presence of acid, often damaging human health. The team led by Ibpm, in collaboration ...

1. Regulation of expression, structure and assembly of mem¬brane energy transducing systems of both eukaryotes and prokaryotes. In this contest, the signal transduction and second messen¬gers, in particular cAMP, play an important role in regulating the biogenesis and functional capacity of membrane ener¬gy transducing systems and oxygen free radical balance in physiological and pathological conditions. Another area in¬volves the study of energy transducing systems in microor¬ganisms of ...

Many of the research activities that IBAM carry out in the field of archaeology assume that the priority and most urgent problem is undoubtedly the recognition and the evaluation of Cultural Heritage. It is a necessity of primary importance both for studies directed towards historical and archaeological reconstruction and, especially, to enable appropriate policies to be put in place for the protection, monitoring and management, which are essential for the conservation and enhancement of value ...

Since its foundation the IBAM has been very active in the application of airborne and spaceborne earth observation technologies in Archaeology. Two laboratories, one in Lecce and the second in Potenza, focus on aerial archaeology and the development and validation of image processing algorithms for archaeological applications, respectively. The research is developed in cooperation with Laboratory of Ancient Topography and Photogrammetry of the University of Salento and the Laboratory of Remote ...

The Mediterranean area and particularly Italy, possesses an extraordinary material and immaterial Cultural Heritage of Outstanding Universal Value (OUV, as defined by ICOMOS) that must be protected and preserved, with particular emphasis on monuments, such as historic buildings (churches, castles, palaces, historic town centres, archaeological sites) which represent the historical memory of phases of settlement in different geographical contexts. Over the last 20 years there has been a growing ...

Geophysical survey refers to multiple techniques that measure variation in near-surface physical properties of the ground, such as magnetic properties, electromagnetic conductivity, electrical resistivity, induced polarization, self potentials, relative dielectric constant and ground density. Buried features, like stone or brick foundations; variation in sedimentary structure and ground moisture, such as in archaeological deposits, trenches, mounds, and burial vaults; and other subsurface ...

All over Italy the requirements of economic development are rapidly destroying many archaeological sites - the character of this destructive activity and the solutions adopted vary among different countries. The studies conducted by ANTAR ES-LAB (ANcient Topography, Archaeology and REmote Sensing - LABoratory) and the Geophysics for Archaeology Laboratory of IBAM cover the institutional and legislative background, provide statistical data and information on each field activity of preventive ...

Scholars interested in Mediterranean prehistory share two expectations about the issue of Past: firstly that the accessible meanings reside not only in textual sources, and secondly that the study of world prehistory has acquired a privileged position in the current status of theoretical and methodological debates, adapting a wide range of scientific techniques to the resolution of cultural questions. It follows that in some important aspects, although the past must have changed through time, it ...

The study of Roman archaeology today, in the international research context, reflects demands which appear strictly related to the aspect of archaeology under investigation, whether it is a specific class of artefacts, a region, an urban or rural environment, or even political, social and ideological movements which find their concrete expression in the material traces of the society being examined. The category of pottery represents a particular case in point, inasmuch as the significant amount ...

The characterization of materials in the Cultural Heritage field cannot always be carried out by means of traditional chemical and mineralogical analysis, because the necessary removal of material could irreversibly damage the object of study. For more than ten years, the IBAM has been pursuing the development of innovative analytical techniques. In 2001, at the IBAM office of Catania, the LANDIS was created (Non-Destructive Analysis Laboratory) with the aim of establishing new devices and ...

The conservation of built heritage requires detailed knowledge of the characteristics of its constituent materials and their state of conservation, making it possible to identify risk factors and conditions as well as the need for specific measures. On the basis of this knowledge the most effective intervention strategies and the most suitable conservation solutions can be selected. Over the years, IBAM, in its own diagnostic and conservation laboratories, has studied the causes and mechanisms ...

Until a few years ago, the study of the constituent materials of historical, architectural and archaeological heritage items was mainly focused on diagnostics for conservation purposes, based on the theory of restoration promoted by Cesare Brandi according to which knowledge of materials is necessary for their effective conservation. Recently, complex, multilevel systems of knowledge have been developed; useful to tourists and experts alike, they are designed to enhance the overall understanding ...

Non-invasive monitoring of historical buildings is an important tool for the safeguard of the Cultural Heritage. In particular, thanks to geophysical techniques based on the propagation of electromagnetic or acoustical waves, or based on the redistribution of applied electrical currents, it is possible within certain limits to retrieve the internal conformation of the probed structures. This approach, in addition to allowing an archaeological analysis of the construction technique of the ...

The EC Action Plan for Energy Efficiency and the Directive 2010/31/EU on the energy performance of buildings identifies energy efficiency in the building sector as a top priority. In order to achieve its ambitious goals, the new perspective introduced by the Directive requires action not only by imposing limits on energy consumption in new buildings, but also dealing with a significant acceleration in improving the energy performance of existing buildings, including historical ones. Given the ...

Every hypothetical reconstruction that can serve as a vehicle of information - not only on what can be viewed directly, but also and especially on those elements that are difficult to read or decipher - is consistent with the principles expressed in the restoration charters. The highlighting of educational value of ruins and making them comprehensible are, as we have seen, objectives common to both restoration and virtual archaeology. Based mainly on digital technology, the latter resolves the ...