Status of Mushroom Cultivation in Uganda

( Federica Nshemerirwe ) 한국국제농업개발학회 2011 한국국제농업개발학회 춘계학술발표논문집 Vol.2011 No.-

Novosphingobium sp. PP1Y as a novel source of outer membrane vesicles

Federica De Lise,Francesca Mensitieri,Giulia Rusciano,Fabrizio Dal Piaz,Giovanni Forte,Flaviana Di Lorenzo,Antonio Molinaro,Armando Zarrelli,Valeria Romanucci,Valeria Cafaro,Antonio Sasso,Amelia Filip 한국미생물학회 2019 The journal of microbiology Vol.57 No.6

Outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) are nanostructures of 20– 200 nm diameter deriving from the surface of several Gramnegative bacteria. OMVs are emerging as shuttles involved in several mechanisms of communication and environmental adaptation. In this work, OMVs were isolated and characterized from Novosphingobium sp. PP1Y, a Gram-negative non-pathogenic microorganism lacking LPS on the outer membrane surface and whose genome was sequenced and annotated. Scanning electron microscopy performed on samples obtained from a culture in minimal medium highlighted the presence of PP1Y cells embedded in an extracellular matrix rich in vesicular structures. OMVs were collected from the exhausted growth medium during the mid-exponential phase, and purified by ultracentrifugation on a sucrose gradient. Atomic force microscopy, dynamic light scattering and nanoparticle tracking analysis showed that purified PP1Y OMVs had a spherical morphology with a diameter of ca. 150 nm and were homogenous in size and shape. Moreover, proteomic and fatty acid analysis of purified OMVs revealed a specific biochemical “fingerprint”, suggesting interesting details concerning their biogenesis and physiological role. Moreover, these extracellular nanostructures do not appear to be cytotoxic on HaCaT cell line, thus paving the way to their future use as novel drug delivery systems.

Ocular Involvement Occurs Frequently at All Stages of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: Preliminary Experience in a Large Italian Cohort

Federica Cozza,Andrea Lizio,Lucia Catherine Greco,Stefania Bona,Giordana Donvito,Elena Carraro,Silvia Tavazzi,Nicola Ticozzi,Barbara Poletti,Valeria Ada Sansone,Christian Lunetta 대한신경과학회 2021 Journal of Clinical Neurology Vol.17 No.1

Background and Purpose The study aimed to obtain optometric findings of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients in different stages of the disease, and to determine the relation between ocular data and ALS-related features; that is, functional and cognitive impairment and staging. Methods The optometric protocol included tests of the ocular motility [broad-H test and Northeastern State University College of Optometry (NSUCO) test], near point of convergence (NPC), error refraction, best-corrected visual acuity, and binocular visual alignment, and an ocular symptoms questionnaire. The functional measures included the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Functional Rating Scale–revised (ALSFRS-r) and Milano-Torino staging (Mi- ToS), and cognitive impairment was assessed using the Edinburgh Cognitive and Behavioural ALS Screen (ECAS). Demographic and clinical features were also collected, including whether the patients used an eye-tracking communication device (ETCD). Results Two-hundred consecutive ALS patients (median age of 64 years, 118 males and 82 females) in different stages of disease were recruited. Nearly 70% of patients reported at least one ocular symptom, and the use of an ETCD was found to be significantly related to the presence of most symptoms. Moreover, the severely symptomatic group was characterized by significantly lower ALSFRS-r total and subscale scores, and higher MiToS. Abnormal NPC values were significantly related to lower ALSFRS-r total and bulbar-subscale scores. Patients with acceptable NSUCO test values exhibited significantly higher ECAS scores. Conclusions The presence of ocular alteration in patients in different stages of ALS supports the idea that this is a multisystem disorder and emphasizes the importance of optometric evaluations in multidisciplinary assessments to address ocular impairment early in the disease process

UNDERSTANDING THE POTENTIALITIES OF A STRATEGIC ASSOCIATION BETWEEN LUXURY FASHION BRANDS AND FURNITURE DESIGN

Federica Codignola 글로벌지식마케팅경영학회 2017 Global Fashion Management Conference Vol.2017 No.07

Given the recent modest growth of the personal luxury good market and the urge to face difficulties through innovative brands’ marketing communication strategies, this paper examines the potentialities of tactical associations between luxury fashion brands and furniture design. Results indicate that there can be positive repercussions deriving from luxury fashion brands and furniture design interconnections. In particular, associations with collectable furniture design may help to define and enhance brands’ luxury values whilst providing consumers with innovative and creative luxury brand experiences. Future expectations in this market show a compound annual rate (CAGR) of 3% to 4% through 2020, to just about €280 billion. This is dramatically slower than the past fast growth experienced from the mid-1990s to the late 2000s. In this scenario, luxury fashion managers and marketers must envision new strategies to succeed and surpass competition. In order to be competitive and successful, luxury brand managers must take into account current market dynamics and find pertinent and substantial solutions. This paper shifts its attention to the identification of how in such a difficult scenario different cultural industries can meet in order to mutually enhance their circuits of value. Some studies have demonstrated that in order to meet such new global challenges, luxury fashion firms may discover strategic opportunities in art (Codignola, 2016). Given their symbolic connotation and aesthetic value, high-end furniture design items are more and more perceived as art works exchanged in art auctions or fairs, collected and purchased by collectors, exhibited in galleries or museums. At the same time, furniture design goods show some divergences from conventional art works (i.e. functionality, reproducibility, etc.) and some correspondences with fashion goods. By observing the luxury fashion sector, one may then find--for different sets of reasons--more than one interesting intersection with the furniture design sector. By taking into account the furniture design sector within its specific market features and goods, this paper argues that through furniture design LFBs can develop engaging creative and innovative brands’ marketing communication strategies. Compared to art, such strategies would be able to add value and strengthen LFBs’ luxury features even in a more effective way.

The protection of Cultural Heritage in Ita1y. The practice of “ publicness", from a historical perspective to the challenges of contemporaπ globalized society and some notes on artwork conservation

Federica Giacomini 한국미술이론학회 2019 한국미술이론학회 학술대회 Vol.2019 No.09

Active shape change of an SMA hybrid composite plate

Federica Daghia,Daniel J. Inman,Francesco Ubertini,Erasmo Viola 국제구조공학회 2010 Smart Structures and Systems, An International Jou Vol.6 No.2

An experimental study was carried out to investigate the shape control of plates via embedded shape memory alloy (SMA) wires. An extensive body of literature proposes the use of SMA wires to actively modify the shape or stiffness of a structure; in most cases, however, the study focuses on modeling and little experimental data is available. In this work, a simple proof of concept specimen was built by attaching four prestrained SMA wires to one side of a carbon fiber laminate plate strip. The specimen was clamped at one end and tested in an environmental chamber, measuring the tip displacement and the SMA temperature. At heating, actuation of the SMA wires bends the plate; at cooling deformation is partially recovered. The specimen was actuated a few times between two fixed temperatures Tc and Th, whereas in the last actuation a temperature Tf > Th was reached. Contrary to most model predictions, in the first actuation the transformation temperatures are significantly higher than in the following cycles, which are stable. Moreover, if the temperature Th is exceeded, two separate actuations occur during heating: the first follows the path of the stable cycles; the second, starting at Th, is similar to the first cycle. An interpretation of the phenomenon is given using some differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) measurements. The observed behavior emphasizes the need to build a more comprehensive constitutive model able to include these effects.

Increased Incidence of Breast Cancer in Postmenopausal Women with High Body Mass Index at the Modena Screening Program

Federica Sebastiani,Laura Cortesi,Milena Sant,Valeria Lucarini,Claudia Cirilli,Elisabetta De Matteis,Isabella Marchi,Rossella Negri,Ennio Gallo,Massimo Federico 한국유방암학회 2016 Journal of breast cancer Vol.19 No.3

Purpose: We conducted a study to evaluate the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and the risk of breast cancer (BC) and outcome in a population of 14,684 women aged 55 to 69 years eligible to participate in the Mammography Screening Program (MSP) in the Province of Modena, Italy. Methods: The study population was drawn from women who underwent mammography screening between 2004 and 2006 in the Province of Modena. Women were subdivided into obese, overweight, and normal-weight categories according to BMI and followed until July 31, 2010, to evaluate the BC incidence. The clinicopathological characteristics of BC were also evaluated in different groups of patients classified according to BMI. After BC diagnosis, patients were followed for a median period of 65 (range, 2–104) months. Second events (recurrences and second tumors) were recorded, and the 5-year event-free survival (EFS) was calculated. Results: After a period of 73 months, 366 cases of BC were diagnosed. Compared with normal-weight women, obese women had a significantly higher incidence of BC (relative risk [RR], 1.32; p=0.040) (RR=1), larger tumors (27% of tumors were larger than T2 size), and more nodal involvement (38.5% of tumors were node-positive). Furthermore, a significantly higher rate of total events was seen in obese women compared with overweight and normal-weight patients, respectively (17.9% vs. 11.4% vs. 10.8%, p=0.032). The 5-year EFS was 89.0%, 89.0%, and 80.0% for normal-weight, overweight, and obese patients, respectively. Conclusion: We observed a significantly higher risk of BC in obese women among those eligible to participate in the MSP in the Province of Modena. Finally, obese women had more second events and poorer EFS compared to nono bese women.

Modulation of αVβ6 integrin in osteoarthritis-related synovitis and the interaction with VTN(381–397 a.a.) competing for TGF-β1 activation

Ciregia Federica,Deroyer Céline,Cobraiville Gaël,Plener Zelda,Malaise Olivier,Gillet Philippe,Fillet Marianne,Malaise Michel G.,de Seny Dominique 생화학분자생물학회 2021 Experimental and molecular medicine Vol.53 No.-

Osteoarthritis is characterized by structural alteration of joints. Fibrosis of the synovial tissue is often detected and considered one of the main causes of joint stiffness and pain. In our earlier proteomic study, increased levels of vitronectin (VTN) fragment (amino acids 381–397) were observed in the serum of osteoarthritis patients. In this work, the affinity of this fragment for integrins and its putative role in TGF-β1 activation were investigated. A competition study determined the interaction of VTN (381–397 a.a.) with α V β 6 integrin. Subsequently, the presence of α V β 6 integrin was substantiated on primary human fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLSs) by western blot and flow cytometry. By immunohistochemistry, β 6 was detected in synovial membranes, and its expression showed a correlation with tissue fibrosis. Moreover, β 6 expression was increased under TGF-β1 stimulation; hence, a TGF-β bioassay was applied. We observed that α V β 6 could mediate TGF-β1 bioavailability and that VTN (381–397 a.a.) could prevent TGF-β1 activation by interacting with α V β 6 in human FLSs and increased α-SMA. Finally, we analyzed serum samples from healthy controls and patients with osteoarthritis and other rheumatic diseases by nano-LC/Chip MS–MS, confirming the increased expression of VTN (381–397 a.a.) in osteoarthritis as well as in lupus erythematosus and systemic sclerosis. These findings corroborate our previous observations concerning the overexpression of VTN (381–397 a.a.) in osteoarthritis but also in other rheumatic diseases. This fragment interacts with α V β 6 integrin, a receptor whose expression is increased in FLSs from the osteoarthritic synovial membrane and that can mediate the activation of the TGF-β1 precursor in human FLSs.

Quantum-Classical Nonadiabatic Dynamics: Coupled- vs Independent-Trajectory Methods

Agostini, Federica,Min, Seung Kyu,Abedi, Ali,Gross, E. K. U. American Chemical Society 2016 Journal of chemical theory and computation Vol.12 No.5

<P>Trajectory-based mixed, quantum-classical approaches to coupled electron-nuclear dynamics suffer from well studied problems such as the lack of (or incorrect account for) decoherence in the trajectory surface hopping method-and the inability of reproducing the spatial splitting of a nuclear wave packet in Ehrenfest-like dynamics. In the context of electronic nonadiabatic processes, these problems can result in wrong predictions for quantum populations and in unphysical outcomes for the nuclear dynamics. In this paper, we propose a solution to these issues by approximating the coupled electronic and nuclear equations within the framework of the exact factorization of the electron nuclear wave function. We present a simple quantum classical scheme based on coupled classical trajectories and test it against the full quantum mechanical solution from wave packet dynamics for some model situations which represent particularly challenging problems for the above-mentioned traditional methods.</P>

Active shape change of an SMA hybrid composite plate

Daghia, Federica,Inman, Daniel J.,Ubertini, Francesco,Viola, Erasmo Techno-Press 2010 Smart Structures and Systems, An International Jou Vol.6 No.2

An experimental study was carried out to investigate the shape control of plates via embedded shape memory alloy (SMA) wires. An extensive body of literature proposes the use of SMA wires to actively modify the shape or stiffness of a structure; in most cases, however, the study focuses on modeling and little experimental data is available. In this work, a simple proof of concept specimen was built by attaching four prestrained SMA wires to one side of a carbon fiber laminate plate strip. The specimen was clamped at one end and tested in an environmental chamber, measuring the tip displacement and the SMA temperature. At heating, actuation of the SMA wires bends the plate; at cooling deformation is partially recovered. The specimen was actuated a few times between two fixed temperatures $T_c$ and $T_h$, whereas in the last actuation a temperature $T_f$ > $T_h$ was reached. Contrary to most model predictions, in the first actuation the transformation temperatures are significantly higher than in the following cycles, which are stable. Moreover, if the temperature $T_h$ is exceeded, two separate actuations occur during heating: the first follows the path of the stable cycles; the second, starting at $T_h$, is similar to the first cycle. An interpretation of the phenomenon is given using some differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) measurements. The observed behavior emphasizes the need to build a more comprehensive constitutive model able to include these effects.