Scriture Visuali e Narrative tra cinema e letteratura negli anni 1970- 2020: Casi Italiani, Spagnoli e Baschi.

99 p. La introducción y los capítulos 2, 3 y 4 están sujetos a confidencialidad por la autoraHablar de cine vasco trae consigo inevitablemente la pregunta de si es algo diferente al cine español. De hecho, muchos, fuera de España o mejor dicho del País Vasco, ignoran la existencia de un cine vasco que pueda tener características independientes del cine del resto de España o lo consideran un fenómeno de nicho investigado por unos pocos y sin especial interés. En realidad, sin embargo, si en Italia la difusión y conocimiento del cine vasco por parte del público está ligada a unos pocos directores como Alex de la Iglesia o Julio Medem y la visión de sus películas no conduce a una conciencia de un cine vasco que puedan tener características estéticas diferentes a las del cine español, en España está muy extendida la percepción de una autonomía estética vasca respecto a lo que se produce en el resto de la península.La autodeterminación del pueblo vasco y el proyecto político independentista encuentran un apoyo significativo en un proyecto cultural generalizado que tiene en cuenta el cine como medio de comunicación inmediato, incluso antes del reconocimiento o mejor, como se verá más adelante, de la 'construcción' de una literatura. Independientemente de si la definición de cine vasco se refiere a algo producido en territorio vasco o algo en lengua vasca, la 'vasquidad' es reconocible como un elemento fundamental de carácter cultural. El objetivo de esta tesis es rastrear la formación de una conciencia cultural cinematográfica vasca y su evolución, o resultado, especialmente en los últimos diez años y, considerando un punto de vista 'externo', no vasco, de reconocibilidad de la misma

Decoding neural responses to temporal cues for sound localization

The activity of sensory neural populations carries information about the environment. This may be extracted from neural activity using different strategies. In the auditory brainstem, a recent theory proposes that sound location in the horizontal plane is decoded from the relative summed activity of two populations in each hemisphere, whereas earlier theories hypothesized that the location was decoded from the identity of the most active cells. We tested the performance of various decoders of neural responses in increasingly complex acoustical situations, including spectrum variations, noise, and sound diffraction. We demonstrate that there is insufficient information in the pooled activity of each hemisphere to estimate sound direction in a reliable way consistent with behavior, whereas robust estimates can be obtained from neural activity by taking into account the heterogeneous tuning of cells. These estimates can still be obtained when only contralateral neural responses are used, consistently with unilateral lesion studies. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.01312.001

Some investigations into non passive listening

Our knowledge of the function of the auditory nervous system is based upon a wealth of data obtained, for the most part, in anaesthetised animals. More recently, it has been generally acknowledged that factors such as attention profoundly modulate the activity of sensory systems and this can take place at many levels of processing. Imaging studies, in particular, have revealed the greater activation of auditory areas and areas outside of sensory processing areas when attending to a stimulus. We present here a brief review of the consequences of such non-passive listening and go on to describe some of the experiments we are conducting to investigate them. In imaging studies, using fMRI, we can demonstrate the activation of attention networks that are non-specific to the sensory modality as well as greater and different activation of the areas of the supra-temporal plane that includes primary and secondary auditory areas. The profuse descending connections of the auditory system seem likely to be part of the mechanisms subserving attention to sound. These are generally thought to be largely inactivated by anaesthesia. However, we have been able to demonstrate that even in an anaesthetised preparation, removing the descending control from the cortex leads to quite profound changes in the temporal patterns of activation by sounds in thalamus and inferior colliculus. Some of these effects seem to be specific to the ear of stimulation and affect interaural processing. To bridge these observations we are developing an awake behaving preparation involving freely moving animals in which it will be possible to investigate the effects of consciousness (by contrasting awake and anaesthetized), passive and active listening

La Natura, la Terra, la Patria: elementi identitari nell’opera di Stanislao Nievo e dei maggiori poeti baschi

A place can be told and described but also re-created by the writer's vision; whoever inhabits it and experiences it contributes to acting as a medium for the story and the symbols that belong to that place, in a constant re-semantization. Stanislao Nievo, with the idea of ​​the Parchi Letterari, and in his works, creates placetelling based on symbolic elements of the communities. A similar process occurs in the works of two of the major contemporary Basque writers: Aresti and Atxaga who interpret the meaning of vasquidad through the symbols that represent it.  Un luogo può essere raccontato e descritto ma anche ri-creato dalla visione dello scrittore; chi lo abita e lo vive contribuisce a farsi tramite del racconto e veicolo dei simboli che a quel luogo appartengono, in una costante risemantizzazione nel tempo. Stanislao Nievo, con l’idea dei Parchi Letterari, e complessivamente nella sua opera, crea un placetelling fondato su elementi simbolo delle comunità. Un processo similare avviene nelle opere di due dei maggiori scrittori baschi contemporanei: Aresti e Atxaga che interpretano il senso di vasquidad tramite i simboli che la rappresentano

A systems biology approach to shed light on apple fruit development

The research carried out and discussed in the present dissertation is positioned within the “TranscrApple” project (www.transcrapple.com), funded by the Provincia Autonoma di Trento (PAT) within the call “Grandi Progetti 2012”. The general objectives of this project, a significant part of which overlap with the present thesis, deal with the characterization, as wide as possible with the currently available technologies, of the transcriptional events, including those related to small RNAs (not discussed in the present dissertation), the metabolic changes, on a subset of primary and secondary metabolites, and hormones’ cross-talk, through a hormone profiling approach, occurring during apple fruit development. The present thesis is organized in different chapters, mirroring the experimental and temporal rationale effectively pursued to develop the research herein described. The main objective of the present work deals not only with providing an overview of transcripts, metabolites and hormones and their variations during fruit development, but also with the setting up of technical and experimental solutions aimed at using the achieved information within an integrative platform, according to a “systems biology view”. In model species, all this kind of studies are extremely easier, thanks to the availability of ready-to-use bioinformatics tools that are not flexible enough to be used in other species. However, especially in tree crops, this approach is still far from being defined and standardized. Chapter 1 introduces the theme “apple fruit development”, discussing the adoption of apple as a model system that, in the last decade, acquired great importance in terms of research among the fruit species thanks to the availability of its sequenced genome. After a brief introduction on the fundamental information available about the apple fruit growth, taking into account the technological and scientific points of view, few difficulties and gaps that hamper the achievement of a complete overview of the regulatory events coordinating the development and growth of the apple, are discussed in relation to the main quantitative and qualitative parameters characterizing the apple fruit production. Chapter 2 enters into the apple fruit research area; the preliminary phase and the multiple validations (concerning different cultivars and seasons) of transcriptional markers during the main apple developmental stages were shown to be fundamental for choosing, on the base of the expression profiles of these genes, the most representative samples, among those collected also in different seasons. Several markers have been identified, validated and employed, among those available from literature, allowing the selection of samples of cv Golden Delicious (herein considered as model) to be used for the subsequent transcriptional and metabolomic characterization carried out in the present research. Chapter 3 deals with the hormonal profiling survey carried out along the apple fruit development for the first time in this species. The results have allowed not only the achievement of brand new data related to the major hormonal classes, to be employed for further researches, but also the clarification and/or confirmation of new hormonal interactions connected to the fruit development stage or the transition between stages. Moreover, the relevance of this study consists in having achieved, for the first time in apple, quantitative data of an important set of hormones concurrently on the same samples.\ud Chapter 4 concerns the survey on the metabolites and their variations during the apple fruit development. A complete overview of the changes of the different classes of metabolites (mainly sugars, organic acids, aminoacids and polyphenols) is given during the apple developmental cycle. The acquired data have been derived from the same samples already analyzed in the previous chapters, and will be integrated with data of diverse nature, such as the RNAseq. Chapter 5 of the present thesis comes into the “system biology” area, initially among several technical difficulties, then partially solved, and gives an example of an alternative interpretation of the hormonal data put within a correlative network along with the RNAseq results achieved on the same samples

Candidate gene transcriptional signature unravels the reprogramming occurring in the peel of apple fruit of ‘Granny smith’ during postharvest storage

After harvest fruit are stored to preserve the quality features established during the on-tree development and maturation, ensuring thus a continuous availability of fresh fruit on the market. For certain fruit species like apple, storage can last for almost a year, especially when coupled with several strategies, such as the reduction of the oxygen concentration or the application of ethylene competitor molecules, like 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP). To guarantee the maintenance of the highest quality, the monitoring of the physiological processes ongoing during the postharvest ripening is compelling. For this purpose, 16 genes belonging to key fruit ripening pathways, such as the ethylene and the sugar/fermentation metabolism, have been chosen as potential markers for the molecular characterization of the major changes occurring in the fruit during storage. Among these genes, ACS, PPO, PG1, RAP2-like, and ADH exhibited the most significant differential expression across the various samples. Based on the transcriptional pattern, this set of genes constitutes a valuable molecular tool for a precise and reliable RNA-based monitoring of the postharvest ripening progression and fermentation process in apples. PPO, together with S6PDH, were furthermore employed to inspect the onset of the superficial scald in apple and resulted to correlate with the evaluation of the incidence of this disorder and the accumulation of the sugar alcohol sorbitol, known to play important protecting roles to chilling injuries. The assessment of the transcriptional signature of these elements can facilitate the development of gene expression markers suitable for a more informed investigation of the physiological progression of the postharvest ripening in apples, ultimately leading to the promotion of high-quality stored apples, extending storage time while minimizing postharvest disorders and fruit los

Unveiling the molecular mechanisms behind non-browning phenotype in the apple cultivar 'Majda' (Malus domestica Borkh.) by a comprehensive investigation.

Fruit flesh browning is a natural oxidative process that occurs after cutting or processing, resulting in a dark-brown coloration. This phenomenon can significantly impact the production and marketability of fresh cut fruit products. While antioxidant compounds can partially mitigate this browning, they can also affect the overall quality and sensory properties of the fresh products. In this study, we investigated the regulation of a natural non-browning trait in the apple cultivar 'Majda' compared to the browning reference cultivar 'Golden Delicious' using a multidisciplinary approach. Our findings revealed that the non-browning phenotype of 'Majda' is governed by multiple mechanisms, particularly characterized by distinct concentrations of chlorogenic acid and the expression of the polyphenol oxidase (MdPPO) gene. Metabolite analysis and gene expression profiling further demonstrated the involvement of organic acids and glutathione in preventing oxidative browning. Additionally, the unique non-browning behavior of 'Majda' was confirmed through a DPPH• kinetic assay, which highlighted its superior antioxidant activity. Based on these results, we propose 'Majda' as a potential candidate for breeding programs aimed at selecting novel non-browning varieties, thereby enhancing the sustainability of pre-cut fresh products

Transcriptome and metabolic analysis reveal the impact of static and dynamic low oxygen regimes on postharvest storage of ‘Granny Smith’ apples

Apples are subjected to long-term cold storage to maintain quality and ensure year-round market availability. The most common strategy to delay ripening is low-temperature storage, which can interfere with usual fruit physiology and trigger chilling injury disorders such as superficial scald. To prevent the appearance of this disorder, controlling the storage atmosphere by reducing oxygen concentration is an effective method and alternative to the use of the ethylene antagonist 1-MCP. To monitor the potential effects of low oxygen regimes, an integrated survey was conducted, profiling transcriptome variations along with three categories of metabolites (phenolics, lipids, and VOCs) in samples of ‘Granny Smith’ apples stored under static controlled atmosphere and dynamic hypoxic conditions for 5 and 7 months, respectively. High concentrations of chlorogenic acid and increased expression levels of MdPAL and MdPPO were detected in samples affected by superficial scald. RNA-seq analysis revealed 8,100 differentially expressed genes categorized into three main functional groups, highlighting significant transcriptional reprogramming associated with the onset of superficial scald and storage conditions. Additionally, DEG-network analysis identified distinct transcriptomic hubs depending on the storage duration, shedding light on the deep effect that hypoxia can have on fruit physiology, and highlighting differences in gene regulation when comparing different storage strategies