Multi-Target Analysis and Design of Mitochondrial Metabolism

Analyzing and optimizing biological models is often identified as a research priority in biomedical engineering. An important feature of a model should be the ability to find the best condition in which an organism has to be grown in order to reach specific optimal output values chosen by the researcher. In this work, we take into account a mitochondrial model analyzed with flux-balance analysis. The optimal design and assessment of these models is achieved through single- and/or multi-objective optimization techniques driven by epsilon-dominance and identifiability analysis. Our optimization algorithm searches for the values of the flux rates that optimize multiple cellular functions simultaneously. The optimization of the fluxes of the metabolic network includes not only input fluxes, but also internal fluxes. A faster convergence process with robust candidate solutions is permitted by a relaxed Pareto dominance, regulating the granularity of the approximation of the desired Pareto front. We find that the maximum ATP production is linked to a total consumption of NADH, and reaching the maximum amount of NADH leads to an increasing request of NADH from the external environment. Furthermore, the identifiability analysis characterizes the type and the stage of three monogenic diseases. Finally, we propose a new methodology to extend any constraint-based model using protein abundances.     

Sometimes They Come Back: Recovery and Reinterpretation of a Trackway Slab from the Permian Coconino Sandstone of the Southwestern United States

When a fossil vanishes to a private collection, it must be considered lost to science because, frequently, it is no longer available for study. Fortunately some fossils occasionally are regained. We had the opportunity to recoup an interesting footprint-bearing slab that was part of a private collection in Italy. The specimen, found in 1992 near Seligman, Arizona (USA) was described, before disappearing, as one of the best fossil examples of vertebrate (Chelichnus [Laoporus])-on-invertebrate (Octopodichnus) predation. After a careful re-examination of the slab, the primary conclusions of the former describers are demonstrably groundless. The reanalysis of the tracks, as well as peculiar sedimentary structures associated with the tracks, allowed obtaining new information about the depositional environment and the complex interactions between the type of substrate and trackmaker behavior. The re-examination of the specimen also revealed interesting aspects about trackmaker biomechanics.     

Dinosaur Tracks as Paleogeographic Constraints: New Scenarios for the Cretaceous Geography of the Periadriatic Region

A really unexpected finding of sauropod and theropod footprints in southern Latium raises to four the number of the trampled levels recognized in central and southern Italy. After the recent findings in Latest Jurassic and Early, mid and Late Cretaceous carbonate platform deposits of the Periadriatic region, dinosaur footprints seem to provide very important paleogeographic constraints for reconstructing the geodynamic history of the Mediterranean area. The presence of a varied ichnoassociation makes acceptance of the current paleogeographic models concerning the relative and absolute position of the Laziale-Abruzzese-Campano and of Apulian-Dinaric domains during the Late Cretaceous more and more problematic. Dinosaur footprints, combined with other paleontological data, demonstrate that these areas were never completely pulled apart by deep seaways, while frequent or continuous links between them, and to southern and northern mainlands, probably persisted. These data also allowed us to improve our understanding of the timing of the Mesozoic plate motion in this segment of the Western Tethys.     

A mass fragmentographic method for the quantitative evaluation of brain prostaglandin biosynthesis.

A method for the evaluation of PGF-2alpha and PGE-2 biosynthesis in rat cerebral cortex is described. Tissue slices were incubated without any added precursor for different lengths of time. The analytical procedure involves prostaglandin extraction, purification and quantitative determination by mass fragmentography. Significant amounts of both prostaglandins were synthesized. The biosynthesis reached a plateau after 30 minutes and the ratio of PGF-2alpha to PGE-2 was approximately 3.     

A mass fragmentographic method for the quantitative evaluation of brain prostaglandin biosynthesis

A method for the evaluation of PGF_2α and PGE₂ biosynthesis in rat cerebral cortex is described. Tissue slices were incubated without any added precursor for different lengths of time. The analytical procedure involves prostaglandin extraction, purification and quantitative determination by mass fragmentography. Significant amounts of both prostaglandins were synthesized. The biosynthesis reached a plateau after 30 minutes and the ratio of PGF_2α to PGE₂ was approximately 3.     

Use of Quantitative PCR Detection Methods to Study Biocontrol Agents and Phytopathogenic Fungi and Oomycetes in Environmental Samples

Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) is a versatile technique for the accurate, sensitive, reliable and high‐throughput detection and quantification of target DNA in various environmental samples, and in recent years, it has greatly contributed to the advancement of knowledge in the plant pathology field. Indeed, this technique is ideal to evaluate inoculum threshold levels and to study the epidemiology, biology and ecology of phytopathogenic fungi and oomycetes, thus opening up new research opportunities to investigate host–pathogen interactions and to address tasks related to quarantine, eradication and biosecurity. Moreover, it can be a useful tool in breeding programs. The present review analyses the most relevant applications of qPCR for the detection and quantification of filamentous fungi and oomycetes within host tissues and in soil, air and water, along with brief paragraphs focusing on new application fields such as the detection and quantification of mycotoxigenic fungi and biocontrol agents. The high potentiality of qPCR for present and future applications is highlighted together with a critical analysis of major drawbacks that need to be corrected to definitively confirm it as a preferential routine quantitative detection method.