The Dashboard of Sustainability to measure the local urban sustainable development: The case study of Padua Municipality

The adoption of suitable indicators is fundamental to implement sustainable development at the local level. It helps in the analysis and evaluation; supports the decisional process and helps the communication between the citizens and the society, in general.Furthermore, the aggregated indexes – by representing the observed context in a simple way – may help the community in the definition of effective improvement goals and also serve as important tools to monitor the fulfillment of the planned objectives.The Dashboard of Sustainability (DS) is a mathematical and graphical tool designed to integrate the complex influences of sustainability and support the decision-making process by creating concise evaluations.The city of Padua, Italy, agreed to use the DS in its Local Agenda 21 project, financed by the Italian Ministry of Environment. The available data were sufficient to design 61 useful indicators of environmental protection, economic development, and social promotion.The results of the analysis were discussed in Padua's community forum on the Local Agenda 21 process. The graphical and numerical results helped Padua reach a consensus on the plan for future sustainability, one that was understood and accepted by all the stakeholders.In order to adapt this tool to a local context, two changes in the methodologies were necessary: to measure urban sustainability, for which “ad hoc” set indicators were used; and to allow a comparative evaluation, for which the performances of Padua were evaluated over time. These changes were possible, thanks to the flexibility of such tool.     

DNA topology in a chromatin model system

The synthetic copolypeptide (Lys³³, Leu⁶⁷)₁₀₀-Orn₂₀, modeled on some general features of the histone sequences, has been found to supercoil the DNA double helix, wrapping it into a micelle, as a result of cohesive interactions between the polypeptide hydrophobic moieties. X-ray low-angle diffraction of complexes between the polypeptide and DNA is characterized by maxima at 50, 32, and 23 Å, reminiscent of the chromatin pattern. The existence of a nucleosome-like structure along the DNA is suggested by gel electrophoresis analysis of DNA fragments after micrococcal nuclease digestion, showing the presence of a fragment of about 100 basepairs (bp) long. Topological experiments on the complexes with supercoiled as well as relaxed circular DNA by two-dimentional gel electrophoresis show the presence of left-handed superhelical turns. The results are in agreement with an intrinsic propensity of B-DNA to writhe into left-handed supercoils.     

Immunohistochemical localisation of PDE5 in Leydig and myoid cells of prepuberal and adult rat testis

Expression of phosphodiesterase 5 (PDE5) in the rat testis at several pre and postnatal developmental stages was investigated by immunohistochemistry. The enzyme was localised in vascular smooth muscle cells, as well as in Leydig and peritubular cells. The latter were identified as myoid, based on their immunoreactivity to desmin and α-smooth muscle actin. The presence of PDE5 in myoid cells was confirmed by Western blot analysis and immunohistochemistry performed on highly purified cell fractions, obtained from 16-day-old rats. The expression of PDE5 in these somatic cells of rat testis is discussed in view of the roles played by cGMP signal transduction pathways in the mammalian male reproductive function.     

International standards with a life cycle perspective: which dimension of sustainability is addressed?

The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment - The aim of this study is to explore the dimensions of sustainability that addressed the most within international standards and thereby present...     

Addition of amino acids and oligopeptides to the diet of piglets. I. Effects on productive performance and development of intestinal microbial flora

The effects in connection with the addition of small quantities of aminoacid and oligopeptide pools to balanced diets were studied on 36 male piglets, divided into three groups (1: control; 2: aminoacid pool; 3: aminoacid and oligopeptide pool). Piglets receiving the aminoacid pool (group 2) exhibited better performances: an increased weight gain resulting in higher feed efficiency and an increased overall microbial count with a predominance of the useful population.     

Structure and stability of the Boc(D-Pro-L-Pro)2OCH3 Na+ complex: a model of poly(D,L-proline), an alkali ion channel across membranes

In order to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of alkali ions conduction of poly(D,L-proline), which shows the typical behavior of an ion channel across membranes, conformations of the tetrameric derivative Boc(D-Pro-L-Pro)2OCH3 in solution, in the presence of the Na+ ion, were investigated by CD and nmr spectroscopy. Both theoretical and experimental data indicate the formation in solution of a monomeric complex between the tetramer, in the all-trans conformation, and the cation. The results allow to confirm the channel model, previously proposed on the phenomenological behavior of poly(D,L-proline) in membranes.     

Theoretical prediction of the gel electrophoretic retardation changes due to point mutations in a tract of SV40 DNA.

The changes of gel electrophoretic retardation due to single base substitutions in a 173 bp fragment of Sv40 DNA were predicted by using a theoretical model based on conformational energy calculations. As described in previous papers, this model allows successful prediction of the gel electrophoretic retardation of synthetic as well as natural DNAs reported in literature. The experimental retardations related to 195 point-mutated DNAs were reproduced with a standard deviation of 0.05 comparable with the experimental one of 0.04. This result, which represents a very critical test for the proposed model, indicates that DNA superstructures can be satisfactorily predicted on the simple physical basis of the integration of the nearest-neighbour perturbations in the dinucleotide steps. Thus, cooperative effects appear, in the majority of cases investigated, to play a second order role.     

DNA topology in a chromatin model system

The synthetic copolypeptide (Lys33, Leu67)100-Orn20, modeled on some general features of the histone sequences, has been found to supercoil the DNA double helix, wrapping it into a micelle, as a result of cohesive interactions between the polypeptide hydrophobic moieties. X-ray low-angle diffraction of complexes between the polypeptide and DNA is characterized by maxima at 50, 32, and 23 A, reminiscent of the chromatin pattern. The existence of a nucleosome-like structure along the DNA is suggested by gel electrophoresis analysis of DNA fragments after micrococcal nuclease digestion, showing the presence of a fragment of about 100 basepairs (bp) long. Topological experiments on the complexes with supercoiled as well as relaxed circular DNA by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis show the presence of left-handed superhelical turns. The results are in agreement with an intrinsic propensity of B-DNA to writhe into left-handed supercoils.