Most people in the U.S. consume too much salt; adult Americans typically eat twice the daily amount recommended by dietary guidelines. Bread may not seem like an obvious culprit; however, due to high consumption and relatively high salt content, baked goods are a major source of sodium in the diet. A new study from the University of Illinois explores ways to reduce sodium in bread without sacrificing taste and leavening ability.

“Bread is one of the staple foods in a lot of people's diets, and people generally don't stick to just one serving of bread,” says Aubrey Dunteman, graduate student in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at U of I, and lead author on the paper.

“About 70% of sodium in the U.S. food supply comes from packaged and processed foods. And the top source is actually baked goods, so reducing salt in that particular category would help to reduce sodium consumption tremendously,” adds study co-author Soo-Yeun Lee, professor of food science at U of I. We can’t completely eliminate salt from our diet, but we can reduce it to a healthier level.

Researchers from Osaka University have been able to simultaneously detect two types of microRNA modification while sequencing single RNA molecules.

Osaka, Japan – After a gene is transcribed into RNA, modifications can occur to the subunits or “bases” that make up the RNA molecule, which can affect its structure and function. The study of these changes is known as “epitranscriptomics.” These base modifications can occur to most types of RNA molecule, including microRNAs.

Now, a research group at Osaka University, led by Professor Masateru Taniguchi and Professor Hideshi Ishii, have sequenced a microRNA that is a marker for “refractory” gastrointestinal cancer, which does not respond to treatment. They were able to directly detect two types of chemical base modifications simultaneously using a single-molecule quantum sequencer.

MicroRNAs are small non-coding RNA molecules that play a regulatory role by interfering with and suppressing the expression of a gene. Base modifications to microRNAs can affect how they are processed and the efficiency by which they can suppress their targets, altering their function. These modifications are therefore important for understanding the functions of RNAs but have previously proved hard to detect.

Il Monte Polizzo - Photo J.L.Berry

How should we relate to the traditional historiography on ancient Sicily? The prevailing view has been that the indigenous population had neither territory, power nor economic resources. But with the aid of interdisciplinary methods, a new thesis shows that trade was a big part of the economy for the inhabitants of the settlement of Monte Polizzo.

In general, historiography concerning ancient Sicily is overwhelmingly Greco-centric, i.e. focused on its Greek immigrants. Because the indigenous population’s architectonic remains are relatively invisible, whilst those of the Greek immigrants are monumental, the accepted historiography has been that the indigenous population had neither territory, power nor economic resources. It was instead accepted that as soon as the Greeks had established themselves on the island (on the western side in 628BCE) they colonised and controlled the majority of the Sicilian lowlands, the economy and thus also the indigenous population.

Team di ricercatori di Padova e Torino individua nella Latrophilina 2 il recettore in grado di contenere le metastasi grazie alla formazione di una barriera endoteliale nei vasi sanguigni.
Ricercatori delle Università di Padova e Torino hanno scoperto che il processo che porta alla formazione e allo sviluppo dei vasi sanguigni e della funzione vascolare è regolato dal recettore Latrophilina 2 (LPHN2) il quale, agendo da aggregatore cellulare, è in grado di determinare – attraverso specifici segnali - la formazione di una efficace barriera endoteliale che potrebbe costituire un impedimento alla metastasi cellulare dei tumori. Le patologie vascolari sono tuttora la prima causa di morte nel mondo occidentale. Indagare quali sono i meccanismi molecolari coinvolti nello sviluppo e differenziamento del sistema vascolare è quindi di primaria importanza per identificare nuove patologie e curare quelle già esistenti. L'angiogenesi consiste nello sviluppo di nuovi vasi sanguigni a partire da altri già esistenti.

Domenica 10 ottobre in Italia torna la festa della natura in città, sono già 60 le adesioni e l'evento centrale sarà a Roma

VOGLIAMO CITTÀ CON PIÙ NATURA
EVENTO CENTRALE ALL’ORTO BOTANICO DI ROMA
Le nostre città devono diventare nature-positive e amiche del clima: è con questo messaggio che il WWF lancia la quinta edizione di Urban Nature in vista della manifestazione che animerà i grandi e i piccoli centri in tutta Italia in occasione della Festa della Natura in città, prevista per quest’anno domenica 10 ottobre. Per avere città con più natura, più salubri e più sicure nell’epoca della pandemia da COVID e dei fenomeni estremi causati dal cambiamento climatico. Quest’anno la Festa della Natura in Città del WWF arriva alla vigilia di un momento importante a livello su scala globale, l’apertura (lunedì 11 ottobre) della Conferenza delle Parti sulla Biodiversità (a Kunming in Cina), convocata per arrestare e invertire la curva della perdita di natura.

La mappa degli eventi