Il Ciocco Research Articles

Physics and Philosophy of Nature in Greek Neoplatonism. Proceedings of the European Science Foundation Exploratory Workshop (il Ciocco, Castelvecchio Pascoli, June 22–24, 2006)

The articles in this volume concentrate on Neoplatonic philosophy of nature from Plotinus to Simplicius, and on its main conceptual features and its relation to the previous philosophical and scientific traditions. The papers were presented at a conference sponsored by the European Science Foundation in Castelvecchio Pascoli in June 2006. This volume makes an important contribution to the understanding of Greek Neoplatonism and its historical significance.

Ongoing developments in our understanding of haemophilia - perspectives on the therapeutic and immunogenic potential of Factor VIII (Il Ciocco - Barga (LU), 5-6 June 2015).

Ongoing developments in our understanding of haemophilia - perspectives on the therapeutic and immunogenic potential of Factor VIII (Il Ciocco - Barga (LU), 5-6 June 2015).

Continuity of the Peierls barrier and robustness of laminations

AbstractWe study the Peierls barrier$P_{\omega }(\xi )$for a broad class of monotone variational problems. These problems arise naturally in solid state physics and from Hamiltonian twist maps. We start by deriving an estimate for the difference$\vert P_{\omega }(\xi ) - P_{q/p}(\xi ) \vert $of the Peierls barriers of rotation numbers$\omega \in {{\mathbb{R}}}$and$q/p\in {\mathbb{Q}}$. A similar estimate was obtained by Mather [Modulus of continuity for Peierls’s barrier.Proc. NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Periodic Solutions of Hamiltonian Systems and Related Topics (Il Ciocco, Italy, 13–18 October 1986) (NATO Adv. Sci. Inst. Ser. C Math. Phys. Sci., 209).Eds. P. H. Rabinowitz, A. Ambrosetti and I. Eckeland. D. Reidel, Dordrecht, 1987, pp. 177–202] in the context of twist maps, but our proof is different and applies more generally. It follows from the estimate that$\omega \mapsto P_{\omega }(\xi )$is continuous at irrational points. Moreover, we show that the Peierls barrier depends continuously on parameters and hence that the property that a monotone variational problem admits a lamination of minimizers of rotation number$\omega \in {{\mathbb{R}}}\delimiter "026E30F {\mathbb{Q}}$is open in the$C^1$-topology.

A taste of TGFβ in Tuscany

The recent FASEB Summer Research Conference entitled 'The TGFβ Superfamily: Signaling in Development and Disease' was held in August, 2011 in the spectacular setting of Il Ciocco, Lucca, amidst the olive trees in Tuscany, Italy. The organizers assembled an amazing forum, which included 53 speakers and 67 poster presentations from laboratories around the world, to showcase recent advances made in our understanding of the transforming growth factor-β (TGFβ) signaling pathway.

Consensus nomenclature for the human ArfGAP domain-containing proteins

At the FASEB summer research conference on “Arf Family GTPases”, held in Il Ciocco, Italy in June, 2007, it became evident to researchers that our understanding of the family of Arf GTPase activating proteins (ArfGAPs) has grown exponentially in recent years. A common nomenclature for these genes and proteins will facilitate discovery of biological functions and possible connections to pathogenesis. Nearly 100 researchers were contacted to generate a consensus nomenclature for human ArfGAPs. This article describes the resulting consensus nomenclature and provides a brief description of each of the 10 subfamilies of 31 human genes encoding proteins containing the ArfGAP domain.

Reining in RNA

Figure 1. The first joint EMBO/FASEB Workshop on Intracellular RNA Localization and Localized Translation took place between 1 and 6 July 2007, in Il Ciocco, Italy, and was organized by A. Ephrussi, E. Gavis, D. Ish‐Horowicz and J. Richter. Originally a biannual FASEB summer research conference, it is anticipated that the joint meeting will in future alternate between sites in Europe and the USA. Intracellular RNA localization and localized translation are involved in diverse processes such as embryonic patterning in Drosophila , jellyfish, tunicates, frogs and fish; the asymmetrical partitioning of fates in Drosophila neural stem cells and yeast mating types; fibroblast and neuronal growth cone motility; and synapse function (St Johnston, 2005; Du et al , 2007; Jambhekar & Derisi, 2007). The subjects discussed at this meeting included structural insights into RNA localization, improved methods for live imaging of RNA transport, and the combination of genome‐wide screens and biochemical approaches to identify localized RNAs and localization factors. Here, we highlight some of the crucial findings that were presented. Drosophila melanogaster has been widely used as a model organism to study mRNA localization and localized translation. This reflects the importance of these processes during Drosophila embryogenesis and the success of genetic screens in this organism. Indeed, visual screening methods continue to be used for the identification of new localization factors. For example, in a screen for new factors controlling microtubule organization in the fly oocyte, A. Guichet (Paris, France) found that the phosphatidylinositol‐4‐phosphate 5‐kinase (PIP5K) Skittles is necessary for phosphatidylinositol 4,5‐bisphosphate (PIP2) production and subsequent microtubule polarization, as well as for actin organization at the cortex. A. Ephrussi (Heidelberg, Germany) used a protein‐trap screen to identify Drosophila heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein 1/polypyrimidine tract binding protein 1 (hnRNP1/PTB) as a new component of the oskar ( osk ) RNP complex. Oocytes of ptb mutants show …

Macromol. Symp. 248

Cover: The IUPAC‐sponsored International Symposium on “Radical Polymerization: Kinetics and Mechanism” was held in Il Ciocco (Italia) during the week September 3‐ 8, 2006. Attended by close to 200 people from all over the world with a good balance between attendees from industry and academia, this symposium was the fourth within the series of so‐called SML conferences, which are the major scientific forum for addressing kinetic and mechanistic aspects of free‐radical polymerization and of controlled radical polymerization. The present symposium comprised five major themes: Fundamentals of free‐radical polymerization, Heterogeneous polymerization, Controlled radical polymerization, Polymer reaction engineering, and Polymer characterization. Most of the invited lectures covering these topics are reflected as written contributions in this issue. SML IV again marked an important step forward toward the better understanding of the kinetics and mechanism of radical polymerization, which is extremely relevant for both conventional and controlled radical polymerization and for people in academia as well as in industry.

T Rays vs. Terrorists: Widening the Security Spectrum

The 10 August 2006 arrest in Britain of 24 terrorists bent on smuggling bomb components aboard airplanes and combining them en route is just the latest salvo in the Darwinian battle between developers of terrorist weaponry and those seeking to defeat them. The array of diabolical methods available to terrorists is truly terrifying, ranging from nuclear weapons and “dirty bombs” to biological and chemical weapons and explosives. Detection and assessment of terrorist threats is generally possible today with enough time, money, and laboratory equipment, but the ideal technology would be fast, accurate, cheap, easy to use, and portable or able to remotely detect threats, with an emphasis on prevention. No technology now exhibits all these virtues, but under the pressure of terrorists’ inventiveness, researchers are working steadily to develop and apply improved systems. Now researchers at Argonne National Laboratory are getting promising results from experiments using “T rays,” the terahertz (THz) part of the electromagnetic spectrum. In March 2006 Argonne announced that a research team there had shown for the first time that T rays can be used to identify explosives and poison gas precursors. The Argonne team also successfully used millimeter-wave radar to remotely detect airborne chemicals and the effects of radiation in the air. These results are currently being written up for publication. T rays and millimeter waves are at the low-energy end of the electromagnetic spectrum, between microwaves and infrared frequencies. According to Nachappa “Sami” Gopalsami, a senior electrical engineer at Argonne and a lead researcher on the THz sensor project, the general characteristics of T rays and millimeter waves are the same. “But,” he says, “new physics and phenomena are beginning to be explored as we move up in frequencies.” Although many detection techniques currently in use are based on electromagnetic radiation and mass spectrometry, T rays and millimeter waves have not previously been used in this context, mainly due to an inability to generate broadband pulses in these frequencies. In the Argonne experiments, however, THz spectrometry sensors provided unambiguous identification of explosive chemicals, including TNT and plastic explosives. Gopalsami says this method is “highly specific” and will eliminate interference from confounding elements. The Argonne team has been collaborating with researchers at Dartmouth College, Sandia National Laboratory, Sarnoff Corporation, and AOZT Finn-Trade of St. Petersburg, Russia. Funding has come from the U.S. Air Force, the Department of Energy, and the Department of Defense. But although national security imperatives are the driving force behind current research, many of the resulting technologies could also prove useful in environmental health applications. Being able to remotely detect and identify chemicals will be helpful in monitoring gas pipeline leaks, chemical plants, vehicle emissions, and the like. Gopalsami says the T ray technology can detect some of the most important environmental hazards including ozone, volatile organics, and cyanide compounds. Medical applications, particularly imaging techniques for body tissues and teeth, are also in the offing, especially because the THz zone is on the opposite end of the electromagnetic spectrum from X rays, and thus of lower energy and far less damaging to living tissue.

Radical Polymerization 3 – 8 September 2006, Il Ciocco, Italy

Radical Polymerization 3 – 8 September 2006, Il Ciocco, Italy

The Parallel Brain: The Cognitive Neuroscience of the Corpus Callosum. Based on an institute held in Il Ciocco, Italy, 1–10 September 1996. Issues in Clinical and Cognitive Neuropsychology. Edited by Eran Zaidel and , Marco Iacoboni. A Bradford Book. Cambridge (Massachusetts): MIT Press. $95.00. xv + 551 p + 15 pl; ill.; name and subject indexes. ISBN: 0–262–24044–0. 2003.

Previous articleNext article No AccessNeural SciencesThe Parallel Brain: The Cognitive Neuroscience of the Corpus Callosum. Based on an institute held in Il Ciocco, Italy, 1–10 September 1996. Issues in Clinical and Cognitive Neuropsychology. Edited by Eran Zaidel and , Marco Iacoboni. A Bradford Book. Cambridge (Massachusetts): MIT Press. $95.00. xv + 551 p + 15 pl; ill.; name and subject indexes. ISBN: 0–262–24044–0. 2003.Joseph E BogenJoseph E BogenBiology, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California Search for more articles by this author Biology, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CaliforniaPDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Quarterly Review of Biology Volume 79, Number 4December 2004 Published in association with Stony Brook University Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/428249 Views: 11Total views on this site PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

The Gordon research conference on hydrocarbons and the atmosphere: a great event of science in italy

From Sunday 2 to Friday 7 of May 2004 has been held at il Ciocco, near Barga (Lucca), the 3rd Gordon Research Conference on Biogenic Hydrocarbons and the Atmosphere. It is the first time that such prestigious event in science has been held in Italy. More than 100 participants from all over the world have attended to this Conference (see the photograph). About half of them, were young scientists who have exposed for the first time their work by oral presentations and posters to an international audience. The aim of this and the former Conferences, held in Ventura (U.S.A.) and Oxford (U.K.), was to stimulate discussions and reflections on the mechanisms of production, emission, reaction, transport and deposition of organic compounds emitted from all biogenic sources over the earth. It was organized in 1 hour oral presentations summarizing the present knowledge on selected topics and short oral and poster presentations outlining the innovative aspects of ongoing research through the world. Critical discussions were stimulated by discussion leaders having a specific experience on each one of the selected topics. A unique aspect of the Gordon Research Conferences is that any type of input can be submitted and discussed through a “brain-storm” procedure free from prejudices and formalities. Particularly welcome are interpretations and new theories on laboratory and field data that are going to be submitted for publication. Intense discussions have been made during this Conference on the biochemistry of isoprenoids in plants, the extent of atmospheric reactions leading to photochemical pollution and the ecological role played by isoprenoids in driving plant-insect interactions. Particularly numerous and qualified has been the participation of old and senior Italian scientists. We are particularly indebted to the chairs of this Conference, Dr. Francesco Loreto from Italy and Dr. Alex Guenther from the U.S.A., who have selected our country for this event and to Prof. Thomas Sharkey who first proposed and made it possible the use of Gordon Research Conferences for discussing the role of hydrocarbons in the atmosphere. We are also indebted to the Gordon Society, the US-EPA, the National Science Foundation, the BMBF and the European Commission that have provided funds for this event through the ACCENT , VOCBAS and ISONET. All participants are looking forward to reconvene in 2006 in the U.S.A., where the next Conference will be held.

Sensors and Sensing in Biology and Engineering. Based on a symposium held in Il Ciocco, Italy, 11–16 June 2000. Edited by Friedrich G Barth, Joseph A C Humphrey, and , Timothy W Secomb. Wein (Austria) and New York: Springer. €80.00. xii + 399 p; ill.; subject index. ISBN: 3–211–83771–X. 2003.

<i>Sensors and Sensing in Biology and Engineering. <i>Based on a symposium held in Il Ciocco, Italy, 11–16 June 2000.</i></i> <i>Edited by </i>Friedrich G Barth, Joseph A C Humphrey,<i> and </i>, Timothy W Secomb. <i>Wein (Austria) and New York: Springer</i>. €80.00. xii + 399 p; ill.; subject index. ISBN: 3–211–83771–X. 2003.

Metabolic Engineering IV: Applied System Biology: October 6–11, 2002-01-29, Il Ciocco, Castelvecchio Pascoli (Tuscany), Italy

Metabolic Engineering IV: Applied System Biology: October 6–11, 2002-01-29, Il Ciocco, Castelvecchio Pascoli (Tuscany), Italy

3rd International Symposium on Free-Radical Polymerization: Kinetics and Mechanisms, 3–8 June 2001, Il Ciocco, Lucca, Tuscany (Castelvecchio Pascoli), Italy

3rd International Symposium on Free-Radical Polymerization: Kinetics and Mechanisms, 3–8 June 2001, Il Ciocco, Lucca, Tuscany (Castelvecchio Pascoli), Italy

Splitting in large dimension and infrared estimates. II. Moment inequalities

This is the continuation of notes written for the NATO-ASI conference in Il Ciocco (September 96) consisting of the analysis of the links between estimating the splitting between the two first eigenvalues for the Schrödinger operator H and the proof of infrared estimates for quantities attached to Gaussian-type measures. These notes were mainly reporting on the “old” contributions of Dyson, Fröhlich, Glimm, Jaffe, Lieb, Simon, and Spencer (in the 1970s) in connection with more recent contributions of Pastur, Khoruzhenko, Barbulyak, and Kondrat’ev which treat in general more sophisticated models. Here we concentrate on the simplest model related to field theory and extend the results of Barbulyak and Kondrat’ev by mixing ideas coming from Pastur and Khozurenko related to the use of Bogolyubov’s inequality with classical inequalities due to Ginibre, Lebowitz, Sokal, and others, or, in the case when the temperature T is zero, by applying rather elementary estimates on Schrödinger operators, in order to find lower bounds for second-order moments attached to the measure φ⟼Trφ exp−βH/Tr exp−βH with β=1/T. This question was “left to the reader” in lectures given by J. Fröhlich in 1976 [Acta Phys. Austriaca, Suppl. XV, 133–269 (1976)], but we think that it is worthwhile to do this “homework” carefully.

Preface to the Proceedings of the 5th European Conference on Diamond, Diamond-like and Related Materials (Diamond Films '94), Il Ciocco, Italy, September 25–30, 1994

Preface to the Proceedings of the 5th European Conference on Diamond, Diamond-like and Related Materials (Diamond Films '94), Il Ciocco, Italy, September 25–30, 1994

Membrane dynamics in endocytosis: 8–13 May, 1993, Il Ciocco (near Pisa), Italy

Membrane dynamics in endocytosis: 8–13 May, 1993, Il Ciocco (near Pisa), Italy

H-Bond in methanol: a molecular dynamics study

A set of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of methanol- d 4 at three temperatures in the liquid range (200, 250 and 300K) have been carried out. The equations of motion of 256 molecules interacting through a potential model due to Haughney et al. [J. Phys. Chem., 91 (1987) 4934] were solved using the velocity version of the Verlet algorithm. This rather large number of molecules was required for studying the behaviour of the system at momentum transfers as low as 0.25 Å −1. It was found that the system experiences long period fluctuations, and therefore very long MD runs (of the order of 100 ps) are necessary in order to obtain accurate statistical averages. Computed static properties are in good agreement with those reported by Haughney et al. and the neutron weighted g( r) and the static structure factor compare favourably with available neutron diffraction data. The study of time-dependent properties through centre-of-mass autocorrelation functions (VACF, F s( Q,t) and F( Q,t)) and their memory functions reveals features unknown in simple liquids and very similar to those found in liquid water. A close agreement between centre-of-mass single-particle autocorrelation functions and the translational part of QENS data is also observed. The dynamic structure factor for the centres of mass show distinctive side peaks in the same region of the ( Q,ω) plane where recently collective excitations have been studied using coherent neutron scattering thus establishing the presence of propagating short wavelength modes. fa]Presented at the International Symposium on Hydrogen Bond Physics held at Il Ciocco, Barga, Italy, 11–14 September 1990.

Fluids in accretionary prisms

Subduction zones are the most dynamic tectonic environments on the face of Earth. Most subduction zones are submarine and at many, large accretionary prisms are formed of sediments scraped from the subducting oceanic lithosphere. These prisms grow in a water‐saturated environment; consequently, their tectonic, thermal and chemical evolution is strongly influenced by fluids, and the role of the aqueous phase must be considered in any study in this realm.In view of widespread and growing interest, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and National Science Foundation sponsored the workshop “The Role of Fluids in Sediment Accretion, Deformation, Diagenesis and Metamorphism at Subduction Zones,” which convened September 19–23, 1988, at Il Ciocco, Tuscany, Italy. This meeting assembled 60 geologists, geochemists and geophysicists representing eight countries whose interests spanned both marine and continental environments.

Nato advanced study institute antiviral drug development: A multidisciplinary approach: Il Ciocco (near Lucca), Italy 10th May-23rd May 1987 Scientific director: E. de Clercq (Leuven) Co-director: R.T. Walker (Birmingham)

Nato advanced study institute antiviral drug development: A multidisciplinary approach: Il Ciocco (near Lucca), Italy 10th May-23rd May 1987 Scientific director: E. de Clercq (Leuven) Co-director: R.T. Walker (Birmingham)