Patients, doctors and researchers look with great expectations to epidural electrostimulation, a medical technique that could alleviate the condition of subjects affected by paralysis due to spinal cord injury. Although still relatively rudimentary, the technique is constantly being improved thanks to research.
News
In the most systematic and rigorous study conducted thus far in its field, the Prion Protein ( PrPC ) was clearly shown to play a role in preventing the onset of epileptic seizures. PrPC is perhaps best known in its "degenerate" form, the prion, and an infectious agent behind dangerous neurodegenerative diseases such as Mad Cow Disease. SISSA contributed to the study, which was published in the journal Scientific Reports (Nature group).
Certain genetic diseases arise from a deficit of specific genes. An enzyme that amplifies gene transcription could be a viable therapy in these cases, as long as genes are not stimulated to work on the wrong part of the body. SISSA scientists have created synthetic "intelligent" enzymes which are able to differentiate between active and inactive genes and selectively stimulate the former ones.
È uscito il nuovo bando del premio SISSA/INFN dedicato a Romeo Bassoli, inserito nel progetto “Memorie di scienza”. Il premio finanzia con 3mila euro il miglior progetto per la raccolta di interviste e testimonianze orali in ambito scientifico. Tema di quest’anno sono le malattie infettive.
29-30 giugno 2015
SISSA,via Bonomea 265, Trieste
Tim Shallice is one of the founding fathers of modern neuroscience. Colleagues at the International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA) are celebrating his 75th birthday by inviting leading figures on the international neuroscience scene to Trieste for a workshop on ”semantic processing”, a field of study of special interest to Shallice. To attend this workshop, which will be held in English and is open to experts, send an email to lpiretti@sissa.it . Attendance is free.
June 25, 2015, 11 am
SISSA, “P. Budinich” Main Lecture Hall
The Peruvian-born biophysicist Carlos Bustamante has been awarded an honorary PhD by SISSA in Trieste for his innovative research and important contribution to our knowledge of the workings of biological systems through the development of molecular level investigation techniques. The ceremony will be held on 25 June at 11.00 am in the “P. Budinich” Main Lecture Hall of SISSA.
The Nobel Prize winner Roderick MacKinnon suggested that ion channels (the pores on the cell membrane that regulate the exchange of ions between the inside and outside of cells) were like rigid tubes through which molecules of varying size move.
It’s possible to vary (even dramatically) the sliding properties of atoms on a surface by changing the size and “compression” of their aggregates: an experimental and theoretical study conducted with the collaboration of SISSA, the Istituto Officina dei Materiali of the CNR (Iom-Cnr-Democritos), ICTP in Trieste, the University of Padua, the University of Modena e Reggio Emilia, and the Istituto Nanoscienze of the CNR (Nano-Cnr) in Modena, has just been published in Nature Nanotechnology.
22 June 2015, 4.30-7.00 pm
MACRO Museum
Via Nizza, 138, Rome
In contemporanea con la pubblicazione dei dati sull’occupazione del Master in Comunicazione della Scienza “Franco Prattico” della SISSA di Trieste, si aprono le iscrizioni al nuovo anno accademico 2015-2016. In oltre vent’anni dalla fondazione, questa scuola continua a essere la migliore nel suo campo nel nostro paese, come testimonia l’output occupazionale, che vede oggi un’altissima percentuale di ex-studenti lavorare nel campo della comunicazione della scienza in Italia a all’estero.
June 4 2015, 5 pm
SISSA, Main Lecture Hall “P. Budinich”
According to classical physics, the universe tends to equilibrium but the same does not apply to quantum systems, which are destined to shift constantly between different configurations without ever finding peace. A theoretical study conducted by SISSA and the University of Oxford illustrates this dramatic difference and explains that in order to be described correctly one-dimensional quantum systems should be thought of as being defined on discrete points in space.
Only human beings (with rare exceptions) are able to grasp analogies. A study carried out in collaboration with SISSA has investigated the origin of this ability, which precedes linguistic ability and forms the basis of highly sophisticated reasoning. The study has been published in the journal Child Development.
Aiutare i bambini a imparare l’informatica in modo divertente e con un approccio intuitivo, questo è quello che l’iniziativa CoderDojo fa in tutto il mondo, Trieste compresa. Il prossimo appuntamento nella nostra città è alla Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA) di Trieste e vedrà partecipare un gruppo di bambini di quarta e quinta elementare (del ricreatorio comunale Fonda Savio di Opicina) che potranno realizzare un videogioco, un’animazione, un cartone animato con Scratch! il programma ideato al MIT di Boston.
Students who have just completed the first edition of the Master in High Performance Computing (MHPC) held at SISSA/ICTP last year (and who still have to finish their dissertations) are already starting to work in the field. Now it is time to select candidates for the 2015-2016 academic year: the master’s course has in fact just opened applications, which should be made online at http://www.mhpc.it/apply and will remain open until 6 July 2015.
Little is known about how the proteins forming ion channels – the “pores” on the cell membrane - change when they open and close, especially the portion that is “embedded” in the membrane. Scientists at SISSA have invented a method, based on the combined and innovative use of known techniques, which allowed them to observe in detail a specific membrane protein and its structural changes. The study has just been published in Nature Communications
Amalia Finzi
27 May 2015, 2.30 pm
SISSA, “P. Budinich” Main Lecture Hall
24-26 giugno 2015, dalle 9.00 alle 18.00
SISSA, Big Meeting Room
They are “strange” materials, insulators on the inside and conductors on the surface. They also have properties that make them excellent candidates for the development of spintronics (”spin-based electronics”) and more in general quantum computing. However, they are also elusive as their properties are extremely difficult to observe. Now a SISSA study, published in Physical Review Letters, proposes a new family of materials whose topological state can be directly observed experimentally, thus simplifying things for researchers.