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The type and frequency of artists' signatures generally varied among Italian Renaissance painters. The artists' names appeared in fictively carved inscriptions in stone, in handwritten notes fictively appended to the surfaces of the paintings or placed somewhere within the represented scenes, and in the borders of the picture frames. The interpretations given to these early modern signatures by art historians have been somewhat less diverse, however, and, despite slight nuances, most fall under the general category of self-referential statements of artistic authority. But these interpretations overlook the internally divided agency demonstrated by some of the signatures executed by the sixteenth-century Venetian painter Titian, several of which are difficult to find; these signatures simultaneously fail to demand our attention and figure their own vulnerability. This article will situate Titian's furtive signatures within the complex social dynamic of early modern courts, while at the same time considering how his signatures engage with early modern conceptions of the rich textuality—the indeterminacy—of signatures and proper names. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system (CNS) that is associated with demyelination and neuronal loss. Over recent years, the immunological and neuronal effects of tryptophan (Trp) metabolites have been largely investigated, leading to the hypothesis that these compounds and the related enzymes are possibly involved in the pathophysiology of MS. Specifically, the kynurenine pathway of Trp metabolism is responsible for the synthesis of intermediate products with potential immunological and neuronal effects. More recently, Trp metabolites, originating also from the host microbiome, have been identified in MS, and it has been shown that they are differently regulated in MS patients. Here, we sought to discuss whether, in MS patients, a specific urinary signature of host/microbiome Trp metabolism can be potentially identified so as to select novel biomarkers and guide toward the identification of specific metabolic pathways as drug targets in MS., (Copyright © 2020 Gaetani, Boscaro, Pieraccini, Calabresi, Romani, Di Filippo and Zelante.)