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The article proposes a study of the Venetian theatres owned by the patrician family Grimani of Santa Maria Formosa, around the middle of 18th century, thanks to the analysis of several documents preserved in Venice: Archivio storico del Patriarcato, Archivio di stato, Biblioteca del museo Correr, and the private Archivio Giustinian- Recanati. It emerged that the political and economic structure of this noble family influenced its theatrical choices, but all the same in a competitive relation with the other theatres of the city. The development of new repertoire forms, such as the fictional comedy or opera buffa, was favoured by the economic recovery wanted by the owners themselves after the fire of the Teatro San Samuele on 30th September 1747. The Grimani family reacted vigorously to this hard blow with progressive choices to redevelop their theatres. In less than ten years (between 1747 and 1755), they provided for the rebuilding of the Teatro San Samuele (1748) and for the change of the repertoire between the same Teatro San Samuele and the Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo, between the opera buffa and comedy (1751). Finally, they attempted to rebuild the Teatro Santi Giovanni e Paolo for opera seria (1750-1752) and they built the theatre of San Benedetto (1753-1755). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In a previous study a 9-kd lipid-transfer protein (LTP) was identified as the major allergen of raw maize in a population of 22 anaphylactic patients. However, the stability of this protein in cooked maize is unknown., Objective: We investigated the allergenicity of 5 maize hybrids and its modification after different thermal treatments by using sera from anaphylactic patients and patients with positive double-blind, placebo-controlled food challenges., Methods: Five maize hybrids were extracted by using different methods, obtaining the water-soluble, zein, total zein, glutelin, and total protein fractions. The IgE-binding capacity of the different extracts, both raw and after thermal treatment, was investigated by means of SDS-PAGE immunoblotting. A 9-kd heat-stable allergen was purified by means of HPLC and sequenced. Changes in its secondary structure during and after heating from 25 degrees C to 100 degrees C were monitored by means of circular dichroism., Results: All raw maize hybrids showed similar protein and IgE-binding profiles. The SDS-PAGE of all the heat-treated hybrids demonstrated a decreased number of stained bands in respect to the raw samples. The IgE immunoblotting demonstrated that the major allergen of the water-soluble, total zein, total protein, and glutelin fractions was a 9-kd protein identified by means of amino acid sequence as an LTP and a sub-tilisin-chymotrypsin inhibitor (in total zein fraction). The IgE-binding capacity of this 9-kd protein remained unchanged after thermal treatments, even though circular dichroism demonstrated an altered secondary structure., Conclusions: Maize LTP maintains its IgE-binding capacity after heat treatment, thus being the most eligible candidate for a causative role in severe anaphylactic reactions to both raw and cooked maize.