Fatigue relief in multiple sclerosis by personalized neuromodulation: A multicenter pilot study [FaremusGE]

Background: A recent application of the GRADE guidelines indicated Faremus, a 5-day neuromodulation for 15 min per day via transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), as medium to highly recommendable for alleviating fatigue in multiple sclerosis (MS). Methods: With this pilot study we aimed to evaluate the feasibility, acceptance, safety, and effectiveness of the Faremus treatment carried out in a multicenter context. The Rome unit prepared the intervention, supplied the personalized electrodes to the San Martino Hospital in Genova, where the neurological team enrolled the population of fatigued people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) and carried out the treatment. Results: All 17 enrolled patients completed treatment, reporting optimal acceptance and safety when using Faremus in the multicenter setting. The team involved, including neurologists, neurophysiopathology technicians, engineers, physicists, and psychologists expressed high appreciation (average score 8 out of 10). The treatment improved fatigue symptoms by an average of 27%, to levels comparable with previous studies. Similarly, mild depressive symptoms improved by an average of 38%. Conclusions: The Faremus personalized electroceutical intervention, a 5-day anodal tDCS over bilateral whole-body somatosensory cortex with occipital cathode, is well accepted and can be applied feasibly, safely and effectively in a multicenter setting, offering a reliable tool to relieve fatigue-related symptoms, thus supporting the quality of life of fatigued people with MS. The present study lays a starting point for the involvement of multiple MS units nationwide in offering therapeutic enrichment for their fatigued patients

L’autonomia delle istituzioni scolastiche nella vicenda Pioltello: un’analisi dello strumentario giuridico per la risoluzione delle sfide della multiculturalità

Muovendo dalla premessa che la scuola rappresenta la sede privilegiata per la composizione delle sfide che originano dalla convivenza di diverse culture e religioni, il contributo prende in esame le irrisolte difficoltà di gestione dell’impatto delle questioni poste dalla società multiculturale nell’ambito scolastico, a partire dalla vicenda che ha coinvolto l’Istituto scolastico del Comune di Pioltello (MI). La mancata stipulazione delle intese di cui all’art. 8, co. 3, Cost. con le rappresentanze della confessione islamica pone le istituzioni scolastiche nella situazione di dover regolare, con gli strumenti giuridici ad esse riconosciuti, le necessità della popolazione studentesca di riferimento. Rientra pienamente negli strumenti descritti la facoltà di adattamento del calendario scolastico, che sia stato previamente individuato dalle Regioni, di cui le scuole sono titolari in relazione ad esigenze di natura didattica

Opportunistic quarrying and its impact on the Singida cultural landscape

Systematic archaeological research in the Singida region (central Tanzania), which began in 2021, has revealed a significant archaeological heritage that can contribute to improving our knowledge of diachronic settlement dynamics from the Early Stone Age to modern times. However, both the archaeological heritage and the surrounding landscape are deeply affected by the impacts of unregulated economic activities, including diffuse opportunistic quarrying, mining, and agricultural practices. The paper introduces a discussion on the fragile balance between economic development and conservation of the natural and cultural heritage in the area and discusses the medium and long-term actions proposed to mitigate the damage and risks to the natural and cultural heritage through a multidisciplinary and participatory approach

On the variational nature of the Anzellotti pairing

In this paper we prove that the Anzellotti pairing can be regarded as a relaxed functional with respect to the weak$^\star$ convergence in the space $BV$ of functions of bounded variation. The crucial tool is a preliminary integral representation of this pairing by means of suitable cylindrical averages

Epidermal Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid 1 innervation is increased in patients with painful diabetic polyneuropathy experiencing ongoing burning pain

: Preclinical studies suggested that Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) channels contribute to neuropathic pain in animal models of diabetic polyneuropathy. Patients with painful diabetic polyneuropathy commonly experience ongoing burning pain. This study aimed at evaluating the association between this specific type of pain and TRPV1 intraepidermal nerve fibers in patients with painful diabetic polyneuropathy. We consecutively enrolled 70 patients with diabetic polyneuropathy. Each patient completed the Neuropathic Pain Symptom Inventory (NPSI) to identify the various types of neuropathic pain. All patients underwent a distal leg skin biopsy, with immunostaining of skin nerve fibers using antibodies for the pan-axonal marker Protein Gene Product 9.5 (PGP9.5), TRPV1, Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide (CGRP), and Substance P. We found that 57% of patients (n = 40) had neuropathic pain symptoms, with ongoing burning pain being the most frequently reported type of pain at the NPSI (70% of patients with pain, n = 28). Patients with ongoing burning pain had higher TRPV1 intraepidermal nerve fiber density and TRPV1/PGP9.5 ratio compared with those with painless polyneuropathy (P = 0.014, P = 0.013) and painful polyneuropathy with other types of pain (P < 0.0001, P = 0.024); they also had increased CGRP dermal nerve fiber density compared with patients with painless polyneuropathy (P = 0.005). Our study showed that ongoing burning pain is associated with an increased expression of intraepidermal TRPV1 fibers, as well as an increased dermal representation of CGRP fibers. These findings suggest that TRPV1 contributes to ongoing burning pain, possibly in conjunction with elevated CGRP expression, highlighting its significance as a therapeutic target for patients with painful diabetic polyneuropathy

Geografie dello Sviluppo Economico: tra Sistemi Locali e Reti Internazionali

Lo scopo di questo libro è di presentare, senza alcuna ambizione di esaustività, alcune prospettive meno note di approfondimento del complesso fenomeno della globalizzazione, intesa come appunto distribuzione geografica della produzione e dei flussi. L’ottica è, per questo motivo, geografica nel senso che la scala dei fenomeni e la loro collocazione territoriale è importante: da quella internazionale fino a quella locale. Vengono approfondati alcuni elementi, che possono fornire un contributo sia di metodo (strumenti analitici) sia di evidenze empiriche del recente passato. Sono affrontati gli aspetti immateriali, le connessioni più che le dotazioni, le interazioni tra soggetti economici ed istituzionali ma sempre nell’abito della propria scala. Nel primo capitolo viene presentato un quadro teorico dell’importanza della localizzazione dei processi produttivi. Si spazia dalla nuova geografia economica alle catene globali del valore, anche con un riferimento alla recente teoria della complessità, che oggi è molto usata per spiegare in modo diverso tendenze ed andamenti del lontano e recente passato. Nel secondo capitolo vengono esaminati i presupposti e le specificità del concetto di Catena Globale del valore, a partire dall’analisi di Gereffi. Nel terzo capitolo sono analizzato anche con una prospettiva empirica, il ruolo dei fattori istituzionali e delle associazioni. Nei capitoli quattro e cinque, invece, vengono presentate struttura, dimensione e partecipazione delle imprese italiane alle CGV, anche con riguardo alla reazione agli ultimi shock (COVID e guerra)

Selection of stable reference genes in prunus persica fruit infected with monilinia laxa for normalisation of RT-qPCR gene expression data

Reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) is a powerful tool for quantifying gene expression. However, reference genes (RGs) for gene expression analysis in peach (Prunus persica) during interactions with Monilinia laxa, a major fungal pathogen that causes brown rot, have not been established. In this study, we analysed 12 candidate RGs in this pathosystem by analysing samples from 12 to 144 HAI. The stability of the RGs was evaluated using the ΔCq method and BestKeeper, NormFinder, and geNorm algorithms. Our results identified AKT3, RNA pol II (RPII) and SNARE (using geNorm), RPII, AKT3 and TEF2 (using NormFinder), AKT3, SNARE and RPII (using BestKeeper) and RPII, MUB6 and AKT3 (using the ΔCq method) as the most stable RGs for mRNA normalisation in this pathosystem across all tested samples. The geNorm algorithm was used to determine the optimal number of suitable RGs required for proper normalisation under these experimental conditions, indicating that the three RGs were sufficient for normalisation. Analysis of the results obtained using different algorithms showed that AKT3, RPII, and SNARE were the three most stable RGs. Furthermore, to confirm the validity of the reference genes, the expression levels of six genes of interest, involved in different metabolic pathways, were normalized in inoculated and uninoculated peach fruit. These findings provide a set of RGs for accurate RT-qPCR analysis in studies involving peach and M. laxa interactions, facilitating deeper insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying this important plant–pathogen relationship

Gross-Motor Coordination and Executive Functions Development in Soccer and Artistic Gymnastics Preadolescent Female Athletes

Background/Objectives: The characteristics of open- and closed-skill sports can have a significant impact on the development of both motor and cognitive functions during late childhood and early adolescence. This study examined the impact of artistic gymnastics and soccer practice on physical/coordinative skills and executive functions in preadolescent female athletes. Methods: Gross-motor coordination (Körperkoordinations Test für Kinder battery), explosive lower limb power (countermovement jump) and executive functions (Flanker/Reverse Flanker; Digit Span) of ninety-eight soccer and gymnastics athletes (10.9 ± 0.6 years of age) were tested at the beginning and the end of a sports season. A t-test and a mixed linear method were used to detect differences between sports and expertise levels (amateur vs. elite) at baseline and over time, respectively. Results: Gymnasts scored higher in physical tests compared to soccer athletes, who obtained better scores in the Digit Span test. Elite gymnasts showed higher physical skills compared to both amateur gymnasts and elite soccer players, with executive function levels comparable to those of amateur gymnasts. Similarly, elite soccer players showed higher reaction time in executive functions tests compared to both elite gymnasts and amateur soccer athletes, with similar physical skills as amateur soccer players. Amateur gymnastics and soccer athletes showed similar levels of physical and cognitive skills. All groups improved their physical and executive function skills over time, with relevant effects of expertise level on physical tasks. Conclusions: Results revealed the impact of sport type and athletes’ level of expertise in influencing both their motor and cognitive development

Introduzione

Oggi, è fondamentale continuare a studiare Giuseppe Terragni (1904-1943), a parere unanime tra i più interessanti architetti italiani del Novecento. Riscoprire Terragni vuole dimostrare che questo studio non è solo necessario, ma anche proficuo se si adottano contemporaneamente due punti d'osservazione. Il primo vede la decostruzione delle opere attraverso una chiave interpretativa eccentrica rispetto alle più abituali della critica architettonica, al fine di aprire nuovi significati e rivelare tesori inaspettati Il secondo opera attraverso la ricostruzione tridimensionale di progetti semi sconosciuti, studiati analiticamente utilizzando le fonti archivistiche disponibili e poi inseriti nei luoghi dove erano stati originariamente ideati. Per gli autori si è trattato di assistere a una nascita, a una sorta di Epifania che ora questo libro porge alla comunità degli appassionati e degli studiosi del Razionalismo e della figura di Terragni

Prodromi di europeismo nel pensiero politico di Francesco Saverio Salfi

Il contributo si sofferma sull'ipotesi di una confederazione degli Stati dell'Europa mediterranea agli inizi degli anni '20 dell'Ottocent