Modulation of MAA-induced apoptosis in male germ cells: role of Sertoli cell P/Q-type calcium channels

Spontaneous germ cell death by apoptosis occurs during normal spermatogenesis in mammals and is thought to play a role in the physiological mechanism limiting the clonal expansion of such cell population in the male gonad. In the prepubertal rat testis, the most conspicuous dying cells are pachytene spermatocytes, which are also the primary target of the apoptosis experimentally induced by the methoxyacetic acid (MAA). Since we have recently reported that Sertoli cells, the somatic component of the seminiferous epithelium, regulate not only germ cell viability and differentiation but also their death, we have further investigated the mechanism involved in such a control. In this paper we have used the protein clusterin, produced by Sertoli cells and associated with tissue damage or injury, as indicator of germ cell apoptosis in rat seminiferous tubules treated with MAA in the presence or in the absence of omega-agatoxin, a specific inhibitor of P/Q type voltage-operated calcium channels (VOCC's). We performed both a qualitative analysis of clusterin content and germ cell apoptosis by immunofluorescence experiments and a quantitative analysis by in situ end labelling of apoptotic germ cells followed by flow cytometry. The results obtained demonstrate that Sertoli cells modulate germ cell apoptosis induced by methoxyacetic acid also throughout the P/Q-type VOCC's

The oak tree and the olive tree - the true dream of Eva Gore-Booth

The thesis offers a reconstruction of Eva Gore-Booth's biographic, aesthetic and existential itinerary, along the track of her own meditation on "the constant and almost rhythmic persistence of certain experiences", and of obscure events that, from early childhood, sink down into the mind and finally reveal themselves to be integral parts of a Divine pattern shaping the Self. "Dream", "Growth", "Love", "Inner Beauty", Hidden Light", and "Vision", are the foundation stones of Eva’s structure of feeling, the driving force of her life as poet and propagandist. Like her elder sister Constance, Eva rebelled against the codes and mores of the Anglo-Irish Ascendancy in which she had been born. Constance became a London M.P. but also took the road of armed revolution, committing herself to the cause of Irish nationalism; she played an important role in the birth of the Irish Republic. Eva pursued her belief in the sacredness of life, all forms of life; in her fight for justice and freedom, she took the road of non-violence and world pacifism. The turning point in Eva's search for identity occurred in 1896 when she was a guest at Casa Corregio, George MacDonald's villa on Italy's Ligurian coast. There she met Eva Gertrude Roper, a guest from Manchester, who was engaged in the movement which was fighting for the vote for women and for the rights of women workers. Less than one year later, Eva left her family home at Lissadell, Co. Sligo, and went to live with Esther. Their lifelong "comrade love", in Edward Carpenter's phrase, lasted for nearly thirty years

Exact closed-form fractional spectral moments for linear fractional oscillators excited by a white noise

In the last decades the research community has shown an increasing interest in the engineering applications of fractional calculus, which allows to accurately characterize the static and dynamic behaviour of many complex mechanical systems, e.g. the non-local or non-viscous constitutive law. In particular, fractional calculus has gained considerable importance in the random vibration analysis of engineering structures provided with viscoelastic damping. In this case, the evaluation of the dynamic response in the frequency domain presents significant advantages, once a probabilistic characterization of the input is provided. On the other hand, closed-form expressions for the response statistics of dynamical fractional systems are not available even for the simplest cases. Taking advantage of the Residue Theorem, in this paper the exact expressions of the spectral moments of integer and complex orders (i.e. fractional spectral moments) of linear fractional oscillators driven by acceleration time histories obtained as samples of stationary Gaussian white noise processes are determined

Levels of Mercury, Methylmercury and Selenium in Fish: Insights into Children Food Safety

Total mercury (THg), methylmercury (MeHg), and selenium (Se) concentrations were measured in various commercially important fish species. The benefit–risk binomial associated with these chemicals was assessed in children through the probability of exceeding the provisional tolerable weekly intakes (PTWIs) of the contaminants and the Se recommended dietary allowance (RDA). The Se:Hg molar ratios, selenium health benefit values (HBVSe), and monthly consumption rate limits (CRmm) for each species were also calculated. THg and Se were analyzed by atomic absorption spectrophotometer (Shimadzu, Milan, Italy), while MeHg was determined by Trace Ultra gas chromatograph connected with a PolarisQ MS (Thermo Fisher Scientific,Waltham, MA, USA). None of the analyzed fish had Hg levels above the European Community regulatory limits, while most large predators had MeHg levels over the threshold concentration set by US EPA. The estimated weekly intakes of THg and MeHg exceeded in many cases the PTWIs and the Se estimated daily intakes were provided from 0.71% to 2.75% of the RDA. Se:Hg molar ratios above 1 and positive HBVSe index suggested that Se in fish could be enough to alleviate the potential toxic effect of Hg. However, high-risk groups as children should consume fish in moderation because a large consumption pattern, especially of swordfish and tunas, might be of concern for health

Nursing workload and staff allocation in an Italian hospital: a quality improvement initiative based on nursing care score

Aim: To develop, implement, and evaluate a Nursing Care Score (NCS) system, built into the electronic health record, to optimize nursing workload and staff allocation. Design: A quality improvement (QI) initiative with a pre- and post-implementation design was conducted by an interprofessional team in the 33-bed cardio-thoracic unit of a 72-bed hospital in Palermo, Italy. Methods: A seven-phase process was used to develop, implement, and evaluate the NCS, which lists 53 nursing work tasks, each assigned a score from 1.5 to 5.0. The nurse-to-patient ratio on all shifts was determined by the NCS. Nurse satisfaction with both the existing system and the NCS workload system was assessed. Descriptive statistics and McNemar's test were used to analyze the data. Results: At pre-implementation, 92.5% of nurses reported that the existing system was not effective, 87.5% reported it did not enable them to provide adequate nursing care, and 20.0% believed that workload was fairly distributed. At post-implementation, 75.0% of nurses reported that the NCS system was effective (p = 0.0348), 85.0% reported that the NCS system enabled them to provide adequate care, and 85.0% believed that workload was fairly distributed. An NCS score of 65 ± 5 was found to distribute workload most fairly. Conclusion: An automatic electronic operating system to generate a daily workload report based on the NCS was successfully implemented and evaluated. The NCS provided relevant information to guide nurse managers in defining nurse-to-patient ratio and determining staff allocation. Nurses were satisfied with the NCS system. The steps used to develop, implement, and evaluate the NCS system may be transferable to other units and other hospitals

The mechanism of aquaporin inhibition by gold compounds elucidated by biophysical and computational methods

The inhibition of water and glycerol permeation via human aquaglyceroporin-3 (AQP3) by gold(III) complexes has been studied by stopped-flow spectroscopy and, for the first time, its mechanism has been described using molecular dynamics (MD), combined with density functional theory (DFT) and electrochemical studies. The obtained MD results showed that the most effective gold-based inhibitor, anchored to Cys40 in AQP3, is able to induce shrinkage of pores preventing glycerol and water permeation. Moreover, the good correlation between the affinity of the Au(III) complex to Cys binding and AQP3 inhibition effects was highlighted, while no influence of the different oxidative character of the complexes could be observed

Lovastatin, but not orlistat, reduces intestinal polyp volume in an Apc(Min/+) mouse model

The statins, inhibitors of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase (HMGCoAR) and orlistat, an inhibitor of fatty acid synthase (FAS), inhibit tumor cell growth by restricting cholesterol and fatty acid synthesis, respectively. We previously demonstrated that an omega (ω)-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA)- or olive oil-enriched diet reduced the polyp number and volume in ApcMin/+ mice. This phenomenon was associated with a significant inhibition of FAS and HMGCoAR, as well as an increase in the estrogen receptor (ER)β/α ratio. Herein, we evaluated the effect of lovastatin and orlistat on polyp development and ER expression in ApcMin/+ mice, in order to confirm previous data obtained with ω-3-PUFAs and olive oil. As expected, the use of lovastatin and orlistat significantly reduced HMGCoAR and FAS enzymatic activities and gene expression in colonic tissues, but did not affect the number of intestinal polyps, while there was a statistically significant reduction in polyp volume only in the mouse group treated with lovastatin. In the mice receiving orlistat, we observed a significant increase in cell proliferation in the polyp tissue, as well as enhanced expression of ERα. Moreover, the overexpression of ERα was associated with a statistically significant increase in PES1, Shh and Gli1 protein levels, considered ERα-related molecular targets