Interaction between <i>Mycobacterium tuberculosis</i>, <i>Mycobacterium bovis</i>, <i>Mycobacterium avium</i> subspecies <i>paratuberculosis</i> with the enteric glia and microglial cells

Background We investigated the interaction of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis, M. bovis and M. tuberculosis and different glial cells (enteric glial and microglial cells) in order to evaluate the infecting ability of these microorganisms and the effects produced on these cells, such as the evaluation of cytokines expression. Results Our experiments demonstrated the adhesion of M. paratuberculosis to the enteroglial cells and the induction of IL-1A and IL-6 expression; M. tuberculosis and M. bovis showed a good adhesive capability to the enteric cell line with the expression of the following cytokines: IL-1A and IL-1B, TNF-α, G-CSF and GM-CSF; M. bovis induced the expression of IL-6 too. The experiment performed with the microglial cells confirmed the results obtained with the enteroglial cells after the infection with M. tuberculosis and M. bovis, whereas M. paratuberculosis stimulated the production of IL-1A and IL-1B. Conclusion Enteroglial and microglial cells, could be the target of pathogenic mycobacteria and, even if present in different locations (Enteric Nervous System and Central Nervous System), show to have similar mechanism of immunomodulation

La Valutazione dei sistemi produttivi: la customer satisfaction nei sistemi turistici

Modern marketing theory is driven by an in depth study of the market, and research of consumer needs and preferences. This trend, so important to industry, have also been recognised by the public sector, increasingly adopts to define policy considering a multitude of elements, that can’t be removed from custormer needs. The concept of customer satisfaction requires the identification of customer needs and the application of a system approach. Over the years, the problem has been approached by various researchers, some of them have developed models that have been adopted by both the private and public sector. Among the many fields where these theories have been applied, we find the tourism sector as well, where many limits to the application of most models have emerged. The point of departure in this thesis is this very question: how is it possible to identify the tourists’ needs so as to effectively define the tourism product? This question has significant practical implication in Sardinia, as the policy makers realize that the tourist will play a central role in a truly competitive tourism production system. The proposed case history represents the application of an innovative and analytical model, over the period of three years. From this work, I develop a reliable data set that enables the evaluation of customer satisfaction of the clients of the Sardinian tourism system. This information can enable the design of a competitive tourism product

Analisi di oli essenziali di <i>Citrus</i> durante il periodo di maturazione del frutto

Gli oli essenziali del genere Citrus costituiscono un’importante classe di prodotti il cui utilizzo è molteplice. Nel campo alimentare sono utilizzati come aromatizzanti, nella profumeria per la formulazione di profumi con particolari “note di testa”, in campo farmaceutico come aromatizzanti. Vista l’importanza di questi oli abbiamo ritenuto interessante valutare la variabilità del loro contenuto in rapporto al grado di maturazione del frutto. La nostra indagine ha riguardato gli oli essenziali di due cultivar pigmentate: Moro e tarocco ed una cultivar bionda locale: San vito

Influence of different drying parameters on the composition of volatile compounds of thyme and rosemary cultivated in Sardinia

The shelf life of spices is traditionally extended by drying. Fresh herbs, due to their high water content, undergo microorganism growth and adverse biochemical reactions. On the other hand drying may result in a lot of physical and chemical alterations. Air and oven-dehydration are the main methods used to stabilize spices. During oven drying, in general, losses of volatile compounds are directly dependent on the temperature and time used. This paper deals with the effect of different drying temperatures and air fluxes on the volatiles in rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) and thyme (Thymus officinalis L.) cultivated in Sardinia. Fresh leaves were collected and soon divided in two batches, which were subjected to hydro distillation and GC-MS analysis, the first batch as fresh, the second one after drying in a laboratory pilot dryer. Three drying temperatures were used, 30, 38 and 45°C, and for each one two airflow rates were set. The fresh and dried plant material were hydro distilled for 4 hours using a Clevenger-type apparatus (Italian Official Pharmacopeias X). The oils (liquid and light yellow) were recovered directly from above the distillate without adding any solvent and stored at –20°C before analyses, which were carried out on two replicates of each sample by gas chromatography, using a flame ionization detector. The diluted samples were injected using a split/splitless automatic injector (using 2,6-dimethylphenol as internal standard). Qualitative analysis was done by GC/Mass and mass units were monitored from 10 to 450 at 70 eV. Results of the influence of the different drying conditions on volatile compounds of the two herbs will be reported

Sustainable tourism development and climate change: a supply-side perspective

This paper presents and discusses findings of research carried out on a sample of 141 tourism stakeholders with two tourism destinations located in Sardinia, Italy. Specifically, it investigates: (1) the priorities that respondents consider essential to attain sustainability and competitiveness for their business and the destination as a whole, (2) the main barriers to tourism sustainability and (3) their attitude towards climate change and its influence on tourism. Our contribution to the literature, along with managerial implications, is discussed and suggestions for future research are given

Effects of Computerized Emotional Training on Children with High Functioning Autism

An evaluation study of a serious game and a system for the automatic emotion recognition designed for helping autistic children to learn to recognize and express emotions by means of their full-body movement is presented. Three-dimensional motion data of full-body movements are obtained from RGB-D sensors and used to recognize emotions by means of linear SVMs. Ten children diagnosed with High Functioning Autism or Asperger Syndrome were involved in the evaluation phase, consisting of repeated sessions to play a specifically designed serious game. Results from the evaluation study show an increase of tasks accuracy from the beginning to the end of training sessions in the trained group. In particular, while the increase of recognition accuracy was concentrated in the first sessions of the game, the increase for expression accuracy is more gradual throughout all sessions. Moreover, the training seems to produce a transfer effect on facial expression recognition

Variabilità dei principi attivi in <i>Hypericum perforatum</i> L. vegetante in Sardegna

Vista la grande importanza farmacologica che sta rivestendo l’estratto d’iperico nella cura della depressione (2-3) abbiamo ritenuto interessante indagare la specie spontanea presente in Sardegna. Le analisi sono state effettuate via HPLC

Resumption of day surgery activity in the acute phase of COVID-19 pandemic

The rapid spread of COVID-19 disease since February 2020 has strongly impacted on the Healthcare System worldwide, who above all was forced to ensure the treatment of the COVID infected patients primarily. Then, the elective surgical procedures were limited to oncology, even stopping any Day Surgery (DS) activities. In Italy more than DS 650.000 procedures have been delayed. Day surgery commonly is performed in free-standing units or in dedicated hospital areas, with separated access to spaces for admission and dedicated operating rooms, allowing a lower risk of contamination during hospitalization.1 The implementation of protocols and recommendations, and a new planning of the pathways, can ensure an early restart of daily surgery procedures, regardless of the pandemic trend