131 research outputs found

    Knowledge, attitudes and practices about vaccination in Trentino, Italy in 2019

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    Vaccination is among the most important areas of progress in the worldwide history of public health. However, a crescent wave of anti-vaccine groups has grown in Western countries, especially in Italy, in the last two decades. Our aim was to evaluate adult's hesitancy and knowledge about vaccines and related diseases in Trentino-Alto Adige -the Italian region with the lowest vaccination coverages

    Review of the effects of protection in marine protected areas: current knowledge and gaps

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    The effectiveness of marine protected areas (MPAs) and the conservation of marine environments must be based on reliable information on the quality of the marine environment that can be obtained in a reasonable timeframe. We reviewed studies that evaluated all aspects related to the effectiveness of MPAs in order to describe how the studies were conducted and to detect fields in which research is lacking. Existing parameters used to evaluate the effectiveness of MPAs are summarised. Two–hundred and twenty–two publications were reviewed. We identified the most commonly used study subjects and methodological approaches. Most of the studies concentrated on biological parameters. Peer reviewed studies were based on control vs. impact design. BACI and mBACI designs were used in very few studies. Through this review, we have identified gaps in the objectives assigned to MPAs and the way in which they have been evaluated. We suggest some guidelines aimed at improving the assessment of the effects of protection in MPAsRevisión de los efectos de la protección en las áreas marinas protegidas: conocimiento y deficiencias actuales.— La efectividad de las áreas marinas protegidas (AMPs) y la conservación del medio ambiente marino debe basarse en información fiable sobre la calidad del medio marino que pueda obtenerse en un plazo de tiempo razonable. Se revisaron estudios que evalúan aspectos relacionados con la efectividad de las AMPs con el fin de describir cómo se realizaron los estudios y detectar donde existen vacíos en la investigación. En este estudio se enumeran los parámetros existentes para evaluar la efectividad de las AMPs. Se revisaron 224 publicaciones. Identificamos los objetos de estudio más utilizados y los enfoques metodológicos. La mayoría de los estudios se centran en el estudio de parámetros biológicos. Los estudios publicados se basaron en el diseño control frente a impacto. En muy pocos estudios se utilizaron diseños de muestreo BACI y mBACI. A través de esta revisión, se han identificado deficiencias en los objetivos de las AMPs y en la manera como han sido evaluados. Como conclusión sugerimos algunas pautas para mejorar la evaluación de los efectos de la protección en estas zonasPublicado

    Anti-chemokine antibodies after SARS-CoV-2 infection correlate with favorable disease course.

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    Infection by SARS-CoV-2 leads to diverse symptoms, which can persist for months. While antiviral antibodies are protective, those targeting interferons and other immune factors are associated with adverse COVID-19 outcomes. Instead, we discovered that antibodies against specific chemokines are omnipresent after COVID-19, associated with favorable disease, and predictive of lack of long COVID symptoms at one year post infection. Anti-chemokine antibodies are present also in HIV-1 and autoimmune disorders, but they target different chemokines than those in COVID-19. Finally, monoclonal antibodies derived from COVID- 19 convalescents that bind to the chemokine N-loop impair cell migration. Given the role of chemokines in orchestrating immune cell trafficking, naturally arising anti-chemokine antibodies associated with favorable COVID-19 may be beneficial by modulating the inflammatory response and thus bear therapeutic potential. One-Sentence Summary Naturally arising anti-chemokine antibodies associate with favorable COVID-19 and are predictive of lack of long COVID

    B-cell Zone Reticular Cell Microenvironments Shape CXCL13 Gradient Formation

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    Through the formation of concentration gradients, morphogens drive graded responses to extracellular signals, thereby fine-tuning cell behaviors in complex tissues. Here we show that the chemokine CXCL13 forms both soluble and immobilized gradients. Specifically, CXCL13+ follicular reticular cells form a small-world network of guidance structures, with computer simulations and optimization analysis predicting that immobilized gradients created by this network promote B-cell trafficking. Consistent with this prediction, imaging analysis show that CXCL13 binds to extracellular matrix components in situ, constraining its diffusion. CXCL13 solubilization requires the protease cathepsin B that cleaves CXCL13 into a stable product. Mice lacking cathepsin B display aberrant follicular architecture, a phenotype associated with effective B cell homing to but not within lymph nodes. Our data thus suggest that reticular cells of the B cell zone generate microenvironments that shape both immobilized and soluble CXCL13 gradient

    Mitochondrial Damage in the Trabecular Meshwork Occurs Only in Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma and in Pseudoexfoliative Glaucoma

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    Open-angle glaucoma appears to be induced by the malfunction of the trabecular meshwork cells due to injury induced by oxidative damage and mitochondrial impairment. Here, we report that, in fact, we have detected mitochondrial damage only in primary open-angle glaucoma and pseudo-exfoliation glaucoma, among several glaucoma types compared.Mitochondrial damage was evaluated by analyzing the common mitochondrial DNA deletion by real-time PCR in trabecular meshwork specimens collected at surgery from glaucomatous patients and controls. Glaucomatous patients included 38 patients affected by various glaucoma types: primary open-angle, pigmented, juvenile, congenital, pseudoexfoliative, acute, neovascular, and chronic closed-angle glaucoma. As control samples, we used 16 specimens collected from glaucoma-free corneal donors. Only primary open-angle glaucoma (3.0-fold) and pseudoexfoliative glaucoma (6.3-fold) showed significant increases in the amount of mitochondrial DNA deletion. In all other cases, deletion was similar to controls.despite the fact that the trabecular meshwork is the most important tissue in the physiopathology of aqueous humor outflow in all glaucoma types, the present study provides new information regarding basic physiopathology of this tissue: only in primary open-angle and pseudoexfoliative glaucomas oxidative damage arising from mitochondrial failure play a role in the functional decay of trabecular meshwork
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