Abstract, emotional and concrete concepts and the activation of mouth-hand effectors

According to embodied and grounded theories, concepts are grounded in sensorimotor systems. The majority of evidence supporting these views concerns concepts referring to objects or actions, while evidence on abstract concepts is more scarce. Explaining how abstract concepts such as ‘‘freedom’’ are represented would thus be pivotal for grounded theories. According to some recent proposals, abstract concepts are grounded in both sensorimotor and linguistic experience, thus they activate the mouth motor system more than concrete concepts. Two experiments are reported, aimed at verifying whether abstract, concrete and emotional words activate the mouth and the hand effectors. In both experiments participants performed first a lexical decision, then a recognition task. In Experiment 1 participants responded by pressing a button either with the mouth or with the hand, in Experiment 2 responses were given with the foot, while a button held either in the mouth or in the hand was used to respond to catch-trials. Abstract words were slower to process in both tasks (concreteness effect). Across the tasks and experiments, emotional concepts had instead a fluctuating pattern, different from those of both concrete and abstract concepts, suggesting that they cannot be considered as a subset of abstract concepts. The interaction between type of concept (abstract, concrete and emotional) and effector (mouth, hand) was not significant in the lexical decision task, likely because it emerged only with tasks implying a deeper processing level. It reached significance, instead, in the recognition tasks. In both experiments abstract concepts were facilitated in the mouth condition compared to the hand condition, supporting our main prediction. Emotional concepts instead had a more variable pattern. Overall, our findings indicate that various kinds of concepts differently activate the mouth and hand effectors, but they also suggest that concepts activate effectors in a flexible and task-dependent wa

Abstract and concrete concepts in conversation

Concepts allow us to make sense of the world. Most evidence on their acquisition and representation comes from studies of single decontextualized words and focuses on the opposition between concrete and abstract concepts (e.g., "bottle" vs. "truth"). A significant step forward in research on concepts consists in investigating them in online interaction during their use. Our study examines linguistic exchanges analyzing the differences between sub-kinds of concepts. Participants were submitted to an online task in which they had to simulate a conversational exchange by responding to sentences involving sub-kinds of concrete (tools, animals, food) and abstract concepts (PS, philosophical-spiritual; EMSS, emotional-social, PSTQ, physical-spatio-temporal-quantitative). We found differences in content: foods evoked interoception; tools and animals elicited materials, spatial, auditive features, confirming their sensorimotor grounding. PS and EMSS yielded inner experiences (e.g., emotions, cognitive states, introspections) and opposed PSTQ, tied to visual properties and concrete agency. More crucially, the various concepts elicited different interactional dynamics: more abstract concepts generated higher uncertainty and more interactive exchanges than concrete ones. Investigating concepts in situated interactions opens new possibilities for studying conceptual knowledge and its pragmatic and social aspects

Case of bullous pemphigoid in a 28-year-old woman affected by tuberous sclerosis complex

[No abstract available

Quick assessment of cell-free DNA in seminal fluid and fragment size for early non-invasive prostate cancer diagnosis

Liquid biopsy consists in the quantification and qualification of circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) and tumor-derived DNA (ctDNA) for cancer recognition. Recently, the characterization of seminal cfDNA (scfDNA) has been reported as a possible biomarker for prostate cancer (PCa) diagnosis

High Risk of Secondary Infections Following Thrombotic Complications in Patients With COVID-19

Background. This study’s primary aim was to evaluate the impact of thrombotic complications on the development of secondary infections. The secondary aim was to compare the etiology of secondary infections in patients with and without thrombotic complications. Methods. This was a cohort study (NCT04318366) of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients hospitalized at IRCCS San Raffaele Hospital between February 25 and June 30, 2020. Incidence rates (IRs) were calculated by univariable Poisson regression as the number of cases per 1000 person-days of follow-up (PDFU) with 95% confidence intervals. The cumulative incidence functions of secondary infections according to thrombotic complications were compared with Gray’s method accounting for competing risk of death. A multivariable Fine-Gray model was applied to assess factors associated with risk of secondary infections. Results. Overall, 109/904 patients had 176 secondary infections (IR, 10.0; 95% CI, 8.8–11.5; per 1000-PDFU). The IRs of secondary infections among patients with or without thrombotic complications were 15.0 (95% CI, 10.7–21.0) and 9.3 (95% CI, 7.9–11.0) per 1000-PDFU, respectively (P = .017). At multivariable analysis, thrombotic complications were associated with the development of secondary infections (subdistribution hazard ratio, 1.788; 95% CI, 1.018–3.140; P = .043). The etiology of secondary infections was similar in patients with and without thrombotic complications. Conclusions. In patients with COVID-19, thrombotic complications were associated with a high risk of secondary infections

In vitro testing of tensides employing monolayer cultures: a comparison with results of patch tests on human volunteers

Evaluation of the irritant potential of new products or ingredients prior to human resting is generally performed in vivo on animals. However, according to the 6th amendment and following updates of the European Community directive on cosmetic products (93/35/EEC), animal testing will be banned when suitable substitutes will be available. To know whether in vitro tests for assessment of skin irritancy provide results approaching human conditions, comparisons have to be made between data deriving from in vitro tests and skin response in humans. The aim of our study was to assess the validity of the monolayer culture system of normal human keratinocytes as a model for the evaluation of the irritant effects of detergents, by comparing in vitro cell culture data to in vivo acute skin irritancy effects of cocamidopropyl betaine (CAPB), an amphoteric compound, Tween 20 (TW20) (polysorbate 20) and Tween 80 (TW80) (polysorbate 80), representing nonionic compounds, applied to the skin of 24 healthy volunteers at a concentration similar to that employed in commercial products. As parameters for cytotoxicity, cell proliferation, cell membrane integrity and cell metabolism were assessed by cell counts, thymidine incorporation, MTT conversion, and Neutral Red uptake. In order to increase the sensitivity of the in vivo evaluation, bioengineering methods for assessment of the effects of test products on the skin were employed. Whereas all 4 in vitro methods ranked the tensides according to their toxicity in the following order: CAPB>SLS>TW20>TW80, both in vivo methods agreed in identifying SLS as the most irritating substance. Moreover, as compared with the irritation potential on human skin, all 4 in vitro tests overestimated the toxicity of CAPB. This suggests that the keratinocyte monolayer cell culture technique cannot directly replace in vivo methods, and that data obtained by this method should be interpreted cautiously

Conformational Behaviour of Organic carbonyl Compounds. Part 1. A Molecular Orbital Approach to the Study of Internal rotation in Conjugated Aldehydes and Ketones

Semi-empirical and ab-initio MO mrethods areemplojed in a srudy of internal rotation of conjugated aldehydes and ketones

Possibili effetti tossici provocati da materiali di comune impiego in ambito odontoiatrico su cheratinociti umani in coltura: uno studio preliminare.

Gli autori propongono uno studio tossicologico basato sull'impiego di colture di cellule epidermiche isolate. Svariati effetti clinicamente patologici a carico del cavo orale pare possano essere indotti dai polimeri acrilici per basi protesiche mentre, per quanto riguarda i cementi vetroionomerici, secondo molti autori, questi parrebbero così privi di effetti collaterali tanto da consigliarli addirittura nelle otturazioni retrograde o quali materiali sostitutivi di altri più tradizionali (es. resine ed amalgami) per ovviare a quei casi che potrebbero essere inquadrabili come patologie iatrogene del cavo orale. I polimeri acrilici, nel tempo, sono stati accusati di essere tra i principali fattori determinanti i più svariati effetti nocivi del cavo orale (dal lichen alle moniliasi). Testando questi due materiali, quindi, massima dovrebbe essere l'esaltazione dell'effetto tossico, trovandosi essi apparentemente così distanti nella scala della biocompatibilità tissutale. La componente tissutale più esposta, di inerenza al cavo orale, è indubbiamente, nel caso di impiego di queste due tipologie di materiali, il tessuto epiteliale gengivo/mucoso. Venne scelto un sistema di testazione tossicologica basato su culture cellulari isolate poichè ci garantiva, più di ogni altro, la semplificazione (eliminazione di interferenze biotissutali ambientali), la standardizzazione e la riproducibilità necessarie. Le alternative, ovvero le colture d'organo e d'espianto, pur presentando una situazione biologica più simile a quella del vivente, non erano in grado di esprimere in maniera sufficiente le tre essenziali caratteristiche suelencate. Gli scopi dello studio erano quelli di creare le basi per la futura messa a punto di coltivazioni di cheratinociti gengivali e di cominciare a capire se esisteva ed, eventualmente, su quali sistemi biologici insisteva, un'eventuale citotossicità acuta diretta da parte dei materiali testati in grado di indurre le patologie di cui eventualmente li si "incriminava". I materiali testati furono la resina SR 3/60® (Ivoclar) ed il cemento vetroionomerico VitremerTM® (3M) consigliato dalla ditta produttrice anche per restauri conservativi su denti decidui e definitivi. Le colture primarie e secondarie furono allestite su feeder layer di fibroblasti murini 3T3 con terreno di coltura prevalentemente basato sul Dulbecco's Modified Eagle's Medium mentre nelle colture terziarie (su cui si doveva condurre la testazione) era impiegato il terreno serum free Keratinocyte Growth Medium® al fine di evitare di impiegare feeder layer cellulari e quindi di avere interferenze nei successivi test. Preparate le colture controllo e quelle campioni furono versati su quest'ultime i materiali di testazione in forma di eluato. I test applicati furono: la conta cellulare ed il test al Trypan Blue come indici di vitalità cellulare, l'incorporazione di Timidina Tritiata per valutare la sintesi attiva del DNA ed il test di assunzione del Rosso Neutro che, invece, era atto a dimostrare la funzionalità del sistema delle membrane cellulari. Le valutazioni furono condotte nel rispetto dei metodi basati su modelli statistici opportuni impiegando i conteggi di Valore di Decremento Percentuale e, ove possibile, l'Analisi della Varianza accoppiata al test per confronti multipli di Student-Neuman-Keuls. Già da questo studio preliminare i risultati emersi furono sorprendenti dimostrando un'indiscussa maggior tossicità del cemento vetroionomerico rispetto alla resina che si discostava solo un poco (ma comunque in modo statisticamente rilevante) dalle colture campione. Questo era da porre sicuramente in relazione anche alla maggiore solubilità dimostrata dal cemento vetroionomerico ed alla sua capacità di alterare in senso acido (pH 5,5) il pH del mezzo. Tali risultati, tuttavia, sembrano ribaltare quello che sembra essere il "luogo comune" (con qualche riserva rimarchevole solo da parte di alcuni autori) della superiore biocompatibilità dei cementi vetroionomerici e, nel contempo, ci fanno pensare di escludere eventuali meccanismi di tossicità diretta alla base delle azioni patologiche dei metacrilici in genere e delle corrispondenti basi protesiche in particolare. Molto probabilmente, in tali casi, quando confermati, solo meccanismi immunitari e/o di infettività potrebbero spiegare il dato patologico. Codice: IT\ICCU\BVE\010135