Metabolomics applications in children: A right way to go

Metabolomics is a new science based on the study of the metabolome, representing the set of all the metabolites of a biological organism, which are the final products of its gene expression. Metabolomics appears to be a promising tool in perinatal studies, such as hypoxic–ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), congenital infections, genetic diseases, neonatal nutrition

The difficult alliance between vegan parents and pediatrician: A case report

The number of children on a vegetarian or vegan diet is gradually increasing. If not balanced and adequately supplemented, these dietary regimes can seriously impact the growth of children. Often the pediatrician is not perceived as a figure to rely on in the event of parents’ willingness to follow an alternative diet for their child. The feeling of distrust of parents towards the pediatrician can be dangerous for the health of the child. We present a 22-month-old boy with failure to thrive probably induced by an unbalanced vegetarian diet. The acquisition of the anamnestic data concerning the child’s diet was difficult because initially omitted by the parents. The poor compliance and the difficult follow-up highlights the difficulty in establishing a therapeutic alliance between parents who follow alternative regimens and the pediatrician

Exploring the role of fallopian ciliated cells in the pathogenesis of high-grade serous ovarian cancer

High-grade serous epithelial ovarian cancer (HGSOC) is the fifth leading cause of cancer death in women and the first among gynecological malignancies. Despite an initial response to standard chemotherapy, most HGSOC patients relapse. To improve treatment options, we must continue investigating tumor biology. Tumor characteristics (e.g., risk factors and epidemiology) are valuable clues to accomplish this task. The two most frequent risk factors for HGSOC are the lifetime number of ovulations, which is associated with increased oxidative stress in the pelvic area caused by ovulation fluid, and a positive family history due to genetic factors. In the attempt to identify novel genetic factors (i.e., genes) associated with HGSOC, we observed that several genes in linkage with HGSOC are expressed in the ciliated cells of the fallopian tube. This finding made us hypothesize that ciliated cells, despite not being the cell of origin for HGSOC, may take part in HGSOC tumor initiation. Specifically, malfunction of the ciliary beat impairs the laminar fluid flow above the fallopian tube epithelia, thus likely reducing the clearance of oxidative stress caused by follicular fluid. Herein, we review the up-to-date findings dealing with HGSOC predisposition with the hypothesis that fallopian ciliated cells take part in HGSOC onset. Finally, we review the up-to-date literature concerning genes that are located in genomic loci associated with epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) predisposition that are expressed by the fallopian ciliated cells

Multiple hazards and risk perceptions over time: the availability heuristic in Italy and Sweden under COVID-19

The severe impact of global crises, such as COVID-19 and climate change, is plausibly reshaping the way in which people perceive risks. In this paper, we examine and compare how global crises and local disasters influence public perceptions of multiple hazards in Italy and Sweden. To this end, we integrate information about the occurrence of hazardous events with the results of two nationwide surveys. These included more than 4000 participants and were conducted in two different phases of the COVID-19 pandemic corresponding to low (August 2020) and high (November 2020) levels of infection rates. We found that, in both countries, people are more worried about risks related to experienced events. This is in line with the cognitive process known as the availability heuristic: individuals assess the risk associated with a given hazard based on how easily it comes to their mind. Epidemics, for example, are perceived as less likely and more impactful in Italy compared to Sweden. This outcome can be explained by cross-country differences in the impact of, as well as governmental responses to, COVID-19. Notwithstanding the ongoing pandemic, people in both Italy and Sweden are highly concerned about climate change, and they rank it as the most likely threat

Fate of Captive-Reared and Released Mallards on Eastern Long Island, New York

We studied captive-reared mallards (Anas platyrhynchos; CRMs) released on eastern Long Island, New York, in 2006 to 2007 and 2007 to 2008 to determine: (1) survival rates of CRMs; (2) contribution to hunter harvest; (3) local movements; and (4) pair status, reproductive behavior, and production of CRMs. We banded and released 100 CRMs in November 2006 of which 20 were radio-marked. In November 2007, we banded and released 299 CRMs of which 60 were radio-marked. We used Program MARK to determine weekly survival estimates (0.53 to 1.00) up to 24 weeks after release; cumulative survival from November to May was 0.25. Seventeen percent (n = 17) of CRMs were reported harvested from 2006 to 2007, and 5% (n = 15) were reported harvested during 2007 to 2008. The median distance between harvest locations and release sites in both years was 3 km. CRMs intermingled with free-ranging waterfowl at town parks but tended to stay together in groups of 10 to 30 birds. We observed 22 pairs of CRMs, 2 pairs of CRMs with unmarked mallards, and 1 CRM with a brood. Overall, our data indicated that after some initial losses, many CRMs survived and settled in park settings where waterfowl were commonly fed by humans. Thus, CRMs appeared to contribute to feral waterfowl populations, which are a source of human–wildlife conflicts in many areas. Occurrence of CRMs in such settings also provides a means for disease transmission to free-ranging waterfowl

From the kilns to the fair: producing building materials at Faragola and Canusium (northern Apulia, Italy)

Faragola and Canusium potters used Ca-rich clays—widely available nearby—for the production of build- ing materials. The clayey materials were used as received, before being fired in the local kilns at temperatures between 600 and ~1000 ° C. No technological distinctions were made in relation to the type of object to be produced (tile, brick, etc). The investigated productions are compositionally distinguish- able from both coarse wares for cooking and fine table ware produced in the same archaeological sites. A fine clayey ma- terial, very similar to that used for table ware, was supplied for the production of these building materials, which are chemi- cally, mineralogically and petrographically very similar among themselves. Hence, the Faragola and Canusium bricks and tiles cannot be easily discriminated but the presence/ absence of volcanites and volcanic glass represents an effec- tive discriminating factor, able to indicate areas of different supplies within two main deposits: the Pleistocene marine and alluvial terraced deposits, typical of northern Apulia

Evidence of a pressure-induced metallization process in monoclinic VO2_2

Raman and combined trasmission and reflectivity mid infrared measurements have been carried out on monoclinic VO$_2$ at room temperature over the 0-19 GPa and 0-14 GPa pressure ranges, respectively. The pressure dependence obtained for both lattice dynamics and optical gap shows a remarkable stability of the system up to P*$\sim$10 GPa. Evidence of subtle modifications of V ion arrangements within the monoclinic lattice together with the onset of a metallization process via band gap filling are observed for P$>$P*. Differently from ambient pressure, where the VO$_2$ metal phase is found only in conjunction with the rutile structure above 340 K, a new room temperature metallic phase coupled to a monoclinic structure appears accessible in the high pressure regime, thus opening to new important queries on the physics of VO$_2$.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Regulation of NFKB through the nuclear processing of p105 (NFKB1) in Epstein-Barr Virus immortalized B cell lines.

Transcription factors of the NF-κB/Rel family are retained in the cytoplasm as inactive complexes through association with IκB inhibitory proteins. Several NF-κB activators induce the proteolysis of IκB proteins, which results in the nuclear translocation and DNA binding of NF-κB complexes. Here, we report a novel mechanism of NF-κB regulation mediated by p105 (NF-κB1) precursor of p50 directly at the nuclear level. In Epstein- Barr virus-immortalized B cells, p105 was found in the nucleus, where it was complexed with p65. In concomitance with NF-κB activation, mitomycin C induced the processing of p105 to p50 in the nucleus, while it did not affect the steady-state protein levels of IκBα and p105 in the cytoplasm. Differently, phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate induced a significant proteolysis of both IκBα and p105 in the cytoplasm, while it did not affect the protein level of p105 in the nucleus. These results suggest that in Epstein-Barr virus-positive B cell lines the nuclear processing of p105 can contribute to NF-κB activation in response to specific signaling molecules, such as DNA-damaging agents

Electrodynamics near the Metal-to-Insulator Transition in V3O5

The electrodynamics near the metal-to-insulator transitions (MIT) induced, in V3O5 single crystals, by both temperature (T) and pressure (P) has been studied by infrared spectroscopy. The T- and P-dependence of the optical conductivity may be explained within a polaronic scenario. The insulating phase at ambient T and P corresponds to strongly localized small polarons. Meanwhile the T-induced metallic phase at ambient pressure is related to a liquid of polarons showing incoherent dc transport, in the P-induced metallic phase at room T strongly localized polarons coexist with partially delocalized ones. The electronic spectral weight is almost recovered, in both the T and P induced metallization processes, on an energy scale of 1 eV, thus supporting the key-role of electron-lattice interaction in the V3O5 metal-to-insulator transition.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure