Quasiuniversal connectedness percolation of polydisperse rod systems

The connectedness percolation threshold (eta_c) and critical coordination number (Z_c) of systems of penetrable spherocylinders characterized by a length polydispersity are studied by way of Monte Carlo simulations for several aspect ratio distributions. We find that (i) \eta_c is a nearly universal function of the weight-averaged aspect ratio, with an approximate inverse dependence that extends to aspect ratios that are well below the slender rod limit and (ii) that percolation of impenetrable spherocylinders displays a similar quasiuniversal behavior. For systems with a sufficiently high degree of polydispersity, we find that Z_c can become smaller than unity, in analogy with observations reported for generalized and complex networks.Comment: 5 pages with 3 figures + 2 pages and 4 figures of supplemental materia

Development of Digital Health Gender and Sexual Health Literacy scale

Introduction Health literacy, as the ability to obtain, process and understand health information, including gender and sexuality awareness, appears to be underdeveloped in terms of measurement tools and thematic materials. The literature indicates the existence of serious deficits in gender and sexual health literacy at all levels, with implications for relationships with citizens and patients. Methods Delphi study agreement was conducted and a pool of potential scale items was generated, reflecting a range of skills and abilities within each domain. Items were carefully worded to ensure clarity, cultural sensitivity and relevance to different gender identities and sexual orientations. Expert review and cognitive pre-testing were employed to refine item wording, assess content validity, and ensure that the 10-item scale was comprehensible and relevant to the target population. Results The theoretical development of the 10-item Digital Health Gender and Sexual Health Literacy Scale was successfully completed. The scale items were designed to provide a comprehensive measure of an individual’s ability to navigate the digital landscape for gender and sexual health information. Conclusions The theoretical validation of the Digital Health Gender and Sexual Health Literacy Scale (DiGeSHeL) provides the community with a promising tool to assess individuals’ confidence and ability to use digital technologies for sexual health information and resources. However, further research is needed to validate the scale and test its reliability with a diverse group of participants. Once validated, this scale could be a valuable tool for sexual health promotion programmes to identify gaps and evaluate the impact of digital literacy interventions. Key messages • Gender and sexual literacy are crucial for health. • Health literacy as six vital sign

Insulin Promotes Survival of Amyloid-Beta Oligomers Neuroblastoma Damaged Cells via Caspase 9 Inhibition and Hsp70 Upregulation

Alzheimer's disease (AD) and type 2 diabetes are connected in a way that is still not completely understood, but insulin resistance has been implicated as a risk factor for developing AD. Here we show an evidence that insulin is capable of reducing cytotoxicity induced by Amyloid-beta peptides (A-beta) in its oligomeric form in a dose-dependent manner. By TUNEL and biochemical assays we demonstrate that the recovery of the cell viability is obtained by inhibition of intrinsic apoptotic program, triggered by A-beta and involving caspase 9 and 3 activation. A protective role of insulin on mitochondrial damage is also shown by using Mito-red vital dye. Furthermore, A-beta activates the stress inducible Hsp70 protein in LAN5 cells and an overexpression is detectable after the addition of insulin, suggesting that this major induction is the necessary condition to activate a cell survival program. Together, these results may provide opportunities for the design of preventive and therapeutic strategies against AD

Monitoring the Shelf-Life of Minimally Processed Fresh-Cut Apple Slices By Physical–Chemical Analysis and Electronic Nose

Fresh-cut apples, in slices or in cubes, are minimally processed products, which are currently collecting a great interest by fruit marketers for their promising diffusion. Their shelf life, from a microbiological point of view, has been fixed about 2 or 3 weeks under refrigeration. However in a few days they undergo biochemical degradations with production of off-flavors and texture breakdown. In this work, the change of aromatic fingerprint of apple slices packaged in air and in a modified atmosphere (with 100% N2) and stored at 4°C was measured, by using a commercial electronic nose. The obtained data were also compared with sensory evaluation of judge’s panel. Moreover, quality parameters such as total acidity, total soluble solids and firmness were determined at different storage times (0, 4, 8 and 12 days). The data show that the electronic nose is able to discriminate between the two different storage conditions applied: the multivariate analysis, Principal Component Analysis, presents clearly differences among the four sampling times when the apple slices are stored in air and in N2. Our results indicate that the electronic nose can be considered a valid supplementary tool to human sensory panel assessment especially in food quality safety and control and it can be a simple, objective and rapid method to control the food quality during the storage

Water extract of Cryphaea heteromalla (Hedw.) D. Mohr bryophyte as a natural powerful source of biologically active compounds

Bryophytes comprise of the mosses, liverworts, and hornworts. Cryphaea heteromalla, (Hedw.) D. Mohr, is a non-vascular lower plant belonging to mosses group. To the date, the most chemically characterized species belong to the liverworts, while only 3.2% and 8.8% of the species belonging to the mosses and hornworts, respectively, have been investigated. In this work, we present Folin–Ciocalteu and oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) data related to crude extracts of C. heteromalla obtained by three different extraction solvents: pure water (WT), methanol:water (80:20 v/v) (MET), and ethanol:water (80:20 v/v) (ETH). The water extract proved to be the best solvent showing the highest content of biophenols and the highest ORAC value. The C. heteromalla-WT extract was investigated by HPLC-TOF/MS (High Performance Liquid Chromatography-Time of Flight/Mass Spectrometry) allowing for the detection of 14 compounds, five of which were phenolic compounds, derivatives of benzoic, caffeic, and coumaric acids. Moreover, the C. heteromalla WT extract showed a protective effect against reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation induced by tert-butyl hydroperoxide (TBH) on the murine NIH-3T3 fibroblast cell line

A close connection: Alzheimer’s disease and type 2 diabetes

In the recent years a growing body of evidence links insulin resistance and insulin action to neurodegenerative diseases, especially Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The importance of insulin in ageing as well as its role in cognition and other aspects of normal brain functions are well established. The hippocampus and cerebral cortex-distributed insulin and insulin receptor (IR) have been shown to be involved in brain cognitive functions. Conversely, deterioration of IR signaling is involved in agingrelated brain degeneration such as in AD and cognitive impairment in type 2 diabetes patients. Insulin administration, while maintaining euglycemia, improves memory in both healthy adults and Alzheimer’s disease patients. In the present review, some common links between AD and type 2 diabetes are presented. Furthermore, several biochemical aspects existing in both pathologies are highlighted

The late MIS 5 Mediterranean tephra markers: A reappraisal from peninsular Italy terrestrial records

We present new tephrostratigraphic records from the late MIS 5 (ca 110e80 ka) terrestrial sediments from southern and central Italy. On the one hand, the central Italy record consists of an outcropping lacustrine sequence from the Sulmona intermountain basin that contains four trachyticephonolitic tephra layers (POP3, POP2a, POP2b, POP1), all of which show a K-alkaline affinity that is typical for the Roman co-magmatic Province. The POP3 and POP1 layers were dated by 40Ar/39Ar method at 106.2 1.3 ka (2s) and 92.4 4.6 ka (2s), respectively. The sequence in southern Italy, on the other hand, is represented by post-Tyrrhenian coastal deposits of the Cilento area, Campania, which contain two trachytic layers (CIL2, CIL1) that show the same K-alkaline affinity. Based on their chemical compositions and radiometric ages, POP3 and POP1 are firmly correlated with the marine tephra layers X-5 (105 2 ka) and C-22 (ca 90 ka), which, in turn, match tephras TM-25 and TM-23-11, respectively, in the lacustrine sequence of Lago Grande di Monticchio (southern Italy). Of note, the POP1 layer also matches the Adriatic Sea tephra PRAD 2517 that was previously correlated with the older X-5 layer. The tephra couplet POP2a and POP2b (ca 103 and 103.5 ka, extrapolated ages) are compatible with the TM- 24b and TM-24-3 tephras in Monticchio, which match both the stratigraphic positions and the chemical compositions. In the Cilento area, as well as the already described X-6 layer (ca 108 ka) (CIL2), we recognise a new stratigraphic superimposed layer (CIL1) that matches the POP3/TM-25/C-27/X-5 Mediterranean marker(s). In summary, the data presented here provide new chemical and 40Ar/39Ar chronological constraints towards a robust late MIS 5 tephrostratigraphy of the central Mediterranean, although at the same time, they also reveal how the tephrostratigraphy itself might be flawed when dealing with tephra markers that are not adequately constrained and characterised.Published31-451V. Storia eruttivaJCR Journa

Empirical Evaluation of Deep Learning Approaches for Landmark Detection in Fish Bioimages

In this paper we perform an empirical evaluation of variants of deep learning methods to automatically localize anatomical landmarks in bioimages of fishes acquired using different imaging modalities (microscopy and radiography). We compare two methodologies namely heatmap based regression and multivariate direct regression, and evaluate them in combination with several Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) architectures. Heatmap based regression approaches employ Gaussian or Exponential heatmap generation functions combined with CNNs to output the heatmaps corresponding to landmark locations whereas direct regression approaches output directly the (x, y) coordinates corresponding to landmark locations. In our experiments, we use two microscopy datasets of Zebrafish and Medaka fish and one radiography dataset of gilthead Seabream. On our three datasets, the heatmap approach with Exponential function and U-Net architecture performs better. Datasets and open-source code for training and prediction are made available to ease future landmark detection research and bioimaging applications