Wearing a Mask Shapes Interpersonal Space during COVID-19 Pandemic

Social distancing norms have been promoted after the COVID-19 pandemic. In this work, we tested interpersonal space (IPS) in 107 subjects through a reaching-comfort distance estimation task. In the main experiment, subjects had to estimate the comfort and reach space between an avatar wearing or not wearing a face mask. We found that IPS was greater between avatars not wearing a mask with respect to stimuli with the mask on, while reaching space was not modulated. IPS increment in the NoMask condition with respect to the Mask condition correlated with anxiety traits, as shown with the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, rather than with transient aspects related to the pandemic situation. In the control experiment, the avatars with a mask were removed to further explore the conditioning effect provided by the presence of the facial protection in the main experiment. We found a significant difference comparing this condition with the same condition of the main experiment, namely, the distances kept between avatars not wearing a mask in the main experiment were greater than those between the same stimuli in the control experiment. This showed a contextual adaptation of IPS when elements related to the actual pandemic situation were relevant. Additionally, no significant differences were found between the control experiment and the Mask condition of the main experiment, suggesting that participants had internalized social distancing norms and wearing a mask has become the new normal. Our results highlight the tendency of people in underestimating the risk of contagion when in the presence of someone wearing a mask

From the experience of \u201cPLANT\u201d and \u201cPYRGY\u201d EU Projects onwards: interdisciplinary link of medicinal plant science with history and art

The iconography of medicinal and aromatic plant in art masterpieces can be an interesting contribution to the ethnobotanical knowledge related to the historic period when the artefact was produced. Along herbarium specimens, sometimes misrepresenting the morphological characters, the images inside artistic expressions not meant for scientific purposes, and often related to complex symbolic meanings, are of interest also from the botanical and the pharmaceutical point of view. Within the work of the EU project \u201cPlants in European Masterpieces (PLANT)\u201d we considered 100 species of ethnobotanical interest into 25 paintings and frescoes of XVI century in the Genoese museums or in other museums but having Genoa as a subject. Part of the dissemination activities of the EU project \u201cStrategia d\u2019impresa in settori di nicchia per l\u2019economia agroindustriale del Mediterraneo (PYRGI)\u201dwere devoted to the comparative study of a Genoese collection of pharmacy jars, pharmacy recipes of pharmacopoeias used in the past in Liguria, and aromatic and medicinal plants of the Ligurian area. For both projects a relational database ad hoc developed, having specific tables for all the three main sections of study (art, botany and pharmaceutical and ethnobotanical knowledge), was produced. These databases were the backbones of the PLANT desktop application and of the web site for PYRGI respectively. The hyperlink trees allow the user to navigate among reconstructions of ancient recipes, the botanical information and the related masterpiece. The ongoing research is focused on other paintings of the Genoese collections of the Musei di Strada Nuova. The painting I santi Sebastiano, Giovanni Battista e Francesco; Madonna con il Bambino e Angeli (1502-1503) by Filippino Lippi, is of particular relevance, with 43 entities; 36 of which are herbaceous species. 18 taxa are clearly identifiable, belonging to Pteridophtyes (2 taxa) and Angiosperm Dicotyledons (16 taxa)

Multiple network disconnection in anosognosia for hemiplegia

Anosognosia for hemiplegia (AHP) is a complex syndrome whose neural correlates are still under investigation. One hypothesis, mainly based on lesion mapping studies, is that AHP reflects a breakdown of neural systems of the right hemisphere involved in motor function. However, more recent theories have suggested that AHP may represent a disorder of cognitive systems involved in belief updating, self-referential or body processing. Two recent studies, using a method to estimate the degree of white matter disconnection from lesions, have indeed shown that patients with AHP suffer from damage of several long-range white matter pathways in association cortex. Here, we use a similar indirect disconnection approach to study a group of patients with motor deficits without anosognosia (hemiparesis or hemiplegia, HP

The novel diterpene 7\u3b2-acetoxy-20-hydroxy-19,20-epoxyroyleanone from Salvia corrugata shows complex cytotoxic activities against human breast epithelial cells

Aims The aim of this study was the characterization of the in vitro cytotoxic properties of a recently isolated diterpene compound, 7\u3b2-acetoxy-20-hydroxy-19,20-epoxyroyleanone (compound 1), extracted from Salvia corrugata, versus human cell lines. Main Methods We used as model study immortalized breast epithelial cells MCF10A and two ERBB2+ breast cancer (BCa) cell lines, SKBR-3 and BT474. Compound 1 was isolated by methanolic extraction from regenerated shoots of Salvia corrugata Vahl, and purified by high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). Flow cytometry (FCM) was employed for cell cycle, apoptosis and reactive oxygen species (ROS) analysis. Cell morphology was assessed by immunofluorescence and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Key Findings Compound 1 inhibited cell survival of all breast cell lines. In particular, compound 1 promoted cell cycle arrest in the G0/G1 phase and apoptosis along with impairment of the mitochondrial function, which was reflected in a gross alteration of the mitochondrial network structure. Furthermore, we also detected a potent activation of the ERK1/2 kinase, which suggested the induction of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Partial rescue of survival obtained with n-acetylcysteine (NAC) when coadminstered with compound 1 further supported a contribution of ROS mediated mechanisms to the growth-arrest and proapoptotic activity of compound 1 in both BCa cell lines. ROS production was indeed confirmed in SKBR-3. Significance Our findings show that compound 1 has a cytotoxic activity against both human normal and cancer cell lines derived from breast epithelia, which is mediated by ROS generation and mitochondrial damage

Attività di testing rapido HIV al Pride di Torino per determinare politiche strategiche e organizzative tra gli MSM

L’offerta del test HIV presso un evento sociale frequentato prevalentemente da giovani uomini che fanno sesso con uomini (MSM) fornisce una possibilità unica di intervenire nel processo di diagnosi precoce dell’HIV. Il progetto Torino Fast Track City permette di osservare elementi organizzativi utili per l’organizzazione dei test rapidi sul territorio, al tempo stesso l’adesione a COBATEST Network fornisce la possibilità di osservare un campione determinando le variabili utili per la costruzione di strategie di intervento e campagne di prevenzione. La somministrazione dei test rapidi HIV da parte delle associazioni è uno strumento chiave per incrementare il numero di soggetti che si sottopongono al test, accedono alle cure precocemente e vengono informati sulle terapie e sui possibili comportamenti a rischio

Role of Muscle Synergies in Real-Time Classification of Upper Limb Motions using Extreme Learning Machines

10.1186/s12984-016-0183-0Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation13118