Making available scientific information in the third millennium: perspectives for the neuroscientific community

The rules governing the globalised process of sharing scientific information in the research community are rapidly changing. From the 1950s, commercial publishers started owning a large number of scientific journals and consequently the marketable value of a submitted manuscript has become an increasingly important factor in publishing decisions. Recently some publishers have developed the Open Access (OA), a business scheme which may help stopping such tendency. Indeed, in the case of an open-access publication, the marketable value of a manuscript may be not the primary consideration, since access to the research is not being sold. This may push scientists to re-consider the purpose of peer reviewing. However, costs remain a key point in managing scientific journals because OA method does not eliminate peer review process. Thus, OA may not solve the problem of the market pressures on publishing strategies. Furthermore, the OA has another strong point: everyone can read OA papers, including scientist living in poor countries. But, will OA method create new discriminations on who can publish on OA journals? Will it be possible to really exclude or strongly limit the influences of the market from scientific publishing? The example of the non-profit e-print arXiv (http://arXiv.org/), a fully automated electronic archive and distribution server for research papers with no peer review will be discussed. For neuroscientists, the possibility to make available scientific data, even in the case of negative results (usually, very difficult to publish) is an important step to avoid purposeless repetition of costly experiments involving animal subjects. The possibility to arrange internationally or locally peer reviewed papers in institutional repositories (IR) is a necessity. However, access to IR should be regulated, e.g. banning or limiting profit organizations and exploiting internet systems, professional organizations or network groups

Un esempio di archeologia dell'architettura su edifici mediaveli: la Pieve di S. maria di Diecimo (Lucca)

Il cantiere medievale, la sua organizzazione, le modalità operative, la preparazione culturale e tecnica di architetti, artefici e muratori, le implicazioni economiche e sociali che comporta l’impresa edile sono oggetto di ricerche da parte di molti specialisti (storici dell’arte, storici, archeologi, architetti), anche se spesso gli studi procedono autonomamente all’interno delle rispettive discipline. L’integrazione della storia dell’arte e della analisi stratigrafica, già auspicata o sperimentata in edifici importanti, può essere ancora più utilmente applicata in opere cosiddette “minori”, opere forse di minore interesse, ma che rappresentano il tessuto comunicativo diffuso del medioevo. La pieve di S. Maria di Diecimo, già nota per il suo arredo scultoreo, per quanto riguarda l’architettura è stata datata ad età matildica, con sopravvivenze architettoniche anteriori al Mille. L’applicazione della stratigrafia dell’elevato ha permesso di individuare un'unica fase costruttiva principale, coeva alla realizzazione delle sculture, e di definire il processo costruttivo e l’organizzazione del cantiere che qui ha lavorato.The medieval construction site, its organization, operating procedures, cultural and technical knowledge of architects, builders and masons, economic and social issues involving the construction company are being researched by many specialists (art historians, historians, archaeologists, architects), although often they work separately. The integration of art history and stratigraphic analysis, desired or experienced in important buildings, it can be more usefully applied in some less important works, which nevertheless are the widespread communication of the Middle Ages. The St. Mary’s church of at Diecimo (Lucca) architecture, already known for its sculptural furniture, has been dated at the time of Countess Matilda, with architectural survivals from before Mille. The application of stratigraphy to the walls, it identified a single major construction phase, contemporary with the sculptures, and allowed determine the manner to build the site and organization that has worked here

ACORDE: viviendas flexibles y adaptables a las necesidades de las personas: casos de estudio adaptados a distintos países y realidades sociales

Peer Reviewe

Monitoring sustainable development in Brazil through a composite index

Sustainable development indicators gained visibility with the United Nations 2030 Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals. At the same time, two basic problems became relevant: data availability and results communication. The present study aims to deal with both of them by proposing a Sustainable Development (SD) Index for Brazil. Collecting data for such composite index gave the opportunity for facing the data problems: availability and frequency mainly. On the other side, by comparing the Brazilian SD Index in 2001 and 2015, it is possible to show its efficacy in monitoring and easiness in communicating the progress, as well as problems, a country faces in meeting the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Celiac Disease Monocytes Induce a Barrier Defect in Intestinal Epithelial Cells

Intestinal epithelial barrier function in celiac disease (CeD) patients is altered. However, the mechanism underlying this effect is not fully understood. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the role of monocytes in eliciting the epithelial barrier defect in CeD. For this purpose, human monocytes were isolated from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from active and inactive CeD patients and healthy controls. PBMCs were sorted for expression of CD14 and co-cultured with intestinal epithelial cells (IECs, Caco2BBe). Barrier function, as well as tight junctional alterations, were determined. Monocytes were characterized by profiling of cytokines and surface marker expression. Transepithelial resistance was found to be decreased only in IECs that had been exposed to celiac monocytes. In line with this, tight junctional alterations were found by confocal laser scanning microscopy and Western blotting of ZO-1, occludin, and claudin-5. Analysis of cytokine concentrations in monocyte supernatants revealed higher expression of interleukin-6 and MCP-1 in celiac monocytes. However, surface marker expression, as analyzed by FACS analysis after immunostaining, did not reveal significant alterations in celiac monocytes. In conclusion, CeD peripheral monocytes reveal an intrinsically elevated pro-inflammatory cytokine pattern that is associated with the potential of peripheral monocytes to affect barrier function by altering TJ composition

Analysis of revisions to general economic statistics.

The preparations for the introduction of the euro in 1999 involved the need for a new set of statistics for the euro area. Since then, significant progress has been made with regard to the coverage, timeliness and accuracy of these statistics. The reliability of the first releases – i.e. their stability in the process of later revisions – is an important quality-related feature. New data releases for the euro area have generally shown a very small or no bias, i.e. data revisions have been very modest and comparable with those of, for example, the United States or Japan. Despite the relatively small size of revisions, however, their combination with the low growth of the euro area economy may have drawn attention to such revisions of economic data for the euro area. This paper quantifies the revisions to selected key indicators in the period from the start of Monetary Union in 1999 to July 2007 and compares them with the corresponding medium term averages (1999-2006). The analysis covers the euro area, its six largest member countries, the United Kingdom, the United States and Japan. For this purpose, available time series for the various periods involved are used, series that record all revisions to published statistical data releases. The analysis is carried out separately for GDP growth and its expenditure components, for employment, unemployment rates, compensation per employee, labour cost indicators, industrial production, retail trade turnover and consumer prices. Overall, the evidence presented in this paper suggests that euro area data releases have generally shown a very small or no bias and have been more stable than those for individual euro area countries. Furthermore, recent euro area data show levels of revisions similar to those of the past, or levels of revisions that stabilised after the implementation of harmonised statistical concepts had largely been completed. JEL classification: E01, E21, E24, E31, E5

Intestinal Barrier Function in Gluten-Related Disorders

Gluten-related disorders include distinct disease entities, namely celiac disease, wheat-associated allergy and non-celiac gluten/wheat sensitivity. Despite having in common the contact of the gastrointestinal mucosa with components of wheat and other cereals as a causative factor, these clinical entities have distinct pathophysiological pathways. In celiac disease, a T-cell mediate immune reaction triggered by gluten ingestion is central in the pathogenesis of the enteropathy, while wheat allergy develops as a rapid immunoglobulin E- or non-immunoglobulin E-mediated immune response. In non-celiac wheat sensitivity, classical adaptive immune responses are not involved. Instead, recent research has revealed that an innate immune response to a yet-to-be-defined antigen, as well as the gut microbiota, are pivotal in the development in this disorder. Although impairment of the epithelial barrier has been described in all three clinical conditions, its role as a potential pathogenetic co-factor, specifically in celiac disease and non-celiac wheat sensitivity, is still a matter of investigation. This article gives a short overview of the mucosal barrier of the small intestine, summarizes the aspects of barrier dysfunction observed in all three gluten-related disorders and reviews literature data in favor of a primary involvement of the epithelial barrier in the development of celiac disease and non-celiac wheat sensitivity

Measuring Brazilian Inequality Using the Gender Inequality Index

Gender inequality is a common feature shared by all countries, in different degrees. Its importance is evident in the United Nations 2030 Agenda. The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number 5 is mainly dedicated to it. However, for its multidimensional features, different SDGs include it among their targets, the third (health), fourth (education), and tenth (labor) goals in particular. A composite index better describes multiple disparities. In this paper, the Gender Inequality Index (GII), presented in the 2010 Human Development Report, is discussed and then calculated for the Brazilian Federation Units. Its dimensions, health, empowerment, and economic activity cover three crucial dimensions of gender inequality. The GII contributes to evaluate how inequality lowers human development among countries and within a country, as presented in this study. Even though its complex methodology, it is an important tool for policy guidance

The role of microglia in mediating the effect of the environment in brain plasticity and behavior.

No abstract availabl

Citalopram amplifies the influence of living conditions on mood in depressed patients enrolled in the STAR*D study

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), the most commonly prescribed antidepressant drugs, have a variable and incomplete efficacy. In order to better understand SSRI action, we explored the hypothesis that SSRIs do not affect mood per se but amplify the influence of the living conditions on mood. To this aim, we exploited the Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to Relieve Depression (STAR*D) data set, selected a subpopulation of 591 patients with an overlapping clinical history and analyzed treatment outcome according to dosage −20 or 40 mg per day of citalopram. We found that sociodemographic characteristics affected treatment response in the same direction in the two dose groups, but these effects reached statistical significance only in the 40 mg per day dose group. In the latter, higher improvement rate was associated with having a working employment status (P=0.0219), longer education (P=0.0053), high income (P=0.01) or a private insurance (P=0.0031), and the higher remission rate was associated with having a working employment status (P=0.0326) or longer education (P=0.0484). Moreover, the magnitude of the effect of the sociodemographic characteristics on mood, measured as the percent of patients showing a positive outcome when exposed to favorable living conditions, was much greater—up to 37-fold—in the 40 compared to the 20 mg per day dose group. Overall, our results indicate that citalopram amplifies the influence of the living conditions on mood in a dose-dependent manner. These findings provide a potential explanation for the variable efficacy of SSRIs and might lead to the development of personalized strategies aimed at enhancing their efficacy