Il fiore e la biologia fiorale

Floral biology includes the series of processes which leads buds to evolve into flowers and fruits. Improving the knowledge on floral biology in olive is important both for scientific understanding and for practical reasons, since optimizing these applications results in better fruit yield. These processes are: induction (the conversion of vegetative to inflorescence buds), differentiations (the actual formation of flower parts in the bud), floral formation (the formation and evolution of the inflorescence and the flowers after bud brake), flowering (timing, flower types, andromonoecy), pollination, fertilization and compatibility, ovary abortion, fruit set. This papers describes all these steps and discusses the most recent knowledge on olive floral biology, including some recent theories like the “aging” theory, for which a minimum aging of the meristematic apex is necessary to allow floral induction and differentiation, and the “competition” theory, for which the greater competition for resources among flowers in cultivars with larger flower and fruit sizes, explains the greater ovary abortion and reduced fruit set in such cultivars. Finally, the very low fruit set and the apparently redundant flowering in olive is explained in evolutionary terms (mail fitness). The paper ends with concluding remark and practical suggestions for improving fruit yield, and provides answers to frequently asked questions.Realizzato nell'ambito del progetto "Ricerca ed Innovazione per l'Olivicoltura Meridionale", finanziato dal MiPAA

switching from intravenous to subcutaneous formulation of abatacept different results in a series of 21 patients

To the Editor: We read with interest the article by Reggia, et al 1, a monocentric study analyzing the efficacy and safety of switching from intravenous (IV) to subcutaneous (SC) formulation of abatacept (ABA) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The authors report a relatively high risk of disease relapse (27%) occurring in a mean of 11 weeks after switching to SC administration. The study did not find any significant predictive factor for a switch failure. The concern that patients with a higher body mass index could receive lower cumulative doses compared to weight-tiered monthly infusions, leading to a significant influence on treatment efficacy, was not confirmed by this study, or by previous dose-finding trials and … Address correspondence to Dr. S. Monti; E-mail: sara.saramonti{at}gmail.co

Olive Oil and Nuts in Rheumatoid Arthritis Disease Activity

Few observational studies investigated the relationship between single food groups and disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Within a recent Italian cross-sectional study (365 patients, median age: 58.46 years, 78.63% females), we focused on two food groups, olive oil and nuts, representing vegetable sources of fatty acids. Disease activity was measured with Disease Activity Score on 28 joints based on C-reactive protein (DAS28-CRP) and the Simplified Disease Activity Index (SDAI). Robust linear and logistic regression models included tertile-based consumption categories of each food group and several confounders. Stratified analyses were performed by disease severity or duration. Higher consumption of both food groups exerted a favorable effect on disease activity, significant only for olive oil (Beta: -0.33, p-value: 0.03) in the linear regression on the overall sample. This favorable effect was stronger in the more severe or long-standing forms of RA (p-value for heterogeneity <0.05, especially for disease severity). Significant ORs were as low as ~0.30 for both food groups, strata (i.e., more severe and long-standing RA), and disease activity measures. Mean DAS28-CRP significantly decreased by ~0.70 for olive oil and ~0.55 for nuts in the two strata; mean SDAI significantly decreased by 3.30 or more for olive oil in the two strata. Globally, the beta coefficients doubled, and the ORs halved (in absolute values) for both food groups, reaching significance in 12 of the 16 available models fitted to the more severe or long-standing RA strata. More compromised forms of RA may benefit from increasing consumption of olive oil, olives, and nuts

Enhanced epidemiological surveillance of influenza A(H1N1)v in Italy.

As of 7 July 2009, a total of 158 laboratory-confirmed cases of influenza A(H1N1)v were reported in Italy, from half of the 21 Italian regions. To date all cases have had symptoms consistent with seasonal influenza and no severe or fatal cases have been reported. An active surveillance of cases has been set up in Italy in order to undertake appropriate measures to slow down the spread of the new virus. This report describes the routine and enhanced surveillance currently ongoing in Italy

Event-based surveillance during EXPO Milan 2015. Rationale, tools, procedures, and initial results

More than 21 million participants attended EXPO Milan from May to October 2015, making it one of the largest protracted mass gathering events in Europe. Given the expected national and international population movement and health security issues associated with this event, Italy fully implemented, for the first time, an event-based surveillance (EBS) system focusing on naturally occurring infectious diseases and the monitoring of biological agents with potential for intentional release. The system started its pilot phase in March 2015 and was fully operational between April and November 2015. In order to set the specific objectives of the EBS system, and its complementary role to indicator-based surveillance, we defined a list of priority diseases and conditions. This list was designed on the basis of the probability and possible public health impact of infectious disease transmission, existing statutory surveillance systems in place, and any surveillance enhancements during the mass gathering event. This article reports the methodology used to design the EBS system for EXPO Milan and the results of 8 months of surveillance

An extracellular vesicle epitope profile is associated with acute myocardial infarction

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Microenvironment inflammatory infiltrate drives growth speed and outcome of hepatocellular carcinoma: a prospective clinical study

In HCC, tumor microenvironment, heavily influenced by the underlying chronic liver disease, etiology and stage of the tissue damage, affects tumor progression and determines the high heterogeneity of the tumor. Aim of this study was to identify the circulating and tissue components of the microenvironment immune-mediated response affecting the aggressiveness and the ensuing clinical outcome. We analyzed the baseline paired HCC and the surrounding tissue biopsies from a prospective cohort of 132 patients at the first diagnosis of HCC for immunolocalization of PD-1/PD-L1, FoxP3, E-cadherin, CLEC2 and for a panel of 82 microRNA associated with regulation of angiogenesis, cell proliferation, cell signaling, immune control and autophagy. Original microarray data were also explored. Serum samples were analyzed for a panel of 19 cytokines. Data were associated with biochemical data, histopathology and survival. Patients with a more aggressive disease and shorter survival, who we named fast-growing accordingly to the tumor doubling time, at presentation had significantly higher AFP levels, TGF-β1 and Cyphra 21-1 levels. Transcriptomic analysis evidenced a significant downregulation of CLEC2 and upregulation of several metalloproteinases. A marked local upregulation of both PD-1 and PD-L1, a concomitant FoxP3-positive lymphocytic infiltrate, a loss of E-cadherin, gain of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) phenotype and extreme poor differentiation at histology were also present. Upregulated microRNA in fast-growing HCCs are associated with TGF-β signaling, angiogenesis and inflammation. Our data show that fast HCCs are characterized not only by redundant neo-angiogenesis but also by unique features of distinctively immunosuppressed microenvironment, prominent EMT, and clear-cut activation of TGFβ1 signaling in a general background of long-standing and permanent inflammatory state

Risk stratification of patients with SARS-CoV-2 by tissue factor expression in circulating extracellular vesicles

Inflammatory response following SARS-CoV-2 infection results in substantial increase of amounts of intravascular pro-coagulant extracellular vesicles (EVs) expressing tissue factor (CD142) on their surface. CD142-EV turned out to be useful as diagnostic biomarker in COVID-19 patients. Here we aimed at studying the prognostic capacity of CD142-EV in SARS-CoV-2 infection. Expression of CD142-EV was evaluated in 261 subjects admitted to hospital for pneumonia and with a positive molecular test for SARS-CoV-2. The study population consisted of a discovery cohort of selected patients (n = 60) and an independent validation cohort including unselected consecutive enrolled patients (n = 201). CD142-EV levels were correlated with post-hospitalization course of the disease and compared to the clinically available 4C Mortality Score as referral. CD142-EV showed a reliable performance to predict patient prognosis in the discovery cohort (AUC = 0.906) with an accuracy of 81.7%, that was confirmed in the validation cohort (AUC = 0.736). Kaplan-Meier curves highlighted a high discrimination power in unselected subjects with CD142-EV being able to stratify the majority of patients according to their prognosis. We obtained a comparable accuracy, being not inferior in terms of prediction of patients' prognosis and risk of mortality, with 4C Mortality Score. The expression of surface vesicular CD142 and its reliability as prognostic marker was technically validated using different immunocapture strategies and assays. The detection of CD142 on EV surface gains considerable interest as risk stratification tool to support clinical decision making in COVID-19