graphene mediated surface enhanced raman scattering in silica mesoporous nanocomposite films

Highly performing mesoporous nanocomposite films with embedded exfoliated graphene and gold nanoparticles display a significant enhancement of G-SERS properties

Mesoscale organization of titania thin films enables oxygen sensing at room temperature

The application of titania materials to gas sensing devices based on thin films are of limited utility because they only operate at a high working temperature and exhibit in general a low sensitivity. To overcome these constraints, a new type of oxygen sensor based on mesoporous titania thin films working at room temperature under UV irradiation has been developed. The increased density of charge carriers induced by the photoconductive effect, has been used to enhance the sensitivity of the thin oxide layers. Mesostructured titania films have been prepared via self-assembly and thermal processing to remove the organic template obtaining anatase nanocrystals. The mesoporous films show a striking decrease of the current in the presence of oxygen that acts as an electron scavenger. Mesoporous samples exhibit a much higher response with respect to dense titania, due to the higher surface area and the larger number of surface defects.RAS is acknowledged for funding this project through CRP 30 L.R. 7/2007 ‘‘Bando Capitale Umano ad Alta Qualificazione annualita` 2015’’. This work was partially supported by the project ‘‘Mi ADATTI E L’ABBATTI’’- INSTM-Regione Lombardia project INSTMRL6

Autotrophic denitrification of nitrate rich wastewater in fluidized bed reactors using pyrite and elemental sulfur as electron donors

This study compared denitrification performances and microbial communities in fluidized bed reactors (FBRs) carrying out autotrophic denitrification using elemental sulfur (S0) and pyrite (FeS2) as electron donors. The reactors were operated for 220 days with nitrate loading rates varying between 23 and 200 mg N-NO 3 − /L ⋅ d and HRT between 48 and 4 h. The highest denitrification rates achieved were 142.2 and 184.4 mg N-NO 3 − /L ⋅ d in pyrite and sulfur FBRs, respectively. Pyrite-driven denitrification produced less SO 4 2 − and no buffer addition was needed to regulate the pH. The sulfur FBR needed instead CaCO3 to maintain the pH neutral and consequentially more sludge was produced (CaSO4 precipitation). The active community of pyrite-based systems was investigated and Azospira sp., Ferruginibacter sp., Rhodococcus sp. and Pseudomonas sp. were the predominant genera, while Thiobacillus sp. and Sulfurovum sp. dominated the active community in the sulfur FBR. However, Thiobacillus sp. became more dominant when operating at elevated nitrogen loading rate. Patterns of diversity and microbial community assembly were assessed and revealed three distinct stages of microbial community succession which corresponded with the operation of a period of high influent nitrate concentration (13 5 mg N-NO 3 − /L). It is proposed that a high degree of functional redundancy in the initial microbial communities may have helped both reactors to respond better to such high influent nitrate concentration

Estudo clínico duplo cego comparando praziquantel com oxamniquine

Com objetivo de se compararem a tolerabilidade e eficácia do praziquantel e oxamniquine, procedeu-se a um estudo prospectivo duplo-cego envolvendo 120 pacientes com esquistossomose intestinal ou hepatintestinal. Os pacientes foram randomizados em dois grupos. Um foi tratado com praziquantel, na dose de 55 mg/kg de peso, o outro com oxamniquine, 15 mg/kg de peso, sempre administrados em dose única por via oral. O diagnóstico e seguimento parasitológicos basearam-se ho exame de fazes peio método de Kate Katz. Em 73 de 77 casos negativos após tratamento, executaram-se biópsias retais. Efeitos colaterais, principalmente tontura, sonolência, dores abdominais, cefaléia, náuseas e diarréia foram observados em 87% dos casos. Sua incidência, intensidade e duração foram semelhantes em ambos os grupos, mas a dor abdominal foi significativamente mais freqüente após praziquantel, havendo maior tendência para tontura intensa após oxamniquine. Observou-se aumento significante de alamina-aminotransferase e gama-glutamiltransferase após oxamniquine e de bilirrubina total após praziquantel. Um total de 48 pacientes tratados com praziquantel e 46 com oxamniquine completaram os exames de controle até o sexto mês. As percentages de cura foram de 79,2% e de 84,8% respectivamente, diferença não significativa. Os pacientes não curados mostraram redução média do número de ovos de 93,5% e de 84,1%, diferença não significativa. Cinco pacientes retratados com praziquantel curaram-se, mas somente um de três retratados com oxamniquine. Estes resultados mostram, que ambas as drogas-apesar de diferentes propriedades farmacológicas provocam reações colaterais semelhantes e apresentam eficácia terapêutica comparável.A double-blind clinical trial involving 120 patients with chronic schistosomiasis was carried out to compare the tolerability and efficacy of praziquantel and oxamniquine. The patients were randomly allocated into two groups. One was treated with praziquantel, 55 mg/kg of body weight CBWT), and the other one with oxamniquine, 15mg/kg bwt, administered in a single oral dose. The diagnosis and the parasitological follow-up was based on stool examinations by quantitative Kato-Katz method and on rectal biopsies. Side-effects mainly dizziness, sleepness, abdominal distress, headache, nausea and diarrhea were observed in 87% of the cases. Their incidence, intensity and duration were similar for both drugs but abdominal pain was significantly more frequent after praziquantel intake and severe dizziness was more commonly reported after oxamniquine. A significant increase of alanine-aminotransferase and y-glutamyltransferase was found with the latter drug and of total bilirubin with the former one. A total of 48 patients treated with praziquantel and 46 with oxamniquine completed with negative findings the required three post-treatment parasitological controls three slides of each stool sample on the first, third and sixth month. The achieved cure rates were 79.2% and 84.8%, respectively, a difference without statistical significance. The non-cured cases showed a mean reduction in the number of eggs per gram of feces of 93.5% after praziquantel and of 84.1% after oxamniquine. This diference also was not significant. Five patients retreated with praziquantel were cured but only one out of three treated a second time with oxamniquine. These findings show that both drugs despite their different chemical structures, pharmacological properties and mechanisms-of-action induce similar side-effects as well as a comparable therapeutical efficacy, in agreement with the results reported from analogous investigations

The endogenous and reactive depression subtypes revisited: integrative animal and human studies implicate multiple distinct molecular mechanisms underlying major depressive disorder

Traditional diagnoses of major depressive disorder (MDD) suggested that the presence or absence of stress prior to onset results in either 'reactive' or 'endogenous' subtypes of the disorder, respectively. Several lines of research suggest that the biological underpinnings of 'reactive' or 'endogenous' subtypes may also differ, resulting in differential response to treatment. We investigated this hypothesis by comparing the gene-expression profiles of three animal models of 'reactive' and 'endogenous' depression. We then translated these findings to clinical samples using a human post-mortem mRNA study

Quantum numbers of the X(3872)X(3872) state and orbital angular momentum in its ρ0Jψ\rho^0 J\psi decay

Angular correlations in $B^+\to X(3872) K^+$ decays, with $X(3872)\to \rho^0 J/\psi$, $\rho^0\to\pi^+\pi^-$ and $J/\psi \to\mu^+\mu^-$, are used to measure orbital angular momentum contributions and to determine the $J^{PC}$ value of the $X(3872)$ meson. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 3.0 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collisions collected with the LHCb detector. This determination, for the first time performed without assuming a value for the orbital angular momentum, confirms the quantum numbers to be $J^{PC}=1^{++}$. The $X(3872)$ is found to decay predominantly through S wave and an upper limit of $4\%$ at $95\%$ C.L. is set on the fraction of D wave.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figure

Effectiveness of cardiac resynchronization therapy in heart failure patients with valvular heart disease: comparison with patients affected by ischaemic heart disease or dilated cardiomyopathy. The InSync/InSync ICD Italian Registry

AimsTo analyse the effectiveness of cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) in patients with valvular heart disease (a subset not specifically investigated in randomized controlled trials) in comparison with ischaemic heart disease or dilated cardiomyopathy patients.Methods and resultsPatients enrolled in a national registry were evaluated during a median follow-up of 16 months after CRT implant. Patients with valvular heart disease treated with CRT (n = 108) in comparison with ischaemic heart disease (n = 737) and dilated cardiomyopathy (n = 635) patients presented: (i) a higher prevalence of chronic atrial fibrillation, with atrioventricular node ablation performed in around half of the cases; (ii) a similar clinical and echocardiographic profile at baseline; (iii) a similar improvement of LVEF and a similar reduction in ventricular volumes at 6-12 months; (iv) a favourable clinical response at 12 months with an improvement of the clinical composite score similar to that occurring in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy and more pronounced than that observed in patients with ischaemic heart disease; (v) a long-term outcome, in term of freedom from death or heart transplantation, similar to patients affected by ischaemic heart disease and basically more severe than that of patients affected by dilated cardiomyopathy.ConclusionIn 'real world' clinical practice, CRT appears to be effective also in patients with valvular heart disease. However, in this group of patients the outcome after CRT does not precisely overlap any of the two other groups of patients, for which much more data are currently available

HIV incidence estimate combining HIV/AIDS surveillance, testing history information and HIV test to identify recent infections in Lazio, Italy

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The application of serological methods in HIV/AIDS routine surveillance systems to identify persons with recently acquired HIV infection has been proposed as a tool which may provide an accurate description of the current transmission patterns of HIV. Using the information about recent infection it is possible to estimate HIV incidence, according to the model proposed by Karon et al. in 2008, that accounts for the effect of testing practices on the number of persons detected as recently infected.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We used data from HIV/AIDS surveillance in the period 2004-2008 to identify newly diagnosed persons. These were classified with recent/non-recent infection on the basis of an avidity index result, or laboratory evidence of recently acquired infection (i.e., previous documented negative HIV test within 6 months; or presence of HIV RNA or p24 antigen with simultaneous negative/indeterminate HIV antibody test). Multiple imputation was used to impute missing information. The incidence estimate was obtained as the number of persons detected as recently infected divided by the estimated probability of detection. Estimates were stratified by calendar year, transmission category, gender and nationality.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>During the period considered 3,633 new HIV diagnoses were reported to the regional surveillance system. Applying the model, we estimated that in 2004-2008 there were 5,465 new infections (95%CI: 4,538-6,461); stratifying by transmission category, the estimated number of infections was 2,599 among heterosexual contacts, 2,208 among men-who-have-sex-with-men, and 763 among injecting-drug-users. In 2008 there were 952 (625-1,229) new HIV infections (incidence of 19.9 per 100,000 person-years). In 2008, for men-who-have-sex-with-men (691 per 100,000 person-years) and injecting drug users (577 per 100,000 person-years) the incidence remained comparatively high with respect to the general population, although a decreasing pattern during 2004-2008 was observed for injecting-drug-users.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These estimates suggest that the transmission of HIV infection in Lazio remains frequent and men-who-have-sex-with men and injecting-drug-users are still greatly affected although the majority of new infections occurs among heterosexual individuals.</p

Expression Profiling of a Genetic Animal Model of Depression Reveals Novel Molecular Pathways Underlying Depressive-Like Behaviours

The Flinders model is a validated genetic rat model of depression that exhibits a number of behavioural, neurochemical and pharmacological features consistent with those observed in human depression.In this study we have used genome-wide microarray expression profiling of the hippocampus and prefrontal/frontal cortex of Flinders Depression Sensitive (FSL) and control Flinders Depression Resistant (FRL) lines to understand molecular basis for the differences between the two lines. We profiled two independent cohorts of Flinders animals derived from the same colony six months apart, each cohort statistically powered to allow independent as well as combined analysis. Using this approach, we were able to validate using real-time-PCR a core set of gene expression differences that showed statistical significance in each of the temporally distinct cohorts, representing consistently maintained features of the model. Small but statistically significant increases were confirmed for cholinergic (chrm2, chrna7) and serotonergic receptors (Htr1a, Htr2a) in FSL rats consistent with known neurochemical changes in the model. Much larger gene changes were validated in a number of novel genes as exemplified by TMEM176A, which showed 35-fold enrichment in the cortex and 30-fold enrichment in hippocampus of FRL animals relative to FSL.These data provide significant insights into the molecular differences underlying the Flinders model, and have potential relevance to broader depression research

Association of kidney disease measures with risk of renal function worsening in patients with type 1 diabetes

Background: Albuminuria has been classically considered a marker of kidney damage progression in diabetic patients and it is routinely assessed to monitor kidney function. However, the role of a mild GFR reduction on the development of stage 653 CKD has been less explored in type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) patients. Aim of the present study was to evaluate the prognostic role of kidney disease measures, namely albuminuria and reduced GFR, on the development of stage 653 CKD in a large cohort of patients affected by T1DM. Methods: A total of 4284 patients affected by T1DM followed-up at 76 diabetes centers participating to the Italian Association of Clinical Diabetologists (Associazione Medici Diabetologi, AMD) initiative constitutes the study population. Urinary albumin excretion (ACR) and estimated GFR (eGFR) were retrieved and analyzed. The incidence of stage 653 CKD (eGFR &lt; 60 mL/min/1.73 m2) or eGFR reduction &gt; 30% from baseline was evaluated. Results: The mean estimated GFR was 98 \ub1 17 mL/min/1.73m2 and the proportion of patients with albuminuria was 15.3% (n = 654) at baseline. About 8% (n = 337) of patients developed one of the two renal endpoints during the 4-year follow-up period. Age, albuminuria (micro or macro) and baseline eGFR &lt; 90 ml/min/m2 were independent risk factors for stage 653 CKD and renal function worsening. When compared to patients with eGFR &gt; 90 ml/min/1.73m2 and normoalbuminuria, those with albuminuria at baseline had a 1.69 greater risk of reaching stage 3 CKD, while patients with mild eGFR reduction (i.e. eGFR between 90 and 60 mL/min/1.73 m2) show a 3.81 greater risk that rose to 8.24 for those patients with albuminuria and mild eGFR reduction at baseline. Conclusions: Albuminuria and eGFR reduction represent independent risk factors for incident stage 653 CKD in T1DM patients. The simultaneous occurrence of reduced eGFR and albuminuria have a synergistic effect on renal function worsening