Longitudinal Study of Optic Disk Perfusion and Retinal Structure in Leber's Hereditary Optic Neuropathy

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate optic disk perfusion and neural retinal structure in patients with subacute Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) and LHON carriers, as compared with healthy controls. Methods: This study included 8 patients with LHON in the subacute stage, 10 asymptomatic carriers of a LHON-associated mitochondrial DNA mutation, and 40 controls. All subjects underwent measurement of the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness, the ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (GCIPL) thickness using optical coherence tomography and optic disk microvascular perfusion (Mean Tissue [MT]) using laser speckle flowgraphy (LSFG). Patients were re-examined after a median interval of 3 months from the baseline visit. Results: LHON carriers had higher values of RNFL thickness, GCIPL thickness, and disk area than controls (P < 0.05), whereas MT was not different between the two groups (P = 0.936). Median MT and RNFL thickness were 32% and 15% higher in the early subacute stage of the disease than in controls (P < 0.001 and P = 0.001). MT declined below the values of controls during the late subacute stage (P = 0.024), whereas RNFL thickness declined later during the dynamic stage (P < 0.001). GCIPL thickness was lower in patients with LHON than in controls independently of the stage of the disease (P < 0.001). Conclusions: The high blood flow at the optic disk during the early subacute stage may be the consequence of vasodilation due to nitric oxide release as compensation to mitochondrial impairment. Optic disk perfusion as measured by LSFG is a promising biomarker for LHON diagnosis and monitoring as well as an objective outcome measure for assessing response to therapies

A Recovery-Oriented Program for People with Bipolar Disorder through Virtual Reality-Based Cognitive Remediation: Results of a Feasibility Randomized Clinical Trial

Background: Cognitive impairment is a frequent consequence of bipolar disorder (BD) that is difficult to prevent and treat. In addition, the quality of the preliminary evidence on the treatment of BD through Cognitive Remediation (CR) with traditional methods is poor. This study aims to evaluate the feasibility of a CR intervention with fully immersive Virtual Reality (VR) as an additional treatment for BD and offers preliminary data on its efficacy. Methods: Feasibility randomized controlled cross-over clinical study, with experimental condition lasting three months, crossed between two groups. Experimental condition: CR fully immersive VR recovery-oriented program plus conventional care; Control condition: conventional care. The control group began the experimental condition after a three months period of conventional care (waiting list). After the randomization of 50 people with BD diagnosis, the final sample consists of 39 participants in the experimental condition and 25 in the control condition because of dropouts. Results: Acceptability and tolerability of the intervention were good. Compared to the waitlist group, the experimental group reported a significant improvement regarding cognitive functions (memory: p = 0.003; attention: p = 0.002, verbal fluency: p = 0.010, executive function: p = 0.003), depressive symptoms (p = 0.030), emotional awareness (p = 0.007) and biological rhythms (p = 0.029). Conclusions: The results are preliminary and cannot be considered exhaustive due to the small sample size. However, the evidence of efficacy, together with the good acceptability of the intervention, is of interest. These results suggest the need to conduct studies with larger samples that can confirm this data. Trial registration: ClinicalTrialsgov NCT05070065, registered in September 202

Contributi per una flora vascolare di Toscana. XII (739-812)

Vengono presentate nuove località e/o conferme relative a 74 taxa specifici e sottospecifici di piante vascolari della flora vascolare to- scana, appartenenti a 69 generi e 28 famiglie: Bunium, Trinia (Apia- ceae), Nerium (Apocynaceae), Lemna (Araceae), Artemisia, Bidens, Centaurea, Crupina, Gazania, Hieracium, Rhagadiolus, Symphyotri- chum, Tagetes, Tripleurospermum (Asteraceae), Impatiens (Balsami- naceae), Anredera (Basellaceae), Cynoglottis, Phacelia (Boraginaceae), Cardamine, Diplotaxis, Hornungia (Brassicaceae), Campanula, Lobe- lia (Campanulaceae), Cerastium, Dianthus, Polycarpon, Spergularia, Stellaria (Caryophyllaceae), Commelina (Commelinaceae), Fallopia (Convolvulaceae), Sempervivum (Crassulaceae), Dryopteris (Dryopte- ridaceae), Euphorbia (Euphorbiaceae), Lathyrus, Medicago, Ononis, Trigonella (Fabaceae), Geranium (Geraniaceae), Lycopus, Stachys (Lamiaceae), Malva (Malvaceae), Anacamptis, Cephalanthera, Epi- pactis, Orchis (Orchidaceae), Linaria (Plantaginaceae), Ceratochloa, Eragrostis, Festuca, Gastridium, Hyparrhenia, Molineriella, Phalaris, Phyllostachys, Setaria, Sporobolus, Stipellula (Poaceae), Anogramma (Pteridaceae), Anemonoides, Ranunculus (Ranunculaceae), Reseda (Resedaceae), Alchemilla, Kerria, Pyracantha, Rosa, Rubus (Rosa- ceae), Galium, Valantia (Rubiaceae), Thesium (Santalaceae). Infine, viene discusso lo status di conservazione delle entità e gli eventuali vincoli di protezione dei biotopi segnalati

A Methodological Note on VATSIM-DF (I) VAT Micro Simulation Model for Italy

The VATSIM-DF is a simulation model developed by the Department of Finance (DF) with the aim of assessing the effects of VAT reforms, regarding both the quantification of changes in revenues and the distributive effects of tax incidence variations on households’ disposable income. VATSIMDF consists of three modules. This methodological note aims to explain how the VATSIM-DF (I) works. By following a mesoeconomic approach, this module simulates VAT revenues under current legislation on the three (3) principal components of demand. Firstly, household final consumption, that is the “pure” VAT component; secondly, the non-deductible purchases of goods and services (both intermediate and capital goods) made by firms which operate in the market and non-market sectors (“impure” VAT); lastly, the adjustment to VAT tax base due to sales and purchases made by firms below-threshold, not subject to VAT application

DAAB : on-Chip-integrierte verteilte Verstärker- und Antennen-Systeme mit Lokaler-Rückseiten-Ätztechnologie SiGe BiCMOS für Empfänger mit ultrabreiter Bandbreite

In 2012 a group of researchers proposed a basic research initiative to the German Research Foundation (DFG) as a special priority project (SPP) with the name: Wireless 100 Gbps and beyond. The main goal of this initiative was the investigation of architectures, technologies and methods to go well beyond the state of the art. The target of 100 Gbps was set far away from the (at that time) achievable 1 Gbps such that it was not possible to achieve promising results just by tuning some parameters. We wanted to find breakthrough solutions. When we started the work on the proposal we discussed the challenges to be addressed in order to advancing the wireless communication speed significantly. Having the fundamental Shannon boundary in mind we discussed how to achieve the 100 Gbps speed.Angesichts der rapiden Entwicklung der Funkkommunikation hat die Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft im Jahr 2012 ein Schwerpunktprogramm mit dem Titel "Wireless 100 Gbps and beyound" (dt.: Drahtloskommunikation mit 100 Gbps und mehr) gestartet. Diese Initiative zielte auf neue Lösungen, Methoden und neues Wissen zur Lösung des Problems des kontinuierlichen Bedarfs an immer höheren Datenraten im Bereich der Funkkommunikation. Eine international besetze Jury hat etliche Projektvorschläge evaluiert, aus denen 11 Projekte ausgewählt und über zweimal 3 Jahre von Mitte 2013 bis Mitte 2019 gefördert wurden. Das vorliegende Buch versammelt die Ansätze, Architekturen und Erkenntnisse der Projekte. Es überspannt einen breiten Themenbereich, angefangen mit speziellen Fragen der physikalischen Übertragung, des Antennendesigns und der HF-Eingangs-Architekturen für unterschiedliche Frequenzbereiche bis 240 GHz. Darüber hinaus beschreibt das Buch Ansätze für Ultra-Hochgeschwindigkeits-Funksysteme, deren Basisbandverarbeitung, Kodierung sowie mögliche Umsetzungen. Nicht zuletzt wurden auch Fragen des Protokolldesigns behandelt, um eine enge Integration in moderne Computersysteme zu erleichtern

On-Chip Integrated Distributed Amplifier and Antenna Systems in SiGe BiCMOS for Transceivers with Ultra-Large Bandwidth

This paper presents an overview of the research work currently being performed within the frame of project DAAB and its successor DAAB-TX towards the integration of ultra-wideband transceivers operating at mm-wave frequencies and capable of data rates up to 100 Gbits–¹. Two basic systemarchitectures are being considered: integrating a broadband antenna with a distributed amplifier and integrate antennas centered at adjacent frequencies with broadband active combiners or dividers. The paper discusses in detail the design of such systems and their components, fromthe distributed amplifiers and combiners, to the broadband silicon antennas and their single-chip integration. All components are designed for fabrication in a commercially available SiGe:C BiCMOS technology. The presented results represent the state of the art in their respective areas: 170 GHz is the highest reported bandwidth for distributed amplifiers integrated in Silicon; 89 GHz is the widest reported bandwidth for integrated-system antennas; the simulated performance of the two antenna integrated receiver spans 105 GHz centered at 148GHz, which would improve the state of the art by a factor in excess of 4 even against III-V implementations, if confirmed by measurements

Post-ovulatory ageing of mouse oocytes affects the distribution of specific spindle-associated proteins and Akt expression levels

The aim of this study has been to determine the effects of in vivo post-ovulatory ageing (POA) on the distribution of spindle-associated proteins, histone H3/H4 post-translational modifications and on v-akt murine thymoma viral oncogene homolog 1 (Akt) expression levels. To this end, oocytes were retrieved 13, 29 and 33 h after human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) treatment. The presence and distribution at the meiotic spindle of acetylated tubulin, γ-tubulin, polo kinase-1 and Ser473/Thr308 phosphorylated Akt (pAkt) as well as histone H3 and H4 acetylation and phosphorylation levels were assayed via immunofluorescence. Akt expression levels were determined via reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and western blotting analyses. Spindles from oocytes recovered 13h and 29h after hCG treatment showed similar levels of acetylated tubulin but ageing induced: (1) translocation of γ-tubulin from spindle poles to microtubules, (2) absence of Thr308- and Ser473-pAkt in 76% and 30% of oocytes, respectively, and (3) a significant reduction in phosphorylation levels of serine 10 on histone 3. At 29h, a significant decrease in Akt mRNA, but not in pAkt or Akt protein levels, was recorded. By contrast, protein content significantly decreased 33h after hCG. We conclude that POA impairs oocyte viability and fertilisability by altering the expression levels and spindle distribution of proteins that are implicated in cell survival and chromosome segregation. Together, these events could play a role in oocyte apoptosis. © CSIRO 2014