Coniugare ricerca e sviluppo professionale. Un percorso di formazione degli educatori nell’utilizzo dell’Easy to Read (ETR) Language

Il presente contributo descrive un’attività di sviluppo professionale realizzata presso il Dipartimento di Scienze della formazione dell’Università degli studi di Catania con educatori di associazioni del territorio catanese. L’attività è stata volta a far conoscere i principi dell’Easy to Read Language e a consentire una loro immediata applicazione nei contesti di lavoro degli educatori. Il percorso di formazione costituisce un output del progetto Erasmus Plus Accessible Information Material (AIM), finalizzato a favorire l’alfabetizzazione digitale delle persone adulte con disabilità intellettiva e/o con bassi livelli di alfabetizzazione. Il testo, introdotto da una breve presentazione del progetto, offre spunti di riflessione sull’importanza di utilizzare i risultati della ricerca per favorire lo sviluppo dei professionisti dell’educazione. This contribution describes a professional development activity carried out at the Department of Education of the University of Catania with educators from local associations. The activity was aimed at spreading the principles of Easy to Read Language and allowing their immediate application in the educational work. The training session constitutes an output of the Erasmus Plus Accessible Information Material project (AIM), aimed at promoting digital literacy of adults with intellectual disabilities and/or with low levels of literacy. The paper, introduced by a short presentation of the project, reflects on the importance of using research results to foster the development of professionals in education area

Daisy-like crystals: Not just the result of sampling artifact and not only in urine.

peer reviewe

Looking at the present to gain knowledge on the past: what might be the primeval function of the phytochelatin synthase enzyme?

The phytochelatin synthase (PCS) enzyme is constitutively expressed in the majority of plants, other eukaryotes and certain cyanobacteria. In the presence of metal(loid)s (i.e., Cd, Pb, Hg, As; excess Cu and Zn) eukaryotic PCS is activated and produces the so-called phytochelatins, able to bind and compartmentalise these elements inside the vacuole. The constitutive expression of PCS in the plant clade, even in the absence of toxic metal(loid)s, would lead us to postulate other functions of this enzyme, besides toxic metal detoxification; this hypothesis is also supported by the fact that metal hyperaccumulation in plants do not depend on a “super-synthesis” of phytochelatins as far as their metal hypertolerance is concerned. Iron (Fe) has always been widely present in all environments, but at the same time its solubility and bioavailability poses serious problems for the vast majority of organisms. Thus, we hypothesise that PCS in plants and cyanobacteria might possess a primeval and ubiquitarian function geared towards control of physiological requirements of Fe(II) and Fe(III), perhaps in “cross-homeostasis” with Zn. To this end, our work deals with PCS identification and characterisation in freshwater green algae and basal land plants, namely the charophytes Nitella mucronata and Chara vulgaris, the liverworts Lunularia cruciata and Marchantia polymorpha, the lycophytes Selaginella kraussiana, S. denticulata and S. moellendorffii, and some strains of cyanobacteria (Geitlerinema sp., Gloeobacter violaceus, Nostoc sp.). Functional characterisation of the PCS has been carried out, focusing in particular on the potential post-translational controls of the enzyme activity in the presence/absence of physiological concentrations of Fe and Zn, as well as after exposure to toxic metal(loid)s, such as Cd and As. The results would allow us to achieve comparative characterisations of ancestral PCSs and further clarify their functions in early plants and cyanobacteria

The impact of sequencing on diagnosis and treatment of malignant melanoma

Melanoma is one of the clinically most important cancer types considering its high mortality rate and that it is commonly diagnosed in relatively young people. With the advent of targeted therapies and, more recently, immune checkpoint inhibitors, more treatment options are available resulting in higher patient survival rates. However, the successful application of these targeted therapies critically depends on the reliable detection of molecular aberrations. Today, massively parallel sequencing techniques enable us to analyze large sets of genes in a relatively short time. It has allowed increased knowledge of acquired somatic mutations in melanoma and has helped to identify new targets for personalized therapy, and potentially may help to predict response to immune therapies. Described here are the development of sequencing techniques, how their improvement has changed diagnosis, prognosis and management of malignant melanoma and the future perspectives of melanoma diagnostics in the routine clinical setting

[Central apneas and cardiovascular diseases]

: Central apneas (CA) and periodic breathing (PB) are the most common related breathing disorders in heart failure, being observed in up to 50% of patients. Once considered only a sleep-related phenomenon, actually CA/PB occur across the whole 24 h period and their presence in the awake patient even in the upright position and during physical effort has been associated with a worse clinical profile and a greater mortality. Chemoreflex activation, circulatory time delay and altered plant gain are the pathophysiological determinants. While the use of guideline-recommended medical and device treatment represents the first step in the management of CA in heart failure patients, no specific therapy has been demonstrated to reduce CA-related impact on mortality. In particular, the use of non-invasive ventilation has yielded contradictory results in the context of large-scale randomized clinical trials. The design and testing of therapies targeting the pathophysiological triggers of CA, such as chemoreflex sensitivity, may prove valuable in the next future

Silodosin and tadalafil have synergistic inhibitory effects on nerve-mediated contractions of human and rat isolated prostates.

Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in men with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) are associated with erectile dysfunction. Alpha-1-adrenoceptor antagonists are effective drugs for treating symptomatic BPH. Clinical data show improvements in LUTS by phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitors. This study aimed to evaluate effects of silodosin, a highly selective α1A-adrenoceptor antagonist, alone or in combination with the phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitor tadalafil on contractions of isolated human and rat prostates. In organbath studies, effects of increasing concentrations of silodosin (1nM-1µM) and tadalafil (100nM-100µM) on contractions by electrical field stimulation or phenylephrine of human and rat prostate strip preparations were investigated. The combination silodosin and tadalafil reduced electrically-induced contractions of human prostate preparations better than single drugs alone. At any frequencies (1-32Hz), inhibitory effects of combined therapy (P-values vs single drug) in human tissue were 26-42% (1nM silodosin+100nM tadalafil; P<0.05), 40-58% (10nM silodosin+1µM tadalafil; P<0.001-0.05), 56-67% (100nM silodosin+10µM tadalafil; P<0.01-0.05), and 33-55% (1µM silodosin+100µM tadalafil P<0.01-0.05). Similar findings were obtained in rat prostate preparations. In human and rat prostate tissue, the drug combination exerted similar inhibitory effect on phenylephrine contractions as silodosin alone. Silodosin plus tadalafil had greater potency than each drug alone to inhibit prostate contractions to electrical field stimulation but not to phenylephrine. This study supports the clinical application of a combination of an α1A-adrenoceptor antagonist and a phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitor for symptomatic BPH and suggests that the drug combination requires endogenous nerve-activity for optimal effect