The extreme hyper-reactivity of Cys94 in lysozyme avoids its amorphous aggregation

Many proteins provided with disulfde bridges in the native state undergo amorphous irreversible aggregation when these bonds are not formed. Here we show that egg lysozyme displays a clever strategy to prevent this deleterious aggregation during the nascent phase when disulfdes are still absent. In fact, when the reduced protein assembles into a molten globule state, its cysteines acquire strong hyper-reactivity towards natural disulfdes. The most reactive residue, Cys94, reacts with oxidized glutathione (GSSG) 3000 times faster than an unperturbed protein cysteine. A low pKa of its sulfydryl group (6.6/7.1) and a productive complex with GSSG (KD=0.3mM), causes a fast glutathionylation of this residue (t1/2=3s) and a complete inhibition of the protein aggregation. Other six cysteines display 70 times higher reactivity toward GSSG. The discovery of extreme hyper-reactivity in cysteines only devoted to structural roles opens new research felds for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson diseases

Association between short-term exposure to environmental air pollution and atopic dermatitis flare in patients treated with dupilumab

Background: The magnitude of short/medium-term air pollution exposure on atopic dermatitis (AD) flare has not been fully investigated. The aim of the study was to investigate the association of short/mediumterm exposure to airborne pollution on AD flares in patients treated with dupilumab. Methods: Observational case-crossover study. Patients with moderate-to-severe AD under treatment with dupilumab were included. The exposure of interest was the mean concentrations of coarse and fine particulate matter (PM10, PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide, and oxides (NO2, NOx). Different intervals were considered at 1 to 60 days before the AD flare and control visit, defined as the visit with the highest Eczema Area and Severity Index scores [8 and #7, respectively. A conditional logistic regression analysis adjusted for systemic treatments was employed to estimate the incremental odds (%) of flare every 10 g/m3 pollutant concentration. Results: Data on 169 of 528 patients with AD having 1130 follow-up visits and 5840 air pollutant concentration measurements were retrieved. The mean age was 41.4 6 20.3 years; 94 (55%) men. The incremental odds curve indicated a significant positive trend of AD flare for all pollutants in all time windows. At 60 days, every 10 g/m3 PM10, PM2.5, NOx, and NO2 increase concentration was associated with 82%, 67%, 28%, and 113% odds of flare, respectively. Conclusions: In patients treated with dupilumab, acute air pollution exposure is associated with an increased risk for AD flare with a dose-response relationship

Computer-based cognitive rehabilitation: the CoRe system

This work aims at providing a tool for supporting cognitive rehabilitation. This is a wide field, that includes a variety of diseases and related clinical pictures; for this reason the need arises to have a tool available that overcomes the difficulties entailed by what currently is the most common approach, that is, the so-called pen and paper rehabilitation. Methods: We first organized a big number of stimuli in an ontology that represents concepts, attributes and a set of relationships among concepts. Stimuli may be words, sounds, 2D and 3D images. Then, we developed an engine that automatically generates exercises by exploiting that ontology. The design of exercises has been carried on in synergy with neuropsychologists and speech therapists. Solutions have been devised aimed at personalizing the exercises according to both patients’ preferences and performance. Results: Exercises addressed to rehabilitation of executive functions and aphasia-related diseases have been implemented. The system has been tested on both healthy volunteers (n 1/4 38) and patients (n 1/4 9), obtaining a favourable rating and suggestions for improvements. Conclusions: We created a tool able to automate the execution of cognitive rehabilitation tasks. We hope the variety and personalization of exercises will allow to increase compliance, particularly from elderly people, usually neither familiar with technology nor particularly willing to rely on it. The next step involves the creation of a telerehabilitation tool, to allow therapy sessions to be undergone from home, thus guaranteeing continuity of care and advantages in terms of time and costs for the patients and the National Healthcare System (NHS).Postprint (published version

Giant reed (Arundo donax L.) for biogas production: land use saving and nitrogen utilisation efficiency compared with arable crops

Aiming to improve the sustainability of biogas supply chains, the research for alternative feedstocks is a key issue and giant reed (Arundo donax L.) is a promising no-food crop to be used in anaerobic digestion. In fact, giant reed is a perennial species characterised by low nutrient requirements and is able to provide promising biogas yields. Its suitability for anaerobic digestion is influenced by harvest time, since plant characteristics vary noticeably along the season. Moreover, ensiling is a storage technique that can assure a good preservation of the biomass over time, but also influence the methane yields. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the suitability for biogas production of giant reed silage, according to different cutting regimes, and to evaluate the efficiency in saving land and nitrogen for fuelling biogas plants, in comparison with maize and two sorghum varieties. Methane yields per hectare (Nm3 CH4 ha–1) were determined by multiplying the biochemical methane potential of each substrate by the aboveground biomass of the corresponding crop. The land use coefficient (LU), namely the land needed to fuel one kW power (ha kWe–1), was calculated from the estimated methane yields per hectare. Finally, nitrogen utilisation efficiency (NUtE), which is the ratio between the estimated methane yield and the nitrogen uptake per hectare (Nm3 CH4 kgN–1), was determined for each crop species and according to the harvest time and frequency of giant reed. Overall, a good suitability for ensiling was observed in giant reed. When harvested in September, the crop yielded about 9900 Nm3 CH4 ha–1, while in double harvest systems biomethane was about 12,000 Nm3 CH4 ha–1, +35% and +70% than maize and sorghum respectively. Moreover, giant reed under double harvest management was the most land-conservative option, as LU was about 0.22 ha kWe–1, while in annual crops it was about 0.35 ha kWe–1. The higher NUtE was observed in single harvests (up to 64 Nm3 CH4 kgN–1), while double harvests showed remarkably lower values, averaging 48 Nm3 CH4 kgN–1. Annual crops were less efficient, since NUtE ranged from 28 Nm3 CH4 kgN–1 (maize) to 40 Nm3 CH4 kgN–1 (fibre sorghum). In conclusion, giant reed can be an alternative for biogas making, potentially providing land and nitrogen savings compared with conventional annual crops

The Coaxial L-P Cryogenic Receiver of the Sardinia Radio Telescope

The design and characterization of the coaxial dual-band L-P radio astronomical receiver for the prime focus of the Sardinia radio telescope are presented. The main feature of this receiver is to allow simultaneous radio astronomical observations in the P (305-410 MHz) and L (1.3-1.8 GHz) frequency bands. This functionality, which has been requested by the Pulsar research group at the National Institute for Astrophysics to estimate, among the others, the ionospheric dispersion in Pulsar observation, is currently missing in any other radio astronomical facility throughout the world. Also, single band operation is ensured by the proposed design both in linear and circular polarization, making this L-P receiver an ideal instrument for a wide range of radio astronomical and space applications. Some components of the receiver chain have been housed inside a cryostat and refrigerated at 20 K to reduce the noise temperature, resulting in a good performance compared to the receivers of other large radio telescopes. Several challenging issues have been faced in the design, mainly due to the large dimension and weight of the overall structure to be mounted in the prime focus position. Moreover, the design of the cryostat was constrained by the limited space available in the direction of the optical axis inside the focal cabin of the radio telescope, requiring a compact and light realization of the components of the receiver chain. This called for a home-made design of several devices, requiring a strong collaborative effort by researchers, engineers, and astronomers

Covid-19 seroprevalence among healthcare workers of a large covid-19 hospital in rome reveals strengths and limits of two different serological tests

Healthcare workers are at the forefront against COVID-19, worldwide. Since Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli (FPG) IRCCS was enlisted as a COVID-19 hospital, the healthcare workers deployed to COVID-19 wards were separated from those with limited/no exposure, whereas the administrative staff were designated to work from home. Between 4 June and 3 July 2020, an investigation was conducted to evaluate the seroprevalence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) immunoglobulin (IgG) antibodies among the employees of the FPG using point-of-care (POC) and venous blood tests. Sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values were determined with reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction on nasal/oropharyngeal swabs as the diagnostic gold standard. The participants enrolled amounted to 4777. Seroprevalence was 3.66% using the POC test and 1.19% using the venous blood test, with a significant difference (p < 0.05). The POC test sensitivity and specificity were, respectively, 63.64% (95% confidence interval (CI): 62.20% to 65.04%) and 96.64% (95% CI: 96.05% to 97.13%), while those of the venous blood test were, respectively, 78.79% (95% CI: 77.58% to 79.94%) and 99.36% (95% CI: 99.07% to 99.55%). Among the low-risk populations, the POC test’s predictive values were 58.33% (positive) and 98.23% (negative), whereas those of the venous blood test were 92.86% (positive) and 98.53% (negative). According to our study, these serological tests cannot be a valid alternative to diagnose COVID-19 infection in progress

Formulazione intrinseca del problema di Cauchy in relativita' generale: caso del vuoto

Nell'ambito della decomposizione 3+1 dello spazio-tempo viene considerato il problema di Cauchy per le equazioni gravitazionali, nel caso del vuoto