The role of adenosine and P2Y receptors expressed by multiple cell types in pain transmission

The role of extracellular nucleotides and nucleosides as signaling molecules in cell-to-cell communication has now been clearly established. This is particularly true in the central and peripheral nervous system, where purines and pyrimidines are involved in both physiological and pathological interactions between neurons and surrounding glial cells. It can be thus foreseen that the purinergic system could represent a new potential target for the development of effective analgesics, also through the normalization of neuronal functions and the inhibition of glial cell activation. Research in the last 15 years has progressively confirmed this hypothesis, but no purinergic-based analgesics have reach the market so far; in the present review we have collected the more recent discoveries on the role of G protein-coupled P2Y nucleotide and of adenosine receptors expressed by both neurons and glial cells under painful conditions, and we have highlighted some of the challenges that must be faced to translate basic and preclinical studies to clinics

Isospin Mixing in Zr 80: From Finite to Zero Temperature

The isospin mixing was deduced in the compound nucleus Zr80 at an excitation energy of E∗=54 MeV from the γ decay of the giant dipole resonance. The reaction Ca40+Ca40 at Ebeam=136 MeV was used to form the compound nucleus in the isospin I=0 channel, while the reaction Cl37+Ca44 at Ebeam=95 MeV was used as the reference reaction. The γ rays were detected with the AGATA demonstrator array coupled with LaBr3:Ce detectors. The temperature dependence of the isospin mixing was obtained and the zero-temperature value deduced. The isospin-symmetry-breaking correction δC used for the Fermi superallowed transitions was extracted and found to be consistent with β-decay data. © 2015 American Physical Society

226 Comparison between standard and empiric Spirotiger® setup in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF)

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Educating and Training in Research Integrity (RI): A Study on the Perceptions and Experiences of Early Career Researchers Attending an Institutional RI Course

Research integrity (RI) is defined as adherence to ethical principles, deontological duties, and professional standards necessary for responsible conduct of scientific research. Early training on RI, especially for early-career researchers, could be useful to help develop good standards of conduct and prevent research misconduct (RM). The aim of this study is to assess the effectiveness of a training course on RI, by mapping the attitudes of early-career researchers on this topic through a questionnaire built upon the revised version of the Scientific Misconduct Questionnaire and administered to all participants at the beginning and at the end of the course. Results show that after the course, participants reporting a high understanding of the rules and procedures related to RM significantly increased (pre-course: 38.5%, post-course: 61.5%), together with the percentage of those reporting a lack of awareness on the extent of misconduct (pre-course: 46.2%, post-course: 69.2%), and of those who believe that the lack of research ethics consultation services strongly affects RM (pre-course: 15.4%, post-course: 61.5%). Early-career researchers agree on the importance to share with peers and superiors any ethical concern that may arise in research, and to create a work environment that fosters RI awareness. As a whole, results suggest the effectiveness of the course. Institutions should introduce RI training for early-career researchers, together with research methodology, integrity and ethics consultation services to support them. Senior scientists should promote RI into their research practices, and should stimulate engagement in peer-to-peer dialogue to develop good practices based on RI principles

The Purinergic System and Glial Cells : Emerging Costars in Nociception

It is now well established that glial cells not only provide mechanical and trophic support to neurons but can directly contribute to neurotransmission, for example, by release and uptake of neurotransmitters and by secreting pro- and anti-inflammatory mediators. This has greatly changed our attitude towards acute and chronic disorders, paving the way for new therapeutic approaches targeting activated glial cells to indirectly modulate and/or restore neuronal functions. A deeper understanding of the molecular mechanisms and signaling pathways involved in neuron-to-glia and glia-to-glia communication that can be pharmacologically targeted is therefore a mandatory step toward the success of this new healing strategy. This holds true also in the field of pain transmission, where the key involvement of astrocytes and microglia in the central nervous system and satellite glial cells in peripheral ganglia has been clearly demonstrated, and literally hundreds of signaling molecules have been identified. Here, we shall focus on one emerging signaling system involved in the cross talk between neurons and glial cells, the purinergic system, consisting of extracellular nucleotides and nucleosides and their membrane receptors. Specifically, we shall summarize existing evidence of novel "druggable" glial purinergic targets, which could help in the development of innovative analgesic approaches to chronic pain states

Tricorynus rudepunctatus (PIC) (Coleoptera: Anobiidae): Diagnosis and damage

The objective of this research was to identify and study a species of Anobiidae that causes great damage and is a cause of concern as an urban pest in Brazil. This species has been found infesting wood, furniture, doors, books, insect collections, tea, dried fruits, handcrafts, and many other commodities. Inspections were done in houses and storehouses in the city of Curitiba, PR, Brazil in order to collect objects and materials that present signs of anobiid attack. The only species identified was Tricorynus rudepunctatus (Coleoptera: Anobiidae). There is only one reference to this species in the central region of Brazil. Another anobiid, the book pest Tricorynus herbarius has been recorded attacking books and historical documents and Tricorynus sp. attacking forest trees, but it was not recorded in our survey. Usually, the damage caused by T. rudepunctatus is mistaken with damage by termites; and when the insect is collected it is frequently misidentified as T. herbarius or as the cigarette beetle, Lasioderma serricorne or even as Stegobium paniceum, the drugstore beetle. Some morphological characters useful to identify T. rudepunctatus are: oval body about 2.7 mm long; dark brown with smooth hairs all over the body; head concealed under the pronotum; 10-segmented antenna with the three apical segments forming a 3-segmented loose club; elytra with two grooves at the posterior edge; fore femur with a transversal line on its anterior face; pro and mesotibia with two distinct striae; metasternum longitudinally carinate in the middle. Adults and larvae bore inside the materials, forming galleries and producing a coarse powder. Keywords: Anobiids, Insect identification, Morphological characters, Urban pest

Virulence-associated genes in Avian Pathogenic Escherichia coli of turkey

50 Escherichia coli (APEC-Avian Pathogenic Escherichia coli) strains and 15 E. coli (AFEC-Avian Faecal Escherichia coli) from turkeys affected by colibacillosis and from healthy turkeys were tested for the presence of eight different virulence-associated genes. Besides, APEC were serotyped. O78 has been the most detected serotyped. The presence of the tested virulence genes was prevalently related to the APEC isolates. With reference to serogroup, all the tested O78 resulted iss and irp2 positive. Besides, tsh e cva/cvi were respectively present in 88.9 and 83.3% of O78. Nevertheless, the finding of a not typeable strains equipped with all the eight tested virulence genes among the APEC isolates suggest the importance of a careful and complete characterisation of the isolate to evaluate the real potential pathogenic attitude of the bacterium

Characterization of Large Volume 3.5 x 8 inches LaBr3:Ce Detectors

The properties of large volume cylindrical 3.5 x 8 inches (89 mm x 203 mm) LaBr3:Ce scintillation detectors coupled to the Hamamatsu R10233-100SEL photo-multiplier tube were investigated. These crystals are among the largest ones ever produced and still need to be fully characterized to determine how these detectors can be utilized and in which applications. We tested the detectors using monochromatic gamma-ray sources and in-beam reactions producing gamma rays up to 22.6 MeV; we acquired PMT signal pulses and calculated detector energy resolution and response linearity as a function of gamma-ray energy. Two different voltage dividers were coupled to the Hamamatsu R10233-100SEL PMT: the Hamamatsu E1198-26, based on straightforward resistive network design, and the LABRVD, specifically designed for our large volume LaBr3:Ce scintillation detectors, which also includes active semiconductor devices. Because of the extremely high light yield of LaBr3:Ce crystals we observed that, depending on the choice of PMT, voltage divider and applied voltage, some significant deviation from the ideally proportional response of the detector and some pulse shape deformation appear. In addition, crystal non-homogeneities and PMT gain drifts affect the (measured) energy resolution especially in case of high-energy gamma rays. We also measured the time resolution of detectors with different sizes (from 1x1 inches up to 3.5x8 inches), correlating the results with both the intrinsic properties of PMTs and GEANT simulations of the scintillation light collection process. The detector absolute full energy efficiency was measured and simulated up to gamma-rays of 30 Me