108 research outputs found
Strategie di conservazione della Lepre italica (Lepus corsicanus de Winton, 1898): reintroduzione all'Isola d'Elba
Questo studio si prefigge lo scopo di valutare la sopravvivenza ed il comportamento spaziale di alcuni soggetti adulti di Lepre italica (Lepus corsicanus de Winton, 1898), provenienti da allevamento e successivamente reintrodotti su un territorio su cui storicamente era presente.
Il progetto, che contiene azioni previste dal Piano Nazionale d’Azione per la conservazione della Lepre italica, si sviluppa all’interno del Parco Nazionale dell’Arcipelago Toscano, in particolare sull’Isola d’Elba. Sono state individuate due distinte aree di reintroduzione per i due anni di progetto: primavera 2015 Monte Calamita e primavera 2016 Monte Perone. Sono stati rilasciati un totale di 39 soggetti di cui 30 dotati di radiocollare VHF: 20 provenienti dal centro faunistico di Bieri del Corpo Forestale dello Stato (Castelnuovo Garfagnana - LU) e 10 dal centro faunistico del Parco Regionale Marturanum (Barbarano - VT). L’attività post rilascio è stata monitorata mediante radiotracking, fototrappolaggio e censimenti notturni con l’uso del faro. Le curve di sopravvivenza, nei 150 giorni successivi al rilascio, sono state valutate, confrontando tramite test statistici, sia i soggetti provenienti dai due centri faunistici, sia le diverse aree di immissione. Inoltre sono stati stimati gli home range tramite il metodo Kernel.
I confronti tra le curve di sopravvivenza sono risultati statisticamente significativi, sia quelli legati ai siti di immissione sia quelli relativi ai centri faunistici. Le analisi effettuate sugli home range non hanno mostrato differenze statisticamente rilevanti. In conclusione si può affermare che la sopravvivenza post immissione risulta essere influenzata dalla scelta del sito di rilascio; mentre il comportamento spaziale degli individui immessi non risulta influenzato dalle dimensioni dei recinti di allevamento dei centri faunistici
RanBP1 plays an essential role in directed migration of neural crest cells during development
Collective cell migration is essential for embryonic development, tissue regeneration and repair, and has been implicated in pathological conditions such as cancer metastasis. It is, in part, directed by external cues that promote front-to-rear polarity in individual cells. However, our understanding of the pathways that underpin the directional movement of cells in response to external cues remains incomplete. To examine this issue we made use of neural crest cells (NC), which migrate as a collective during development to generate vital structures including bones and cartilage. Using a candidate approach, we found an essential role for Ran-binding protein 1 (RanBP1), a key effector of the nucleocytoplasmic transport pathway, in enabling directed migration of these cells. Our results indicate that RanBP1 is required for establishing front-to-rear polarity, so that NCs are able to chemotax. Moreover, our work suggests that RanBP1 function in chemotaxis involves the polarity kinase LKB1/PAR4. We envisage that regulated nuclear export of LKB1 through Ran/RanBP1 is a key regulatory step required for establishing front-to-rear polarity and thus chemotaxis, during NC collective migration
Three-dimensional graphene on a nano-porous 4H-SiC backbone: a novel material for food sensing applications
Sensors which are sensitive to volatile organic compounds and thus able to
monitor the conservation state of food, are precious because they work
non-destructively and allow to avoid direct contact with the food, ensuring
hygienic conditions. In particular, the monitoring of rancidity would solve a
widespread issue in food storage. The sensor discussed here is produced
utilizing a novel three-dimensional arrangement of graphene, which is grown on
a crystalline silicon carbide (SiC) wafer previously porousified by chemical
etching. This approach allows a very high surface-to.volume ratio. Furthermore,
the structure of the sensor surface features a large amount of edges, dangling
bounds, and active sites, which make the sensor, on a chemically robust
skeleton, chemically active, particularly to hydrogenated molecules. The
interaction of the sensor with such compounds is read out by measuring the
sensor resistance in a four wire configuration. The sensor performance has been
assessed on three hazelnut samples: sound hazelnuts, spoiled hazelnuts, and
stink bug hazelnuts. A resistance variation of about DeltaR = 0.13 (0.02) Ohm
between sound and damaged hazelnuts has been detected. Our measurements confirm
the ability of the sensor to discriminate between sound and damaged hazelnuts.
The sensor signal is stable for days, providing the possibility to use this
sensor for the monitoring of the storage state of fats and foods in general.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures 1 tabl
Exome Sequencing in 200 Intellectual Disability/Autistic Patients: New Candidates and Atypical Presentations
Intellectual disability (ID) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) belong to neurodevelopmental disorders and occur in ~1% of the general population. Due to disease heterogeneity, identifying the etiology of ID and ASD remains challenging. Exome sequencing (ES) offers the opportunity to rapidly identify variants associated with these two entities that often co-exist. Here, we performed ES in a cohort of 200 patients: 84 with isolated ID and 116 with ID and ASD. We identified 41 pathogenic variants with a detection rate of 22% (43/200): 39% in ID patients (33/84) and 9% in ID/ASD patients (10/116). Most of the causative genes are genes responsible for well-established genetic syndromes that have not been recognized for atypical phenotypic presentations. Two genes emerged as new candidates: CACNA2D1 and GPR14. In conclusion, this study reinforces the importance of ES in the diagnosis of ID/ASD and underlines that "reverse phenotyping" is fundamental to enlarge the phenotypic spectra associated with specific genes
Post-exercise high-sensitivity troponin T levels in patients with suspected unstable angina
Background
Previous studies showed that troponin blood levels may increase after exercise. In this
study we assessed whether, among patients admitted with suspected unstable angina, the
increase in high-sensitive troponin T (hs-TnT) levels after exercise stress test (EST) might
help identify those with obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) and predict symptom
recurrence during short term follow-up.
Methods
Maximal treadmill EST was performed in 69 consecutive patients admitted to the emergency
room with a suspicion of unstable angina (acute chest pain but confirmed normal
serum levels of cardiac troponins) was measured before and 4 hours after EST. Coronary
angiography was performed in 22 patients (32.8%).
Results
hs-TnT increased after EST compared to baseline in the whole population (from 0.84\ub10.65
to 1.17\ub10.87 ng/dL, p<0.001). The increase was similar in patients with positive (n = 14)
and negative (n = 55) EST (p = 0.72), and was also similar in patients with (n = 12) and without
(n = 10) obstructive CAD at angiography (p = 0.91). The achievement of a heart rate at
peak EST \ufffd85% of that predicted for age was the variable mainly associated with the post-
EST hs-TnT increase at multivariable linear regression analysis (p = 0.005). The change
after EST of hs-TnT did not predict the recurrence of symptoms or readmission for chest
pain at 6-month follow-up.
Conclusions
Our data show that hs-TnT increased after EST in patients with suspected unstable angina,
which seemed largely independent of most clinical and laboratory variables. Thus, hs-TnT
assessed after EST does not seem to be helpful to identify patients with obstructive CAD in
this kind of patients
SARS-CoV-2 multi-variant rapid detector based on graphene transistor functionalized with an engineered dimeric ACE2 receptor
Reliable point-of-care (POC) rapid tests are crucial to detect infection and contain the spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The emergence of several variants of concern (VOC) can reduce binding affinity to diagnostic antibodies, limiting the efficacy of the currently adopted tests, while showing unaltered or increased affinity for the host receptor, angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). We present a graphene field-effect transistor (gFET) biosensor design, which exploits the Spike-ACE2 interaction, the crucial step for SARS-CoV-2 infection. Extensive computational analyses show that a chimeric ACE2-Fragment crystallizable (ACE2-Fc) construct mimics the native receptor dimeric conformation. ACE2-Fc functionalized gFET allows in vitro detection of the trimeric Spike protein, outperforming functionalization with a diagnostic antibody or with the soluble ACE2 portion, resulting in a sensitivity of 20 pg/mL. Our miniaturized POC biosensor successfully detects B.1.610 (pre-VOC), Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Omicron (i.e., BA.1, BA.2, BA.4, BA.5, BA.2.75 and BQ.1) variants in isolated viruses and patient's clinical nasopharyngeal swabs. The biosensor reached a Limit Of Detection (LOD) of 65 cps/mL in swab specimens of Omicron BA.5. Our approach paves the way for a new and reusable class of highly sensitive, rapid and variant-robust SARS-CoV-2 detection systems
Corrigendum: Spondyloocular syndrome: A novel XYLT2 variant with description of the neonatal phenotype
Gut microbiota composition in COVID-19 hospitalized patients with mild or severe symptoms
Background and aimCOVID-19, the infectious disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 virus that has been causing a severe pandemic worldwide for more than 2 years, is characterized by a high heterogeneity of clinical presentations and evolution and, particularly, by a varying severity of respiratory involvement. This study aimed to analyze the diversity and taxonomic composition of the gut microbiota at hospital admission, in order to evaluate its association with COVID-19 outcome. In particular, the association between gut microbiota and a combination of several clinical covariates was analyzed in order to characterize the bacterial signature associate to mild or severe symptoms during the SARS-CoV-2 infection.Materials and methodsV3–V4 hypervariable region of 16S rRNA gene sequencing of 97 rectal swabs from a retrospective cohort of COVID-19 hospitalized patients was employed to study the gut microbiota composition. Patients were divided in two groups according to their outcome considering the respiratory supports they needed during hospital stay: (i) group “mild,” including 47 patients with a good prognosis and (ii) group “severe,” including 50 patients who experienced a more severe disease due to severe respiratory distress that required non-invasive or invasive ventilation. Identification of the clusters of bacterial population between patients with mild or severe outcome was assessed by PEnalized LOgistic Regression Analysis (PELORA).ResultsAlthough no changes for Chao1 and Shannon index were observed between the two groups a significant greater proportion of Campylobacterota and Actinobacteriota at phylum level was found in patients affected by SARS-CoV-2 infection who developed a more severe disease characterized by respiratory distress requiring invasive or non-invasive ventilation. Clusters have been identified with a useful early potential prognostic marker of the disease evolution.DiscussionMicroorganisms residing within the gut of the patients at hospital admission, were able to significantly discriminate the clinical evolution of COVID-19 patients, in particular who will develop mild or severe respiratory involvement. Our data show that patients affected by SARS-CoV-2 with mild or severe symptoms display different gut microbiota profiles which can be exploited as potential prognostic biomarkers paving also the way to new integrative therapeutic approaches
Discovery That Theonellasterol a Marine Sponge Sterol Is a Highly Selective FXR Antagonist That Protects against Liver Injury in Cholestasis
Background: The farnesoid-x-receptor (FXR) is a bile acid sensor expressed in the liver and gastrointestinal tract. Despite
FXR ligands are under investigation for treatment of cholestasis, a biochemical condition occurring in a number of liver
diseases for which available therapies are poorly effective, mice harboring a disrupted FXR are protected against liver injury
caused by bile acid overload in rodent models of cholestasis. Theonellasterol is a 4-methylene-24-ethylsteroid isolated from
the marine sponge Theonella swinhoei. Here, we have characterized the activity of this theonellasterol on FXR-regulated
genes and biological functions.
Principal Findings: Interrogation of HepG2 cells, a human hepatocyte cell line, by microarray analysis and transactivation
assay shows that theonellasterol is a selective FXR antagonist, devoid of any agonistic or antagonistic activity on a number of
human nuclear receptors including the vitamin D receptor, PPARs, PXR, LXRs, progesterone, estrogen, glucorticoid and
thyroid receptors, among others. Exposure of HepG2 cells to theonellasterol antagonizes the effect of natural and synthetic
FXR agonists on FXR-regulated genes, including SHP, OSTa, BSEP and MRP4. A proof-of-concept study carried out to
investigate whether FXR antagonism rescues mice from liver injury caused by the ligation of the common bile duct, a model
of obstructive cholestasis, demonstrated that theonellasterol attenuates injury caused by bile duct ligation as measured by
assessing serum alanine aminostrasferase levels and extent of liver necrosis at histopathology. Analysis of genes involved in
bile acid uptake and excretion by hepatocytes revealed that theonellasterol increases the liver expression of MRP4, a
basolateral transporter that is negatively regulated by FXR. Administering bile duct ligated mice with an FXR agonist failed
to rescue from liver injury and downregulated the expression of MRP4.
Conclusions: FXR antagonism in vivo results in a positive modulation of MRP4 expression in the liver and is a feasible
strategy to target obstructive cholestasis
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