L'artisanat du plomb à Herculanum: fouilles en façade de la Casa del Salone Nero

International audienceExcavations in Herculaneum - Interim report - Campaign 2004Compte-rendu des opérations de terrain à Herculanum (campagne 2004

Métallurgie du plomb et activités commerciales en façade de la Casa del Salone Nero à Herculanum (VI, 12; VI, 14 et VI, 15)

International audienceExcavations in Herculaneum - Interim report - Campaign 2005Compte-rendu des opérations de terrain à Herculanum (campagne 2005

Pompéi, Herculanum (Naples) et Saepinum (Molise) : recherches sur l’artisanat antique

Brun Jean-Pierre, Mingaud Magali, Figueiral Isabelle, Monteix Nicolas, Pernot Michel, Chiaretti Barbara, Monaco Virginie. Pompéi, Herculanum (Naples) et Saepinum (Molise) : recherches sur l’artisanat antique. In: Mélanges de l'École française de Rome. Antiquité, tome 117, n°1. 2005. Antiquité. pp. 317-339

Treatment of esophageal perforations. Considerations on a clinical case. [Trattamento delle perforazioni esofagee. Considerazioni su un caso clinico.]

Gli Autori, partendo dalla descrizione di un raro caso di perforazione esofagea insorta in un paziente di 68 anni due ore dopo l'esecuzione di un Ecocardiogramma TransEsofageo (TOE), prendono in esame questa patologia, non frequente ma grave, tema di discussione per le problematiche di diagnosi e di strategie terapeutiche che essa comporta. Gli Autori ne descrivono le cause, tra le quali l'Ecocardiogramma TransEsofageo (TOE), un esame semi-invasivo utilizzato sempre di più in cardiologia e nel corso di interventi chirurgici cardiaci, e il trattamento, che dipende dalla localizzazione della perforazione, dalla presenza di concomitanti patologie esofagee e dall'intervallo di tempo intercorso tra l'insulto e l'inizio del trattamento. Nell'ambito del trattamento chirurgico la riparazione primaria della perforazione è considerata, quando ne sussistano le condizioni , il trattamento chirurgico più idoneo ed è il tipo di intervento scelto dagli Autori per risolvere, con successo, il caso clinico descritto

Bortezomib effect of E2F and cyclin family members in human hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines

AIM To evaluate the effects of the proteasome inhibitor Bortezomib (BZB) on E2Fs and related genes in Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells. METHODS The mRNA levels of the E2F family members (pro-proliferative: E2F1-3 and anti-proliferative: E2F4-8) and of their related genes cyclins and cyclin-dependent kinases (cdks) were evaluated in two HCC cell lines following a single BZB administration. mRNA levels of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) genes were also measured in both cell lines after BZB treatment. The BZB concentration (40 nM) used was chosen to stay well below the maximal amount/cm2 recommended for in vivo application, and two days incubation was chosen as this time point has been found optimal to detect BZB effects in our previous studies. The HCC cell lines, HepG2 and JHH6, were chosen as they display different phenotypes, hepatocyte-like for HepG2 and undifferentiated for JHH6, thus representing an in vitro model of low and high aggressive forms of HCC, respectively. The mRNA levels of the target genes were measured by two-color microarray-based gene expression analysis, performed according to Agilent Technologies protocol and using an Agilent Scan B. For the E2F family members, mRNA levels were quantified by RT-PCR. Using small interfering RNA\u2019s, the effects of E2F8 depletion on cell number was also evaluated. RESULTS After BZB treatment, microarray analysis of the undifferentiated JHH6 revealed a significant decrease in the expression of the pro-proliferative E2F member E2F2. Quantitative RT-PCR data were in keeping with the microarray analysis, and showed a significant increase and decrease in E2F8 and E2F2 mRNA levels, respectively. In contrast, BZB treatment of the hepatocyte-like HCC cell line HepG2 had a significant impact on mRNA levels of 5 of the 8 E2F members. In particular, mRNA levels of the pro-proliferative E2F members E2F1, E2F2, and of the anti-proliferative member E2F8, decreased over 80%. Notably, a reduction in E2F8 expression in HepG2 and JHH6 cells following siRNA treatment had no impact on cell proliferation. As observed with JHH6, BZB treatment of HepG2 cells induced a significant increase in mRNA levels of an anti-proliferative E2F member, E2F6 in this case. As was observed with E2F\u2019s, more dramatic changes in mRNA levels of the E2F related genes cyclins and Cdks and the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) genes were observed after BTZ treatment of HepG2 compared to JHH6 . CONCLUSION The differential expression of E2Fs and related genes induced by BZB in diverse HCC cell phenotypes contribute to bortezomib\u2019s mechanism of action in hepatocellular carcinoma

Determination of Deoxynivalenol Biomarkers in Italian Urine Samples

Deoxynivalenol (DON) is a mycotoxin mainly produced by Fusarium graminearum that can contaminate cereals and cereal-based foodstuff. Urinary DON levels can be used as biomarker for exposure assessment purposes. This study assessed urinary DON concentrations in Italian volunteers recruited by age group, namely children, adolescents, adults, and the elderly. In addition, vulnerable groups, namely vegetarians and pregnant women, were included in the study. To determine the urinary DON, its glucuronide and de-epoxydated (DOM-1) forms, an indirect analytical approach was used, measuring free DON and total DON (as sum of free and glucuronides forms), before and after enzymatic treatment, respectively. Morning urine samples were collected on two consecutive days, from six different population groups, namely children, adolescent, adults, elderly, vegetarians and pregnant women. Total DON was measured in the 76% of the collected samples with the maximum incidences in children and adolescent age group. Urine samples from children and adolescent also showed the highest total DON levels, up to 17.0 ng/mgcreat. Pregnant women had the lowest positive samples per category (40% for day 1 and 43% for day 2, respectively), low mean levels of total DON (down to 2.84 ng/mgcreat) and median equal to 0 ng/mgcreat. Estimation of DON dietary intake reveals that 7.5% of the total population exceeds the TDI of 1 \u3bcg/kg bw/day set for DON, with children showing 40% of individuals surpassing this value (male, day 2)

Recherches sur l’artisanat antique à Pompéi

Monteix Nicolas, Rosso Emmanuelle, Célié Marc, Chiaretti Barbara, Coutelas Arnaud, Dagnas Guillaume, Duvauchelle Anika, Loiseau Christophe, Monaco Virginie, Pernot Michel, Zanella Sandra. Recherches sur l’artisanat antique à Pompéi. In: Mélanges de l'École française de Rome. Antiquité, tome 120, n°1. 2008. Antiquité. pp. 232-247

Impairment of the Pin1/E2F1 axis in the anti-proliferative effect of bortezomib in hepatocellular carcinoma cells

BACKGROUND: The modest efficacy of available therapies for Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) indicates the need to develop novel therapeutic approaches. For the proteasome inhibitor Bortezomib (BZB), potentially attractive for HCC treatment, the mechanism of action is largely unknown. The BZB effect on E2Fs and the E2Fs control on the peptidylproline cis-trans isomerase (Pin1), prompted us to explore the BZB effect on the Pin1-E2F1 axis. METHODS: The tumorigenic cell line HuH7 together with the non-tumorigenic cells IHH and the human pluripotent stem cell derived hepatocytes (hPSC-H), were used as cellular models of HCC and normal liver cells, respectively. RESULTS: BZB reduces HuH7 growth as shown by cell counting, cell vitality test and cell cycle analysis; this is paralleled by the decrease of Pin1, E2F1, cyclin A2 and of the hyper-phosphorylated pRB. Pin1-E2F1 axis impairment justifies the anti-proliferative effect since Pin-E2F1 depletion decreases HuH7 growth while the over-expression rescues BZB-induced inhibition of proliferation. Moreover, Pin1-E2F1 promote HuH7 growth via the up-regulation of cyclin D1, cyclin E, cyclin A2, E2F2 and in part E2F3. Finally, in the control cells IHH and hPSC-H, BZB effect on cell vitality is not irrelevant, a fact correlated to the cellular proliferation rate. Thus, BZB effect on healthy liver tissue may not be entirely negligible hence caution should be exercised in its use in liver regeneration processes. CONCLUSION: For the first time we prove the functional involvement of the Pin1-E2F1 axis in the anti-proliferative effect of BZB indicating Pin1-E2F as an attractive target to control HCC cell growth

Point-of-care lung ultrasound in infants with bronchiolitis in the pediatric emergency department: a prospective study

Bronchiolitis is the most common cause of hospitalization of children in the first year of life. The lung ultrasound is a new diagnostic tool which is inexpensive, non-invasive, rapid, and easily repeatable. Our prospective study was conducted in the emergency department and all patients underwent a routine clinical evaluation and lung ultrasound by the pediatricians who defined the clinical and the ultrasound score. We enrolled 76 infants (median age 90 days [IQR 62-183], 53.9% males). In nasopharyngeal aspirates, the respiratory syncytial virus was isolated in 33 patients. Considering the clinical score, children with higher score had a higher probability of requiring respiratory support (p 0.001). At the ultrasound evaluation, there was a significant difference on ultrasound score between those who will need respiratory support or not (p 0.003). Infants who needed ventilation with helmet continuous positive airway pressure had a more severe ultrasound score (p 0.028) and clinical score (p 0.004), if compared with those who did not need it.Conclusion: Our study shows that lung ultrasound in the bronchiolitis may be a useful method to be integrated with the clinical evaluation to better define the prognosis of the individual patient. Multicenter studies on larger populations are necessary to confirm our data. What is Known: \u2022 Bronchiolitis is the main cause of lower respiratory tract infection in children younger than 24 months. \u2022 Ultrasound can evaluate the lung parenchyma without ionizing radiations. What is New: \u2022 Lung ultrasound may be a useful diagnostic tool to define the prognosis of the infants affected by bronchiolitis if performed at the first assessment in the emergency department. \u2022 The score obtained at the ultrasound evaluation is higher in those who will need oxygen therapy during admission for more time and in those who will need respiratory support with helmet continuous positive airway pressure