201 research outputs found
Faecal corticosterone metabolite assessment in socially housed male and female wistar rats
Knowledge of animals’ hormonal status is important for conservation studies in wild or semi-free-ranging conditions as well as for behavioural and clinical experiments conducted in laboratory research, mostly performed on rats and mice. Faecal sampling is a useful non-invasive method to obtain steroid hormone assessments. Nevertheless, in laboratory studies, unlike other contexts, faecal sampling is less utilised. One of the issues raised is the necessity to collect samples belonging to different animals, separately. Usually, researchers using faecal sampling solve this problem through the isolation of animals or taking the cage rather than single animal as unit of study. These solutions though, could lead to unreliable measurements, and cannot be applied in many studies. Our aim was to show the biological reliability of individual faecal corticosterone metabolite (FCM) assessments in socially housed male and female Wistar rats. We analytically validated the enzyme immunoassay kit used for FCM assessments. Then, we exposed the animals to two different stress stimuli that are known to activate the hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal axis and the following release of corticosterone to biologically validate the EIA kit: environmental enrichment and predator odour. Individual faecal sampling from social animals was collected through short-time handling. The results demonstrated that both the stimuli increased FCM levels in male and female rats showing the reliability of EIA kit assessment and the applicability of our sampling method. We also found a diurnal rhythm in FCM levels. These results could help to increase the use of faecal hormone metabolite determinations in studies conducted on rats
Enhancing Random Forest Classification with NLP in DAMEH: A system for DAta Management in EHealth Domain
The use of pervasive IoT devices in Smart Cities, have increased the Volume of data produced in many and many field. Interesting and very useful applications grow up in number in E-health domain, where smart devices are used in order to manage huge amount of data, in highly distributed environments, in order to provide smart services able to collect data to fill medical records of patients. The problem here is to gather data, to produce records and to analyze medical records depending on their contents. Since data gathering involve very different devices (not only wearable medical sensors, but also environmental smart devices, like weather, pollution and other sensors) it is very difficult to classify data depending their contents, in order to enable better management of patients. Data from smart devices couple with medical records written in natural language: we describe here an architecture that is able to determine best features for classification, depending on existent medical records. The architecture is based on pre-filtering phase based on Natural Language Processing, that is able to enhance Machine learning classification based on Random Forests. We carried on experiments on about 5000 medical records from real (anonymized) case studies from various health-care organizations in Italy. We show accuracy of the presented approach in terms of Accuracy-Rejection curves
Experimental generalized quantum suppression law in Sylvester interferometers
Photonic interference is a key quantum resource for optical quantum
computation, and in particular for so-called boson sampling machines. In
interferometers with certain symmetries, genuine multiphoton quantum
interference effectively suppresses certain sets of events, as in the original
Hong-Ou-Mandel effect. Recently, it was shown that some classical and
semi-classical models could be ruled out by identifying such suppressions in
Fourier interferometers. Here we propose a suppression law suitable for
random-input experiments in multimode Sylvester interferometers, and verify it
experimentally using 4- and 8-mode integrated interferometers. The observed
suppression is stronger than what is observed in Fourier interferometers of the
same size, and could be relevant to certification of boson sampling machines
and other experiments relying on bosonic interference.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures + 11 pages, 3 figures Supplementary Informatio
Role of FGF System in Neuroendocrine Neoplasms. Potential Therapeutic Applications
Neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs) are a heterogeneous group of tumors originating from neuroendocrine cells dispersed in different organs. Receptor tyrosine kinases are a subclass of tyrosine kinases with a relevant role in several cellular processes including proliferation, differentiation, motility and metabolism. Dysregulation of these receptors is involved in neoplastic development and progression for several tumors, including NENs. In this review, we provide an overview concerning the role of the fibroblast growth factor (FGF)/fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) system in the development and progression of NENs, the occurrence of fibrotic complications and the onset of drug-resistance. Although no specific FGFR kinase inhibitors have been evaluated in NENs, several clinical trials on multitarget tyrosine kinase inhibitors, acting also on FGF system, showed promising anti-tumor activity with an acceptable and manageable safety profile in patients with advanced NENs. Future studies will need to confirm these issues, particularly with the development of new tyrosine kinase inhibitors highly selective for FGFR
Spatial behaviour of yellow-necked wood mouse Apodemus flavicollis in two sub-Mediterranean oak coppice stands
Strong mutual relationships exist between rodents and ecosystems. By modifying the structure and functioning of ecosystems, human activity can affect rodent behaviour and ecology. The yellow-necked mouse Apodemus flavicollis is widespread in Europe and its spatial ecology has been studied in various habitats, but studies are lacking for Mediterranean forests often altered by forest management practices. We investigated the spatial behaviour of A. flavicollis in a sub-Mediterranean deciduous oak forest of central Italy subject to forest management. We radio-tracked 27 individuals in two different coppice stands, i.e. a recently cut area and a high forest, differing in terms of species-specific habitat quality and rodent population density. We analysed the size of home ranges in relation to habitat type and sex. Our results revealed that home range and core area size did not differ between habitat types or sexes. The spatial behaviour of A. flavicollis thus did not appear to be influenced by population density and habitat quality. The lack of sex-related differences confirms the current knowledge on the species’ spatial ecology. Our findings provide the first useful information on the spatial behaviour of A. flavicollis in sub-Mediterranean deciduous oak forests, whose ecological processes may be markedly influenced by this key-species at several trophic levels.acceptedVersio
Spinal Fusion Surgery: Epidemiologic and Economic Burden Attributable to First Intervention
IntroductionLow back pain (LBP) is the single most common cause for disability in individuals aged 50 years or younger with a high socioeconomic impact. In USA, LBP costs are estimated to exceed $1..
Therapeutic effects elicited by the probiotic Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus GG in children with atopic dermatitis. The results of the ProPAD trial
Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease affecting up to 20% of the pediatric population associated with alteration of skin and gut microbiome. Probiotics have been proposed for AD treatment. The ProPAD study aimed to investigate the therapeutic effects of the probiotic Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) in children with AD
The Impact of Formula Choice for the Management of Pediatric Cow's Milk Allergy on the Occurrence of other Allergic Manifestations: The Atopic March Cohort Study
To compare the impact of different formulas on the occurrence of other atopic manifestations and the time of immune tolerance acquisition
Diagnosing and Treating Food Allergy
t Food allergy (FA) is defined as an abnormal
immunological reaction to food proteins. Over 90 % of FAs in
childhood are caused by eight foods: cow’s milk, hen’s egg,
soy, peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, fish and shellfish. The diagnostic
work up for a child with suspected FA includes detailed
medical history, physical examination, FA screening tests and
response to elimination diet and to oral food challenge.
Sometimes additional diagnostic tools to explore intestinal
damage and function could be adopted. Currently, the only
treatment for FA relies on strict elimination diets supervised by
the nutritionist. Main new therapeutic strategies for FA include
allergen-specific (oral, sublingual, epicutaneous, subcutaneous immunotherapy and heat treatment of food) and nonallergen-specific therapies (humanized monoclonal antibodies, anti-IgE and anti-IL5, probiotics). An incorrect diagnosis
is likely to result in unnecessary dietary restrictions, which, if
prolonged, may adversely affect the child’s nutritional status
and growt
Predictive Value ofMeasures of Vascular Calcification Burden and Progression for Risk of Death in Incident to Dialysis Patients
Abstract: Background: Vascular calcification (VC) is a marker of cardiovascular (CV) disease
and various methods allow for presence and extension assessment in different arterial districts.
Nevertheless, it is currently unclear which one of these methods for VC evaluation best predict
outcome and if this piece of information adds to the predictive value of traditional CV risk factors
in patients receiving hemodialysis (HD). Methods: data of 184 of the 466 patients followed in the
Independent study (NCT00710788) were post hoc examined to assess the association three concurrent
measures of vascular calcification and all-cause survival. Specifically, coronary artery calcification
(CAC) was determined by the Agatston and the volume score while abdominal aorta calcification was
determined by plain X-ray of the lumbar spine (Kauppila score (KS)). Survival and regression models
as well as metrics of risk recalculation were used to test the association of VC and outcome beyond the
Framingham risk score. Results: Middle-age (62.6(15.8) years) men (51%) and women (49%) starting
HD were analyzed. Over 36 (median 36; interquartile range: 8–36) months of follow-up 69 patients
expired. Each measure of VC (CAC or KS) predicted all-cause mortality independently factors
commonly associated with all-cause survival (p < 0.001). Far more importantly, each measurement of
VC significantly improved risk prediction and patient reclassification (p < 0.001) beyond traditional
cardiovascular risk factors. Conclusions: Overall, presence and extension of VC, irrespective of the
arterial site, predict risk of all-cause of death in patients starting hemodialysis. Of note, both CAC
and KS increase risk stratification beyond traditional CV risk factors. However, future efforts are
needed to assess whether a risk-based approach encompassing VC screening to guide HD patient
management improves survival
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