Presence of multiple bacterial markers in clinical samples might be useful for presumptive diagnosis of infection in cirrhotic patients with culture-negative reports

Bacterial infections in cirrhotic patients with ascites are associated with a severe prognosis and an increased risk of death. The microbiological standard tests for the diagnosis of suspected infection, based on culture test of blood and ascitic fluid, are, in many cases (30-40 %), negative, even when patients show symptoms of infection. A multiple culture-independent protocol was applied and evaluated as a diagnostic and prognostic tool for the detection of bacterial infection in cirrhotic patients. Sixty-four culture-negative samples obtained from 34 cirrhotic patients, with PMN < 250 cells/μl of ascitic fluid, were screened for the presence of bacterial DNA, endotoxin, peptidoglycan/β-glucan and microscopically visible bacterial cells. Correlations between the presence of multiple markers and various clinical and laboratory parameters were evaluated. Bacterial DNA was detected in 23 samples collected from 16 patients; a large part of these samples also showed the presence of other bacterial markers, which was associated with a worsening of liver functionality, a higher incidence of infections during the follow-up and a higher mortality rate in our cohort of cirrhotic patients. We believe that the detection of additional bacterial markers in bacterial DNA-positive clinical samples makes the bacterial presence and its clinical significance more realistic and might be useful as early markers of an ongoing bacterial infection and in establishing a clinical prognosis

Extra virgin olive oil and cardiovascular diseases: benefits for human health

The cardioprotective properties of Mediterranean Diet were demonstrated for the first time from the Seven Country Study. In the last few decades, numerous epidemiological studies, as well as intervention trial, confirmed this observation, pointing out the close relationship between the Mediterranean diet and cardiovascular diseases. In this context, extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), the most representative component of this diet, seems to be relevant in lowering the incidence of cardiovascular events, including myocardial infarction and stroke. From a chemical point of view, 98-99% of the total weight of EVOO is represented by fatty acids, especially monounsaturated fatty acids such as oleic acid. Tocopherols, polyphenols and other minor constituents represent the remaining 1-2%. All these components may potentially contribute to "health maintenance" with their beneficial effects by EVOOO

Terra and Aqua satellites track tiger mosquito invasion: modelling the potential distribution of Aedes albopictus in north-eastern Italy

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The continuing spread of the Asian tiger mosquito <it>Aedes albopictus </it>in Europe is of increasing public health concern due to the potential risk of new outbreaks of exotic vector-borne diseases that this species can transmit as competent vector. We predicted the most favorable areas for a short term invasion of <it>Ae. albopictus </it>in north-eastern Italy using reconstructed daily satellite data time series (MODIS Land Surface Temperature maps, LST). We reconstructed more than 11,000 daily MODIS LST maps for the period 2001-09 (i.e. performed spatial and temporal gap-filling) in an Open Source GIS framework. We aggregated these LST maps over time and identified the potential distribution areas of <it>Ae. albopictus </it>by adapting published temperature threshold values using three variables as predictors (0°C for mean January temperatures, 11°C for annual mean temperatures and 1350 growing degree days filtered for areas with autumnal mean temperatures > 11°C). The resulting maps were integrated into the final potential distribution map and this was compared with the known current distribution of <it>Ae. albopictus </it>in north-eastern Italy.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>LST maps show the microclimatic characteristics peculiar to complex terrains, which would not be visible in maps commonly derived from interpolated meteorological station data. The patterns of the three indicator variables partially differ from each other, while winter temperature is the determining limiting factor for the distribution of <it>Ae. albopictus</it>. All three variables show a similar spatial pattern with some local differences, in particular in the northern part of the study area (upper Adige valley).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Reconstructed daily land surface temperature data from satellites can be used to predict areas of short term invasion of the tiger mosquito with sufficient accuracy (200 m pixel resolution size). Furthermore, they may be applied to other species of arthropod of medical interest for which temperature is a relevant limiting factor. The results indicate that, during the next few years, the tiger mosquito will probably spread toward northern latitudes and higher altitudes in north-eastern Italy, which will considerably expand the range of the current distribution of this species.</p

SGSI project at CNAF

The Italian Tier1 center is mainly focused on LHC and physics experiments in general. Recently we tried to widen our area of activity and established a collaboration with the University of Bologna to set-up an area inside our computing center for hosting experiments with high demands of security and privacy requirements on stored data. The first experiment we are going to host is Harmony, a project part of IMI's Big Data for Better Outcomes programme (IMI stands for Innovative Medicines Initiative). In order to be able to accept this kind of data we had to make a subset of our computing center compliant with the ISO 27001 regulation. In this article we will describe the SGSI project (Sistema Gestione Sicurezza Informazioni, Information Security Management System) with details of all the processes we have been through in order to become ISO 27001 compliant, with a particular focus on the separation of the project dedicated resources from all the others hosted in the center. We will also describe the software solutions adopted to allow this project to accept in the future any experiment or collaboration in need for this kind of security procedures

Glucocorticoids impair platelet thromboxane biosynthesis in community-acquired pneumonia

Previous reports suggest that community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is associated with an enhanced risk of myocardial infarction (MI) and that enhanced platelet activation may play a role. Aims of this study were to investigate if urinary excretion of 11-dehydro-thromboxane (Tx) B2, a reliable marker of platelet activation in vivo, was elevated in CAP and whether glucocorticoid administration reduced platelet activation. Three-hundred patients hospitalized for CAP were recruited and followed-up until discharge. Within the first 2 days from admission, urinary 11-dehydro-TxB2and serum levels of methylprednisolone and betamethasone were measured. 11-Dehydro-TxB2was also measured in a control group of 150 outpatients, matched for age, sex, and comorbidities. Finally, in-vitro studies were performed to assess if glucocorticoids affected platelet activation, at the same range of concentration found in the peripheral circulation of CAP patients treated with glucocorticoids. Compared to controls, CAP patients showed significantly higher levels of 11-dehydro-TxB2(110 [69-151] vs. 163 [130-225] pg/mg creatinine; p &lt; 0.001). During the in-hospital stay, 31 patients experienced MI (10%). A COX regression analysis showed that 11-dehydro-TxB2independently predicted MI (p = .005). CAP patients treated with glucocorticoids showed significantly lower levels of 11-dehydro-TxB2compared to untreated ones (147 [120-201] vs. 176 [143-250] pg/mg creatinine; p &lt; 0.001). In vitro, glucocorticoids-treated platelets showed a dose-dependent decrease of ADP-induced platelet aggregation, TxB2production, cPLA2phosphorylation and arachidonic acid release from the platelet membrane. In conclusion, platelet TxB2is overproduced in CAP patients and may be implicated in MI occurrence. Glucocorticoids reduce platelet release of TxB2in vitro and urinary excretion of 11-dehydro-TxB2in vivo and may be a novel tool to decrease platelet activation in this setting

Extra virgin olive oil reduces gut permeability and metabolic endotoxemia in diabetic patients

Background: Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) improves post-prandial glycemia, but the underlying mechanism has not been fully elucidated. We tested the hypothesis that EVOO improves post-prandial glycemia by reducing gut permeability-derived low-grade endotoxemia. Methods: Serum levels of lipopolysaccharides (LPS), zonulin, a marker of gut permeability, glucose, insulin and glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP1) were measured in 20 patients with impaired fasting glucose (IFG) and 20 healthy subjects (HS) matched for sex and age. The same variables were measured in IFG patients (n = 20) and HS (n = 20) before and after a Mediterranean diet with 10 g EVOO added or not (n = 20) or in IFG patients (n = 20) before and after intake of 40 g chocolate with EVOO added or not. Results: Compared to HS, IFG had higher levels of LPS and zonulin. In HS, meal intake was associated with a significant increase of blood glucose, insulin, and GLP1 with no changes of blood LPS and zonulin. Two hours after a meal intake containing EVOO, IFG patients showed a less significant increase of blood glucose, a more marked increase of blood insulin and GLP1 and a significant reduction of LPS and zonulin compared to IFG patients not given EVOO. Correlation analysis showed that LPS directly correlated with blood glucose and zonulin and inversely with blood insulin. Similar findings were detected in IFG patients given a chocolate added or without EVOO. Conclusion: Addition of EVOO to a Mediterranean diet or chocolate improves gut permeability and low-grade endotoxemia

A PRÁTICA CORPORAL COMO EXPRESSÃO DA IMAGINAÇÃO DA CRIANÇA NA BRINCADEIRA: UMA PERSPECTIVA DA PSICOLOGIA HISTÓRICO-CULTURAL

This study established relations between playing and children’s learning and development processes in the light of historical-cultural psychology, elucidating how playing make-believe games materializes as a bodily practice of meanings and senses. For that, the text is organized in three stages: the first one presents the historical-cultural approach and some information about its main author; the second one seeks to define the basic foundations of children’s learning and development process – mediation, concept formation, internalization, and the zone of immediate development; the third one discusses playing from Vygotsky’s point of view, establishing relations with school education and especially with Physical Education. Se pretendió con este estudio establecer relaciones entre el juego y los procesos de aprendizaje y desarrollo del niño a la luz de la psicología histórico-cultural, explicando cómo el juego fantasioso se materializa como práctica corporal constructora de significados y de sentidos. Para ello, el texto se organiza en tres partes: la primera presenta el enfoque histórico-cultural y algunas informaciones sobre su principal autor; el segundo intenta definir los fundamentos básicos del proceso de aprendizaje y de desarrollo del niño –mediación, la formación de conceptos, la internalización y la zona de desarrollo inmediato– y el último, habla de lo que es el juego desde el punto de vista de Vigotski, estableciendo relaciones con la educación escolar y, especialmente, con la Educación Física.   Pretendeu-se, com este estudo, estabelecer relações entre a brincadeira e os processos de aprendizagem e de desenvolvimento da criança à luz da psicologia histórico-cultural, elucidando como a brincadeira de faz de conta se materializa como prática corporal construtora de significados e de sentidos. Para tanto, o texto está organizado em três momentos: o primeiro apresenta a abordagem histórico-cultural e algumas informações sobre o principal autor que a constituiu; o segundo trata de definir os fundamentos basilares do processo de aprendizagem e de desenvolvimento da criança – mediação, a formação de conceitos, a internalização e a zona de desenvolvimento imediato –; e o último discute o que vem a ser a brincadeira do ponto de vista de Vigotski,  estabelecendo relações com a educação escolar e  especialmente com a Educação Física.