Testing TELEMAC-2D suitability for tsunami propagation from source to near shore

Water Qualit

Enteric Nervous System Abnormalities in Ulcerative Colitis

In the recent years, there is increasing evidence highlighting the crucial role played by ENS in intestinal inflammation, as demonstrated by the growing numbers of studies looking at both morphological and functional alterations in the ENS and its cellular elements, neurons and glial cells. These observations are the results of investigations carried out in both experimental animal models and in intestinal tissues of patients with inflammatory bowel disease. Although morpho-functional abnormalities of the ENS of UC patients have been consistently reported, additional studies are necessary to better understand the changes in the enteric cells, including neurons (of both submucosal and myenteric layers) and glial cells, which control gut functions, such as colonic motility and secretion, in the inflamed gut. This approach will help to prevent enteric neuropathies associated with inflammation and pave the way to future therapeutic options. Targeting neuronal and/or glial alterations during the course of inflammation may represent a novel approach to diminish the entity of tissue damage as well as the lack of long-term effectiveness of classical immunosuppressant agents used in the treatment of UC. Moreover, additional studies investigating the relationship between ENS and immune cells are warranted in order to carry out an in-depth assessment of the role of neurons, glial cells and their derived factors in the modulation of immune/inflammatory responses in the human gut, in light of establishment of new therapeutic approaches towards the treatment of gut inflammatory diseases. One of the main questions that still need to be addressed to is whether the alterations of the ENS precede or are secondary to the inflammatory process within the gut. This will hopefully help to predict the disease outcome in UC, that until now remains a challenge, and for better understanding of the pathogenesis of this disease. In conclusion, the complex interactions of the ENS and the other systems during gut inflammation require a broad perspective from neurophysiology, biochemistry and immunology to completely understand the regulation of inflammatory processes involved in UC. Therefore, important progress in this field can only be achieved by interdisciplinary approaches. Further research in this direction needs to be done for the discovery of longlasting, effective treatment for inflammatory diseases of the gut

S100B inhibitor pentamidine attenuates reactive gliosis and reduces neuronal loss in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease

Among the different signaling molecules released during reactive gliosis occurring in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the astrocytederived S100B protein plays a key role in neuroinflammation, one of the hallmarks of the disease. The use of pharmacological tools targeting S100B may be crucial to embank its effects and some of the pathological features of AD. The antiprotozoal drug pentamidine is a good candidate since it directly blocks S100B activity by inhibiting its interaction with the tumor suppressor p53. We used a mouse model of amyloid beta- (A-) induced AD, which is characterized by reactive gliosis and neuroinflammation in the brain, and we evaluated the effect of pentamidine on the main S100B-mediated events. Pentamidine caused the reduction of glial fibrillary acidic protein, S100B, and RAGE protein expression, which are signs of reactive gliosis, and induced p53 expression in astrocytes. Pentamidine also reduced the expression of proinflammatory mediators and markers, thus reducing neuroinflammation in AD brain. In parallel, we observed a significant neuroprotection exerted by pentamidine on CA1 pyramidal neurons. We demonstrated that pentamidine inhibits A-induced gliosis and neuroinflammation in an animal model of AD, thus playing a role in slowing down the course of the disease

Correlation between oesophageal acid exposure and dyspeptic symptoms in patients with nonerosive reflux disease.

Oesophageal acidification induces dyspeptic symptoms in healthy individuals. This study aimed to evaluate the correlation between oesophageal acid exposure and dyspeptic symptoms in patients with nonerosive reflux disease. METHODS: A total of 68 patients with dominant symptoms of heartburn, negative upper gastrointestinal endoscopy and concomitant dyspeptic symptoms participated in the study. The severity of dyspepsia and reflux-related symptoms was evaluated, and 24-h gastro-oesophageal pH-monitoring study was performed in all patients at baseline and after 4 weeks of therapy with esomeprazole 40 mg. RESULTS: Oesophageal basal acid exposure was pathological in 43 patients and normal in 25 patients, with a similar prevalence and severity of individual dyspeptic symptoms in the two groups. A significant correlation between reflux and dyspepsia scores was observed in the subgroup of patients with normal, but not in those with abnormal pHmetry (r=0.4, P=0.04 and r=0.2 P=0.07, respectively). After esomeprazole, a reduction in severity of dyspepsia (>or=50% with respect to baseline) was observed, independent of improvement of reflux-associated symptoms. Improvement in dyspepsia was, however, similar in patients with normal and abnormal basal acid exposure (14/25 vs. 33/43, respectively, P=NS). CONCLUSION: Dyspeptic symptoms coexist in a subset of nonerosive reflux disease patients, but prevalence and severity of the symptoms seems to be independent of oesophageal acid exposure

Modelling historical global tsunamis with TELEMAC

Hydrodynamic

Validation of TELEMAC for tsunami inundation modelling in compliance with the NOAA-NTHMP benchmark test cases

Hydrodynamic

Endocannabinoid-related compounds in gastrointestinal diseases

The endocannabinoid system (ECS) is an endogenous signalling pathway involved in the control of several gastrointestinal (GI) functions at both peripheral and central levels. In recent years, it has become apparent that the ECS is pivotal in the regulation of GI motility, secretion and sensitivity, but endocannabinoids (ECs) are also involved in the regulation of intestinal inflammation and mucosal barrier permeability, suggesting their role in the pathophysiology of both functional and organic GI disorders. Genetic studies in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or inflammatory bowel disease have indeed shown significant associations with polymorphisms or mutation in genes encoding for cannabinoid receptor or enzyme responsible for their catabolism, respectively. Furthermore, ongoing clinical trials are testing EC agonists/antagonists in the achievement of symptomatic relief from a number of GI symptoms. Despite this evidence, there is a lack of supportive RCTs and relevant data in human beings, and hence, the possible therapeutic application of these compounds is raising ethical, political and economic concerns. More recently, the identification of several EC-like compounds able to modulate ECS function without the typical central side effects of cannabinomimetics has paved the way for emerging peripherally acting drugs. This review summarizes the possible mechanisms linking the ECS to GI disorders and describes the most recent advances in the manipulation of the ECS in the treatment of GI diseases

A Numerical Approach for Assigning a Reputation to Users of an IoT Framework

AbstractNowadays, in the Internet of Things (IoT) society, the massive use of technological devices available to the people makes possible to collect a lot of data describing tastes, choices and behaviours related to the users of services and tools. These information can be rearranged and interpreted in order to obtain a rating (i.e., evaluation) of the subjects (i.e., users) interacting with specific objects (i.e., items). Generally, reputation systems are widely used to provide ratings to products, services, companies, digital contents and people. Here, we focus on this issue, adopting a Collaborative Reputation System (CRS) to evaluate the visitors' behaviour in a real cultural event. The results obtained, compared with those obtained by other methods (i.e., classification), have confirmed the reliability and the usefulness of CRSes for deeply understand dynamics related to visiting styles