A Long-term Psychological Observation in an Adolescent affected with Gardner Diamond Syndrome

Gardner-Diamond syndrome (GDS) is an uncommon disease clinically characterized by a wide spectrum of psycho-emotive symptoms associated with painful ecchymoses/purpuric lesions and positivity of auto-erythrocyte sensitization skin test. Herein, a perspective clinical and psychological observation of an adolescent GDS is firstly reported focusing on her psychological features long-term monitored for a 1-year period. The administration of a standardized tools battery allowed us to define psychological features of the young patient over time and to monitored clinical course and response to treatment

Effects of lack of microRNA-34 on the neural circuitry underlying the stress response and anxiety

Stress-related psychiatric disorders, including anxiety, are complex diseases that have genetic, and environmental causes. Stressful experiences increase the release of prefrontal amygdala neurotransmitters, a response that is relevant to cognitive, emotional, and behavioral coping. Moreover, exposure to stress elicits anxiety-like behavior and dendritic remodeling in the amygdala. Members of the miR-34 family have been suggested to regulate synaptic plasticity and neurotransmission processes, which mediate stress-related disorders. Using mice that harbored targeted deletions of all 3 members of the miR-34-family (miR-34-TKO), we evaluated acute stress-induced basolateral amygdala (BLA)-GABAergic and medial prefrontal cortex (mpFC) aminergic outflow by intracerebral in vivo microdialysis. Moreover, we also examined fear conditioning/extinction, stress-induced anxiety, and dendritic remodeling in the BLA of stress-exposed TKO mice. We found that TKO mice showed resilience to stress-induced anxiety and facilitation in fear extinction. Accordingly, no significant increase was evident in aminergic prefrontal or amygdala GABA release, and no significant acute stress-induced amygdalar dendritic remodeling was observed in TKO mice. Differential GRM7, 5-HT2C, and CRFR1 mRNA expressionwas noted in the mpFC and BLA between TKO andWT mice. Our data demonstrate that the miR-34 has a critical function in regulating the behavioral and neurochemical response to acute stress and in inducing stress-related amygdala neuroplasticity

Innovative Spent Coffee Ground-Based Biofertilizer: Effects on Soil Microbiome and Crop Health

Aim: Crop health is strictly related to soil biodiversity. The transition from chemical fertilizers to biofertilizers may represent a sustainable way to restore soil biodiversity, improve crop health and productivity. Spent coffee ground (SCG) is a waste material with a high potential for the development of innovative biofertilizers. However, previous research showed that the use of SCG as fertilizer inhibits plants growth, mainly due to the presence of phytotoxic compounds. On the contrary, SCG-treated plants showed high nutritional values with an increased content in antioxidants and mineral elements. The aim of this research was to test the effects of an innovative SCG-based biofertilizer (BF) on salad crops (Lactuca sativa), and on their rhizosphere microbial communities. And thus, to evaluate its potential in mitigating SCG’s negative effects. Method: A randomized block design experiment was carried to compare the effects of BF and SCG at 3 different concentrations, each with 5 replicates. Plants functional traits and nutritional values were evaluated. 16S rRNA gene metabarcoding was used to assess the effects on rhizosphere communities. Results: BF-treated plants showed a higher polyphenols level and less stress signs compared to the SCG-treated and control ones. At the highest concentrations, BF modify bacterial communities with an increase of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (e.g., Azospirillium, Arachidicoccus) and other beneficial bacterial taxa, such as those involved in disease suppression, aromatic compounds degradation, nutrients cycling. Conclusions: BF resulted capable of reducing SCG negative effects on plant health, promoting the growth of plants beneficial microbial taxa and, therefore, favouring a healthier growth of crops

ALKALINE HYDROTHERMAL STABILIZATION OF Cr(VI) IN A SANDY SOIL

Chromium (Cr) pollution of soil is a serious environmental problem, especially in industrialized areas. Risks for human and environmental health are strictly connected to Cr oxidation state, which is usually trivalent or hexavalent in soil. While Cr(III) is stable, scarcely mobile and weakly toxic, Cr(VI) is highly soluble, mobile and carcinogenic. Among the different remediation strategies, stabilization/solidification (S/S) is used as rapid and cost-effective technique for heavy metal polluted soils. It consists of the addition of appropriate materials to the polluted soil, mostly under alkaline conditions, in order to chemically and/or physically transform the contaminant in a stable and less toxic form. Waste materials like coal fly ash or other cheap sources of Si and Al can be used to stabilize heavy metals in soil (Terzano et al., 2005). This study aims at evaluating a new S/S process for the reduction of Cr(VI) to Cr(III) in polluted soils and the incorporation of Cr(III) in newly formed minerals by using a reactive mixture of glass and aluminum (recovered from solid municipal wastes) and an alkaline hydrothermal treatment

Impact of Sodium Chloride Crystallization on Saliva Droplets Spreading

It is well known that SARS–CoV–2, can be transmitted through airborne diffusion of saliva droplets which travels into atmospheric air through a thermo-fluid dynamic interaction with it. In order to limit SARS-CoV-2 spread, social distancing is crucial. However, in this context is really important to emphasize that available knowledge is largely inadequate to make predictions on the airborne spreading of infectious droplets emitted during a cough and/or sneezing. The main aim of our research activity is to provide a contribution to thermo-fluid dyamic modeling of saliva droplets diffusion produced by coughing. In particular in this paper, several efforts were devoted to the analysis of impact of saliva chemical composition on the their spreading in space

The Geomagnetic Field (GMF) Is Required for Lima Bean Photosynthesis and Reactive Oxygen Species Production

: Plants evolved in the presence of the Earth's magnetic field (or geomagnetic field, GMF). Variations in MF intensity and inclination are perceived by plants as an abiotic stress condition with responses at the genomic and metabolic level, with changes in growth and developmental processes. The reduction of GMF to near null magnetic field (NNMF) values by the use of a triaxial Helmholtz coils system was used to evaluate the requirement of the GMF for Lima bean (Phaseolus lunatus L.) photosynthesis and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. The leaf area, stomatal density, chloroplast ultrastructure and some biochemical parameters including leaf carbohydrate, total carbon, protein content and δ13C were affected by NNMF conditions, as were the chlorophyll and carotenoid levels. RubisCO activity and content were also reduced in NNMF. The GMF was required for the reaction center's efficiency and for the reduction of quinones. NNMF conditions downregulated the expression of the MagR homologs PlIScA2 and PlcpIScA, implying a connection between magnetoreception and photosynthetic efficiency. Finally, we showed that the GMF induced a higher expression of genes involved in ROS production, with increased contents of both H2O2 and other peroxides. Our results show that, in Lima bean, the GMF is required for photosynthesis and that PlIScA2 and PlcpIScA may play a role in the modulation of MF-dependent responses of photosynthesis and plant oxidative stress

LE REGOLE E LA VITA. DEL BUON USO DI UNA CRISI, TRA LETTERATURA E DIRITTO

Even from the dramatic crisis underway valuable experiences can and should be drawn, to make good use of them, for now and for tomorrow. Among such experiences the new and fundamental one, both for legal professionals and for ordinary citizens, is the vision of a world of rules on the observance or transgression of which people's lives are being played out. Rules that reveal in full view, as rarely happens, the language with which life, nature and the environment speak to us. From now on, the entire regulatory system should pay attention to this language. It is the conviction that inspires this book, born from the hope that the "Federico Stella" Postgraduate School on Criminal Justice had a 'way' to talk to the country and to the academic community about the huge problem of the pandemic that we are all facing together, to prepare ourselves with awareness and determination to the great challenges that we all will confront in the next months and years

Extracorporeal life support in mitral papillary muscle rupture: Outcome of multicenter study

Background: Post-acute myocardial infarction papillary muscle rupture (post-AMI PMR) may present variable clinical scenarios and degree of emergency due to result of cardiogenic shock. Veno-arterial extracorporeal life support (V-A ECLS) has been proposed to improve extremely poor pre- or postoperative conditions. Information in this respect is scarce.Methods: From the CAUTION (meChanical complicAtion of acUte myocardial infarcTion: an InternatiOnal multiceNter cohort study) database (16 different Centers, data from 2001 to 2018), we extracted adult patients who were surgically treated for post-AMI PMR and underwent pre- or/and postoperative V-A ECLS support. The end-points of this study were in-hospital survival and ECLS complications.Results: From a total of 214 post-AMI PMR patients submitted to surgery, V-A ECLS was instituted in 23 (11%) patients. The median age was 61.7 years (range 46-81 years). Preoperatively, ECLS was commenced in 10 patients (43.5%), whereas intra/postoperative in the remaining 13. The most common V-A ECLS indication was post-cardiotomy shock, followed by preoperative cardiogenic shock and cardiac arrest. The median duration of V-A ECLS was 4 days. V-A ECLS complications occurred in more than half of the patients. Overall, in-hospital mortality was 39.2% (9/23), compared to 22% (42/219) for the non-ECLS group.Conclusions: In post-AMI PMR patients, V-A ECLS was used in almost 10% of the patients either to promote bridge to surgery or as postoperative support. Further investigations are required to better evaluate a potential for increased use and its effects of V-A ECLS in such a context based on the still high perioperative mortality

Current status of clinical outcome measures in inclusion body myositis: a systematised review

OBJECTIVES: Sporadic inclusion body myositis (IBM) is a debilitating idiopathic inflammatory myopathy (IIM) which affects hand function, ambulation, and swallowing. There is no approved pharmacological therapy for IBM, and there is a lack of suitable outcome measure to assess the effect of an intervention. The IBM scientific interest group under IMACS reviewed the previously used outcome measures in IBM clinical studies to lay the path for developing a core set of outcome measures in IBM. METHODS: In this systematised review, we have extracted all outcome measures reported in IBM clinical studies to determine what measures were being used and to assess the need for optimising outcome measures in IBM. RESULTS: We found 13 observational studies, 17 open-label clinical trials, and 15 randomised control trials (RCTs) in IBM. Six-minute walk distance, IBM-functional rating scale (IBM-FRS), quantitative muscle testing, manual muscle testing, maximal voluntary isometric contraction testing, and thigh muscle volume measured by MRI were used as primary outcome measures. Twelve different outcome measures of motor function were used in IBM clinical trials. IBM-FRS was the most used measure of functionality. Swallowing function was reported as a secondary outcome measure in only 3 RCTs. CONCLUSIONS: There are inconsistencies in using outcome measures in clinical studies in IBM. The core set measures developed by the IMACS group for other IIMs are not directly applicable to IBM. As a result, there is an unmet need for an IBM-specific core set of measures to facilitate the evaluation of new potential therapeutics for IBM