EFFETTI DELLA TERAPIA CON METOPROLOLO E SFINGOSINA 1 FOSFATO IN UN MODELLO SPERIMENTALE DI SCOMPENSO CARDIACO POST-ISCHEMICO

Un evento patologico chiave nello Scompenso Cardiaco (SC) è la disregolazione dei recettori β adrenergici cardiaci (βAR) conseguenza dell’iperattivazione da parte delle catecolammine. I beta bloccanti hanno effetti terapeutici nei pazienti con SC in quanto impediscono l’ulteriore down-regulation recettoriale. Sono comunque necessari ulteriori studi per approfondire al meglio i meccanismi d’azione di questa classe di farmaci. Inoltre è stato dimostrato che in corso di SC si assiste alla disregolazione del sistema recettoriale della sfingosina1fosfato (S1P), un fosfolipide bioattivo con effetti cardioprotettivi, nonostante i livelli circolanti di tale fosfolipide siano ridotti. È noto che in corso di scompenso, l’iperattivazione dei recettori β adrenergici cardiaci, da parte delle catecolammine, porta anche ad una downregulation del recettore di tipo 1 della S1P, favorendo la progressione della patologia. Il cross-talk tra questi due sistemi recettoriali sembra essere orchestrato da GRK2, che rappresenta il principale regolatore di questa interazione. Nel presente studio abbiamo osservato che il Metoprololo, β bloccante selettivo per il recettore β1, è in grado di prevenire la disfunzione del signaling della S1P rallentando la progressione dello scompenso cardiaco. Quindi è possibile ipotizzare che parte degli effetti benefici mediati dai beta bloccanti siano dovuti al miglioramento del signaling della S1P

The University of Malta (Seismic Monitoring and Research Unit), University of Basilicata and Imaa-CNR (Italy) operations during the 2012 Emilia seismic sequence

On 20th May 2012 (02:03 UTC), and on 29th May 2012 (07.00 UTC) two major earthquakes occurred in Northern Italy. The two earthquakes caused 27 people to be killed (7 on 20th May and 20 on 29th May), at least 400 injured, and up to 45,000 homeless in total, with initial estimates placing the total economic loss at several billion Euros. The main goal of this communication is to describe the operations and efforts of several researchers and Institutions during the seismic crises of the Emilia sequence. The acquired data can provide tools to reduce the impact of future earthquakes on the local communities.peer-reviewe

Exact period-four solutions of a family of n-dimensional quadratic maps via harmonic balance and Gröbner bases

Analytical solutions of the period-four orbits exhibited by a classical family of n-dimensionalquadratic maps are presented. Exact expressions are obtained by applying harmonic balance and Grobner bases to a single-input single-output representation of the system. A detailed study of a generalized scalar quadratic map and a well-known delayed logistic model is included for illustration. In the former example, conditions for the existence of bistability phenomenon are also introduced.Fil: D'amico, Edith Maria Belen. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Investigación En Ingeniería Eléctrica; ArgentinaFil: Calandrini, Guillermo. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Matemática; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Investigación en Ingeniería Eléctrica; Argentin

Effect of furosemide administration before F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography on urine radioactivity and detection of uterine cervical cancer

BACKGROUND: In evaluating uterine cervical cancer with 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT), there may be overlap between the FDG activity at tumor sites and nonspecific radioactivity in the urine. We evaluated the efficacy of furosemide premedication with routine hydration to obtain better contrast and less overlap between cervical cancer and the urinary bladder. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated 166 patients who had primary or relapsed cervical cancer and underwent FDG PET/CT scanning with (133 patients) or without (33 patients) furosemide premedication (10 mg intravenous, slowly injected 30 min before the scan). We calculated bladder and tumor maximum and median standardized uptake value (SUVmax and SUVmed), and overlap between tumor and urinary activity was detected visually. RESULTS: Overlap between urinary and tumor radioactivity was observed in 8 of 133 scans (6%) in patients who receive furosemide and in 3 of 33 scans (9%) in patients who did not receive furosemide. The SUVmax and SUVmed for the bladder were significantly lower in patients who were pretreated with furosemide (SUVmax, 6.3; SUVmed, 4.6) than patients who were not pretreated with furosemide (SUVmax, 8.8 [P ≤ 0.008]; SUVmed, 6.5 [P ≤ 0.002]). The tumor SUVmax and SUVmed were similar between the patient groups. CONCLUSION: Furosemide premedication before FDG PET/CT scanning may enable improved evaluation of activity and extension of cervical cancer.

The contribution of the PLM to firms internationalization: A case in the footwear industry

As the globalization of markets in the footwear industry became more evident, several restrictions have been imposed by international directives, standards and regulations, and market requirements. Such external needs are progressively pushing the footwear manufacturers to introduce continuous improvements in their production processes and in general in the firm management. This working paper represents the first step of a research with the aim of evaluating the impact of PLM on a firm internazionalization in the fashion industry. The investigation is at the level of PLM as a business strategy as well as set of technical tools. The research approach mainly includes a survey on footwear industries located in the district of the \u201cRiviera del Brenta\u201d of the Veneto Region in Italy

Product Lifecycle Management as a tool to create value in the fashion system

The aim of this paper is to present the fashion system as a \u201ccluster\u201d and to evaluate the characteristics of Product Lifecycle Management considering various factors, especially the different approaches in dealing the market needs. In particular, the \u201cready-to-wear fashion\u201d and the \u201cfast fashion\u201d models will be presented and compared. The paper, takes the Italian fashion system as the unit of analysis and it also assumes that consumer behavioral factors act in a non predictable way (randomly) under the constantly changing social and cultural environment. Considering the inner complexity of a whole market system, a simplified System Dynamics modeling is proposed

Lo spazio giudiziario europeo e la tutela complessa dei diritti

Attraverso una approfondita analisi casistica, l’autrice analizza le modalità con cui i giudici, a livello nazionale e sovranazionale, sono intervenuti negli anni più recenti a tutela dei diritti fondamentali.Nel saggio, l’Autrice si preoccupa di mettere in evidenza non soltanto le criticità che si accompagnano ad una tutela dei diritti fondamentali assicurata in modo sempre più importante dai giudici, ma anche le lacune che continuano a caratterizzare il processo, sia costituzionale sia sovrananzionale (con specifico riferimento al sistema della Convenzione europea dei diritti dell’uomo), soprattutto per quanto attiene alla fase istruttoria e all’intervento dei terzi.L’indagine casistica consente, quindi, all’Autrice di intrecciare profili di diritto sostanziale e processuale, contribuendo a delineare un quadro dettagliato dello status dei diritti fondamentali in Italia e in Europa