Mytilus galloprovincialis as sentinel to detect marine hydrocarbon contamination: an integrated approach

Oil spills cause significant impacts on the coastal marine ecosystem. Studying and investigating the immune mechanisms that contribute in hydrocarbon (HC) detoxification processes is crucial to better understand the responses of marine organisms under pollutant exposure. The mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis, due to its filtration behaviour and the evidence about its ability to response early to environmental stressors, is considered an excellent model species for ecotoxicological studies. In this work, specimens of M. galloprovincialis were exposed for 4 days to different concentrations of dieselengine oil mixture. Increasing concentrations of the mixture significantly decreased the phagocytic activity of the haemocytes. Enzymatic analyses of the main oxidative stress and inflammation markers confirmed the immunomodulation resulting from short-term exposure to the mixture. Histomorphological analyses on digestive gland showed that HCs mixture compromised the tubules’s tissue structures, inducing necrosis especially for the highest concentrations. Furthermore, the modulation of the molecular markers HSP70 and HSC70 was also assessed by western blot, demonstrating their involvement in maintaining the organism's homeostasis. Finally, the effects of HCs mixture on the diversity and structure of microbiome of hepatopancreas and haemolymph were also evaluated by Automated Ribosomal Intergenic Spacer (ARISA) and 16S rRNA gene sequencing analyses. The exposure to increasing HCs concentrations has a positive effect on microbial diversity, with an increase in relative abundance of several known degrading bacterial genera. These results confirmed the role of M. galloprovincialis as a sentinel of environmental pollution, thanks to its ability to respond sensitively and quickly to hydrocarbon pollution

W-doped vanadium dioxide films by pulsed laser deposition for IR Photonics

The semiconductor-to-metal phase transition exhibited by vanadium dioxide at the critical temperature of 68 °C, enables reversible changes in its optical and electrical properties. Moreover, the possibility to modify the transition temperature by introducing dopants within the VO2 crystal, allows a temperature tunability of all these properties, making this phase change material very appealing for active, dynamic, tunable Photonic applications. In this work we report on fabrication and structural, morphological, and optical characterization of tungsten (W)-doped VO2 thin films synthesized by pulsed laser deposition, a technique which allows a unique versatility to obtain W-doped VO2 films using custom made VO2 targets with different amounts of W. Results show that appropriate W-doping leads to VO2 thin films with tunable and controllable perfect IR absorption, paving the way to the development of promising thermooptical devices including infrared filters, radiative cooling devices, and thermal emitters. Furthermore, by varying the amount of W, tailored infrared phonon and plasmon polaritonic responses at room temperature can be obtained, allowing then the realization of VO2 films with a given degree of semiconducting/metallic behaviour, exploitable for the realization of tunable midinfrared metamaterial devices operating at room temperature

Measuring multimorbidity inequality across Italy through the multisource comorbidity score: A nationwide study

none14noBackground: Multimorbidity is a growing concern for healthcare systems, with many countries experiencing demographic transition to older population profiles. A simple multisource comorbidity score (MCS) has been recently developed and validated. A very large real-world investigation was conducted with the aim of measuring inequalities in the MCS distribution across Italy. Methods: Beneficiaries of the Italian National Health Service aged 50-85 years who in 2018 were resident in one of the 10 participant regions formed the study population (15.7 million of the 24.9 million overall resident in Italy). MCS was assigned to each beneficiary by categorizing the individual sum of the comorbid values (i.e. the weights corresponding to the comorbid conditions of which the individual suffered) into one of the six categories denoting a progressive worsening comorbidity status. MCS distributions in women and men across geographic partitions were compared. Results: Compared with beneficiaries from northern Italy, those from centre and south showed worse comorbidity profile for both women and men. MCS median age (i.e. the age above which half of the beneficiaries suffered at least one comorbidity) ranged from 60 (centre and south) to 68 years (north) in women and from 63 (centre and south) to 68 years (north) in men. The percentage of comorbid population was lower than 50% for northern population, whereas it was around 60% for central and southern ones. Conclusion: MCS allowed of capturing geographic variability of multimorbidity prevalence, thus showing up its value for addressing health policy in order to guide national health planning.noneCorrao G.; Rea F.; Carle F.; Di Martino M.; De Palma R.; Francesconi P.; Lepore V.; Merlino L.; Scondotto S.; Garau D.; Spazzafumo L.; Montagano G.; Clagnan E.; Martini N.Corrao, G.; Rea, F.; Carle, F.; Di Martino, M.; De Palma, R.; Francesconi, P.; Lepore, V.; Merlino, L.; Scondotto, S.; Garau, D.; Spazzafumo, L.; Montagano, G.; Clagnan, E.; Martini, N

The provisional OMERACT ultrasonography score for giant cell arteritis

Objectives: To develop an Outcome Measures in Rheumatology (OMERACT) ultrasonography score for monitoring disease activity in giant cell arteritis (GCA) and evaluate its metric properties.Methods: The OMERACT Instrument Selection Algorithm was followed. Forty-nine members of the OMERACT ultrasonography large vessel vasculitis working group were invited to seven Delphi rounds. An online reliability exercise was conducted using images of bilateral common temporal arteries, parietal and frontal branches as well as axillary arteries from 16 patients with GCA and 7 controls. Sensitivity to change and convergent construct validity were tested using data from a prospective cohort of patients with new GCA in which ultrasound-based intima-media thickness (IMT) measurements were conducted at weeks 1, 3, 6, 12 and 24.Results: Agreement was obtained (92.7%) for the OMERACT GCA Ultrasonography Score (OGUS), calculated as follows: sum of IMT measured in every segment divided by the rounded cut-off values of IMTs in each segment. The resulting value is then divided by the number of segments available. Thirty-five members conducted the reliability exercise, the interrater intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) for the OGUS was 0.72-0.84 and the median intrareader ICC was 0.91. The prospective cohort consisted of 52 patients. Sensitivity to change between baseline and each follow-up visit up to week 24 yielded standardised mean differences from -1.19 to -2.16, corresponding to large and very large magnitudes of change, respectively. OGUS correlated moderately with erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C reactive protein and Birmingham Vasculitis Activity Score (corr(coeff) 0.37-0.48).Conclusion: We developed a provisional OGUS for potential use in clinical trials

Management of pregnancy in autoimmune rheumatic diseases: maternal disease course, gestational and neonatal outcomes and use of medications in the prospective Italian P-RHEUM.it study

objectives: to investigate pregnancy outcomes in women with autoimmune rheumatic diseases (ARD) in the Italian prospective cohort study P-RHEUM.it. methods: pregnant women with different ARD were enrolled for up to 20 gestational weeks in 29 rheumatology centres for 5 years (2018-2023). maternal and infant information were collected in a web-based database. results: we analysed 866 pregnancies in 851 patients (systemic lupus erythematosus was the most represented disease, 19.6%). maternal disease flares were observed in 135 (15.6%) pregnancies. 53 (6.1%) pregnancies were induced by assisted reproduction techniques, 61 (7%) ended in miscarriage and 11 (1.3%) underwent elective termination. obstetrical complications occurred in 261 (30.1%) pregnancies, including 2.3% pre-eclampsia. two cases of congenital heart block were observed out of 157 pregnancies (1.3%) with anti-Ro/SSA. regarding treatments, 244 (28.2%) pregnancies were treated with glucocorticoids, 388 (44.8%) with hydroxychloroquine, 85 (9.8%) with conventional synthetic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs and 122 (14.1%) with biological disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs. Live births were 794 (91.7%), mostly at term (84.9%); four perinatal deaths (0.5%) occurred. among 790 newborns, 31 (3.9%) were small-for-gestational-age and 169 (21.4%) had perinatal complications. exclusive maternal breast feeding was received by 404 (46.7%) neonates. the edinburgh postnatal depression scale was compiled by 414 women (52.4%); 89 (21.5%) scored positive for emotional distress. conclusions: multiple factors including preconception counselling and treat-to-target with pregnancy-compatible medications may have contributed to mitigate disease-related risk factors, yielding limited disease flares, good pregnancy outcomes and frequency of complications which were similar to the Italian general obstetric population. disease-specific issues need to be further addressed to plan preventative measures