BDNF as a biomarker in psychiatry

2010/2011Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a key factor in learning and memory. Altered BDNF-signalling is thought to contribute to the pathogenesis of schizophrenia and major depression (SZ) especially in relation to cognitive deficits. However, analysis of serum BDNF as a potential biomarker in psychiatry has provided controversial data. We hypothesized that these confounding results might be due to a differential regulation of BDNF precursor pro-BDNF (32 KDa) and proteolytic products mature (mat-BDNF; 14 KDa), and truncated-BDNF (28 KDa). Because of these discrepancies, we decided to perform a systematic review and a meta-analysis of studies measuring serum concentrations of BDNF to elucidate whether or not this neurotrophin is abnormally produced in patients with schizophrenia. Additionally, we were interested in identifying factors that might contribute to the different findings in literature, as to improve the design of future investigations in this field. In the second part of thesis, we investigated the serum abundance of these BDNF isoforms and its relationship with cognitive impairment in schizophrenia. Schizophrenia was diagnosed with PANSS test. Abbreviated cognitive assessment included tests for attention, perceptualmotor skills, processing speed and memory. Using an ELISA assay, we found a slight reduction in serum BDNF levels in SZ patients (n ¼ 40) with respect to healthy controls (HC, n = 40; p = 0.018).Western-blot analysis revealed increased serum pro-BDNF and mat-BDNF and reduced truncated-BDNF (p 2SD reduction of truncated-BDNF (n = 27/40). Reduced truncated-BDNF correlated significantly with higher positive and lower negative PANNS scores and a worst performance in all cognitive assays but not with antipsychotic type. Measurement of serum truncated-BDNF abundance predicted for high cognitive deficits with sensitivity ¼ 67.5%, specificity ¼ 97.5%, Negative Predictive Value = 75% and Positive Predictive Value = 96.4%. These results suggest deficiency in pro-BDNF processing as a possible biological mechanism underlying schizophrenia with cognitive impairment. Finally, future perspectives on the use of proBDNF as a novel biomarker for psychiatric disorders will be discussed.XXIV Cicl

Nonhydrolytic synthesis of high-quality anisotropically shaped brookite TiO2 nanocrystals.

A surfactant-assisted nonaqueous strategy, relying on high-temperature aminolysis of titanium carboxylate complexes, has been developed to access anisotropically shaped TiO2 nanocrystals selectively trapped in the metastable brookite phase. Judicious temporal manipulation of precursor supply to the reaction mixture enables systematic tuning of the nanostructure geometric features over an exceptionally wide dimensional range (30-200 nm). Such degree of control is rationalized within the frame of a self-regulated phase-changing seed-catalyzed mechanism, in which homogeneous nucleation, on one side, and heterogeneous nucleation/growth processes, on the other side, are properly balanced while switching from the anatase to the brookite structures, respectively, in a continuous unidirectional crystal development regime. The time variation of the chemical potential for the monomer species in the solution, the size dependence of thermodynamic structural stability of the involved titania polymorphs, and the reduced activation barrier for brookite nucleation onto initially formed anatase seeds play decisive roles in the crystal-phase- and shape-tailored growth of titania nanostructures by the present approach

Architectural Control of Seeded-Grown Magnetic−Semicondutor Iron Oxide−TiO2 Nanorod Heterostructures: The Role of Seeds in Topology Selection

A colloidal nonaqueous approach to semiconductor−magnetic hybrid nanocrystals (HNCs) with selectable heterodimer topologies and tunable geometric parameters is demonstrated. Brookite TiO2 nanorods, distinguished by a curved shape-tapered profile with richly faceted terminations, are exploited as substrate seeds onto which a single spherical domain of inverse spinel iron oxide can be epitaxially grown at either one apex or any location along their longitudinal sidewalls in a hot surfactant environment. The topologically controlled arrangement of the component material lattices, the crystallographic relationships holding between them, and strain distribution across individual heterostructures have been studied by combining X-ray diffraction and absorption techniques with high-resolution transmission electron microscopy investigations. Supported by such structural knowledge, the synthetic achievements are interpreted within the frame of various mechanistic models offering complementary views of HNC formation..

Heterodimers based on CoPt3-Au nanocrystals with tunable domain size.

We describe an approach to synthesize colloidal nanocrystal heterodimers composed of CoPt3 and Au. The growth is based on the nucleation of gold domains on preformed CoPt3 nanocrystals. It is a highly versatile methodology which allows us to tune independently the size of the two domains in each dimer by varying several reaction parameters. The statistical analysis of the distribution of the domain sizes in the dimers and the compositional mapping achieved by dark field imaging and energy dispersive spectroscopy confirm that the two domains in each dimer are indeed made of CoPt3 and Au, respectively. Structural characterization by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy shows that the two domains, both having cubic fcc Bravais lattice, can share a common {111}, {100}, or {110} facet, depending on the size of the initial CoPt3 seeds. The magnetization measurements evidence a ferromagnetic CoPt3 phase with a relatively low anisotropy as a consequence of their disordered crystalline structure, regardless of the presence of a Au tip. We believe that this prototype of nanocrystal dimer, which can be manipulated under air, can find several applications in nanoscience, as the Au section can be exploited as the preferential anchor point for various molecules, while the CoPt3 domain can be used for magnetic detection

Reversible Wettability Changes in Colloidal TiO2 Nanorod Thin-Film Coatings under Selective UV Laser Irradiation

We demonstrate the light-induced, reversible wettability of homogeneous nanocrystal-based, thin-film coatings composed of closely packed arrays of surfactant-capped anatase TiO2 nanorods laterally oriented on various substrates. Under selective pulsed UV laser excitation, the oxide films exhibit a surface transition from a highly hydrophobic and superoleophilic state (water and oil contact angles of 110° and less than 8°, respectively) to a highly amphiphilic condition (water and oil contact angles of 20° and 3°, respectively). A mechanism is identified according to which the UV-induced hydrophilicity correlates with a progressive increase in the degree of surface hydroxylation of TiO2. The observed wettability changes are not accompanied by any noticeable photocatalytic degradation of the surfactants on the nanorods, which has been explained by the combined effects of the intense and pulsed irradiation regime and of the rodlike nanocrystal morphology. The organic ligands on the oxide are instead assumed to rearrange conformationally in response to the lightdriven surface reconstruction. The amphiphilic state of the UV-irradiated TiO2 films is then considered as the macroscopic wetting result of alternating hydrophilic and oleophilic surface domains of nanoscale extension. Upon prolonged storage in the dark, ambient oxygen removes the newly implanted hydroxyl groups from the TiO2 surfaces and consequently affects again the conformations of ligands such that the films are allowed to recover their native hydrophobic/superoleophilic properties

Topologically controlled growth of magnetic-metal-functionalized semiconductor oxide nanorods.

Colloidal semiconductor-magnetic hybrid nanocrystals with topologically controlled composition are fabricated by heterogeneous nucleation of spherical e-Co domains onto anatase TiO2 nanorods. The latter can be selectively decorated at either their tips or at multiple locations along their longitudinal sidewalls, forming lattice-matched heterointerfaces regardless of the metal deposition sites. The possibility of switching between either heterostructure growth modes arises from the facet-dependent chemical reactivity of the oxide seeds, which is governed mainly by selective adhesion of the surfactants rather than by small differences in misfit-induced interfacial strain at the relevant junction points

ICSC: The Italian National Research Centre on HPC, Big Data and Quantum computing

ICSC (“Italian Center for SuperComputing”) is one of the five Italian National Centres created within the framework of the NextGenerationEU funding by the European Commission. The aim of ICSC, designed and approved through 2022 and eventually started in September 2022, is to create the national digital infrastructure for research and innovation, leveraging existing HPC, HTC and Big Data infrastructures and evolving towards a cloud data-lake model. It will be available to the scientific and industrial communities through flexible and uniform cloud web interfaces and will be relying on a high-level support team; as such, it will form a globally attractive ecosystem based on strategic public-private partnerships to fully exploit top level digital infrastructure for scientific and technical computing and promote the development of new computing technologies. The ICSC IT infrastructure is built upon existing scientific digital infrastructures as provided by the major national players: GARR, the Italian NREN, provides the network infrastructure, whose capacity will be upgraded to multiples of Tbps; CINECA hosts Leonardo, one of the world largest HPC systems, with a power of over 250 Pflops, to be further increased and complemented with a quantum computer; INFN contributes with its distributed Big Data cloud infrastructure, built in the last decades to respond to the needs of the HEP community. On top of the IT infrastructure, several thematic activities will be funded and will focus on the development of tools and applications in several research domains. Of particular relevance to this audience are the activities on "Fundamental Research and Space Economy" and "Astrophysics and Cosmos Observations", strictly aligned with the INFN and HEP core activities. Finally, two technological research activities will foster research on "Future HPC and Big Data" and "Quantum Computing"

参考資料 / 地域連携センタースタッフ紹介

Aims: We investigated the use of the CROSSER catheter, a CTO crossing device based upon high frequency mechanical vibration, as a first resort to treat patients with chronic total occlusions (CTO) while describing angiographic and computed tomography coronary angiography (CTCA) serving as predictors for success. Methods and results: Eighty consecutive patients were enrolled in this prospective multicentre registry of patients treated for a CTO. For 76.3% of the patients, this was the first attempt to open the CTO. Overall success rate was 75%. By conventional coronary angiography, the length of the occlusion was 26.7±14.1 mm and there was a difference in successful vs. unsuccessful cases (24.5±13.9 and 32.8±13.1, p=0.02). The presence of angulation, as defined qualitatively, was more prevalent in failed cases (60.0% vs. 32.2%, p=0.03). The mean ratio CROSSER distance within the occlusion site and length of the occlusion showed a trend towards statistical significance in successful procedures (0.56±0.90 vs. 0.30±0.34, p=0.08). During hospitali- sation, two patients had a non-fatal myocardial infarction. One patient experienced delayed onset of tamponade six hours postprocedure. At 30 days, two patients had PCI in a non-treated vessel and one patient had a transient ischaemic attack. Relation to the CROSSER catheter was inconclusive. Conclusions: The success rate of the use of a dedicated-CTO device -the CROSSER catheter- as a first choice to open a chronic total occlusion was 75%. By multivariate analysis, in a subset of patients that were imaged with computed tomography coronary angiography, the absence of angulation was related with higher success rate

Hunt for new phenomena using large jet multiplicities and missing transverse momentum with ATLAS in 4.7 fb−1 of s√=7TeV proton-proton collisions

Results are presented of a search for new particles decaying to large numbers of jets in association with missing transverse momentum, using 4.7 fb−1 of pp collision data at s√=7TeV collected by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider in 2011. The event selection requires missing transverse momentum, no isolated electrons or muons, and from ≥6 to ≥9 jets. No evidence is found for physics beyond the Standard Model. The results are interpreted in the context of a MSUGRA/CMSSM supersymmetric model, where, for large universal scalar mass m 0, gluino masses smaller than 840 GeV are excluded at the 95% confidence level, extending previously published limits. Within a simplified model containing only a gluino octet and a neutralino, gluino masses smaller than 870 GeV are similarly excluded for neutralino masses below 100 GeV