Oxidative stress and methods used for hydroxyl radical determination

Understanding the role of oxidative stress in brain as well as developing medical strategies to reduce its damaging potential in the aging process and pathogenesis of cancer, neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s diseases and Parkinson’s diseases and other incurable illnesses is an important direction in medicine and biochemistry over the world. This review outlines the processes by which hROS may be formed, their damaging potential and determinations methods. Also, the questions upon the nature of reactive hROS in a Fenton (like) system plays a crucial role will be addressed on this part and several lines of evidences will be presented in order to clarify this issue. Highly reactive hydroxyl radicals (hROS) have been implicated in the etiology of many diseases, therefore monitoring of hROS should be extremely helpful to further investigate and understand the role of hROS in the pathogenesis of neurological disorders and to develop medical strategies to reduce the damaging potential of hROS. The very short half-life of OH• requires the use of trapping agents such as salicylic acid or phenylalanine for detection, but their hydroxylated derivatives are either unstable, or implicated as reactant in biochemical processes. Based on already successfully in vitro and in vivo work done in our group in the past two decades, we decided to use sodium terephthalic acid as a trapping agent, the hydroxylation of which yields only one stable and highly fluorescent isomer, 2-hydroxyterephthalate (OH-TA)

Wearable proximity sensors for monitoring a mass casualty incident exercise: a feasibility study

Over the past several decades, naturally occurring and man-made mass casualty incidents (MCI) have increased in frequency and number, worldwide. To test the impact of such event on medical resources, simulations can provide a safe, controlled setting while replicating the chaotic environment typical of an actual disaster. A standardised method to collect and analyse data from mass casualty exercises is needed, in order to assess preparedness and performance of the healthcare staff involved. We report on the use of wearable proximity sensors to measure proximity events during a MCI simulation. We investigated the interactions between medical staff and patients, to evaluate the time dedicated by the medical staff with respect to the severity of the injury of the victims depending on the roles. We estimated the presence of the patients in the different spaces of the field hospital, in order to study the patients' flow. Data were obtained and collected through the deployment of wearable proximity sensors during a mass casualty incident functional exercise. The scenario included two areas: the accident site and the Advanced Medical Post (AMP), and the exercise lasted 3 hours. A total of 238 participants simulating medical staff and victims were involved. Each participant wore a proximity sensor and 30 fixed devices were placed in the field hospital. The contact networks show a heterogeneous distribution of the cumulative time spent in proximity by participants. We obtained contact matrices based on cumulative time spent in proximity between victims and the rescuers. Our results showed that the time spent in proximity by the healthcare teams with the victims is related to the severity of the patient's injury. The analysis of patients' flow showed that the presence of patients in the rooms of the hospital is consistent with triage code and diagnosis, and no obvious bottlenecks were found

Paediatric non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: impact on patients and mothers' quality of life

Background: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of the causes of fatty liver in adults and is currently the primary form of chronic liver disease in children and adolescents. However, the psychological outcome (i.e. the behavioural problems that can in turn be related to psychiatric conditions, like anxiety and mood disorders, or lower quality of life) in children and adolescents suffering of NAFLD has not been extensively explored in the literature. Objectives: The present study aims at evaluating the emotional and behavioural profile in children suffering from NAFLD and the quality of life in their mothers. Patients and Methods: A total of 57 children (18 females/39 males) with NAFLD were compared to 39 age-matched control children (25 females/14 males). All participants were submitted to the following psychological tools to assess behavior, mood, and anxiety: the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC), the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), and the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI). Moreover, the mothers of 40 NAFLD and 39 control children completed the World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) questionnaire. Results: NAFLD children scored significantly higher as compared to control children in MASC (P = 0.001) and CDI total (P < 0.001) scales. The CBCL also revealed significantly higher scores for NAFLD children in total problems (P = 0.046), internalizing symptoms (P = 0.000) and somatic complaints (P < 0.001). The WHOQOL-BREF revealed significantly lower scores for the mothers of NAFLD children in the overall perception of the quality of life (P < 0.001), and in the "relationships" domain (P = 0.023). Conclusions: Increased emotional and behavioural problems were detected in children with NAFLD as compared to healthy control children, together with an overall decrease in their mothers' quality of life. These results support the idea that these patients may benefit from a psychological intervention, ideally involving both children and parents, whose quality of life is likely negatively affected by this disease

A case of 20-week abortion in a rare communicating rudimentary horn of a misinterpreted unicornuate uterus, incorrectly diagnosed as bicornuate: A serious hazard!

Female genital malformations, as the unicornuate uterus, are deviations from normal anatomy that could impair the reproductive potential of a woman or her health. We present a rare case of a 20-week spontaneous abortion in a 24 years old patient affected by a misunderstood unicornuate uterus with communicating rudimentary horn, previously diagnosed as bicornuate, and for this reason subjected to induction of abortive labor, using mifepristone and gemeprost. Following the ultrasound exam and MRI, performed due to the failure of the abortive procedure, revealed the diagnosis of unicornuate uterus with (not clear) communicating accessory horn pregnancy, then treated with laparotomy. 3D-ultrasonography, and above all MRI, should be performed in all those cases of suspected uterine anomalies, especially in presence of pregnancy or abortion, with the aim of avoiding wrong treatments, which leads to a high risk of uterine rupture. In this case, given the uncertainty of imaging exams performed in such an advanced second trimester of pregnancy, only the surgical approach was able to discover the real communication

Hysteroscopic versus histopathological agreement in the diagnosis of chronic endometritis: results from a retrospective observational study

Purpose: To evaluate the agreement rate between hysteroscopy and pathological examination in case of chronic endometritis. Methods: A retrospective observational study carried out at Gynecology and Obstetrics Department, Puerta de Hierro Hospital, Autónoma University of Madrid, Spain, from January 2021 to June 2022 was performed by obtaining data from 115 medical records of women who underwent office hysteroscopies that was compared with the findings of final histological examination of endometrial biopsy. Cohen's kappa index was used to evaluate this agreement rate. In addition, sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value and diagnostic accuracy were obtained. Results: The agreement between hysteroscopic findings and histological examination showed a modest result with a Cohen's kappa index of 34%. In addition, we obtained a specificity of 70% and a sensitivity of 64%. The positive and negative predictive value were 60.8% and 73.4%, respectively. An excellent agreement rate (100%) between histological and hysteroscopic results was observed in presence of hyperemia and micropolyps. Conclusion: Although the sample size is not as large as that of other studies published so far, the first glance of our experience is that hysteroscopic signs are not yet sufficient to make an accurate diagnosis of chronic endometritis, thus requiring a histopathological confirmation to make it

Regional differential effects of the novel histamine H3 receptor antagonist 6-[(3-cyclobutyl-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-1H-3-benzazepin-7-yl)oxy]-Nmethyl-3-pyridinecarboxamide hydrochloride (GSK189254) on histamine release in the central nervous system of freely

ABSTRACT After oral administration, the nonimidazole histamine H 3 receptor antagonist, 6-[(3-cyclobutyl-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-1H-3-benzazepin-7-yl)oxy]-N-methyl-3-pyridinecarboxamide hydrochloride (GSK189254), increased histamine release from the tuberomammillary nucleus, where all histaminergic somata are localized, and from where their axons project to the entire brain. To further understand functional histaminergic circuitry in the brain, dual-probe microdialysis was used to pharmacologically block H 3 receptors in the tuberomammillary nucleus, and monitor histamine release in projection areas. Perfusion of the tuberomammillary nucleus with GSK189254 increased histamine release from the tuberomammillary nucleus, nucleus basalis magnocellularis, and cortex, but not from the striatum or nucleus accumbens. Cortical acetylcholine (ACh) release was also increased, but striatal dopamine release was not affected. When administered locally, GSK189254 increased histamine release from the nucleus basalis magnocellularis, but not from the striatum. Thus, defined by their sensitivity to GSK189254, histaminergic neurons establish distinct pathways according to their terminal projections, and can differentially modulate neurotransmitter release in a brain region-specific manner. Consistent with its effects on cortical ACh release, systemic administration of GSK189254 antagonized the amnesic effects of scopolamine in the rat object recognition test, a cognition paradigm with important cortical components. The discovery of the histamine H 3 receptor (H 3 R) back in 1983 was a major scientific breakthrough that provided key new perspectives in histamine researc

A New Orbiting Deployable System for Small Satellite Observations for Ecology and Earth Observation

In this paper, we present several study cases focused on marine, oceanographic, and atmospheric environments, which would greatly benefit from the use of a deployable system for small satellite observations. As opposed to the large standard ones, small satellites have become an effective and affordable alternative access to space, owing to their lower costs, innovative design and technology, and higher revisiting times, when launched in a constellation configuration. One of the biggest challenges is created by the small satellite instrumentation working in the visible (VIS), infrared (IR), and microwave (MW) spectral ranges, for which the resolution of the acquired data depends on the physical dimension of the telescope and the antenna collecting the signal. In this respect, a deployable payload, fitting the limited size and mass imposed by the small satellite architecture, once unfolded in space, can reach performances similar to those of larger satellites. In this study, we show how ecology and Earth Observations can benefit from data acquired by small satellites, and how they can be further improved thanks to deployable payloads. We focus on DORA—Deployable Optics for Remote sensing Applications—in the VIS to TIR spectral range, and on a planned application in the MW spectral range, and we carry out a radiometric analysis to verify its performances for Earth Observation studies

VADER: Probing the Dark Side of Dimorphos with LICIACube LUKE

The ASI cubesat LICIACube has been part of the first planetary defense mission DART, having among its scopes to complement the DRACO images to better constrain the Dimorphos shape. LICIACube had two different cameras, LEIA and LUKE, and to accomplish its goal, it exploited the unique possibility of acquiring images of the Dimorphos hemisphere not seen by DART from a vantage point of view, in both time and space. This work is indeed aimed at constraining the tridimensional shape of Dimorphos, starting from both LUKE images of the nonimpacted hemisphere of Dimorphos and the results obtained by DART looking at the impacted hemisphere. To this aim, we developed a semiautomatic Computer Vision algorithm, named VADER, able to identify objects of interest on the basis of physical characteristics, subsequently used as input to retrieve the shape of the ellipse projected in the LUKE images analyzed. Thanks to this shape, we then extracted information about the Dimorphos ellipsoid by applying a series of quantitative geometric considerations. Although the solution space coming from this analysis includes the triaxial ellipsoid found by using DART images, we cannot discard the possibility that Dimorphos has a more elongated shape, more similar to what is expected from previous theories and observations. The result of our work seems therefore to emphasize the unique value of the LICIACube mission and its images, making even clearer the need of having different points of view to accurately define the shape of an asteroid.This work was supported by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) within the LICIACube project (ASI-INAF agreement AC No. 2019-31-HH.0) and by the DART mission, NASA contract 80MSFC20D0004

APOLLO 11 Project, Consortium in Advanced Lung Cancer Patients Treated With Innovative Therapies: Integration of Real-World Data and Translational Research

Introduction: Despite several therapeutic efforts, lung cancer remains a highly lethal disease. Novel therapeutic approaches encompass immune-checkpoint inhibitors, targeted therapeutics and antibody-drug conjugates, with different results. Several studies have been aimed at identifying biomarkers able to predict benefit from these therapies and create a prediction model of response, despite this there is a lack of information to help clinicians in the choice of therapy for lung cancer patients with advanced disease. This is primarily due to the complexity of lung cancer biology, where a single or few biomarkers are not sufficient to provide enough predictive capability to explain biologic differences; other reasons include the paucity of data collected by single studies performed in heterogeneous unmatched cohorts and the methodology of analysis. In fact, classical statistical methods are unable to analyze and integrate the magnitude of information from multiple biological and clinical sources (eg, genomics, transcriptomics, and radiomics). Methods and objectives: APOLLO11 is an Italian multicentre, observational study involving patients with a diagnosis of advanced lung cancer (NSCLC and SCLC) treated with innovative therapies. Retrospective and prospective collection of multiomic data, such as tissue- (eg, for genomic, transcriptomic analysis) and blood-based biologic material (eg, ctDNA, PBMC), in addition to clinical and radiological data (eg, for radiomic analysis) will be collected. The overall aim of the project is to build a consortium integrating different datasets and a virtual biobank from participating Italian lung cancer centers. To face with the large amount of data provided, AI and ML techniques will be applied will be applied to manage this large dataset in an effort to build an R-Model, integrating retrospective and prospective population-based data. The ultimate goal is to create a tool able to help physicians and patients to make treatment decisions. Conclusion: APOLLO11 aims to propose a breakthrough approach in lung cancer research, replacing the old, monocentric viewpoint towards a multicomprehensive, multiomic, multicenter model. Multicenter cancer datasets incorporating common virtual biobank and new methodologic approaches including artificial intelligence, machine learning up to deep learning is the road to the future in oncology launched by this project