L'area della cooperazione transfrontaliera Italia-Francia. Obiettivo 3, Cooperazione, Programmazione 2007-2013

Quaderni di ricerca Ires ; n.121- Indice #5- L'area della cooperazione transfrontaliera Italia-Francia #13- Le risorse naturali #19- I trasporti #39- Il territorio agricolo e forestale #43- Le caratteristiche della popolazione #49- Produzione e ricerca #57- Pari opportunità e occupazione #69- L'attrattività e la dotazione turistica #79- L'analisi ambientale e l'aria #87- L'analisi ambientale e l'acqua #95- I rifiuti e i consumi energetici #106- Conclusioni e analisi SWOT #10

Fat emulsion intragastric stability and droplet size modulate gastrointestinal responses and subsequent food intake in young adults

Background: Intragastric creaming and droplet size of fat emulsions may affect intragastric behavior and gastrointestinal and satiety responses.Objectives: We tested the hypotheses that gastrointestinal physiologic responses and satiety will be increased by an increase in intragastric stability and by a decrease in fat droplet size of a fat emulsion.Methods: This was a double-blind, randomized crossover study in 11 healthy persons [8 men and 3 women, aged 24 ± 1 y; body mass index (in kg/m2): 24.4 ± 0.9] who consumed meals containing 300-g 20% oil and water emulsion (2220 kJ) with 1) larger, 6-μm mean droplet size (Coarse treatment) expected to cream in the stomach; 2) larger, 6-μm mean droplet size with 0.5% locust bean gum (LBG; Coarse+LBG treatment) to prevent creaming; or 3) smaller, 0.4-μm mean droplet size with LBG (Fine+LBG treatment). The participants were imaged hourly by using MRI and food intake was assessed by using a meal that participants consumed ad libitum.Results: The Coarse+LBG treatment (preventing creaming in the stomach) slowed gastric emptying, resulting in 12% higher gastric volume over time (P < 0.001), increased small bowel water content (SBWC) by 11% (P < 0.01), slowed appearance of the 13C label in the breath by 17% (P < 0.01), and reduced food intake by 9% (P < 0.05) compared with the Coarse treatment. The Fine+LBG treatment (smaller droplet size) slowed gastric emptying, resulting in 18% higher gastric volume (P < 0.001), increased SBWC content by 15% (P < 0.01), and significantly reduced food intake by 11% (P < 0.05, equivalent to an average of 411 kJ less energy consumed) compared with the Coarse+LBG treatment. These high-fat meals stimulated substantial increases in SBWC, which increased to a peak at 4 h at 568 mL (range: 150–854 mL;P < 0.01) for the Fine+LBG treatment.Conclusion: Manipulating intragastric stability and fat emulsion droplet size can influence human gastrointestinal physiology and food intake

Improved imputation of low-frequency and rare variants using the UK10K haplotype reference panel

Imputing genotypes from reference panels created by whole-genome sequencing (WGS) provides a cost-effective strategy for augmenting the single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) content of genome-wide arrays. The UK10K Cohorts project has generated a data set of 3,781 whole genomes sequenced at low depth (average 7x), aiming to exhaustively characterize genetic variation down to 0.1% minor allele frequency in the British population. Here we demonstrate the value of this resource for improving imputation accuracy at rare and low-frequency variants in both a UK and an Italian population. We show that large increases in imputation accuracy can be achieved by re-phasing WGS reference panels after initial genotype calling. We also present a method for combining WGS panels to improve variant coverage and downstream imputation accuracy, which we illustrate by integrating 7,562 WGS haplotypes from the UK10K project with 2,184 haplotypes from the 1000 Genomes Project. Finally, we introduce a novel approximation that maintains speed without sacrificing imputation accuracy for rare variants

Magnetic resonance microscopy of alkyd polymers and emulsions.

Alkyd emulsions are currently being developed for coating applications. These paints combine the technical advantages of alkyd polymers, which give coatings of a high gloss finish, with the environmental and health benefits of solvent-free systems. Nonetheless, the drying and film formation of these systems involve several steps, none of which is well understood yet. These include creaming or sedimentation, evaporation of the continuous water phase, coalescence of the alkyd droplets, a possible phase-inversion, and the oxidative cross-linking of the alkyd polymer to form a hard coating. In this thesis. Magnetic Resonance Microscopy is used to investigate the film formation of alkyd emulsion coatings. As the process is complex, studies on a different range of emulsions and related systems are performed to gain further insight into the different steps involved. A combination of Liquid State Microscopy, diffusometry and broad line imaging (Stray Field Magnetic Resonance Imaging) is employed, and it is shown that this combination provides results extremely rich in information. First, a study of the cream layer and the creaming dynamics of model bulk oil-in-water emulsions containing different concentrations of thickener is presented. The experimental data are compared to the predictions of a numerical model, and evidence is gained that the presence of the thickener induces flocculation according to a depletion mechanism. Then, the water evaporation from alkyd emulsion droplets is investigated and the water concentration across the droplet is modelled according to an original model based on lateral diffusion of water. There is no evidence from spectroscopy and diffusometry for phase-inversion during the drying of alkyd emulsion coatings. Finally the cross-linking of alkyds containing driers is found to be non-uniform across the film thickness

L'area della cooperazione transfrontaliera Italia-Francia. Obiettivo 3, Cooperazione, Programmazione 2007-2013

Quaderni di ricerca Ires ; n.12

Pre- And Post-Operative Circulating Tumoral Dna In Patients With Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma

Context Measurement of driver mutations in circulating tumoral DNA (ctDNA) obtained by liquid biopsy has been shown to be a sensitive biomarker in several human tumors. Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical relevance of pre- and post-operative ctDNA in sporadic medullary thyroid cancer (sMTC). Methods We studied pre- and post-operative ctDNA in 26 and 23 sMTC patients, respectively. ctDNA results were correlated to serum calcitonin (Ct), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), and other clinical/pathological features. Results Twenty-six of 29 (89.7%) sMTCs were mutated either for RET or RAS and 3/29 (10.3%) were negative. Four of 26 (15.4%) cases showed positive pre-operative ctDNA with a significantly higher presence of RET M918T mutation (P = 0.0468). Patients with positive pre-operative ctDNA showed a higher variation allele frequency value of the somatic driver mutation (P = 0.0434) and a higher frequency of persistent disease (P = 0.0221). Post-operative ctDNA was positive only in 3/23 (13%) sMTCs and no one was positive for pre-operative ctDNA. Higher values of both Ct (P = 0.0307) and CEA (P = 0.0013) were found in positive ctDNA cases. Finally, the 7 cases harboring either pre- or post-operative positive ctDNA had a persistent disease (P = 0.0005) showing a higher post-operative serum Ct when compared with cases with negative ctDNA (P = 0.0092). Conclusions Pre-operative ctDNA in medullary thyroid cancer is not useful for diagnostic purposes, but it can be useful for predicting the outcome of the disease. In our series, post-operative ctDNA showed a potential for monitoring the response to therapies, but further studies are required to confirm our results

Increased liver fat and glycogen stores after consumption of high versus low glycaemic index food: a randomized crossover study

Aim: To investigate the acute and longer-term effects of low (LGI) versus high glycaemic index (HGI) diets on hepatic fat and glycogen accumulation and related blood measures in healthy volunteers. Methods: Eight healthy men (age 20.1 � 0.4 years, body mass index 23.0 � 0.9 kg/m2) attended a test day before and after a 7-day macronutrient- and energy-matched HGI or LGI diet, followed by a minimum 4-week wash-out period, and then returned to repeat the intervention with the alternative diet. During test days, participants consumed either an HGI or an LGI test meal corresponding to their diet week, and liver fat [1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS)], glycogen (13C MRS) and gastric content volume (MRI) were measured. Blood samples were obtained regularly throughout the test day to assess plasma glucose and insulin levels. Results: Plasma glucose and insulin peak values and area under the curve were significantly greater after the HGI test meal compared with the LGI test meal, as expected. Hepatic glycogen concentrations increased more after the HGI test meal (P < .05) and peak levels were significantly greater after 7 days of HGI dietary intervention compared with those at the beginning of the intervention (P < .05). Liver fat fractions increased significantly after the HGI dietary intervention compared with the LGI dietary intervention (two-way repeated-measures analysis of variance P ≤ .05). Conclusions: Compared with an LGI diet, a 1-week HGI diet increased hepatic fat and glycogen stores. This may have important clinical relevance for dietary interventions in the prevention and management of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease