Fatty acid profile, Desaturase and Atherogenic indices in milk of Holstein Friesian and Italian autochthonous cattle breeds

In the past decades, milk has been considered a mere supplier of nutrients, although its importance was considered paramount for the development and growth of newborns, a number of aspects regarding the biological functions of milk are still unknown. Several positive functional properties of milk derive from fatty acids (FA), mainly unsaturated fatty acids (UFA), either monounsaturated (MUFA) or polyunsaturated (PUFA) fatty acids. In particular, UFAs are considered functional components of food because of their positive effects on disease prevention (FAO, 2010; Connor W.E. ,2000;  Wijendran V., 2004). The objective of this study was to characterize the fatty acid profile, the desaturase index and the atherogenic index in milk of local Italian bovine breeds (Cabannina, Varzese and Valdostana) and in a cosmopolitan breed (Holstein Friesian) during the first period of lactation. A total number of 129 cows have been enrolled (Friesian n=30, Cabannina n=30, Varzese n=30, Valdostana n=39) from three dairy farms with similar management and feeding conditions. Animals were chosen in order to have three classes of lactation stage: milk collections were carried out starting from 40±10 days (group A), 70±10 days (group B), and 130±10 days (group C). Milk samples have been analyzed by gas chromatography to obtain the fatty acid profile, on the basis of these results, the Desaturase and Atherogenic Indices were calculated. A   number   of   differences   between   breeds have been  found, in   particular local  breeds showed an higher  percentages  of  UFA,  MUFA,  PUFA,  and  a  higher  UFA/SFA  ratio, as well as lower desaturase indices (related to C14, C16 and C18) and atherogenic index, when compared to Friesian cows. The results can add further information aiming to re-evaluate an almost lost local treasure in Northern Italy.

Machine learning-based clinical outcome prediction in surgery for acromegaly

Purpose Biochemical remission (BR), gross total resection (GTR), and intraoperative cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leaks are important metrics in transsphenoidal surgery for acromegaly, and prediction of their likelihood using machine learning would be clinically advantageous. We aim to develop and externally validate clinical prediction models for outcomes after transsphenoidal surgery for acromegaly. Methods Using data from two registries, we develop and externally validate machine learning models for GTR, BR, and CSF leaks after endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery in acromegalic patients. For the model development a registry from Bologna, Italy was used. External validation was then performed using data from Zurich, Switzerland. Gender, age, prior surgery, as well as Hardy and Knosp classification were used as input features. Discrimination and calibration metrics were assessed. Results The derivation cohort consisted of 307 patients (43.3% male; mean [SD] age, 47.2 [12.7] years). GTR was achieved in 226 (73.6%) and BR in 245 (79.8%) patients. In the external validation cohort with 46 patients, 31 (75.6%) achieved GTR and 31 (77.5%) achieved BR. Area under the curve (AUC) at external validation was 0.75 (95% confidence interval: 0.59–0.88) for GTR, 0.63 (0.40–0.82) for BR, as well as 0.77 (0.62–0.91) for intraoperative CSF leaks. While prior surgery was the most important variable for prediction of GTR, age, and Hardy grading contributed most to the predictions of BR and CSF leaks, respectively. Conclusions Gross total resection, biochemical remission, and CSF leaks remain hard to predict, but machine learning offers potential in helping to tailor surgical therapy. We demonstrate the feasibility of developing and externally validating clinical prediction models for these outcomes after surgery for acromegaly and lay the groundwork for development of a multicenter model with more robust generalization

Alpha-synuclein/synapsin III pathological interplay boosts the motor response to methylphenidate

: Loss of dopaminergic nigrostriatal neurons and fibrillary α-synuclein (α-syn) aggregation in Lewy bodies (LB) characterize Parkinson's disease (PD). We recently found that Synapsin III (Syn III), a phosphoprotein regulating dopamine (DA) release with α-syn, is another key component of LB fibrils in the brain of PD patients and acts as a crucial mediator of α-syn aggregation and toxicity. Methylphenidate (MPH), a monoamine reuptake inhibitor (MRI) efficiently counteracting freezing of gait in advanced PD patients, can bind α-syn and controls α-syn-mediated DA overflow and presynaptic compartmentalization. Interestingly, MPH results also efficient for the treatment of attention deficits and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a neurodevelopmental psychiatric syndrome associated with Syn III and α-syn polymorphisms and constituting a risk factor for the development of LB disorders. Here, we studied α-syn/Syn III co-deposition and longitudinal changes of α-syn, Syn III and DA transporter (DAT) striatal levels in nigrostriatal neurons of a PD model, the human C-terminally truncated (1-120) α-syn transgenic (SYN120 tg) mouse, in comparison with C57BL/6J wild type (wt) and C57BL/6JOlaHsd α-syn null littermates. Then, we analyzed the locomotor response of these animals to an acute administration of MPH (d-threo) and other MRIs: cocaine, that we previously found to stimulate Syn III-reliant DA release in the absence of α-syn, or the selective DAT blocker GBR-12935, along aging. Finally, we assessed whether these drugs modulate α-syn/Syn III interaction by fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) and performed in silico studies engendering a heuristic model of the α-syn conformations stabilized upon MPH binding. We found that only MPH was able to over-stimulate a Syn III-dependent/DAT-independent locomotor activity in the aged SYN120 tg mice showing α-syn/Syn III co-aggregates. MPH enhanced full length (fl) α-syn/Syn III and even more (1-120) α-syn/Syn III interaction in cells exhibiting α-syn/Syn III inclusions. Moreover, in silico studies confirmed that MPH may reduce α-syn fibrillation by stabilizing a protein conformation with increased lipid binding predisposition. Our observations indicate that the motor-stimulating effect of MPH can be positively fostered in the presence of α-syn/Syn III co-aggregation. This evidence holds significant implications for PD and ADHD therapeutic management

Misure da caratterizzazione di strutture e dispositivi a semiconduttore a multiple quantum well

Dottorato di ricerca in strumentazione elettronica. 10. ciclo. Relatore F. DocchioConsiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche - Biblioteca Centrale - P.le Aldo Moro, 7, Rome; Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale - P.za Cavalleggeri, 1, Florence / CNR - Consiglio Nazionale delle RichercheSIGLEITItal

Progetto Herschel - WP: IF web per CuTEx nei tool ASDC

Le specifiche contenute in questo documento si riferiscono alla attività descritta nel Piano delle Attività 2012 della Missione Herschel nel punto 5.1: “Integrazione nei tool on-line del software CuTEx per la detection e l’analisi fotometrica di sorgenti all’interno di campi affollati ed a background variabile” Il software CuTEx, sviluppato originariamente nel linguaggio IDL (Molinari et al. 2011), è un algoritmo in grado di effettuare la detezione (Detection) di sorgenti su immagini fotometriche e di ottenere il flusso (Photometry) di queste. I tool di Detection e di Photometry sono stati esportati nel linguaggio GDL. Sono stati, inoltre, testati e validati utilizzando diverse tipologie di campi fotometrici

Jython scripts for the achievement of the Herschel Archive at the MMIA

The jython scripts used to generate the the archive of Herschel data within the MMIA are developed and holden by the Herschel Team within the HIPE software environment. This document is intended to archive the scripts and to provide a quick description of their functionality

Small area estimation for local welfare indicators in Italy

Considering the local areas where citizens live is fundamental to investi- gate the impact of the increasing financial difficulties and of the reduction of public funding on several crucial needs that may give riser to social protection, such as health care, old-age and unemployment. In this work we analyze some key indica- tors of social protection services from the perspective of the beneficiaries, the Italian households. We used the EU-SILC 2013 data together with data coming from ad- ministrative archives to produce small area estimates of social protection indicators at provincial level in Italy (LAU 1), such as the households’ Head Count Ratio be- fore and after the social transfers, and the proportion and the mean of a specific category of benefits, family/children allowances