High-glutathione producing yeasts obtained by genetic improvement strategies: a focus on adaptive evolution approaches for novel wine strains

Glutathione (GSH) is the most abundant non-protein thiol in living organisms. Due to its important antioxidant role, it is widely used in medicine, as a food additive, and in the cosmetic industry. Recently, GSH has received growing attention in winemaking because of its ability to control oxidative spoilage damage and to protect various aromatic compounds. Indeed, GSH concentration in wine is highly variable and several factors are involved in its regulation, ranging from grape must to yeast fermentation activity. This short review aims at highlighting the common genetic strategies, useful for obtaining wine yeasts with enhanced GSH production, paying particular attention to the adaptive evolution approaches. Moreover, other strategies, such as random mutagenesis, metabolic engineering and hybridization have been briefly reviewed with a stress on both their strengths and weaknesses in terms of actual feasibility and acceptance by wine consumers

Factors associated with apoptosis in symptomatic and asymptomatic carotid atherosclerotic plaques.

The aim of this study was to investigate the differences that are present between apoptosis in symptomatic (with symptoms of cerebral ischemic attack) and asymptomatic carotid atherosclerotic plaques. The apoptotic process in macrophages and smooth muscle cells was evaluated. Cellular markers and products of immune cells in symptomatic and asymptomatic atherosclerotic plaque and endoarterectomy specimen were analyzed by immunohistochemistry. No statistically significant differences were present regarding the mean SMC actin-positive area. Using double staining of α-smooth muscle actin and TUNEL techniques, the number of smooth muscle cells in apoptosis was statistically higher in symptomatic plaque as compared with asymptomatic plaque. Statistically significant differences (p=0.009) were also found in the CD45-positive cells in the inflammatory infiltrate. The CD68-positive macrophages showed statistically significant differences (p=0.0001). Similarly, the double staining with CD68 and TUNEL revealed that apoptotic macrophages were mainly present in asymptomatic plaques rather than symptomatic plaques. Statistically significant differences (p<0.001) were found in the Bcl-2 expression, with higher values in asymptomatic plaques. Our data showed that the increase of the inflammatory cells contributes to plaque instability and that death due to apoptosis of smooth muscle cells in symptomatic plaques could contribute to their destabilization and explains their tendency to fracture

CHARACTERISTICS OF LIPIDS FROM IMMUNOCASTRATED MEDIUM-HEAVY PIGS FED EITHER A RESTRICTED DIET OR AD LIBITUM

We studied the feeding level-related variations in lipid characteristics in the adipose tissues of pigs. The lipid content, fatty acid profile, oxidative stability, iodine value, thrombogenic and atherogenic indices were determined in individual samples from 24 immunocastrated males (Duroc x Large White), fed either restricted or ad libitum. In backfat, feed restriction increased the polyunsaturated fatty acid proportion and iodine value and lowered the thrombogenic and atherogenic indices. Intramuscular lipid content was reduced by restriction, which did not affect either the fatty acid composition or the oxidative stability in both raw and cooked muscle. Feed restriction improved the nutritional quality of lipids without impairing their technological attributes

Per un Atlante storico digitale di Ferrara. Note sul progetto-pilota Ferrara1881

Un piccolo gruppo di lavoro interdisciplinare, con l’aiuto di laboratori didattici, può realizzare il ‘pilota’ di un più ampio Atlante storico-urbano: è il caso di Ferrara1881 un progetto di WebGIS in corso di realizzazione. Il progetto si basa sulla saldatura dei fogli di famiglia del censimento 1881 (che riportano anche informazioni sull’alloggio) e della cartografia catastale, attraverso la mediazione dei repertori dei possessori, che stabiliscono relazioni fra numeri di particella catastale e numerazione civica storica (verificabile negli stati di sezione anche oltre gli usi residenziali). Gli oltre settemila records delineano l’immagine di una popolazione urbana in una città ordinaria dell’Ottocento europeo, che sarà precisata dall’aggancio puntuale alla geografia urbana: non senza sorprese, come ad esempio l’esistenza di una dialettica fra centro e periferia, dunque di elementi di segregazione sociale, anche negli spazi ristretti della città intramuraria e nella loro popolazione ridotta (meno di 30.000 abitanti).A small interdisciplinary working group, with the help of students’ workshops, can create the ‘pilot’ of a broader historical-urban Atlas: this is the case of Ferrara 1881, a WebGIS project under construction. The project is based on the welding of family sheets of 1881 census (which also contain information on houses) and cadastral cartography, through the mediation of the owners’ repertories, which establish relationships between cadastral parcel numbers and historical civic numbering (verifiable on other census registers even beyond residential uses). More than seven thousand records outline the image of an urban population in an ordinary European nineteenth century city: an image which will be specified by the connection to urban geography. Not without surprises, such as the existence of a dialectic between center and periphery, therefore of elements of social segregation, even in the confined spaces of the intramural city and in their small population (less than 30,000 inhabitants)

An improved method for quantitative magneto-optical analysis of superconductors

We report on the analysis method to extract quantitative local electrodynamics in superconductors by means of the magneto-optical technique. First of all, we discuss the calibration procedure to convert the local light intensity values into magnetic induction field distribution and start focusing on the role played by the generally disregarded magnetic induction components parallel to the indicator film plane (in-plane field effect). To account for the reliability of the whole technique, the method used to reconstruct the electrical current density distribution is reported, together with a numerical test example. The methodology is applied to measure local magnetic field and current distributions on a typical YBa2Cu3O7−x good quality film. We show how the in-plane field influences the MO measurements, after which we present an algorithm to account for the in-plane field components. The meaningful impact of the correction on the experimental results is shown. Afterwards, we discuss some aspects about the electrodynamics of the superconducting sample

Plasma Exosome MicroRNA Profiling Unravels a New Potential Modulator of Adiponectin Pathway in Diabetes: Effect of Glycemic Control

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Preprocedural Level of Soluble CD40L Is Predictive of Enhanced Inflammatory Response and Restenosis After Coronary Angioplasty

Background— Inflammation plays a pathogenic role in the development of restenosis after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA). CD40–CD40L interaction is involved in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis; however, its role in the pathophysiology of restenosis is still unclear. We tested the hypothesis that soluble CD40L (sCD40L) may be involved in the process of restenosis and that it exerts its effect by triggering a complex group of inflammatory reactions on endothelial and mononuclear cells. Methods and Results— We studied 70 patients who underwent PTCA and who had repeated angiograms at 6-month follow-up. Plasma sCD40L was measured before and 1, 5, 15, and 180 days after PTCA, whereas plasma soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1, soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1, E-selectin, and monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1 were measured before and 24 hours after PTCA. Furthermore, the release of adhesion molecules and MCP-1 and the ability to repair an injury in endothelial cells, as well as the generation of O 2 − in monocytes, were analyzed in vitro after stimulation with serum from patients or healthy control subjects. Restenosis occurred in 18 patients (26%). Restenotic patients had preprocedural sCD40L significantly higher than patients with favorable outcomes (2.13±0.3 versus 0.87±0.12 ng/mL, P <0.0001). Elevated sCD40L at baseline was significantly correlated with adhesion molecules and MCP-1 generation after PTCA and with lumen loss at 6-month follow-up. Furthermore, high sCD40L was directly associated in vitro with adhesion molecules and MCP-1 generation and impaired migration in endothelial cells and with enhanced O 2 − generation in monocytes. Conclusions— We conclude that increased sCD40L is associated with late restenosis after PTCA. This may provide an important biochemical link between restenosis and aspirin-insensitive platelet activation. These results provide a rationale for studies with new antiplatelet treatments in patients who underwent PTCA