Isometric Embeddings in Bounded Cohomology

This paper is devoted to the construction of norm-preserving maps between bounded cohomology groups. For a graph of groups with amenable edge groups we construct an isometric embedding of the direct sum of the bounded cohomology of the vertex groups in the bounded cohomology of the fundamental group of the graph of groups. With a similar technique we prove that if (X,Y) is a pair of CW-complexes and the fundamental group of each connected component of Y is amenable, the isomorphism between the relative bounded cohomology of (X,Y) and the bounded cohomology of X in degree at least 2 is isometric. As an application we provide easy and self-contained proofs of Gromov Equivalence Theorem and of the additivity of the simplicial volume with respect to gluings along \pi_1-injective boundary components with amenable fundamental group.Comment: The text overlaps with the submission http://arxiv.org/abs/1205.1022 by the same author

Emotional Availability in Samples of Mothers at High Risk for Depression and With Substance Use Disorder

Background: Maternal substance use disorder (SUD) and depression have been extensively associated with dysfunctions in parent-child interactions. However, few studies have compared caregiving behaviors of these mothers. The current study aims to explore maternal emotional availability (EA) in mothers with maternal SUD and depressive symptoms in order to investigate whether these conditions represent a different risk gradient for early parenting.Methods: Mother-infant relationship was investigated in 18 mothers with SUD, 11 mothers at risk for depression, and 39 mothers from general population. The dyads were videotaped during a free-play session and the quality of parent-child interactions was assessed using the EA Scales (EAS) and the Emotional Attachment and EA Clinical Screener (EA2-CS).Results: Mothers with SUD scored lower on sensitivity, non-intrusiveness, and non-hostility with respect to the low-risk sample, whereas mothers at risk for depression scored lower on sensitivity and non-hostility compared to the latter. No significant differences between mothers with SUD and mothers at risk for depression emerged on the EAS, whereas different specific classifications on the EA Clinical Screener were found for the SUD (i.e., Complicated), depression (i.e., Detached), and low-risk (i.e., Emotionally Available) samples.Conclusion: If the current findings are replicated, they might have significant implications for selecting targets of early mother-infant interventions

Maternal caregiving moderates the impact of antenatal maternal cortisol on infant stress regulation

Background Emerging evidence suggests that antenatal exposure to maternal stress signals affects the development of the infant stress response systems. Animal studies indicate that maternal sensitive caregiving can reverse some of these effects. However, the generalizability of these findings to humans is unknown. This study investigated the role of maternal caregiving in the association between multiple markers of maternal antenatal stress and infant stress regulation. Methods The sample consisted of 94 mother-infant (N = 47 males, mean postnatal weeks = 12; SD = 1.84) dyads. Maternal levels of Interleukin-6, C-Reactive Protein (CRP), diurnal cortisol and alpha amylase, depressive and anxiety symptoms were assessed in late pregnancy (mean gestational age = 34.76; SD = 1.12), whereas postnatal symptomatology, caregiving, and infant cortisol response to the inoculation were evaluated at 3 months. Results Hierarchical linear models (HLMs) showed a significant interaction between maternal antenatal cortisol, caregiving, and time on infant cortisol reactivity, while controlling for gender, maternal age, and postnatal depression. Specifically, higher levels of maternal antenatal cortisol were associated with greater cortisol response only among infants of less emotionally available mothers. All other markers of antenatal stress were not significantly associated with infant cortisol reactivity either independently or in interaction with maternal caregiving. Conclusions Albeit preliminary, results provide the first evidence in humans that maternal sensitive caregiving may eliminate the association between antenatal maternal cortisol and infant cortisol regulation

The N-terminal ricin propeptide influences the fate of ricin A-chain in tobacco protoplasts.

The plant toxin ricin is synthesized in castor bean seeds as an endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-targeted precursor. Removal of the signal peptide generates proricin in which the mature A- and B-chains are joined by an intervening propeptide and a 9-residue propeptide persists at the N terminus. The two propeptides are ultimately removed in protein storage vacuoles, where ricin accumulates. Here we have demonstrated that the N-terminal propeptide of proricin acts as a nonspecific spacer to ensure efficient ER import and glycosylation. Indeed, when absent from the N terminus of ricin A-chain, the non-imported material remained tethered to the cytosolic face of the ER membrane, presumably by the signal peptide. This species appeared toxic to ribosomes. The propeptide does not, however, influence catalytic activity per se or the vacuolar targeting of proricin or the rate of retrotranslocation/degradation of A-chain in the cytosol. The likely implications of these findings to the survival of the toxin-producing tissue are discussed

Neuroendocrine and immune markers of maternal stress during pregnancy and infant cognitive development

Antenatal exposure to maternal stress is a factor that may impact on offspring cognitive development. While some evidence exists of an association between maternal antenatal depressive or anxiety symptoms and infants’ cognitive outcomes, less is known about the role of biological indices of maternal antenatal stress in relation to infant cognitive development. The current study investigated the association between maternal depressive and anxiety symptoms, stress and inflammatory markers during pregnancy and infant’s cognitive development in a sample of 104 healthy pregnant women (mean gestational age=34.76; SD=1.12) and their 12-week-old infants (mean postnatal weeks=11.96; SD=1.85). Maternal depressive and anxiety symptoms were evaluated during pregnancy, alongside measurements of serum Interleukin-6 (IL-6), C-Reactive Protein (CRP), salivary cortisol and alpha amylase (sAA) concentrations. Infant cognitive development, maternal caregiving and concurrent anxiety or depressive symptoms were assessed 12 weeks after delivery. Hierarchical linear regressions indicated that higher maternal diurnal cortisol and CRP levels were independently associated with lower infant cognitive development scores, while adjusting for infant gender and gestational age, maternal IQ, caregiving, depressive or anxiety symptoms. Though correlational, findings seem suggestive of a role for variation in maternal biological stress signals during pregnancy in influencing infants’ early cognitive development

Latent classes of emotional and behavioural problems in epidemiological and referred samples and their relations to DSM-IV diagnoses

Researchers\u2019 interest have recently moved toward the identification of recurrent psychopathological profiles characterized by concurrent elevations on different behavioural and emotional traits. This new strategy turned to be useful in terms of diagnosis and outcome prediction. We used a person-centred statistical approach to examine whether different groups could be identified in a referred sample and in a general-population sample of children and adolescents, and we investigated their relation to DSM-IV diagnoses. A latent class analysis (LCA) was performed on the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) syndrome scales of the referred sample (N = 1225), of the general-population sample (N = 3418), and of the total sample. Models estimating 1-class through 5-class solutions were compared and agreement in the classification of subjects was evaluated. Chi square analyses, a logistic regression, and a multinomial logistic regression analysis were used to investigate the relations between classes and diagnoses. In the two samples and in the total sample, the best-fitting models were 4-class solutions. The identified classes were Internalizing Problems (15.68%), Severe Dysregulated (7.82%), Attention/Hyperactivity (10.19%), and Low Problems (66.32%). Subsequent analyses indicated a significant relationship between diagnoses and classes as well as a main association between the severe dysregulated class and comorbidity. Our data suggested the presence of four different psychopathological profiles related to different outcomes in terms of psychopathological diagnoses. In particular, our results underline the presence of a profile characterized by severe emotional and behavioural dysregulation that is mostly associated with the presence of multiple diagnosis

Staphylococcus aureus nosocomial infections: The role of a rapid and low-cost characterization for the establishment of a surveillance system

Continuous surveillance on resistance patterns and characterization of Staphylococcus aureus represent simple and low-cost techniques to understand and evaluate the effectiveness of infection control and antimicrobial prescribing measures. In this study we analyzed the antibiotic susceptibility and trends for S. aureus strains collected from bacteraemia cases in a five year period. Between 2004 and 2008 we noted a progressive decrease in the number of S. aureus isolates compared to all pathogens from clinical specimens and S. aureus bloodstream infections (BSI) reflected a similar trend. In particular we analyzed 185 isolates from blood cultures: 89 isolates were MSSA and 96 isolates were MRSA. Molecular SCCmec typing of these strains showed an absolute prevalence of types I and II, whereas five spa types from 96 isolates were obtained. Resistance pattern analysis allowed us to place MRSA strains into 12 antibiotypes and the major antibiotype was resistant to penicillin, gentamicin, erythromycin, clindamycin and ciprofloxacin. The predominant antibiotype among the MSSA isolates was resistant only to penicillin. In addition, 19.1% of MSSA are susceptible to all antibiotics tested. We also found a close association between antibiotyping 1 and genotyping t002/SCCmecI of MRSA strains, suggesting a nosocomial scenario dominated by a few particular clones

A Metabolomics-Based Investigation of the Effects of a Short-Term Body Weight Reduction Program in a Cohort of Adolescents with Obesity: A Prospective Interventional Clinical Study

Metabolomics applied to assess the response to a body weight reduction program (BWRP) may generate valuable information concerning the biochemical mechanisms/pathways underlying the BWRP-induced cardiometabolic benefits. The aim of the present study was to establish the BWRP-induced changes in the metabolomic profile that characterizes the obese condition. In particular, a validated liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) targeted metabolomic approach was used to determine a total of 188 endogenous metabolites in the plasma samples of a cohort of 42 adolescents with obesity (female/male = 32/10; age = 15.94 ± 1.33 year; body mass index standard deviation score (BMI SDS) = 2.96 ± 0.46) who underwent a 3-week BWRP, including hypocaloric diet, physical exercise, nutritional education, and psychological support. The BWRP was capable of significantly improving body composition (e.g., BMI SDS, p < 0.0001), glucometabolic homeostasis (e.g., glucose, p < 0.0001), and cardiovascular function (e.g., diastolic blood pressure, p = 0.016). A total of 64 metabolites were significantly reduced after the intervention (at least p < 0.05), including 53 glycerophospholipids (23 PCs ae, 21 PCs aa, and 9 lysoPCs), 7 amino acids (tyrosine, phenylalanine, arginine, citrulline, tryptophan, glutamic acid, and leucine), the biogenic amine kynurenine, 2 sphingomyelins, and (free) carnitine (C0). On the contrary, three metabolites were significantly increased after the intervention (at least p < 0.05)—in particular, glutamine, trans-4-hydroxyproline, and the octadecenoyl-carnitine (C18:1). In conclusion, when administered to adolescents with obesity, a short-term BWRP is capable of changing the metabolomic profile in the plasma