Economic considerations of Alzheimer's disease and related disorders

Economic analyses of geriatric syndromes are seldom performed. However, demographic and epidemiological imperatives have led to significant interest in the evaluation of AD-related costs. Over 300 papers devoted to economic considerations of Alzheimer's disease have been published in peer-reviewed journals, within the last five years. In these papers, the chosen perspective (costs to society or to specific payers) is important. Analytical methods are still evolving and remain complex. Unresolved methodological issues will need to be addressed to further our understanding of long-term economic consequences. At present, it is clear that diagnostic and drug costs are low compared to the major cost of institutionalization. Thus, directing efforts at early diagnosis and delaying nursing home placement are two key cost-containment interventions. In this respect, the need to support informal care should not be underestimate

Italian burials from the Upper Palaeolithic. Inventory and anthropological observations

The Upper Paleolithic burials currently known in Italy represent a rich and important group which constitutes the major part of the European sample. Among these burials, those attributed to the Gravettian are concentrated in two regions, Liguria and Puglia. Epigravettian burials were found in most parts of the peninsula and in Sicily. Grave goods are often very rich, especially in Gravettian burials. With regard to the anthropological characteristics of the buried, research has focused mainly on postcranial skeleton and on the information it can give us about weight, stature and somatic proportions. Among the Gravettians, Ligurian males reach the highest stature. The average height decreases from Gravettian to Epigravettian, as already observed in the European sample

SARS-CoV-2 infection in cancer patients on active therapy after the booster dose of mRNA vaccines

The protective role against SARS-CoV-2 infection by the third booster dose of mRNA vaccines in cancer patients with solid malignancies is presently un- known. We prospectively investigated the occurrence of COVID-19 in cancer patients on active therapy after the booster vaccine dose. Methods: Cancer patients on treatment at the Center for Immuno-Oncology (CIO) of the University Hospital of Siena, Italy, and health care workers at CIO who had received a booster third dose of mRNA vaccine entered a systematic follow-up monitoring period to prospectively assess their potential risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Serological and microneu- tralization assay were utilized to assess levels of anti-spike IgG, and of neutralizing antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 Wild Type, Delta and Omicron variants, respectively, after the booster dose and after negativization of the nasopharyngeal swab for those who had developed COV- ID-19. Results: Ninety cancer patients with solid tumors on active treatment (Cohort 1) and 30 health care workers (Cohort 2) underwent a booster third dose of mRNA vaccine. After the booster dose, the median value of anti-spike IgG was higher (p Z 0.009) in patients than in healthy subjects. Remarkably, 11/90 (12%) patients and 11/30 (37%) healthy subjects tested positive to SARS-CoV-2 infection during the monitoring period. Similar levels of anti-spike IgG and of neutralizing antibodies against all the investigated variants, with geometric mean titers of neutralizing antibodies against the Omicron being the lowest were detected after the booster dose and after COVID-19 in both Cohorts. Conclusions: The occurrence of SARS-CoV-2 infection we observed in a sizable proportion of booster-dosed cancer patients and in healthy subjects during the Omicron outbreak indicates that highly specific vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 variants are urgently required

Effects of lithium on electrical activity and potassium ion distribution in the vertebrate central nervous system

Three different regions of the vertebrate central nervous system maintained in vitro (frog spinal cord, guinea pig olfactory cortex and hippocampus) have been used to investigate how Li+ influences membrane potential, membrane resistance, action potentials, synaptic potentials and the transmembrane K+-distribution of neurons and glial cells. In view of the therapeutic action of Li+ in manicdepressive disease, a special effort was made to determine the threshold concentration for the actions of Li+ on the parameters described above. It was observed that Li+ induced a membrane depolarization of both neurons and glial cells, a decrease of action potential amplitudes, a facilitation of monosynaptic excitatory postsynaptic potentials and a depression of polysynaptic reflexes. The membrane resistance of neurons was not altered. Li+ also induced an elevation of the free extracellular potassium concentration and a decrease of the free intracellular potassium concentration. Furthermore, in the presence of Li+ a slowing of the recovery of the membrane potential of neurons and glial cells, and of the extracellular potassium concentration after repetitive synaptic stimulation was observed. The threshold concentrations for the effects of Li+ were below 5 mmol/l in the frog spinal cord and below 2 mmol/l in the guinea pig olfactory cortex and hippocampus. The basic mechanism underlying the action of Li+ may be an interaction with the transport-function of the Na+/K+ pump

A long-term posttraumatic study in the rat median nerve crush injury model

The possibility that posttraumatic regeneration may eventually lead rat peripheral nerve fibers back to normal is still under debate. While it has been shown that, after a sufficiently long posttraumatic time, the number of regenerated rat peripheral nerve fibers can return to normal levels and the animal can regain normal pre-lesion function, no information regarding long-term changes in size parameters of regenerated nerve fibers is still available. To fill this gap, 24-week posttraumatic changes in myelinated axon and nerve fiber diameter, myelin thickness and g-ratio (axon diameter/fiber diameter), distal to a nerve crush (axonotmesis lesion) of the rat median nerve were assessed by stereology. Results showed that, while as expected fiber number returned to normal values at week-24, both axon and fiber diameter and myelin thickness were still significantly lower at week-24 in comparison to pre-lesion values. Finally, g-ratio, which persisted unmodified along the regeneration process, eventually resulted to be significantly reduced at week-24 in comparison to pre-lesion value. Based on these results, the hypothesis that regenerated rat peripheral nerve fibers are able to spontaneously return to normal, provided that a sufficiently long time recovery post-axonotmesis is allowed, is rejected

Stage-specific functions of Semaphorin7A during adult hippocampal neurogenesis rely on distinct receptors

The guidance protein Semaphorin7A (Sema7A) is required for the proper development of the immune and nervous systems. Despite strong expression in the mature brain, the role of Sema7A in the adult remains poorly defined. Here we show that Sema7A utilizes different cell surface receptors to control the proliferation and differentiation of neural progenitors in the adult hippocampal dentate gyrus (DG), one of the select regions of the mature brain where neurogenesis occurs. PlexinC1 is selectively expressed in early neural progenitors in the adult mouse DG and mediates the inhibitory effects of Sema7A on progenitor proliferation. Subsequently, during differentiation of adult-born DG granule cells, Sema7A promotes dendrite growth, complexity and spine development through β1-subunit-containing integrin receptors. Our data identify Sema7A as a key regulator of adult hippocampal neurogenesis, providing an example of how differential receptor usage spatiotemporally controls and diversifies the effects of guidance cues in the adult brain

Antioxidant Activity of a Mediterranean Food Product: “Fig Syrup”

In this work, the efficacy of fig syrup, a Mediterranean fig derivative, as a nutraceutical supplement, was demonstrated. Fig syrup is a fruit concentrate used as a common ingredient in the preparation of typical foods, and particularly in cakes. In vitro assays were performed to determine the amount of nutraceutical ingredients, such as phenolic compounds (3.92 mg equivalent of gallic acid per g) and flavonoids (0.35 mg equivalent of catechin per g), while HPLC analyses provided specific information about the composition of antioxidants in the syrup. Furthermore, total antioxidant activity, scavenging properties against DPPH and peroxyl radicals, and the anticholinesterase activity, clearly showed the efficacy of the syrup in preventing damage induced by free radicals and, thus, the applicability of this food derivative as a nutraceutical supplement