Studies on the Biosynthesis of Psoralen and Bergapten in the Leaves of Ficus carica

With the aim of studying the biosynthesis of psoralen and bergapten, two furocoumarins present in the leaves of "Ficus carica" (Moraceae), the Authors, continuing preceding researchs on this topic, have fed the leaves with the following labelled precursors: 4′,5′-dihydropsoralen, 4′,5′-dihydrobergapten, 7-hydroxycoumarin, 5,7-dihydroxycoumarin and 5-methoxy-7-hydroxycoumarin. The results obtained indicate that all these substances are certain biogenetic precursors for psoralen and bergapten. On the basis of the results obtained the biosynthetic pathway of furocoumarins seems to involve first of all the formation of a coumarinic derivative 7-hydroxylated, then an isoprenylation reaction which leads to the formation of the hydrogenated furan ring, finally dehydrogenation of the 4′,5′-dihydrofurocoumarins to psoralen and bergapten

Studies on the Biosynthesis of Some Furocoumarins Present in Ruta graveolens

The biosynthesis of some furocoumarins present in Ruta graveolens has been studied administering labeled psoralen, xanthotoxin, rutaretin, marmesin and 7-hydroxycoumarin-derivatives. The results obtained indicate that the biosynthetic pathway involves not only psoralen, but also xanthotoxin and bergapten, by means of methoxylation or demethoxylation reactions. Moreover results achieved from administering rutaretin demonstrate that this substance is a new very effective natural precursor for xanthotoxin; in a parallel way marmesin is incorporated into psoralen. The reported results indicate that also at the stage of natural 4′,5′-dihydrofurocoumarins intermediates an interconversion can occur. Finally the essential role of umbelliferone in the biosynthesis of furocoumarins has been confirmed

Anterior Microsurgical Approach to Ventral Lower Cervical Spine Meningiomas

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Virtual reality implementation as a useful software tool for e-health applications

Human hand and finger movements are of obvious importance. The possibility of recording all fingers joints movements during everyday life is then strategic for medical diagnosis, surgery and post traumatic rehabilitation. A proper presentation of recorded data can be really useful for doctors and therapists to correctly act in the occurrence of peripheral nerve injury, rigidities, camptodactyly (decline in permanent deformity of the interphalangeal junction), orthoses, tenolisi, congenital malformations, trauma, dexterity and/or muscular and/or articulate motility evaluations, thumb atros, syndromes, use of mentors, spasm, use of mechanical supports etc.. According to this context we report a virtual reality implementation on the basis of fingers movements recorded data, suitable for fingers joints movement analysi

Carotid artery stenting with filter protection in high-risk patients showing severe electroencephalographic alterations during carotid endarterectomy

Purpose: To describe the results and efficacy of stent treatment in patients with carotid stenosis who had aborted carotid endarterectomy procedures due to the appearance of severe electroencephalographic (EEG) alterations. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted of 18 patients (11 men; mean age 72 years, range 62–84) with symptomatic high-grade carotid artery stenoses ( 70%) who experienced severe EEG alterations during carotid endarterectomy, causing the procedure to be aborted. Twelve patients had shown no hemodynamic alterations during preoperative transcranial Doppler evaluation after external compression of the common carotid artery; the remaining 6 could not be evaluated. The patients were referred for carotid artery stenting (CAS); 7 had contralateral internal carotid artery stenosis and 5 had contralateral occlusion. Endovascular intervention was carried out using standard techniques under filter protection. Follow-up was scheduled at 3, 6, and 12 months. Results: All patients were successfully treated without immediate complications. The EEG did not display any significant alterations during the endovascular procedure. Mean followup was 43 months. Magnetic resonance imaging at 6 months showed no signs of cerebral ischemia. Color Doppler ultrasound imaging documented normal stent patency in all patients. Conclusion: Patients with symptomatic severe carotid stenosis ( 70%) who are considered at risk due to the appearance of severe EEG alterations during surgical treatment may benefit from CAS with respect to both major and minor complications. Larger studies are needed to confirm these findings. J Endovasc Ther 2006;13:451–456 Key words: carotid endarterectomy, carotid artery, stenosis, electroencephalography, cerebral ischemia, carotid angioplasty, sten

Middle Palaeolithic technical behaviour: Material import-export and Levallois production at the SU 13 of Oscurusciuto rock shelter, Southern Italy

The Oscurusciuto rock shelter, located in southern Italy (Puglia), has yielded a long Middle Palaeolithic stratigraphy rich in lithic assemblages, fireplaces and faunal remains, attesting Neanderthal occupation during the MIS 3. This paper is focused on the stratigraphic unit 13, consisting of a sandy compact deposit mixed with pyroclastic sediment above a thick level of tephra-US 14, identified as Mt. Epomeo green tuff (dated Ar/Ar ~ 55 ka).Level 13 represents the first stable human occupation after the deposition of tephra. Our goal was to examine the lithic assemblage of this stratigraphic unit by means of an interdisciplinary approach (technology, RMU, refitting program) in order to identify the economic behaviour and technical strategies of Neanderthals occupying the stratigraphic unit 13 of Oscurusciuto.The technical strategies applied indicate fragmentation of the reduction processes, as well as probable events of importation and exportation of objects. The lithic material were introduced at different stages of manufacturing. Pieces were introduced in the form of rough objects (pebbles), as well as semi-finished items, and as finished tools. This fragmentation of the chaîne opératoire also demonstrate the palimpsest nature of the level which is made up of different events happening one after another.The main concept of debitage was Levallois, generally realized on local jasper and siliceous limestone pebbles or cortical flakes. Jasper and siliceous limestone flakes, backed flakes and convergent flakes were the technological objectives of the debitage. A marginal volumetric debitage aimed at producing bladelets was also attested

The Parkinson-related E193K LRRK2 variant impacts neuronal vesicles dynamics through perturbed protein interactions

The Leucine-Rich Repeat Kinase 2 (LRRK2) is a complex protein, expressed in neurons and implicated in Parkinson disease (PD). LRRK2 contains a dual enzymatic activity and several structural domains that constitute a versatile platform for multiple protein interactions at the synapses. In this study, we characterize the functional role of the N-terminal Armadillo repeats domain of LRRK2 and the impact on synaptic vesicle (SV) dynamics of a novel variant, E193K, harboured within this domain and identified in an Italian family affected by PD. Using a genetically encoded sensor of recycling, synaptopHluorine, and total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy, we visualized SV trafficking in the N2A neuroblastoma cells expressing the wild type LRRK2 protein, a mutant lacking the Armadillo domain (\u394N LRRK2) or the E193K variant. We found that expression of the \u394N construct increased the frequency and the amplitude of spontaneous synaptic events. A similar phenotype was detected in the presence of the E193K variant, suggesting that this mutation behaves as a loss-of-function mutation. A domain-based pulldown approach demonstrated that the LRRK2 N-terminus binds to cytoskeletal (\u3b2-actin and \u3b1-tubulin) and SV (synapsin I) proteins and the E193K substitution alters strength and quality of LRRK2 interactions. The results support a role of the Armadillo domain in interaction with synaptic proteins and suggest that the E193K mutation affects LRRK2 function via perturbation of its physiological network of interactors, resulting in impaired vesicular trafficking. These findings may have important implications for understanding the role of LRRK2 at the synapses and the pathophysiological mechanism for LRRK2-linked disease

Comparison of two different classifiers for mental tasks-based Brain-Computer Interface: MLP Neural Networks vs. Fuzzy Logic

This study is devoted to the classification of fourclass mental tasks data for a Brain-Computer Interface protocol. In such view we adopted Multi Layer Perceptron Neural Network (MLP) and Fuzzy C-means analysis for classifying: left and right hand movement imagination, mental subtraction operation and mental recitation of a nursery rhyme. Five subjects participated to the experiment in two sessions recorded in distinct days. Different parameters were considered for the evaluation of the performances of the two classifiers: accuracy, that is, percentage of correct classifications, training time and size of the training dataset. The results show that even if the accuracies of the two classifiers are quite similar, the MLP classifier needs a smaller training set to reach them with respect to the Fuzzy one. This leads to the preference of MLP for the classification of mental tasks in Brain Computer Interface protocols

Virtual reality implementation as a useful software tool for e-health applications

Human hand and finger movements are of obvious importance. The possibility of recording all fingers joints movements during everyday life is then strategic for medical diagnosis, surgery and post traumatic rehabilitation. A proper presentation of recorded data can be really useful for doctors and therapists to correctly act in the occurrence of peripheral nerve injury, rigidities, camptodactyly (decline in permanent deformity of the interphalangeal junction), orthoses, tenolisi, congenital malformations, trauma, dexterity and/or muscular and/or articulate motility evaluations, thumb atros, syndromes, use of mentors, spasm, use of mechanical supports etc.. According to this context we report a virtual reality implementation on the basis of fingers movements recorded data, suitable for fingers joints movement analysi