An harmonic radar prototype for insect tracking in harsh environments

Harmonic entomological radars have been used in the last decades to track small and lightweight passive tags carried by various insects, usually flying at low altitude and over flat terrain. Despite being exploited in many applications, not a lot of progress was achieved in terms of performances over the years. This paper reviews the research work done in this topic throughout the European LIFE project STOPVESPA, from 2015 to 2019. The main objective of LIFE STOPVESPA was to contain the invasive Asian hornet (Vespa velutina) and prevent it from further invading Italy. Among the foreseen activities, a new harmonic radar has been developed as an effective tool to locate the hornets nests to be destroyed. A preliminary prototype, based on a magnetron generator, was tested in 2015, showing a detection range of about 125 m. A first upgrade of this prototype was released in 2016, allowing to increase the detection range up to 150 m. A new approach, based on a solid state power amplifier and a digitally modulated signal, was then adopted for the second prototype developed in 2017 and extensively run in 2018; the detection range raised to 500 m. A last engineered prototype was eventually built for the 2019 summer campaign with additional improvements. This tool has been extensively validated over the last years with the Asian hornet but it has potential for tracking and monitoring many other flying insects

MITOCHONDRIAL INNER MEMBRANE-PERMEABILITY CHANGES INDUCED BY OCTADECADIENOIC ACID HYDROPEROXIDE - ROLE OF MITOCHONDRIAL GSH POOL

The effect of exogenous octadecadienoic acid hydroperoxide (HPODE) on the functional properties of inner membrane of isolated rat liver mitochondria, as evaluated by the measurement of the membrane potential (DELTA-PSI) has been studied. Very low concentrations of HPODE (1.5-4.5 nmol/mg prot.) do not modify the DELTA-PSI of control mitochondria appreciably while bringing about the drop of DELTA-PSI, in a concentration-dependent mode, in mitochondria with a GSH level diminished by approx. 60%. Mitochondrial GSH depletion was obtained by intraperitoneal administration of buthionine sulfoximine, a specific inhibitor of GSH synthesis, to rats. The presence in the incubation system of GSH-methyl ester which normalizes mitochondrial GSH, fully prevents any drop in levels of DELTA-PSI induced by HPODE. The same protective effect has been presented by EGTA, which chelates the available Ca2+. Neither an antioxidant nor a specific inhibitor of mitochondrial phospholipase A2 are able to prevent the HPODE effect. From the results obtained we can assume that HPODE itself, at the concentrations used here, induces permeability changes in the inner membrane, with the loss of coupled functions, when the GSH mitochondrial level is below a critical value

Pharmacokinetics of indomethacin in chronic migraine patients after withdrawal of the overused combination of indomethacin, prochlorperazine, and caffeine

The combination of indomethacin, prochlorperazine and caffeine (IPC) is often overused by migraine patients who develop medication-overuse headache (MOH), a secondary chronic headache that resolves after withdrawal of the overused medication. In a previous study (1) we showed that indomethacin clearance was lower in chronic migraine patients overusing IPC combination than in migraine patients only occasionally taking this combination. Objective: To verify if the reduced clearance of indomethacin reverts to normal after withdrawal of the overused IPC. Methods: We repeated the study of indomethacin pharmacokinetics in 9 female headache patients after 6 months from inpatient withdrawal of the IPC combination. In each patients indomethacin pharmacokinetics had been already studied before withdrawal treatment. The IPC combination (indomethacin 50 mg, prochlorperazine 8 mg, caffeine150 mg) habitually taken was administered by rectal route to each patient. Blood samples were drawn before dosing and at the following post-dose times: 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 h. Indomethacin concentrations were measured by HPLC method. Pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated by means of the P K Solutions 2.0 program. Results: The pharmacokinetic parameters of indomethacin in 4 patients (group A) who relapsed in IPC overuse were similar to those observed before withdrawal treatment; instead (Table 1) in 5 patients (group B) who steadily discontinued IPC combination, indomethacin disposition was significantly different from that observed before withdrawal treatment. Table 1. Pharmacokinetic parameters of indomethacin in group B. Parameter Before withdrawal After withdrawalHalf life (h) 2.74+0.98 1.45+0.34 *AUC0-t (mg/h/ml) 13.02+6.62 5.36+2.36 *Cl (ml/h/Kg) 64.05+30.16 123.98+39.91 * *P <0.05 (paired Student\u2019 t-test)Conclusions: In headache patients who discontinued IPC overuse, indomethacin clearance increased and reverted to values previously obtained in occasional IPC users (1).1. Ferrari A., Savino G., Gallesi D., Pinetti D., Bertolini A., Sances G., et al. (2006) Pharmacol Res. 542: 142-149

DIETARY IRON-DEFICIENCY IN THE RAT .1. ABNORMALITIES IN ENERGY-METABOLISM OF THE HEPATIC TISSUE

Severe iron deficiency was induced in rats by rearing nursing dams and their offspring on a diet comprising all the requisite nutrients and trace metals except iron. The iron deficient 5-week-old rats exhibited a severe anemia and a drastic decrease in iron content of the hepatic tissue and of the mitochondrial fraction. Cytochromes c + c(1) and b were moderately but significantly reduced. A large increase in liver lipid concentration was observed in iron-deficient animals; whereas there was no modification in total lipid, cholesterol, phospholipid and fatty acid composition of the mitochondrial membrane. Mitochondria from iron-deficient rats presented a partial uncoupling of the oxidative phosphorylation process. This functional derangement was completely reversed by the presence of either bovine serum albumin or L-carnitine plus ATP. This behaviour suggested that endogenous long-chain fatty acids could be primarily involved in the onset of mitochondrial dysfunction. The hepatic energy state of the liver appeared dramatically decreased under the pathological condition of severe iron-deficiency anemia. The possibility of a direct link between the partial loss of coupled functions observed in isolated mitochondria and the heavy energy deficit detected in the liver is discussed

Serotoninergic system changes during heroin abuse and their reversibility after abuse discontinuation

Subjects affected by heroin dependence have a decreased funcionality of the central serotoninergic system potentially reversible after prolonged drug-abuse discontinuation and treatment with antagonist

The role of desferrioxamine chelatable iron in rat liver mitochondrial dysfunction in chronic dietary iron overload

Lipid peroxidation and organelle dysfunction are important factors in hepatic iron toxicity. The form of the intracellular iron responsible for these abnormalities is still unknown. In order to investigate the iron species inducing cell injury, the level of chelatable iron in the liver mitochondria isolated from rats fed a 2.5% carbonyl iron diet for 12 weeks was measured by EPR spectroscopy. The presence of lipid peroxidation products and the energy transducing capability of the mitochondrial inner membrane was evaluated in parallel. The total iron concentration in the liver mitochondria from iron fed rats progressively increased up to 6 weeks, almost reaching a steady-state. By contrast the level of chelatable iron in mitochondrial fraction transiently increased at about 3-6 weeks of treatment. The induction of lipid peroxidation and a large decrease of ATP occurred at the same time. The enhancement of the energy dissipating calcium cycling was in parallel revealed by studying the mitochondria membrane potential. These results gave experimental evidence to the proposal that the chelatable iron level plays a critical role in initiating organelle dysfunction, at least in this experimental model

An innovative harmonic radar prototype for miniaturized lightweight passive tags tracking

Harmonic radars can be generally used to track very small (1.5 cm) and lightweight (15 mg) passive tags; as an example, they have been adopted to track various insects for almost 30 years now. In most of the cases, their usage was motivated by the entomological interest in better knowing the habits of the observed insect; in fewer applications, like ours, prevailed the need of protecting the environment from invasive species. However, despite the purpose of the research involving entomological radars, not a lot of engineering resources have been invested during the last decades with the aim of improving what was basically considered a mere tool in the hands of entomologists. The goal of this paper is to show how modern radar techniques, the progresses in the available hardware and a three years long design effort helped us to build and test an harmonic radar system with considerably improved performances. The prototype herein described is able to detect the flight of tagged insects in real time, up to 500 meters with a quite large field of view in elevation, and can be therefore adopted also in harsh environments

Kinetics of indomethacin in headache patients who abitually take an association of indomethacin, caffeine and prochlorperazine

Indomethacin, in combination with prochlorperazine and caffeine (IPC), is often overused by migraine patients who develop medication-overuse headache. Indomethacin clearance is lower in chronic migraine patients overusing IPC combination than in migraine patients only occasionally taking it. Objective: to verify if indomethacin reduced clearance reverts to normal after withdrawal of the overused IPC combination. Methods: We repeated the study of indomethacin pharmacokinetics in 9 female chronic migraine patients after 3 months from inpatient withdrawal treatment from IPC combination overuse. The IPC combination (indomethacin 50 mg, prochlorperazine 8 mg, caffeine 150 mg) habitually taken was administered by rectal route to each patient. Blood samples were drawn before dosing and at the following post-dose times: 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 h. Indomethacin concentrations were measured by HPLC method. Results: Pharmacokinetic parameters of indomethacin in 4 patients who relapsed into IPC overuse were similar to those observed before withdrawal treatment; on the other hand, indomethacin clearance reverted to values consistent with published data in 5 patients who discontinued IPC combination overuse. Conclusions: Indomethacin normal clearance was related to a reduced frequency of migraine; conversely, indomethacin delayed clearance sustained medication-overuse headache

Serum concentrations of vitamin B12 and folate in chronic daily headache.

Lower serum vitamin B12 and folate levels were detected in chronic headache patients without anemia. Since these vitamins are important for monoamine metabolsim their deficiency could complicate the headache