Neurochemical characterisation of lamina II inhibitory interneurons that express GFP in the PrP-GFP mouse

Background Inhibitory interneurons in the superficial dorsal horn play important roles in modulating sensory transmission, and these roles are thought to be performed by distinct functional populations. We have identified 4 non-overlapping classes among the inhibitory interneurons in the rat, defined by the presence of galanin, neuropeptide Y, neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) and parvalbumin. The somatostatin receptor sst2A is expressed by ~50% of the inhibitory interneurons in this region, and is particularly associated with nNOS- and galanin-expressing cells. The main aim of the present study was to test whether a genetically-defined population of inhibitory interneurons, those expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP) in the PrP-GFP mouse, belonged to one or more of the neurochemical classes identified in the rat.<p></p> Results The expression of sst2A and its relation to other neurochemical markers in the mouse was similar to that in the rat, except that a significant number of cells co-expressed nNOS and galanin. The PrP-GFP cells were entirely contained within the set of inhibitory interneurons that possessed sst2A receptors, and virtually all expressed nNOS and/or galanin. GFP was present in ~3-4% of neurons in the superficial dorsal horn, corresponding to ~16% of the inhibitory interneurons in this region. Consistent with their sst2A-immunoreactivity, all of the GFP cells were hyperpolarised by somatostatin, and this was prevented by administration of a selective sst2 receptor antagonist or a blocker of G-protein-coupled inwardly rectifying K+ channels.<p></p> Conclusions These findings support the view that neurochemistry provides a valuable way of classifying inhibitory interneurons in the superficial laminae. Together with previous evidence that the PrP-GFP cells form a relatively homogeneous population in terms of their physiological properties, they suggest that these neurons have specific roles in processing sensory information in the dorsal horn.<p></p&gt

The research of standardized protocols for dog involvement in animal-assisted therapy: A systematic review

Dogs are considered the most important species involved in animal-assisted therapy (AAT), and the scientific literature focuses on the benefits linked to the involvement of dogs in various therapeutic areas. In this study, we carried out a systematic review according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, exploring the scientific literature from the last 5 years (2016–2021) on three databases (PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science) to highlight the characteristics of the dogs involved in AATs. Based on the scientific literature relevant to such dogs, we considered different parameters (i.e., number, age, sex, breed, temperament, methods of choice and training, health status, research goals, and activities with dogs) to include studies in our paper. After screening 4331 papers identified on the searched databases, we selected 38 articles that met the inclusion criteria. Analysis of the included articles showed that the characteristics of the dogs were neglected. Our findings indicated a lack of information about the dogs, as well as the absence of standardized and univocal criteria for dog selection, training programs, and health protocols

Process evaluation of animal assisted therapies with children: The role of the human-animal bond on the therapeutic alliance, depth of elaboration, and smoothness of sessions

Objective: The current study examined the change processes in three Animal Assisted Therapies (AATs) by assessing the relationship between the human-animal bond and the therapeutic alliance, depth of elaboration, and smoothness of treatment sessions. Methods: This was a retrospective study assessing videotaped AATs conducted with three children aged from 7 to 9 years old from the observer perspective. The AATs were based on the Federico II Model of Healthcare Zooanthropology, and each consisted in 8 sessions. A one-way analysis of variance and linear regression models was performed. Results: The human-animal bond, therapeutic alliance, depth of elaboration, and smoothness significantly improved during the sessions. Furthermore, the improvement in therapeutic dimensions proved to be a function of the increase in the human-animal bond. Conclusions: The findings have provided empirical evidence of the change processes occurring during AATs with children, offering some limited but specific insights into the interspecific relationship as a central axis of such treatments

Healthcare workers and manual patient handling: A pilot study for interdisciplinary training

Manual patient handling (MPH) is a major occupational risk in healthcare settings. The aim of this study was to propose an MPH training model involving interdisciplinary aspects. A scheduled training program was performed with 60 healthcare workers (HCWs) from a hospital in Naples, Italy, providing training divided into three sections (occupational health—section one; physical therapy—section two; psychosocial section—section three) and lasting six hours. Fifty-two HCWs performed the training session. In section one, a questionnaire about risk perception related to specific working tasks was administered. Section two provided specific exercises for the postural discharge of the anatomical areas most involved in MPH. The last section provided teamwork consolidation through a role-playing exercise. The training program could also be useful for risk assessment itself, as they can examine the perceptions of the specific risk of the various workers and incorrect attitudes and therefore correct any incorrect procedures, reducing exposure to specific risks in the field. This pilot study proposes a training model that explores all aspects related to MPH risk exposure and also underlines the need for standardization of this formative model, which could represent a useful tool for studying the real effectiveness of training in workplaces

The environmental impact of beef and ultra-processed food consumption in Brazil

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Objective: This study evaluated the independent and combined environmental impacts of the consumption of beef and ultra-processed foods in Brazil. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Brazil. Participants: We used food purchases data from a national household budget survey conducted between July 2017 and July 2018, representing all Brazilian households. Food purchases were converted into energy, carbon footprints and water footprints. Multiple linear regression models were used to assess the association between quintiles of beef and ultra-processed foods in total energy purchases and the environmental footprints, controlling for sociodemographic variables. Results: Both beef and ultra-processed foods had a significant linear association with carbon and water footprints (P < 0·01) in crude and adjusted models. In the crude upper quintile of beef purchases, carbon and water footprints were 47·7 % and 30·8 % higher, respectively, compared to the lower quintile. The upper quintile of ultra-processed food purchases showed carbon and water footprints 14·4 % and 22·8 % higher, respectively, than the lower quintile. The greatest reduction in environmental footprints would occur when both beef and ultra-processed food purchases are decreased, resulting in a 21·1 % reduction in carbon footprint and a 20·0 % reduction in water footprint. Conclusions: Although the environmental footprints associated with beef consumption are higher, dietary patterns with lower consumption of beef and ultra-processed foods combined showed the greatest reduction in carbon and water footprints in Brazil. The high consumption of beef and ultra-processed foods is harmful to human health, as well as to the environment; thus, their reduction is beneficial to both.Science and Technology Facilities Council Global Challenges Research Fund; the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo – FAPESP (G.L.C., grant number (2022/11009-8)), and F.R. is a beneficiary of a research fellowship of the World Cancer Research Fund

The environmental impact of beef and ultra-processed food consumption in Brazil

Objective: This study evaluated the independent and combined environmental impacts of the consumption of beef and ultra-processed foods in Brazil. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Brazil. Participants: We used food purchases data from a national household budget survey conducted between July 2017 and July 2018, representing all Brazilian households. Food purchases were converted into energy, carbon footprints, and water footprints. Multiple linear regression models were used to assess the association between quintiles of beef and ultra-processed foods in total energy purchases and the environmental footprints, controlling for sociodemographic variables. Results: Both beef and ultra-processed foods had a significant linear association with carbon and water footprints (p < 0.01) in crude and adjusted models. In the crude upper quintile of beef purchases, carbon and water footprints were 47.7% and 30.8% higher, respectively, compared to the lower quintile. The upper quintile of ultra-processed food purchases showed carbon and water footprints 14.4% and 22.8% higher, respectively, than the lower quintile. The greatest reduction in environmental footprints would occur when both beef and ultra-processed food purchases are decreased, resulting in a 21.1% reduction in carbon footprint and a 20.0% reduction in water footprint. Conclusions: Although the environmental footprints associated with beef consumption are higher, dietary patterns with lower consumption of beef and ultra-processed foods combined showed the greatest reduction in carbon and water footprints in Brazil. The high consumption of beef and ultra-processed foods is harmful to human health, as well as to the environment, thus their reduction is beneficial to both

Greenhouse gas emissions, water footprint, and ecological footprint of food purchases according to their degree of processing in Brazilian metropolitan areas: a time-series study from 1987 to 2018

Copyright © 2021 The Author(s). Background The consumption of ultra-processed foods has increased worldwide and has been related to the occurrence of obesity and other non-communicable diseases. However, little is known about the environmental effects of ultra-processed foods. We aimed to assess the temporal trends in greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE), water footprint, and ecological footprint of food purchases in Brazilian metropolitan areas, and how these are affected by the amount of food processing. Methods In this time-series study, we used data from five Brazilian Household Budget Surveys (1987–88, 1995–96, 2002–03, 2008–09, 2017–18) to calculate GHGE, water footprint, and ecological footprint per 1000 kcal of food and beverages purchased. Food items were classified into NOVA food groups: unprocessed or minimally processed foods (G1); processed culinary ingredients (G2); processed foods (G3); and ultra-processed foods (G4). We calculated the proportion each NOVA food group contributes to daily kcal per person. Linear regression was performed to evaluate trends of the environmental impacts across the years. Findings Between 1987–88 and 2017–18, diet-related GHGE increased by 21% (from 1538·6 g CO2 equivalent [CO2e] per 1000 kcal [95% CI 1473·3–1604·0] to 1866·0 g CO2e per 1000 kcal [1788·0–1944·0]; ptrend<0·0001), diet-related water footprint increased by 22% (from 1447·2 L/1000 kcal [95% CI 1400·7–1493·8] to 1769·1 L/1000 kcal [1714·5–1823·7]; ptrend<0·0001), and diet-related ecological footprint increased by 17% (from 9·69 m2/1000 kcal [95% CI 9·33–10·05] to 11·36 m2/1000 kcal [10·91–11·81]; ptrend<0·0001). We found that the change in the environmental indicators over time varied between NOVA food groups. We did not find evidence of a change in the environmental indicators for G1 foods over time. GHGE from G2 foods decreased by 18% (ptrend<0·0001), whereas GHGE from G4 foods increased by 245% (ptrend<0·0001). The water footprint from G2 foods decreased by 17% (ptrend<0·0001) whereas the water footprint from G4 foods increased by 233% (ptrend<0·0001). The ecological footprint from G2 foods decreased by 13% (ptrend<0·0001), whereas the ecological footprint from G3 foods increased by 49% (ptrend<0·0001) and from G4 foods increased by 183% (ptrend<0·0001). We found no significant change in contribution by any other NOVA food groups to any of the three environmental indicators over the study period. Interpretation The environmental effects of the Brazilian diet have increased over the past three decades along with increased effects from ultra-processed foods. This means that dietary patterns in Brazil are becoming potentially more harmful to human and planetary health. Therefore, a shift in the current trend would be needed to enhance sustainable healthy food systems.Science and Technologies Facilities Council—Global Challenges Research Fund

Comparison of Greenhouse Gas databases using FoodEx2 codes

Introduction FoodEx2 consists of a vocabulary of foods with assigned codes, allowing the classification and description of foods reported in different types of data (food consumption, composition, or production method) [1]. At least 56 food consumption databases have been coded with FoodEx2 [2]. The linkage of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) databases to FoodEx2 codes would allow rapid matching of GHGE data to any food database previously harmonised with FoodEx2. We have linked 4558 FoodEx2 codes to GHGE data [3]. In this work, we aim to assess the reliability of the linkage, by comparing it to similar databases. Methods or approach The main database (“City”) was developed by matching 43 food categories from Poore and Nemecek (2018) [4] to the 4558 FoodEx2 codes, adjusting for edibility. The items were matched by hand, using the closest raw product; if it was a product with multiple ingredients, we took the largest ingredient by weight. The reliability of the matching was assessed by comparing “City” to three GHGE databases: 1) SHARP (Mertens et al 2019) [5] has linked GHGE to FoodEx1 (an initial version of FoodEx); 2) Rose et al (2019) [6] and Heller et al (2018) [7] have GHGE data linked to National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), which is coded with FoodEx2; 3) Garzillo et al (2019) [8] have GHGE data linked to the Brazilian Food Consumption Survey. We have compared “City” with the three databases by calculating Spearman correlation coefficients. The food items with GHGE in both “City” and SHARP were ranked and split into quintiles. We checked quintile rankings of agreement between “City” and SHARP by calculating weighted kappa statistics. For food items not ranked in the same quintile, we checked whether values from SHARP were within the p5 and p95 from “City”. Findings and interpretations The “City” dataset was strongly correlated to all three comparator databases. However, the number of directly comparable food items between all datasets were low. The number of food items compared, the Spearman correlation coefficients, and p-values are as follows: 1) “City” versus SHARP: n=945, r = 0.699, p < 0.001; 2) “City” versus Rose/Heller: n=608, r = 0.572, p < 0.001; 2) “City” versus Garzillo: n=329, r = 0.610, p < 0.001. Of the 945 food items with GHGE in “City” and SHARP, 50% (n = 476) were ranked in the same quintile. The kappa statistics was 0.536 (p < 0.001). Of the 469 food items not ranked into the same quintiles, 44% (n=206) were within p5 and p95, while 31% (n=144) were lower than the p5, and 25% (n= 119) were higher than p95. The food items with the biggest differences between “City” and SHARP are into the following food categories: wheat and rye; fish and seafood; pig meat; fruits; nuts and pulses. These food items will be further investigated in the next update of the data, aiming to increase reliability to estimate GHGE from food consumption. Conclusions The FoodEx2 database linked to GHGE by City presented a strong correlation with other GHGE databases and therefore could be considered as a tool to estimate the environmental impacts from food. However, further work is still needed to refine the data, in particular checking values categorised in opposite quintiles and that do not fall within p5 and p95. This database allows for a quick link between GHGE and multiple dietary databases harmonised with FoodEx2. References EFSA (European Food Safety Authority), Nikolic, M and Ioannidou, S, 2021. FoodEx2 maintenance 2020. EFSA supporting publication 2021: 18( 3):EN-6507. 19 pp. doi: 10.2903/sp.efsa.2020.EN-6507 Karageorgou, Dimitra and Lara-Castor, Laura and de Quadros, Victoria Padula and de Sousa, Rita Ferreira and Holmes, Bridget Anna and Ioannidou, Sofia and Mozaffarian, Dariush and Micha, Renata, Harmonizing Dietary Datasets for Global Surveillance: Methods and Findings From the Global Dietary Database. Under review. Livestock, Environment And People (LEAP) Conference, Oxford, November 2019. C.J. Reynolds , X. Schmidt Rivera, , A. Frankowska, A Kluczkovski, J. T. da Silva S. L. Bridle,R. Levy, F. Rauber, V. P. Quadros, A. Balcerzak, R. F. Sousa, M. Ferrari, C. Leclercq, B. Koroušić Seljak, Tome Eftimov "A pilot method linking greenhouse gas emission databases to the FoodEx2 classification" Poore, J., & Nemecek, T. (2018). Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers. Science, 360(6392), 987–992. Mertens, E., Kaptijn, G., Kuijsten, A., van Zanten, H., Geleijnse, J.M. and van't Veer, P., 2019. SHARP-Indicators Database towards a public database for environmental sustainability. Data in brief, 27, p.104617.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2019.104617 Rose D, Heller MC, Willits-Smith AM, Meyer RJ. "Carbon footprint of self-selected US diets: nutritional, demographic, and behavioral correlates," American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2019;109:526-534. DOI:10.1093/ajcn/nqy327. Heller MC, Willits-Smith A, Meyer R, Keoleian G, Rose D. "Greenhouse gas emissions and energy use associated with production of US self-selected diets," Environmental Research Letters 2018;13 044004. DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/aab0ac. Garzillo JMF, Machado PP, Costa Louzada ML, Levy RB, Monteiro CA. Footprints of foods and culinary preparations consumed in Brazil. https://doi.org/10.11606/9788588848405 (accessed Dec 7, 2020

Model Risk Management. Le prassi e il modello a tendere.

I modelli hanno assunto un ruolo pervasivo nell’operatività bancaria configurandosi come driver essenziali nel decision making sia in ambito regolamentare che gestionale, e questa considerazione, seppur con caratterizzazioni diverse, risulta valida sia per banche “significant” che “less significant”. Si evidenzia che il numero e la complessità dei modelli hanno raggiunto un livello di ampiezza tale da richiederne una gestione dedicata e strumenti specifici per evitare che la base decisionale si poggi su algoritmi, dati o elaborazioni non adeguati. Oltre alla complessità intrinseca dei modelli, si aggiunge una crescente interconnessione tra gli stessi per cui le criticità di un modello possono riverberarsi sui modelli collegati con effetti poco prevedibili. Le mutevoli condizioni di contesto (accentuate dall’emergenza Covid), hanno ulteriormente amplificato l’esigenza di ridurre la distanza tra l’identificazione delle criticità sui modelli, la presa in carico delle azioni correttive, il relativo monitoraggio e il rilascio degli interventi. Una catena di trasmissione non adeguata comporta inevitabilmente tempi di risposta più lunghi, con modelli che non sono in grado di rappresentare adeguatamente il contesto operativo

Three cases of bone metastases in patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumors

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are rare, but represent the most common mesenchymal neoplasms of the gastrointestinal tract. Tumor resection is the treatment of choice for localized disease. Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (imatinib, sunitinib) are the standard therapy for metastatic or unresectable GISTs. GISTs usually metastasize to the liver and peritoneum. Bone metastases are uncommon. We describe three cases of bone metastases in patients with advanced GISTs: two women (82 and 54 years of age), and one man (62 years of age). Bones metastases involved the spine, pelvis and ribs in one patient, multiple vertebral bodies and pelvis in one, and the spine and iliac wings in the third case. The lesions presented a lytic pattern in all cases. Two patients presented with multiple bone metastases at the time of initial diagnosis and one patient after seven years during the follow-up period. This report describes the diagnosis and treatment of the lesions and may help clinicians to manage bones metastases in GIST patients