Use of a Brief Screening Tool to Assess Intellectual Functioning in a Forensic Population

Individuals with intellectual disability are over-represented in forensic settings, including jails, prisons and forensic psychiatric treatment units. Identification of intellectual disability is important in such settings, especially in light of the implications of intellectual disability in legal issues including competency to stand trial, criminal responsibility and capital sentencing. We examined the utility of a brief test of intelligence (PROFOKS), assessing knowledge of proverbs, fund of knowledge and similarities in a series of 29 inpatients residing in a forensic psychiatric unit. PROFOKS correlated strongly with performance on the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI), including the full scale, verbal and performance IQs and WASI subscales. The PROFOKS appears to be a useful screening tool in identifying intellectual disability in a forensic psychiatric population

Abitare il pianeta. Futuro demografico, migrazioni e tensioni etniche. Volume secondo. USA, URSS e aree asiatiche e australe

Le ripercussioni e le conseguenze della pressione demografica esercitata dai Paesi in Via di Sviluppo non riguardano soltanto l'Europa; in altre zone del mondo i problemi dell'integrazione etnica e razziale, delle immigrazioni e dello squili-brio demografico sono altrettanto urgenti: in questo volume vengono ripercorse le linee evolutive ed analizzate le tendenze di alcune società extra europee, scelte per l'emblematicità dei casi che rappresentano.- Indice #7- Prima parte Immigrazioni e diversità etnico-razziali nell'evoluzione demografica degli Stati Uniti d'America #9- Il cambiamento demografico negli Stati Uniti: le tendenze recenti e le prospettive future, Thomas J. Espenshade #11- Immigrazione e diversità etnico-razziale: il caso degli Stati Uniti, S. Philip Morgan #47- Seconda parte Considerazioni sul mutamento etnico e demografico in Unione Sovietica #69- La popolazione complessiva e per repubbliche dell'Unione Sovietica, Guido Ortona #71- I gruppi etnici in Unione Sovietica, Marco Buttino #91- Terza parte L'evoluzione delle società multietniche nelle aree asiatica e australe #143- La popolazione indiana, 1951-2021, Enrica Collotti Pischel e Francesco Gallucci #145- Diversità etnica ed emigrazione: il caso delle migrazioni dal Sud-est asiatico all'Australia, Subbiah Gunasekaran e Gerard Sullivan #215- Il mutamento demografico e lo sviluppo di una società multiculturale in Australia, Stephen Castles #243- Stime e proiezioni sull'area asiatico-australe, Gian Carlo Blangiardo #289- Quarta parte Alcune considerazioni sui fenomeni complessivi #303- Le grandezze in campo: sulle conseguenze politiche degli scenari demografici mondiali, Piero Gastaldo #30

Plasma assisted nitrogen oxide production from air : using pulsed powered gliding arc reactor for a containerized plant

The production of NOx from air and air + O2 is investigated in a pulsed powered milli-scale gliding arc (GA) reactor, aiming at a containerized process for fertilizer production. Influence of feed mixture, flow rate, temperature, and Ar and O2 content are investigated at varying specific energy input. The findings are correlated with high-speed imaging of the GA dynamics. An O2 content of 40–48% was optimum, with an enhancement of 11% in NOx production. Addition of Ar and preheating of the feed resulted in lower NOx production. Lower flow rates produced higher NOx concentrations due to longer residence time in the GA. The volume covered by GA depends strongly on the gas flow rate, emphasizing that the gas flow rate has a major impact on the GA dynamics and the reaction kinetics. For 0.5 L/min, 1.4 vol % of NOx concentration was realized, which is promising for a containerized process plant to produce fertilizer in remote locations

Plasma assisted catalytic conversion of CO\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e and H\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3eO Over Ni/Al\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3eO\u3csub\u3e3\u3c/sub\u3e in a DBD Reactor

\u3cp\u3eWe present an innovative approach for reacting carbon dioxide and water to give syngas by combining heterogeneous catalysis and non-thermal plasma techniques. This approach utilizes an abundant water and nickel catalyst, and mitigates the thermodynamic penalty by using a Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD) plasma reactor. Argon dilution was used in the experiment to reduce the exothermic recombination of hydrogen and oxygen, which is considered as the major hurdle for H\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3eO conversion. As a result, the syngas ratio was dramatically improved from 0.07 to 0.86. In addition, the conversions of CO\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e and H\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3eO were improved by packing Ni/γ–Al\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3eO\u3csub\u3e3\u3c/sub\u3e catalysts into the DBD reactor. The yields of H\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e and CO were up to 13.8% and 5.6% respectively. The conditions for plasma catalysis and the catalyst characterization are presented and discussed.\u3c/p\u3

Bacterial amyloid curli acts as a carrier for DNA to elicit an autoimmune response via TLR2 and TLR9

<div><p>Bacterial biofilms are associated with numerous human infections. The predominant protein expressed in enteric biofilms is the amyloid curli, which forms highly immunogenic complexes with DNA. Infection with curli-expressing bacteria or systemic exposure to purified curli-DNA complexes triggers autoimmunity via the generation of type I interferons (IFNs) and anti-double-stranded DNA antibodies. Here, we show that DNA complexed with amyloid curli powerfully stimulates Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) through a two-step mechanism. First, the cross beta-sheet structure of curli is bound by cell-surface Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2), enabling internalization of the complex into endosomes. After internalization, the curli-DNA immune complex binds strongly to endosomal TLR9, inducing production of type I IFNs. Analysis of wild-type and TLR2-deficient macrophages showed that TLR2 is the major receptor that drives the internalization of curli-DNA complexes. Suppression of TLR2 internalization via endocytosis inhibitors led to a significant decrease in <i>Ifnβ</i> expression. Confocal microscopy analysis confirmed that the TLR2-bound curli was required for shuttling of DNA to endosomal TLR9. Structural analysis using small-angle X-ray scattering revealed that incorporation of DNA into curli fibrils resulted in the formation of ordered curli-DNA immune complexes. Curli organizes parallel, double-stranded DNA rods at an inter-DNA spacing that matches up well with the steric size of TLR9. We also found that production of anti-double-stranded DNA autoantibodies in response to curli-DNA was attenuated in TLR2- and TLR9-deficient mice and in mice deficient in both TLR2 and TLR9 compared to wild-type mice, suggesting that both innate immune receptors are critical for shaping the autoimmune adaptive immune response. We also detected significantly lower levels of interferon-stimulated gene expression in response to purified curli-DNA in TLR2 and TLR9 deficient mice compared to wild-type mice, confirming that TLR2 and TLR9 are required for the induction of type I IFNs. Finally, we showed that curli-DNA complexes, but not cellulose, were responsible elicitation of the immune responses to bacterial biofilms. This study defines the series of events that lead to the severe pro-autoimmune effects of amyloid-expressing bacteria and suggest a mechanism by which amyloid curli acts as a carrier to break immune tolerance to DNA, leading to the activation of TLR9, production of type I IFNs, and subsequent production of autoantibodies.</p></div

Curli-DNA complexes elicit a type I interferon response in innate immune cells in a TLR2/TLR9 dependent fashion.

<p><b>A</b>. Wild-type IMMs (1x10⁵ cells) were stimulated with increasing concentrations of curli-DNA complexes purified from <i>S</i>. Typhimurium IR715 <i>msbB</i> (0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.5 μg/mL) for 3 hours, and levels of <i>Ifnβ (</i>left panel), <i>Irf7</i> (middle panel), and <i>Isg15</i> (right panel) were determined by qPCR. Wild-type (WT), TLR2^-/-, TLR9^-/-, and TLR2^-/-/TLR9^-/- IMMs (1x10⁵ cells) were stimulated with 2.5 μg/ml of curli-DNA complexes for 3 hours. (<b>B</b>) <i>Ifnβ</i>, <i>Isg15</i>, <i>Irf7</i>, and <i>Cxcl10</i> levels were determined by qPCR. (<b>C</b>) <i>Tnfα</i> mRNA levels were determined by qPCR. <b>D</b>. IL-10 production was quantified by ELISA in the supernatants. Mean and SE were calculated from results from at least three independent experiments. * p <0.05 as determined by Students t-test.</p

Curli and DNA contribute to the IFN response, but cellulose does not.

<p><b>A</b>. Biofilms of <i>S</i>. Typhimurium wild-type IR715, <i>msbB</i> (LPS mutant), and <i>bscE</i> (cellulose mutant) were grown on glass coverslips in 24-well tissue culture dishes for 72 hours at 28°C. Biofilms were stained with 3 μg/ml Syto9 and visualized by microscopy (63x). 3D reconstructions were made using ImageJ software. <b>B</b>. Wild-type BMDCs were layered on top of established biofilms of wild-type <i>S</i>. Typhimurium, <i>msbB</i> and <i>bscE</i>. After 3 hours, <i>Ifnβ</i> was quantified in BMDCs by qPCR. As indicated, 2.5 μg/ml of curli-DNA complexes were layered on top of the biofilms prior to adding BMDCs. <b>C</b>. Wild-type IMMs (1x10⁵ cells per well) were stimulated with 2.5 μg/mL of curli-DNA complexes purified from <i>S</i>. Typhimurium, <i>E</i>. <i>coli</i> MC4100, or <i>S</i>. Typhimurium <i>bsc</i> for 3 hours, and <i>Ifnβ</i> was quantified by qPCR. <b>D</b>. Wild-type IMMs (1x10⁵ cells per well) were stimulated with 2.5 μg/ml of His-CsgA, His-CsgA polymerized in the presence of 10 ng/ml CpG DNA, synthetic peptide CsgA_R4-5, or CsgA_R4-5 polymerized in the presence of 10 ng/ml CpG DNA. After 3 hours, <i>Ifnβ</i> was quantified by qPCR. <b>E</b>. Wild-type IMMs (1x10⁵ cells per well) were stimulated with 2.5 μg/mL curli-DNA complexes, 10 ng/mL CpG DNA, or 2.5 μg/ml curli-DNA complexes and 10 ng/ml CpG. After 3 hours, <i>Ifnβ</i> was quantified by qPCR. Error bars indicate means ± S.E.M. from three independent experiments, * p <0.05 by students t-test. <b>F</b>. Wild-type, TLR2^-/-, TLR9 mutant, and TLR2/TLR9-deficient mice were intraperitoneal injected with 1x10⁵ curli-expressing <i>E</i>. <i>coli</i> MC4100 (closed circles) or <i>E</i>. <i>coli</i> MC4100 <i>csgBA</i> (LSR13) (open circles) once weekly for 6 weeks. Serum collected from a naïve wild-type mouse was used as a negative control (dotted line). dsDNA autoantibodies were quantified by ELISA after 6 weeks of injections. Mean and SE were calculated by averaging results from two independent experiments. Significance was calculated using Two-way Anova analysis followed by Tukey post hoc test. *<i>p</i> < 0.05, **<i>p</i> < 0.01, ***<i>p</i> < 0.001.</p