Platelet – Leukocyte Interactions: Multiple Links Between Inflammation, Blood Coagulation and Vascular Risk

The aim of this review is to summarize the contribution of platelets and leukocytes and their interactions in inflammation and blood coagulation and its possible relevance in the pathogenesis of thrombosis. There is some evidence of an association between infection/inflammation and thrombosis. This is likely a bidirectional relationship. The presence of a thrombus may serve as a nidus of infection. Vascular injury indeed promotes platelet and leukocyte activation and thrombus formation and the thrombus and its components facilitate adherence of bacteria to the vessel wall. Alternatively, an infection and the associated inflammation can trigger platelet and leukocyte activation and thrombus formation. In either case platelets and leukocytes co-localize and interact in the area of vascular injury, at sites of inflammation and/or at sites of thrombosis. Following vascular injury, the subendothelial tissue, a thrombogenic surface, becomes available for interaction with these blood cells. Tissue factor, found not only in media and adventitia of the vascular wall, but also on activated platelets and leukocytes, triggers blood coagulation. Vascular-blood cell interactions, mediated by the release of preformed components of the endothelium, is modulated by both cell adhesion and production of soluble stimulatory or inhibitory molecules that alter cell function: adhesion molecules regulate cell-cell contact and facilitate the modulation of biochemical pathways relevant to inflammatory and/or thrombotic processes

Parkinson's disease: autoimmunity and neuroinflammation

Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disease that causes the death of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra. The resulting dopamine deficiency in the basal ganglia leads to a movement disorder that is characterized by classical parkinsonian motor symptoms. Parkinson's disease is recognized as the most common neurodegenerative disorder after Alzheimer's disease. PD ethiopathogenesis remains to be elucidated and has been connected to genetic, environmental and immunologic conditions. The past decade has provided evidence for a significant role of the immune system in PD pathogenesis, either through inflammation or an autoimmune response. Several autoantibodies directed at antigens associated with PD pathogenesis have been identified in PD patients. This immune activation may be the cause of, rather than a response to, the observed neuronal loss. Parkinsonian motor symptoms include bradykinesia, muscular rigidity and resting tremor. The non-motor features include olfactory dysfunction, cognitive impairment, psychiatric symptoms and autonomic dysfunction. Microscopically, the specific degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra and the presence of Lewy bodies, which are brain deposits containing a substantial amount of α-synuclein, have been recognized. The progression of Parkinson's disease is characterized by a worsening of motor features; however, as the disease progresses, there is an emergence of complications related to long-term symptomatic treatment. The available therapies for Parkinson's disease only treat the symptoms of the disease. A major goal of Parkinson's disease research is the development of disease-modifying drugs that slow or stop the neurodegenerative process. Drugs that enhance the intracerebral dopamine concentrations or stimulate dopamine receptors remain the mainstay treatment for motor symptoms. Immunomodulatory therapeutic strategies aiming to attenuate PD neurodegeneration have become an attractive option and warrant further investigation

Socio-emotional and cognitive development in intrauterine growth restricted (IUGR) and typical development infants: Early interactive patterns and underlying neural correlates. Rationale and methods of the study

Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) is defined as a fetal growth retardation, resulting in an estimated fetal weight less than the 10th centile for gestational age. IUGR developing brain is affected by the atypical fetal growth, presenting altered structure and connectivity and increased risk for neurodevelopmental impairments. Behaviorally, IUGR infants show reduced responsiveness and engagement with human faces during mother-child exchanges. The neural mechanisms of these patterns of interactions remain unexplored, as well as their potential role in shaping socio-cognitive trajectories of development. Aim of this research project will be to longitudinally investigate mother-infant interactions and infant's event-related potential (ERP) components of face processing (infant N170, P400, Negative central) in 4 and 9 months IUGR as potential early markers of expected atypical cognitive and behavioral outcomes observed at 12 months. Thirty IUGR participants will be recruited after receiving the in utero diagnosis (>28th gestational week). Thirty healthy infants will be enrolled as the control group. Maternal environment will be assessed via Emotional Availability Scales (EASs), with child responsiveness and maternal sensitivity as variables of interest. Infants' scalp-recorded cortical activity in response to social and non-social stimuli will be investigated using a high-density EEG system (EGI Geodesic system). Neurodevelopment will be measured at 12 months of child's life, using Bayley Scales for Infant Development (BSID), while the possible presence of emotional-behavioral problems will be rated via Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). We expect that being IUGR significantly affects cognitive and behavioral outcomes, through mediation effects of both infants' neural and behavioral capacity to respond to social stimuli. Indeed, we expect an altered response to social stimuli in IUGR infants, resulting in smaller ERP components amplitude in response to human faces compared to healthy matched peers. A significant association between neural response to social stimuli and infants' responsiveness to maternal stimulation during interactions is expected, with impoverished performances on the interactive domain in IUGR, compared to healthy peers. This study will enhance understanding on neural mechanisms underpinning the interactive patterns sustaining socio-cognitive development in IUGR and healthy infants. The study will help in clarifying the role of postnatal environment in buffering the vulnerability experienced by children delayed in their fetal growth

Electro-mechanical properties of multilayer graphene-based polymeric composite obtained through a capillary rise method

A new sensor made of a vinyl-ester polymer composite filled with multilayer graphene nanoplatelets (MLG) is produced through an innovative capillary rise method for application in strain sensing and structural health monitoring. The new sensor is characterized by high stability of the piezoresistive response under quasi-static consecutive loading/unloading cycles and monotonic tests. This is due to the peculiarity of the fabrication process that ensures a smooth and clean surface of the sensor, without the presence of filler agglomerates acting as micro- or macro-sized defects in the composite

Electromagnetic and electromechanical applications of graphene-based materials

This volume contains the extended abstracts of the contributions presented at the workshop Nanoscale Excitations in Emergent Materials (NEEM 2015) held in Rome from 12 to 14 October 2015, an event organized and supported in the framework of the Bilateral Cooperation Agreement between Italy and India within the project of major relevance "Investigating local structure and magnetism of cobalt nano-structures", funded by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Science and Technology in India

Mandible customized distraction osteogenesis in Treacher Collins patient: Literature review, report of a case and post-distraction analysis

Introduction: Treacher-Collins syndrome is a rare genetic disorder with variable phenotypic expression. Related micrognathia can cause upper airway obstruction in neonatal patients because of posterior tongue displacement. Many approaches have been described to treat upper airway obstruction in such patients; the use of mandibular distraction to this purpose was first proposed in 1994. To our knowledge, only a few authors have employed customized devices to perform mandibular distraction in these syndromic patients.This paper presents a systematic review of the use of customized devices to perform mandibular distraction osteogenesis in patients affected by Treacher-Collins syndrome and upper airway obstruction. A case report of a Treacher-Collins syndrome patient treated in our institution is also presented. Results: Eight articles fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were included in this systematic review; demographic, clinical and surgical features of 13 cases were evaluated.Preoperative assessment, virtual surgical planning and a surgical protocol for a Treacher-Collins patient were performed and set-out in detail; a post-distraction 3D analysis workflow was developed and proposed.The patient had an airway obstruction resolution after the distractors removal and was progressively decannulated. The post-distraction 3D analysis revealed that the oropharynx and hypopharynx airway space acquired greater volumetric dimension in a more antero-superior position; this advancement was comparable to the antero-superior advancement of the distracted mandible. Conclusion: In the author's opinion, customized devices for mandibular distraction osteogenesis and post-distraction tridimensional analysis should be objected of further investigation in the light of their potential advantage in diagnosis and treatment of syndromic malformation

PI3K Signaling in Tissue Hyper-Proliferation: From Overgrowth Syndromes to Kidney Cysts

The members of the PhosphoInositide-3 Kinase (PI3K) protein family are well-known regulators of proliferative signals. By the generation of lipid second messengers, they mediate the activation of AKT/PKB (AKT) and mammalian Target Of Rapamycin (mTOR) pathways. Although mutations in the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway are highly characterized in cancer, recent evidence indicates that alterations in the proliferative signals are major drivers of other diseases such as overgrowth disorders and polycystic kidney disease. In this review, we briefly summarize the role of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway in cell proliferation by comparing the effect of alterations in PI3K enzymes in different tissues. In particular, we discuss the most recent findings on how the same pathway may lead to different biological effects, due to the convergence and cooperation of different signaling cascades

An epidemiological survey on the prevalence of Salmonella in swine in central Italy

The aim of the study was to evaluate the prevalence of Salmonella spp. in swine herds in Italy. Samples of faeces from finishing swine farms, cecal contents and ileo-cecal lymphnodes from pigs at slaughter were analysed for Salmonella. Samples of blood serum and meat juice were collected from the same groups, and tested for antibodies against Salmonella O-antigens with an ELISA test kit. 6.5% of faeces from finishing swine resulted positive, with 40% of the groups showing at least one positive sample, while Salmonella was isolated from 28.5% of cecal samples (85% of the groups) and 26.4% of lymph nodes (75% of the groups). The results of serology showed positivity in 100% of the herds and 95% of groups at slaughter. S. Typhimurium, S. Infantis, S. Derby were the most frequent isolated serotypes

Substance Related Exogenous Psychosis: a post-modern syndrome

© 2020 Cambridge University Press. This paper has been accepted for publication and will appear in a revised form, subsequent to peer-review and/or editorial input by Cambridge University Press. This manuscript is made available under the terms of the Creative Commons Non-Commercial No-Derivatives License (CC-BY-NC-ND). For further information please see: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.The past two decades have been marked by dramatic social changes, widely characterized by the term “postmodern”. These major transformations have had profound and complex implications for psychiatry, influencing mental health risk factors, dynamics in clinical encounters, styles of help-seeking behavior and clinical outcomes. Underlying themes of postmodern thought that are particularly relevant to psychiatry include: individualization and social roles; the nature of self-identity and intimacy; future orientation (Whitley r. 2008).Peer reviewe

Plant Cellular and Molecular Biotechnology: Following Mariotti's Steps

This review is dedicated to the memory of Prof. Domenico Mariotti, who significantly contributed to establishing the Italian research community in Agricultural Genetics and carried out the first experiments of Agrobacterium-mediated plant genetic transformation and regeneration in Italy during the 1980s. Following his scientific interests as guiding principles, this review summarizes the recent advances obtained in plant biotechnology and fundamental research aiming to: (i) Exploit in vitro plant cell and tissue cultures to induce genetic variability and to produce useful metabolites; (ii) gain new insights into the biochemical function of Agrobacterium rhizogenes rol genes and their application to metabolite production, fruit tree transformation, and reverse genetics; (iii) improve genetic transformation in legume species, most of them recalcitrant to regeneration; (iv) untangle the potential of KNOTTED1-like homeobox (KNOX) transcription factors in plant morphogenesis as key regulators of hormonal homeostasis; and (v) elucidate the molecular mechanisms of the transition from juvenility to the adult phase in Prunus tree species