Colchicine in acute heart failure: Rationale and design of a randomized double‐blind placebo‐controlled trial (COLICA)

Aims: Heart failure (HF) elicits a pro-inflammatory state, which is associated with impaired clinical outcomes, but no anti-inflammatory therapies have demonstrated a clinical benefit yet. Inflammatory pathways related with the interleukin-1 axis are overactivated during episodes of acute HF. Colchicine, an anti-inflammatory drug with proven benefits in acute pericarditis and ischaemic heart disease, may target this inflammatory response. This study aims to assess the efficacy of colchicine in acute HF patients. Methods: COLICA is a multicentre, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial enrolling 278 patients across 12 sites. Patients presenting with acute HF, clinical evidence of congestion requiring ≥40 mg of intravenous furosemide and N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) >900 pg/ml, are eligible for participation. Patients are enrolled irrespective of left ventricular ejection fraction, HF type (new-onset or not) and setting (hospital or outpatient clinic). Patients are randomized 1:1 within the first 24 h of presentation to either placebo or colchicine, with an initial loading dose of 2 mg followed by 0.5 mg every 12 h for 8 weeks (reduced dose if <70 kg, >75 years old, or glomerular filtration rate <50 ml/min/1.73 m2). The primary efficacy endpoint is the time-averaged proportional change in NT-proBNP concentrations from baseline to week 8. Key secondary and exploratory outcomes include symptoms, diuretic use, worsening HF episodes, related biomarkers of cardiac stress and inflammation, total and cardiovascular readmissions, mortality and safety events. Conclusion: COLICA will be the first randomized trial testing the efficacy and safety of colchicine for acute HF

Infected pancreatic necrosis: outcomes and clinical predictors of mortality. A post hoc analysis of the MANCTRA-1 international study

: The identification of high-risk patients in the early stages of infected pancreatic necrosis (IPN) is critical, because it could help the clinicians to adopt more effective management strategies. We conducted a post hoc analysis of the MANCTRA-1 international study to assess the association between clinical risk factors and mortality among adult patients with IPN. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression models were used to identify prognostic factors of mortality. We identified 247 consecutive patients with IPN hospitalised between January 2019 and December 2020. History of uncontrolled arterial hypertension (p = 0.032; 95% CI 1.135-15.882; aOR 4.245), qSOFA (p = 0.005; 95% CI 1.359-5.879; aOR 2.828), renal failure (p = 0.022; 95% CI 1.138-5.442; aOR 2.489), and haemodynamic failure (p = 0.018; 95% CI 1.184-5.978; aOR 2.661), were identified as independent predictors of mortality in IPN patients. Cholangitis (p = 0.003; 95% CI 1.598-9.930; aOR 3.983), abdominal compartment syndrome (p = 0.032; 95% CI 1.090-6.967; aOR 2.735), and gastrointestinal/intra-abdominal bleeding (p = 0.009; 95% CI 1.286-5.712; aOR 2.710) were independently associated with the risk of mortality. Upfront open surgical necrosectomy was strongly associated with the risk of mortality (p < 0.001; 95% CI 1.912-7.442; aOR 3.772), whereas endoscopic drainage of pancreatic necrosis (p = 0.018; 95% CI 0.138-0.834; aOR 0.339) and enteral nutrition (p = 0.003; 95% CI 0.143-0.716; aOR 0.320) were found as protective factors. Organ failure, acute cholangitis, and upfront open surgical necrosectomy were the most significant predictors of mortality. Our study confirmed that, even in a subgroup of particularly ill patients such as those with IPN, upfront open surgery should be avoided as much as possible. Study protocol registered in ClinicalTrials.Gov (I.D. Number NCT04747990)

Minimal information for studies of extracellular vesicles (MISEV2023): From basic to advanced approaches

Extracellular vesicles (EVs), through their complex cargo, can reflect the state of their cell of origin and change the functions and phenotypes of other cells. These features indicate strong biomarker and therapeutic potential and have generated broad interest, as evidenced by the steady year-on-year increase in the numbers of scientific publications about EVs. Important advances have been made in EV metrology and in understanding and applying EV biology. However, hurdles remain to realising the potential of EVs in domains ranging from basic biology to clinical applications due to challenges in EV nomenclature, separation from non-vesicular extracellular particles, characterisation and functional studies. To address the challenges and opportunities in this rapidly evolving field, the International Society for Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV) updates its 'Minimal Information for Studies of Extracellular Vesicles', which was first published in 2014 and then in 2018 as MISEV2014 and MISEV2018, respectively. The goal of the current document, MISEV2023, is to provide researchers with an updated snapshot of available approaches and their advantages and limitations for production, separation and characterisation of EVs from multiple sources, including cell culture, body fluids and solid tissues. In addition to presenting the latest state of the art in basic principles of EV research, this document also covers advanced techniques and approaches that are currently expanding the boundaries of the field. MISEV2023 also includes new sections on EV release and uptake and a brief discussion of in vivo approaches to study EVs. Compiling feedback from ISEV expert task forces and more than 1000 researchers, this document conveys the current state of EV research to facilitate robust scientific discoveries and move the field forward even more rapidly

<scp>ReSurveyEurope</scp>: A database of resurveyed vegetation plots in Europe

AbstractAimsWe introduce ReSurveyEurope — a new data source of resurveyed vegetation plots in Europe, compiled by a collaborative network of vegetation scientists. We describe the scope of this initiative, provide an overview of currently available data, governance, data contribution rules, and accessibility. In addition, we outline further steps, including potential research questions.ResultsReSurveyEurope includes resurveyed vegetation plots from all habitats. Version 1.0 of ReSurveyEurope contains 283,135 observations (i.e., individual surveys of each plot) from 79,190 plots sampled in 449 independent resurvey projects. Of these, 62,139 (78%) are permanent plots, that is, marked in situ, or located with GPS, which allow for high spatial accuracy in resurvey. The remaining 17,051 (22%) plots are from studies in which plots from the initial survey could not be exactly relocated. Four data sets, which together account for 28,470 (36%) plots, provide only presence/absence information on plant species, while the remaining 50,720 (64%) plots contain abundance information (e.g., percentage cover or cover–abundance classes such as variants of the Braun‐Blanquet scale). The oldest plots were sampled in 1911 in the Swiss Alps, while most plots were sampled between 1950 and 2020.ConclusionsReSurveyEurope is a new resource to address a wide range of research questions on fine‐scale changes in European vegetation. The initiative is devoted to an inclusive and transparent governance and data usage approach, based on slightly adapted rules of the well‐established European Vegetation Archive (EVA). ReSurveyEurope data are ready for use, and proposals for analyses of the data set can be submitted at any time to the coordinators. Still, further data contributions are highly welcome.</jats:sec

Interaction of Nonionic Surfactants and Hydrophilic Ionic Liquids in Aqueous Solutions: Can Short Ionic Liquids Be More Than a Solvent?

The interaction between an ethoxylated nonionic surfactant (C_12–14EO₈) and three conventional hydrophilic imidazolium-based ionic liquids (bmim-octyl SO₄, bmim-methyl SO₄, and bmim-BF₄) in aqueous solution has been investigated. In most of the reported studies where a surfactant is dissolved in an ionic liquid aqueous solution, conventional ionic liquids are merely considered to be solvents. Consequently, the resulting critical micelle concentration (cmc) is considered to be that of the surfactant. However, given that the three ionic liquids selected showed the typical shape of a surface-active compound when the surface tension was plotted against concentration, the role of these compounds as secondary surfactants and consequently the possibility of mixed-micelle formation have been investigated. Different series of experiments where a surfactant and an ionic liquid were combined in a wide range of mole ratios have been performed and treated as typical binary surfactant systems in aqueous solution. It has been found for the three surfactant/ionic liquid systems that depending on the surfactant mole fraction, α₁, attractive or repulsive interactions in mixed-micelle formation are produced. Therefore, when we select the appropriate α₁ these systems can be adjusted to a given application, depending on whether monomers or micelles are mainly required

Fruit Volatile Profiles of Two <i>Citrus</i> Hybrids Are Dramatically Different from Those of Their Parents

Volatile compounds released from the fruit of two hybrid <i>Citrus</i> genotypes (FxCh90 and FxCh77) were compared to those from their parental varieties, Fortune mandarin and Chandler pummelo. A series of 113 compounds were identified, including 31 esters, 23 aldehydes, 20 alcohols, 17 monoterpenoids, and other compounds. The differences in the volatile profile among these four genotypes were essentially quantitative. The most striking result was that the volatile profile of the hybrids was not intermediate between their parents and completely differed from that of Chandler, but came closer to Fortune. This was because 56 of the 113 volatile compounds in the hybrids showed significantly higher or lower levels than in any of the parents. Such transgressive behavior in these hybrids was not observed for other fruit quality traits, such as acidity or soluble solid content. The combination of volatile profiling and chemometrics can be used to select new <i>Citrus</i> genotypes with a distinct volatile profile

Tuning of Oxygen Electrocatalysis in Perovskite Oxide Nanoparticles by the Cationic Composition

Manganese and cobalt perovskite oxides are among the most active precious metal-free electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), respectively. Herein, we question the role of the cationic composition and charge state in manganite, cobaltite, and mixed Mn/Co perovskites in the mechanism of oxygen electrocatalysis for ORR and OER. We synthesize in molten salts a range of perovskite nanoparticles active in ORR (single B-site (LaMn)1−γO3 and (La0.7Sr0.3Mn)1−γO3), in OER (single B-site La0.67Sr0.33CoO3−δ), and in both ORR and OER (mixed B-site (LaMn0.6Co0.4)1−γO3). By using operando X-ray absorption spectroscopy coupled to ex situ electron energy loss spectroscopy, we show that Mn and Co in single B-site perovskites undergo changes in oxidation states at the steady state during electrocatalysis, while their oxidation states remain unchanged in the mixed Mn/Co perovskite during OER and ORR. We relate these distinct behaviors to modifications of the rate-determining steps of both the OER and ORR electrocatalytic cycles, triggered by an increased covalency of B–O bonds in the mixed perovskites. These results highlight how simple cationic substitutions, accompanied by a control of cationic vacancies, offer a pathway to tune oxygen electrocatalysis

Nickel-Doped Sodium Cobaltite 2D Nanomaterials: Synthesis and Electrocatalytic Properties

In this work we report a synthetic pathway to two-dimensional nanostructures of high oxidation state lamellar cobalt oxides with thicknesses of only few atom layers, through the combined use of precipitation in basic water at room temperature and gentle solid state topotactic transformation at 120 °C. The 2D nanomaterials are characterized by X-ray diffraction, nitrogen porosimetry, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and especially scanning transmission electron microscopy coupled to energy dispersive X-ray analysis and electron energy loss spectroscopy to assess the composition of the nanosheets and the oxidation state of the transition metal species. We show that the nanosheets preserve high oxidation states Co³⁺ and Co⁴⁺ of high interest for electrocatalysis of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). By combining high Co oxidation state, surface-to-volume ratio and optimized nickel substitution, the 2D nanomaterials produced in a simple way exhibit high OER electrocatalytic activity and stability in alkaline aqueous electrolyte comparable to standard materials obtained in harsh thermal conditions

Informe de Análisis de Necesidades de Formación del Profesorado Activo de Educación Primaria y Secundaria mediante la Opinión de Docentes Universitarios de América Latina y el Caribe

Analisi, tramite indagine empirica a campione presso professori universitari, dei bisogni formativi dei docenti in servizio della scuola primaria e della scuola secondaria negli istituti latinoamericani e dei Caraib