Evolution of nuclear environments: from forbidden gardens to nuclear landscape monuments

The dawn of Anthropocene saw the birth of nuclear landscapes (NL): places heavily contami-nated by radioactivity, left behind by human interventions. From nuclear weapon production to detonation sites and atomic power plants, unfortunate events had resulted in environmental catastrophes, turning these NLs into forbidden gardens - off-limits frontiers of waste . Human absence promoted NL to metamorphose into post-nuclear landscapes, characterized by a pri-mal image of nature: pristine and spontaneous. It is an unreleased kind of wilderness, a living archive of human ecocides. Later, governmental interventions gradually transformed these sites into Nuclear Landscape Monuments (NLM), making them embodiments of degradation and re-demption. The essay investigates the evolution of these nuclear environments and their wild am-bivalent nature. It further elucidates the shift in humans’ attitudes towards nature, through an atomic narrative: from production and destruction to recovery and reconciliation. The essay also highlights the role of anthropogenic and natural agencies in establishing this intricate co-existing relationship between humans and non-human

UMA QUESTÃO DE UNIDADE: FILOSOFIA E SOCIEDADE NOS CAMINHOS DO PENSAR POETICO

O que significa, pois, uma filosofia posta em vigor numa consonância com a dimensão da poesia? Como pensar, de forma contemporânea, uma unidade entre filosofia e poesia, se os desdobramentos históricos da tradição identificaram a filosofia como discurso da totalidade e a poesia como discurso do eu-manifestante, o nomeado eu-lírico pelas escolas críticas? Entretanto destacamos Schopenhauer e Heidegger por serem  pensadores cujas obras, por vias diferentes, apresentam a conexão entre arte e filosofia. Enfatizar tais pensadores não se justifica somente por admiração, mas pela dedicação ao estudo da obra de arte e a significação que tais reflexões possuem

The mitochondrial probe rhodamine 123 inhibits in isolated hepatocytes the degradation of short-lived proteins

AbstractThe fluorescent dye rhodamine 123 (R123) decreases the intracellular ATP levels and also inhibits the degradation of short-lived proteins in isolated hepatocytes. This inhibition affects lysosomal and, to some extent, non-lysosomal mechanisms. The degradation of short-lived proteins decreases more when ATP levels are less than 40% of those in control cells, in contrast to the reported linear correlation between ATP levels and degradation of long-lived proteins. R123 provides a powerful probe for clarifying the proteolytic mechanisms involved in degradation of short-lived proteins and the ATP requirements in protein degradation. Indeed, as illustrated, the results suggest different mechanisms for the degradation of short- and long-lived proteins. Moreover, they provide a warning for the clinical use of this reagent

chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of the essential oil from the bark of xylopia hypolampra

Hydrodistillation of Xylopia hypolampra Mildbr. stem bark afforded 39 mg (dry weight basis) of a pale yellow fragrant essential oil; gas chromatography-flame ionization detector and gas chromatogra..

Clinical phenotypic variability in an Italian family bearing the IVS6+ 5_8delGTGA mutation in PGRN gene

Background Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a complex presenile disorder characterized by behavioural changes and executive functions, expression of fronto-temporal degeneration. Hereditary FTD accounts for 20-30% of cases and, in the past decade, mutations in the microtubule associated protein tau (MAPT)gene were identified as a main genetic causes of familial FTD. In 2006, mutations in the gene encoding progranulin (PGRN) were reported, to account for a wide part of the familial FTD cases. Clinically, an high phenotypic variability within and among the kindreds is reported in the familial FTD associated with PGRN mutations and occasionally the memory deficits are the first symptoms, resembling Alzheimer's disease (AD). We report an Italian family with dementia associated with a PGRN mutation characterized by a deletion of 4 base pairs inside the intron 6 of the gene, leading to haploin sufficiency In our kindred, all three affected patients carried the mutation, but presented very different clinical phenotypes, evoking FTD, AD and rapidly-progressive dementia mimicking prion disease. Methods Informations on the members of the first, second and third generations were obtained conducting interviews with relatives, while for the three patients studied, the clinical evidence of dementia symptoms and their characterization was documented directly with sequential neurological examinations, cognitive assessments and neuroimaging. Blood sample collection and DNA extraction from peripheral blood lymphocytes for genetic analysis were performed after written informed consent of the patients. Results In our pedigree, the PGRN mutated patients are affected by dementia with three different clinical pictures: FTD, AD and rapidly progressive dementia mimicking prion disease. Neuropsychological examinations supported these diagnoses, documenting generalized deficits of cortical functions in AD patient and deficits in executive functions and in language in FTD patient. Regarding neuroimaging, in the same two cases MRI results do not correspond to the clinical diagnosis. Conclusions These findings confirms the marked heterogeneity of the clinico-radiological features in patients with PGNR mutations and underline the need of considering mutations of this gene as causes of familial dementing diseases with atypical or uncommon features or discrepancies between the clinical and the neuroimaging findings

Mathematical models for the diffusion magnetic resonance signal abnormality in patients with prion diseases

AbstractIn clinical practice signal hyperintensity in the cortex and/or in the striatum on magnetic resonance (MR) diffusion-weighted images (DWIs) is a marker of sporadic Creutzfeldt–Jakob Disease (sCJD). MR diagnostic accuracy is greater than 90%, but the biophysical mechanisms underpinning the signal abnormality are unknown. The aim of this prospective study is to combine an advanced DWI protocol with new mathematical models of the microstructural changes occurring in prion disease patients to investigate the cause of MR signal alterations. This underpins the later development of more sensitive and specific image-based biomarkers. DWI data with a wide a range of echo times and diffusion weightings were acquired in 15 patients with suspected diagnosis of prion disease and in 4 healthy age-matched subjects. Clinical diagnosis of sCJD was made in nine patients, genetic CJD in one, rapidly progressive encephalopathy in three, and Gerstmann–Sträussler–Scheinker syndrome in two. Data were analysed with two bi-compartment models that represent different hypotheses about the histopathological alterations responsible for the DWI signal hyperintensity. A ROI-based analysis was performed in 13 grey matter areas located in affected and apparently unaffected regions from patients and healthy subjects. We provide for the first time non-invasive estimate of the restricted compartment radius, designed to reflect vacuole size, which is a key discriminator of sCJD subtypes. The estimated vacuole size in DWI hyperintense cortex was in the range between 3 and 10 µm that is compatible with neuropathology measurements. In DWI hyperintense grey matter of sCJD patients the two bi-compartment models outperform the classic mono-exponential ADC model. Both new models show that T2 relaxation times significantly increase, fast and slow diffusivities reduce, and the fraction of the compartment with slow/restricted diffusion increases compared to unaffected grey matter of patients and healthy subjects. Analysis of the raw DWI signal allows us to suggest the following acquisition parameters for optimized detection of CJD lesions: b = 3000 s/mm2 and TE = 103 ms. In conclusion, these results provide the first in vivo estimate of mean vacuole size, new insight on the mechanisms of DWI signal changes in prionopathies and open the way to designing an optimized acquisition protocol to improve early clinical diagnosis and subtyping of sCJD

Progression of Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis despite the new era of treatments

Objective. The present study aims to evaluate the conditions associated with the progression of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and patients' dysfunctions. Methods. We perform a retrospective longitudinal analytical observational study in 46 patients with MS from a polyclinic at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. We used the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) to rank the patients according to their disability and establish correlation with risk factors, treatment and time of disease. Results. Of 46 patients, 69.6% were female and 67.4% were white. Patients with fewer functional systems affected at the beginning of the disease had a longer time for disease progression, according to EDSS. Low efficacy drugs led to a high rate of discontinuation of the treatment. Patients who used a continuously treatment took longer to reach higher EDSS values ​​than those who discontinued treatment. Conclusion. Despite the control of MS with high effective drugs, there is still some disability for the patient. The factors that influenced the progression of the disability were: multiple symptoms at the beginning of the disease, more than 30 years old at the beginning of the MS, delay in diagnosis and initiation of treatment, among others.Objetivo. O presente estudo tem como objetivo avaliar as condições associadas à progressão de doença e disfunções dos pacientes com Esclerose Múltipla (EM). Métodos. Estudo observacional analítico longitudinal retrospectivo com 46 pacientes com EM de uma policlínica do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. Foi utilizada a Escala de Incapacidade Funcional Expandida (EDSS) para classificar os pacientes de acordo com a incapacidade e estabelecer correlação com fatores de risco, tratamento e tempo de doença. Resultados. Dos 46 pacientes, 69,6% eram do sexo feminino e 67,4% eram brancos. Pacientes com menos sistemas funcionais afetados no início da EM levaram maior tempo para progressão da doença. Medicamentos de baixa eficácia foram associados a uma alta taxa de descontinuação do tratamento. Pacientes em tratamento contínuo levaram maior tempo para atingir valores mais altos de EDSS comparado com pacientes que descontinuaram o tratamento. Conclusão. Apesar do controle da EM com medicamentos de alta eficácia, os pacientes ainda apresentam alguma incapacidade. Os fatores que influenciaram a progressão da incapacidade foram: múltiplos sintomas no início da doença, mais de 30 anos no início da EM, atraso no diagnóstico e início do tratamento, entre outros

Plant and Fungal Food Components with Potential Activity on the Development of Microbial Oral Diseases

This paper reports the content in macronutrients, free sugars, polyphenols, and inorganic ions, known to exert any positive or negative action on microbial oral disease such as caries and gingivitis, of seven food/beverages (red chicory, mushroom, raspberry, green and black tea, cranberry juice, dark beer). Tea leaves resulted the richest material in all the detected ions, anyway tea beverages resulted the richest just in fluoride. The highest content in zinc was in chicory, raspberry and mushroom. Raspberry is the richest food in strontium and boron, beer in selenium, raspberry and mushroom in copper. Beer, cranberry juice and, especially green and black tea are very rich in polyphenols, confirming these beverages as important sources of such healthy substances. The fractionation, carried out on the basis of the molecular mass (MM), of the water soluble components occurring in raspberry, chicory, and mushroom extracts (which in microbiological assays revealed the highest potential action against oral pathogens), showed that both the high and low MM fractions are active, with the low MM fractions displaying the highest potential action for all the fractionated extracts. Our findings show that more compounds that can play a different active role occur in these foods

Self-assembled monolayers of copper sulfide nanoparticles on glass as antibacterial coatings

We developed an easy and reproducible synthetic method to graft a monolayer of copper sulfide nanoparticles (CuS NP) on glass and exploited their particular antibacterial features. Samples were fully characterized showing a good stability, a neat photo-thermal effect when irradiated in the Near InfraRed (NIR) region (in the so called \u201cbiological window\u201d), and the ability to release controlled quantities of copper in water. The desired antibacterial activity is thus based on two different mechanisms: (i) slow and sustained copper release from CuS NP-glass samples, (ii) local temperature increase caused by a photo-thermal effect under NIR laser irradiation of CuS NP\u2013glass samples. This behavior allows promising in vivo applications to be foreseen, ensuring a \u201cstatic\u201d antibacterial protection tailored to fight bacterial adhesion in the critical timescale of possible infection and biofilm formation. This can be reinforced, when needed, by a photo-thermal action switchable on demand by an NIR light