230 research outputs found
Italian adaptation of the Uniform Data Set Neuropsychological Test Battery (I-UDSNB 1.0): development and normative data
Background: Neuropsychological testing plays a cardinal role in the diagnosis and monitoring of Alzheimer’s disease. A major concern is represented by the heterogeneity of the neuropsychological batteries currently adopted in memory clinics and healthcare centers. The current study aimed to solve this issue. Methods: Following the initiative of the University of Washington’s National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center (NACC), we presented the Italian adaptation of the Neuropsychological Test Battery of the Uniform Data Set (I-UDSNB). We collected data from 433 healthy Italian individuals and employed regression models to evaluate the impact of demographic variables on the performance, deriving the reference norms. Results: Higher education and lower age were associated with a better performance in the majority of tests, while sex affected only fluency tests and Digit Span Forward. Conclusions: The I-UDSNB offers a valuable and harmonized tool for neuropsychological testing in Italy, to be used in clinical and research settings
TGF-β-Mediated Sustained ERK1/2 Activity Promotes the Inhibition of Intracellular Growth of Mycobacterium avium in Epithelioid Cells Surrogates
Transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of several diseases including infection with intracellular pathogens such as the Mycobacterium avium complex. Infection of macrophages with M. avium induces TGF-β production and neutralization of this cytokine has been associated with decreased intracellular bacterial growth. We have previously demonstrated that epithelioid cell surrogates (ECs) derived from primary murine peritoneal macrophages through a process of differentiation induced by IL-4 overlap several features of epithelioid cells found in granulomas. In contrast to undifferentiated macrophages, ECs produce larger amounts of TGF-β and inhibit the intracellular growth of M. avium. Here we asked whether the levels of TGF-β produced by ECs are sufficient to induce a self-sustaining autocrine TGF-β signaling controlling mycobacterial replication in infected-cells. We showed that while exogenous addition of increased concentration of TGF-β to infected-macrophages counteracted M. avium replication, pharmacological blockage of TGF-β receptor kinase activity with SB-431542 augmented bacterial load in infected-ECs. Moreover, the levels of TGF-β produced by ECs correlated with high and sustained levels of ERK1/2 activity. Inhibition of ERK1/2 activity with U0126 increased M. avium replication in infected-cells, suggesting that modulation of intracellular bacterial growth is dependent on the activation of ERK1/2. Interestingly, blockage of TGF-β receptor kinase activity with SB-431542 in infected-ECs inhibited ERK1/2 activity, enhanced intracellular M. avium burden and these effects were followed by a severe decrease in TGF-β production. In summary, our findings indicate that the amplitude of TGF-β signaling coordinates the strength and duration of ERK1/2 activity that is determinant for the control of intracellular mycobacterial growth
O sujeito e a coletividade: um caminho transdialĂłgico na saĂşde coletiva
Este artigo apresenta os resultados e reflexões de uma pesquisa que objetivou compreender aspectos dificultadores e facilitadores no processo de ativação da integralidade na ação transdisciplinar em uma equipe multiprofissional na saĂşde coletiva. Esse percurso transdialĂłgico usou como fundamentos a teoria da complexidade e os princĂpios do mĂ©todo de Edgar Morin e a lĂłgica transdisciplinar proposta por Basarab Nicolescu, tendo como organizador central a interdependĂŞncia entre Sujeito e Coletividade na construção da polĂtica pĂşblica em saĂşde. A pesquisa trouxe o desvelamento da coexistĂŞncia de duas lĂłgicas que organizam os processos de trabalho na saĂşde: a lĂłgica da doença/lĂłgica disciplinar e a lĂłgica da integralidade/lĂłgica transdisciplinar
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