Friends and Symptom Dimensions in Patients with Psychosis: A Pooled Analysis

PMCID: PMC3503760This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

GIS-based multi-criteria territorial suitability assessment for insect farms: a case study for North Italy

Although environmental sustainability and economic feasibility frameworks have been developed to evaluate the impact of insect farms, significant studies on the development of territorial suitability methods specifically tailored to insect production have not yet been performed. This work proposes a GIS-based multi criteria decision making analysis to evaluate the suitability of a territory to the installation of insect farms. A case study developed specifically for black soldier fly Hermetia illucens (HI) insect farms in Emilia-Romagna region (North Italy) is presented. This is an area which, due to its agro-industrial nature and the consequent large production of related waste and by-products, is an optimal candidate for the installation of insect farms. Nine physical, environmental, and economic criteria were assessed. A raster spatial layer for each criterion was obtained, and their values were standardised. The criteria were weighted using the analytical hierarchical process, based on expert opinion recorded via an online questionnaire. The resulting weights were used to combine the single criterion maps using a weighted linear combination procedure and generate, after reclassification, the final suitability map. This map indicates the areas suitable for insect farms at the local level and provides indications for estimating suitability at regional and provincial level. The results showed that 56.2% of the study area was deemed unsuitable, and 43.8% was determined suitable for an HI insect farm; best locations were found around the main agro-industrial centres of the Po valley. The proposed methodology can be easily adapted to other breeding models, insects or study areas and adds valuable information in the development of guidelines for industrial-scale insect farms

5-(carbamoylmethylene)-oxazolidin-2-ones as a promising class of heterocycles inducing apoptosis triggered by increased ROS levels and mitochondrial dysfunction in breast and cervical cancer

Oxazolidinones are antibiotics that inhibit protein synthesis by binding the 50S ribosomal subunit. Recently, numerous worldwide researches focused on their properties and possible involvement in cancer therapy have been conducted. Here, we evaluated in vitro the antiproliferative activity of some 5-(carbamoylmethylene)-oxazolidin-2-ones on MCF-7 and HeLa cells. The tested compounds displayed a wide range of cytotoxicity on these cancer cell lines, measured by MTT assay, exhibiting no cytotoxicity on non-tumorigenic MCF-10A cells. Among the nine tested derivatives, four displayed a good anticancer potential. Remarkably, OI compound showed IC50 values of 17.66 and 31.10 µM for MCF-7 and HeLa cancer cells, respectively. Furthermore, we assessed OI effect on the cell cycle by FACS analysis, highlighting a G1 phase arrest after 72 h, supported by a low expression level of Cyclin D1 protein. Moreover, mitochondrial membrane potential was reduced after OI treatment driven by high levels of ROS. These findings demonstrate that OI treatment can inhibit MCF-7 and HeLa cell proliferation and induce apoptosis by caspase-9 activation and cytochrome c release in the cytosol. Hence, 5-(carbamoylmethylene)-oxazolidin-2-ones have a promising anticancer activity, in particular, OI derivative could represent a good candidate for in vivo further studies and potential clinical use

The Salt Tolerance Related Protein (STRP) Mediates Cold Stress Responses and Abscisic Acid Signalling in Arabidopsis thaliana

Low temperature stress is one of the major causes of crop yield reduction in agriculture. The alteration of gene expression pattern and the accumulation of stress-related proteins are the main strategies activated by plants under this unfavourable condition. Here we characterize the Arabidopsis thaliana Salt Tolerance Related Protein (STRP). The protein rapidly accumulates under cold treatment, and this effect is not dependent on transcriptional activation of the STRP gene, but on the inhibition of proteasome-mediated degradation. Subcellular localization of STRP was determined by the transient expression of STRP-YFP in A. thaliana protoplasts. STRP is localized into the cytosol, nucleus, and associated to the plasma membrane. Under cold stress, the membrane-associated fraction decreases, while in the cytosol and in the nucleus STRP levels strongly increase. STRP has high similarity with WCI16, a wheat Late Embryogenesis Abundant (LEA)-like protein. Despite no canonical LEA motifs in the STRP sequence are present, physicochemical characterization demonstrated that STRP shares common features with LEA proteins, being a high hydrophilic unstructured protein, highly soluble after boiling and with cryoprotectant activity. To clarify the physiological function of STRP, we characterized the phenotype and the response to low temperature stress of the strp knockout mutant. The mutation causes an equal impairment of plant growth and development both in physiological and cold stress conditions. The strp mutant is more susceptible to oxidative damage respect to the wild type, showing increased lipid peroxidation and altered membrane integrity. Furthermore, the analysis of Abscisic acid (ABA) effects on protein levels demonstrated that the hormone induces the increase of STRP levels, an effect in part ascribable to its ability to activate STRP expression. ABA treatments showed that the strp mutant displays an ABA hyposensitive phenotype in terms of seed germination, root development, stomata closure and in the expression of ABA-responsive genes. In conclusion, our results demonstrate that STRP acts as a multifunctional protein in the response mechanisms to low temperature, suggesting a crucial role for this protein in stress perception and in the translation of extracellular stimuli in an intracellular response

The Surprising Story of Fusicoccin: A Wilt-Inducing Phytotoxin, a Tool in Plant Physiology and a 14-3-3-Targeted Drug

Fusicoccin is the alpha glucoside of a carbotricyclic diterpene, produced by the fungus Phomopsis amygdali (previously classified as Fusicoccum amygdali), the causal agent of almond and peach canker disease. A great interest in this molecule started when it was discovered that it brought about an irreversible stomata opening of higher plants, thereby inducing the wilting of their leaves. Since then, several studies were carried out to elucidate its biological activity, biosynthesis, structure, structure-activity relationships and mode of action. After sixty years of research and more than 1800 published articles, FC is still the most studied phytotoxin and one of the few whose mechanism of action has been elucidated in detail. The ability of FC to stimulate several fundamental plant processes depends on its ability to activate the plasma membrane H+-ATPase, induced by eliciting the association of 14-3-3 proteins, a class of regulatory molecules widespread in eukaryotes. This discovery renewed interest in FC and prompted more recent studies aimed to ascertain the ability of the toxin to influence the interaction between 14-3-3 proteins and their numerous client proteins in animals, involved in the regulation of basic cellular processes and in the etiology of different diseases, including cancer. This review covers the different aspects of FC research partially treated in different previous reviews, starting from its discovery in 1964, with the aim to outline the extraordinary pathway which led this very uncommon diterpenoid to evolve from a phytotoxin into a tool in plant physiology and eventually into a 14-3-3-targeted drug

A Probable Neoceratopsian Manus Track from the Nanushuk Formation (Albian, Northern Alaska)

We report a likely neoceratopsian manus track from an exposure of the Nanushuk Formation along the Colville River in northern Alaska. The track described here containts the impressions of five digits, arranged as an arc, which identify this specimen as a manus. Details of the impression suggest that it is neoceratopsian rather than ankylosaurian. The length of the chord of the arc of the track is approximately 25 cm, which is half the size of manus tracks found west of Denver, Colorado, USA attributed to the 10 m long Maastrichtian Triceratops. The Nanushuk Formation is a succession of complexly intertonguing marine and nonmarine strata interpreted as shelf, deltaic, strandplain, fluvial, and alluvial overbank deposits. Deposited in the foreland basin north f the Brooks Range, the rock unit is present throughout most of the northern foothills belt and subsurface of the central and western North Slope coastal plain. Fossil and radiometric data place outcrop within the Albian. If the identification of the track is correct, this is one of the earlies occurrences of neoceratopsians from North America. The occurrence of this track in Alaska substantiates the biogeographic model of faunal exchange between Asia and North America through a Cretaceous land bridge known as Beringia.Presentamos una probable huella de mano atribuida a neoceratopsido de un afloramiento de la Formación Nanushuk a lo largo del río Colville, en el norte de Alaska. La huella descrita contiene la impresión de cinco dígitos, dispuestos en arco, que identifican este especimen como una mano. Los detalles de la impresion sugieren que se trata de un neoceratopsido mas que de un ankilosaurio. La longitud de la cuerda del arco de la huella es aproximadamente de 25 cm, lo cual es la mitad del tamano de las huellas de mano encontradas al oeste de Denver, Colorado, EE.UU, y atribuidas a Triceratops, un taxon de unos 10 m de largo de edad Maastrichtiense. La Formacion Nanushuk es una sucesion de capas de origen marino y no marino complejamente interdigitadas e interpretadas como depósitos de plataforma, deltaicos de playas progradantes, fluviales y de overbank aluvial. Depositada en una cuenca de antepais al norte del Brooks Range, la unidad de roca esta presente a lo largo de la mayor parte de la franja septentrional de colinas, y en el subsuelo de la zona central y occidental, de la llanura costera de North Slope. Los fosiles y los datos radiometricos situan este afloramiento en el Albiense. Si la identificación de la huella es correcta, es una de las apariciones más tempranas de neoceratopsidos en Norteamaerica. La aparición de esta huella en Alaska apoya el modelo biogeográfico de intercambio faunístico entre Asia y Norteamerica a traves de un puente de tierra cretacico conocido como Beringia

Is idiopathic intracranial hypertension without papilledema a risk factor for migraine progression?

The association of chronic migraine (CM) with an idiopathic intracranial hypertension without papilledema (IIHWOP), although much more prevalent than expected in clinical series of CM sufferers, is not included among the risk factors for migraine progression. We discuss the available evidence supporting the existence of a pathogenetic link between CM and idiopathic intracranial hypertensive disorders and suggest a causative role for IIHWOP in migraine progression

Friends and Symptom Dimensions in Patients with Psychosis: A Pooled Analysis

Background Having friends is associated with more favourable clinical outcomes and a higher quality of life in mental disorders. Patients with schizophrenia have fewer friends than other mentally ill patients. No large scale studies have evaluated so far what symptom dimensions of schizophrenia are associated with the lack of friendships. Methods Data from four multi-centre studies on outpatients with schizophrenia and related disorders (ICD F20-29) were included in a pooled analysis (N = 1396). We established whether patients had close friends and contact with friends by using the equivalent items on friendships of the Manchester Short Assessment of Quality of Life or of the Lancashire Quality of Life Profile. Symptoms were measured by the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale or by the identical items included in the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale. Results Seven hundred and sixty-nine patients (55.1%) had seen a friend in the previous week and 917 (65.7%) had someone they regarded as a close friend. Low levels of negative symptoms and hostility were significantly associated with having a close friend and contact with a friend. Overall, almost twice as many patients with absent or mild negative symptoms had met a friend in the last week, compared with those with moderate negative symptoms. Conclusions Higher levels of negative symptoms and hostility are specifically associated with the lack of friendships in patients with psychotic disorders. These findings suggest the importance of developing effective treatments for negative symptoms and hostility in order to improve the probability of patients with schizophrenia to have friends

Polymer physics indicates chromatin folding variability across single-cells results from state degeneracy in phase separation

The spatial organization of chromosomes has key functional roles, yet how chromosomes fold remains poorly understood at the single-molecule level. Here, we employ models of polymer physics to investigate DNA loci in human HCT116 and IMR90 wild-type and cohesin depleted cells. Model predictions on single-molecule structures are validated against single-cell imaging data, providing evidence that chromosomal architecture is controlled by a thermodynamics mechanism of polymer phase separation whereby chromatin self-assembles in segregated globules by combinatorial interactions of chromatin factors that include CTCF and cohesin. The thermodynamics degeneracy of single-molecule conformations results in broad structural and temporal variability of TAD-like contact patterns. Globules establish stable environments where specific contacts are highly favored over stochastic encounters. Cohesin depletion reverses phase separation into randomly folded states, erasing average interaction patterns. Overall, globule phase separation appears to be a robust yet reversible mechanism of chromatin organization where stochasticity and specificity coexist