Survey of the genetic variability of populations of <i>Ruditapes philippinarum</i> from tre Gulf of Olbia (N-E Sardinia) by microsatellites = Indagine sulla variabilità genetica di popolazioni di <i>Ruditapes philippinarum</i> provenienti dal golfo di Olbia (N-E Sardegna)

Genetic variability was investigated at six microsatellite loci of the Manila clam Ruditapes philippinarum (Adams &amp; Reeve, 1850) (Bivalvia) from the Gulf of Olbia (N-E Sardinia) and Sacca di Goro (N Adriatic Sea). We found no significant differentiation among Sardinian samples and between those and the Adriatic one, which suggests the absence of a founder effect in Sardinian population

The production of OH in a nanosecond pulsed helium plasma jet impinging on water, saline, or pigskin

Applications of plasma-induced biological effects via reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) make the non-thermal atmospheric-pressure plasma jets an appealing tool in biomedical fields. The presence of biological materials, especially as part of the electrode circuit, may change the plasma properties and impact on the production of RONS at the plasma-biomaterial interface. Effects of biomaterials on the production of hydroxyl radicals (OH) in a nanosecond pulsed, atmospheric-pressure plasma jet were investigated using a needle-to-plate electrode configuration with water, phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), or pigskin covering the ground plate. Driven by 200 ns, 7 kV pulses at 1 kHz, a helium plasma jet was generated between the hollow needle electrode and the biomaterial. Temporally resolved UV-visible imaging showed that the use of pigskin slowed down the streamer head propagation, whereas a more pronounced surface ionization wave was developed on the surface when water was used. The highest OH(A-X) emission above the biomaterial surface was observed using the PBS-covered electrode plate comparing to water or pigskin. Spatiotemporally resolved laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) showed that more OH was produced in the region near the needle electrode for both water and PBS, and the use of pigskin resulted in least OH production overall. In addition, measurements of H2O2 production in the liquid were used to determine the OH concentration in the vicinity of the biomaterial and agreed well with the relative OH-LIF measurements obtained at the gas-liquid interface for water and PBS

Risorse naturali disponibili in Sardegna per applicazioni ambientali

Nella presente relazione sono stati riportati i risultati di uno studio volto a valutare la possibilità di impiegare alcune risorse naturali localmente reperibili in Sardegna, con particolare riguardo ai materiali zeolitici, per applicazioni industriali innovative. Si è proceduto all'individuazione dei possibili settori applicativi nei quali impiegare particolari zeoliti (clinoptiloliti) disponibili nel territorio della Sardegna. L’attività è stata indirizzata allo studio della capacità di rimozione di diverse zeoliti naturali nella loro forma originaria e in quella convertita a sodio. In tale ambito è stato realizzato un impianto pilota per dimostrare le potenzialità applicative della clinoptilolite su scala industriale

Mechanochemical Treatment of Soils Contaminated by Heavy Metals in Attritor and Impact Mills: Experiments and Modeling

An integrative approach was developed to support the scale-up from lab-into pilot-scale mechano-chemical reactors for immobilize heavy metals in contaminated mining soil

Mitochondrial Function Assessed by 31P MRS and BOLD MRI in Non-Obese Type 2 Diabetic Rats

The study aims to characterize age-associated changes in skeletal muscle bioenergetics by evaluating the response to ischemia-reperfusion in the skeletal muscle of the Goto-Kakizaki (GK) rats, a rat model of non-obese type 2 diabetes (T2D). 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) and blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) MRI was performed on the hindlimb of young (12 weeks) and adult (20 weeks) GK and Wistar (control) rats. 31P-MRS and BOLD-MRI data were acquired continuously during an ischemia and reperfusion protocol to quantify changes in phosphate metabolites and muscle oxygenation. The time constant of phosphocreatine recovery, an index of mitochondrial oxidative capacity, was not statistically different between GK rats (60.8 ± 13.9 sec in young group, 83.7 ± 13.0 sec in adult group) and their age-matched controls (62.4 ± 11.6 sec in young group, 77.5 ± 7.1 sec in adult group). During ischemia, baseline-normalized BOLD-MRI signal was significantly lower in GK rats than in their age-matched controls. These results suggest that insulin resistance leads to alterations in tissue metabolism without impaired mitochondrial oxidative capacity in GK rats. © 2016 The Authors

Relating cardiorespiratory responses to work rate during incremental ramp exercise on treadmill in children and adolescents: sex and age differences

PURPOSE: Evaluation of cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) slopes such as [Formula: see text] (cardiac/skeletal muscle function) and [Formula: see text] (O2 delivery/utilization), using treadmill protocols is limited because the difficulties in measuring the total work rate ([Formula: see text]). To overcome this limitation, we proposed a new method in quantifying [Formula: see text] to determine CPET slopes.METHODS: CPET's were performed by healthy patients, (n=674, 9-18year) 300 female (F) and 374 male (M), using an incremental ramp protocol on a treadmill. For this protocol, a quantitative relationship based on biomechanical principles of human locomotion, was used to quantify the [Formula: see text] of the subject. CPET slopes were determined by linear regression of the data recorded until the gas exchange threshold occurred.RESULTS: The method to estimate [Formula: see text] was substantiated by verifying that: [Formula: see text] for treadmill exercise corresponded to an efficiency of muscular work similar to that of cycle ergometer; [Formula: see text] (mL min-1W-1) was invariant with age and greater in M than F older than 12 years old (13-14years: 9.6±1.5(F) vs. 10.5±1.8(M); 15-16years: 9.7±1.7(F) vs. 10.6±2.2(M); 17-18years: 9.6±1.7(F) vs. 11.0±2.3(M), p&lt;0.05); similar to cycle ergometer exercise, [Formula: see text] was inversely related to body weight (BW) (r=0.71) or [Formula: see text] (r=0.66) and [Formula: see text] was not related to BW (r=- 0.01), but had a weak relationship with [Formula: see text] (r=0.28).CONCLUSION: The proposed approach can be used to estimate [Formula: see text] and quantify CPET slopes derived from incremental ramp protocols at submaximal exercise intensities using the treadmill, like the cycle ergometer, to infer cardiovascular and metabolic function in both healthy and diseased states

Laparoscopy in liver transplantation: The future has arrived

In the last two decades, laparoscopy has revolutionized the field of surgery. Many procedures previously performed with an open access are now routinely carried out with the laparoscopic approach. Several advantages are associated with laparoscopic surgery compared to open procedures: reduced pain due to smaller incisions and hemorrhaging, shorter hospital length of stay, and a lower incidence of wound infections. Liver transplantation (LT) brought a radical change in life expectancy of patients with hepatic endstage disease. Today, LT represents the standard of care for more than fifty hepatic pathologies, with excellent results in terms of survival. Surely, with laparoscopy and LT being one of the most continuously evolving challenges in medicine, their recent combination has represented an astonishing scientific progress. The intent of the present paper is to underline the current role of diagnostic and therapeutic laparoscopy in patients waiting for LT, in the living donor LT and in LT recipients

Compounds with anti-influenza activity: present and future of strategies for the optimal treatment and management of influenza. Part I: influenza life-cycle and currently available drugs

Influenza is a contagious respiratory acute viral disease charac- terized by a short incubation period, high fever and respiratory and systemic symptoms. The burden of influenza is very heavy. Indeed, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that annual epidemics affect 5-15% of the world?s population, causing up to 4-5 million severe cases and from 250,000 to 500,000 deaths. In order to design anti-influenza molecules and compounds, it is important to understand the complex replication cycle of the influenza virus. Replication is achieved through various stages. First, the virus must engage the sialic acid receptors present on the free surface of the cells of the respiratory tract. The virus can then enter the cells by different routes (clathrin-mediated endocytosis or CME, caveolae-dependent endocytosis or CDE, clathrin-caveolae-independent endocytosis, or macropinocyto- sis). CME is the most usual pathway; the virus is internalized into an endosomal compartment, from which it must emerge in order to release its nucleic acid into the cytosol. The ribonucleo- protein must then reach the nucleus in order to begin the pro- cess of translation of its genes and to transcribe and replicate its nucleic acid. Subsequently, the RNA segments, surrounded by the nucleoproteins, must migrate to the cell membrane in order to enable viral assembly. Finally, the virus must be freed to invade other cells of the respiratory tract. All this is achieved through a synchronized action of molecules that perform multi- ple enzymatic and catalytic reactions, currently known only in part, and for which many inhibitory or competitive molecules have been studied. Some of these studies have led to the devel- opment of drugs that have been approved, such as Amantadine, Rimantadine, Oseltamivir, Zanamivir, Peramivir, Laninamivir, Ribavirin and Arbidol. This review focuses on the influenza life- cycle and on the currently available drugs, while potential anti- viral compounds for the prevention and treatment of influenza are considered in the subsequent review

Cyclophilin D Is a Sensor of Nano-Pulse Stimulation

Nano-Pulse Stimulation (NPS), a pulsed power-derived technology, stimulates structural and functional changes in plasma membranes and cellular organelles. NPS induces a Ca2+ influx and opening of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP) that dissipates the mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm) and, when sustained, induces regulated cell death. Here we show that in rat cardiomyoblasts (H9C2) cyclophilin D (CypD) is a mitochondrial sensor for NPS as defined by observations that loss of ΔΨm is Ca2+ and mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (mROS) dependent and cyclosporin A (CsA)-sensitive, which are diagnostic qualities for effects on CypD and the mPTP. Mechanistically, NPS stimulates increases in intracellular Ca2+ which enhances mROS in a dose dependent manner. The regulatory role of CypD on mPTP activation, is effectively inhibited at low Ca2+ concentrations and/or by CsA. Although NPS-induced dissipation of ΔΨm is largely Ca2+-dependent, the degree of Ca2+ sensitivities vary among cell types. Nevertheless, knockdown of the proapoptotic protein, APAF-1, and overexpression of the antiapoptotic protein, Bcl-xl, in human Jurkat T lymphocytes (E6.1) did not affect NPS-induced dissipation of ΔΨm or cell death. Taken together, these results indicate NPS induces activation of the mPTP through Ca2+-dependent, mROS-dependent, CsA-sensitive dissipation of the ΔΨm that is independent of caspase activation and insensitive to protection by Bcl-xl.https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/gradposters2021_gradschool/1001/thumbnail.jp

Compounds with anti-influenza activity: present and future of strategies for the optimal treatment and management of influenza. Part II: Future compounds against influenza virus

In the first part of this overview, we described the life cycle of the influenza virus and the pharmacological action of the currently available drugs. This second part provides an overview of the molecular mechanisms and targets of still-experimental drugs for the treatment and management of influenza.Briefly, we can distinguish between compounds with anti-influenza activity that target influenza virus proteins or genes, and molecules that target host components that are essential for viral replication and propagation. These latter compounds have been developed quite recently. Among the first group, we will focus especially on hemagglutinin, M2 channel and neuraminidase inhibitors. The second group of compounds may pave the way for personalized treatment and influenza management. Combination therapies are also discussed.In recent decades, few antiviral molecules against influenza virus infections have been available; this has conditioned their use during human and animal outbreaks. Indeed, during seasonal and pandemic outbreaks, antiviral drugs have usually been administered in monotherapy and, sometimes, in an uncontrolled manner to farm animals. This has led to the emergence of viral strains displaying resistance, especially to compounds of the amantadane family. For this reason, it is particularly important to develop new antiviral drugs against influenza viruses. Indeed, although vaccination is the most powerful means of mitigating the effects of influenza epidemics, antiviral drugs can be very useful, particularly in delaying the spread of new pandemic viruses, thereby enabling manufacturers to prepare large quantities of pandemic vaccine. In addition, antiviral drugs are particularly valuable in complicated cases of influenza, especially in hospitalized patients.To write this overview, we mined various databases, including Embase, PubChem, DrugBank and Chemical Abstracts Service, and patent repositories