Is there an interplay between adherence to mediterranean diet, antioxidant status, and vascular disease in atrial fibrillation patients?

Mediterranean Diet (Med-Diet) is associated with reduced incidence of vascular events (VEs) in atrial fibrillation (AF), but the mechanism accounting for its beneficial effect is only partially known. We hypothesized that Med-Diet may reduce VEs by improving antioxidant status, as assessed by glutathione peroxidase 3 (GPx3) and superoxide dismutase (SOD). We performed a prospective cohort study investigating the relationship between adherence to Med-Diet, serum baseline GPx3 and SOD activities, and the occurrence of VEs in 690 AF patients. GPx3 activity was directly associated with Med-Diet score (B = 0.192, p < 0.001) and inversely with age (B = −0.124, p = 0.001), after adjustment for potential confounders; Med-Diet weakly affected SOD levels. During a mean follow-up of 46.1 ± 28.2 months, 89 VEs were recorded; patients with VEs had lower GPx3 levels compared with those without VEs (p = 0.002); and no differences regarding SOD activity were found. Multivariable Cox regression analysis showed that age (Hazard ratio [HR]:1.065, p < 0.001), logGPx3 (above median, HR: 0.629, p < 0.05), and Med-Diet score (HR: 0.547, p < 0.05) predicted VEs. Med-Diet favorably modulates antioxidant activity of GPx3 in AF, resulting in reduced VEs rate. We hypothesize that the modulation of GPx3 levels by Med-Diet could represent an additional nutritional strategy to prevent VEs in AF patients

Is there an interplay between adherence to mediterranean diet, antioxidant status, and vascular disease in atrial fibrillation patients?

Mediterranean Diet (Med-Diet) is associated with reduced incidence of vascular events (VEs) in atrial fibrillation (AF), but the mechanism accounting for its beneficial effect is only partially known. We hypothesized that Med-Diet may reduce VEs by improving antioxidant status, as assessed by glutathione peroxidase 3 (GPx3) and superoxide dismutase (SOD). We performed a prospective cohort study investigating the relationship between adherence to Med-Diet, serum baseline GPx3 and SOD activities, and the occurrence of VEs in 690 AF patients. GPx3 activity was directly associated with Med-Diet score (B = 0.192, p < 0.001) and inversely with age (B = −0.124, p = 0.001), after adjustment for potential confounders; Med-Diet weakly affected SOD levels. During a mean follow-up of 46.1 ± 28.2 months, 89 VEs were recorded; patients with VEs had lower GPx3 levels compared with those without VEs (p = 0.002); and no differences regarding SOD activity were found. Multivariable Cox regression analysis showed that age (Hazard ratio [HR]:1.065, p < 0.001), logGPx3 (above median, HR: 0.629, p < 0.05), and Med-Diet score (HR: 0.547, p < 0.05) predicted VEs. Med-Diet favorably modulates antioxidant activity of GPx3 in AF, resulting in reduced VEs rate. We hypothesize that the modulation of GPx3 levels by Med-Diet could represent an additional nutritional strategy to prevent VEs in AF patients

Cost per care of the first year of direct antiviral agents in the liguria region: A multicenter analysis

Aims: Despite the remarkable efficacy shown in clinical practice, concerns have been raised about the costs associated with direct antiviral agent (DAA) therapy. This article presents the real-life costs for DAA treatment sustained by the Italian National Health Service in the Liguria Region (Northern Italy). Methods: A retrospective analysis of the cost per care sustained for DAA treatment, relating to the period from January 1 to December 31, 2015 in five centers in Liguria was performed. All patients undergoing DAA-based treatments for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection were enrolled. On-treatment costs included: HCV treatment, laboratory test, outpatient services, attended visits, drugs used for the management of adverse events (erythropoietin, albumin or red blood cell packs) and inpatient service admissions. Results: In total, 327 patients were enrolled. No difference in terms of sustained virologic response (SVR) rate among different treatments was reported. The majority (85.0%) of patients did not report any side effects and only 15 (4.6%) required hospital admission. Forty-two patients (12.8%) required high-cost drugs for the management of adverse events. The overall cost sustained was \u20ac14,744,433. DAA\ub1ribavirin (RBV) accounted for the wide majority of this cost (98.9%; \u20ac14,585,123). Genotype (GT) 1, the most commonly treated GT, was associated with an average cost of \u20ac43,445 per patient. Detailed analysis of the costs for GT 1 showed the treatment based on ritonavir boosted paritaprevir/ombitasvir + dasabuvir\ub1RBV with an average cost of \u20ac24,978 (RBV+) and \u20ac25,448 (RBV 12) per patient was the most cost-effective. The average cost per SVR was \u20ac48,184. Once again, the ritonavir boosted paritaprevir/ ombitasvir + dasabuvir regimen was associated with the lowest cost/SVR (\u20ac25,448/SVR [GT 1b] and similar results for other GTs). Conclusion: Antiviral regimen is the major contributor to costs in the treatment of HCV infection. Appropriate regimen selection could result in a major cost saving, which can be reinvested to allow more patients to be treated

Allylic Carbocyclic Inhibitors Covalently Bind Glycoside Hydrolases

Allylic cyclitols were investigated as covalent inhibitors of glycoside hydrolases by chemical, enzymatic, proteomic, and computational methods. This approach was inspired by the C$_{7}$ cyclitol natural product streptol glucoside, which features a potential carbohydrate leaving group in the 4-position (carbohydrate numbering). To test this hypothesis, carbocyclic inhibitors with leaving groups in the 4- and 6- positions were prepared. The results of enzyme kinetics analyses demonstrated that dinitrophenyl ethers covalently inhibit α-glucosidases of the GH13 family without reactivation. The labeled enzyme was studied by proteomics, and the active site residue Asp214 was identified as modified. Additionally, computational studies, including enzyme homology modeling and density functional theory (DFT) calculations, further delineate the electronic and structural requirements for activity. This study demonstrates that previously unexplored 4- and 6-positions can be exploited for successful inhibitor design

Echocardiographic Normal Reference Ranges for Non-invasive Myocardial Work Parameters in Pediatric Age: Results From an International Multi-Center Study

This international multi-center study aimed to demonstrate the feasibility and reliability of non-invasive myocardial work (MW) parameters in the pediatric population, and to provide normal reference ranges for this useful echocardiographic tool in this specific subset of patients

The Lantern, 2021-2022

No More Buses through El Paso • A Woman\u27s World • The Angel of Tragedy • A Victim of Circumstance • Ace of Hearts • Ghost Light • Missing Diamonds • The Upside-Down House: A Dialogue with the Self • What is Chronic Pain? • A Sunny Day in Sinkhole • Extra Marshmallows • Fourth Wall Broken • Hemlock • In the Comfort of Others • Lasting Impressions • Let\u27s Do the Time Warp Again • One Last Afternoon • Space Invaders • The Dogwood Tree • An Ode to Poppies • Charlotte\u27s Web • Crab • Crossing • Dandelions • Dandelion Sandwich • Grizzly Hood • Help Wanted • I Gave Way • I\u27m not who you wanted but maybe one day I can be • Kneeling • Lemon Cookies • Lies • Method Acting • Moment of Tranquility • Our Home • Overthinking • Sea Glass • Seasonal • Thirty-Two (No Spares) • The Autumn Beast • The Miller\u27s Daughter • Theodore • To the Earring I Left Behind in Your Carpet • Virginia • Waltzing • Yellow House • 1/25 British Monarch • Cracked • In the Shadows • Jewelwing • Life on the Wing • O\u27 Captain my Captain • Stars Above the Bay • The Common Fall • Tom • Cats + Crowshttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/lantern/1190/thumbnail.jp

Colonial refractions: the 'Gypsy camp' as a spatio-racial political technology

Camps for civilians first appeared in the colonies. Largely drawing on the literature on colonialism and race, this article conceptualizes the 'Gypsy camp' in Western European cities as a spatio-racial political technology. We first discuss the shift, starting with decolonization, from colonial to metropolitan technologies of the governance of social heterogeneity. We then relate this broad historical framing to the ideas and ideologies that since the 1960s have been underpinning the planning and governance of the ‘Gypsy camp' in both the UK and Italy. We document the 1970s emergence of a new and distinctive type of camp that was predicated upon a racially connoted tension between policies criminalizing sedentarization and ideologies of cultural protection. Given that the imposition of the ‘Gypsy camp' was essentially uncontested, we argue that the conditions of possibility for it to emerge and become institutionalized were both a spatio-racial similarity with typically colonial technologies of governance, and the fact that it was largely perceived as a self-evident necessity for the governance and control of one specific population. We conclude by calling for more analyses on this and other forms of urban confinement in both the Global North and South, in order to account for the increasingly disquieting mushrooming of confining and controlling governance devices, practices and ideologies

Modern meat: the next generation of meat from cells

Modern Meat is the first textbook on cultivated meat, with contributions from over 100 experts within the cultivated meat community. The Sections of Modern Meat comprise 5 broad categories of cultivated meat: Context, Impact, Science, Society, and World. The 19 chapters of Modern Meat, spread across these 5 sections, provide detailed entries on cultivated meat. They extensively tour a range of topics including the impact of cultivated meat on humans and animals, the bioprocess of cultivated meat production, how cultivated meat may become a food option in Space and on Mars, and how cultivated meat may impact the economy, culture, and tradition of Asia

SIAMOC position paper on gait analysis in clinical practice: General requirements, methods and appropriateness. Results of an Italian consensus conference

Gait analysis is recognized as a useful assessment tool in the field of human movement research. However, doubts remain on its real effectiveness as a clinical tool, i.e. on its capability to change the diagnostic-therapeutic practice. In particular, the conditions in which evidence of a favorable cost-benefit ratio is found and the methodology for properly conducting and interpreting the exam are not identified clearly. To provide guidelines for the use of Gait Analysis in the context of rehabilitation medicine, SIAMOC (the Italian Society of Clinical Movement Analysis) promoted a National Consensus Conference which was held in Bologna on September 14th, 2013. The resulting recommendations were the result of a three-stage process entailing i) the preparation of working documents on specific open issues, ii) the holding of the consensus meeting, and iii) the drafting of consensus statements by an external Jury. The statements were formulated based on scientific evidence or experts' opinion, when the quality/quantity of the relevant literature was deemed insufficient. The aim of this work is to disseminate the consensus statements. These are divided into 13 questions grouped in three areas of interest: 1) General requirements and management, 2) Methodological and instrumental issues, and 3) Scientific evidence and clinical appropriateness. SIAMOC hopes that this document will contribute to improve clinical practice and help promoting further research in the field

Analysis of shared common genetic risk between amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and epilepsy

Because hyper-excitability has been shown to be a shared pathophysiological mechanism, we used the latest and largest genome-wide studies in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (n = 36,052) and epilepsy (n = 38,349) to determine genetic overlap between these conditions. First, we showed no significant genetic correlation, also when binned on minor allele frequency. Second, we confirmed the absence of polygenic overlap using genomic risk score analysis. Finally, we did not identify pleiotropic variants in meta-analyses of the 2 diseases. Our findings indicate that amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and epilepsy do not share common genetic risk, showing that hyper-excitability in both disorders has distinct origins