Human leukocyte antigen (Hla) haplotype does not influence the inflammatory pattern of duodenal lymphocytosis linked to irritable bowel syndrome

Background and objectives: Duodenal lymphocytosis (DL) is a condition characterized by enhanced infiltration of intraepithelial lymphocytes (IELs) in the duodenal mucosa, and it can be linked to both gluten-and non-gluten-related diseases, such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Materials and methods: We retrospectively selected patients with DL linked to IBS. Formalin-embedded biopsy samples of the duodenum were collected. CD3 lymphocyte immunohistochemistry was used for IELs. The real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to quantify the amount of mRNA coding for tissue transglutaminase 2 (tTG2), interferon-gamma (IFNγ), toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2), and myeloid differentiation primary response 88 (MyD88). All subjects underwent DQ2-8 haplotype analysis. Controls were represented by subjects with IBS without DL. Results: Thirty-two patients with IBS-DL were retrospectively recruited. Fourteen subjects (43.8%) had a DQ2-8 haplotype. DQ2-8 positive subjects had similar levels compared to negative ones for tTG2, IFNγ, TLR2, and MyD88. Cigarette smoke did not influence molecular expression in our study. Smokers had a statistically higher IELs count than non-smokers (54.2 ± 7.7 vs. 36.0 ± 8.8, p < 0.001). A significant, direct correlation between IELs and duodenal expression of IFNγ was found (r = 0.36, p = 0.04). Conclusions: IBS with DL showed higher expression of inflammatory markers than controls, but DQ2-8 haplotype did not seem to affect their expression. Smoking might increase IELs infiltration

Chronic viral hepatitis in a cohort of inflammatory bowel disease patients from southern Italy: A case-control study

We performed an epidemiologic study to assess the prevalence of chronic viral hepatitis in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and to detect their possible relationships. Methods: It was a single centre cohort cross-sectional study, during October 2016 and October 2017. Consecutive IBD adult patients and a control group of non-IBD subjects were recruited. All patients underwent laboratory investigations to detect chronic hepatitis B (HBV) and C (HCV) infection. Parameters of liver function, elastography and IBD features were collected. Univariate analysis was performed by Student’s t or chi-square test. Multivariate analysis was performed by binomial logistic regression and odds ratios (ORs) were calculated. We enrolled 807 IBD patients and 189 controls. Thirty-five (4.3%) had chronic viral hepatitis: 28 HCV (3.4%, versus 5.3% in controls, p = 0.24) and 7 HBV (0.9% versus 0.5% in controls, p = 0.64). More men were observed in the IBD-hepatitis group (71.2% versus 58.2%, p < 0.001). Patients with IBD and chronic viral hepatitis had a higher mean age and showed a higher frequency of diabetes, hypertension and wider waist circumference. They suffered more frequently from ulcerative colitis. Liver stiffness was greater in subjects with IBD and chronic viral hepatitis (7.0 ± 4.4 versus 5.0 ± 1.2 KPa; p < 0.001). At multivariate analysis, only old age directly correlated with viral hepatitis risk (OR = 1.05, 95%CI 1.02-1.08, p < 0.001). In conclusion, the prevalence of HBV/HCV in IBD is low in our region. Age may be the only independent factor of viral hepatitis-IBD association. Finally, this study firstly measured liver stiffness in a large scale, showing higher values in subjects with both diseases

A multisource approach for coastline mapping and identification of shoreline changes

Coastal dynamics are driven by phenomena of exogenous and endogenous nature. Characterizing factors that influence their equilibrium and continuous monitoring are fundamental for effective environmental planning and management of coastal areas. In order to monitor shoreline changes, we developed a methodology based on a multisource and multitemporal approach. A database, related to the Ionian coast of Basilicata region (about 50 km), was implemented by using cartographic data (IGMI data), satellite imagery (SPOT-PX/XS, Landsat-TM, Corona) and aerial data covering the period form 1949 to 2001. In particular, airborne data (1 m spatial resolution) were acquired during a specific campaign we performed in 2000 and 2001. To obtain the best performance from the available data, we applied a data fusion procedure on visible and thermal information. Different algorithms were tested, such as band ratios and clustering for extracting the coastline. The best results from multispectral data were obtained using a threshold algorithm we devised by exploiting the green, red and NIR bands, whereas for panchromatic data we selected clustering as the more suitable method. Moreover, a GPS survey was performed to evaluate the influence of tidal effects

Recovery of burrowing behavior after spinal cord injury in the larval sea lamprey

© The Author(s), 2020. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Katz, H. R., Fouke, K. E., Losurdo, N. A., & Morgan, J. R. Recovery of burrowing behavior after spinal cord injury in the larval sea lamprey. Biological Bulletin, 239(3), (2020): 174-182, doi:10.1086/711365.Following traumatic spinal cord injury, most mammalian species are unable to achieve substantial neuronal regeneration and often experience loss of locomotor function. In contrast, larval sea lampreys (Petromyzon marinus) spontaneously recover normal swimming behaviors by 10–12 weeks post-injury, which is supported by robust regeneration of spinal axons. While recovery of swimming behavior is well established, the lamprey’s ability to recover more complex behaviors, such as burrowing, is unknown. Here we evaluated the lamprey’s ability to burrow into a sand substrate over the typical time course of functional recovery (1–11 weeks post-injury). Compared to uninjured control lampreys, which burrow rapidly and completely, spinal-transected animals did not attempt burrowing until 2 weeks post-injury; and they often did not succeed in fully covering their entire body in the sand. Burrowing behavior gradually improved over post-injury time, with most animals burrowing partially or completely by 9–11 weeks post-injury. Burrowing behavior has two components: the initial component that resembles swimming with propagated body undulations and the final component that pulls the tail under the sand. While the duration of the initial component did not differ between control and spinal-transected animals across the entire recovery period, the duration of the final component in spinal-transected animals was significantly longer at all time points measured. These data indicate that, after spinal cord injury, lampreys are able to recover burrowing behaviors, though some deficits persist.We thank Eduardo Guadarrama for performing lamprey transection surgeries and Dr. Eric D. Tytell (Tufts University) for valuable discussion and feedback, as well the Marine Biological Laboratory for providing funding support. NAL was funded in part by a National Science Foundation-sponsored Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program at the Marine Biological Laboratory: “Biological Discovery in Woods Hole” (grant 1659604; PIs: A. Mensinger, V. Martinez Acosta)

Erbium-doped silicon nanocrystals grown by r.f. sputtering method: competition between oxygen and silicon to get erbium

Erbium doped micro- and nanocrystalline silicon thin films have been deposited by co-sputtering of Er and Si. Films with different crystallinity, crystallite size, hydrogen and oxygen content have been obtained in order to investigate the effect of the microstructure and composition of matrix on the near IR range at 1.54 µm Er-related photoluminescence (PL) properties. The correlation between the optical properties and microstructural parameters of the films is investigated using spectroscopic ellipsometry. It is found that the luminescent properties of these composite films can be understood on the basis of the ellipsometric analysis that reveals the films heterogeneous structure, and that Er-related PL dominates in films with 1-3 nm sized Si nanocrystals embedded in a-Si:H.INTAS Project #03-51-6486Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia Project POCTI/CTM/39395/200

May antitransglutaminase levels predict severity of duodenal lesions in adults with celiac disease?

Background and Objective: Pediatric guidelines on celiac disease (CD) state that children with anti‐transglutaminase antibodies (TGAs) >×10 upper limit of normal (ULN) may avoid endos-copy and biopsy. We aimed to evaluate whether these criteria may be suitable for villous atrophy diagnosis in CD adults. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively enrolled patients with CD aged >18 years. TGAs were expressed as xULN. Duodenal lesions were classified as atrophic or non-atrophic according to Marsh‐Oberhuber. Fisher’s exact and t‐test were used for variables compari-son. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve analysis was performed with estimation of area under the curve (AUC), sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive value (PPV/NPV). Results: One hundred and twenty‐one patients were recruited. Sixty patients (49.6%) had TGA >×10 ULN, and 93 (76.8%) had villous atrophy. The cut‐off of >×10 ULN had sensitivity = 53.7%, specificity = 64.3%, PPV = 83.3%, and NPV = 29.5% to predict atrophy. Therefore, considering pediatric criteria, in 50 (41.3%) patients, biopsy could have been avoided. Patient subgroup with atrophy had higher TGA levels despite being not significant (37.2 ± 15.3 vs. 8.0 ± 1.3 ULN, p = 0.06). In adults, a slightly better diagnostic performance was obtained using a cut‐off of TGA >×6.2 ULN (sensitivity = 57.1%, specificity = 65.6%, and AUC = 0.62). Conclusions: Despite our confirmation that villous atrophy is linked to high TGA levels, CD and atrophy diagnosis based only on serology is not reliable in adults

Estrogen receptors in colorectal cancer: Facts, novelties and perspectives

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second cause of cancer-related death in both sexes worldwide. As pre-menopausal women are less likely to develop CRC compared to age-matched men, a protective role for estrogens has been hypothesized. Indeed, two isoforms of nuclear estrogen receptors (ER) have been described: ERα and ERβ. While the binding of 17beta-estradiol to ERα activates anti-apoptotic pathways, the interaction with ERβ activates caspase-3, inducing apoptosis. In this regard, several pieces of evidence show that ERβ tends to be under-regulated in advanced adenomas and CRC, with an opposite trend for ERα. Furthermore, ERβ stimulation slows adenomatous polyp growth and modulates relevant CRC pathways. Based on such considerations, dietary modulation of ER is promising, particularly in subjects with genetic predisposition for CRC. Nevertheless, the main limitation is the lack of clinical trials on a large population scale

Hydradenitis suppurativa and inflammatory bowel disease: An unusual, but existing association

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) could be associated with several extra-intestinal manifestations (EIMs) involving musculoskeletal, hepatopancreatobiliary, ocular, renal, and pulmonary systems, as well as the skin. In the last years, hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is acquiring an increasing interest. IBD, especially Crohn's disease (CD), is among the most reported associated diseases in HS patients. The aim of this paper is to give a brief overview of data showing a possible epidemiologic and pathogenetic association between IBD and HS. We performed a pooled-data analysis of four studies and pooled prevalence of HS in IBD patients was 12.8%, with a 95%CI of 11.7%-13.9%. HS was present in 17.3% of subjects with CD (95%CI: 15.5%-19.1%) and in 8.5% of UC patients (95%CI: 7.0%-9.9%). Some items, especially altered immune imbalance, are generally involved in IBD pathogenesis as well as invoked by HS. Smoking is one of the most relevant risk factors for both disorders, representing a predictor of their severity, despite, actually, there being a lack of studies analyzing a possible shared pathway. A role for inheritance in HS and CD pathogenesis has been supposed. Despite a genetic susceptibility having been demonstrated for both diseases, further studies are needed to investigate a genetic mutual route. Although the pathogenesis of IBD and HS is generally linked to alterations of the immune response, recent findings suggest a role for intestinal and skin microbiota, respectively. In detail, the frequent finding of Staphylococcus aureus and coagulase-negative staphylococci on HS cutaneous lesions suggests

Photoluminescence of nc-Si:Er thin films obtained by physical and chemical vapour deposition techniques: The effects os microstructure and chemical composition

Erbium doped nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si:Er) thin films were produced by reactive magnetron rf sputtering and by Er ion implantation into chemical vapor deposited Si films. The structure and chemical composition of films obtained by the two approaches were studied by micro-Raman scattering, spectroscopic ellipsometry and Rutherford backscattering techniques. Variation of deposition parameters was used to deposit films with different crystalline fraction and crystallite size. Photoluminescence measurements revealed a correlation between film microstructure and the Er3+ photoluminescence efficiency.FCT Project POCTI/CTM/39395/2001INTAS Project #03-51-648