Electro-responsivity in electrolyte-free and solution processed Bragg stacks

Achieving an active manipulation of colours has huge implications in optoelectronics, as colour engineering can be exploited in a number of applications, ranging from display to lightning. In the last decade, the synergy of the highly pure colours of 1D photonic crystals, also known as Bragg stacks, with electro-tunable materials have been proposed as an interesting route to attain such a technologically relevant effect. However, recent works rely on the use of liquid electrolytes, which can pose issues in terms of chemical and environmental stability. Here, we report on the proof-of-concept of an electrolyte free and solution-processed electro-responsive Bragg stack. We integrate an electro-responsive plasmonic metal oxide, namely indium tin oxide, in a 1D photonic crystal structure made of alternating layers of ITO and TiO2 nanoparticles. In such a device, we observed a maximum of 23 nm blue-shift upon the application of an external bias (10 V). Our data suggest that electrochromism can be attained in all-solid state systems by combining a judicious selection of the constituent materials with device architecture optimisation. This journal i

Molecular detection of Cyclospora in water, soil, vegetables and humans in southern Italy signals a need for improved monitoring by health authorities

To date, in Europe, there is scant information on the occurrence of Cyclospora in water from treatment plants and in humans, and no data are available on soil or fresh plant products. Here, we undertook the first molecular survey of Cyclospora in multiple biological matrices collected from the Apulia region of southern Italy. Samples of irrigation water from four municipal treatment plants, eight different types of vegetables or fruit (cucumber, lettuce, fennel, celery, tomato, melon, endive and chicory) and soil from the same farms on which these plants were grown, as well as faecal samples from humans living in the same region were tested by qPCR-coupled single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis and DNA sequencing. Cyclospora was detected in 15.5% of all 213 samples tested. Specifically, this protist was detected in (i) treated water (21.3% of 94 samples), well water (6.2% of 16), but not drinking water (0% of 3); (ii) soil (11.8% of 51 samples) and vegetables (12.2% of 49),with the highest prevalence (18.7%) on fennel; and (iii) human stools (27.5% of 40 samples). In environmental and food samples, Cyclosporawas detectedmainly in autumn and was significantly more prevalent in the faeces from humans of 40–50 years of age. This is the first comprehensive molecular survey of Cyclospora in environmental, food and human faecal samples in Europe. These data suggest that irrigation water, soil and vegetables might be contaminated by Cyclospora cayetanensis, which might represent a source of infection to humans in the study area and calls for monitoring by health authorities

Toxoplasma gondii lineages circulating in slaughtered industrial pigs and potential risk for consumers

Toxoplasma gondii is a cosmopolitan zoonotic protozoan parasite, and the consumption of raw or undercooked pig meat is one of the most important sources of T. gondii infection. Three predominant lineages, types I, II, and III, are widespread in Europe. Although still poorly understood, a relationship between each type and the severity of illness represents a public health issue. To gain further knowledge of the genotypes in circulation and of the potential risk for consumers, one heart sample and one diaphragm sample (206 total) were taken from each of 103 pig carcasses at an abattoir in Italy. Then, we used 529-bp repetitive element PCR and a B1 real-time PCR high-resolution melting assay coupled with sequencing to detect and genotype T. gondii isolates. T. gondii DNA was detected in 14 pigs (13.6%, 95% confidence interval ¼ 7 to 20.2%), and types I (3.9%), II (5.8%), and III (3.9%) were identified. We found that heart tissue had a significantly higher PCR positivity rate for T. gondii than did diaphragm tissue. This is Europe’s largest study on genotyping of T. gondii from pigs, and it demonstrates that all three main lineages are present in carcasses of industrially reared pigs in Italy. There is a potential risk to consumers of infection with any or all of the three lineages, and the related clinical consequences should be taken into account. This study suggests that monitoring of T. gondii types in meat is essential, especially in meat that is traditionally eaten raw or that is minimally processed

Tamm Plasmon Resonance as Optical Fingerprint of Silver/Bacteria Interaction

The incorporation of responsive elements into photonic crystals is an effective strategy for fabricating active optical components to be used as sensors, actuators, and modulators. In particular, the combination of simple multilayered dielectric mirrors with optically responsive plasmonic materials has proven to be successful. Recently, Tamm plasmon (TP) modes have emerged as powerful tools for these purposes. These modes arise at the interface between a distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) and a plasmonic layer and can be excited at a normal incidence angle. Although the TP field is located usually at the DBR/metal interface, recent studies have demonstrated that nanoscale corrugation of the metal layer permits access to the TP mode from outside, thus opening exciting perspectives for many real-life applications. In this study, we show that the TP resonance obtained by capping a DBR with a nanostructured layer of silver is responsive to Escherichia coli. Our data indicate that the modification of the TP mode originates from the well-known capability of silver to interact with bacteria, within a process in which the release of Ag+ ions leaves an excess of negative charge in the metal lattice. Finally, we exploited this effect to devise a case study in which we optically differentiated between the presence of proliferative and nonproliferative bacteria using the TP resonance as a read-out. These findings make these devices promising all-optical probes for bacterial metabolic activity, including their response to external stressors

Deregulated expression of the imprinted DLK1-DIO3 region in glioblastoma stemlike cells: Tumor suppressor role of lncRNA MEG3

Background: Glioblastoma (GBM) stemlike cells (GSCs) are thought to be responsible for the maintenance and aggressiveness of GBM, the most common primary brain tumor in adults. This study aims at elucidating the involvement of deregulations within the imprinted delta-like homolog 1 gene type III iodothyronine deiodinase gene (DLK-DIO3) region on chromosome 14q32 in GBM pathogenesis. Methods: Real-time PCR analyses were performed on GSCs and GBM tissues. Methylation analyses, gene expression, and reverse-phase protein array profiles were used to investigate the tumor suppressor function of the maternally expressed 3 gene (MEG3). Results: Loss of expression of genes and noncoding RNAs within the DLK1-DIO3 region was observed in GSCs and GBM tissues compared with normal brain. This downregulation is mainly mediated by epigenetic silencing. Kaplan-Meier analysis indicated that low expression of MEG3 and MEG8 long noncoding (lnc)RNAs significantly correlated with short survival in GBM patients. MEG3 restoration impairs tumorigenic abilities of GSCs in vitro by inhibiting cell growth, migration, and colony formation and decreases in vivo tumor growth, reducing infiltrative growth. These effects were associated with modulation of genes involved in cell adhesion and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Conclusion: In GBM, MEG3 acts as a tumor suppressor mainly regulating cell adhesion, EMT, and cell proliferation, thus providing a potential candidate for novel GBM therapies

Real-world data: come possono aiutare a migliorare la qualità dell’assistenza

The current COVID pandemic crisis made it even clearer that the solutions to several questions that public health must face require the access to good quality data. Several issues of the value and potential of health data and the current critical issues that hinder access are discussed in this paper. In particular, the paper (i) focuses on “real-world data” definition; (ii) proposes a review of the real-world data availability in our country; (iii) discusses its potential, with particular focus on the possibility of improving knowledge on the quality of care provided by the health system; (iv) emphasizes that the availability of data alone is not sufficient to increase our knowledge, underlining the need that innovative analysis methods (e.g., artificial intelligence techniques) must be framed in the paradigm of clinical research; and (v) addresses some ethical issues related to their use. The proposal is to realize an alliance between organizations interested in promoting research aimed at collecting scientifically solid evidence to support the clinical governance of public healt

Evaluating the contribution of the gene TARDBP in Italian patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Background and objectives: Genetic variants in the gene TARDBP, encoding TDP-43 protein, are associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in familial (fALS) and sporadic (sALS) cases. Objectives of this study were to assess the contribution of TARDBP in a large cohort of Italian ALS patients, to determine the TARDBP-associated clinical features and to look for genotype-phenotype correlation and penetrance of the mutations.Methods: A total of 1992 Italian ALS patients (193 fALS and 1799 sALS) were enrolled in this study. Sanger sequencing of TARDBP gene was performed in patients and, when available, in patients' relatives.Results: In total, 13 different rare variants were identified in 43 index cases (10 fALS and 33 sALS) with a cumulative mutational frequency of 2.2% (5.2% of fALS, 1.8% of sALS). The most prevalent variant was the p.A382T followed by the p.G294V. Cognitive impairment was detected in almost 30% of patients. While some variants, including the p.G294V and the p.G376D, were associated with restricted phenotypes, the p.A382T showed a marked clinical heterogeneity regarding age of onset, survival and association with cognitive impairment. Investigations in parents, when possible, showed that the variants were inherited from healthy carriers and never occurred de novo.Conclusions: In our cohort, TARDBP variants have a relevant frequency in Italian ALS patients and they are significantly associated with cognitive impairment. Clinical presentation is heterogeneous. Consistent genotype-phenotype correlations are limited to some mutations. A marked phenotypic variability characterizes the p.A382T variant, suggesting a multifactorial/oligogenic pathogenic mechanism

Real-time gastric juice analysis with EndoFaster for H. pylori diagnosis: A large, multicentre study

Background Helicobacter pylori infection is the main cause of the most frequent gastroduodenal diseases. Because its prevalence is decreasing in developed countries, gastric biopsies are negative in several patients. By measuring ammonium in the gastric juice, EndoFaster allows to exclude H. pylori infection during endoscopy. This study aimed to assess the accuracy of device versions working with either 6 ml or 3 ml of gastric juice. Study design This prospective study involved 12 endoscopic units. During endoscopy, EndoFaster testing was performed and standard five gastric biopsies were taken. The accuracy was calculated by considering histological assessment as the gold standard for H. pylori diagnosis. Results Gastric juice analysis was attempted in 1279 patients, but it failed in 131 (15.5%) and in 10 (2.3%), with the 6 ml and the 3 ml device, respectively (P < 0.001). Overall, EndoFaster detected H. pylori infection with an 86.3% sensitivity, 83.3% specificity, 52.7% positive predictive value, 96.6% negative predictive value and 83.8% accuracy. The performance was not affected either by ongoing proton pump inhibitor therapy or a previous H. pylori eradication. No significant difference in accuracy emerged between the two versions of the device. Conclusion The novel version of the EndoFaster device operating with 3 ml gastric juice may be performed in virtually all patients, and it allows excluding H. pylori infection with a very high accuracy. Gastric biopsies can be avoided in a definite portion of cases without endoscopic lesions or other clinical indications