Eating disorders and personality correlates in men: A validity study of the Eating Disorder Assessment for Men (EDAM) in the Italian language

Personality and eating disorders are associated in women, less is known however about how they are associated in men. The present study aimed at validating the Eating Disorder Assessment for Men (EDAM, Stanford & Lemberg, 2012) in the Italian language and exploring its correlates with personality variables. A non-clinical sample of Italian men (MAge = 39.0) provided self-ratings along EDAM and the HEXACO-PI and SD3 personality questionnaires. Principal component analysis of EDAM items suggested 5 contentcoherent dimensions: Vigorexia, Compensatory strategies, Body satisfaction, Overeating, and Drive for thinness. They did not fully replicate the expected structure. Regression analysis showed distinctive personality-EDAM domain associations, with Vigorexia positively correlating with SD3 Machiavellism, Compensatory strategies being positively associated with SD3 Narcisism, lower Control over eating with lower HEXACO-PI Conscientiousness, and higher Drive for thinness with lower Extraversion. Results are discussed in relation to gender differences in eatin

Effects of a probiotic suspension Symprove™ on a rat early-stage Parkinson’s disease model

An increasing number of studies in recent years have focused on the role that the gut may play in Parkinson’s Disease (PD) pathogenesis, suggesting that the maintenance of a healthy gut may lead to potential treatments of the disease. The health of microbiota has been shown to be directly associated with parameters that play a potential role in PD including gut barrier integrity, immunity, function, metabolism and the correct functioning of the gut-brain axis. The gut microbiota (GM) may therefore be employed as valuable indicators for early diagnosis of PD and potential targets for preventing or treating PD symptoms. Preserving the gut homeostasis using probiotics may therefore lead to a promising treatment strategy due to their known benefits in improving constipation, motor impairments, inflammation, and neurodegeneration. However, the mechanisms underlying the effects of probiotics in PD are yet to be clarified. In this project, we have tested the efficacy of an oral probiotic suspension, Symprove™, on an established animal model of PD. Symprove™, unlike many commercially available probiotics, has been shown to be resistant to gastric acidity, improve symptoms in gastrointestinal diseases and improve gut integrity in an in vitro PD model. In this study, we used an early-stage PD rat model to determine the effect of Symprove™ on neurodegeneration and neuroinflammation in the brain and on plasma cytokine levels, GM composition and short chain fatty acid (SCFA) release. Symprove™ was shown to significantly influence both the gut and brain of the PD model. It preserved the gut integrity in the PD model, reduced plasma inflammatory markers and changed microbiota composition. The treatment also prevented the reduction in SCFAs and striatal inflammation and prevented tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-positive cell loss by 17% compared to that observed in animals treated with placebo. We conclude that Symprove™ treatment may have a positive influence on the symptomology of early-stage PD with obvious implications for the improvement of gut integrity and possibly delaying/preventing the onset of neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration in human PD patients

Anatomical-radiological study of the plantar fascia and its correlation with Achilles tendon pathologies

Although the plantar fascia (PF) has been studied quite well from a biomechanical viewpoint [1], nothing is known about its content of elastic fibers, the features of the extracellular matrix or the extent of innervation. From a functional and clinical standpoint, the PF is often correlated with the triceps surae muscle, but the anatomical grounds for this link are not clear. Twelve feet from frozen human cadavers were dissected to isolate the PF. Specimens from each PF were tested with various histological and immunohistochemical stains. 52 MRI obtained in patients complaining of non-specific ankle or foot pain were analyzed. The thickness of PF and paratenon was assessed and statistical analyses were conducted. The PF is a tissue firmly joined to plantar muscles and is closely connected to the paratenon of Achilles tendon through the periosteum of the heel. The PF was rich in hyaluronan, probably produced by fibroblastic-like cells described as “fasciacytes” [2]. Nerve endings and Pacini and Ruffini corpuscles were present, particularly in the medial and lateral portions, and on the surface of the muscles, suggesting a role for the PF in the proprioception of foot. In the radiological study, 27 of the 52 MRI showed signs of Achilles tendon inflammation and/or degeneration, and the PF was 3.43 ± 0.48 mm thick, as opposed to 2.09 ± 0.24 mm in the cases in which the MRI revealed no Achilles tendon diseases (p<0.001). In the group of 27/52 cases with tendinopathies, the PF was more than 4.5 mm thick in 5, i.e. they exceeded the threshold for a diagnosis of plantar fasciitis. None of the other 25/52 cases had a PF more than 4 mm thick. There was a statistically significant correlation between the thicknesses of the PF and the paratenon. These findings suggests that the plantar fascia has a role not only in supporting the longitudinal arch of the foot, but also in its proprioception and peripheral motor coordination. Its relationship with the paratenon of the Achilles tendon is consistent with the idea of triceps surae structures being involved in the PF pathology, so their rehabilitation can be considered appropriate. Finally, the high concentration of hyaluronan in the PF points to the feasibility of using hyaluronan injections in the fascia to treat plantar fasciitis

Pharmacological and molecular docking assessment of cryptotanshinone as natural-derived analgesic compound

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Experimental tests of hidden variable theories from dBB to Stochastic Electrodynamics

In this paper we present some of our experimental results on testing hidden variable theories, which range from Bell inequalities measurements to a conclusive test of stochastic electrodynamics

Correction to: Effects of immune suppression for transplantation on inflammatory colorectal cancer progression (Oncogenesis, (2018), 7, 6, (46), 10.1038/s41389-018-0055-5)

At the time of publication, the html version of this paper contained an error; the authors Imerio Angriman and Lucrezia Furian were not tagged as equally contributing authors. This has now been fixed in the html version of the paper, the PDF was correct at the time of publication. Erratum for Effects of immune suppression for transplantation on inflammatory colorectal cancer progression. [Oncogenesis. 2018

Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 Engages Toll Like Receptor 2 to Recruit Macrophages During Infection of Enteric Neurons

Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) is a widespread neurotropic pathogen responsible for a range of clinical manifestations. Inflammatory cell infiltrate is a common feature of HSV-1 infections and has been implicated in neurodegeneration. Therefore, viral recognition by innate immune receptors (i.e., TLR2) and the subsequent inflammatory response are now deemed key players in HSV-1 pathogenesis. In this study we infected with HSV-1 the enteric nervous system (ENS) of wild-type (WT) and TLR2 knock-out (TLR2ko) mice to investigate whether and how TLR2 participates in HSV-1 induced neuromuscular dysfunction. Our findings demonstrated viral specific transcripts suggestive of abortive replication in the ENS of both WT and TLR2ko mice. Moreover, HSV-1 triggered TLR2-MyD88 depend signaling in myenteric neurons and induced structural and functional alterations of the ENS. Gastrointestinal dysmotility was, however, less pronounced in TLR2ko as compared with WT mice. Interesting, HSV-1 caused up-regulation of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (CCL2) and recruitment of CD11b+ macrophages in the myenteric ganglia of WT but not TLR2ko mice. At the opposite, the myenteric plexuses of TLR2ko mice were surrounded by a dense infiltration of HSV-1 reactive CD3+CD8+INFγ+ lymphocytes. Indeed, depletion CD3+CD8+ cells by means of administration of anti-CD8 monoclonal antibody reduced neuromuscular dysfunction in TLR2ko mice infected with HSV-1. During HSV-1 infection, the engagement of TLR2 mediates production of CCL2 in infected neurons and coordinates macrophage recruitment. Bearing in mind these observations, blockage of TLR2 signaling could provide novel therapeutic strategies to support protective and specific T-cell responses and to improve neuromuscular dysfunction in pathogen-mediated alterations of the ENS

Muscle spindles of the rat sternomastoid muscle

The sternomastoid (SM) muscle in rodents presents a peculiar distribution of fiber types with a steep gradient from the ventral, superficial, white portion to the dorsal, deep, red region, where muscle spindles are restricted. Cross section of the medial longitudinal third of the rat SM contains around 10,000 muscle fibers with a mean diameter of 51.28±12.62 (μm +/- SD). Transverse sections stained by Succinate Dehydrogenase (SDH) reaction clearly presents two distinct regions: the dorsal deep red portion encompassing a 40% cross section area contains a high percentage of packed SDH-positive muscle fibers, and the ventral superficial region which contains mainly SDH-negative muscle fibers. Indeed, the ventral superficial region of the rat SM muscle contains mainly fast 2B muscle fibers. These acidic ATPase pH 4.3-negative and SDH-negative 2B muscle fibers are the largest of the SM muscle, while the acidic ATPase pH 4.3-positive and SDH-positive Type 1 muscle fibers are the smallest. Here we show that in thin transverse cryosections only 2 or 3 muscle spindle are observed in the central part of the dorsal deep red portion of the SM muscle. Azan Mallory stained sections allow at the same time to count the spindles and to evaluate aging fibrosis of the skeletal muscle tissue. Though restricted in the muscle red region, SM spindles are embedded in perimysium, whose changes may influence their reflex activity. Our findings confirm that any comparisons of changes in number and percentage of muscle spindles and muscle fibers of the rat SM muscle will require morphometry of the whole muscle cross-section. Muscle biopsies of SM muscle from large mammals will only provide partial data on the size of the different types of muscle fibers biased by sampling. Nonetheless, histology of muscle tissue continue to provide practical and low-cost quantitative data to follow-up translational studies in rodents and beyond

INFN What Next: Ultra-relativistic Heavy-Ion Collisions

This document was prepared by the community that is active in Italy, within INFN (Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare), in the field of ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions. The experimental study of the phase diagram of strongly-interacting matter and of the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP) deconfined state will proceed, in the next 10-15 years, along two directions: the high-energy regime at RHIC and at the LHC, and the low-energy regime at FAIR, NICA, SPS and RHIC. The Italian community is strongly involved in the present and future programme of the ALICE experiment, the upgrade of which will open, in the 2020s, a new phase of high-precision characterisation of the QGP properties at the LHC. As a complement of this main activity, there is a growing interest in a possible future experiment at the SPS, which would target the search for the onset of deconfinement using dimuon measurements. On a longer timescale, the community looks with interest at the ongoing studies and discussions on a possible fixed-target programme using the LHC ion beams and on the Future Circular Collider.Comment: 99 pages, 56 figure