Q-Learning to navigate turbulence without a map

We consider the problem of olfactory searches in a turbulent environment. We focus on agents that respond solely to odor stimuli, with no access to spatial perception nor prior information about the odor location. We ask whether navigation strategies to a target can be learned robustly within a sequential decision making framework. We develop a reinforcement learning algorithm using a small set of interpretable olfactory states and train it with realistic turbulent odor cues. By introducing a temporal memory, we demonstrate that two salient features of odor traces, discretized in few olfactory states, are sufficient to learn navigation in a realistic odor plume. Performance is dictated by the sparse nature of turbulent plumes. An optimal memory exists which ignores blanks within the plume and activates a recovery strategy outside the plume. We obtain the best performance by letting agents learn their recovery strategy and show that it is mostly casting cross wind, similar to behavior observed in flying insects. The optimal strategy is robust to substantial changes in the odor plumes, suggesting minor parameter tuning may be sufficient to adapt to different environments.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figure

Pulsed laser deposition of organic and biological materials

We report on the deposition of soft matter thin films by Matrix Assisted Pulsed Laser Evaporation (MAPLE). In particular, thin layers of biological material (Bovine Serum Albumin) and polymers (polyfluorene) for medical and optoelectronic applications, were realized by laser irradiating a frozen solution containing a low amount of material diluted in a laser absorbing volatile solvent. The depositions were carried out varying different parameters as solvent–solute concentration, solvent nature, laser fluencies, etc. The optical, morphological, structural and spectroscopical properties were detected by means of different analyses as FTIR, photoluminescence, AFM and SDS

Split Hand Syndrome in Charcot–Marie–Tooth Disease Type X1 (CMTX1): A Clinical, Neurophysiological, and Radiological Study

Background: Split hand syndrome (SHS) is a hand atrophy pattern characterized by predominant wasting in the thenar muscles (abductor pollicis brevis-APB, first dorsal interosseous-FDI), with relative sparing of the hypothenar (abductor digiti minimi-ADM). SHS was also reported in CMTX1, but eventually attributed to median-ulnar dissociated involvement. We investigated the presence and specificity of SHS in CMTX1. Methods: We gathered clinical/neurophysiological/radiological information in CMTX1 and non-CMTX1 patients, including disease severity (CMT Examination Score-CMTES) and compound muscle amplitude potential (CMAP) of APB/FDI/ADM. We obtained ADM/APB ratio (ADM/APBr) = CMAPADM/CMAPAPB and split-hand index (SHI) = (CMAPAPB × CMAPFDI)/CMAPADM. Eight patients underwent 3T MRI of the hand muscles. We defined SHS based on three criteria: clinical, neurophysiological, and radiological, with at least one criterion required for SHS diagnosis. Through ADM/APBr > 1.7, we assessed the specificity of SHS for CMTX1 among the Italian CMT Registry cohort, encompassing 750 clinically well-characterized patients. Results: We evaluated 22 CMTX1 (age 41.3 ± 12.2) and 40 non-CMTX1 (49.2 ± 14.9). 50% (vs. 3% of non-CMTX1, p < 0.001) and 64% (vs. 0%, p < 0.001) of CMTX1 had clinical and neurophysiological SHS, respectively. In CMTX1, SHS was independent from gender and hand dominance. Both ADM/APBr and SHI correlated with disease duration (rs = 0.77, p < 0.001; rs = -0.65, p = 0.022, respectively), and CMTES (rs = 0.56, p = 0.006; rs = -0.62, p < 0.001, respectively). 3/8 CMTX1 had radiological SHS. Within the Italian CMT Registry cohort, ADM/APBr > 1.7 yielded a specificity of 74% for CMTX1 females among I-CMT/CMT2, and 85% for CMTX1 males among CMT1/I-CMT. Discussion: Up to 59% of CMTX1 patients develop thenar-hypothenar (rather than median-ulnar) SHS. MRI is a novel approach to detect this dissociated denervation pattern. ADM/APBr > 1.7 may be useful to address GJB1 testing in males

Socio-demographic and toxicological findings from autoptic cases in a Northern Italy community (2017-2022)

IntroductionThe overall trend in the use of licit and illicit substances is increasing. However, a few data on socio-demographic and toxicological findings in post-mortem cases are available.MethodsA retrospective study was conducted on autoptic cases evaluated in the Institute of Legal Medicine of the cities of Modena and Reggio Emilia in the period 2017-2022. Positivity to toxicological compounds and their relation with sociodemographic and forensic features were evaluated.ResultsA toxicological analysis was conducted in 504 cases out of 794 autopsies, finding 330 positive cases. An association was observed between positivity and increasing age, as well as manner of death. The most frequently observed classes of substances were benzodiazepine (41.2%), followed by alcohol (35.5%) and abuse drugs (24.8%). For every class of substances in at least half of the cases two or more classes were detected. As regards prescribed drugs, approximately 40% of cases assumed 2 or more drugs, while polypharmacy occurred in 6.1%.ConclusionsOlder age and specific causes of deaths appear to be associated with toxicological findings. In addition, co-assumption of licit and illicit substances emerged as a widespread phenomenon in our study population. Under a public health perspective, these data provide findings of relevance for preventive and therapeutic measures

The teleost fish PepT1-type peptide transporters and their relationships with neutral and charged substrates

In teleosts, two PepT1-type (Slc15a1) transporters, i.e., PepT1a and PepT1b, are expressed at the intestinal level. They translocate charged di/tripeptides with different efficiency, which depends on the position of the charged amino acid in the peptide and the external pH. The relation between the position of the charged amino acid and the capability of transporting the dipeptide was investigated in the zebrafish and Atlantic salmon PepT1-type transporters. Using selected charged (at physiological pH) dipeptides: i.e., the negatively charged Asp-Gly and Gly-Asp, and the positively charged Lys-Gly and Gly-Lys and Lys-Met and Met-Lys, transport currents and kinetic parameters were collected. The neutral dipeptide Gly-Gln was used as a reference substrate. Atlantic salmon PepT1a and PepT1b transport currents were similar in the presence of Asp-Gly and Gly-Asp, while zebrafish PepT1a elicited currents strongly dependent on the position of Asp in the dipeptide and zebrafish PepT1b elicited small transport currents. For Lys- and Met-containing dipeptides smaller currents compared to Gly-Gln were observed in PepT1a-type transporters. In general, for zebrafish PepT1a the currents elicited by all tested substrates slightly increased with membrane potential and pH. For Atlantic salmon PepT1a, the transport current increased with negative potential but only in the presence of Met-containing dipeptides and in a pH-dependent way. Conversely, large currents were shown for PepT1b for all tested substrates but Gly-Lys in Atlantic salmon. This shows that in Atlantic salmon PepT1b for Lys-containing substrates the position of the charged dipeptides carrying the Lys residue defines the current amplitudes, with larger currents observed for Lys in the N-terminal position. Our results add information on the ability of PepT1 to transport charged amino acids and show species-specificity in the kinetic behavior of PepT1-type proteins. They also suggest the importance of the proximity of the substrate binding site of residues such as LysPepT1a/GlnPepT1b for recognition and specificity of the charged dipeptide and point out the role of the comparative approach that exploits the natural protein variants to understand the structure and functions of membrane transporters

Lipocalin-2 promotes adipose-macrophage interactions to shape peripheral and central inflammatory responses in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis

Objective: Accumulating evidence suggests that dysfunctional adipose tissue (AT) plays a major role in the risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS), the most common immune-mediated and demyelinating disease of the central nervous system. However, the contribution of adipose tissue to the etiology and progression of MS is still obscure. This study aimed at deciphering the responses of AT in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), the best characterized animal model of MS. Results and methods: We observed a significant AT loss in EAE mice at the onset of disease, with a significant infiltration of M1-like macrophages and fibrosis in the AT, resembling a cachectic phenotype. Through an integrative and multilayered approach, we identified lipocalin2 (LCN2) as the key molecule released by dysfunctional adipocytes through redox-dependent mechanism. Adipose-derived LCN2 shapes the pro-inflammatory macrophage phenotype, and the genetic deficiency of LCN2 specifically in AT reduced weight loss as well as inflammatory macrophage infiltration in spinal cord in EAE mice. Mature adipocytes downregulating LCN2 reduced lipolytic response to inflammatory stimuli (e.g. TNFα) through an ATGL-mediated mechanism. Conclusions: Overall data highlighted a role LCN2 in exacerbating inflammatory phenotype in EAE model, suggesting a pathogenic role of dysfunctional AT in MS

The influence of body image on psychological symptomatology in breast cancer women undergoing intervention: a pre-post study

IntroductionBody image concerns related to breast cancer surgery may challenge patients’ quality of life and their treatment outcomes, thus representing a key aspect to be assessed in the psycho-oncological settings. The present longitudinal study is aimed to (1) investigate the association between preoperative body image and postoperative psychological symptoms in breast cancer patients; (2) explore the impact of pre−/post-surgery variation in body image on psychological symptomatology.MethodsN = 72 women undergoing breast cancer surgery were preoperatively screened (T1) using the Body Uneasiness Test (BUT) and were assessed postoperatively (T2) using the Symptom Checklist-90 Revised (SCL-90-R) and re-administered the BUT. Spearman’s correlation was used to investigate the relationship between age, preoperative body image and postoperative psychological symptoms, and variation in body image. To predict post-surgical psychological symptomatology, two separated multiple regression models were used to evaluate preoperative body image and its variation after surgery controlling for covariates (i.e., education; intervention type). P significance was set as 0.05 for all analyses and adjusted for multiple comparisons.ResultsAt T1, anxiety in relation to body image scores emerged as the most frequently experienced psychological symptomatology after surgery (all adjusted p < 0.05). Significant correlations were observed between all SCL-90-R scores at T2 and avoidance behaviors and depersonalization scores at T1. The associations were most significantly strong for somatization, depression, anxiety, and hostility (all adjusted p < 0.05). However, change in body image between pre- and post-intervention was not associated with psychological symptomatology at T2 (all adjusted p > 0.05). Pre-surgery body avoidance was significantly associated with post-intervention psychological symptoms (SOMβ = 0.453, p = 0.0001; DEPβ = 0.507, p = 0.0001; AXβ = 0.459, p = 0.0001; HOSβ = 0.410, p=. 0001). However, increased weight phobia between pre- and post-surgery was statistically associated with increased somatization, anxiety, depression and hostility at T2 (βSOM = 0.439, p = 0.0001; βDEP = 0.454, p = 0.0001; βANX = 0.471, p = 0.0001).DiscussionOverall, pre−/post-intervention body concerns were significantly associated with primary psychological symptoms in breast cancer patients undergoing surgery. Higher levels of body avoidance and weight phobia were significantly associated with the primary psychological dimensions assessed. As body concerns might act as quality-of-life predictors, their evaluation is crucial in fostering patients’ well-being and treatment adherence