Making the gut microbiome more human through targeted communication

In most research projects funded by the EU, the communication and dissemination is a key element of project\u2019s impact. Progress is communicated through different channels, showing why these projects are relevant (7), and demonstrating how they help promoting healthier lifestyles, fi ght diseases, and make people\u2019s lives better. By communicating the added value, the European Institutions build trust in how the citizens\u2019 money is spent to produce growth and innovation (7). In a nutshell, communication of EU projects increases people\u2019s engagement in complex topics that would otherwise remain unknown

Migration in Translation: the role of terminology and trans-editing in shaping the crisis in EU Institutions

The present thesis focuses on the role and impact that terminology and translation had on shaping the Migration Crisis for the media and citizens in the EU, and reconstructs the European Parliament information flow through translation, by exploring its translation policies, strategies, and organisational structures within this field. The study is structured in two phases and has, respectively, two aims: to provide an overview of Migration terminology in EU Institutions and explore its translation into institutional texts; and to investigate the role of the “unknown agents” (Schäffner 2014) involved in the communication process and the translation strategies implemented. The first phase deals with terminology and institutional translation and uses Corpus Linguistics as a methodology. As the analysis develops on two levels, monolingual and multilingual, the software Sketch Engine was chosen to comply with both. Term occurrences and patterns of use were investigated in the EUR-LEX Corpus 2/16 EN and in a compiled corpus of press releases published between 2010 and 2016, while the parallel corpora function was used to observe term equivalents in English and Italian. The second phase investigates translators and press officers in their institutional settings and employs ethnographic methods such as observation practices, interviews and round tables, to find possible correlations between the translation processes and the products. The research results show how terminology and translation had an impact on the portrayals of “migrants” in institutional texts and how they simultaneously evolved with the legislative progress made by EU institutions in the field of Immigration and Asylum. The practices of linguistic ethnography conducted with terminologists and press officers at the European Parliament enabled us to find the correlations between the texts and their producers and to contextualise the corpus results obtained. The research shows that there are large differences in how translation is employed by translators and press officers in EU institutions, and that strategies affecting terminology and trans-editing practices are largely interdependent with the communication purposes, the targets and the political voices representing the institution. This thesis concludes by discussing the complex and conflictual relationship between specialised terminology and general language in the narration of migrants and refugees in institutional texts, and the instability and “fuzziness” of migration terms that labelled thirty years of Immigration and Asylum policies in EU Institutions

Sedimentation of Nanoparticles in in vitro Toxicity Assays

Attached extended abstract published in the conference proceedingsJRC.DG.I.5-Nanobioscience

Analysis Of Opportunities And Challenges For The Water-energy Nexus

The economic development, the population growth and the urbanization will increase water and energy world demand. As a consequence, the conflict between water resources and energy production will be intensified and the environment will be impacted by this competition. In addition to the direct influence of human activities, climate changes and extreme climate events have affected the water availability and, as consequence, the energy production. The aims of this article are to present the water-energy nexus and the importance of making an integrated planning between water and energy sectors. This article also presents the main challenges and opportunities that researchers, companies and governments will find in order to guide more sustainable regarding the water-energy nexus. Thus, it is indispensable to consider the water-energy nexus in planning and government decision-making at all levels, from municipal to national.3793

Changes in Caco-2 cells transcriptome profiles upon exposure to gold nanoparticles

Abstract Higher efficacy and safety of nano gold therapeutics require examination of cellular responses to gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). In this work we compared cellular uptake, cytotoxicity and RNA expression patterns induced in Caco-2 cells exposed to AuNP (5 and 30 nm). Cellular internalization was dose and time-dependent for both AuNPs. The toxicity was observed by colony forming efficiency (CFE) and not by Trypan blue assay, and exclusively for 5 nm AuNPs, starting at the concentration of 200 μM (24 and 72 h of exposure). The most pronounced changes in gene expression (Agilent microarrays) were detected at 72 h (300 μM) of exposure to AuNPs (5 nm). The biological processes affected by smaller AuNPs were: RNA/zinc ion/transition metal ion binding (decreased), cadmium/copper ion binding and glutathione metabolism (increased). Some Nrf2 responsive genes (several metallothioneins, HMOX, G6PD, OSGIN1 and GPX2) were highly up regulated. Members of the selenoproteins were also differentially expressed. Our findings indicate that exposure to high concentration of AuNPs (5 nm) induces metal exposure, oxidative stress signaling pathways, and might influence selenium homeostasis. Some of detected cellular responses might be explored as potential enhancers of anti-cancer properties of AuNPs based nanomedicines

It isn’t just Mom: Gendered provision of family and home responsibilities among emerging adults during COVID-19

Media and research reports have highlighted the disproportionate burden of home and family responsibilities shouldered by women and mothers due to COVID-19-related school/childcare shutdowns. This cross-sectional study extends this line of inquiry to emerging adults. Our study of 329 diverse emerging adults suggests that young women took on more home/family responsibilities than young men amidst the pandemic, and that these duties were associated with symptoms of depression. However, results also indicate that emerging adults who reported greater home/family responsibilities amidst the pandemic also experienced more quality family time, suggesting that pandemic-related challenges may have also been accompanied by opportunities for family connection. Contrary to previous research that has shown home/family responsibilities to be concentrated by SES and race/ethnicity, we found that participants uniformly endorsed COVID-19-related impacts on home/family responsibilities across these demographic distinctions. This could reflect the ubiquity of COVID-19’s impact; across race/ethnicity and class—but differentially by gender—young adults faced significant challenges in taking on new home/family roles

The golden fig: a plasmonic effect study of organic-based solar cells

An optimization work on dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) based on both artificial and natural dyes was carried out by a fine synthesis work embedding gold nanoparticles in a TiO(2) semiconductor and perfecting the TiO(2) particle sizes of the scattering layer. Noble metal nanostructures are known for the surface plasmon resonance peculiarity that reveals unique properties and has been implemented in several fields such as sensing, photocatalysis, optical antennas and PV devices. By embedding gold nanoparticles in the mesoporous TiO(2) layer and adding a scattering layer, we were able to boost the power conversion efficiency (PCE) to 10.8%, using an organic ruthenium complex. The same implementation was carried out using a natural dye, betalains, extracted from Sicilian prickly pear. In this case, the conversion efficiency doubled from 1 to 2% (measured at 1 SUN illumination, 100 mW/cm(2) under solar simulation irradiation). Moreover, we obtained (measured at 0.1 SUN, 10 mW/cm(2) under blue light LED irradiation) a record efficiency of 15% with the betalain-based dye, paving the way for indoor applications in organic natural devices. Finally, an attempt to scale up the system is shown, and a betalain-based- dye-sensitized solar module (DSSM), with an active area of 43.2 cm(2) and a PCE of 1.02%, was fabricated for the first time

PRESSÃO COMERCIAL – NORMAS DE COMERCIALIZAÇÃO DE ARTIGOS RELACIONADOS A ALEITAMENTO

Este trabalho foi idealizado a partir do componente curricular Saúde da Mulher II, do Curso de Enfermagem, a fim de elucidar os principais pontos das legislações vigentes no território nacional sobre a Norma Brasileira de Comercialização de Alimentos para Lactentes e Crianças na Primeira Infância (NBCAL). O objetivo com este estudo foi apresentar e difundir a norma e consequências do não cumprimento dela, salientando a importância do aleitamento materno. Trata-se de um relato de atividade desenvolvida em sala de aula, aonde foi realizado uma busca bibliográfica do objeto de estudo, posteriormente esses dados foram analisados e serviram de base para a elaboração de um banner que foi apresentado em sala de aula e entregue à coordenação do Curso de Enfermagem para ser utilizado em diferentes atividades práticas. O conhecimento da NBCAL é de suma importância para os profissionais Enfermeiros, pois serve como referência para incentivar a prática do aleitamento materno, que deve ser exclusivo até os 6 meses de vida do bebê e alternado até os 2 anos de vida, além de ser uma forma de alimentação gratuita, contém todos os nutrientes necessários para a criança. Salienta-se a importância de elaborar garantias efetivas para esse momento crucial na vida tanto das mães quanto das crianças. Foi elaborada com o intuito de regulamentar a promoção comercial e a rotulação de alimentos e produtos destinados a recém-nascidos e crianças de até 3 anos de idade. Entre esses produtos citam-se: leites, papinhas, chupetas, mamadeiras e protetores de mamilo. Conclui-se com este estudo que os legisladores e as indústrias que fabricam e comercializam esses produtos para lactantes e recém-nascidos devem ter consciência da importância do produto que estão comercializando. Deve-se lembrar que a norma foi elaborada para promover, proteger e apoiar o aleitamento materno, reafirmando as qualidades dessa prática, pois é a forma mais simples e barata de garantir a saúde infantil.Palavras-chave: Norma. Comercialização de alimentos. Primeira infância. Aleitamento.

Characterization of extracellular vesicles in osteoporotic patients compared to osteopenic and healthy controls

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are mediators of a range of pathological conditions. However, their role in bone loss disease has not been well understood. In this study we characterized plasma EVs of 54 osteoporotic (OP) postmenopausal women compared to 48 osteopenic (OPN) and 44 healthy controls (CN), and we investigated their effects on osteoclasts and osteoblasts. We found no differences between the three groups in terms of anthropometric measurements and biochemical evaluation of serum calcium, phosphate, creatinine, PTH, 25-hydroxy vitamin D and bone biomarkers, except for an increase of CTX level in OP group. FACS analysis revealed that OP patients presented a significantly increased number of EVs and RANKL(+) EVs compared with both CN and OPN subjects. Total EVs are negatively associated with the lumbar spine T-score and femoral neck T-score. Only in the OPN patients we observed a positive association between the total number of EVs and RANKL(+) EVs with the serum RANKL. In vitro studies revealed that OP EVs supported osteoclastogenesis of healthy donor peripheral blood mononuclear cells at the same level observed following RANKL and M-CSF treatment, reduced the ability of mesenchymal stem cells to differentiate into osteoblasts, while inducing an increase of OSTERIX and RANKL expression in mature osteoblasts. The analysis of miRNome revealed that miR-1246 and miR-1224-5p were the most upregulated and downregulated in OP EVs; the modulated EV-miRNAs in OP and OPN compared to CN are related to osteoclast differentiation, interleukin-13 production and regulation of canonical WNT pathway. A proteomic comparison between OPN and CN EVs evidenced a decrease in fibrinogen, vitronectin, and clusterin and an increase in coagulation factors and apolipoprotein, which was also upregulated in OP EVs. Interestingly, an increase in RANKL(+) EVs and exosomal miR-1246 was also observed in samples from patients affected by Gorham-Stout disease, suggesting that EVs could be good candidate as bone loss disease biomarkers. (c) 2022 The Authors. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR)

Primary Hyperparathyroidism Patients with Positive Preoperative Sestamibi Scan and Negative Ultrasound Are More Likely to Have Posteriorly Located Upper Gland Adenomas (PLUGs)

BackgroundStandard preoperative imaging for primary hyperparathyroidism usually includes sestamibi scanning (MIBI) and ultrasound (US). In a subset of patients with a positive MIBI and a negative US, we hypothesize that the parathyroid adenomas are more likely to be located posteriorly in the neck, where anatomically they are more difficult to detect by US.MethodsWe retrospectively reviewed the records of 661 patients treated for primary hyperparathyroidism between 2004 and 2009 at a tertiary referral center. We included patients who for their first operation had a MIBI that localized a single lesion in the neck and an US that found no parathyroid adenoma. We excluded patients with persistent or recurrent hyperparathyroidism, and patients with MIBIs that were negative, that had more than one positive focus, or that had foci outside of the neck. Sixty-six cases were included in the final analysis.ResultsA total of 54 patients (83%) had a single adenoma, 4 (6%) had double adenomas, and 7 (11%) had hyperplasia. Thirty-three patients (51%) had a single upper gland adenoma; 19 of these (58%) were posteriorly located upper gland adenomas (PLUGs). PLUGs occurred more often on the right side than on the left (P = 0.048, Fisher's test). PLUGs were also larger than other single adenomas (mean 1.85 vs. 1.48 cm, P = 0.021, t-test). Seventy-six percent of patients successfully underwent a unilateral or focused exploration. Six patients (9%) had persistent disease, which is double our group's overall average (4-5%).ConclusionsPrimary hyperparathyroid patients with preoperative positive MIBI and negative US are more likely to have PLUGs