203 research outputs found
Disturbo d'Ansia di Separazione dell'Adulto:aspetti neurobiologici e studio di polimorfismi del gene del TSPO
Analisi delle recenti acquisizioni in merito allâeziologia del Disturbo dâAnsia di Separazione dellâAdulto, con particolare riferimento ai modelli animali comprovanti i ruoli chiave dellâossitocina(OT) e dei neurosteroidi (piĂš precisamente dellâallopregnenolone) nella neurobiologia del disturbo.
In particolare si è dato rilevanza a due aspetti.
In primo luogo allâazione di tali ormoni a livello amigdaloideo, laddove lâamigdala risulta essere la struttura neuroanatomica primariamente coinvolta nei comportamenti affiliativi.
In secondo luogo allâinterazione esistente proprio tra questi due ormoni; ovvero sia, è stata riscontrata unâazione modulatoria dellâallopregnenolone sulla secrezione ipotalamica di ossitocina, azione che tra lâaltro si modifica nel corso della crescita.
Fa seguito a queste osservazioni, circa la neurobiologia del Disturbo dâAnsia di Separazione, uno studio di genotipizzazione svolto dallâUnitĂ Psichiatrica del Dipartimento di Psichiatria, Neurobiologia, Farmacologia e Biotecnologie dellâUniversitĂ di Pisa.
In tale studio sono state analizzate le varianti alleliche del gene del TSPO, canale di membrana per il trasporto intramitocondriale di colesterolo necessario alla sintesi dei neurosteroidi.
Al fine di valutare se i cambiamenti amminoacidici: Ala147Thr e Arg162His, corrispondenti ai due polimorfismi genetici del TSPO: 439G>A e 485G>A, possano essere relazionati con una maggiore predisposizione a sviluppare il Disturbo Dâansia di Separazione.
I risultati ottenuti hanno evidenziato che la variante allelica A439, giĂ in condizione eterozigotica, potrebbe essere un fattore di rischio per lo sviluppo del Disturbo dâAnsia di Separazione. Inoltre le analisi fatte sia sullâaplotipo che sul diplotipo confermano il potenziale fattore di rischio anche per lâaplotipo A439 G485
Constraints on massive sterile neutrino species from current and future cosmological data
Sterile massive neutrinos are a natural extension of the Standard Model of
elementary particles. The energy density of the extra sterile massive states
affects cosmological measurements in an analogous way to that of active
neutrino species. We perform here an analysis of current cosmological data and
derive bounds on the masses of the active and the sterile neutrino states as
well as on the number of sterile states. The so-called (3+2) models with three
sub-eV active massive neutrinos plus two sub-eV massive sterile species is well
within the 95% CL allowed regions when considering cosmological data only. If
the two extra sterile states have thermal abundances at decoupling, Big Bang
Nucleosynthesis bounds compromise the viability of (3+2) models. Forecasts from
future cosmological data on the active and sterile neutrino parameters are also
presented. Independent measurements of the neutrino mass from tritium beta
decay experiments and of the Hubble constant could shed light on sub-eV massive
sterile neutrino scenarios.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures. Journal versio
Novel Insights into the Downstream Pathways and Targets Controlled by Transcription Factors CREM in the Testis
The essential role of the Crem gene in normal sperm development is widely accepted and is confirmed by azoospermia in male mice lacking the Crem gene. The exact number of genes affected by Crem absence is not known, however a large difference has been observed recently between the estimated number of differentially expressed genes found in Crem knock-out (KO) mice compared to the number of gene loci bound by CREM. We therefore re-examined global gene expression in male mice lacking the Crem gene using whole genome transcriptome analysis with Affymetrix microarrays and compared the lists of differentially expressed genes from Cremâ/â mice to a dataset of genes where binding of CREM was determined by Chip-seq. We determined the global effect of CREM on spermatogenesis as well as distinguished between primary and secondary effects of the CREM absence. We demonstrated that the absence of Crem deregulates over 4700 genes in KO testis. Among them are 101 genes associated with spermatogenesis 41 of which are bound by CREM and are deregulated in Crem KO testis. Absence of several of these genes in mouse models has proven their importance for normal spermatogenesis and male fertility. Our study showed that the absence of Crem plays a more important role on different aspects of spermatogenesis as estimated previously, with its impact ranging from apoptosis induction to deregulation of major circadian clock genes, steroidogenesis and the cell-cell junction dynamics. Several new genes important for normal spermatogenesis and fertility are down-regulated in KO testis and are therefore possible novel targets of CREM
VaporâPhase Synthesis of Molecularly Imprinted Polymers on Nanostructured Materials at RoomâTemperature
Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) have recently emerged as robust and versatile artificial receptors. MIP synthesis is carried out in liquid phase and optimized on planar surfaces. Application of MIPs to nanostructured materials is challenging due to diffusion-limited transport of monomers within the nanomaterial recesses, especially when the aspect ratio is >10. Here, the room temperature vapor-phase synthesis of MIPs in nanostructured materials is reported. The vapor phase synthesis leverages a >1000-fold increase in the diffusion coefficient of monomers in vapor phase, compared to liquid phase, to relax diffusion-limited transport and enable the controlled synthesis of MIPs also in nanostructures with high aspect ratio. As proof-of-concept application, pyrrole is used as the functional monomer thanks to its large exploitation in MIP preparation; nanostructured porous silicon oxide (PSiO2) is chosen to assess the vapor-phase deposition of PPy-based MIP in nanostructures with aspect ratio >100; human hemoglobin (HHb) is selected as the target molecule for the preparation of a MIP-based PSiO2 optical sensor. High sensitivity and selectivity, low detection limit, high stability and reusability are achieved in label-free optical detection of HHb, also in human plasma and artificial serum. The proposed vapor-phase synthesis of MIPs is immediately transferable to other nanomaterials, transducers, and proteins
Suicidal ideation and suicide commitment in Health Care Workers during COVID-19 pandemic: a review of the literature
Introduction: Suicide represents an important public health concern since it leads to more annual deaths globally than violence, war and natural disasters combined. It is evident that during this pandemic year the phenomenon acquires even greater importance especially in the categories at risk, such as health care workers (HCWs). The aim of this review is to analyze literature evidence regarding health care providers' suicidal ideation (SI) and suicide commitment during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods: International databases and digital worldwide media reports were screened between March 2020 and March 2021. The authors conducted a systematic review and described evidence using a narrative approach with some focus points based on the PICO framework. Inclusion or exclusion of literature is done according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) recommendations.
Results: What emerged is a range of SI that varies from 4 to 8% and the main risk factors seem to be loneliness, not having children and personal history of mental disorders.
Conclusion: SI, and in worst cases suicide commitment, seem mental health outcomes not to be underestimated, especially in an emergency that is protracting. They require monitoring by health surveillance systems with a goal of prevention and support
Adult separation anxiety in patients with complicated grief versus healthy control subjects: relationships with lifetime depressive and hypomanic symptoms
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Around 9% to 20% of bereaved individuals experience symptoms of complicated grief (CG) that are associated with significant distress and impairment. A major issue is whether CG represents a distinctive nosographic entity, independent from other mental disorders, particularly major depression (MD), and the role of symptoms of adult separation anxiety. The purpose of this study was to compare the clinical features of patients with CG versus a sample of healthy control subjects, with particular focus on adult separation anxiety and lifetime mood spectrum symptoms.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A total of 53 patients with CG and 50 healthy control subjects were consecutively recruited and assessed by means of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis-I disorders (SCID-I/P), Inventory of Complicated Grief (ICG), Adult Separation Anxiety Questionnaire (ASA-27), Work and Social Adjustment Scale (WSAS) and Mood Spectrum-Self Report (MOODS-SR) lifetime version.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Patients with CG reported significantly higher scores on the MOODS-SR, ASA-27, and WSAS with respect to healthy control subjects. The scores on the ASA-27 were significantly associated with the MOODS-SR depressive and manic components amongst both patients and healthy control subjects, with a stronger association in the latter.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>A major limitation of the present study is the small sample size that may reduce the generalizability of the results. Moreover, lifetime MOODS-SR does not provide information about the temporal sequence of the manic or depressive symptoms and the loss. The frequent comorbidity with MD and the association with both depressive and manic lifetime symptoms do not support the independence of CG from mood disorders. In our patients, CG is associated with high levels of separation anxiety in adulthood. However, the presence of lifetime mood instability, as measured by the frequent presence of depressive and hypomanic lifetime symptoms, suggests that cyclothymia might represent the common underlying feature characterizing the vulnerability to both adult separation anxiety and CG.</p
4D Printing of Plasmon-Encoded Tunable Polydimethylsiloxane Lenses for On-Field Microscopy of Microbes
Here the 4D printing of a magnifying polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) lens encoded with a tunable plasmonic rejection filter is reported. The lens is formed by moldless printing of PDMS pre-polymer on a nanostructured porous silicon (PSi) templating layer. A nanometer-thick plasmonic filter is integrated on the lens surface by in situ synthesis of Ag and Au nanoparticles (NPs) with programmed density. The filter can be designed to reject light at the plasmonic resonance wavelength of the NPs with an optical density tunable from 0 to 3 and retreive light at longer wavelengths with a pass-to-stop band ratio tunable from 0 to 60 dB. Swelling of PDMS in hexane and ether is used to change the NP density on the lens surface and modulate, in turn, the transmittance properties of the NP-decorated lens over 3 orders of magnitude. The plasmon-encoded lens is coupled to a commercial smartphone demonstrating: shaping of the emission spectrum of a white light-emitting diode to tune the color from yellow to purple; real-time bright-field and fluorescence microscopy of living microbes in water, namely, the auto-fluorescent green alga Chlorogonium sp. and the ciliated protozoan Euplotes daidaleos
Do Autistic Traits Correlate with Post-Traumatic Stress and Mood Spectrum Symptoms among Workers Complaining of Occupational Stress?
The adult autism subthreshold spectrum model appears to be a useful tool for detecting possible vulnerability factors in order to develop mental disorders in the contest of work-related stress. The aim of the present study is to analyze the relationship between autism, mood, and post-traumatic spectrum in a cohort of subjects complaining of work-related stress before the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors carried out a retrospective investigation of both medical records and self-assessment tools of a sample of subjects evaluated at the Occupational Health Department of a University hospital in central Italy. Data showed significant correlations between the AdAS spectrum, TALS-SR, and MOODS total and domain scores. A multiple linear regression evidenced that both the AdAS spectrum and TAL-SR significantly predict the MOODS scores. In particular, mediation analysis showed both a direct and indirect, mediated by TALS-SR, effect of the AdAS Spectrum on the MOODS-SR. These results corroborate the role of autistic traits in influencing the traumatic impact of work-related stress and the development of mood spectrum symptoms
- âŚ