Harmful and Beneficial Role of ROS

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are an unavoidable byproduct of oxygen metabolism and their cellular concentrations are determined by the balance between their rates of production and their rates of clearance by various antioxidant compounds and enzymes. For a long time ROS were thought to cause exclusively toxic effects which were associated with various pathologies, including carcinogenesis, neurodegeneration, atherosclerosis, diabetes, and aging. However, to date, it is known that while prolonged exposure to high ROS concentrations may lead to various disorders, low ROS concentrations exert beneficial effects regulating cell signaling cascades

Improving the early diagnosis of early nodular melanoma: can we do better?

Introduction: Cutaneous melanoma is the sixth most common malignant cancer in the USA. Among different subtypes of melanoma, nodular melanoma (NM) accounts about 14% of all cases but is responsible for more than 40% of melanoma deaths. Early diagnosis is the best method to improve melanoma prognosis. Unfortunately, early diagnosis of NM is particularly challenging given that patients often lack identifiable risk factors such as many moles or freckles. Moreover, early NM may mimic a range of benign skin lesions that are not routinely excised or biopsied in every day practice. For this reason, specific clinical and skin imaging clues have been proposed to improve early detection of NM.Areas covered: The review discusses about the noninvasive tools to diagnose thin melanoma, particularly NM. Expert commentary: Currently, dermatologists present a wide opportunity of diagnostic tools. Current data suggest that the early diagnosis of NM is a major challenge as the majority of early NM are symmetric, roundish, and lack specific pattern. Another promising strategy is based on recent data suggesting that artificial intelligence based on deep convolutional neural networking is able to outperform average dermatologist. Further research is necessary to validate the performance of this method in the real world and in the clinical setting

Advances in grape phenotyping: pigment characterization by reflectance and theoretical chemistry

Research Not

Diagnosi infermieristiche e pianificazione dell’assistenza domiciliare nell’ASL di Brescia

Il presente articolo illustra i risultati di un progetto di formazione e ricerca realizzato a partire dal mese di ottobre 2007 presso l’ASL di Brescia. Tale progetto, rivolto a un gruppo di circa 90 infermieri operanti nell’ambito dell’assistenza domiciliare, perseguiva un duplice obiettivo: consolidare negli infermieri partecipanti la competenza metodologica relativa alla formulazione delle diagnosi infermieristiche, alla pianificazione e alla documentazione dell’assistenza infermieristica e indagare, attraverso il metodo attivo della consensus conference applicato a tali contenuti, le caratteristiche fondamentali del nursing in ambito domiciliare. Il progetto si è concretizzato in un corso di aggiornamento, durante il quale gli infermieri partecipanti hanno potuto esprimere la propria valutazione in merito alla natura dei problemi di salute prevalentemente incontrati durante la presa in carico domiciliare, alla loro possibile codifica attraverso il linguaggio proposto dalla classificazione delle diagnosi infermieristiche della North American Nursing Diagnosis Association International (NANDA International), al grado di autonomia nell’identificazione e nel trattamento di tali diagnosi, alla tipologia degli interventi assistenziali prevalentemente pianificati e attuati, alla qualità della documentazione attualmente in uso. L’analisi dei dati raccolti configura il profilo di un infermiere domiciliare con competenza avanzata, chiamato ad affrontare problemi socio-sanitari complessi e che richiedono un approccio integrato e multidisciplinare. Nel contesto territoriale della provincia bresciana, secondo gli infermieri partecipanti, il grado di autonomia nell’identificazione delle diagnosi infermieristiche e l’impegno nella pianificazione degli interventi permangono maggiormente orientati verso gli ambiti che riguardano la sfera bio-fisiologica (modello di eliminazione, di alimentazione, cura del sé ecc.). Tuttavia, l’infermiere che fornisce assistenza in ambito domiciliare si confronta sempre più spesso con problematiche emergenti, come la gestione dell’aderenza al regime terapeutico, il supporto comunicativo e relazionale, lo stimolo motivazionale alla gestione del coping e la supervisione del ruolo del caregiver. Infine, il progetto di formazione e ricerca ha stimolato la riflessione sulla necessità di migliorare la struttura e le modalità di gestione della documentazione infermieristica domiciliare

The GAP-TPC

Several experiments have been conducted worldwide, with the goal of observing low-energy nuclear recoils induced by WIMPs scattering off target nuclei in ultra-sensitive, low-background detectors. In the last few decades noble liquid detectors designed to search for dark matter in the form of WIMPs have been extremely successful in improving their sensitivities and setting the best limits. One of the crucial problems to be faced for the development of large size (multi ton-scale) liquid argon experiments is the lack of reliable and low background cryogenic PMTs: their intrinsic radioactivity, cost, and borderline performance at 87 K rule them out as a possible candidate for photosensors. We propose a brand new concept of liquid argon-based detector for direct dark matter search: the Geiger-mode Avalanche Photodiode Time Projection Chamber (GAP-TPC) optimized in terms of residual radioactivity of the photosensors, energy and spatial resolution, light and charge collection efficiencyComment: 7 pages, 5 figures, Accepted for publication on JINS

Native cattle breeds of Southern Italy: karyological profile

Italian typical products of animal origin are strictly linked to native breeds. Their protection requires control of their reproductive and productive abilities. Hence the need for karyological studies to identify subjects with chromosome abnormalities linked to hypofertility or sterility. We report the results of karyological analyses carried out from January 2008 to December 2008 on 145 cattle of native breeds (Agerolese, Cinisara, Modicana and Podolica) reared in Southern Italy so as to evaluate and characterize the presence of chromosome abnormalities in subjects with normal phenotypes. Besides the 128 karyologically normal subjects (2n=60, XY and 2n=60, XX), 17 were carriers of rob (1;29) and one male was a carrier of cellular chimerism 2n=60, XX/XY. According to our data there is a high frequency of rob (1;29) in Cinisara and Podolica breeds while in Agerolese there was only one case of rob (1;29) and none in Modicana

Levetiracetam in patients with epilepsy and chronic liver disease: observations in a case series.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate levetiracetam (LEV) tolerability in patients with epilepsy and liver disease. METHODS: Fourteen patients with epilepsy and concomitant liver disease were treated with LEV in an open prospective investigation mimicking the daily clinical practice. All patients were stabilized (ie, for at least 1 year) on traditional antiepileptic drugs with complete or partial control of seizures. In the 6-month pre-LEV baseline period, seizure frequency ranged from 3 to 300. Levetiracetam was added on to the basal treatment at a starting daily dose of 250 mg, and the dose was adjusted according to the tolerability and the therapeutic response. Four patients discontinued the drug within the first 3 months because of intolerable side effects. The remaining 10 continued LEV treatment, and the present follow-up is 12 to 38 months. RESULTS: In the last 6 months of observation, none of the patients showed worsening of liver function on the basis of blood chemistry, and in 4 patients, a complete normalization or a trend toward physiological values of transaminase and/or gamma-glutamyltransferase activity was observed. A greater than 50% reduction in seizure frequency occurred in all uncontrolled patients, 2 of whom achieved seizure freedom during LEV treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Based on these observations, LEV seems to be an attractive therapeutic option in epileptic patients with chronic liver diseases