Observation of lattice waves through observation of the photoluminescence Blinking in InGaN Quantum Well devices

The photoluminescence of III-V wide band-gap semiconductors as InGaN is characterized by local intensity fluctuations, known as 'blinking points', that despite decades of research are not yet completely understood. In this letter we report experimental data and a theoretical interpretation that suggests they are caused by the interference of thermal vibrations of the Quantum Well lattice. With far-field optical tests we could observe the lower frequency tail of these interference waves and study their dynamics as they propagate up to distances of several tens of microns.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Expanding the role of bitter taste receptor in extra oral tissues : TAS2R38 is expressed in human adipocytes

Increasing evidence indicates that taste receptors mediate a variety of functions in extra-oral tissues. The present study investigated the expression of bitter taste receptor TAS2R38 in human adipocytes, the possible link with genetic background and the role of TAS2R38 in cell delipidation and lipid accumulation rate in vitro. Subcutaneous (SAT) and visceral (VAT) adipose tissues were collected in 32 obese and 18 lean subjects. The TAS2R38 gene expression and protein content were examined in whole tissues, differentiated adipocytes and stroma-vascular fraction cells (SVF). The P49A SNP of TAS2R38 gene was determined in each collected sample. The effect of two bitter agonists (6-n-propylthiouracil and quinine) was tested. TAS2R38 mRNA was more expressed in SAT and VAT of obese than lean subjects and the expression/protein content was greater in mature adipocytes. The expression levels were not linked to P49A variants. In in vitro differentiated adipocytes, bitter agonists induced a significant delipidation. Incubation with 6-n-propylthiouracil induced an inhibition of lipid accumulation rate together with an increase in TAS2R38 and a decrease in genes involved in adipocyte differentiation. In conclusion, TAS2R38 is more expressed in adipocytes of obese than lean subjects and is involved in differentiation and delipidation processes

Use of aerosols in bronchiectasis patients

Bronchiectasis is a chronic respiratory disease which recognises different etiologies, and characterised by persistent cough, bronchial hypersecretion, airway colonisation with Gram-negative pathogens; frequent infectious exacerbations; progressive lung function decline, and poor quality of life. Several therapeutic strategies are used for managing bronchiectasis, and nebulised medications are regarded with great and ever increasing interest because they allow the direct medication of targets airway structures, higher concentrations of the drug employed, and much less systemic effects. In general terms, the available therapeutic strategies lead to different results depending of whether bronchiectasis are related to cystic fibrosis or not. The effects of the main classes of drugs for aerosol delivery in bronchiectasis patients have been reviewed and updated. Further research is needed in order to ameliorate therapeutic interventions in bronchiectasis, both in terms of new molecules and aerosol formulations to use, and of systems able to optimize drug delivery and drug effectiveness

Pneumonic versus Nonpneumonic Exacerbations of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) often suffer acute exacerbations (AECOPD) and community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), named nonpneumonic and pneumonic exacerbations of COPD, respectively. Abnormal host defense mechanisms may play a role in the specificity of the systemic inflammatory response. Given the association of this aspect to some biomarkers at admission (e.g., C-reactive protein), it can be used to help to discriminate AECOPD and CAP, especially in cases with doubtful infiltrates and advanced lung impairment. Fever, sputum purulence, chills, and pleuritic pain are typical clinical features of CAP in a patient with COPD, whereas isolated dyspnea at admission has been reported to predict AECOPD. Although CAP may have a worse outcome in terms of mortality (in hospital and short term), length of hospitalization, and early readmission rates, this has only been confirmed in a few prospective studies. There is a lack of methodologically sound research confirming the impact of severe AECOPD and COPD + CAP. Here, we review studies reporting head-to-head comparisons between AECOPD and CAP + COPD in hospitalized patients. We focus on the epidemiology, risk factors, systemic inflammatory response, clinical and microbiological characteristics, outcomes, and treatment approaches. Finally, we briefly discuss some proposals on how we should orient research in the future

Differences in visceral fat and fat bacterial colonization between ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. An in vivo and in vitro study

Crohn's disease (CD) is notably characterized by the expansion of visceral fat with small adipocytes expressing a high proportion of anti-inflammatory genes. Conversely, visceral fat depots in ulcerative colitis (UC) patients have never been characterized. Our study aims were a) to compare adipocyte morphology and gene expression profile and bacterial translocation in omental (OM) and mesenteric (MES) adipose tissue of patients with UC and CD, and b) to investigate the effect of bacterial infection on adipocyte proliferation in vitro. Specimens of OM and MES were collected from 11 UC and 11 CD patients, processed and examined by light microscopy. Gene expression profiles were evaluated in adipocytes isolated from visceral adipose tissue using microarray and RTqPCR validations. Bacteria within adipose tissue were immuno-detected by confocal scanning laser microscopy. Adipocytes were incubated with Enterococcus faecalis and cells counted after 24 h. Morphology and molecular profile of OM and MES revealed that UC adipose tissue is less inflamed than CD adipose tissue. Genes linked to inflammation, bacterial response, chemotaxis and angiogenesis were down-regulated in adipocytes from UC compared to CD, whereas genes related to metallothioneins, apoptosis pathways and growth factor binding were up-regulated. A dense perinuclear positivity for Enterococcus faecalis was detected in visceral adipocytes from CD, whereas positivity was weak in UC. In vitro bacterial infection was associated with a five-fold increase in the proliferation rate of OM preadipocytes. Compared to UC, visceral adipose tissue from CD is more inflamed and more colonized by intestinal bacteria, which increase adipocyte proliferation. The influence of bacteria stored within adipocytes on the clinical course of IBD warrants further investigation

RNA-seq dataset of subcutaneous adipose tissue: Transcriptional differences between obesity and healthy women

In this data article, we present the dataset from the RNA-Seq analysis of subcutaneous adipose tissue collected from 5 healthy normal weight women (NW, age 37 +/- 6.7 years, BMI 24.3 +/- 0.9 kg/m(2)) and 5 obese women (OBF, age 41 +/- 12.5 years, BMI 38.2 +/- 4.6 kg/m(2)). Raw data obtained from Illumina NextSeq 500 sequencer were processed through BlueBee (R) Genomics Platform while differential expression analysis was performed with the DESeq2 R package and deposited in the GEO public repository with GSE166047 as accession number. Specifically, 20 samples divided between NW (control), OBF (obese women), OBM (obese male) and OBT2D (obese women with diabetes) are deposited in the GSE166047. We hereby describe only 10 samples (5 healthy normal weight women reported as NW and 5 obese women reported as OBF) because we refer to the data published in the article "Transcriptional characterization of Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue in obesity affected women highlights metabolic dysfunction and implications for lncRNAs" (DOI: 10.1016/j.ygeno.2021.09.014). Pathways analyses were performed on g:Profiler, Enrichr, ClueGO and GSEA to gain biological insights on gene expression. Raw data reported in GEO database along with detailed methods description reported in this data article could be reused for comparisons with other datasets on the topic to obtain transcriptional differences in a wider co-hort. Moreover, detailed pathways analysis along with cross-referenced data with other datasets will allow to identify novel dysregulated pathways and genes responsible for this regulation. The biological interpretation of this dataset, along with related in vitro experiments, is reported by Rey et al., in Genomics (DOI: 10.1016/j.ygeno.2021.09.014). (C) 2021 Published by Elsevier Inc

Effects of anti-IL5 biological treatments on blood IgE levels in severe asthmatic patients: A real-life multicentre study (BIONIGE)

Background: Mepolizumab and benralizumab are clinically effective biological treatments for severe eosinophilic asthmatic patients by hampering eosinophilic inflammation. The effects of these compound on the immunoglobulin (Ig)E T2 component are virtually unknown. Objectives: To evaluate the change in total IgE levels at 4 ± 2 months after initiation of the mepolizumab (primary outcome) or benralizumab. When available, the changes of blood inflammatory cell counts, lung function and asthma control test (ACT) were also assessed and correlated with changes in total IgE levels. Methods: Observational, retrospective, multicentre, cohort study. Severe eosinophilic atopic asthmatic patients treated with mepolizumab or benralizumab were included in the analysis. Results: Three-month treatment (on average) with mepolizumab (n = 104) or benralizumab (n = 82) resulted in significantly higher reduction of blood eosinophil and basophil levels in patients treated with benralizumab compared to mepolizumab. Mepolizumab did not significantly modified the levels of blood total IgE during the study period, whereas benralizumab significantly reduced (−35%, p < 0.001) total blood IgE levels. In patients treated with benralizumab the reduction of blood total Ig-E levels correlated with the reduction of blood basophils (but not eosinophils) and weakly with the improvement of asthma control. Conclusion: Benralizumab but not mepolizumab, treatment led to a significant reduction of circulating IgE level. The study provides different and specific mechanisms of action for anti-IL5-pathway treatments

Changes in total IgE plasma concentration measured at the third month during anti-IgE treatment predict future exacerbation rates in difficult-to-treat atopic asthma: a pilot study.

Abstract In severe, difficult-to-treat atopic asthma with sensitization to perennial allergens, monoclonal antibodies directed against immunoglobulin E (IgE) are recognized to be clinically effective. Omalizumab, a recombinant monoclonal antibody, selectively binds to the high-affinity C-epsilon 3 site of human IgE and inhibits the inflammatory cascade in response to antigenic stimuli. Currently, no indicator is available for predicting patients' responsiveness to long-term omalizumab treatment. This study aims to assess the relationship between early changes in plasma IgE concentration and major outcome variables over a 12-month course of omalizumab. METHODS: Twenty-three nonsmoking, severe asthmatics (14 females; mean age 47.3 years \ub1 12.0 SD; mean BMI 25.8 kg/m(2) \ub1 9.6 SD) sensitized to perennial allergens and unresponsive to high doses of common therapies were evaluated during a 12-month period of omalizumab treatment. Variables included total IgE plasma concentrations, Forced Expiratory Volume 1 second (FEV(1)) symptom complaints (Asthma Control Test (ACT) score), number of emergency visits, hospitalizations, and exacerbations. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to compare changes observed after the 1-year omalizumab treatment versus baseline. Statistical modelization was used to determine possible relationships between changes in outcomes after 12 months and early changes in plasma IgE (after 3 months of treatment). RESULTS: The number of emergency visits, hospitalizations, and exacerbations decreased (p < .004, p < .001, and p < .001, respectively) over the 12-months. In contrast, FEV(1) and ACT score substantially increased (both p < .001); the ACT score reaching maximum after only 3 months. The S model showed the best fit and proved the strict relationship between the increase in IgE after 3 months and the exacerbation rate over the 1-year survey (threshold value of 65250 IU/ml, p < .001). The improvement in FEV(1) was independent of the increase in IgE. CONCLUSIONS: When confirmed on a larger population, early changes in IgE may be used as a predictor of future responders to omalizumab in terms of exacerbation rate, thus minimizing the economic burden of anti-IgE therapy

A MCh test pre-post esophageal acidification in detecting GER-related asthma.

Abstract The direct effect of gastro-esophageal reflux (GER) on lung function is still debated. Objective. To investigate the role of esophageal acidification in affecting airway response to MCh in GER-related versus atopic asthmatics and to assess specificity and sensitivity of events. Subjects. A total of 56 never-smoking, mild asthmatics: 27 non-atopic asthmatics and acid GER (GER+ve) and 29 atopic asthmatics without any GER (GER-ve). Methods. Each subject performed an MCh challenge in baseline (MCh(b)), and 30 minutes after an acid drink (125 mL at pH = 2; MCh(ac)), one day apart. PD(20)FEV(1) MCh(b) and MCh(ac) were compared by estimating the area under the ROC curve (AU-ROC). Results. GER+ve and GER-ve subjects (well matched in baseline) had a different duration of esophageal acid contact (24-hour monitoring; pH-24h AU(4)), and PD(20)FEV(1) MCh(ac) (both p < 0.001). AU-ROC was 86.3% (76% to 97%, 95%CI). Sensitivity and specificity of changes were 82.8% (72.9% to 92.7%, 95%CI) and 85.2% (75.9% to 94.5%, 95%CI), respectively. The difference in MCh threshold that maximized both the sensitivity and specificity level was 100 mu g. Conclusions. The esophageal acidification identified GER-related asthma with a good level of both sensitivity and specificity by enhancing the MCh response only in the presence of acid GER. Data are supporting the effectiveness of this procedure for clinical purposes

Afectación de la Luna en la medición de la contaminación lumínica

Si bien existen distintas fuentes de contaminación, una de las que más recientemente se está tomando conciencia de su existencia, se origina por el uso excesivo e irresponsable del alumbrado en ambientes externos, y se la conoce como contaminación lumínica. Este problema altera el ambiente natural nocturno, afectando los procesos biológicos de los seres vivos que están expuestos a esta iluminación, dificulta la observación del cielo, genera inseguridad vial, diversas molestias visuales y genera un derroche de energía. Este tipo de contaminación se origina cuando se tienen inadecuados diseños de iluminación. Existen distintos factores que afectan a las mediciones de la contaminación lumínica, tal es el caso de la presencia de la luna, la nubosidad, la temperatura ambiente, etc. En este trabajo se presenta un estudio sobre uno de los factores más importantes: la Luna. Se determinó la influencia que poseen las distintas fases y su ángulo de altitud respecto del horizonte. Con toda esta información, se desarrollará un modelo con herramientas estadísticas, que permitirá cuantificar el fenómeno en forma aproximada.Trabajo publicado en Acta Bioquímica Clínica Latinoamericana; no. 52, supl. 2, parte I, diciembre de 2018.Universidad Nacional de La Plat