Fatty images of the heart: spectrum of normal and pathological findings at computed tomography and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging.

Ectopic cardiac fatty images are not rarely detected incidentally at computed tomography and cardiac magnetic resonance, either in exams focused on the heart as in general thoracic imaging evaluations. A correct interpretation of these findings is essential in order to recognize their normal or pathological meaning, focusing on the eventually associated clinical implications. The development of techniques such as computed tomography and cardiac magnetic resonance allowed a detailed detection and evaluation of adipose tissue within the heart. This pictorial review illustrates the most common characteristics of cardiac fatty images at computed tomography and cardiac magnetic resonance, in a spectrum of normal and pathological conditions ranging from physiological adipose images to diseases presenting with cardiac fatty foci. Physiologic intramyocardial adipose tissue may normally be present in healthy adults, being not related to cardiac affections and without any clinical consequence. However cardiac fatty images may also be the expression of various diseases, comprehending arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia, post-myocardial infarction lipomatous metaplasia, dilated cardiomyopathy and lipomatous hypertrophy of the inter-atrial septum. Fatty neoplasms of the heart as lipoma and liposarcoma are also described

INVESTIGATING THE ROLE OF AN ERF TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR IN MEDIATING STRESS RESPONSE AND TOMATO FRUIT RIPENING AND QUALITY

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is one of the world's most consumed vegetables and its consumption has been associated with decreased risk of chronic degenerative diseases. Tomato fruit is an important source of antioxidant compounds such as carotenoids, particularly lycopene, ascorbic acid, vitamin E and phenolic compounds. Fruit ripening is regulated by ethylene. Ethylene biosynthesis and signaling are modulated during fruit development and ripening and are involved in several processes such as antioxidant accumulation and softening that affect fruit quality and shelf-life. To date, several strategies have been implemented in tomato to modulate ripening and enhance tomato fruit quality and shelf-life by regulating the expression of genes involved in ethylene biosynthesis, perception or signaling. Among others, AP2/ERF genes are transcription factors which play key roles in several processes, such as plant development, ethylene response, and pathogen resistance. In tomato fruit, they can act as positive or negative regulator of ripening and of ethylene production. Our goal is to elucidate the functional role of ERF F4 gene (Solyc07g053740) in mediating modulation of the tomato fruit ripening during the plant response to abiotic stress and investigatiing its impact on fruit redox balance and antioxidant accumulation. In particular, the ERF F4 locus was targeted in Microtom by CRISPR/Cas 9 technology to generate knockout tomato plants. One month-old T3 offspring mutant and wild-type plants underwent three level of irrigation, consisting in the complete restitution of water (FWR), restitution of 50% of lost water (HWR) and 30% of water restitution (TWR), respectively. Beside no variation was observed in the lycopene and total carotenoid levels in fruit at the red-ripe stage, edited plants showed increased levels of soluble solid content than wild type plants and responded to drought treatment with a higher increase in their antioxidant capacity. These results suggested the involvement of ERF F4 in modulating ripening associated metabolic processes and fruit redox balance in response to abiotic stresses. Ongoing experiments will further investigate the role of the tomato ERF F4 in regulating the expression of genes involved in controlling the metabolism of antioxidants, particularly glutathione and ascorbate pool

Increased Microalbuminuria Risk in Male Cigarette Smokers: Results from the “Olivetti Heart Study” after 8 Years Follow-Up

Background/Aims: Association between cigarette smoke and albuminuria (UA) was already demonstrated in cross-sectional studies and in selected population samples (i.e diabetic patients). This study aims to evaluate, prospectively, the relationship between cigarette smoke and UA in a male adult population sample, with basal normal kidney function, participating in the Olivetti Heart Study (OHS). Methods: Among 994 participants, examined in both 1994-95 and 2002-04, were selected those resulted in both visits smokers (n=221) and non-smokers (n=416) and with basal normal kidney function (GFR> 60 mL/min) and basal albumin/creatinine ratio (ACR< 30 mg/g). Results: At baseline, the prevalence of hypertension was 41%, diabetes affected 6.3% and obesity 17% of the whole sample. Smokers showed statistically significant lower levels of systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and BMI (p< 0.001) compared to non-smokers. There were not basal differences in UA, GFR and metabolic profile. However, at follow-up examination, smokers showed a statistically significant increase in SBP and DBP (p< 0.05), but not in GFR and BMI. Moreover, smokers showed a higher risk compared to non-smokers to be in the higher median levels group of UA (OR: 2.17, C.I.95%: 1.51-3.13; p < 0.001), even after correction for major confounding factors. Further adjustment for basal antihypertensive and hypoglycemic treatment did not change these patterns of association. Conclusion: In a selected male adult population sample, cigarette smoke was independently associated with the development of higher levels of albuminuria over time

Monitoraggio integrato di un'area marino-costiera: la foce del fiume Volturno (Mar Tirreno centrale)

Vengono presentati i risultati dell’attività di monitoraggio svolta nel corso del progetto PONa3_00363 I-AMICA (Infrastruttura di Alta tecnologia per il Monitoraggio Integrato Climatico-Ambientale; www.i-amica.it/i-amica/), nell’ambito delle attività relative all’Obiettivo Realizzativo 4.4 (Processi di interfaccia biosfera-idrosfera e funzionalità degli ecosistemi costieri). L’attività, che ha avuto come scopo l’acquisizione di conoscenze avanzate sulle dinamiche e/o variazioni nel tempo degli ecosistemi marino-costieri in relazione ai processi fisici, chimici e biologici che caratterizzano il loro habitat, si è sviluppata attraverso la sperimentazione di nuove metodologie di monitoraggio in relazione alle specifiche caratteristiche dell’area marino-costiera prospiciente la foce del fiume Volturno (Golfo di Gaeta). In particolare, oltre che sulle tecniche di monitoraggio classiche, lo studio si è principalmente focalizzato sulla acquisizione ed interpretazione di dati ambientali sia in colonna d’acqua che nei sedimenti a fondo mare e sulla identificazione di specie e/o associazioni di specie significative (bio-indicatori) da un punto di vista ambientale ed indicative dello stato di salute del sistema costiero. Poiché il sistema costiero rappresenta una struttura naturale complessa e delicata, la cui evoluzione è il risultato di delicati equilibri fisici, chimici e biologici, fortemente condizionabili dagli interventi antropici, l’attività di monitoraggio è stata integrata da studi sulla variazione della linea di costa, da studi sismostratigrafici della piana deltizia, sedimentologici e morfo-batimetrici dei fondali.Published1-714A. Oceanografia e climaJCR Journa

Dance Therapy: Communicating Through One’s Own Body

The relationship between arts and therapy shows itself as a dynamic process that acts at psychological, cognitive and social-relational level, generating an open communication enhanced and supported by the creative, symbolic and metaphorical modalities suggested by arts. The use of arts as a therapy can explore the subject's feelings by reducing his emotional conflicts, stimulating greater awareness and enhancing a better management his of social behaviors. Dance therapy, as a form of art therapy, represents an alternative channel of expression, in which the subject’s psychological and emotional aspects are involved. This type of therapy supports and strengthens the conscious use of one's own body, which takes on the role of main communication and expression channel of one's own emotions and sensations, managing to reach fragments hidden and preserved in every subject. Dance therapy aims at solving certain issues through the body, using it as a means of communication. The body, like the word used in traditional therapy, can represent an intimate channel expressing feelings and emotions: we act on our body to break down certain mental barriers and unleash places hidden by the resistance through a metaphoric, non- verbal language of great emotional and relational impact

Apprendere ad apprendere: una proposta Pedagogica in ambito Scientifico per i DsA

Le molteplici modalità che contraddistinguono e caratterizzano l’apprendimento necessitano e richiedono nuove forme di insegnamento, che possano soddisfare le caratteristiche e le peculiarità di ogni persona. Contesti educativi come scuola ed università dovrebbero rispettare queste forme differenziali di apprendimento puntando a nuove strutture di insegnamento, che non si limitino a trasmettere il sapere come semplice accumulo di informazioni. Nasce la necessità, per soggetti con Disturbi Specifici dell’Apprendimento, di ricercare e predisporre adeguati strumenti e strategie didattiche, che possano supportare le principali necessità del soggetto in ambito personale, emotivo e relazionale. Ciò si ottiene fornendo agli studenti un ampio spettro di conoscenze che si rivolgono, da una parte all’ambito pragmatico e strategico della didattica, e dall’altra, alla consapevolezza, alla comprensione ed alla osservazione delle attitudini e abilità personali, che regolano e facilitano l’apprendimento cognitivo, incrementando, parallelamente, competenze individuali e sociali. Lo sviluppo, quin- di, di abilità cognitive e metacognitive consente di raggiungere una maggiore consapevolezza e conoscenza delle proprie abilità, una rilevante capacità di gestire e condurre il proprio percorso di apprendimento, contribuendo all’evoluzione ed allo sviluppo del soggetto in ambito personale, relazionale ed educativo

Alpha and Beta-diversity of Microbial Communities Associated to Plant Disease Suppressive Functions of On-farm Green Composts

Green waste composts are obtained from agricultural production chains; their suppressive properties are increasingly being developed as a promising biological control option in the management of soil-borne phytopathogens. The wide variety of microbes harbored in the compost ecological niches may regulate suppressive functions through not yet fully known underlying mechanisms. This study investigates alpha- and beta-diversity of the compost microbial communities, as indicators of the biological features. Our green composts displayed a differential pattern of suppressiveness over the two assayed pathosystems. Fungal and bacterial densities, as well as catabolic and enzyme functionalities did not correlate with the compost control efficacy on cress disease. Differences in the suppressive potential of composts can be better predicted by the variations in the community levels of physiological profiles indicating that functional alpha-diversity is more predictive than that which is calculated on terminal restriction fragments length polymorphisms (T-RFLPs) targeting the 16S rRNA gene. However, beta-diversity described by nMDS analysis of the Bray–Curtis dissimilarity allowed for separating compost samples into distinct functionally meaningful clusters and indicated that suppressiveness could be regulated by selected groups of microorganisms as major deterministic mechanisms. This study contributes to individuating new suitable characterization procedures applicable to the suppressive green compost chain