Giuseppe Tateo, Under the sign of the cross: The People’s Salvation Cathedral and the church-building industry in postsocialist Romania, New York & Oxford, Berghahn, 2020, pp. 256

Book review of Giuseppe Tateo, Under the sign of the cross: The People’s Salvation Cathedral and the church-building industry in postsocialist Romania, New York & Oxford, Berghahn, 2020, pp. 256.Recensione di Giuseppe Tateo, Under the sign of the cross: The People’s Salvation Cathedral and the church-building industry in postsocialist Romania, New York & Oxford, Berghahn, 2020, pp. 256

Exploring volatile general anesthetic binding to a closed membrane-bound bacterial voltage-gated sodium channel via computation.

Despite the clinical ubiquity of anesthesia, the molecular basis of anesthetic action is poorly understood. Amongst the many molecular targets proposed to contribute to anesthetic effects, the voltage gated sodium channels (VGSCs) should also be considered relevant, as they have been shown to be sensitive to all general anesthetics tested thus far. However, binding sites for VGSCs have not been identified. Moreover, the mechanism of inhibition is still largely unknown. The recently reported atomic structures of several members of the bacterial VGSC family offer the opportunity to shed light on the mechanism of action of anesthetics on these important ion channels. To this end, we have performed a molecular dynamics flooding simulation on a membrane-bound structural model of the archetypal bacterial VGSC, NaChBac in a closed pore conformation. This computation allowed us to identify binding sites and access pathways for the commonly used volatile general anesthetic, isoflurane. Three sites have been characterized with binding affinities in a physiologically relevant range. Interestingly, one of the most favorable sites is in the pore of the channel, suggesting that the binding sites of local and general anesthetics may overlap. Surprisingly, even though the activation gate of the channel is closed, and therefore the pore and the aqueous compartment at the intracellular side are disconnected, we observe binding of isoflurane in the central cavity. Several sampled association and dissociation events in the central cavity provide consistent support to the hypothesis that the fenestrations present in the membrane-embedded region of the channel act as the long-hypothesized hydrophobic drug access pathway

Downside: The perpetrator of violence in the representations of social and health professionals

Gender-based violence is a widespread phenomenon and pandemic that affects women’s lives. Many interventions have been activated for perpetrators, but the dropout rate is still high. In order to draw up guidelines for responsibly and sustainably dealing with the phenomenon, this study is aimed at investigating the professionals’ perception of the perpetrator as a useful element in designing innovative intervention policies. Open interviews were carried out with welfare and health professionals and the Grounded Theory Methodology was used to analyze the collected data. These results detect attitudes of social health personnel and their feelings of impotence towards gender-based perpetrators because of the emergence of an inevitable repetitiveness of the violent behavior, as well as the “normality of violence” in a patriarchal culture and its “transversality”. This reflective knowledge allows for the opportunity to develop best transformative attitudes toward the phenomenon. According to the results, it is urgent to establish an active and convinced alliance with the healthy part of the man, through specific prevention paths, in order to activate an authentic motivation for change and its sustainability

Glutathione infusion before primary percutaneous coronary intervention: A randomised controlled pilot study

Objective: In the setting of reperfused ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), increased production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) contributes to reperfusion injury. Among ROS, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) showed toxic effects on human cardiomyocytes and may induce microcirculatory impairment. Glutathione (GSH) is a water-soluble tripeptide with a potent oxidant scavenging activity. We hypothesised that the infusion of GSH before acute reoxygenation might counteract the deleterious effects of increased H2O2 generation on myocardium. Methods: Fifty consecutive patients with STEMI, scheduled to undergo primary angioplasty, were randomly assigned, before intervention, to receive an infusion of GSH (2500 mg/25 mL over 10 min), followed by drug administration at the same doses at 24, 48 and 72 hours elapsing time or placebo. Peripheral blood samples were obtained before and at the end of the procedure, as well as after 5 days. H2O2 production, 8-iso-prostaglandin F2α (PGF2α) formation, H2O2 breakdown activity (HBA) and nitric oxide (NO) bioavailability were determined. Serum cardiactroponin T (cTpT) was measured at admission and up to 5 days. Results: Following acute reperfusion, a significant reduction of H2O2 production (p=0.0015) and 8-iso-PGF2α levels (p=0.0003), as well as a significant increase in HBA (p<0.0001)and NO bioavailability (p=0.035), was found in the GSH group as compared with placebo. In treated patients, attenuated production of H2O2 persisted up to 5 days from the index procedure (p=0.009) and these changes was linked to those of the cTpT levels (r=0.41, p=0.023). Conclusion: The prophylactic and prolonged infusion of GSH seems to determine a rapid onset and persistent blunting of H2O2 generation improving myocardial cell survival. Nevertheless, a larger trial, adequately powered for evaluation of clinical endpoints, is ongoing to confirm the current finding

Influence of Cellulose on the Anoxic Treatment of Domestic Wastewater in Septic Tanks: Statistical Analysis of the Chemical and Physico-Chemical Parameters

Cellulose is a very common polymer in domestic wastewater (WW), representing a not negligible part of the organic substance contained in sewage. To date, many studies have highlighted the feasibility of reusing this compound in several ways (e.g., building sector, wastewater treatment, energy production, etc.) after its separation from domestic WW. However, studies about the impact of the absence of cellulose on the chemical and physico-chemical parameters of a biological process are still lacking. In this work, two pilot-scale plants were used to simulate an anoxic treatment of WW in septic tanks, with and without cellulose (CWW and NCWW, respectively), for three months. The results of the monitoring highlighted that T, pH, and electrical conductivity (EC) remained almost constants, in both cases. The Spearman correlation coefficients (SCC) for turbidity (TUR), total suspended solids (TSS), and color (COL) indicated a higher removal in the case of CWW (65%, 66%, and 56%, respectively). Organic substance and nitrogen forms showed a similar behavior with and without cellulose, but in the case of CWW, N-NH3 was highly negatively correlated with TUR (SCC: −0.54), TSS (−0.49), and COL (−0.39). A biological denitrification process was highlighted in both cases. Despite these differences, when statistically analyzing the trends of the chemical and physico-chemical parameters for CWW and NCWW, a significant difference due to the absence of cellulose was excluded. These results will be useful to the scientific community, as they exclude that the operational parameters of anoxic treatments and the effectiveness on pollutants removal can be affected in the case of preliminary cellulose separation from domestic WW for recovery/reuse purposes

Bovine paratuberculosis: results of a control plan in 64 dairy farms in a 4-year period

Paratuberculosis is considered one of the most economically devastating infectious diseases of domestic livestock, and the most effective control strategy is a combination of 'test-and-cull' and on-farm biosecurity measures. In Italy, a Voluntary National Control Plan (VNCP) and guidelines have been introduced to reduce the impact of the disease, and farmers can voluntarily enroll in the control plan. The main aims of this study were: i) the description of the trend over a 4-year period on total, within-herd (WH) and between herd (BH) apparent seroprevalences observed in 64 dairy herds members of a mutual company located in Italy after the introduction of a proposed "Customized Control Plan" (CCP); ii) the evaluation of its effectiveness in terms of percentage of participating farms that decided to join the VNCP. Analyses on serum samples were performed with Enzyme-Linked Immuno Sorbent Assay (ELISA) method and revealed a general decrease in both total, WH and BH apparent seroprevalence. Total average apparent seroprevalence decreased from 2.39% in 2017 to 1% in 2020. Negative herds raised from 51.9% in 2017 to 71.1% in 2020, while farms with WH apparent seroprevalence > 5% decreased from 17.3% in 2017 to 4.4% in 2020. BH apparent seroprevalence decreased from 51.2% in 2017 to 29.2% in 2020. Among the 52 out of 64 herds that accepted to continue the proposed CCP after the first year, 41 (78.8%) joined in 2020 the VNCP, that assessed the health ranking of the herds. The results provide evidence that a control plan based on a farm-specific strategy and a subsidized testing process can effectively reduce the impact of paratuberculosis in dairy herds, especially in convincing farmers to continue in paratuberculosis control by joining the VNCP, including them in a National context and increasing their awareness of the disease

SYK Regulates mTOR Signaling in AML

Spleen Tyrosine Kinase (SYK) was recently identified as a new target in acute myeloid leukemia (AML); however, its mechanistic role in this disease is poorly understood. Based on the known interaction between SYK and mTOR signaling in lymphoma, we hypothesized that SYK may regulate mTOR signaling in AML. Both small-molecule inhibition of SYK and SYK-directed shRNA suppressed mTOR and its downstream signaling effectors, as well as its upstream activator, AKT. Moreover, the inhibition of multiple nodes of the PI3K signaling pathway enhanced the effects of SYK suppression on AML cell viability and differentiation. Evaluation of the collateral MAPK pathway revealed a heterogeneous response to SYK inhibition in AML with down-regulation of MEK and ERK phosphorylation in some AML cell lines but a paradoxical increase in MEK/ERK phosphorylation in RAS-mutated AML. These studies reveal SYK as a regulator of mTOR and MAPK signaling in AML and demonstrate that inhibition of PI3K pathway activity enhances the effects of SYK inhibition on AML cell viability and differentiation

Crecimiento en plantas jóvenes de Aspidosperma quebracho-blanco Schlecht

Alzugaray, C.; N. J. Carnevale y A. R. Salinas, 2006. ?Crecimiento en plantas jóvenes de Aspidosperma quebracho-blanco Schlecht?. Lilloa 43 (1-2). A. quebracho-blanco es uno de los árboles característicos de La Provincia Chaqueña. El objetivo de este trabajo fue evaluar el crecimiento de árboles jóvenes en dos tipos de suelo: Argiudol vértico (AV) y Natraqualf típico (NT) a los 9, 21 y 33 meses de edad. Se evaluó área foliar (AF), peso seco total (PST), de la raíz (PSR), del vástago (PSV), longitud total de raíces (LTR), altura (A) y profundidad de raíces (P). Luego se calcularon: la relación del peso seco de raíces (RPR), la relación del peso seco del vástago (RPV), la relación de área foliar (RAF), la relación de longitud de raíces (RLR), la longitud específica de raíces (LER), las tasas de crecimiento relativo (TCR), las tasas de asimilación neta (TAN) y el incremento porcentual del peso seco de los plantines (IP) a partir de las semillas (=100%). A. quebracho-blanco mostró mayores P y LTR a los 9 meses de edad para el suelo AV (p<0,05). A los 21 y 33 meses se observaron mayores AF, PST, PSR, PSV y LTR en el AV (p< 0,05). Las TCR y TAN y el IP fueron mayores (p< 0,05) a los 33 meses de edad de las plantas en el AV con 0,23 mg.g-1.día-1; 0,058 mg.cm2.día-1 y 13.643%. Se concluye que A. quebracho-blanco desarrolla mayor biomasa y en menor tiempo en el suelo Argiudol