The onset and solidification path of a basaltic melt by in situ differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and ex situ investigations

The in situ differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) technique has been applied to investigate the solidification paths of a basaltic liquid. The starting glass was heated up to 1300◦C, kept at this superliquidus temperature for 2 h and cooled at rates (∆T/∆t) of 7, 60, 180, 1000, and 1800◦C/h, down to 800 and 600◦C. Glass transition temperature (Tg), crystallization temperature (Tx_HR) and melting temperature (Tm) were measured by in situ DSC spectra on heating. Tx measured along the cooling paths (Tx_CR) shows exothermic peaks that change from a single symmetric shape (7 and 60◦C/h) to multi-component patterns (180, 1000, and 1800◦C/h). The recovered products characterized by field emission gun source of the scanning electron microscopy and electron probe micro-analyzer-wavelength dispersive spectrometers show a phase assemblage of spinel (sp), clinopyroxene (cpx), melilite (mel), plagioclase (plg), and glass. Moreover, crystal size distributions (CSDs) and growth rates (Gmax and GCSD) were also determined. The crystal content slightly increases from 7 to 1800◦C/h. Faceted sp are present in all the run products with an amount always <2 area%. Cpx increases from 7 to 1800◦C/h, changing its texture from almost faceted to dendritic between 60 and 180◦C/h. The area% of mel follows an asymmetric Gaussian trend, while plg nucleates only at 7◦C/h with a content <2 area%. The coupling of DSC and SEM outcomes indicate that sp nucleate first, followed by cpx and mel (and/or plg). The increment of ∆T/∆t causes an increase of the CSD slope (m) and crystal population density per size (n0 ), as well as a decrease of the crystal size, for both cpx and sp. The log-linear CSD segments with different slopes at 7 and 60◦C/h suggest multiple nucleation events and crystal growth by coarsening. Gmax and GCSD for cpx and sp directly measured on the actual crystallization time by DSC spectra, both increase with the increasing of ∆T/∆t. The onset temperature of crystallization (Txi ) decreases as ∆T/∆t increases, following an exponential trend that defines the uppermost portion of a time-transformation-temperature-like curve. This analytical model allows us to quantitatively model the kinetic crystallization paths of dry basalts

The biological underpinnings of perinatal depressive symptoms: a multi-systems approach.

Background. Well-established evidence exists of an association between depressive symptoms and alterations in the stress and inflammatory response systems; however, the picture is far less coherent during the perinatal period. This study combines the assessment of multiple stress and inflammatory biomarkers in late pregnancy and after delivery in order to investigate cross-sectional and prospective associations with perinatal depressive symptoms. Methods. Onehundred-ten healthy women were assessed in late pregnancy (mean gestational age=34.76; SD=1.12) and 89 were re-evaluated after delivery (mean hours after delivery=52.36; SD=19.70) for depressive and anxiety symptoms through the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Serum Interleukin-6 (IL-6), C-Reactive Protein (CRP) and diurnal salivary cortisol levels were measured on both occasions, while diurnal salivary alpha amylase (sAA) levels were assessed in late pregnancy. Results. Using Hierarchical Linear Models, higher depressive symptoms were found to be associated with higher IL-6 levels, lower morning cortisol levels and a flatter cortisol diurnal slope during pregnancy, while adjusting for potential confounders. No significant associations were found after delivery or with change in biomarker levels from pre- to post-partum. Furthermore, preliminary evidence of a positive association between inflammation and stress markers in women with higher antenatal depressive symptoms was found. Limitations: The sample was relatively small and highly selected, thus limiting generalizability of the findings. Conclusions. Results emphasize the need for an integrated multisystems approach to the understanding of the biological underpinnings of perinatal depression and suggest that the stress-immune interactions represent a promising avenue for future endeavor

Maternal and infant NR3C1 and SLC6A4 epigenetic signatures of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown: when timing matters

Stress exposure during pregnancy is critically linked with maternal mental health and child development. The effects might involve altered patterns of DNA methylation in specific stress-related genes (i.e., glucocorticoid receptor gene, NR3C1, and serotonin transporter gene, SLC6A4) and might be moderated by the gestational timing of stress exposure. In this study, we report on NR3C1 and SLC6A4 methylation status in Italian mothers and infants who were exposed to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown during different trimesters of pregnancy. From May 2020 to February 2021, 283 mother–infant dyads were enrolled at delivery. Within 24 h from delivery, buccal cells were collected to assess NR3C1 (44 CpG sites) and SLC6A4 (13 CpG sites) methylation status. Principal component (PC) analyses were used to reduce methylation data dimension to one PC per maternal and infant gene methylation. Mother–infant dyads were split into three groups based on the pregnancy trimester (first, second, third), during which they were exposed to the COVID-19 lockdown. Mothers and infants who were exposed to the lockdown during the first trimester of pregnancy had lower NR3C1 and SLC6A4 methylation when compared to counterparts exposed during the second or third trimesters. The effect remained significant after controlling for confounders. Women who were pregnant during the pandemic and their infants might present altered epigenetic biomarkers of stress-related genes. As these epigenetic marks have been previously linked with a heightened risk of maternal psychiatric problems and less-than-optimal child development, mothers and infants should be adequately monitored for psychological health during and after the pandemic

Beyond the HPA-axis: Exploring maternal prenatal influences on birth outcomes and stress reactivity

Accumulating evidence suggests that antenatal maternal stress is associated with altered behavioral and physiological outcomes in the offspring, however, whether this association is causal and the underlying biological mechanisms remain largely unknown. While the most studied mediator of maternal stress influences on the fetus has generally been cortisol, alternative novel markers of stress or inflammation warrant further consideration. The current investigation explored the influence of variations in self-reported symptoms of distress, stress hormones and inflammatory markers on infant birth outcomes and early stress regulation. The sample consisted of 104 pregnant women (mean gestational age = 34.76; SD = 1.12) and their healthy newborns. Maternal self-reported symptoms of depression and anxiety were evaluated through the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and levels of serum Interleukine-6 (IL-6), C-Reactive Protein (CRP), salivary cortisol and alpha amylase (sAA) were measured in late pregnancy. Newborns’ cortisol and behavioral response to the heel-stick was assessed 48–72 hours after birth. The associations between maternal stress measures and infant birth outcomes and stress reactivity, adjusted for potential confounders, were examined through hierarchical linear regressions and hierarchical linear models. Higher maternal IL-6 levels were associated with smaller head circumference at birth, while diurnal sAA levels were positively associated with birthweight. Maternal diurnal cortisol was related to newborn’s stress reactivity: a flatter infant cortisol response to the heel-stick was associated with greater maternal cortisol increases after awakening during pregnancy, while greater infant behavioural reactivity was related to a flatter maternal diurnal cortisol profile. The observational nature of these data does not allow for causal inferences but the current findings illustrate that antenatal factors related to alterations in maternal stress and immune response systems are associated with fetal growth and neonatal stress reactivity. This may have implications for later health and psychological outcomes

Nasal saline irrigation in preschool children: a survey of attitudes and prescribing habits of primary care pediatricians working in northern Italy

It has been shown that nasal saline irrigation (NSI) alone can be effective in children with infectious and/or allergic respiratory problems, but no study has assessed the awareness or clinical use of NSI among practising pediatricians. The main aim of this study was to evaluate the use of NSI in pre-school children by primary care pediatricians working in northern Italy. Methods. Nine hundred randomly selected National Health Service primary care pediatricians with an e-mail address were sent an e-mail asking whether they were willing to respond to a questionnaire regarding the use of NSI. The 870 who answered positively were sent an anonymous questionnaire by post and e-mail that had 17 multiple-choice items. Results: Completed questionnaires were received from 860 of the 870 primary care pediatricians (98.8%). NSI was used by almost all the respondents (99.3%), although with significant differences in frequency. It was considered both a prophylactic and a therapeutic measure by most of the respondents (60.3%), who prescribed it every day for healthy children and more frequently when they were ill. Most of the primary care pediatricians (87%) indicated an isotonic solution as the preferred solution, and the most frequently recommended administration devices were a nasal spray (67.7%) and bulb syringe (20.6%). Most of the pediatricians (75.6%) convinced parents to use NSI by explaining it could have various beneficial effects, and two-thirds (527/854; 61.7%) thought that most of the parents agreed about the importance of NSI. Analysis of possible associations between NSI prescribing behaviour and the demographic data revealed an associations with age and gender, with pediatricians aged <50 years prescribing NSI more frequently than their older counterparts (p < 0.01), and females prescribing NSI more frequently than males (p < 0.01). Conclusions: In Northern Italy, most primary care pediatricians prescribe NSI for both the prophylaxis and therapy of upper respiratory tract problems in pre-school children. However, many aspects of the procedure are not clarified, and this reduces parental compliance. Given the medical and economic advantages of NSI, this situation should be changed as soon as possible. \ua9 2014 Marchisio et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd

Obsidians of Pantelleria (Strait of Sicily): A Petrographic, Geochemical and Magnetic Study of Known and New Geological Sources

This paper provides new petrochemical and paleomagnetic data from obsidian sub-sources on the island of Pantelleria, exploited since the Neolithic. Data has been obtained from 14 obsidian samples from 4 locations: Fossa della Pernice (2 sites), Salto la Vecchia and Balata dei Turchi. Here, we aim to better characterize these obsidians using a cross-disciplinary and multi-analytical approach, to further understand their archaeological significance. Major element analyses (EMP) have enabled two compositional super-groups to be distinguished: (i) Fossa della Pernice, less peralkaline and (ii) Balata dei Turchi-Salto la Vecchia, distinctly more peralkaline and having almost identical chemical patterns. Trace element analyses (LA-ICP-MS) corroborate major element groupings, with the Balata dei Turchi-Salto la Vecchia super-group being further characterized by a pronounced negative europium anomaly. Glass H2O contents (FT-IR) reveal an overlap among all the sub-sources (H2O = 0.1-0.3 wt. %). Magnetic methods have refined the petrochemical groupings, permitting further distinction between Balata dei Turchi-Salto La Vecchia and the Fossa della Pernice super-groups. The occurrence of sub-microscopic (&lt; 1 μm) ferromagnetic minerals results in different magnetic susceptibility and Natural Remanent Magnetization values and allows the best distinction among the products from the chosen sites. When compared with obsidian tools excavated from Bronze-age settlements on the island of Ustica (230 km NE of Pantelleria), 12% are distinctly peralkaline, indicating their provenance to be from the Balata dei Turchi sub-source

Genetic Polymorphisms of Functional Candidate Genes and Recurrent Acute Otitis Media With or Without Tympanic Membrane Perforation

Evaluation of the genetic contribution to the development of recurrent acute otitis media (rAOM) remains challenging. This study aimed to evaluate the potential association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in selected genes and rAOM and to analyze whether genetic variations might predispose to the development of complicated recurrent cases, such as those with tympanic membrane perforation (TMP).A total of 33 candidate genes and 47 SNPs were genotyped in 200 children with rAOM (116 with a history of TMP) and in 200 healthy controls.INF\u3b3 rs 12369470CT was significantly less common in the children with rAOM than in healthy controls (odds ratio [OR] 0.5, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.25-1, P\u200a=\u200a0.04). Although not significant, interleukin (IL)-1\u3b2 rs 1143627G and toll-like receptor (TLR)-4 rs2737191AG were less frequently detected in the children with rAOM than in controls. The opposite was true for IL-8 rs2227306CT, which was found more frequently in the children with rAOM than in healthy controls. The IL-10 rs1800896TC SNP and the IL-1\u3b1 rs6746923A and AG SNPs were significantly more and less common, respectively, among children without a history of TMP than among those who suffered from this complication (OR 2.17, 95% CI 1.09-4.41, P\u200a=\u200a0.02, and OR 0.42, 95% CI 0.21-0.84, P\u200a=\u200a0.01).This study is the first report suggesting an association between variants in genes encoding for factors of innate or adaptive immunity and the occurrence of rAOM with or without TMP, which confirms the role of genetics in conditioning susceptibility to AOM

Role of aflatoxin B1 on hematological factors, histopathological changes, tissue residual, growth and survival rate of Fenneropenaeus indicus

Role of aflatoxin B1 on hematological indexes, histopathological changes, tissue residual, growth and survival rate of Fenneropenaeus indicus Some similar cases of aflatoxin chronic poisoning were reported from cultured shrimps in Iran. In this study, Indian white shrimp, Fenneropenaeus indicus, with a weight of 11.79 ± 1.76 grams were fed with diets containing 0, 20, 50, 100, 200, 400, 800 and 1600 ppb levels of AFB1 for 8 weeks. Growth performances, survival rate, residue in muscles and cephalothorax, hematological and histopathological changes were determined after 4 and 8 weeks. The results showed that after 8 week of feeding shrimps with values of 20, 50 and 100 ppb aflatoxin B1, did not affect the growth rate, but with increased levels of Aflatoxin B1 in feed, the growth is reduced and the correlation (r) minus the final weight equal to - 0.312. After eight weeks doses of AFB1 in the diets showed negative correlation to the survival rate, total haemocyte count (THC), total plasma protein (TPP) equal to -0.603, -0.237 and -0.649 respectively. Histopathological changes were variety necrosis, degeneration and atrophy of epithelial and secretory cells lining the tubules, infiltration of fibroblasts in the walls of hepatopancreas tubules, separated muscle bundles in Muscle tissues and intestinal mucosal necrosis and detachment. Possible amelioration was examined by feeding control and treated shrimp (after eight weeks exposure to AFB1) by dietary without AFB1 for four weeks. The Recovery was observed in all parameters of 20, 50, 100 and 200 ppb AFB1 treatments but shrimps fed with the 1600 ppb and 800 ppb concentrations of AFB1 exhibited slower growth, more reddish discoloration disseminated over the body and lack of consistency in the hepatopancreas at 4th week recovery period. After eight weeks, the highest level of aflatoxin B1 residues in shrimp muscles was observed in 100 ppb treatment that its value was 1.55 ppb, but the highest level of aflatoxin B1 residues in cephalothorax was observed in 1600 ppb treatment that its value was 7.1 ppb. In terms of public health, these amounts of aflatoxin in shrimp body are less than permissible limit for human consumption

Acromegaly is associated with increased cancer risk: A survey in Italy

It is debated if acromegalic patients have an increased risk to develop malignancies. The aim of the present study was to assess the standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) of different types of cancer in acromegaly on a large series of acromegalic patients managed in the somatostatin analogs era. It was evaluated the incidence of cancer in an Italian nationwide multicenter cohort study of 1512 acromegalic patients, 624 men and 888 women, mean age at diagnosis 45 \uc2\ub1 13 years, followed up for a mean of 10 years (12573 person-years) in respect to the general Italian population. Cancer was diagnosed in 124 patients, 72 women and 52 men. The SIRs for all cancers was significantly increased compared to the general Italian population (expected: 88, SIR 1.41; 95% CI, 1.18-1.68, P &lt; 0.001). In the whole series, we found a significantly increased incidence of colorectal cancer (SIR 1.67; 95% CI, 1.07-2.58, P = 0.022), kidney cancer (SIR 2.87; 95% CI, 1.55-5.34, P &lt; 0.001) and thyroid cancer (SIR 3.99; 95% CI, 2.32-6.87, P &lt; 0.001). The exclusion of 11 cancers occurring before diagnosis of acromegaly (all in women) did not change remarkably the study outcome. In multivariate analysis, the factors significantly associated with an increased risk of malignancy were age and family history of cancer, with a non-significant trend for the estimated duration of acromegaly before diagnosis. In conclusion, we found evidence that acromegaly in Italy is associated with a moderate increase in cancer risk

The association of neighbourhood and individual social capital with consistent self-rated health: a longitudinal study in Brazilian pregnant and postpartum women.

BACKGROUND: Social conditions, social relationships and neighbourhood environment, the components of social capital, are important determinants of health. The objective of this study was to investigate the association of neighbourhood and individual social capital with consistent self-rated health in women between the first trimester of pregnancy and six months postpartum. METHODS: A multilevel cohort study in 34 neighbourhoods was performed on 685 Brazilian women recruited at antenatal units in two cities in the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Self-rated health (SRH) was assessed in the 1st trimester of pregnancy (baseline) and six months after childbirth (follow-up). The participants were divided into two groups: 1. Good SRH--good SRH at baseline and follow-up, and, 2. Poor SRH--poor SRH at baseline and follow-up. Exploratory variables collected at baseline included neighbourhood social capital (neighbourhood-level variable), individual social capital (social support and social networks), demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, health-related behaviours and self-reported diseases. A hierarchical binomial multilevel analysis was performed to test the association between neighbourhood and individual social capital and SRH, adjusted for covariates. RESULTS: The Good SRH group reported higher scores of social support and social networks than the Poor SRH group. Although low neighbourhood social capital was associated with poor SRH in crude analysis, the association was not significant when individual socio-demographic variables were included in the model. In the final model, women reporting poor SRH both at baseline and follow-up had lower levels of social support (positive social interaction) [OR 0.82 (95% CI: 0.73-0.90)] and a lower likelihood of friendship social networks [OR 0.61 (95% CI: 0.37-0.99)] than the Good SRH group. The characteristics that remained associated with poor SRH were low level of schooling, Black and Brown ethnicity, more children, urinary infection and water plumbing outside the house. CONCLUSIONS: Low individual social capital during pregnancy, considered here as social support and social network, was independently associated with poor SRH in women whereas neighbourhood social capital did not affect women's SRH during pregnancy and the months thereafter. From pregnancy and up to six months postpartum, the effect of individual social capital explained better the consistency of SRH over time than neighbourhood social capital