Urban heritages: how history and housing finance matter to housing form and homeownership rates

Contemporary Western cities are not uniform but display a variety of different housing forms and tenures, both between and within countries. We distinguish three general city types in this paper: low rise, single-family dwelling cities where owner-occupation is the most prevalent tenure form; multi-dwelling building cities where tenants comprise the majority and; multi-dwelling building cities where owner occupation is the principal tenure form. We argue that historical developments beginning in the nineteenth century are crucial to understanding this diversity in urban form and tenure composition across Western cities. Our path-dependent argument is twofold. First, we claim that different housing finance institutions engendered different forms of urban development during the late-nineteenth century and had helped to establish the difference between single-family dwelling cities and multi-dwelling building cities by 1914. Second, rather than stemming from countries’ welfare systems or ‘variety of capitalism’, we argue that these historical distinctions have a significant and enduring impact on today’s urban housing forms and tenures. Our argument is supported by a unique collection of data of 1095 historical cities across 27 countries

Senescence‐associated ultrastructural features of long‐term cultures of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs)

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) hold great promise for developing personalized regenerative medicine, however characterization of their biological features is still incomplete. Moreover, changes occurring in long-term cultured iPSCs have been reported, suggesting these as a model of cellular aging. For this reason, we addressed the ultrastructural characterization of iPSCs, with a focus on possible time-dependent changes, involving specific cell compartments. To this aim, we comparatively analysed cultures at different timepoints, by an innovative electron microscopic technology (FIB/SEM). We observed progressive loss of cell-to-cell contacts, associated with increased occurrence of exosomes. Mitochondria gradually increased, while acquiring an elongated shape, with well-developed cristae. Such mitochondrial maturation was accompanied by their turnover, as assessed by the presence of autophagomes (undetectable in young iPSCs), some containing recognizable mitochondria. This finding was especially frequent in middle-aged iPSCs, while being occasional in aged cells, suggesting early autophagic activation followed by a decreased efficiency of the process with culturing time. Accordingly, confocal microscopy showed age-dependent alterations to the expression and distribution of autophagic markers. Interestingly, responsivity to rapamycin, highest in young iPSCs, was almost lost in aged cells. Overall, our results strongly support long-term cultured iPSCs as a model for studying relevant aspects of cellular senescence, involving intercellular communication, energy metabolism, and autophagy

Mitochondrial and Peroxisomal Alterations Contribute to Energy Dysmetabolism in Riboflavin Transporter Deficiency

Riboflavin transporter deficiency (RTD) is a childhood-onset neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive pontobulbar palsy, sensory and motor neuron degeneration, sensorineural hearing loss, and optic atrophy. As riboflavin (RF) is the precursor of FAD and FMN, we hypothesize that both mitochondrial and peroxisomal energy metabolism pathways involving flavoproteins could be directly affected in RTD, thus impacting cellular redox status. In the present work, we used induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from RTD patients to investigate morphofunctional features, focusing on mitochondrial and peroxisomal compartments. Using this model, we document the following RTD-associated alterations: (i) abnormal colony-forming ability and loss of cell-cell contacts, revealed by light, electron, and confocal microscopy, using tight junction marker ZO-1; (ii) mitochondrial ultrastructural abnormalities, involving shape, number, and intracellular distribution of the organelles, as assessed by focused ion beam/scanning electron microscopy (FIB/SEM); (iii) redox imbalance, with high levels of superoxide anion, as assessed by MitoSOX assay accompanied by abnormal mitochondrial polarization state, evaluated by JC-1 staining; (iv) altered immunofluorescence expression of antioxidant systems, namely, glutathione, superoxide dismutase 1 and 2, and catalase, as assessed by quantitatively evaluated confocal microscopy; and (v) peroxisomal downregulation, as demonstrated by levels and distribution of fatty acyl β-oxidation enzymes. RF supplementation results in amelioration of cell phenotype and rescue of redox status, which was associated to improved ultrastructural features of mitochondria, thus strongly supporting patient treatment with RF, to restore mitochondrial- and peroxisomal-related aspects of energy dysmetabolism and oxidative stress in RTD syndrome

Gastric permeability to sucrose is increased in portal hypertensive gastropaties

Background Portal hypertensive gastropathy (PHG) is frequently found among patients with hepatic cirrhosis and at present the only way to detect and follow PHG is via endoscopy. Objective To assess gastric and intestinal permeability and investigate its relationship to endoscopic findings and indices of portal hypertension and hepatic function. Design and methods Thirty-one non-diabetic patients with hepatic cirrhosis and PHG (PHG+) were studied and compared with 17 cirrhotic patients without PHG (PHG-), All patients underwent endoscopy for the assessment of PHG and Helicobacter pylori status, ultrasound determination of the diameters of spleen and portal vein, and, subsequently, an oral load of sucrose, lactulose, and mannitol. Sugar concentrations were determined in 6-h urine specimens and expressed as a percentage of the orally administered dose or as lactulose/mannitol ratio. Results The urinary sucrose excretion was significantly elevated in patients with PHG compared to those without (PHG+, 0.20% +/- 0.03; PHG-, 0.07% +/- 0.01; P 2. Conclusions Gastric permeability to sucrose is increased in patients with PHG, independently of the presence of H. pylori. Sucrose permeability may be useful for the followup of patients with PHG

Biomaterials and cartilage repair

The use of biomaterials for cartilage repair has strongly increased in the last decade, due to promising results obtained with the development of new therapeutic options for treatment of articular cartilage lesions. A good biomaterial for cartilage repair should ideally be: 1. An off-the-shelf graft in a one-step surgical procedure. 2. From a surgical standpoint, it should be inserted under minimally invasive conditions. 3. Should be a graded biomimetic osteochondral scaffold, promoting by itself bone and cartilage tissue restoration by inducing selective bone marrow stem cell differentiation in osteogenic and chondrogenic lineages

Which patients with cirrhosis should undergo endoscopic screening for esophageal varices detection?

Our aims were to develop a noninvasive predictive tool to identify cirrhotic patients with esophageal varices and to evaluate whether portal Doppler ultrasonographic parameters may improve the value of other predictors. One hundred forty-three consecutive compensated cirrhotic patients underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. Fourteen clinical, biochemical, ultrasonographic, and Doppler ultrasonographic parameters of each patient were also recorded. Esophageal varices were detected in 63 of the 143 patients examined (44\%; 95\% confidence interval [CI] 36.2-52.6). Medium and large esophageal varices were observed in 28 subjects (44\%; 95\% CI 31.4-58.4). Using stepwise logistic regression, presence of esophageal varices was independently predicted by prothrombin activity less than 70\% (odds ratio [OR]: 5.83; 95\% CI: 2.6-12.8), ultrasonographic portal vein diameter greater than 13 mm (OR: 2.92; 95\% CI: 1.3-6.4), and platelet count less than 100 x 10(9)/L (OR: 2.83; 95\% CI: 1.27-6.28). Variables included in the model were used to generate a simple incremental rule to evaluate each individual patient. The discriminating ability of the prediction rule was relevant (area under the curve: 0.80) and did not change by replacing ultrasonographic portal vein diameter with congestion index of portal vein. We concluded that compensated cirrhotic patients should be screened by upper gastrointestinal endoscopy when prothrombin activity less than 70\%, platelet count less than 100 x 10(9)/L, and ultrasonographic portal vein diameter greater than 13 mm are observed, whereas those without any of these predictors should not undergo endoscopy. The contribution provided by portal Doppler ultrasonographic parameters does not appear of practical utility