Circulating microparticles from septic shock patients exert differential tissue expression of enzymes related to inflammation and oxidative stress

Objective: Septic shock is characterized by hypotension and multiple organ failure after infection of microorganisms. Septic shock patients display high levels of circulating microparticles. These are small vesicles released from the plasma membrane of activated or apoptotic cells. Here, we have investigated the effects of in vivo injection of microparticles from nonseptic or septic subjects on protein expression in mouse tissues.Design: Prospective, controlled experiments. Setting: Animal basic science laboratory. Subjects: Male Swiss mice were randomly assigned to one of two groups: 11 animals injected with microparticles isolated from healthy subjects and 15 animals injected with microparticles isolated from septic patients. Interventions: Microparticles were extracted from whole blood of septic and nonseptic subjects and were intravenously injected in mice. After 24 hrs, mice were killed and heart, lungs, liver, and kidneys were isolated for Western blot assays. Organs were also used for direct measurements of nitric oxide and superoxide anion production by electron paramagnetic resonance. Measurements and Main Results: In heart and lungs, microparticles from septic shock patients increased the expression of endothelial and inducible nitric oxide synthases, cyclooxygenase-2, and nuclear factor-κB. However, extracellular superoxide dismutase was only increased in the heart. These effects were associated either with a greater oxidative or nitrative stress in heart and lungs, without affecting nitric oxide production. The liver exhibited an increase in oxidative stress linked to decreased endothelial nitric oxide synthase and manganese superoxide dismutase expression. However, cyclooxygenase-2 expression and IκBα phosphorylation were decreased. Septic microparticles did not change superoxide anion and nitric oxide productions in kidneys. Conclusions: Results suggest that microparticles from septic shock patients exert pleiotropic and differential effects depending on target tissues with regard to the expression of proinflammatory proteins related with nitrative and oxidative stresses. Thus, microparticles might participate in organ dysfunction observed in septic shock patients

The regional impact of tourism when data is scarce : An application to the province of Salta

Availability of updated and detailed official statistics at subnational level can sometimes be challenging, particularly in the developing world. This kind of data problems can become discouraging to governments trying to understand how their policies impact the economy, life and ecology of small regional areas. We use the case of the province of Salta, in Argentina, to show how, regardless of bad data problems, analysis of policy can be carried on successfully. Based on survey data and location quotients methodology we build a social accounting matrix for Salta. This estimated matrix allows use an input-output analysis to understand the relevance of tourism promotion programmes in the region.Facultad de Ciencias Económica

Wearable Sensors and Smart Devices to Monitor Rehabilitation Parameters and Sports Performance: An Overview

A quantitative evaluation of kinetic parameters, the joint’s range of motion, heart rate, and breathing rate, can be employed in sports performance tracking and rehabilitation monitoring following injuries or surgical operations. However, many of the current detection systems are expensive and designed for clinical use, requiring the presence of a physician and medical staff to assist users in the device’s positioning and measurements. The goal of wearable sensors is to overcome the limitations of current devices, enabling the acquisition of a user’s vital signs directly from the body in an accurate and non–invasive way. In sports activities, wearable sensors allow athletes to monitor performance and body movements objectively, going beyond the coach’s subjective evaluation limits. The main goal of this review paper is to provide a comprehensive overview of wearable technologies and sensing systems to detect and monitor the physiological parameters of patients during post–operative rehabilitation and athletes’ training, and to present evidence that supports the efficacy of this technology for healthcare applications. First, a classification of the human physiological parameters acquired from the human body by sensors attached to sensitive skin locations or worn as a part of garments is introduced, carrying important feedback on the user’s health status. Then, a detailed description of the electromechanical transduction mechanisms allows a comparison of the technologies used in wearable applications to monitor sports and rehabilitation activities. This paves the way for an analysis of wearable technologies, providing a comprehensive comparison of the current state of the art of available sensors and systems. Comparative and statistical analyses are provided to point out useful insights for defining the best technologies and solutions for monitoring body movements. Lastly, the presented review is compared with similar ones reported in the literature to highlight its strengths and novelties

On the use of temporal series of L-and X-band SAR data for soil moisture retrieval. Capitanata plain case study

This paper investigates the use of time series of ALOS/PALSAR-1 and COSMO-SkyMed data for the soil moisture retrieval (mv) by means of the SMOSAR algorithm. The application context is the exploitation of mv maps at a moderate spatial and temporal resolution for improving flood/drought monitoring at regional scale. The SAR data were acquired over the Capitanata plain in Southern Italy, over which ground campaigns were carried out in 2007, 2010 and 2011. The analysis shows that the mv retrieval accuracy is 5%-7% m^3/m^3 at L- and X band, although the latter is restricted to a use over nearly bare soil only

Influence of micropaticles harvested from patients affected by obstructive sleep apnea syndrome on endothelial function and vascular reactivity

Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is a highly prevalent disease characterized by recurrent episodes of partial or complete obstruction of the upper airways during sleep, leading to oxygen desaturation, sleep fragmentation and clinical endothelial dysfunction. Microparticles (MPs) are membrane vesicles released during cell activation and apoptosis. Elevated levels of circulating MPs have been detected in pathologies associated with vascular alterations. We investigated the effects of MPs on endothelial function and vascular reactivity in OSAS. Blood samples were obtained either from 38 OSAS patients without any other cardiovascular comorbidities and 23 healthy subjects. A desaturation index above 10 per hour defined OSAS patients. MPs concentration and origin were assessed using flow cytometer. Male Swiss mice were injected i.v. with MPs from OSAS or healthy subjects, or with saline solution, and sacrified after 24hours. Endothelial function and vascular reactivity were studied on aortic rings and small mesenteric resistance (SMA) arteries by myography and arteriography, respectively. Patients with OSAS did not display increased circulating levels of MPs compared to healthy subjects including those from pro-coagulant, platelet, endothelial, leukocyte and erythrocyte origins. Interestingly, MPs from granulocytes and activated leukocytes were significantly enhanced in OSAS patients. Activated leukocyte MPs positively correlated with oxygen desaturation index. In aorta, MPs from OSAS patients but not those from healthy subjects significantly reduced endothelium-dependent relaxation to acetylcholine. MPs from OSAS increased sensitivity of the aorta in response to serotonin that was greater compared to the effect of MPs from healthy subjects. In SMA, MPs from OSAS but not those from healthy subjects impaired flow-induced dilation without any effect on myogenic tone. Although SMA from mice treated with healthy subjects MPs did not affect flow-induced dilation, these vessels showed a reduced prostacyclin-component that was completely compensated by the NO-component of the response. The endothelial dysfunction induced by MPs from OSAS was caused by the reduction of both NO- and prostacyclin- but not the endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factor-components of the response in SMA. These data provide evidence that circulating MPs from OSAS patients influence both endothelial function and vascular reactivity

The regional impact of tourism when data is scarce : An application to the province of Salta

Availability of updated and detailed official statistics at subnational level can sometimes be challenging, particularly in the developing world. This kind of data problems can become discouraging to governments trying to understand how their policies impact the economy, life and ecology of small regional areas. We use the case of the province of Salta, in Argentina, to show how, regardless of bad data problems, analysis of policy can be carried on successfully. Based on survey data and location quotients methodology we build a social accounting matrix for Salta. This estimated matrix allows use an input-output analysis to understand the relevance of tourism promotion programmes in the region.Facultad de Ciencias Económica

A fast algorithm for subspace state-space system identification via exploitation of the displacement structure

Two recent approaches (Van Overschee, De Moor, N4SID, Automatica 30 (1) (1994) 75; Verhaegen, Int. J. Control 58(3) (1993) 555) in subspace identification problems require the computation of the R factor of the QR factorization of a block-Hankel matrix H, which, in general has a huge number of rows. Since the data are perturbed by noise, the involved matrix H is, in general, full rank. It is well known that, from a theoretical point of view. the R factor of the PR factorization of H is equivalent to the Cholesky factor of the correlation matrix HTH, apart from a multiplication by a sign matrix. In Sima (Proceedings Second NICONET Workshop, Paris-Versailles, December 3, 1999, p. 75), a fast Cholesky factorization of the correlation matrix, exploiting the block-Hankel structure of H, is described. In this paper we consider a fast algorithm to compute the R factor based on the generalized Schur algorithm. The proposed algorithm allows to handle the rank-deficient case. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.ANCH

Synthesis of L-tricholomic acid analogues and pharmacological characterization at ionotropic glutamate receptors

The synthesis of analogues of the natural compound ltricholomic acid and of its threo diastereoisomer was accomplished in order to explore their affinity for glutamate ionotropic receptors. In this study, fourteen new unnatural amino acids, characterized by a 3-hydroxy-~2 -isoxazoline or 3- hydroxy-~2 -pyrazoline-skeleton, were obtained exploiting, as key reaction, a 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition or an intramolecular cyclization

The use of FDG-PET in the initial staging of 142 patients with follicular lymphoma: a retrospective study from the FOLL05 randomized trial of the Fondazione Italiana Linfomi

BACKGROUND: The role of [(18)F] fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-positron emission tomography (PET) in follicular lymphoma (FL) staging is not yet determined. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of PET in the initial staging of FL patients enrolled in the FOLL05-phase-III trial that compared first-line regimens (R-CVP, R-CHOP and R-FM). Patients should have undergone conventional staging and have available PET baseline to be included. RESULTS: A total of 142 patients were analysed. PET identified a higher number of nodal areas in 32% (46 of 142) of patients and more extranodal (EN) sites than computed tomography (CT) scan. Also, the Follicular Lymphoma International Prognostic Index (FLIPI) score increased in 18% (26 of 142) and decreased in 6% (9 of 142) of patients. Overall, the impact of PET on modifying the stage was highest in patients with limited stage. Actually, 62% (15 of 24) of cases with limited disease were upstaged with PET. CONCLUSIONS: The inclusion of PET among staging procedures makes the evaluation of patients with FL more accurate and has the potential to modify therapy decision and prognosis in a moderate proportion of patients. Further prospective clinical trials on FL should incorporate PET at different moments, and the therapeutic criteria to start therapy should be re-visited in the views of this new tool

Efficient synthesis of novel glutamate homologues and investigation of their affinity and selectivity profile at ionotropic glutamate receptors

A convenient synthesis of four new enantiomerically pure acidic amino acids is reported and their affinity at ionotropic glutamate receptors was determined. The new compounds are higher homologues of glutamic acid in which the molecular complexity has been increased by introducing an aromatic/heteroaromatic ring, that is a phenyl or a thiophene ring, that could give additional electronic interactions with the receptors. The results of the present investigation indicate that the insertion of an aromatic/heteroaromatic ring into the amino acid skeleton of glutamate higher homologues is well tolerated and this modification could be exploited to generate a new class of NMDA antagonists