Significance of borderline hemoglobin A2 values in an Italian population with a high prevalence of -thalassemia

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Radioactive ion beam opportunities at the new FRAISE facility of INFN-LNS

At the Laboratori Nazionali del Sud of INFN (INFN-LNS) in Catania, the construction of the new Radioactive Ion Beams (RIBs) facility FRAISE (FRAgment In-flight SEparator) has reached its ending phase. The facility uses the in-flight technique based on a primary beam fragmentation impinging on light Be or C targets. FRAISE makes use of light and medium mass primary beams, having power up to asymptotic to 2-3 kW, leading to RIBs, whose intensities vary in the range of asymptotic to 10(3)-10(7) pps, for nuclei far from and close to the stability valley, respectively. FRAISE aims at providing high-intensity and high-quality RIBs for nuclear physics experiments, also serving to interdisciplinary research areas, such as medical physics. Critical aspects for high-quality beams are the tuning and transport, representing time-consuming processes and requiring dedicated diagnostics and tagging devices measuring many features of RIBs. Some of these devices should be capable to operate in radioactively activated environments because of the expected 2 kW beam lost in the dipole after the production target. Due to its peculiar robustness to radioactive damage, Silicon Carbide (SiC) technology has been considered for the detection layer. In this view, an R & D campaign has been started aiming at developing the FRAISE facility, the new diagnostics system, and a new tagging device, the latter of which will be useful for the CHIMERA multidetector beamline. In this paper, we discuss the status and the perspectives of the facility with a focus on the RIBs opportunities

Ten new insights in climate science 2020 – a horizon scan

Non-technical summary We summarize some of the past year's most important findings within climate change-related research. New research has improved our understanding of Earth's sensitivity to carbon dioxide, finds that permafrost thaw could release more carbon emissions than expected and that the uptake of carbon in tropical ecosystems is weakening. Adverse impacts on human society include increasing water shortages and impacts on mental health. Options for solutions emerge from rethinking economic models, rights-based litigation, strengthened governance systems and a new social contract. The disruption caused by COVID-19 could be seized as an opportunity for positive change, directing economic stimulus towards sustainable investments. Technical summary A synthesis is made of ten fields within climate science where there have been significant advances since mid-2019, through an expert elicitation process with broad disciplinary scope. Findings include: (1) a better understanding of equilibrium climate sensitivity; (2) abrupt thaw as an accelerator of carbon release from permafrost; (3) changes to global and regional land carbon sinks; (4) impacts of climate change on water crises, including equity perspectives; (5) adverse effects on mental health from climate change; (6) immediate effects on climate of the COVID-19 pandemic and requirements for recovery packages to deliver on the Paris Agreement; (7) suggested long-term changes to governance and a social contract to address climate change, learning from the current pandemic, (8) updated positive cost–benefit ratio and new perspectives on the potential for green growth in the short- and long-term perspective; (9) urban electrification as a strategy to move towards low-carbon energy systems and (10) rights-based litigation as an increasingly important method to address climate change, with recent clarifications on the legal standing and representation of future generations. Social media summary Stronger permafrost thaw, COVID-19 effects and growing mental health impacts among highlights of latest climate science

Estimating Urban-Induced Artificial Recharge: A Case Study for Austin, TX

Urbanization alters the character and state of the land surface. Urban-induced anthropogenic recharge sources that include leaky utility lines, storm sewer systems, and storm-water catchments, as well as over-irrigation of lawns, parks, and golf courses, can be significant. However, data may be sparse and quantification difficult. A case study for Austin, TX, uses commonly available data to estimate recharge from leaky utility lines and irrigation return flows. The estimates indicate that these sources accounted for at least 5 percent of the total recharge between 1999 and 2009 and that on a monthly basis these contributions can vary from \u3c1 percent to nearly 100 percent of the total recharge. Irrigation return flow was the most significant contributor in summer seasons; however, leakage from utility lines provided more total recharge. Urban recharge contributions were comparable to the mid-size watershed contributions over the 10-year period. These estimates are conservative and should be reevaluated as urbanization continues and as new data become available. Outcomes are relevant for habitat conservation, drought response planning, and urban groundwater management. Urban recharge can be important for buffering seasonal fluctuations during periods of low precipitation and springflow

Sicurezza cardiovascolare degli inibitori selettivi della COX-2

Nel 2000 sono stati introdotti in commercio in Italia i nuovi farmaci antinfiammatori, celecoxib e rofecoxib (COXIB), che agiscono inibendo selettivamente la cicloossigenasi-2 (COX-2). I COXIB, per il loro selettivo meccanismo d’azione, riducono l’infiammazione con minori effetti collaterali a livello gastrointestinale, inoltre non riducono la produzione di trombossano e non inibiscono l’aggregazione piastrinica né allungano il tempo di sanguinamento. Nel 2001 fu pubblicata una review che sottolineava i rischi cardiovascolari associati ai COXIBs. Sebbene ci siano sufficienti dati ottenuti in studi randomizzati su rofecoxib, valdecoxib/parecoxib e celecoxib, che suggeriscono che ognuno di questi farmaci produce eventi cardiovascolari avversi, ci sono allo stesso modo numerosi studi che indicano differenti gradi di rischio associati ai diversi COXIBs. Quando si hanno pazienti con rischio assoluto di eventi cardiovascolari alto, come ad esempio in pazienti con malattia alle arterie coronarie, o con fattori di rischio multipli per la malattia alle coronarie, è prudente evitare i COXIBs. I COXIBs continueranno ad essere clinicamente utili, anche se per un gruppo di pazienti ben selezionato. Questi sono pazienti che necessitano del trattamento con antinfiammatori non steroidei nonostante ricevano già altre terapie ottimizzate (ad esempio farmaci curativi per l’artrite reumatoide e analgesici, fisioterapia, e aiuti fisici per l’osteoartrite), con un profilo di rischio cardiovascolare basso e con un rischio di sanguinamento gastrointestinale relativamente alto

Evidence for ionic liquid gate-induced metallization of vanadium dioxide bars over micron length scales

It has recently been shown that the metal–insulator transition in vanadium dioxide epitaxial films can be suppressed and the material made metallic to low temperatures by ionic liquid gating due to migration of oxygen. The gating is only possible on certain crystal facets where volume channels along the VO2’s rutile c-axis intersect the surface. Here, we fabricate bars with the c-axis in plane and oriented parallel to or perpendicular to the length of the bars. We show that only bars with the c-axis perpendicular to the bars, for which the volume channels are accessible from the sides of the bar, can be metallized by ionic liquid gating. Moreover, we find that bars up to at least 0.5 μm wide can be fully gated, demonstrating the possibility of the electric field induced migration of oxygen over very long distances, ∼5 times longer than previously observed

Hb Southern Italy: coexistence of two missence mutations (the Hb Sun Prairie alpha(2) 130 Ala-->Pro and Hb Caserta alpha(2) 26 Ala-->Thr) in a single HBA2 gene.

This study describes a new molecular condition in the α2- globin gene (HBA2) found in six unrelated families from Southern Italy (Campania and Sicily). This new double mutant form of haemoglobin is called Hb Southern Italy and originated from the coexistence of two known mutations occurring in the same globin gene, HBA2 26 G→A (Hb Caserta) and HBA2 130 G→C (Hb Sun Prairie). Hb Sun Prairie was originally observed in Indian patients in either the homozygous state, with severe hemolytic anemia, and in the heterozygous state with microcytosis, or in asymptomatic cases as an α-thalassemia carrier phenotype. Hb Caserta was observed for the first time in a Casertian family (South Italy) that displayed a slowmigrating haemoglobin upon investigation. We report the clinical phenotype and molecular study of this new double mutant form of haemoglobin in heterozygous and homozygous subjects, as well as in association with α°delectional thalassemia

Hb J-Cape Town [alpha92(FG4)Arg-->Gln (alpha1), CGG-->CAG] in Southern Italy found in a patient with erythrocytosis.

A high oxygen affinity hemoglobin (Hb) variant, Hb J-Cape Town [α92(FG4)Arg→Gln (α1), CGG→CAG] was identified in a 30-year-old woman patient from Cosenza (Southern Italy) who had previously been diagnosed with juvenile polycythemia in other hospitals. The occurrence of the variant Hb was assessed by both cation exchange chromatography and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) analyses. A detailed structural and functional characterization of the variant was performed at both the protein and DNA level. Structural investigation of the Hb variant by mass spectrometric methodologies and peptide sequencing identified the amino acid replacement as Arg→Gln at α92. The corresponding DNA mutation CGG→CAG was assigned to codon 92 of the α1 gene by DNA sequencing. These findings highlight the importance of investigating the hypothesis of a high affinity variant in the presence of a polycythemia so as to avoid unnecessary bone marrow examination or radioactive treatment. This report represents the first observation of the Hb J-Cape Town variant in Ital

Optogenetic stimulation of prelimbic pyramidal neurons maintains fear memories and modulates amygdala pyramidal neuron transcriptome

Fear extinction requires coordinated neural activity within the amygdala and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Any behavior has a transcriptomic signature that is modified by environmental experiences, and specific genes are involved in functional plasticity and synaptic wiring during fear extinction. Here, we investigated the effects of optogenetic manipulations of prelimbic (PrL) pyramidal neurons and amygdala gene expression to analyze the specific transcriptional pathways associated to adaptive and maladaptive fear extinction. To this aim, transgenic mice were (or not) fear-conditioned and during the extinction phase they received optogenetic (or sham) stimulations over photo-activable PrL pyramidal neurons. At the end of behavioral testing, electrophysiological (neural cellular excitability and Excitatory Post-Synaptic Currents) and morphological (spinogenesis) correlates were evaluated in the PrL pyramidal neurons. Furthermore, transcriptomic cell-specific RNA-analyses (differential gene expression profiling and functional enrichment analyses) were performed in amygdala pyramidal neurons. Our results show that the optogenetic activation of PrL pyramidal neurons in fear-conditioned mice induces fear extinction deficits, reflected in an increase of cellular excitability, excitatory neurotransmission, and spinogenesis of PrL pyramidal neurons, and associated to strong modifications of the transcriptome of amygdala pyramidal neurons. Understanding the electrophysiological, morphological, and transcriptomic architecture of fear extinction may facilitate the comprehension of fear-related disorders