54 research outputs found
Monocyte-to-HDL Ratio (MHR) Predicts Vitamin D Deficiency in Healthy and Metabolic Women: A Cross-Sectional Study in 1048 Subjects
Vitamin D deficiency is often linked with Metabolic Syndrome, both being more frequent with ageing and associated with an increase inflammatory state. Recently, monocytes-to-high density lipoprotein (HDL) ratio (MHR) has emerged as a powerful index to predict systemic inflammation. In this cross-sectional study, we investigated the association between circulating vitamin D level (25-OH vitamin D) and inflammatory status in a population of 1048 adult individuals. Our study reveals an inverse association between 25-OH vitamin D levels and MHR in the overall population. When the population is stratified by gender, waist circumference, and body mass index (BMI), we observed that while in men this relation is strongly significative only in condition of central obesity, in women a lifelong negative correlation exists between circulating 25-OH vitamin D and MHR and it is independent of the metabolic status. These observations underscore the relevance of circulating biomarkers such as MHR in the prediction of systemic inflammatory conditions sustained by vitamin D deficiency also in healthy and young women
Qualitative analysis of the capacity to consent to treatment in patients with a chronic neurodegenerative disease. Alzheimer's Disease.
Objective: Informed consent is an essential element in doctorâpatient relationship. In particular, obtaining valid informed consent from patients with neurocognitive diseases is a critical issue at present. For this reason, we decided to conduct research on elderly patients with Alzheimerâs disease (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5) to assess their capacity to make treatment decisions.
Methods: The experimental group comprised 70 Alzheimer patients who were admitted to the Neurodegenerative Disease Unit of the University of Bari. The control group consisted of 83 elderly patients without neurocognitive disorders who were hospitalized in the Geriatric Unit at the same university. After providing written consent to participate in the research, each subject underwent the following assessments: (a) assessment of comprehension sheet, (b) Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) and Global Functioning Evaluation (GFE), (c) neurological evaluation, (d) neuropsychological assessment with a full battery of tests, (d) The MacArthur Treatment Competence Study (MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool for Treatment (MacCAT-T); understanding, appreciating, reasoning and expressing a choice) and (e) a semi-structured interview administered by the patientâs caregiver.
Results/conclusion: The present survey was designed to analyze possible qualitative and quantitative correlations between cognitive functioning and capacity to consent in relation to different degrees of severity of the neurodegenerative disorder. A large portion of the patients in our experimental sample did not appear to have the capacity to provide a valid consent. The authors present initial results of this study and discuss their possible implications
Total serum FGF-21 levels positively relate to visceral adiposity differently from its functional intact form
ObjectiveIncreased Fibroblast Growth Factor-21 (FGF-21) circulating levels have been described in obesity. In this observational study, we analysed a group of subjects with metabolic disorders to unravel the putative link between visceral adiposity and FGF-21 serum levels.MethodsTotal and intact serum FGF-21 concentration was measured with an ELISA assay respectively in 51 and 46 subjects, comparing FGF-21 levels in dysmetabolic conditions. We also tested Spearmanâs correlations between FGF-21 serum levels and biochemical and clinical metabolic parameters.ResultsFGF-21 was not significantly increased in high-risk conditions such as visceral obesity, Metabolic Syndrome, diabetes, smoking, and atherosclerosis. Waist Circumference (WC), but not BMI, positively correlated with total FGF-21 levels (r=0.31, p <0.05), while HDL-cholesterol (r=-0.29, p <0.05) and 25-OH Vitamin D (r=-0.32, p <0.05) showed a significant negative correlation with total FGF-21. ROC analysis of FGF-21 in prediction of increased WC, showed that patients with total FGF-21 level over cut-off value of 161.47 pg/mL presented with impaired FPG. Conversely, serum levels of the intact form of FGF-21 did not correlate with WC and other metabolic biomarkers.ConclusionOur newly calculated cut-off for total FGF-21 according to visceral adiposity identified subjects with fasting hyperglycemia. However, waist circumference correlates with total FGF-21 serum levels but does not correlate with intact FGF-21, suggesting that functional FGF-21 does not necessarily relate with obesity and metabolic features
Heat treatment procedure of the Aluminium 6061-T651 for the Ariel Telescope mirrors
The Atmospheric Remote-Sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large Survey (Ariel) is the M4 mission adopted by ESAâs âCosmic Visionâ program. Its launch is scheduled for 2029. The purpose of the mission is the study of exoplanetary atmospheres on a target of ⌠1000 exoplanets. Ariel scientific payload consists of an off-axis, unobscured Cassegrain telescope. The light is directed towards a set of photometers and spectrometers with wavebands between 0.5 and 7.8 ”m and operating at cryogenic temperatures. The Ariel Space Telescope consists of a primary parabolic mirror with an elliptical aperture of 1.1· 0.7 m, followed by a hyperbolic secondary, a parabolic collimating tertiary and a flat-folding mirror directing the output beam parallel to the optical bench; all in bare aluminium. The choice of bare aluminium for the realization of the mirrors is dictated by several factors: maximizing the heat exchange, reducing the costs of materials and technological advancement. To date, an aluminium mirror the size of Arielâs primary has never been made. The greatest challenge is finding a heat treatment procedure that stabilizes the aluminium, particularly the Al6061T651 Laminated alloy. This paper describes the study and testing of the heat treatment procedure developed on aluminium samples of different sizes (from 50mm to 150mm diameter), on 0.7m diameter mirror, and discusses future steps
The detector control unit of the fine guidance sensor instrument on-board the ARIEL mission: design status
ARIEL is an ESA mission whose scientific goal is to investigate exoplanetary atmospheres. The payload is
composed by two instruments: AIRS (ARIEL IR Spectrometer) and FGS (Fine Guidance System).
The FGS detection chain is composed by two HgCdTe detectors and by the cold Front End Electronics
(SIDECAR), kept at cryogenic temperatures, interfacing with the F-DCU (FGS Detector Control Unit) boards
that we will describe thoroughly in this paper. The F-DCU are situated in the warm side of the payload in a
box called FCU (FGS Control Unit) and contribute to the FGS VIS/NIR imaging and NIR spectroscopy.
The F-DCU performs several tasks: drives the detectors, processes science data and housekeeping telemetries,
manages the commands exchange between the FGS/DPU (Data Processing Unit) and the SIDECARs and
provides high quality voltages to the detectors.
This paper reports the F-DCU status, describing its architecture, the operation and the activities, past and
future necessary for its development
Preliminary surface charging analysis of Ariel payload dielectrics in early transfer orbit and L2-relevant space environment
Ariel [1] is the M4 mission of the ESAâs Cosmic Vision Program 2015-2025, whose aim is to characterize by lowresolution transit spectroscopy the atmospheres of over one thousand warm and hot exoplanets orbiting nearby stars.
The operational orbit of the spacecraft is baselined as a large amplitude halo orbit around the Sun-Earth L2 Lagrangian
point, as it offers the possibility of long uninterrupted observations in a fairly stable radiative and thermo-mechanical
environment. A direct escape injection with a single passage through the Earth radiation belts and no eclipses is foreseen.
The space environment around Earth and L2 presents significant design challenges to all spacecraft, including the effects
of interactions with Sun radiation and charged particles owning to the surrounding plasma environment, potentially
leading to dielectrics charging and unwanted electrostatic discharge (ESD) phenomena endangering the Payload
operations and its data integrity.
Here, we present some preliminary simulations and analyses about the Ariel Payload dielectrics and semiconductors
charging along the transfer orbit from launch to L2 include
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