Comunicazione e preferenza del volto nelle prime ore di vita, studio sulle principali modalità di codifica

In letteratura i risultati degli studi sul riconoscimento del volto, vengono continuamente confrontati, nonostante l’utilizzo di diverse Modalità di Codifica della direzione dello sguardo che non vengono chiaramente definite. In questo studio vengono chiarite, analizzate e confrontate le quattro principali Modalità di Codifica utilizzate in letteratura: 1) VIVO-VOLTO, 2) FRAME by FRAME-VOLTO, 3) VIDEO-VOLTO, 4) VIDEO-LATO. I parametri utilizzati per questo confronto sono: il volto preferito e il tempo necessario per concludere la Prova di Preferenza del Volto. Dal confronto tra le diverse Modalità di Codifica, effettuato sul 56% del campione, emerge che solo 2) FRAME by FRAME-VOLTO diverge rispetto alle altre tre che, invece, vanno nella stessa direzione. I risultati della verifica di questa ipotesi: effetto del Tipo di Codifica, sono stati utilizzati come studio preliminare per la scelta della Modalità di Codifica da utilizzare per la verifica seconda ipotesi: effetto del Tipo di Comunicazione, verificata sull’intero campione (N.23). E’ stata scelta la Modalità di Codifica VIDEO-LATO perché risulta vantaggiosa sia in termini di precisione che di tempi di applicabilità. L’ipotesi che il Tipo di Comunicazione produca diversi effetti nel successivo comportamento di preferenza del volto non viene verificata, in quanto indipendentemente dal Tipo di Comunicazione sperimentata, i neonati non mostrano nessuna preferenza per un volto. A posteriori, sono state approfondite, le caratteristiche dei neonati del campione. E’ emerso che il campione di N.23 è composto da due sottocampioni considerando lo stato di ATTIVAZIONE: i PIU’ ATTIVATI (N.13) rispetto ai MENO ATTIVATI (N.10) terminano prima la Prova di Preferenza del Volto e trascorrono più tempo in occhi aperti. Lo stato di ATTIVAZIONE produce delle differenze nel comportamento di preferenza del volto, infatti dopo aver sperimentato una comunicazione piacevole (Contingente) i PIU’ ATTIVATI sembrano essere riusciti a generalizzare l’esperienza che il volto umano comunica in modo piacevole, ciò produce un interesse per entrambi i volti presentati, nell’attesa che producano segnali comunicativi piacevoli; mentre i MENO ATTIVATI rimarrebbero legati allo specifico volto con il quale hanno effettuato una comunicazione piacevole non riuscendo ad effettuare una generalizzazione dell’esperienza comunicativa con il volto umano, ciò produce un interesse per il volto che precedentemente ha comunicato in modo piacevole

Comunicazione e preferenza del volto nelle prime ore di vita, studio sulle principali modalità di codifica

In letteratura i risultati degli studi sul riconoscimento del volto, vengono continuamente confrontati, nonostante l’utilizzo di diverse Modalità di Codifica della direzione dello sguardo che non vengono chiaramente definite. In questo studio vengono chiarite, analizzate e confrontate le quattro principali Modalità di Codifica utilizzate in letteratura: 1) VIVO-VOLTO, 2) FRAME by FRAME-VOLTO, 3) VIDEO-VOLTO, 4) VIDEO-LATO. I parametri utilizzati per questo confronto sono: il volto preferito e il tempo necessario per concludere la Prova di Preferenza del Volto. Dal confronto tra le diverse Modalità di Codifica, effettuato sul 56% del campione, emerge che solo 2) FRAME by FRAME-VOLTO diverge rispetto alle altre tre che, invece, vanno nella stessa direzione. I risultati della verifica di questa ipotesi: effetto del Tipo di Codifica, sono stati utilizzati come studio preliminare per la scelta della Modalità di Codifica da utilizzare per la verifica seconda ipotesi: effetto del Tipo di Comunicazione, verificata sull’intero campione (N.23). E’ stata scelta la Modalità di Codifica VIDEO-LATO perché risulta vantaggiosa sia in termini di precisione che di tempi di applicabilità. L’ipotesi che il Tipo di Comunicazione produca diversi effetti nel successivo comportamento di preferenza del volto non viene verificata, in quanto indipendentemente dal Tipo di Comunicazione sperimentata, i neonati non mostrano nessuna preferenza per un volto. A posteriori, sono state approfondite, le caratteristiche dei neonati del campione. E’ emerso che il campione di N.23 è composto da due sottocampioni considerando lo stato di ATTIVAZIONE: i PIU’ ATTIVATI (N.13) rispetto ai MENO ATTIVATI (N.10) terminano prima la Prova di Preferenza del Volto e trascorrono più tempo in occhi aperti. Lo stato di ATTIVAZIONE produce delle differenze nel comportamento di preferenza del volto, infatti dopo aver sperimentato una comunicazione piacevole (Contingente) i PIU’ ATTIVATI sembrano essere riusciti a generalizzare l’esperienza che il volto umano comunica in modo piacevole, ciò produce un interesse per entrambi i volti presentati, nell’attesa che producano segnali comunicativi piacevoli; mentre i MENO ATTIVATI rimarrebbero legati allo specifico volto con il quale hanno effettuato una comunicazione piacevole non riuscendo ad effettuare una generalizzazione dell’esperienza comunicativa con il volto umano, ciò produce un interesse per il volto che precedentemente ha comunicato in modo piacevole

PUMAS Voyage: A Participatory Approach towards Healthy School Travel

Schooltravel plays an important role in the development of citizens’ mobility. For students, school travel is the first way of commuting, for parents it is often the first context in which they take responsibility for traffic conditions motivated by the care for their children. Consequently, the reflection on school travel is part of the general curriculum in some countries (e.g., in Germany, cf. KMK, 2012). At the same time, school travel is an important field for participation in general. By involving in school travel planning, children and parents can in an ideal case experience a child friendly city that takes into consideration the competencies and needs of children. This larger view on the relationship between cities and children gained attention through the Child Friendly City (CFC) programme of the United Nations Children’s Fund (IRC, 2004). It aims at a high commitment to children’s rights in the development of cities, including among others, the rights of children to express their opinion for changing their city, increased participation of children in social life, better road safety, less pollution, and green spaces in the city. Given the fact that school travel is a big step for children in taking responsibility for their mobility in the city, it should be considered as an important field of action for a city that wants to become a CFC in the above sense. In Italy, the CFC has a long history. In 1998, the Ministry for Environment initiated the Sustainable Cities for Boys and Gils (CSDBB) initiative (cf. CORSI, 2002). Consequently, Italian CFCinitiatives among others focussed on “reduction of air pollution, […] enhancing green spaces, […] promoting mobility, [… and ] participation.” (ibid, pp. 170f.) A fundamental factor for a child friendly city is the “direct involvement of children in the initiatives proposed.” (ibid.). In the following years, the encouragement of free movement has become an integral part of the Italian CFC initiatives (IRC, 2005, p. 37f.). It also became clear that this topic has to involve not only children but also their parents, teachers, and city planners.The authors of the report already observed that opening up the process leads to a higher level of complexity (ibid., p. 41). Within the European project PUMAS that investigates sustainable urban mobility planning in the Alpine space, one pilot activity coordinated by the City of Venice focused on a multi-stakeholder process for the participatory planning of healthy and safe school travel in the sense outlined above. The goal of the pilot was manifold: Children and parents should reach an increased awareness on healthy and safe school travel, all stakeholders (children, parents, teachers, planners, and politicians) should engage in a process for identifying challenges in local school travel and envisioning new ideas for a healthier and safer school travel, and finally, low-cost measures should be implemented and other measures planned in order to raise the perceived empowerment and responsibility of the stakeholders for their city. The initiative was planned as a technology-supported participative process. A mobile participation software, PUMAS Voyage, developed at the FernUniversität in Hagen, enabled situated communication and participation of different stakeholders. Within this paper, we first summarize existing approaches for participation and empowerment in the context of school travelplanning and identify reasons why such activities are needed and why they contribute to a child friendly city. While the current state of the art provides valuable examples for school travel planning, we assume that new technologies can be an additional way for reaching the goal of a participative initiative towards a child friendly city. We present and describe an integrated process for school travel planning that can be applied in primary schools and outline the various stages in which awareness on traffic behaviour is established and communication takes place. It makes use of the PUMAS Voyage applicationto reflect on current school travel behaviour and envision new solutions. The process and the technology have been applied in six primary schools in Venice. We report on experiences with the process and the technology involving a large number of students and parents and show how the participating students, parents, teachers, and planners developed a vision for a safer and healthier home-school journey. Finally, we provide an outlook on how these insights of the process will lead to concrete measures in the updated mobility plan of Venice

Neutralization of IL-17 rescues amyloid-β-induced neuroinflammation and memory impairment

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a common neurodegenerative disease characterized by a neuroinflammatory state and to date, there is no cure and its treatment represents a large unmet clinical need. The involvement of T helper 17 cells in the pathogenesis of AD-related neuroinflammation has been reported in several studies, however the role of the main cytokine, IL-17, has not been well addressed. Herein, we investigate the effects of IL-17 neutralizing antibody (IL-17Ab) injected by intracerebroventricular (ICV) or intranasal (IN) routes on amyloid-β-induced neuroinflammation and memory impairment in mice

Supplementation with ribonucleotide-based ingredient (Ribodiet®) lessens oxidative stress, brain inflammation, and amyloid pathology in a murine model of Alzheimer

Abstract Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common type of dementia worldwide, characterized by the deposition of neurofibrillary tangles and amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides in the brain. Additionally, increasing evidence demonstrates that a neuroinflammatory state and oxidative stress, iron-dependent, play a crucial role in the onset and disease progression. Besides conventional therapies, the use of natural-based products represents a future medical option for AD treatment and/or prevention. We, therefore, evaluated the effects of a ribonucleotides-based ingredient (Ribodiet®) in a non-genetic mouse model of AD. To this aim, mice were injected intracerebroventricularly (i.c.v.) with Aβ1–42 peptide (3 µg/3 μl) and after with Ribodiet® (0.1–10 mg/mouse) orally (p.o.) 3 times weekly for 21 days following the induction of experimental AD. The mnemonic and cognitive decline was then evaluated, and, successively, we have assessed ex vivo the modulation of different cyto-chemokines on mice brain homogenates. Finally, the level of GFAP, S100β, and iron-related metabolic proteins were monitored as markers of reactive gliosis, neuro-inflammation, and oxidative stress. Results indicate that Ribodiet® lessens oxidative stress, brain inflammation, and amyloid pathology via modulation of iron-related metabolic proteins paving the way for its rationale use for the treatment of AD and other age-related diseases

Cross-sectional survey evaluating the psychological impact of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign in patients with cancer: The VACCINATE study

The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly impacted on cancer patients' psychological well-being and clinical status. We assessed the levels of anxiety, depression, and distress and the attitude towards COVID-19 vaccination in cancer patients, accepting vaccination at the Verona University Hospital and Camposampiero Hospital in the Veneto region. Self-reported questionnaires were administered to patients undergoing COVID-19 vaccination between March and May 2021 (first and second dose). Twenty-seven items were investigated: i) demographics/clinical characteristics; ii) anxiety, depression, and distress (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-HADS-and Distress Thermometer-DT); iii) four specific items regarding awareness about infection risks, interference with anticancer treatments, and vaccine side effects. Sixty-two and 57% of the patients who accepted to be vaccinated responded to the survey in the two participating Hospitals, respectively. Mean age was 63 years (SD: 12 years; range 19-94 years), women were slightly more prevalent (57.6%), most participants were married (70%), and either worker or retired (60%). Borderline and clinical levels of anxiety were recorded in 14% and 10% of respondents; borderline and clinical levels of depression in 14% and 8%; and moderate and severe distress levels in 33% and 9%. Overall, there was high confidence that vaccination would reduce the risk of contracting COVID-19 (70%), which would make patients feel less worried about contracting the infection (60%). Fear that vaccine-related side effects would interfere with anticancer treatment and/or global health status was low (10% and 9% for items 3 and 4, respectively) and significantly associated with baseline levels of anxiety, depression, and distress at multivariate analysis. Results did not differ between the Verona and Camposampiero cohorts. During the COVID-19 vaccination campaign, adult cancer patients demonstrated high levels of confidence towards vaccination; baseline levels of anxiety, depression, and distress were the only significant predictors of reduced confidence

IL-17A neutralizing antibody regulates monosodium urate crystal-induced gouty inflammation

Gout is a paradigm of acute, self-limiting inflammation caused by the deposition of monosodium urate (MSU) crystals within intra-and/or peri-articular areas, leading to excruciating pain, joint swelling and stiffness. The infiltration of leukocytes drives the inflammatory response and remains an attractive target for therapeutic intervention. In this context, emerging evidence supports the view that systemic differentiation of Th17 cells and their in situ infiltration as one of the potential mechanisms by which these cells, and their main product IL-17, causes damage to target tissues. To test if IL-17 was having a detrimental role in gouty onset and progression we targeted this cytokine, using a neutralizing antibody strategy, in an experimental model of gout. Joint inflammation was induced in CD-1 mice by the intra-articular (i.a.) administration of MSU crystals (200 μg/20 μl). Animals from IL-17Ab-treated groups received 1, 3 and 10 μg (i.a.) in 20 μl of neutralizing antibody after MSU crystals administration. Thereafter, joints were scored macroscopically, and knee joint oedema determined with a caliper. Histological analysis, myeloperoxidase assay and western blots analysis for COX-2/mPGEs-1/IL-17R pathway were conducted at 18 h (peak of inflammation) to evaluate leukocytes infiltration and activation, followed by the analysis, in situ, of pro/anti-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines. Flow cytometry was also used to evaluate the modulation of infiltrated inflammatory monocytes and systemic Th17 and Treg profile. Treatment with IL-17Ab revealed a dose-dependent reduction of joint inflammation scores with maximal inhibition at 10 μg. The neutralizing antibody was also able to significantly reduce leukocytes infiltration and MPO activity as well the expression of JE, IL-1α, IL-1β, IL-16, IL-17, C5a, BLC and, with a less extent IP-10, Rantes, KC, TIMP-1, SDF-1 and metalloproteinases in inflamed tissues. Biochemical analysis also revealed that IL-17Ab treatment modulated COX-2/mPGEs-1 pathway (and related PGE2 production) without interfering with IL-17R expression. Furthermore, flow cytometry analysis highlighted a selective modulation of infiltrating inflammatory monocytes (B220-/GR1hi-F480hi/CD115+) and circulating Th17, but not Treg, cells after IL-17Ab treatment. Collectively the results of this study report for the first time, that i.a. injection of MSU crystals stimulates in vivo production of Th17 cells and Th17-related inflammatory cyto-chemokines. In addition, we have demonstrated that the administration of a neutralizing antibody against IL-17 attenuates joint symptoms, swelling and leukocytes infiltration to the inflamed tissue, possibly providing a new strategy for the treatment of gouty inflammation and/or arthritis

Phospholipase C-beta2 promotes mitosis and migration of human breast cancer-derived cells

Like most human neoplasm, breast cancer has aberrations in signal transduction elements that can lead to increased proliferative potential, apoptosis inhibition, tissue invasion and metastasis. Due to the high heterogeneity of this tumor, currently, no markers are clearly associated with the insurgence of breast cancer, as well as with its progression from in situ lesion to invasive carcinoma. We have recently demonstrated an altered expression of the beta2 isoform of the phosphoinositide-dependent phospholipase C (PLC) in invasive breast tumors with different histopathological features. In primary breast tumor cells, elevated amounts of this protein are closely correlated with a poor prognosis of patients with mammary carcinoma, suggesting that PLC-beta2 may be involved in the development and worsening of the malignant phenotype. Here we demonstrate that PLC-beta2 may improve some malignant characteristics of tumor cells, like motility and invasion capability, but it fails to induce tumorigenesis in non-transformed breast-derived cells. We also report that, compared with the G(0)/G(1) phases of the cell cycle, the cells in S/G(2)/M phases show high PLC-beta2 expressions that reach the greatest levels during the late mitotic stages. In addition, even if unable to modify the proliferation rate and the expression of cell cycle-related enzymes of malignant cells, PLC-beta2 may promote the G(2)/M progression, a critical event in cancer evolution. Since phosphoinositides, substrates of PLC, are involved in regulating cytoskeleton architecture, PLC-beta2 in breast tumor cells may mediate the modification of cell shape that characterizes cell division, motility and invasion. On the basis of these data, PLC-beta2 may constitute a molecular marker of breast tumor cells able to monitor the progression to invasive cancers and a target for novel therapeutic breast cancer strategies