Hollow Section Fibers Characterization for Seats Covers Fabric Application

This research is focused on hollow polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fibers and fabrics. The aim of hollow section fibers application is a textile contribution to weight reduction of the whole vehicle. CO2 emissions consequences and awareness of companies to environmental issues are driving studies on the direction of vehicle weight reduction, according to recent European regulations. For this purpose, fabrics composed of hollow fibers have been produced and characterized. In order to be applied as seats covers for the automotive sector, they have been compared to current production woven fabrics. Tensile, tear strength tests and aesthetic and structural abrasion have been carried out. The performance of hollow fibers PET fabrics is slightly lower than full section fabrics, but completely acceptable according to automotive requirements. Its specific application can be evaluated

Effects of nonselective and selective cyclooxygenase inhibitors on the contractions of isolated bronchial smooth muscle in the horse

We evaluated the effects of nonselective cyclooxygenase (COX)-1/COX-2 inhibitors (acetylsalicylic acid, indomethacin, ibuprofen, flunixin meglumine, phenylbutazone), preferential COX-2 inhibitors (diclofenac, meloxicam, carprofen), selective COX-1 inhibitor (SC-560), and selective COX-2 inhibitors (celecoxib, firocoxib, parecoxib) on the contractions of isolated bronchi induced by electrical field stimulation (EFS). Bronchial rings, obtained from lungs of slaughtered horses, were put in isolated organ baths, and the mechanical activity was measured by means of isotonic transducers. Electrical Field Stimulation was applied to the preparations, and the effects of drugs on the amplitude of evoked contractions were measured. Nonselective COX inhibitors did not modify EFS-induced contractions to a relevant degree, except indomethacin which caused a concentration-dependent decrease of the contraction amplitude. Conversely, preferential COX-2 inhibitors enhanced the contractions in a concentration-related fashion, whilst the selective COX-1 inhibitor reduced them. Among selective COX-2 inhibitors, parecoxib increased EFS-evoked contractions whereas celecoxib and firocoxib were ineffective. These results suggest that the inhibition of prostanoid synthesis does not modify the electrical field-stimulated contractions of isolated horse bronchi. Since EFS-induced contractions of horse bronchi were previously shown to be of full cholinergic nature, the increase caused by diclofenac, meloxicam, carprofen, and parecoxib could be due to an inhibition of acetylcholinesterase; in accordance, these drugs potentiated exogenous acetylcholine-induced but not carbachol-induced bronchial contraction. Indomethacin and SC-560 might instead decrease bronchial contractions by inhibiting calcium currents. Clinical use of meloxicam and carprofen in horses with bronchial hyper-responsiveness requires caution for a potential risk of causing adverse effects due to bronchoconstriction

Common Data Elements to Facilitate Sharing and Re-use of Participant-Level Data: Assessment of Psychiatric Comorbidity Across Brain Disorders

The Ontario Brain Institute\u27s “Brain-CODE” is a large-scale informatics platform designed to support the collection, storage and integration of diverse types of data across several brain disorders as a means to understand underlying causes of brain dysfunction and developing novel approaches to treatment. By providing access to aggregated datasets on participants with and without different brain disorders, Brain-CODE will facilitate analyses both within and across diseases and cover multiple brain disorders and a wide array of data, including clinical, neuroimaging, and molecular. To help achieve these goals, consensus methodology was used to identify a set of core demographic and clinical variables that should be routinely collected across all participating programs. Establishment of Common Data Elements within Brain-CODE is critical to enable a high degree of consistency in data collection across studies and thus optimize the ability of investigators to analyze pooled participant-level data within and across brain disorders. Results are also presented using selected common data elements pooled across three studies to better understand psychiatric comorbidity in neurological disease (Alzheimer\u27s disease/amnesic mild cognitive impairment, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, cerebrovascular disease, frontotemporal dementia, and Parkinson\u27s disease)

Emerging targets for addiction neuropharmacology: From mechanisms to therapeutics

Drug abuse represents a considerable burden of disease and has enormous economic impacts on societies. Over the years, few medications have been developed for clinical use. Their utilization is endowed with several limitations, including partial efficacy or significant side effects. On the other hand, the successful advancement of these compounds provides an important proof of concept for the feasibility of drug development programs in addiction. In recent years, a wealth of information has been generated on the psychological mechanisms, genetic or epigenetic predisposing factors, and neurobiological adaptations induced by drug consumption that interact with each other to contribute to disease progression. It is now clear that addiction develops through phases, from initial recreational use to excessive consumption and compulsive drug seeking, with a shift from positive to negative reinforcement driving motivated behaviors. A greater understanding of these mechanisms has opened new vistas in drug development programs. Researchers' attention has been shifted from investigation of classical targets associated with reward to biological substrates responsible for negative reinforcement, impulse loss of control, and maladaptive mechanisms resulting from protracted drug use. From this research, several new biological targets for the development of innovative therapies have started to emerge. This chapter offers an overview of targets currently under scrutiny for the development of new medications for addiction. This work is not exhaustive but rather it provides a few examples of how this research has advanced in recent years by virtue of studies carried out in our laboratory

Lógica y lingüística: Notas a "Lingüística y filosofía del lenguaje" de Agustín Martínez

Lógica y lingüística: Notas a "Lingüística y filosofía del lenguaje" de Agustín Martíne

FATTORI DI RISCHIO E OUTCOME MATERNO-FETALI DEL DIABETE GESTAZIONALE: STUDIO MONOCENTRICO RETROSPETTIVO SU 4000 GESTANTI

La prevalenza del Diabete Gestazionale (GDM) sta aumentando nella popolazione generale, con rischio di outcomes materno-fetali avversi e persistenza di alterata tolleranza glucidica postparto. Per le donne provenienti da Paesi ad Alta Pressione Migratoria (HMPC - tra cui asia meridionale, medio-oriente, caraibi) rispetto che per le donne caucasiche, la diagnosi sembrerebbe essere ancora più frequente. L’obiettivo primario è quello di validare l’appartenenza ad un'etnia ad alto rischio come fattore predisponente allo sviluppo di GDM, come suggerito da precedenti studi. Secondariamente gli obiettivi sono: i) valutare la prevalenza di GDM tra le gestanti dell’ambulatorio ‘Diabete e Gravidanza’, esaminandone outcome e fattori di rischio, ii) osservare se tra le donne con livelli di glicemia sotto soglia per la diagnosi di diabete gestazionale ve ne siano alcune che hanno sviluppato outcome neonatali suggestivi di questa condizione metabolica (parto pretermine, taglio cesareo, macrosomia, neonati LGA) al fine di ricercare, tra queste, eventuali fattori di rischio comuni

The involvement of substance P in relapse to cocaine-seeking behaviour in rats

grantor: University of TorontoThe aim of this thesis was to investigate the role of the neuropeptide substance P (SP) in mediating relapse to drug-seeking behaviour in rats. Experiment 1 showed that the SP analogue, DiMe-C7 (0, 1, 3, or 6[mu]g/[mu]l; 0.51/side) microinjected into the ventral tegmental area (VTA) significantly increased locomotor activity at all drug doses tested. Experiment 2 showed that intra-VTA injections of DiMe-C7 (0, 0.2, 1 or 5[mu]g/[mu]l) induced reinstatement of drug-seeking behaviour in a dose-dependent manner in animals previously trained to self-administer cocaine. Finally, experiment 3 showed that pre-treatment with the selective NK-1 receptor antagonist, Spantide II (0 or 1 [mu]g/0.5[mu]l), by injection into the VTA, did not block DiMe-C7 (0 or 1 [mu]g/0.5[mu]l)-induced reinstatement of cocaine-seeking behaviour, suggesting that DiMe-C7-induced reinstatement may not be dependent upon NK-1 receptor activation in the VTA. Together, these findings provide evidence for the role of SP and neurokinin receptors in drug relapse.M.A

Relaxing effects of clenbuterol, ritodrine, salbutamol and fenoterol on the contractions of horse isolated bronchi induced by different stimuli

β2-adrenoceptor agonists are considered the most effective drugs to counteract bronchoconstriction in horses with asthma, but only clenbuterol is commonly employed in clinical practice. We evaluated the effects of different selective β2 agonists: clenbuterol, ritodrine, salbutamol, and fenoterol on the contractions of isolated bronchial muscle of horses induced by electrical field stimulation (EFS), carbachol, histamine, and KCl. All β2 agonists reduced the amplitude of contraction induced by the different stimuli but with variable efficacy and potency. Fenoterol and salbutamol were more effective than clenbuterol in relaxing the bronchial contractions induced by EFS and histamine, and were able to completely abolish carbachol-induced contractions, unlike clenbuterol and ritodrine. The respective potency values (pEC50) of clenbuterol, ritodrine, salbutamol, and fenoterol were 7.74 ± 0.20, 7.77 ± 0.17, 7.30 ± 0.23, 8.01 ± 0.13, for EFS-induced contractions; 8.39 ± 0.26, 5.49 ± 0.28, 6.63 ± 0.14, 7.68 ± 0.11, for carbachol-induced contraction; 7.39 ± 0.27, 7.04 ± 0.28, 6.45 ± 0.34, 7.34 ± 0.22, for histamine-induced contraction; 7.15 ± 0.06, 6.07 ± 0.20, 6.48 ± 0.14, 6.70 ± 0.18, for KCl-induced contraction. Salbutamol and fenoterol showed a higher efficacy than clenbuterol in relaxing horse bronchial muscle pre-contracted by most stimuli. Clenbuterol displayed a good potency but a rather low efficacy, and this may be due to its partial agonist nature; ritodrine showed lower or not significantly different efficacy and potency compared to the other agonists. An evaluation of the clinical efficacy by fenoterol and salbutamol in horses with asthma could be of great interest to assess if they could represent more effective bronchodilators compared to clenbuterol

Septic arthritis following joint injections: a 17 years retrospective study in an Academic General Hospital

Background: Septic arthritis following intra-articular infiltrations is an uncommon devastating complication correlated to high costs for the health service and often to poor outcomes. The purpose of this study is to assess a 17-years experience in a single academic multispecialist hospital managing this uncommon complication in Orthopaedic practice. Methods: Patients with diagnosis of septic arthritis following joint injections treated in our hospital from January 2002 to December 2019 were included in the study. Clinical and demographic data, pathogens, injected agent, conservative/surgical treatments were reviewed. Patient were classified according to the ore operative Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) and the Cierny-Mader Classification(CMC). Furthermore follow-up outcome and time occurred to infection eradication were registered. Results: We included in the study 11 patients with a median age of 74 years old (IQR= 61.5-79). The median CCI was 3 (IQR= 2-5) and the majority of patients belong to CMC = B class. Septic arthritis occurred mainly following corticosteroids injections and more frequently involving knees. The pathogen more often isolated was Staphylococcus aureus. Five (45%) patients referred an history of multiple intra-articular in-jections. 7 patients (64%) had a complete resolution following an arthroscopic debridement, 4 (36%) patients underwent to a 2-stage replacement and one of them hesitated in an arthrodesis because of a recurrent periprosthetic joint infection and extensor apparatus insufficiency. Conclusion: The authors observed a potential increased risk of septic arthritis following joint injection in patients with history of multiple injections and poor health/immunological conditions. They recommend an early arthroscopic debridement as the treatment of choice especially in septic knees performed in a multispecialist dedicated center. (www.actabiomedica.it)