Psychological Impact in Healthcare Workers During Emergencies: The Italian Experience With COVID-19 First Wave

Background: The COVID-19 outbreak imposed an overwhelming workload as well as emotional burdens on Healthcare workers (HCWs). In May 2020, an online survey was administered to HCWs in Italy to assess the pandemic's psychological impact and to investigate possible predictive factors that led to individual differences. Methods: The psychological experience was measured based on the prevalence of self-reported feelings during the pandemic, including negative and positive emotional states. We analyzed the relationship between factors of gender, age, geographic region, professional role, and operational unit, and the four-point scale used to rate the frequency of each emotional state experienced by performing several multinomial logistic regressions, one for each emotion. Results: Our findings suggest that more than half of HCWs experienced psychological distress during the first COVID-19 outbreak in Italy. Female and younger respondents, especially those operating in northern Italy experienced more frequently negative emotional states such as irritability, anxiety, loneliness, and insecurity. However, positive feelings, first of all solidarity, were also reported especially by female and older workers. The majority of the negative as well as positive emotional states were experienced almost equally by both doctors and nurses, and independently of the operational unit in which they operated. Conclusions: This study can be very useful as a contribution to the current literature on the psychological effects of this pandemic on health workers. Moreover, our findings can provide useful information in planning more tailored psychological interventions to support this category of workers in the ongoing and future emergencies

The Contribution of Personality and Intelligence Toward Cognitive Competences in Higher Education

Personality and cognition are found to be two interrelated concepts and to both have a predictive power on educational and life outcomes. With this study we aimed at evaluating the extent to which personality traits interact with cognition in acquiring cognitive competences during higher education. In a sample of university students at different stages of their career and from different fields of study, we collected Big Five traits, as a measure of personality, and Intelligent Quotient (IQ), as a proxy of cognition. A set of multiple regressions served to explore the relative contribution of IQ and personality traits on the performance on two cognitive competences tests: literacy and numeracy. Results showed that IQ highly modulated numeracy but had a moderate or no impact on literacy while, compared with IQ, personality affects literacy more. In a further explorative analysis, we observed that both the effects of personality and IQ on cognitive competences were modulated by the level of the students' career (freshmen, undergraduates, and bachelor graduates). Different traits, and particularly conscientiousness, increased or decreased their impact on achieved scores depending on the educational level, while IQ lost its effect in undergraduates suggesting that personal dispositions become more influential in advancing the academic carrier. Finally, the field of study resulted to be a predictor of numeracy, but also an important covariate altering the pattern of personality impact

hMENA11a contributes to HER3-mediated resistance to PI3K inhibitors in HER2-overexpressing breast cancer cells.

Human Mena (hMENA), an actin regulatory protein of the ENA/VASP family, cooperates with ErbB receptor family signaling in breast cancer. It is overexpressed in high-risk preneoplastic lesions and in primary breast tumors where it correlates with HER2 overexpression and an activated status of AKT and MAPK. The concomitant overexpression of hMENA and HER2 in breast cancer patients is indicative of a worse prognosis. hMENA is expressed along with alternatively expressed isoforms, hMENA11a and hMENAΔv6 with opposite functions. A novel role for the epithelial-associated hMENA11a isoform in sustaining HER3 activation and pro-survival pathways in HER2-overexpressing breast cancer cells has been identified by reverse phase protein array and validated in vivo in a series of breast cancer tissues. As HER3 activation is crucial in mechanisms of cell resistance to PI3K inhibitors, we explored whether hMENA11a is involved in these resistance mechanisms. The specific hMENA11a depletion switched off the HER3-related pathway activated by PI3K inhibitors and impaired the nuclear accumulation of HER3 transcription factor FOXO3a induced by PI3K inhibitors, whereas PI3K inhibitors activated hMENA11a phosphorylation and affected its localization. At the functional level, we found that hMENA11a sustains cell proliferation and survival in response to PI3K inhibitor treatment, whereas hMENA11a silencing increases molecules involved in cancer cell apoptosis. As shown in three-dimensional cultures, hMENA11a contributes to resistance to PI3K inhibition because its depletion drastically reduced cell viability upon treatment with PI3K inhibitor BEZ235. Altogether, these results indicate that hMENA11a in HER2-overexpressing breast cancer cells sustains HER3/AKT axis activation and contributes to HER3-mediated resistance mechanisms to PI3K inhibitors. Thus, hMENA11a expression can be proposed as a marker of HER3 activation and resistance to PI3K inhibition therapies, to select patients who may benefit from these combined targeted treatments. hMENA11a activity could represent a new target for antiproliferative therapies in breast cancer

Promotion of proliferation and metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma by LncRNA00673 based on the targeted-regulation of notch signaling pathway

we read with great interest the paper by Dr. Chen et al1, recently published in European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences and titled ‘‘Promotion of proliferation and metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma by LncRNA00673 based on the targeted-regulation of notch signaling pathway’’. Authors concluded that lncRNA00673 is highly expressed and may be a potential target for the treatment of Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC). Moreover, according to authors, it can promote the proliferation and metastasis of HCC by the regulation of Notch signaling pathway. We congratulate the authors for their interesting work

Rapamycin and HIV Replication in Liver Transplant Recipients

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Blocking CD248 molecules in perivascular stromal cells of patients with systemic sclerosis strongly inhibits their differentiation toward myofibroblasts and proliferation: A new potential target for antifibrotic therapy

Background: Fibrosis may be considered the hallmark of systemic sclerosis (SSc), the end stage triggered by different pathological events. Transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) and platelet-derived growth factor BB (PDGF-BB) are profibrotic molecules modulating myofibroblast differentiation and proliferation, respectively. There is evidence linking CD248 with these two molecules, both highly expressed in patients with SSc, and suggesting that CD248 may be a therapeutic target for several diseases. The aim of this work was to evaluate the expression of CD248 in SSc skin and its ability to modulate SSc fibrotic process. Methods: After ethical approval was obtained, skin biopsies were collected from 20 patients with SSc and 10 healthy control subjects (HC). CD248 expression was investigated in the skin, as well as in bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) treated with TGF-β or PDGF-BB, by immunofluorescence, qRT-PCR, and Western blotting. Finally, in SSc-MSCs, the CD248 gene was silenced by siRNA. Results: Increased expression of CD248 was found in endothelial cells and perivascular stromal cells of SSc skin. In SSc-MSCs, the levels of CD248 and α-smooth muscle actin expression were significantly higher than in HC-MSCs. In both SSc- and HC-MSCs, PDGF-BB induced increased expression of Ki-67 when compared with untreated cells but was unable to modulate CD248 levels. After CD248 silencing, both TGF-β and PDGF-BB signaling were inhibited in SSc-MSCs. Conclusions: CD248 overexpression may play an important role in the fibrotic process by modulating the molecular target, leading to perivascular cells differentiation toward myofibroblasts and interfering with its expression, and thus might open a new therapeutic strategy to inhibit myofibroblast generation during SSc

Energy recovery from vinery waste: Dust explosion issues

The concern about global warming issues and their consequences is more relevant than ever, and the H2020 objectives promoted by the EU are oriented towards generating climate actions and sustainable development. The energy sector constitutes a difficult challenge as it plays a key role in the global warming impact. Its decarbonization is a crucial factor, and significant efforts are needed to find efficient alternatives to fossil fuels in heating/electricity generation. The biomass energy industry could have a contribution to make in the shift to renewable sources; the quest for a suitable material is basically focused on the energy amount that it stores, its availability, logistical considerations, and safety issues. This work deals with the characterization of a wine-waste dust sample, in terms of its chemical composition, fire behavior, and explosion violence. This material could be efficiently used in energy generation (via direct burning as pellets), but scarce information is present in terms of the fire and explosion hazards when it is pulverized. In the following, the material is analyzed through different techniques in order to clearly understand its ignition sensitivity and fire effects; accelerating aging treatment is also used to simulate the sample storage life and determine the ways in which this affects its flammability and likelihood of explosion

Biomass from winery waste: Evaluation of dust explosion hazards

Food and drink supply chains have significant environmental impacts due to their use of resources, emissions, and waste production. An efficient method to reduce this impact is the valorisation of biomass waste through energy recovery by using it as a source of heat. The European energy system faces several fundamental challenges being currently the largest emitter of greenhouse gases due to its large dependence on fossil fuels (mostly natural gas). Therefore, the energy sector's decarbonization will play a central role in achieving a climateneutral economy in Europe. Identifying the suitable material for biofuel is basically focused on the amount of energy that the material stores, availability, and logistic considerations. Sawdust and wood chips have been extensively used as biofuel in recent years, but other promising raw and waste materials could be adopted (with the positive effect of reducing the impact on forestry soil and the food chain). Novel materials bring consequently novel challenges, also regarding their safe use. As an example, a relevant waste flow is produced from wine manufacturing. A solid with high moisture content is obtained from grapes pressing, and it could be reused to produce distillates. The obtained exhausted pomace could be considered among the materials potentially involved in energy recovery. It is also carrying dust explosion hazard, as solid residues could be present in the form of coarse and fine powders. In this work, grape pomace is examined: its explosion safety-related properties are evaluated to define the severity of events in which this material could be ignited. Minimum Ignition Energy (MIE), explosion pressure peak (Pmax), deflagration severity index (KSt), autoignition temperature (MIT), and Volatile Point (VP) are measured according to standard procedures. This material's thermal susceptibility and ignition sensitivity are studied and compared with biomasses from different sources (ligneo-cellulosic and herbaceous)