1,415 research outputs found
A BIM-based approach supporting fire engineering
From performance based approach to BIM-based approach. The exploitation of Building Information Modelling within Fire Engineering can be considered a further technical and technological development. The objective is to implement the BIM model with the most significant Fire Prevention information in order to use them during the building lifecycle by operators and rescuers, in particular for maintenance and emergency management. According to the phase of the project, it is possible to extend the data richness about structures, introducing materials and physical properties to the components, supporting for example the fire resistance checks. Furthermore, data exchange towards specialized software, as CFD analysis, is enabled through to the interoperability process optimizing time and accuracy of simulations
New insights about the putative role of myokines in the context of cardiac rehabilitation and secondary cardiovascular prevention.
Exercise training prevents the onset and the development of many chronic diseases, acting as an effective tool both for primary and for secondary prevention. Various mechanisms that may be the effectors of these beneficial effects have been proposed during the past decades: some of these are well recognized, others less. Muscular myokines, released during and after muscular contraction, have been proposed as key mediators of the systemic effects of the exercise. Nevertheless the availability of an impressive amount of evidence regarding the systemic effects of muscle-derived factors, few studies have examined key issues: (I) if skeletal muscle cells themselves are the main source of cytokine during exercise; (II) if the release of myokines into the systemic circulation reach an adequate concentration to provide significant effects in tissues far from skeletal muscle; (III) what may be the role carried out by muscular cytokine regarding the well-known benefits induced by regular exercise, first of all the anti-inflammatory effect of exercise. Furthermore, a greater part of our knowledge regarding myokines derives from the muscle of healthy subjects. This knowledge may not necessarily be transferred per se to subjects with chronic diseases implicating a direct or indirect muscular dysfunction and/or a chronic state of inflammation with persistent immune-inflammatory activation (and therefore increased circulating levels of some cytokines): cachexia, sarcopenia due to multiple factors, disability caused by neurological damage, chronic congestive heart failure (CHF) or coronary artery disease (CAD). A key point of future studies is to ascertain how is modified the muscular release of myokines in different categories of unhealthy subjects, both at baseline and after rehabilitation. The purpose of this review is to discuss the main findings on the role of myokines as putative mediators of the therapeutic benefits obtained through regular exercise in the context of secondary cardiovascular prevention
HEAT SHOCK PROTEINS AND ULCERATIVE COLITIS: THE START OF A NEW ERA?
We read with great interest the article written by Abou El Azm
and coworkers, published in the last issue of the Arab Journal of
Gastroenterology [1]. In this article, the authors investigated the
molecular expression of heat shock proteins (HSP) 70 and 90 in
relation to the grades of inflammation and dysplasia in patients
with ulcerative colitis (UC) before and after treatment.
In this study, in agreement with other published studies [2–4],
the authors not only found a potential role for HSP 70 and HSP 90
for assessment of the activity and prognosis of UC, but also such
markers predicted the presence of dysplasia and differentiated it
from reactive atypia [1].
HSP had been found not only a marker of active disease, thus
considering UC as a ‘‘chaperonopathy by mistake’’, but also show
a key role in the psychosocial setting in which inflammatory bowel
diseases manifest themselves [5]. Furthermore, they could represent
a new diagnostic tool to differentiate the different phenotypes
of UC, thus allowing to tailor a targeted approach to better manage
UC patients [6].
However, some unresolved issues still remain about the potential
roles of HSP in both the acute and the longstanding disease. First, it
should be interesting to assess the role of HSP in the infections
associated to UC flares, like Clostridium difficile and Cytomegalovirus
(CMV) infections. In fact, HSP could be investigated as a further
marker of inflammation in case of severe and steroid-refractory
disease; with regard to CMV infection, mucosal levels of HSP could
differentiate when CMV plays a role of direct pathogen or when it
represents merely a ‘‘silent bystander’’. Second, in longstanding
UC, an integrated approach of colorectal cancer surveillance, by
using the advanced endoscopic imaging together with mucosal
markers, like HSP, could result in being markedly helpful, both to
clinicians and pathologist. In fact, current guidelines recommend
that image-enhanced endoscopy (IEE) may increase the yield of
detection of dysplasia, thus representing a reasonable alternative
to the random sampling of colon using standard white light [7].
The use of both IEE and new biomarkers, like HSP, predicting future
occurrence of colonic neoplasia, could lead to a more centralised
approach of UC patients, in which a ‘‘biomarker-based surveillance’’
might play a pivotal rol
New Insights in Prevention and Treatment of Cardiovascular Disease
Cardiovascular (CV) disease (CVD) is still a major cause of morbidity and mortality in many countries in Europe although considerable efforts have been made in recent decades
to address this disease in an even more “comprehensive” approac
The Cepheids of NGC1866: A Precise Benchmark for the Extragalactic Distance Scale and Stellar Evolution from Modern UBVI Photometry
We present the analysis of multiband time-series data for a sample of 24
Cepheids in the field of the Large Magellanic Cloud cluster NGC1866. Very
accurate BVI VLT photometry is combined with archival UBVI data, covering a
large temporal window, to obtain precise mean magnitudes and periods with
typical errors of 1-2% and of 1 ppm, respectively. These results represent the
first accurate and homogeneous dataset for a substantial sample of Cepheid
variables belonging to a cluster and hence sharing common distance, age and
original chemical composition. Comparisons of the resulting multiband
Period-Luminosity and Wesenheit relations to both empirical and theoretical
results for the Large Magellanic Cloud are presented and discussed to derive
the distance of the cluster and to constrain the mass-luminosity relation of
the Cepheids. The adopted theoretical scenario is also tested by comparison
with independent calibrations of the Cepheid Wesenheit zero point based on
trigonometric parallaxes and Baade-Wesselink techniques. Our analysis suggests
that a mild overshooting and/or a moderate mass loss can affect
intermediate-mass stellar evolution in this cluster and gives a distance
modulus of 18.50 +- 0.01 mag. The obtained V,I color-magnitude diagram is also
analysed and compared with both synthetic models and theoretical isochrones for
a range of ages and metallicities and for different efficiencies of core
overshooting. As a result, we find that the age of NGC1866 is about 140 Myr,
assuming Z = 0.008 and the mild efficiency of overshooting suggested by the
comparison with the pulsation models.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures, accepted in MNRAS (2016 January 14
Focal Active Colitis: What Are Its Clinical Implications? A Narrative Review
Focal active colitis (FAC) is described as a histolopathological term indicating the isolated finding of focal neutrophil infiltration in the colonic crypts. Currently, there exist numerous debates regarding the clinical significance of diagnosing FAC, which may or may not have clinical relevance as it is frequently detected in colorectal biopsies without any other microscopic abnormalities. The objective of this narrative review is to provide an overview of the available evidence concerning the clinical implications of FAC, both in the adult population (among five studies available in the scientific literature) and in the pediatric context (based on two available studies)
Cardiac remodeling according to the nocturnal fall of blood pressure in hypertensive subjects: The whole assessment of cardiac abnormalities in non-dipper subjects with arterial hypertension (wacanda) study
Objective: Several epidemiological studies suggest that the preservation of the physiological circadian rhythm of blood pressure or its disruption affects the extent of the organ damage developed by the patient. If we classify the circadian rhythm of blood pressure into four nocturnal profiles, significant differences emerge in terms of organ damage burden and prognosis: reverse dippers have the worst prognosis while dippers and mild dippers fall into an intermediate risk range. The risk profile of extreme dippers is still debated, and the available data are very conflicting and inconclusive. Starting from this gap of knowledge, we aimed to evaluate, retrospectively, in a cohort of hypertensive subjects, the degree of cardiac involvement in relation to the different nocturnal blood pressure profiles. Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 900 patients with essential hypertension, of whom 510 met our study criteria. We graded the 510 patients in relation to the percentage of reduction in mean systolic blood pressure (SBP) at night-time compared with day-time, considering this as a continuous variable, and then compared the extreme quintiles with each other and with the middle quintile (considered as reference). Results: Patients with less (or no) reduction in nocturnal SBP (reverse dipper) showed a higher level of organ damage and comorbidities. With regard to echocardiographic indexes, patients with maximum nocturnal pressure reduction (extreme dipper) showed a lower level of remodeling and/or impairment of E/e’ ratio, Right Atrium Area, Basal Right Ventricular Diameter, Inferior Vena Cava Average Diameter, and Tricuspidal Anular Plane Systolic Excursion compared also with hypertensive patients with a physiological nocturnal pressure reduction, even after correction for the main confounders. Conclusions: These data suggest that extreme dippers may constitute the subgroup of hypertensive patients with the lowest 24-h pressure load and, therefore, less cardiac remodeling
Anthriscus sylvestris—Noxious Weed or Sustainable Source of Bioactive Lignans?
Anthriscus sylvestris (L.) Hoffm. (Apiaceae), commonly known as wild chervil, has gained scientific interest owing to its diverse phytochemical profile and potential therapeutic applications. The plant, despite being categorized as a noxious weed, is traditionally used in treating various conditions like headaches, dressing wounds, and as a tonic, antitussive, antipyretic, analgesic, and diuretic. Its pharmacological importance stems from containing diverse bioactive lignans, especially aryltetralins and dibenzylbutyrolactones. One of the main compounds of A. sylvestris, deoxypodophyllotoxin, among its wide-ranging effects, including antitumor, antiproliferative, antiplatelet aggregation, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and insecticidal properties, serves as a pivotal precursor to epipodophyllotoxin, crucial in the semisynthesis of cytostatic agents like etoposide and teniposide. The main starting compound for these anticancer medicines was podophyllotoxin, intensively isolated from Sinopodophyllum hexandrum, now listed as an endangered species due to overexploitation. Since new species are being investigated as potential sources, A. sylvestris emerges as a highly promising candidate owing to its abundant lignan content. This review summarizes the current knowledge on A. sylvestris, investigating its biological and morphological characteristics, and pharmacological properties. Emphasizing the biological activities and structure–activity relationship, this review underscores its therapeutic potential, thus encouraging further exploration and utilization of this valuable plant resource
Atherosclerosis as an inflammatory disease. ,
In many ways, atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disorder and this issue is confirmed by recent investigations of that have focused on inflammation, providing new insight into mechanisms of disease. Several recent studies have addressed the role of chemokines in leukocyte accumulation in atherosclerosis, extending our knowledge and understanding of the complex and cell type-specific functions of chemokines in atherosclerosis. Activated T-lymphocytes within the atherosclerotic vessel wall express the CD40 ligand surface molecule, known to play a major role in several immunological pathways. In addition to activated T-lymphocytes, functional CD40 and CD40L are coexpressed by human vascular endothelial cells, smooth muscle cells and human macrophages in vitro as well as in situ in human atherosclerotic lesions. Recent studies indicate that CD40L activates atheroma-associated cells by promoting the expression of molecules thought to be involved in atherosclerosis, such as adhesion molecules, cytokines, matrix metalloproteinases, and tissue factor. Atherosclerosis starts with an innate immune response involving the recruitment and activation of monocytes macrophages that respond to an excessive accumulation of modified lipids within the arterial wall, followed by an adaptive immune response involving antigen-specific T lymphocytes. Effector T cells recognize modified auto-antigens such as oxidized LDL and heat shock proteins (i.e. HSP-60) that are presented by antigen-presenting cells such as macrophages or dendritic cells. The accumulation of inflammatory cells within the arterial wall leads to local production of chemokines, interleukins and proteases that enhance the influx of monocytes and lymphocytes, thereby promoting the progression of atherosclerotic lesions Recent reports have helped explain some of these questions by pointing to a role of contact dependent interaction between CD40 and CD40 ligand (CD40L, renamed CD154) as a stimulus for atheroma-associated cells. Also Macrophages play important roles in the progression of atherosclerosis by exhibiting unique characteristics under the various stimuli, evolving the plaque instability, thrombus formation and remodeling. Macrophage recruitment by abnormal endothelium over developing atherosclerotic plaques, is aided by endothelial expression of adhesion molecules (ICAM-1, VCAM, ELAM). The knowledge of atherosclerosis as an inflammatory disease offers the opportunity to develop novel therapeutic strategies targeting the inflammatory component of the disease
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