Gut microbiota and health: connecting actors across the metabolic system

Overweight-related metabolic diseases are an important threat to health in the Western world. Dietary habits are one of the main causative factors for metabolic syndrome, CVD and type 2 diabetes. The human gut microbiota is emerging as an important player in the interaction between diet and metabolic health. Gut microbial communities contribute to human metabolism through fermentation of dietary fibre and the result of intestinal saccharolytic fermentation is production of SCFA. Acetate, propionate and butyrate positively influence satiety, endocrine system, glucose homeostasis, adipogenesis, lipid oxidation, thermoregulation, hepatic gluconeogenesis, endothelial function and gut barrier integrity, and these mechanisms have all been linked to protection from type 2 diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular health. The gut microbiota is also involved in bile acid metabolism and regulating their cell signalling potential, which has also been shown to modify pathways involved in metabolic health. Similarly, the gut microbiota renders recalcitrant plant polyphenols into biologically active small phenolic compounds which then act systemically to reduce metabolic disease risk. This review summarises how dietary patterns, specific foods and a healthy lifestyle may modulate metabolic health through the gut microbiota and their molecular cross-talk with the host

Visual measurement system for wheel–rail lateral position evaluation

Railway infrastructure must meet safety requirements concerning its construction and operation. Track geometry monitoring is one of the most important activities in maintaining the steady technical conditions of rail infrastructure. Commonly, it is performed using complex measurement equipment installed on track-recording coaches. Existing low-cost inertial sensor-based measurement systems provide reliable measurements of track geometry in vertical directions. However, solutions are needed for track geometry parameter measurement in the lateral direction. In this research, the authors developed a visual measurement system for track gauge evaluation. It involves the detection of measurement points and the visual measurement of the distance between them. The accuracy of the visual measurement system was evaluated in the laboratory and showed promising results. The initial field test was performed in the Vilnius railway station yard, driving at low velocity on the straight track section. The results show that the image point selection method developed for selecting the wheel and rail points to measure distance is stable enough for TG measurement. Recommendations for the further improvement of the developed system are presented

Microbiological surveillance of hospital ventilation systems in departments at high risk of nosocomial infections

The air in hospital wards with patients at high risk (Surgeries, Intensive Care Units and Bone Marrow Transplant Centers) has been surveyed less than the one in Operating Rooms. Therefore in this study we considered useful to verify the microbic contamination of the air of those wards evaluating the consistency of ventilation systems in relation also to the presence and location of HEPA absolute filters. Seven departments of Genoese San Martino Hospital at high risk of infection were taken into account. In there, environmental investigations have been performed by air samplings and by analyzing bacterial and fungal growth on plates after an incubation period. Almost 60% of all samples taken in wards yielded a positive result and the average values of bacterial and aspergillar charges measured at air flow emission openings decisively exceed the ones considered standard in operating rooms. Still, the average values of airborne bacterial charges were significantly higher in those wards equipped with central filters (p inf. 0.001), while as far as the aspergillar charge is concerned, no statistically relevant differences were noticed. In wards with ventilation system, the bacterial charge value raises from the emission grids to the middle of the room and to the aspiration grids, while the ward not equipped with a ventilation system presents in the middle of the room an average bacterial charge 2 to 10 times higher than the one in other wards. The average values regarding bacterial and aspergillar charges resulted quite high in all the departments surveyed. Nevertheless, if we take into account ventilation systems equipped with absolute filters HEPA located centrally or peripherally, it can be outlined that the air quality from the point of view of both microbic and aspergillar contamination turns out to be decisively better in systems with peripheral filters. Moreover, a compared analysis of the three Hematology wards allows us to infer that the presence of artificial ventilation systems can lower the bacterial and fungal compared with a ward with natural ventilation

Inhibition of Immune Synapse by Altered Dendritic Cell Actin Distribution: A New Pathway of Mesenchymal Stem Cell Immune Regulation

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Impact of diet in shaping gut microbiota revealed by a comparative study in children from Europe and Rural Africa

peer reviewe

Performance of three model-based iterative reconstruction algorithms using a CT task-based image quality metric

In this study we evaluated the task-based image quality of a low contrast clinical task for the abdomen protocol (e.g., pancreatic tumour) of three different CT vendors, exploiting three model-based iterative reconstruction (MBIR) levels. We used three CT systems equipped with a full, partial, advanced MBIR algorithms. Acquisitions were performed on a phantom at three dose levels. Acquisitions were reconstructed with a standard kernel, using filtered back projection algorithm (FBP) and three levels of the MBIR. The noise power spectrum (NPS), the normalized one (nNPS) and the task-based transfer function (TTF) were computed following the method proposed by the American Association of Physicists in Medicine task group report-233 (AAPM TG-233). Detectability index (d') of a small lesion (small feature; 100 HU and 5-mm diameter) was calculated using non-prewhitening with eye-filter model observer (NPWE).The nNPS, NPS and TTF changed differently depending on CT system. Higher values of d' were obtained with advanced-MBIR, followed by full-MBIR and partial-MBIR.Task-based image quality was assessed for three CT scanners of different vendors, considering a clinical question. Detectability can be a tool for protocol optimisation and dose reduction since the same dose levels on different scanners correspond to different d' values.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, 3 table

Problematiche geoambientali del territorio veneziano

Venezia, la sua laguna ed il territorio circostante sono un patrimonio artistico, storico, culturale ed ambientale tra i più noti al mondo. Il fragile equilibrio, tipico delle lagune, è per Venezia particolarmente vulnerabile; essa infatti risulta modellata da un forte contributo antropico, iniziato secoli or sono con le note deviazioni fluviali, ed è oggi esposta ad azioni antropiche di particolare rilevanza, quali quelle derivanti dalla presenza della zona industriale di Marghera che s'affaccia proprio sulla laguna. Questo delicato equilibrio è legato al particolare assetto geologico-territoriale dell'area veneziana. In questa relazione, forzatamente molto schematica in quanto sintetizza decenni di studi ed indagini a livello sia scientifico che tecnico-applicativo, si vuole indicare l'insostituibile apporto della geologia anche in un'area urbana, quale quella Veneziana. Questo "complesso urbano" è composto da una serie di centri: insulari (centro storico, Murano, Burano, Torcello, ecc.), litorali (Lido, Chioggia, Jesolo), di terraferma ed industriali (Mestre, Scorzè, Marghera, Malcontenta, Fusina, ecc.). Altra caratteristica del complesso veneziano è l'interazione dei vari centri urbani che, malgrado la dislocazione geografica, interagiscono nelle varie problematiche geoambientali con strette relazioni causa-effetto. Questa nota, frutto della collaborazione tra Enti di Ricerca, Pubbliche Amministrazioni e Liberi Professionisti, evidenzia la necessità di lavorare in modo sinergico per affrontare al meglio le complesse tematiche geologico-ambientali che si riscontrano in questo tipo di studi

Boceprevir is highly effective in treatment-experienced hepatitis C virus-positive genotype-1 menopausal women

AIM: To investigate the safety/efficacy of Boceprevirbased triple therapy in hepatitis C virus (HCV)-G1 menopausal women who were historic relapsers, partial-responders and null-responders. METHODS: In this single-assignment, unblinded study, we treated fifty-six menopausal women with HCV-G1, 46% F3-F4, and previous PEG-α/RBV failure (7% null, 41% non-responder, and 52% relapser) with 4 wk lead-in with PEG-IFNα2b/RBV followed by PEGIFNα2b/RBV+Boceprevir for 32 wk, with an additional 12 wk of PEG-IFN-α-2b/RBV if patients were HCV-RNA-positive by week 8. In previous null-responders, 44 wk of triple therapy was used. The primary objective of retreatment was to verify whether a sustained virological response (SVR) (HCV RNA undetectable at 24 wk of follow-up) rate of at least 20% could be obtained. The secondary objective was the evaluation of the percent of patients with negative HCV RNA at week 4 (RVR), 8 (RVR BOC), 12 (EVR), or at the end-of-treatment (ETR) that reached SVR. To assess the relationship between SVR and clinical and biochemical parameters, multiple logistic regression analysis was used. RESULTS: After lead-in, only two patients had RVR; HCV-RNA was unchanged in all but 62% who had ≤ 1 logio decrease. After Boceprevir, HCV RNA became undetectable at week 8 in 32/56 (57.1%) and at week 12 in 41/56 (73.2%). Of these, 53.8% and 52.0%, respectively, achieved SVR. Overall, SVR was obtained in 25/56 (44.6%). SVR was achieved in 55% previous relapsers vs. 41% non-responders (Ρ = 0.250), in 44% F0-F2 vs 54% F3-F4 (Ρ = 0.488), and in 11/19 (57.9%) of patients with cirrhosis. At univariate analysis for baseline predictors of SVR, only previous response to antiviral therapy (OR = 2.662, 95%CI: 0.957-6.881, Ρ= 0.043), was related with SVR. When considering "on treatment" factors, 1 log10 HCV RNA decline at week 4 (3.733, 95%CI: 1.676-12.658, Ρ= 0.034) and achievement of RVR BOC (7.347, 95%CI: 2.156-25.035, Ρ= 0.001) were significantly related with the SVR, al-though RVR BOC only (6.794, 95%CI: 1.596-21.644, Ρ = 0.010) maintained significance at multivariate logistic regression analysis. Anemia and neutropenia were managed with Erythropoietin and Filgrastim supplementation, respectively. Only six patients discontinued therapy. CONCLUSION: Boceprevir obtained high SVR response independent of previous response, RVR or baseline fibrosis or cirrhosis. RVR BOC was the only independent predictor of SVR