MRI Tracking of Macrophages Labeled with Glucan Particles Entrapping a Water Insoluble Paramagnetic Gd-Based Agent.

PURPOSE: This study is aimed at demonstrating the in vivo potential of Gd(III)-loaded glucan particles (Gd-GPs) as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-positive agents for labeling and tracking phagocytic cells. PROCEDURE: GPs were obtained from Saccharomyces cerevisae and loaded with the water-insoluble complex Gd-DOTAMA(C18)2. The uptake kinetics of Gd-GPs by murine macrophages was studied in vitro and the internalization mechanism was assessed by competition assays. The in vivo performance of Gd-GPs was tested at 7.05 T on a mouse model of acute liver inflammation. RESULTS: The minimum number of Gd-GPs-labeled J774.A1 macrophages detected in vitro by MRI was ca. 300 cells/μl of agar, which is the lowest number ever reported for cells labeled with a positive T1 agent. Intravenous injection of macrophages labeled with Gd-GPs in a mouse model of liver inflammation enabled the MRI visualization of the cellular infiltration in the diseased area. CONCLUSIONS: Gd-GPs represent a promising platform for tracking macrophages by MRI as a T1 alternative to the golden standard T2-based iron oxide particles

Onychomycosis caused by Trichosporon mucoides

A case of onychomycosis caused by Trichosporon mucoides in a man with diabetes is presented. The infection was characterized by a brown–black pigmentation of the nail plates and subungual hyperkeratosis of the first three toes of both feet. Onychogryphosis was also visible on the third left toe. Direct microscopic examinations revealed wide and septate hyphae and spores. Three cultures on Sabouraud–gentamicin–chloramphenicol 2 agar and chromID Candida agar produced white, creamy, and smooth colonies that were judged to be morphologically typical of T. mucoides. Microscopic examinations of the colonies showed arthroconidia and blastoconidia. The urease test was positive. A sugar assimilation test on yeast nitrogen base agar showed assimilation of galactitol, sorbitol, and arabinitol. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF) confirmed the diagnosis of T. mucoides infection. The patient was treated with topical urea and oral itraconazole. Three months later, a mild improvement was observed. The patient was subsequently lost to follow-up

La donna migrante nell’UE in una prospettiva italo-francese

In his famous work Mythologies, Roland Barthes describes the concept of the myth as a system of communication whose aim is to deprive every discourse of its history, in order to present a natural explanation of the world we live in. As the causes disappear, hierarchies and power relations remain immutable. According to his intuitions, we have considered Community law and rhetoric as a metalanguage in which the myth, as a second semiological system, allows to impose a denoted message as means of maximum connotation.This essay aims to verify in which aspects Community discourse is a mythological one. We have chosen the migrant woman as the subject whose cultural, religious and sexual identity is able to connote her in terms of diversity. The different representations given to her, place the migrant woman as the object (but never the subject) of three European policies: the immigration policy, the policy of equal opportunities between men and women, and the policy of equal treatment. In order to discover the ideology connoting her as a migrant and as a woman, our analysis has taken as reference corpus the rhetorical and legal Community discourse, then its influence on the Italian and French discourse systems as well. We have ultimately observed how her position is justified and reformulated by an ideological discourse system, both in terms of an economic resource, and of a victim of Muslim fundamentalism.Keywords: migrant woman, identity, social group, multiple discrimination, victim.Parole chiave: donna migrante, identità, gruppo sociale, discriminazione multipla, vittima

Quantitative Assessment of Cancer Vascular Architecture by Skeletonization of High-resolution 3-D Contrast-enhanced Ultrasound Images: Role of Liposomes and Microbubbles.

The accurate characterization and description of the vascular network of a cancer lesion is of paramount importance in clinical practice and cancer research in order to improve diagnostic accuracy or to assess the effectiveness of a treatment. The aim of this study was to show the effectiveness of liposomes as an ultrasound contrast agent to describe the 3-D vascular architecture of a tumor. Eight C57BL/6 mice grafted with syngeneic B16-F10 murine melanoma cells were injected with a bolus of 1,2-Distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocoline (DSPC)-based non-targeted liposomes and with a bolus of microbubbles. 3-D contrast-enhanced images of the tumor lesions were acquired in three conditions: pre-contrast, after the injection of micro bubbles, and after the injection of liposomes. By using a previously developed reconstruction and characterization image processing technique, we obtained the 3-D representation of the vascular architecture in these three conditions. Six descriptive parameters of these networks were also computed: the number of vascular trees (NT), the vascular density (VD), the number of branches, the 2-D curvature measure, the number of vascular flexes of the vessels, and the 3-D curvature. Results showed that all the vascular descriptors obtained by liposome-based images were statistically equal to those obtained by using microbubbles, except the VD which was found to be lower for liposome images. All the six descriptors computed in pre-contrast conditions had values that were statistically lower than those computed in presence of contrast, both for liposomes and microbubbles. Liposomes have already been used in cancer therapy for the selective ultrasound-mediated delivery of drugs. This work demonstrated their effectiveness also as vascular diagnostic contrast agents, therefore proving that liposomes can be used as efficient “theranostic” (i.e. therapeutic 1 diagnostic) ultrasound probes

Silver zeolite antimicrobial activity in aluminium heating, ventilation and air conditioning system ducts

Introduction. Air pollution in confined environments is a serious health problem, in that most people spend long periods indoors (in homes, offices, classrooms etc.). Some people (children, the elderly, heart disease patients, asthmatic or allergic subjects) are at greater risk because of their conditions of frailty. The growing use of air-conditioning systems in many public and private buildings aggravates this health risk, especially when these systems are not correctly installed or regularly serviced. The aim of our study was to verify the capacity of Ag + ions to stop the growth of bacteria and moulds inside the ducts of Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning system ducts (HVAC) systems when these ducts were lined with active Ag + ions zeolite-coated panels. Material and methods. A Y-shaped HVAC model with two branches was used; one branch was made of traditional galvanized iron, as was the whole system, while the other was lined with active Ag + zeolite-coated polyurethane panels. During the test, samples of dust present inside both ducts were collected and seeded in liquid and solid media to detect bacteria and moulds. The presence of bacteria was also sought in the air emerging from the outlets of both ducts. Results. Tests made on samples of particulate collected from the two different ducts revealed a lower total bacterial load in the samples collected from the Ag + zeolite-coated duct than in the samples from the traditional Zn galvanized duct. In addition, the values of bacterial load found in the air emerging from the Ag+ ions zeolite-lined duct were 5 times lower than those found in the air from the traditional galvanized iron duct. Conclusions. The utilization of Ag + zeolite-coated panels in air-conditioning systems could improve the quality of the emerging air in comparison with traditional installations in galvanized iron. This innovation could prove particularly advantageous in the event of accidents during the installation of air-conditioning systems or of contaminated aerosols coming from outside

Zdrava hrana za zdrav život : stara i nova paradigma u zdravstvenom turizmu

Food has always been a significant part of travel and tourism, and in recent years there has been a rise of awareness and interest in healthy food and nutrition and its connection to well-being. Implementation of healthy nutrition into health tourism is the object of research in this paper. The rise of the healthy food trends is accompanied by a rise of accessible information quantity, however this also including information of bad quality. But nonetheless, today’s tourist is very well informed about impacts of nutrition on health, and has specific needs and desires. A tourism product provider needs to be able to meet these needs and even exceed the tourists’ expectations, and therefore must be very well informed as well.Hrana je uvijek bila značajan dio turizma, a tijekom posljednjih godina je došlo do porasta interesa za zdravu hranu i prehranu i svijesti o povezanosti istih sa zdravljem čovjeka. Implementacija zdrave hrane u zdravstveni turizam je predmet istraživanja ovog rada. Porast trendova zdrave hrane je popraćeno rastom količine pristupačnih informacija, međutim to uključuje i informacije loše kvalitete. Bez obzira na to, današnji turist je vrlo dobro informiran o utjecaju prehrane na zdravlje, i ima specifične želje i potrebe. Pružatelj turističkog proizvoda mora biti sposoban zadovoljiti te želje i čak nadmašiti očekivanja turista, stoga mora također biti vrlo dobro informiran