Healthy Aging and Dietary Patterns

A number of factors contribute to the complex process of aging, which finally define whether someone will or not develop age-associated chronic diseases in late life. These determinants comprise genetic susceptibility as well as various behavioral, environmental, and dietary factors, all of which have been shown to influence specific pathways regulating the aging process and the extension of life, which makes longevity a multidimensional phenomenon. Although a “miraculous elixir” or a “nutrition pill” are not plausible, researchers agree on the notion that nutritional factors have major impact on the risk of age-associated chronic non-communicable diseases and mortality. In recent years nutrition research in relation to health outcomes has considerably changed from focusing exclusively on single nutrients to considering combinations of foods rather than nutrients in isolation. Although research on specific nutrients is scientifically valid providing crucial evidence on the mechanisms by which nutrition impacts health, the recent switch targeting the multifaceted synergistic interplay among nutrients, other dietary constituents, and whole foods, has promoted emerging interest on the actions of total dietary patterns. This narrative review aims to describe some specific dietary patterns with evidence of associations with reduction in the incidence of chronic diseases allowing older adults to live a long-lasting and healthier life, and confirming the powerful impact nutrition can exert on healthy aging. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

Does the polydimethylsiloxane urethral injection (Macroplastique®) improve sexual function in women, in fertile age, affected by stress urinary incontinence?

Background and Objectives: Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) negatively affects women's quality of life, including sexual function. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the effect of polydimethylsiloxane (Macroplastique(R)) on sexual function in women of fertile age affected by SUI. Materials and Methods: Single-center prospective study. Sexually active women of fertile age with symptoms of pure SUI, which were urodynamically proven, were submitted to intraurethral Macroplastique(R) injection. At 6-months follow-up, their sexual function was evaluated with Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI), while the SUI cure rate was objectively assessed through a negative stress test and subjectively by a Patient Global Impression of Improvement (PGI-I) score < 3. The difference of coital incontinence prevalence was assessed between the baseline and the 6-month follow-up. Peri- and postoperative complications of Macroplastique(R) injection were recorded and classified according to the Clavien-Dindo system. Results: Twenty-one women fulfilled inclusion criteria and were submitted to Macroplastique(R) procedure. The concerning sexual function, desire, satisfaction, and overall FSFI score significantly improved. Since other domains were less impaired at the baseline, we could not assess significant improvement for all of them. We observed a complete regression of coital incontinence (0/21, 0%) in comparison with the baseline (5/21, 23.8%; p = 0.04). The objective SUI cure rate was 76% (16/21), while the subjective SUI cure rate was 80.9% (17/21). One woman developed de novo overactive bladder, and two women developed postoperative voiding dysfunction (self-solved in 24 h). Conclusions: The Macroplastique(R) urethral injection was demonstrated to be safe and effective in improving sexual function in sexually active women of fertile age affected by pure SUI, urodinamically proven at 6-months follow-up

Performance evaluation of a commercial protective coating through field-exposure tests on three stone substrates

In the last decades, there have been several studies on Cultural Heritage regarding the performance of protective and consolidating coatings for the prevention of decay. A coating must have several characteristics such as efficiency, breathability, and must be durable and reversible. In this research work, the performance of a commercial protective product (Fosbuild FBLE 200) was evaluated. This coating is composed of a TiO2 nanopowder dispersed in an aqueous solution of an acrylic polymer. The product, which exhibits depolluting, antimicrobial, water-repellent and self-cleaning properties, has been applied on three different lithotypes: Carrara marble, Noto stone, and Comiso stone. Field-exposure tests were carried out in two different outdoor environments (Catania and Palermo) in order to assess its suitability. Promising results were obtained for the Carrara marble after one year of exposure; however, a decrease in effectiveness was observed at the end of the second year

Antioxidative potential of a combined therapy of anti TNFα and Zn acetate in experimental colitis.

AIM: To evaluate whether combination therapy with anti-tumour necrosis factor α (TNFα) antibody and Zn acetate is beneficial in dextran sodium sulphate (DSS) colitis. METHODS: Colitis was induced in CD1-Swiss mice with 5% DSS for 7 d. The experimental mice were then randomised into the following subgroups: standard diet + DSS treated (induced colitis group); standard diet + DSS + subcutaneous 25 μg anti-TNFα treated group; Zn acetate treated group + DSS + subcutaneous 25 μg anti-TNFα; standard diet + DSS + subcutaneous 6.25 μg anti-TNFα treated group and Zn acetate treated group + DSS + subcutaneous 6.25 μg anti-TNFα. Each group of mice was matched with a similar group of sham control animals. Macroscopic and histological features were scored blindly. Homogenates of the colonic mucosa were assessed for myeloperoxidase activity as a biochemical marker of inflammation and DNA adducts (8OH-dG) as a measure of oxidative damage. RESULTS: DSS produced submucosal erosions, ulcers, inflammatory cell infiltration and cryptic abscesses which were reduced in both groups of mice receiving either anti-TNFα alone or combined with zinc. The effect was more pronounced in the latter group (vs Zn diet, P < 0.02). Myeloperoxidase activity (vs controls, P < 0.02) and DNA adducts, greatly elevated in the DSS fed colitis group (vs controls, P < 0.05), were significantly reduced in the treated groups, with a more remarkable effect in the group receiving combined therapy (vs standard diet, P < 0.04). CONCLUSION: DSS induces colonic inflammation which is modulated by the administration of anti-TNFα. Combining anti-TNFα with Zn acetate offers marginal benefit in colitis severity

Charge States of Solar Cosmic Rays and Constraints on Acceleration Times and Coronal Transport

We examine effects on the charge states of energetic ions associated with gradual solar flares due to shock heating and stripping at high ion velocities. Recent measurements of the mean charges of various elements after the flares of 1992 Oct 30 and 1992 Nov 2 allow one to place limits on the product of the electron density times the acceleration or coronal residence time. In particular, any residence in coronal loops must be for < 0.03 s, which rules out models of coronal transport in loops, such as the bird cage model. The results do not contradict models of shock acceleration of energetic ions from coronal plasma at various solar longitudes.Comment: 7 pages LaTeX + 2 tables in separate LaTeX file, necessary AAS macros are included, accepted by Astrophys. J. Let

Muon excess at sea level from solar flares in association with the Fermi GBM spacecraft detector

This paper presents results of an ongoing survey on the associations between muon excesses at ground level registered by the Tupi telescopes and transient solar events, two solar flares whose gamma-ray and X-ray emissions were reported by, respectively, the Fermi GBM and the GOES 14. We show that solar flares of small scale, those with prompt X-ray emission classified by GOES as C-Class (power $10^{-6}$ to $10^{-5}$ W m$^2$ at 1 AU) may give rise to muon excess probably associated with solar protons and ions emitted by the flare and arriving at the Earth as a coherent particle pulse. The Tupi telescopes are within the central region of the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA), which allows particle detectors to achieve a low rigidity of response to primary and secondary charged particles ($\geq 0.1$ GV). Here we argue for the possibility of a "scale-free" energy distribution of particles accelerated by solar flares. Large and small scale flares have the same energy spectrum up to energies exceeding the pion production, the difference between them is only the intensity. If this hypothesis is correct, the Tupi telescope is registering muons produced by protons (ions) whose energy corresponds to the tail of the spectrum. Consequently the energy distribution of the emitted protons has to be a power law spectrum, since power law distributions are characterized as scale free distributions. The Tupi events give support to this conjecture.Comment: 24 pages, 10 figure

Energetic particle transport across the mean magnetic field: before diffusion

Current particle transport models describe the propagation of charged particles across the mean field direction in turbulent plasmas as diffusion. However, recent studies suggest that at short time- scales, such as soon after solar energetic particle (SEP) injection, particles remain on turbulently meandering field lines, which results in non-diffusive initial propagation across the mean magnetic field. In this work, we use a new technique to investigate how the particles are displaced from their original field lines, and quantify the parameters of the transition from field-aligned particle propagation along meandering field lines to particle diffusion across the mean magnetic field. We show that the initial decoupling of the particles from the field lines is slow, and particles remain within a Larmor radius from their initial meandering field lines for tens to hundreds of Larmor periods, for 0.1-10 MeV protons in turbulence conditions typical of the solar wind at 1 AU. Subsequently, particles decouple from their initial field lines and after hundreds to thousands of Larmor periods reach time-asymptotic diffusive behaviour consistent with particle diffusion across the mean field caused by the meandering of the field lines. We show that the typical duration of the pre-diffusive phase, hours to tens of hours for 10 MeV protons in 1 AU solar wind turbulence conditions, is significant for SEP propagation to 1 AU and must be taken into account when modelling SEP propagation in the interplanetary space