Role of endocannabinoids and TRPV1 channels in the bioelectric activity of hippocampal neurons

It has been reported that endocannabinoid system is an important player in the regulation of neuronal bioelectrical activity, relying on receptor-mediated mechanisms. Amongst these, Cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1r) and Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid type 1 (TRPV1) are both modulated by endocannabinoids, involved in the transduction of stimuli in the pre-synaptic neuron and prompt downstream pathways in the post-synaptic neuron. To investigate the role of CB1r/TRPV1 interplay, we applied whole-cell patch clamp technique to visualize the eventual variations in terms of membrane current and action potentials induced by pharmacological manipulation in rat hippocampal neurons. We modulated the activity of the CB1r and TRPV1 exploiting anandamide (AEA), CB1r and TRPV1 agonist, capsaicin (CAP), a TRPV1 agonist and capsazepine (CPZ), a TRPV1 antagonist. Our data show that AEA influences steady membrane current with respect to controls. Furthermore, drug application significantly modifies action potentials amplitude, duration and frequency. In particular, the co-treatment of AEA and CPZ increases the amplitude of action potentials, reduces their duration and thus increases their frequency. These preliminary results support the involvement of TRPV1 in the cannabinoid modulation of the bioelectrical activity in rat hippocampal neurons. Indeed, the concurrent blockade of these channels and activation of CBr influences basic properties of neuronal function

Quantification of the resilience of primary care networks by stress testing the health care system

There are practically no quantitative tools for understanding how much stress a health care system can absorb before it loses its ability to provide care. We propose to measure the resilience of health care systems with respect to changes in the density of primary care providers. We develop a computational model on a 1-to-1 scale for a countrywide primary care sector based on patient-sharing networks. Nodes represent all primary care providers in a country; links indicate patient flows between them. The removal of providers could cause a cascade of patient displacements, as patients have to find alternative providers. The model is calibrated with nationwide data from Austria that includes almost all primary care contacts over 2 y. We assign 2 properties to every provider: the “CareRank” measures the average number of displacements caused by a provider’s removal (systemic risk) as well as the fraction of patients a provider can absorb when others default (systemic benefit). Below a critical number of providers, large-scale cascades of patient displacements occur, and no more providers can be found in a given region. We quantify regional resilience as the maximum fraction of providers that can be removed before cascading events prevent coverage for all patients within a district. We find considerable regional heterogeneity in the critical transition point from resilient to nonresilient behavior. We demonstrate that health care resilience cannot be quantified by physician density alone but must take into account how networked systems respond and restructure in response to shocks. The approach can identify systemically relevant providers

Mobile five senses augmented reality system: technology acceptance study

The application of the most recent technologies is fundamental to add value to tourism experiences, as well as in other economic sectors. Mobile Five Senses Augmented Reality (M5SAR) system is a mobile guide instrument for cultural, historical, and museum events. In order to realize the proclaimed five senses, the system has two main modules: a (i) mobile application which deals mainly with the senses of sight and hearing, using for that the mobile device camera to recognize and track on-the-fly (museum's) objects and give related information about them; and a (ii) portable device capable of enhancing the augmented reality (AR) experience to the full five senses through the stimulus of touch, taste, and smell, by associating itself to the users' smartphone or tablet. This paper briefly presents the system's architecture but, the main focus is on the analysis of the users' acceptance for this technology, namely the AR (software) application, and its integration with the (hardware) device to achieve the five senses AR. Results show that social influence, effort expectancy, and facilitating conditions are the key constructs that drive the users to accept and M5SAR's technology.Funding Agency Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), Project: Laboratory of Robotics and Engineering Systems, LARSyS UID/EEA/50009/2019 Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), Project: Arts and Communication Research Center, CIAC UID/Multi/04019/2019 Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), Project: Research Centre for Tourism, Sustainability and Well-Being, CinTurs UID/SOC/04020/2019 Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), Project: Center for Advanced Studies in Management and Economics, CEFAGE UID/ECO/04007/2019 Project M5SAR I&DT - CRESC ALGARVE2020 3322 PORTUGAL2020 European Union (EU) Instituto de Salud Carlos IIIinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A case of severe dermatitis in a patient with Polycythemia Vera during cytoreductive therapy

Polycythemia Vera (PV) is a Philadelphia-negative chronic myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN) mainly characterized by erythrocytosis. In this report we describe a case of severe cutaneous toxicity in patients with PV treated with hydroxyurea. A 72-year-old woman diagnosed with PV with V617F mutation of JAK2 performed more than 10 years before and treated with hydroxyurea plus phlebotomies and low-dose ASA for about 7 years addressed our center for the appearance of serious dermatitis at the face symptomatic for severe itch. The patient underwent a dermatology visit with diagnosis of desquamative dermatitis due to iatrogenic cause related to the use of hydroxyurea. HU was stopped for a month with no improvement after a month of wash-out. Ruxolitinib was prescribed at a dose of 20 mg per day, in order to control hypercytosis and considering the severe intolerance to hydroxyurea. Ruxolitinib allowed not only to reduce the haematocrit, reaching the target value of 45%, and control thrombocytosis, but also to switch off the severe itch and to completely resolve skin toxicity

Guarding net effects on landings and discards in Mediterranean trammel net fishery: Case analysis of Egadi Islands Marine Protected Area (Central Mediterranean Sea, Italy)

Discards remain among the main negative impacts of fishing activities, and their reductions are strengthened by the European Common Fisheries Policy (European Regulation 1380/2013). Trammel net fisheries appear more sustainable compared with other fishing techniques, especially from an ecological viewpoint. Despite this, reports show that trammel net fisheries deliver discard quantities between 10% and 43% of the total catch biomass. To supplement existing information, this current work attempts to address the discard reduction using guarding net in the small-scale fisheries of Egadi Islands MPA (Western Sicily, Central Mediterranean Sea). To assess the reduction of unwanted catches, 48 experimental fishing trials were conducted within a 6-month period. The experimental fishing trial employed a trammel net made up of 20 panels alternated with two different net configurations. The control panels (CN) held a large outer (180 mm) and small inner (31.25 mm) meshes. The test panels (GN) with guarding net constituted a three-mesh-high (50-mm mesh size) net placed between trammel net panels and a lead line. A total of 3,310 individuals belonging to 106 taxa and nine phyla were caught. Crustaceans were the most abundant unwanted catches in the control panels, whereas bioconstructions occurred in the guarding net panels. The discard ratios of CN and GN panels were statistically different (t-value = -2.55; p< 0.05). The analysis of catch per unit effort showed higher catches of CN panels for both commercial and discard fractions (p< 0.05). Moreover, the guarding net panels caught the main discarded species at 20% lower compared with the control. The overall value of the catch at the CN panels (euro 3,366.90) was higher than the total income (euro 2,043.70) generated using the GN panels, which suggests a significant commercial loss of 40% (p< 0.05)

Guarding net effects on landings and discards in Mediterranean trammel net fishery: Case analysis of Egadi Islands Marine Protected Area (Central Mediterranean Sea, Italy)

Discards remain among the main negative impacts of fishing activities, and their reductions are strengthened by the European Common Fisheries Policy (European Regulation 1380/2013). Trammel net fisheries appear more sustainable compared with other fishing techniques, especially from an ecological viewpoint. Despite this, reports show that trammel net fisheries deliver discard quantities between 10% and 43% of the total catch biomass. To supplement existing information, this current work attempts to address the discard reduction using guarding net in the small-scale fisheries of Egadi Islands MPA (Western Sicily, Central Mediterranean Sea). To assess the reduction of unwanted catches, 48 experimental fishing trials were conducted within a 6-month period. The experimental fishing trial employed a trammel net made up of 20 panels alternated with two different net configurations. The control panels (CN) held a large outer (180 mm) and small inner (31.25 mm) meshes. The test panels (GN) with guarding net constituted a three-mesh-high (50-mm mesh size) net placed between trammel net panels and a lead line. A total of 3,310 individuals belonging to 106 taxa and nine phyla were caught. Crustaceans were the most abundant unwanted catches in the control panels, whereas bioconstructions occurred in the guarding net panels. The discard ratios of CN and GN panels were statistically different (t-value = –2.55; p< 0.05). The analysis of catch per unit effort showed higher catches of CN panels for both commercial and discard fractions (p< 0.05). Moreover, the guarding net panels caught the main discarded species at 20% lower compared with the control. The overall value of the catch at the CN panels (€ 3,366.90) was higher than the total income (€ 2,043.70) generated using the GN panels, which suggests a significant commercial loss of 40% (p< 0.05)

Network sensitivity of systemic risk

A growing body of studies on systemic risk in financial markets has emphasized the key importance of taking into consideration the complex interconnections among financial institutions. Much effort has been put into modeling the contagion dynamics of financial shocks and into assessing the resilience of specific financial markets, either using real network data, reconstruction techniques or simple toy networks. Here, we address the more general problem of how shock propagation dynamics depend on the topological details of the underlying network. To this end, we consider different realistic network topologies, all consistent with balance sheet information obtained from real data on financial institutions. In particular, we consider networks of varying density and with different block structures. In addition, we diversify in the details of the shock propagation dynamics. We confirm that the systemic risk properties of a financial network are extremely sensitive to its network features. Our results can aid in the design of regulatory policies to improve the robustness of financial markets

Impact of “Golden” tomato juice on cognitive alterations in metabolic syndrome: Insights into behavioural and biochemical changes in a high-fat diet rat model

“Golden” tomato (GT) plays a protective role in metabolic dysfunction induced by High-Fat Diet (HFD). Our aim is to characterize the phytonutrient composition of the juice and explore the influence of GT, orally administered for one month, on cognitive impairment associated with Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) in male rats. We investigated reactivity, stress response and memory, together with brain neurotrophic/inflammatory signaling. Our data showed that HFD-induced functional modifications were ameliorated by GT nutritional supplementation. In particular, the behavioural reactivity improved in HFD/GT rats, that also showed a better performance in tests measuring anxiety and anhedonia. Furthermore, GT consumption rescued the declarative memory impairment. Lastly, GT supplementation counteracted HFD-induced brain alterations in PI3K\Akt and MAPK/ERK signalling pathways. In conclusion, this study provides evidence of the importance of food supplementation with GT in the protection from neuroinflammation and cognitive alterations associated with MetS

Prevalence and predictors of atypical histology in endometrial polyps removed by hysteroscopy: a secondary analysis from the SICMIG hysteroscopy trial

The aim of this study is to assess the prevalence of atypical hyperplasia (AH) and endometrial cancer (EC) within endometrial polyps (EPs) removed by hysteroscopy