Correlation between oesophageal acid exposure and dyspeptic symptoms in patients with nonerosive reflux disease.

Oesophageal acidification induces dyspeptic symptoms in healthy individuals. This study aimed to evaluate the correlation between oesophageal acid exposure and dyspeptic symptoms in patients with nonerosive reflux disease. METHODS: A total of 68 patients with dominant symptoms of heartburn, negative upper gastrointestinal endoscopy and concomitant dyspeptic symptoms participated in the study. The severity of dyspepsia and reflux-related symptoms was evaluated, and 24-h gastro-oesophageal pH-monitoring study was performed in all patients at baseline and after 4 weeks of therapy with esomeprazole 40 mg. RESULTS: Oesophageal basal acid exposure was pathological in 43 patients and normal in 25 patients, with a similar prevalence and severity of individual dyspeptic symptoms in the two groups. A significant correlation between reflux and dyspepsia scores was observed in the subgroup of patients with normal, but not in those with abnormal pHmetry (r=0.4, P=0.04 and r=0.2 P=0.07, respectively). After esomeprazole, a reduction in severity of dyspepsia (>or=50% with respect to baseline) was observed, independent of improvement of reflux-associated symptoms. Improvement in dyspepsia was, however, similar in patients with normal and abnormal basal acid exposure (14/25 vs. 33/43, respectively, P=NS). CONCLUSION: Dyspeptic symptoms coexist in a subset of nonerosive reflux disease patients, but prevalence and severity of the symptoms seems to be independent of oesophageal acid exposure

Molecular mechanism of endothelial and vascular aging: implications for cardiovascular disease

Western societies are aging due to an increasing life span, decreased birth rates, and improving social and health conditions. On the other hand, the prevalence of cardiovascular (CV) and cerebrovascular (CBV) diseases rises with age. Thus, in view of the ongoing aging pandemic, it is appropriate to better understand the molecular pathways of aging as well as age-associated CV and CBV diseases. Oxidative stress contributes to aging of organs and the whole body by an accumulation of reactive oxygen species promoting oxidative damage. Indeed, increased oxidative stress produced in the mitochondria and cytosol of heart and brain is a common denominator to almost all CV and CBV diseases. The mitochondrial adaptor protein p66Shc and the family of deacetylase enzymes, the sirtuins, regulate the aging process, determine lifespan of many species and are involved in CV diseases. GDF11, a member of TGFβ superfamily with homology to myostatin also retards the aging process via yet unknown mechanisms. Recent evidence points towards a promising role of this novel ‘rejuvenation' factor in reducing age-related heart disease. Finally, telomere length is also involved in aging and the development of age-related CV dysfunction. This review focuses on the latest scientific advances in understanding age-related changes of the CV and CBV system, as well as delineating potential novel therapeutic targets derived from aging research for CV and CBV disease

Role of Non-Caloric Carbonated Beverage Preload During a Standardized Solid and Liquid Meal on Colecistokinin and Ghrelin Levels in Healthy Subjects

Background and Aim: The effects of beverages with carbon dioxide on the gastrointestinal system mainly involve the upper digestive tract, with a possible modification of gastric physiology and change in food intake. No data are available on the relationship between non caloric carbonated beverages intake and gastrointestinal hormones levels. We aimed to verify the effect of a sugar-free carbonated beverage (CB) preload compared to a CB without CO2 (DCB) and water (W), during a standardized solid (SM) and liquid (LM) meal, on colecistokinin (CCK) and ghrelin (Gh) release. Subjects & Methods: After 300 ml of CB, DCB and W, a standardized SM or LM was administered at constant rate (100 kcal/5 min) to ten healthy subjects (4 females, aged 22-30 years; BMI 21-24) on six days in a random order (D1: CB+SM; D2: DCB+SM; D3: W+SM; D4: CB+LM; D5: DCB+LM; D6: W+LM). Eating perceptions (desire to eat, hunger, prospective of food consumption) and maximum satiety (MS) as total kcals intake were measured. CCK and Gh were evaluated on blood samples collected at 0, 10 (after beverage), 30, 60 and 120 min. Hormones values are expressed as ratio with body area surface (BSA) and as peak and nadir for CCK and Gh respectively. All data are expressed as mean±SD. Results: Desire to eat, hunger and prospective of food consumption were not different among beverages and meals. Total kcal intakes at MS were significant increased during SM respect to LM for CB (774±209, 585±299, p<0.01), DCB (837±208, 585±280, p<0.01) andW(783±244, 630±353, p<0.01) respectively, without differences among beverages. No differences were found for CCK and Gh among all beverages during SM or LM. Instead, CCK after CB was higher during SM than LM (1.004±0.514, 0.513±0.243, p<0.05) but not after DCB and W (0.790±0.604, 0.849±0.595, n.s.; 0.712±0.473, 0.873±0.431, n.s.) respectively. Moreover, after all beverages, Gh was higher during SM than LM (CB: 0.314±0.100, 0.206±0.099, p<0.05; DCB: 0.288±0.060, 0.145±0.051, p<0.01; W: 0.307±0.083, 0.170±0.085, p<0.01). Conclusions: Liquid meal determined an earlier satiety respect to a solid meal with a parallel decrease of Ghrelin independently of the kind of beverage preload. A CCK decrease was found only during liquid meal after carbonated beverage preload without influence on kcal intake compared with DCB and W. Studies on the influence of carbon dioxide on CCK release nutrients related need to explain this data

Molecular analysis of Duchenne/Becker muscular dystrophy

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Combination of humic biostimulants with a microbial inoculum improves lettuce productivity, nutrient uptake, and primary and secondary metabolism

Biostimulants of natural origin represent a growing ecological strategy to increase crops productivity, especially when applied in combination with microbial bioeffectors. We studied the effect of biostimulants such as Potassium Humates (KH) from Leonardite and Compost Tea (CT) from green compost on both productivity and nutritional status of lettuce plants, as well as on the primary and secondary metabolism of treated plants, when amended either alone or in combination with a commercial microbial inoculum (M+), mainly based on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (Micosat TabPlus)

Case Report: Two cases of apparent discordance between non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) and amniocentesis resulting in feto-placental mosaicism of trisomy 21. Issues in diagnosis, investigation and counselling

The sequencing of cell-free fetal DNA in the maternal plasma through non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) is an accurate genetic screening test to detect the most common fetal aneuploidies during pregnancy. The extensive use of NIPT, as a screening method, has highlighted the limits of the technique, including false positive and negative results. Feto-placental mosaicism is a challenging biological issue and is the most frequent cause of false positive and negative results in NIPT screening, and of discrepancy between NIPT and invasive test results. We are reporting on two cases of feto-placental mosaicism of trisomy 21, both with a low-risk NIPT result, identified by ultrasound signs and a subsequent amniocentesis consistent with a trisomy 21. In both cases, after the pregnancy termination, cytogenetic and/or cytogenomic analyses were performed on the placenta and fetal tissues, showing in the first case a mosaicism of trisomy 21 in both the placenta and the fetus, but a mosaicism in the placenta and a complete trisomy 21 in the fetus in the second case. These cases emphasize the need for accurate and complete pre-test NIPT counselling, as well as to identify situations at risk for a possible false negative NIPT result, which may underestimate a potential pathological condition, such as feto-placental mosaicism or fetal trisomy. Post-mortem molecular autopsy may discriminate between placental, fetal and feto-placental mosaicism, and between complete or mosaic fetal chromosomal anomalies. A multidisciplinary approach in counselling, as well as in the interpretation of biological events, is essential for the clarification of complex cases, such as feto-placental mosaicisms

Cryogenic Characterization of FBK HD Near-UV Sensitive SiPMs

We report on the characterization of near-ultraviolet high density silicon photomultiplier (\SiPM) developed at Fondazione Bruno Kessler (\FBK) at cryogenic temperature. A dedicated setup was built to measure the primary dark noise and correlated noise of the \SiPMs\ between 40 and 300~K. Moreover, an analysis program and data acquisition system were developed to allow the precise characterization of these parameters, some of which can vary up to 7 orders of magnitude between room temperature and 40~K. We demonstrate that it is possible to operate the \FBK\ near-ultraviolet high density \SiPMs\ at temperatures lower than 100~K with a dark rate below 0.01 cps/mm$^2$ and total correlated noise probability below 35\% at an over-voltage of 6~V. These results are relevant for the development of future cryogenic particle detectors using \SiPMs\ as photosensors

Izračun izračene snage iz rezulata mjerenja u bliskom polju dobivenih metodom uzorkovanja na planarnoj širokoj mreži

A full procedure is developed in this paper for evaluating the power radiated by an antenna under test from a nonredundant number of near-field measurements collected by the innovative planar wide-mesh scanning. It can be applied for the antenna directivity evaluation whenever the power radiated by the antenna in the backward half-space is negligible. Such a procedure makes use of a closed form formula for computing the total radiated power from the knowledge of the radiation intensity samples on the far-field sphere. These samples are determined via a probe compensated near-field — far-field transformation. An optimal sampling interpolation formula is also used for their evaluation. The effectiveness of the proposed procedure is assessed by numerical simulations.U radu je razvijena potpuna procedura za izračun snage koju zrači ispitna antena. Procedura je zasnovana na neredundantnim mjerenjima u bliskom polju na osnovi inovativnog uzorkovanja na planarnoj širokoj mreži. Metoda se može primijeniti za odredivanje usmjerenosti antene u slučajevima kada je zračenje u stražnji poluprostor zanemarivo. Metoda se zasniva na uporabi izraza za izračun ukupne izračene snage preko poznavanja izračene gustoće snage uzorkovane na sferi u dalekom polju. Ti uzorci su odredeni primjenom transformacije iz bliskog polja (kompeziranog zbog utjecaja mjerne sonde) u daleko polje. U predloženoj metodi takoder je rabljena optimalna interpolacijska formula za uzorkovanje. Efikasnost predložene metode razmatrana je numeričkim simulacijama

Indagine conoscitiva su stress, qualità della vita, rischi, somatizzazione negli studenti dell’Università di Salerno

Obiettivo dell’indagine è stato determinare la prevalenza di bruxismo, stress percepito, vulnerabilità allo stress, percezione del benessere e della propria qualità di vita correlata alla salute in un gruppo di studenti di alcuni dei Corsi di Laurea dell’Università di Salerno. I dati raccolti sono stati posti in relazione con i diversi tipi di stressors (accademici, fisici, psicologici, sociali, economici) che possono influenzare la vita del giovane universitario. La finalità è stata eseguire un primo screening sulla salute psicologica degli studenti, per meglio programmare le attività del Centro di Counseling di Ateneo, di recente riattivazione

Metronomic oral cyclophosphamide (MOC) in the salvage therapy of heavily treated recurrent ovarian cancer patients: a retrospective, multicenter study

The aim of this multicenter, retrospective study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of metronomic oral cyclophosphamide (MOC) in heavily treated, relapsed ovarian cancer (ROC) patients