Riutilizzo di idrolizzato proteico dalla scarnatura delle pelli

Il carniccio è un prodotto di scarto ottenuto dalla concia delle pelli; viene ricavato dalla fase di scarnatura che consiste nella separazione della pelle grezza dallo strato sottocutaneo costituito essenzialmente da collagene; nel distretto conciario toscano il carniccio viene trattato nell’impianto consortile centralizzato Consorzio S.G.S. S.p.A. a Santa Croce sull’Arno. Tale impianto, a servizio dell’intero comprensorio conciario toscano, è attivo dal 1986. Presso S.G.S. il carniccio viene sottoposto ad un processo di trasformazione con l’ottenimento di grassi e proteine (il cosiddetto idrolizzato proteico), commercializzati sotto forma di prodotti per l’agricoltura e la zootecnia. Quest’ultimo settore è stato precluso da dicembre del 2000 a causa delle vicende legate alla comparsa della B.S.E. o morbo della “ mucca pazza”. Data l’ingente quantità di carniccio prodotta (si tratta infatti di 80000 tonnellate/anno in aumento di pari passo con lo sviluppo del settore conciario), si rende necessario mettere a punto processi e tecnologie innovativi per il recupero dell’idrolizzato proteico attraverso la sua trasformazione in altri prodotti industriali alternativi a quello tradizionalmente utilizzato nell’agricoltura ed in grado di compensare il mancato utilizzo nel settore zootecnico. Il presente lavoro si pone l’obiettivo di valutare la fattibilità dell’impiego dell’idrolizzato proteico in miscela con polimeri sintetici per la realizzazione di pellicole biodegradabili. I vantaggi associati all’utilizzo dell’idrolizzato proteico in queste miscele sono di tipo economico ed ambientale. Infatti la produzione di biomateriali a partire dal carniccio (prodotto di scarto di un processo industriale) ne comporta il recupero in quantità sicuramente maggiori rispetto al passato; per quanto riguarda il vantaggio economico, inoltre, esso risulta ancor più evidente se si pensa che verrebbe sensibilmente diminuito il costo dello smaltimento oltre al guadagno associato alla commercializzazione del prodotto ottenuto. Partendo da questo presupposto sono stati scelti due diversi polimeri sintetici solubili in acqua: il PVA idrolizzato all’88% ed un copolimero del PVA ad un più alto grado d’idrolisi contenente una piccola concentrazione di acido itaconico (PVA-PVAc-AI). Il PVA a diversi gradi di idrolisi è stato utilizzato in precedenti studi in miscela con collagene idrolizzato o gelatina provenienti da tessuti animali per al produzione di film da impiegare nel settore degli imballaggi biodegradabili. Sono state preparate miscele a diverse concentrazioni di idrolizzato proteico dalle quali sono stati ottenuti i film per evaporazione del solvente (casting). I film ottenuti sono stati sottoposti a tre diversi trattamenti reticolanti: un trattamento termico e due trattamenti chimici nei quali è stata utilizzata glutaraldeide (vapori o direttamente in miscela). E’ stata effettuata inoltre una serie di caratterizzazioni al fine di valutare le proprietà fisico chimiche e meccaniche dei film ottenuti con l’intento di individuare il rapporto polimero sintetico-idrolizzato che da un lato presentasse le migliori proprietà ottenibili e dall’altro permettesse di recuperare la massima quantità di idrolizzato possibile. I risultati delle caratterizzazioni effettuate sui film hanno evidenziato la presenza di interazioni tra l’idrolizzato ed entrambi i polimeri sintetici. Dalla valutazione delle proprietà dei film analizzate inoltre si è dedotto che il trattamento reticolante più efficace risulta essere quello termico. Ciò trova conferma in modo particolare dalle prove meccaniche nelle quali si evidenzia un comportamento migliore dei film trattati termicamente

Editorial: Perceiving and Acting in the real world: from neural activity to behavior

The interaction between perception and action represents one of the pillars of human evolutionary success. Our interactions with the surrounding world involve a variety of behaviors, almost always including movements of the eyes and hands. Such actions rely on neural mechanisms that must process an enormous amount of information in order to generate appropriate motor commands. Yet, compared to the great advancements in the field of perception for cognition, the neural underpinnings of how we control our movements, as well as the interactions between perception and motor control, remain elusive. With this research topic we provide a framework for: 1) the perception of real objects and shapes using visual and haptic information, 2) the reference frames for action and perception, and 3) how perceived target properties are translated into goal-directed actions and object manipulation. The studies in this special issue employ a variety of methodologies that include behavioural kinematics, neuroimaging, transcranial magnetic stimulation and patient cases. Here we provide a brief summary and commentary on the articles included in this research topic

Gaze direction influences grasping actions towards unseen, haptically explored, objects

Haptic exploration produces mental object representations that can be memorized for subsequent object-directed behaviour. Storage of haptically-acquired object images (HOIs), engages, besides canonical somatosensory areas, the early visual cortex (EVC). Clear evidence for a causal contribution of EVC to HOI representation is still lacking. The use of visual information by the grasping system undergoes necessarily a frame of reference shift by integrating eye-position. We hypothesize that if the motor system uses HOIs stored in a retinotopic coding in the visual cortex, then its use is likely to depend at least in part on eye position. We measured the kinematics of 4 fingers in the right hand of 15 healthy participants during the task of grasping different unseen objects behind an opaque panel, that had been previously explored haptically. The participants never saw the object and operated exclusively based on haptic information. The position of the object was fixed, in front of the participant, but the subject's gaze varied from trial to trial between 3 possible positions, towards the unseen object or away from it, on either side. Results showed that the middle and little fingers' kinematics during reaching for the unseen object changed significantly according to gaze position. In a control experiment we showed that intransitive hand movements were not modulated by gaze direction. Manipulating eye-position produces small but significant configuration errors, (behavioural errors due to shifts in frame of reference) possibly related to an eye-centered frame of reference, despite the absence of visual information, indicating sharing of resources between the haptic and the visual/oculomotor system to delayed haptic grasping

Environmental dependence of bulge-dominated galaxy sizes in hierarchical models of galaxy formation. Comparison with the local Universe

We compare state-of-the-art semi-analytic models of galaxy formation as well as advanced sub-halo abundance matching models with a large sample of early-type galaxies from SDSS at z < 0.3. We focus our attention on the dependence of median sizes of central galaxies on host halo mass. The data do not show any difference in the structural properties of early-type galaxies with environment, at fixed stellar mass. All hierarchical models considered in this work instead tend to predict a moderate to strong environmental dependence, with the median size increasing by a factor of about 1.5-3 when moving from low to high mass host haloes. At face value the discrepancy with the data is highly significant, especially at the cluster scale, for haloes above log Mhalo > 14. The convolution with (correlated) observational errors reduces some of the tension. Despite the observational uncertainties, the data tend to disfavour hierarchical models characterized by a relevant contribution of disc instabilities to the formation of spheroids, strong gas dissipation in (major) mergers, short dynamical friction timescales, and very short quenching timescales in infalling satellites. We also discuss a variety of additional related issues, such as the slope and scatter in the local size-stellar mass relation, the fraction of gas in local early-type galaxies, and the general predictions on satellite galaxies.Comment: 27 pages, 14 figures, 2 tables. MNRAS, in pres

Development of a front-end electronics for an innovative monitor chamber for high-intensity charged particle beams

A multi-gap ionization monitor chamber has been developed by INFN and Torino University, for monitoring of high intensity pulsed charged particle beams. The read-out of the chamber is based on a 64-channel ASIC, designed in CMOS 0.35μm technology which features for each channel an independent current-to-frequency converter followed by a synchronous counter. The chip was designed for connecting each channel to a different detector element. However, high beam intensities may lead to an input current above the saturation level of a single channel. A novel readout has been tested where all the input channels of the chip have been connected in parallel to the same detector element allowing to reach 64-times higher input current with only a modest deterioration of the resolution. Results will be presented in terms of linearity and noise, and will be compared to a simulation where the chip is modeled as a set of independent and uncorrelated channels

Exosomal transfer of miR-126 promotes the anti-tumour response in malignant mesothelioma: Role of miR-126 in cancer-stroma communication

none11MiR-126 has been shown to suppress malignant mesothelioma (MM) by targeting cancer-related genes without inducing toxicity or histopathological changes. Exosomes provide the opportunity to deliver therapeutic cargo to cancer stroma. Here, a tumour stromal model composed of endothelial cells (HUVECs), fibroblasts (IMR-90 cells), non-malignant mesothelial cells (Met-5A cells) and MM cells (H28 and MM-B1 cells) was used. The cells were treated with exosomes from HUVECs carrying endogenous (exo-HUVEC) and enriched miR-126 (exo-HUVECmiR-126), and the uptake/turnover of exosomes; miR-126 distribution within the stroma; and effect of miR-126 on cell signalling, angiogenesis and cell proliferation were evaluated. Based on the sensitivity of MM cells to exo-HUVEC miR-126 treatment, miR-126 was distributed differently across stromal cells. The reduced miR-126 content in fibroblasts in favour of endothelial cells reduced angiogenesis and suppressed cell growth in an miR-126-sensitive environment. Conversely, the accumulation of miR-126 in fibroblasts and the reduced level of miR-126 in endothelial cells induced tube formation in an miR-126-resistant environment via VEGF/EGFL7 upregulation and IRS1-mediated cell proliferation. These findings suggest that transfer of miR-126 via HUVEC-derived exosomes represents a novel strategy to inhibit angiogenesis and cell growth in MM.noneMonaco, Federica; Gaetani, Simona; Alessandrini, Federica; Tagliabracci, Adriano; Bracci, Massimo; Valentino, Matteo; Neuzil, Jiri; Amati, Monica; Bovenzi, Massimo; Tomasetti, Marco; Santarelli, LoryMonaco, Federica; Gaetani, Simona; Alessandrini, Federica; Tagliabracci, Adriano; Bracci, Massimo; Valentino, Matteo; Neuzil, Jiri; Amati, Monica; Bovenzi, Massimo; Tomasetti, Marco; Santarelli, Lor

Non-adrenergic vasopressors in patients with or at risk for vasodilatory shock. A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials

Introduction: Hypotensive state is frequently observed in several critical conditions. If an adequate mean arterial pressure is not promptly restored, insufficient tissue perfusion and organ dysfunction may develop. Fluids and catecholamines are the cornerstone of critical hypotensive states management. Catecholamines side effects such as increased myocardial oxygen consumption and development of arrhythmias are well known. Thus, in recent years, interest in catecholamine-sparing agents such as vasopressin, terlipressin and methylene blue has increased; however, few randomized trials, mostly with small sample sizes, have been performed. We therefore conducted a meta-analysis of randomized trials to investigate the effect of non-catecholaminergic vasopressors on mortality. Methods: PubMed, BioMed Central and Embase were searched (update December 31st, 2014) by two independent investigators. Inclusion criteria were: random allocation to treatment, at least one group receiving a non-catecholaminergic vasopressor, patients with or at risk for vasodilatory shock. Exclusion criteria were: crossover studies, pediatric population, nonhuman studies, studies published as abstract only, lack of data on mortality. Studied drugs were vasopressin, terlipressin and methylene blue. Primary endpoint was mortality at the longest follow-up available. Results: A total of 1,608 patients from 20 studies were included in our analysis. The studied settings were sepsis (10/20 studies [50%]), cardiac surgery (7/20 [35%]), vasodilatory shock due to any cause (2/20 [19%]), and acute traumatic injury (1/20 [5%]). Overall, pooled estimates showed that treatment with non-catecholaminergic agents improves survival (278/810 [34.3%] versus 309/798 [38.7%], risk ratio = 0.88, 95%confidence interval = 0.79 to 0.98, p = 0.02). None of the drugs was associated with significant reduction inmortality when analyzed independently. Results were not confirmed when analyzing studies with a low risk of bias. Conclusions: Catecholamine-sparing agents in patients with or at risk for vasodilatory shock may improve survival. Further researches on this topic are needed to confirm the finding

Expression and potential role of the peptide orexin-A in prostate cancer

The peptides orexin-A and orexin-B and their G protein-coupled OX1 and OX2 receptors are involved in multiple physiological processes in the central nervous system and peripheral organs. Altered expression or signaling dysregulation of orexins and their receptors have been associated with a wide range of human diseases including narcolepsy, obesity, drug addiction, and cancer. Although orexin-A, its precursor molecule prepro-orexin and OX1 receptor have been detected in the human normal and hyperplastic prostate tissues, their expression and function in the prostate cancer (PCa) remains to be addressed. Here, we demonstrate for the first time the immunohistochemical localization of orexin-A in human PCa specimens, and the expression of prepro-orexin and OX1 receptor at both protein and mRNA levels in these tissues. Orexin-A administration to the human androgen-dependent prostate carcinoma cells LNCaP up-regulates OX1 receptor expression resulting in a decrease of cell survival. Noteworthy, nanomolar concentrations of the peptide counteract the testosterone-induced nuclear translocation of the androgen receptor in the cells: the orexin-A action is prevented by the addition of the OX1 receptor antagonist SB-408124 to the test system. These findings indicate that orexin-A/OX1 receptor interaction interferes with the activity of the androgen receptor which regulates PCa onset and progression, thus suggesting that orexin-A and its receptor might represent novel therapeutic targets to challenge this aggressive cancer