“Delitto al voto”. Evoluzione e contraddizioni del sistema politico e del processo elettorale in Guatemala. Una missione di monitoraggio elettorale

“Delitto al voto”. Evoluzione e contraddizioni del sistema politico e del processo elettorale in Guatemala. Una missione di monitoraggio elettoral

Short bouts of anaerobic exercise increase non-esterified fatty acids release in obesity

PURPOSE: It is demonstrated that aerobic exercise plays an important role in weight loss programs for obesity by increasing 24 h metabolic rate. While aerobic exercise can result in health and fitness benefits in obese subjects, also independently of weight loss, not completely clear are the effects of bouts of hard exercise on metabolic outcomes. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that short-term aerobic activity with anaerobic bouts might result in a greater improvement in the management of obesity than aerobic activity alone. METHODS: We studied 16 obese subjects (eight men) during a progressive cycloergometric test up to exhaustion, before and after 4 weeks of two different training schedules (6 days/week). Insulin and glycaemia, non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) and lactic acid were sampled. Group A (eight subjects, four men) performed an aerobic cycle workout; Group B (eight subjects, four men) performed a 25 min aerobic workout followed by 5 min of anaerobic workout. All the subjects maintained their individual eating habits. RESULTS: The post-training test showed a decrease in AUCs NEFA in Group A (p < 0.05) and an increase in Group B (p < 0.05), together with an increase in lactic acid in Group A and a decrease in Group B (p < 0.01). \u3b2-cell function (HOMA2-B) revealed a reduction only in Group A (p < 0.05). Group B achieved a greatest reduction in body fat mass than Group A (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Aerobic plus anaerobic training seem to produce a greater response in lipid metabolism and not significant modifications in glucose indexes; then, in training prescription for obesity, we might suggest at starting weight loss program aerobic with short bouts of anaerobic training to reduce fat mass and subsequently a prolonged aerobic training alone to ameliorate the metabolic profile

Nanoscale domain engineering in SrRuO3_3 thin films

We investigate nanoscale domain engineering via epitaxial coupling in a set of SrRuO$_3$/PbTiO$_3$/SrRuO$_3$ heterostructures epitaxially grown on (110)$_o$-oriented DyScO$_3$ substrates. The SrRuO$_3$ layer thickness is kept at 55 unit cells, whereas the PbTiO$_3$ layer is grown to thicknesses of 23, 45 and 90 unit cells. Through a combination of atomic force microscopy, x-ray diffraction and high resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy studies, we find that above a certain critical thickness of the ferroelectric layer, the large structural distortions associated with the ferroelastic domains propagate through the top SrRuO$_3$ layer, locally modifying the orientation of the orthorhombic SrRuO$_3$ and creating a modulated structure that extends beyond the ferroelectric layer boundaries.Comment: 19 pages, 6 figures, supplementary materials. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2304.0694

Case report: Variability in clinical features as a potential pitfall for the diagnosis of Barth syndrome

BackgroundBarth syndrome is a rare genetic disease characterized by cardiomyopathy, skeletal muscle weakness, neutropenia, growth retardation and organic aciduria. This variable phenotype is caused by pathogenic hemizygous variants of the TAFAZZIN gene on the X chromosome, which impair metabolism of the mitochondrial phospholipid cardiolipin. Although most patients are usually diagnosed in the first years of life, the extremely variable clinical picture and the wide range of clinical presentations may both delay diagnosis. This is the case reported here of a man affected with severe neutropenia, who was not diagnosed with Barth syndrome until adulthood.Case presentationWe describe herein a family case, specifically two Caucasian male cousins sharing the same mutation in the TAFAZZIN gene with a wide phenotypic variability: an infant who was early diagnosed with Barth syndrome due to heart failure, and his maternal cousin with milder and extremely different clinical features who has received the same diagnosis only at 33 years of age.ConclusionsOur report supports the underestimation of the prevalence of Barth syndrome, which should be always considered in the differential diagnosis of male patients with recurrent neutropenia with or without signs and symptoms of cardiomyopathy

Improving CPAP Adherence in Adults With Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome: A Scoping Review of Motivational Interventions

Objective: This scoping review aims to provide an accessible summary of available evidence on the efficacy of motivational interventions to increase adherence to Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) among patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSAS) and of their specific aspects and strategies by assessing adherence measures. Methods: A literature search was performed in PubMed, Scopus, Medline, PsycINFO, and Web of Science databases using the concepts of “obstructive sleep apnea syndrome,” “continuous positive airway pressure,” “motivational intervention,” and “adherence.” Rigorous inclusion criteria and screening by at least two reviewers were applied. Data were extracted to address the review aims and were presented as a narrative synthesis. Results: Search for databases produced 11 randomized controlled trials, all including naïve CPAP users. Findings showed that motivational interventions were more effective than usual care and educational programs in increasing adherence to CPAP, despite results were not always maintained over time across studies. Discussion: To our knowledge, this is the first scoping review of the literature aimed to explore the characteristics and impact of motivational interventions to promote adherence to CPAP in patients with OSAS. More research providing a detailed description of motivational strategies, and testing of their association with positive treatment outcomes via both direct and indirect measures are needed to increase awareness on active mechanisms of change

JAK/STAT-1 Signaling Is Required for Reserve Intestinal Stem Cell Activation during Intestinal Regeneration Following Acute Inflammation

Summary The intestinal epithelium serves as an essential barrier to the outside world and is maintained by functionally distinct populations of rapidly cycling intestinal stem cells (CBC ISCs) and slowly cycling, reserve ISCs (r-ISCs). Because disruptions in the epithelial barrier can result from pathological activation of the immune system, we sought to investigate the impact of inflammation on ISC behavior during the regenerative response. In a murine model of αCD3 antibody-induced small-intestinal inflammation, r-ISCs proved highly resistant to injury, while CBC ISCs underwent apoptosis. Moreover, r-ISCs were induced to proliferate and functionally contribute to intestinal regeneration. Further analysis revealed that the inflammatory cytokines interferon gamma and tumor necrosis factor alpha led to r-ISC activation in enteroid culture, which could be blocked by the JAK/STAT inhibitor, tofacitinib. These results highlight an important role for r-ISCs in response to acute intestinal inflammation and show that JAK/STAT-1 signaling is required for the r-ISC regenerative response

Francesco Arcangeli - Alfredo Costa. Attorno al Noli me tangere di Pontormo

Tra il 1954 e il 1955 intercorre uno scambio di lettere tra lo storico dell’arte Francesco Arcangeli e il collezionista milanese Alfredo Costa che possedeva un Noli me tangere di Pontormo (ora in collezione privata a Busto Arsizio) e alcuni dipinti di Boldini. Arcangeli è intenzionato a scrivere un articolo sulla tavola del maestro toscano e pubblicarlo sulla rivista «Paragone», fondata da Roberto Longhi. Il progetto però fallisce, forse a causa dell’inadeguatezza dell’apparato fotografico approntato per la pubblicazione.Between 1954 and 1955, Francesco Arcangeli exchanges letters with the Milanese collector Alfredo Costa, who owned a Noli me tangere by Pontormo (now in Busto Arsizio, private collection) and  some  paintings  by  Boldini.  Arcangeli  discusses  the opportunity  to  write  an  article  about  the painting of the Tuscan master and to publish it in RobertoLonghi's review «Paragone». The project fails maybe because of the inadequacy of the photographic material

Development of a Human Primary Intestine Chip and Identification of Species-Specific Microbiome Metabolites Enhancing Enterohemorrhagic E. Coli Pathogenesis

The human intestine and its microbiome play an extremely important role in regulating human pathologies such as inflammatory disease and bacterial infections. Due to the complexity of human studies there has been a great effort in developing in vitro models mimicking the complex human intestinal physiology, such as Gut Chip. The Gut Chip is a microfluidic device that emulates normal tissue-tissue interface and mimics the complex physiological, physical and biochemical environment of a living intestine. This model has been previously established utilizing cell lines, such as Caco-2 or HT-29 cells, that were isolated from tumors. These cells harbor several genetic mutations and have altered expression of some receptors for bacterial toxins (i.e. Shiga Toxin), compared to normal colonic epithelium. Therefore, these Gut Chips do not fully recapitulate normal intestinal functions and would not be applicable to the investigation of important human diseases such as bacterial infections. Thus, in this study, we developed a primary human Small Intestine Chip (Intestine Chip) containing primary endothelial cells and primary epithelial cells isolated from biopsies. Epithelial cells, harvested from intestinal tissue, are expanded as intestinal organoids, dissociated, and cultured on a extracellular-matrix-coated porous membrane, in one channel of the Intestine Chip. The channel laying on the opposite side of the porous membrane is lined with primary human endothelial cells and the Chip is kept under fluidic flow and cyclic deformation. The intestinal epithelium cultured in the Intestine Chip gives rise to villi-like projections formed by polarized epithelial cells that differentiate in several lineages similar to what occurring in intestinal organoids. However, in the Intestine Chip, the apical side of epithelial cells is exposed to an accessible lumen subject to fluidic flow, compared to the closed lumen of intestinal organoids. Transcriptomics analysis indicates that the Intestine Chip more closely mimics human duodenum in vivo compared to intestinal duodenal organoids. Thanks to the fluidic flow, the lumen of the Intestine Chip can be collected and used to measure mucus secretion, nutrients digestion, and intestinal barrier function over an extended period of time. Furthermore, presence of fluidic flow and the separation between vascular and intestinal luminal compartment allow the investigation of the effect of microbiome metabolites and intestinal luminal pathogens. Intestinal pathogens differentially affect different host species and, in some cases, commensal bacteria in a specie can be extremely harmful to a different host. Species-specific differences in tolerance to infection are exemplified by the high susceptibility of humans to enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) infection, while mice are relatively resistant. Studying the contribution of the microbiome to this differential susceptibility is difficult due to complex hostpathogen- microbiome interactions. Here, we optimized the Intestine Chip model to include pathogenic bacteria, microbiome metabolites and colonic epithelial cells (Colon Chip), more relevant in the context of EHEC infection. We show that epithelial injury is greater when the Colon Chip is exposed to human microbiome metabolites compared to murine. Using a multiomics approach we identified four specific human microbiome metabolites that are sufficient to mediate this effect. Thus, the greater injury seen in human could be partially explained by the presence of specific microbiome metabolites. These metabolites preferentially induce the expression of flagellin, increase bacteria motility, and worsen epithelial injury. The study described in this thesis provides a new model to investigate colonic infectious disease and the role played by microbiome metabolites. Additionally, it offers new insights in EHEC pathogenesis mediated by human microbiome metabolites, that could partially explain increased susceptibility to EHEC in certain human population, such as children. These findings also provide the basis to therapies aimed at modulating the intestinal content in order to provide protection from life-threatening pathogens