A Psychopathology of the Expression. Federico De Roberto’s Donato del Piano

The paper focuses on the role of De Roberto in the shift from an objective to a subjective narrative in the late 19th century literature and shows his concern with the evolution of the concept of realism, which he draws on Maupassant’s view of the relativity of truth. The study investigates the implementation of De Roberto’s theoretical insights in a metanarrative dimension in Donato del Piano, where the main character struggles with the impossibility of finding a full correspondence between his feelings and ideas and the words to voice them, thus also anticipating Pirandello’s thought. Another element of modernity is De Roberto’s perception of the unknowable nature of the Self, that he draws on Egger’s La Parole Intérieure. By comparing some of the outstanding authors in the context of Positivism (Maupassant, Taine, Egger), the study shows that De Roberto goes beyond simple forms of methodological eclecticism as well as forerunning one of the major issues critical to the 20th century reflection over the crisis of subjectivity.Il contributo intende valorizzare il ruolo di De Roberto nello slittamento da una narrazione oggettiva a una soggettiva nella fine Ottocento. Evidenzia come egli non rappresenti una soggettività di tipo romantico, o estetizzante, ma risenta di un clima di riflessione scientifico-letteraria, maturato da un approfondimento dello stesso scientismo positivista. Partendo dai documenti di poetica dello scrittore, in cui si evidenzia una disposizione all’eclettismo, si rileva come egli faccia riferimento a un concetto problematico di realismo, sulla scia delle considerazioni di Maupassant sulla relatività dei concetti stessi di vero e di verità. Lo studio verifica poi come le riflessioni teoriche svolte nella Prefazione a Documenti umani, vengano trasferite nella scrittura creativa in Donato del Piano, che rivela uno spessore metanarrativo. Il protagonista appare tormentato dall’impossibilità di trovare una piena corrispondenza tra il sentimento e la parola, tra la parola e l’idea, dalla problematicità del linguaggio, anticipando alcuni punti della riflessione pirandelliana. Un ulteriore elemento di modernità risiede nella percezione dell’insondabilità e dell’inconoscibilità dell’Io che De Roberto ricava dalla lettura del volume La parole intérieure di Egger, che recenti studi considerano come il primo teorico del monologo interiore, importante fonte per le intuizioni di Bergson. Attraverso una serie di riscontri intertestuali e interdisciplinari con le punte più avanzate della riflessione lato sensu positivista (Maupassant, Taine, Egger) si evidenzia come De Roberto vada al di là del semplice eclettismo metodologico, e meditando sulle recenti acquisizioni della psicologia, finisca per anticipare uno dei punti nodali della riflessione novecentesca sulla crisi degli statuti della soggettività

Myopathy with Concurrent Tadalafil and Simvastatin

A 48-year-old man, using statin, was admitted to hospital with progressive myalgia after consumption of tadalafil and simvastatin. Muscle pain and penile erection disappeared seven days after interruption of therapy. This case demonstrates the interaction of tadalafil with simvastatin resulting in myopathy. Muscle damage could be attributed to the common metabolic way of these two drugs which is cytochrome P450 isoenzyme system

influences of botanical pesticides and biological agents on orius laevigatus frankliniella occidentalis dynamics under greenhouse conditions

Influences of Botanical Pesticides and Biological Agents onOrius Laevigatus - Frankliniella OccidentalisDynamics Under Greenhouse ConditionsWe assessed the influence of nine biopesticides on adults and larvae of western flower thrips (WFT),Frankliniella occidentalis(Pergande) and its predator, the anthocoridOrius laevigatus(Fieber) under Mediterranean greenhouse conditions. Trials were carried out in a strawberry crop where both species had naturally established. Foliar sprays were applied weekly for one month. Treatments did not provide sufficient control of larval and adultF. occidentalis. The negative effects on the dynamics of the predator were evident only with the use of some specific products. The botanical insecticides rotenone and neem, and the nematodeSteinernema feltiae(Filipjev) reducedO. laevigatusnumbers, and these effect are evident in the adult stage ofO. laevigatus. Such products have determined a reduction of the population of the predator from the first treatments even if the incidence was not very high. We conclude that the use of some botanical pesticides and nematodes against WFT is uneconomical and possibly disadvantageous where there is an established predator-prey population

¹⁸F-FDG PET for the early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease dementia and other dementias in people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

BACKGROUND: ¹⁸F-FDFG uptake by brain tissue as measured by positron emission tomography (PET) is a well-established method for assessment of brain function in people with dementia. Certain findings on brain PET scans can potentially predict the decline of mild cognitive Impairment (MCI) to Alzheimer's disease dementia or other dementias. OBJECTIVES: To determine the diagnostic accuracy of the ¹⁸F-FDG PET index test for detecting people with MCI at baseline who would clinically convert to Alzheimer's disease dementia or other forms of dementia at follow-up. SEARCH METHODS: We searched the Cochrane Register of Diagnostic Test Accuracy Studies, MEDLINE, EMBASE, Science Citation Index, PsycINFO, BIOSIS previews, LILACS, MEDION, (Meta-analyses van Diagnostisch Onderzoek), DARE (Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects), HTA (Health Technology Assessment Database), ARIF (Aggressive Research Intelligence Facility) and C-EBLM (International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine Committee for Evidence-based Laboratory Medicine) databases to January 2013. We checked the reference lists of any relevant studies and systematic reviews for additional studies. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included studies that evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of ¹⁸F-FDG PET to determine the conversion from MCI to Alzheimer's disease dementia or to other forms of dementia, i.e. any or all of vascular dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies, and fronto-temporal dementia. These studies necessarily employ delayed verification of conversion to dementia and are sometimes labelled as 'delayed verification cross-sectional studies'. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two blinded review authors independently extracted data, resolving disagreement by discussion, with the option to involve a third review author as arbiter if necessary. We extracted and summarised graphically the data for two-by-two tables. We conducted exploratory analyses by plotting estimates of sensitivity and specificity from each study on forest plots and in receiver operating characteristic (ROC) space. When studies had mixed thresholds, we derived estimates of sensitivity and likelihood ratios at fixed values (lower quartile, median and upper quartile) of specificity from the hierarchical summary ROC (HSROC) models. MAIN RESULTS: We included 14 studies (421 participants) in the analysis. The sensitivities for conversion from MCI to Alzheimer's disease dementia were between 25% and 100% while the specificities were between 15% and 100%. From the summary ROC curve we fitted we estimated that the sensitivity was 76% (95% confidence interval (CI): 53.8 to 89.7) at the included study median specificity of 82%. This equates to a positive likelihood ratio of 4.03 (95% CI: 2.97 to 5.47), and a negative likelihood ratio of 0.34 (95% CI: 0.15 to 0.75). Three studies recruited participants from the same Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) cohort but only the largest ADNI study (Herholz 2011) is included in the meta-analysis. In order to demonstrate whether the choice of ADNI study or discriminating brain region (Chételat 2003) or reader assessment (Pardo 2010) make a difference to the pooled estimate, we performed five additional analyses. At the median specificity of 82%, the estimated sensitivity was between 74% and 76%. There was no impact on our findings. In addition to evaluating Alzheimer's disease dementia, five studies evaluated the accuracy of ¹⁸F-FDG PET for all types of dementia. The sensitivities were between 46% and 95% while the specificities were between 29% and 100%; however, we did not conduct a meta-analysis because of too few studies, and those studies which we had found recruited small numbers of participants. Our findings are based on studies with poor reporting, and the majority of included studies had an unclear risk of bias, mainly for the reference standard and participant selection domains. According to the assessment of Index test domain, more than 50% of studies were of poor methodological quality. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: It is difficult to determine to what extent the findings from the meta-analysis can be applied to clinical practice. Given the considerable variability of specificity values and lack of defined thresholds for determination of test positivity in the included studies, the current evidence does not support the routine use of ¹⁸F-FDG PET scans in clinical practice in people with MCI. The ¹⁸F-FDG PET scan is a high-cost investigation, and it is therefore important to clearly demonstrate its accuracy and to standardise the process of ¹⁸F-FDG PET diagnostic modality prior to its being widely used. Future studies with more uniform approaches to thresholds, analysis and study conduct may provide a more homogeneous estimate than the one available from the included studies we have identified

L-Carnitine counteracts in vitro fructose-induced hepatic steatosis through targeting oxidative stress markers

Purpose: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is defined by excessive lipid accumulation in the liver and involves an ample spectrum of liver diseases, ranging from simple uncomplicated steatosis to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Accumulating evidence demonstrates that high fructose intake enhances NAFLD development and progression promoting inhibition of mitochondrial \u3b2-oxidation of long-chain fatty acids and oxidative damages. l-Carnitine (LC), involved in \u3b2-oxidation, has been used to reduce obesity caused by high-fat diet, which is beneficial to ameliorating fatty liver diseases. Moreover, in the recent years, various studies have established LC anti-oxidative proprieties. The objective of this study was to elucidate primarily the underlying anti-oxidative mechanisms of LC in an in vitro model of fructose-induced liver steatosis. Methods: Human hepatoma HepG2 cells were maintained in medium supplemented with LC (5 mM LC) with or without 5 mM fructose (F) for 48 h and 72 h. In control cells, LC or F was not added to medium. Fat deposition, anti-oxidative, and mitochondrial homeostasis were investigated. Results: LC supplementation decreased the intracellular lipid deposition enhancing AMPK activation. However, compound C (AMPK inhibitor-10 \u3bcM), significantly abolished LC benefits in F condition. Moreover, LC, increasing PGC1 \u3b1 expression, ameliorates mitochondrial damage-F induced. Above all, LC reduced ROS production and simultaneously increased protein content of antioxidant factors, SOD2 and Nrf2. Conclusion: Our data seemed to show that LC attenuate fructose-mediated lipid accumulation through AMPK activation. Moreover, LC counteracts mitochondrial damages and reactive oxygen species production restoring antioxidant cellular machine. These findings provide new insights into LC role as an AMPK activator and anti-oxidative molecule in NAFLD

Sexual differences regarding Alzheimer's disease: a narrative review

Background. Actually, there are about 5.2 million people with Alzheimer's dementia (AD) in the USA, 3.3 million are women and 1.9 million are men. Objective. We will find out the status on the Alzheimer disease in relation to the brain structure, diagnosis, symptoms and therapy by gender. Methods. We analyzed, in this narrative review, the literature between 1989-2019 published on the Pubmed about Alzheimer disease and gender. The keywords were: Alzheimer disease and sex differences. Conclusions. Women over 80 years have a higher incidence of AD than men. Women have a faster age-related decline and are more likely to respond to donepezil and rivastigmina leading to less cognitive decline. At more advanced ages, women incurred greater costs than men of the same age. Woman gender could be a risk factor for evolution of AD. We will emphasize the importance of considering sex as a biological variable in the design of preclinical and clinical studies that investigate underlying pathologies or response to pharmacological interventions in AD