3,172 research outputs found
Chronic Central Serous Chorioretinopathy with Pigment Epithelium Detachment Treated with Sildenafil: A Case Report
Central serous chorioretinopathy (CSCR) is a retinal disease that may be complicated by the development of serous retinal pigment epithelial detachment (PED). The exact molecular mechanisms of CSCR have remained uncertain as well as there is no effective medical therapy. Herein, we describe a case of a 43-year-old male suffering from chronic CSCR with PED and visual acuity reduction (20/40) that showed improvement in visual acuity (20/25) and metamorphopsia 2 weeks after daily intake of 20 mg sildenafil tablets. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) scan showed resolution of PED with residual degeneration of the photoreceptor inner and outer segment layer and retinal pigmented epithelium. The patient continued treatment with sildenafil 20 mg for 2 months. Six months after the discontinuation of therapy, visual acuity was maintained, with absence of PED at OCT. Our case supports the hypothesis that phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE-5) inhibitors may be an alternative in the treatment of patients with CSCR, alone or combined with other medications
Design and advancement status of the Beam Expander Testing X-ray facility (BEaTriX)
The BEaTriX (Beam Expander Testing X-ray facility) project is an X-ray
apparatus under construction at INAF/OAB to generate a broad (200 x 60 mm2),
uniform and low-divergent X-ray beam within a small lab (6 x 15 m2). BEaTriX
will consist of an X-ray source in the focus a grazing incidence paraboloidal
mirror to obtain a parallel beam, followed by a crystal monochromation system
and by an asymmetrically-cut diffracting crystal to perform the beam expansion
to the desired size. Once completed, BEaTriX will be used to directly perform
the quality control of focusing modules of large X-ray optics such as those for
the ATHENA X-ray observatory, based on either Silicon Pore Optics (baseline) or
Slumped Glass Optics (alternative), and will thereby enable a direct quality
control of angular resolution and effective area on a number of mirror modules
in a short time, in full X-ray illumination and without being affected by the
finite distance of the X-ray source. However, since the individual mirror
modules for ATHENA will have an optical quality of 3-4 arcsec HEW or better,
BEaTriX is required to produce a broad beam with divergence below 1-2 arcsec,
and sufficient flux to quickly characterize the PSF of the module without being
significantly affected by statistical uncertainties. Therefore, the optical
components of BEaTriX have to be selected and/or manufactured with excellent
optical properties in order to guarantee the final performance of the system.
In this paper we report the final design of the facility and a detailed
performance simulation.Comment: Accepted paper, pre-print version. The finally published manuscript
can be downloaded from http://dx.doi.org/10.1117/12.223895
The hypoxia sensitive metal transcription factor MTF-1 activates NCX1 brain promoter and participates in remote postconditioning neuroprotection in stroke
Remote limb ischemic postconditioning (RLIP) is an experimental strategy in which short femoral artery ischemia reduces brain damage induced by a previous harmful ischemic insult. Ionic homeostasis maintenance in the CNS seems to play a relevant role in mediating RLIP neuroprotection and among the effectors, the sodium-calcium exchanger 1 (NCX1) may give an important contribution, being expressed in all CNS cells involved in brain ischemic pathophysiology. The aim of this work was to investigate whether the metal responsive transcription factor 1 (MTF-1), an important hypoxia sensitive transcription factor, may (i) interact and regulate NCX1, and (ii) play a role in the neuroprotective effect mediated by RLIP through NCX1 activation. Here we demonstrated that in brain ischemia induced by transient middle cerebral occlusion (tMCAO), MTF-1 is triggered by a subsequent temporary femoral artery occlusion (FAO) and represents a mediator of endogenous neuroprotection. More importantly, we showed that MTF-1 translocates to the nucleus where it binds the metal responsive element (MRE) located at −23/−17 bp of Ncx1 brain promoter thus activating its transcription and inducing an upregulation of NCX1 that has been demonstrated to be neuroprotective. Furthermore, RLIP restored MTF-1 and NCX1 protein levels in the ischemic rat brain cortex and the silencing of MTF-1 prevented the increase of NCX1 observed in RLIP protected rats, thus demonstrating a direct regulation of NCX1 by MTF-1 in the ischemic cortex of rat exposed to tMCAO followed by FAO. Moreover, silencing of MTF-1 significantly reduced the neuroprotective effect elicited by RLIP as demonstrated by the enlargement of brain infarct volume observed in rats subjected to RLIP and treated with MTF-1 silencing. Overall, MTF-dependent activation of NCX1 and their upregulation elicited by RLIP, besides unraveling a new molecular pathway of neuroprotection during brain ischemia, might represent an additional mechanism to intervene in stroke pathophysiology
Volumetric Absorptive Microsampling (VAMS) for Targeted LC-MS/MS Determination of Tryptophan-Related Biomarkers
L-Tryptophan (TRP) metabolites and related biomarkers play crucial roles in physiological functions, and their imbalances are implicated in central nervous system pathologies and neurodegenerative diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, schizophrenia and depression. The measurement of TRP metabolites and related biomarkers possesses great potential to elucidate the disease mechanisms, aid preclinical drug development, highlight potential therapeutic targets and evaluate the outcomes of therapeutic interventions. An effective, straightforward, sensitive and selective liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method was developed for the simultaneous determination of 24 TRP-related compounds in miniaturised murine whole blood samples. Sampling and sample pretreatment miniaturisation were achieved thanks to the development of a volumetric dried blood microsampling approach. Volumetric absorptive microsampling (VAMS) allows the accurate sampling of microvolumes of blood with advantages including, but not limited to, minimal sampling invasiveness, logistical improvements, method sustainability in terms of solvents and energy consumption, and improvement of animal studies in the framework of the 3Rs (Replacement, Reduction and Refinement) principles on animal welfare. The VAMS-LC-MS/MS method exhibited good selectivity, and correlation coefficient values for the calibration curves of each analyte were >0.9987. The limits of quantitation ranged from 0.1 to 25 ng/mL. The intra- and inter-day precisions in terms of RSD were <9.6%. All analytes were stable in whole blood VAMS samples stored at room temperature for at least 30 days with analyte losses < 14%. The developed method was successfully applied to the analysis of biological samples from mice, leading to the unambiguous determination of all the considered target analytes. This method can therefore be applied to analyse TRP metabolites and related biomarkers levels to monitor disease states, perform mechanistic studies and investigate the outcomes of therapeutic interventions
Design and Motion Planning for a Reconfigurable Robotic Base
A robotic platform for mobile manipulation needs to satisfy two contradicting
requirements for many real-world applications: A compact base is required to
navigate through cluttered indoor environments, while the support needs to be
large enough to prevent tumbling or tip over, especially during fast
manipulation operations with heavy payloads or forceful interaction with the
environment. This paper proposes a novel robot design that fulfills both
requirements through a versatile footprint. It can reconfigure its footprint to
a narrow configuration when navigating through tight spaces and to a wide
stance when manipulating heavy objects. Furthermore, its triangular
configuration allows for high-precision tasks on uneven ground by preventing
support switches. A model predictive control strategy is presented that unifies
planning and control for simultaneous navigation, reconfiguration, and
manipulation. It converts task-space goals into whole-body motion plans for the
new robot. The proposed design has been tested extensively with a hardware
prototype. The footprint reconfiguration allows to almost completely remove
manipulation-induced vibrations. The control strategy proves effective in both
lab experiment and during a real-world construction task.Comment: 8 pages, accepted for RA-L and IROS 202
Carbon monoxide poisoning in the home as an indicator of social integration of immigrant population
Verona is a town in Veneto Region (Italy) characterised by a high
socio-economic status, but we register some health problems related to
low income or social deprivation, such as unintentional carbon monoxide
poisoning in private houses. Recently, indeed, there has been a
rise in the number of accidents concerning immigrant populations.
Since early 1990s, epidemiological informations in the matter weren?t
complete and the number of cases was therefore probably underestimated.
Presently no centralised system exists in Italy or in Veneto
Region for recording the incidence of household CO poisoning. An
?Observatory on CO poisonings? was therefore activated in Verona
Municipality in 1994 to overcome the problem of lacking data. The
Observatory systematically collects data on cases of acute household
CO poisoning occurring in the whole Verona area. These informations
are used to assess public health interventions.
During 13 years? activity 671 cases of CO poisoning and
22 deaths were recorded. The accidents were caused by the
malfunctioning of home heating appliances. Statistics show a
progressive increase in the number of not Italian involved in
these episodes. Inspections revealed that immigrants often live
in poor houses with unsafe systems or with extremely precarious
heating systems.
Data from this surveillance system on CO poisoning have shown
that this is a public health problem involving immigrants much
more often than local population. This system in real time supplies
epidemiological and environmental data for improving
public health intervention strategies. Such data collection systems
could be useful to study other relevant problems of health
disparities in lower socio-economical classes
Rate stabilization by right ventricular apex or His bundle pacing in patients with atrial fibrillation
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Study on RN-222 concentration in the soil
The measurement of radon 222 concentration in the soil is made on the gases collected from the soil at 1 metre depth by a low-flow intake pump and which are conveyed into a system of detection and evaluation of the radiations emitted by radon and its decay products. Two kinds of approaches were used which carry out the measurements by means of alpha-particles counters or beta-radiation counters, respectively. The study was performed in a hole dug in the basement of the Institute of Physics; the soil is the one typical of the Lombard plain. The measurements were performed during two yearly campaigns from 1993 through 1996. The study shows wide oscillations of radon concentration which occur every 24 and 12 hours. These
effects were noticed during the whole campaign. Radon concentration oscillations are compared with the pressure oscillations related to atmospheric tides
Ozone tertiary treatment for pharmaceuticals and personal care products removal from municipal wastewater
An ozone pilot plant was installed at a conventional WWTP to evaluate the removal rate of emerging contaminants, drugs, and fragrances, as tertiary treatment. The filtered secondary effluent flow rate ranged between 1.3÷1.9 m3/h with a retention time of 10÷30 minutes and the plant operated with an ozone dose of 2- 4 mgO3/l. The results evidenced a high removal rate of 80-100% for most of the organic targeted compounds: Amisulpride, Azithromycin, Carbamazepine, Diclofenac, Clarithromycin and Ofloxacin. Lower removal rates from 20% to 80%, were observed for some substances e.g. Gabapentin Lactam, Galaxolidone, Irbesartan, Lamotrigine, and Tonalide. Advanced Oxidation Process (AOP) treatment with O3/H2O2, (0.5–1.0–2 molH2O2/molO3) allowed improved results for almost all these latter. In addition, ozone determined up to 42% removal of the absorbance at 254 nm and 20% of COD, wastewater disinfection, a decrease of the GC-MS chromatographic area, and no acute toxicity effect nor estrogenic and mutagen effects have been detected
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