The immunocytochemical expression of various ECM antigens: a useful tool in the evaluation of biocompatibility of implant biomaterials.

The aim of the present work was to investigate the biocompatibility in vitro of biomedical biomaterials employed in stomathology, in order to assess useful biological parameters, i.e. the correlation between cell proliferation rates and the expression of various antigens of the extracellular matrix (ECM), as well as to obtain useful information for the subsequent \u201cin vivo\u201d investigations.. Since in the study of biocompatibility of dental implants many reports have been performed regarding the aspects of osteointegration processes, few studies have examined the relationships between soft tissues and biomaterials [2]. In particular, we would study the relationship between cell proliferation rates of cultured fibroblasts to the immucytochemical expression of molecules involved in cell adhesion mechanisms to ECM, i.e. fibronectin, chondroitin sulfate and alpha5 beta1 integrin. We observed that cell proliferation was related in particular to the expression degree of fibronectin. As far as the different dental implant surfaces were concerned, we found that fibronectin exhibited a greater immunocytochemical expression in fibroblasts cultures in the presence of smooth surfaces correlated with higher fibroblast proliferation rates, suggesting that smooth surfaces could allow a better adhesion of cells of the soft oral tissues, i.e. gingival connective tissue. We think these results could be interesting, since the integration of implant dental materials requires not only the best osteointegration, but also an optimal adhesion of gingival soft tissues to the apical part of the same dental implant. These findings could also suggest that dental implant surfaces should be manufactured to obtain the best osteointegration in its deeper part, whereas the best fibroblast adhesion in its apical portion

Dietary determinants of serum selenium species in Italian populations

We investigated the correlation between dietary habits with serum levels of selenium (Se) species collected from an Italian community. Consumption of food items was assessed using a food frequency questionnaire. Cereal intake showed a positive relation with total and organic Se, but null/negative with inorganic Se. Fish and seafood positively correlated with inorganic Se and negatively with organic Se. Correlations were generally negative/null in vegetables (only Se-Cys was positively correlated), while in fruits they were positive with organic species, mainly Se-Cys. Legumes showed inverse relation with overall organic Se, but positive with Se-Cys, Se-TrXr and inorganic Se. Correlation of potatoes intake was negative with Se forms, except a positive one with Se-Cys and selenate. Our results show highly specific associations between intake of selected foods and circulating Se species levels

Early differentiating osteoclast interactions with a well suitable bone-like composite

Osteoclasts, as well as preosteoclasts, show different adhesion features in relationship to the substrate on which cells are grown, i.e. the formation of either podosomes belt or sealing zones. Podosomes belt forms on non bone substrates, i.e. when cells interact with glass coverslips or culture plates, whereas sealing zones form when cells grow on bone-like substrates. Podosomes belt corresponds to numerous F-actin columns arranged at the cell periphery, whereas the sealing zone could be defined as a unique large band of actin [1]. In the study of bone resorption mechanisms, the employ of bone slices is not perfectly suitable to investigate actin rearrangement due to cell-extracellular matrix (ECM) interaction, since it doesn’t allow to obtain high quality preparations to be examined both by light and electronmicroscopy (TEM and SEM). In particular, TEM preparation requires demineralization which could influence the chemical properties of either bone slices or bone-like composites. Moreover, the use of bone slices as scaffold, although extensive, doesn’t allow ultrastructural details that are necessary in the study of mineral resorption by monocytes or preosteoclasts [2,3]. The aim of the present study was to set up an experimental model for the study of cell-ECM interaction between either monocytes or early differentiating osteoclasts and a mineralized ECM. RAW 264.7 cells (a monocyte-macrophage cell line that can differentiate in osteoclasts) were cultured on a composite constituted by calcium phosphate and type I collagen to investigate actin polymerization and podosome formation. This bone-like composite doesn’t present the mechanical bone properties, but it is constituted by the main bone components and exhibits the advantage that collagen glues the mineral phase in clusters that can be either added to cell cultures or applied on coverslips, as well as to the culture medium. Light and fluorescence microscopy, as well as TEM and SEM techniques were employed. Results showed that the use of this bone-like composite allowed to obtain useful morphological information about the resorption activity of RAW 264.7 cell line differentiating towards the osteoclastic phenotype

Psychophysical assessment of olfactory and gustatory function in post-mild COVID-19 patients: A matched case-control study with two-year follow-up

Background: The aim of this study was to psychophysically evaluate the prevalence of smell and taste dysfunction two years after mildly symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection compared to that observed at one-year follow-up and while considering the background of chemosensory dysfunction in the no-COVID-19 population. Method: This is a prospective case-control study 93 patients with PCR-positive SARS-CoV-2 infection and 93 matched controls. Self-reported olfactory and gustatory dysfunction was assessed by Sino-nasal-Outcome-Test-22, item "Sense of smell or taste". Psychophysical ortho- and retronasal olfactory function and gustatory performance were estimated using the extended Sniffin' Sticks test battery, 20 powdered tasteless aromas, and taste strips test, respectively. Nasal trigeminal sensitivity was assessed by sniffing a 70% solution of acetic acid. Results: The two psychophysical assessments of chemosensory function took place after a median of 409 days (range: 366-461) and 765 days (range: 739-800) from the first SARS-CoV-2 positive swab, respectively. At two-year follow-up, cases exhibited a decrease in the prevalence of olfactory (27.9%% vs 42.0%; absolute difference, -14.0%; 95% CI, -21.8% to -2.6%; p = 0.016) and gustatory dysfunction (14.0% vs 25.8%; absolute difference, -11.8%; 95% CI, -24.2% to 0.6%; p = 0.098). Subjects with prior COVID-19 were more likely than controls to have an olfactory (27.9% vs 10.8 %; absolute difference, 17.2%; 95% CI, 5.2% to 28.8%) but not gustatory dysfunction (14.0% vs 9.7%; absolute difference, 4.3%; 95% CI, -5.8% to 14.4% p = 0.496) still two years after the infection. Overall, 3.2% of cases were still anosmic two-year after the infection. Conclusions: While a proportion of subjects recovered from long-lasting smell/taste dysfunction more than one year after COVID-19, cases still exhibited a significant excess of olfactory dysfunction two years after SARS-CoV-2 infection when compared to matched controls

Nonlinear machine learning pattern recognition and bacteria-metabolite multilayer network analysis of perturbed gastric microbiome

The stomach is inhabited by diverse microbial communities, co-existing in a dynamic balance. Long-term use of drugs such as proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), or bacterial infection such as Helicobacter pylori, cause significant microbial alterations. Yet, studies revealing how the commensal bacteria re-organize, due to these perturbations of the gastric environment, are in early phase and rely principally on linear techniques for multivariate analysis. Here we disclose the importance of complementing linear dimensionality reduction techniques with nonlinear ones to unveil hidden patterns that remain unseen by linear embedding. Then, we prove the advantages to complete multivariate pattern analysis with differential network analysis, to reveal mechanisms of bacterial network re-organizations which emerge from perturbations induced by a medical treatment (PPIs) or an infectious state (H. pylori). Finally, we show how to build bacteria-metabolite multilayer networks that can deepen our understanding of the metabolite pathways significantly associated to the perturbed microbial communities

Human, Nature, Dynamism: The Effects of Content and Movement Perception on Brain Activations during the Aesthetic Judgment of Representational Paintings

Movement perception and its role in aesthetic experience have been often studied, within empirical aesthetics, in relation to the human body. No such specificity has been defined in neuroimaging studies with respect to contents lacking a human form. The aim of this work was to explore, through functional magnetic imaging (f MRI), how perceived movement is processed during the aesthetic judgment of paintings using two types of content: human subjects and scenes of nature. Participants, untutored in the arts, were shown the stimuli and asked to make aesthetic judgments. Additionally, they were instructed to observe the paintings and to rate their perceived movement in separate blocks. Observation highlighted spontaneous processes associated with aesthetic experience, whereas movement judgment outlined activations specifically related to movement processing. The ratings recorded during aesthetic judgment revealed that nature scenes received higher scored than human content paintings. The imaging data showed similar activation, relative to baseline, for all stimuli in the three tasks, including activation of occipito-temporal areas, posterior parietal, and premotor cortices. Contrast analyses within aesthetic judgment task showed that human content activated, relative to nature, precuneus, fusiform gyrus, and posterior temporal areas, whose activation was prominent for dynamic human paintings. In contrast, nature scenes activated, relative to human stimuli, occipital and posterior parietal cortex/precuneus, involved in visuospatial exploration and pragmatic coding of movement, as well as central insula. Static nature paintings further activated, relative to dynamic nature stimuli, central and posterior insula. Besides insular activation, which was specific for aesthetic judgment, we found a large overlap in the activation pattern characterizing each stimulus dimension (content and dynamism) across observation, aesthetic judgment, and movement judgment tasks. These findings support the idea that the aesthetic evaluation of artworks depicting both human subjects and nature scenes involves a motor component, and that the associated neural processes occur quite spontaneously in the viewer. Furthermore, considering the functional roles of posterior and central insula, we suggest that nature paintings may evoke aesthetic processes requiring an additional proprioceptive and sensori-motor component implemented by “motor accessibility” to the represented scenario, which is needed to judge the aesthetic value of the observed painting

Smell Rehabilitation: Recovery of Olfactory Perception and Discrimination in Twelve Cases of Total Laryngectomy

Objective: Total laryngectomy (TL) is a surgical practice widely used in the therapy of advanced laryngeal cancer. Since TL provokes loss of both speech and smell functions, the aim of the present work was to evaluate the effect of a smell rehabilitation cycle in twelve total laryngectomized patients. Methods: Twelve laryngectomized patients were enrolled to undergo a smell rehabilitation cycle in addition to previously performed speech recovery. For this aim the Nasal Airflow-Inducing Maneuver (NAIM) was employed to allow air to reach the nasal cavities again. Both olfactory perception and olfactory discrimination of odorous substances were evaluated by numeric scores to assess the modifications induced by the smell rehabilitative intervention on the recovery of the olfactory functions. Results: Smell capability, as regards the olfactory perception, ameliorated in the group of patients already after the first week of the smell rehabilitation cycle. Subsequently also the olfactory discrimination was evaluated, both at the end of the rehabilitation cycle (day 28) and after a period of twelve months, and we observeda significant amelioration at the end of the rehabilitative intervention that was essentially maintained even after one year although without a constant assistance performed by speech therapists. Conclusions: Smell rehabilitation should be always considered after TL in addition to speech restoration. Recovered smell perception and discrimination could enhance the related taste sensitivity, therefore restored olfactory functions could also ameliorate significantly the quality of life in total laryngectomized patients

The effect of caffeine on cutaneous postocclusive reactive hyperaemia.

BackgroundCaffeine is reported to be the most widely used pharmacologically active substance. It causes mental stimulation and increases blood pressure. Acute systolic and diastolic blood pressure response to caffeine attenuates in the course of regular caffeine use; tolerance to cardiovascular responses develops in some people. For some hypertension-prone people coffee ingestion may be harmful, and for others it may be beneficial. The aim of our work was to evaluate the effect of caffeine on postocclusive reactive hyperaemia (PORH), a test of microvascular function, and at the same time to monitor the central effects of caffeine on blood pressure and heart rate.MethodsHeart rate, arterial pressure, and cutaneous laser-Doppler (LD) flux were monitored in 32 healthy volunteers (aged 25.2 ± 4.3 years) before and after they ingested 200 mg of caffeine. LD flux was measured on a finger at rest and after the release of an 8-minute occlusion of digital arteries above the place of LD flux measurement. All parameters obtained after the ingestion of caffeine were compared to the values obtained before caffeine and to the values obtained after a placebo.ResultsWe found slightly increased arterial pressure as well as decreased heart rate and resting LD flux (Dunnett's test, pConclusionsFrom the results, we can conclude that caffeine affects cutaneous microvascular function during rest and during a PORH response, and that it increases blood pressure and decreases heart rate

Anatomia clinica

\u2013 PARTE 1 \u2013 IL TORACE \u2013 PARTE 2 \u2013 ADDOME E PELVI \u2013 PARTE 3 \u2013 L\u2019ARTO SUPERIORE \u2013 PARTE 4 \u2013 L\u2019ARTO INFERIORE \u2013 PARTE 5 \u2013 LA TESTA E IL COLLO \u2013 PARTE 6 \u2013 IL SISTEMA NERVOS

Morphofunctional features of rehabilitation after total laryngectomy and relationship with the olfactory function

Total laryngectomy is a radical surgery that has to be performed for advanced laryngeal cancer. Although this surgical therapy is really life-saving, however it radically changes the anatomical features of the cervical tracts of both the respiratory and the digestive tracts with serious implications in the psychology of the patients, due to loss of normal speech, normal swallowing, as well as loss of breathing through the nasal cavities. Therefore, not only speech and swallowing rehabilitation is really necessary, but also that one of the olfactory functions. Speech rehabilitation consists in the development of either the pharyngeal voice or the oesophageal one. Particular relevance should involve also the recovery of the olfactory function that is compromised (hyposmia and anosmia), since air does not transit through the nasal cavities, but it reaches the lower respiratory tracts through the surgically built tracheostomy. It causes an atrophy of the neurons of the olfactory mucosa and sometimes also of the olfactory bulb in the anterior cranial fossa. Olfactory rehabilitation consists in logopedic exercises involving the lowering of the jaw, the oral floor, the root of the tongue and the soft palate. In the present investigation, laryngectomized patients underwent prior nasal endoscopy to verify the normal morphology of the nasal mucosa. Subsequently olfactometric tests were done in order to identify twenty-six different smells. After the rehabilitation phase, new olfactometric tests revealed that there was an improvement in smell identification by all the examined patients. Such results showed that the rehabilitation of the olfactory activity should be performed in addition of speech and swallowing recovery in laryngectomized patients in order to improve the quality of their life