An update on vitamin d metabolism

Vitamin D is a steroid hormone classically involved in the calcium metabolism and bone homeostasis. Recently, new and interesting aspects of vitamin D metabolism has been elucidated, namely the special role of the skin, the metabolic control of liver hydroxylase CYP2R1, the specificity of 1α-hydroxylase in different tissues and cell types and the genomic, non-genomic and epigenomic effects of vitamin D receptor, which will be addressed in the present review. Moreover, in the last decades, several extraskeletal effects which can be attributed to vitamin D have been shown. These beneficial effects will be here summarized, focusing on the immune system and cardiovascular system

General behavioral patterns and life-cycle of the colonial spider, Eriophora bistriata (Araneida: Argiopidae)

Neste estudo, apresentamos observações preliminares do comportamento e biologia da aranha gregária Eriophora bistriata. O trabalho inclui aspectos da organização social, obtidos através de estudos de laboratório e campo. São inicialmente descritos, além do ciclo básico, algumas interações como: construção de teia comum de caça, ausência de hostilidade inter-individual, alimentação comunal, comportamento reprodutor etc. Os resultados obtidos permitiram comparar Eriophora bistriata, com outras espécies gregárias segundo o esquema evolutivo de Shear (1970: pag. 73)

First Record of the Fruit Fly Parasitoid Doryctobracon crawfordi (Viereck) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) in Brazil.

Doryctobracon crawfordi (Viereck) was recorded in the states of Amapá and Roraima, Brazil. This is also the first time that this parasitoid is associated with Anastrepha atrigona Hendel from Geissospermum argenteum

COMPORTAMENTO A CORROSIONE E TRIBOCORROSIONE DI RIVESTIMENTI CERMET E CERMET/ SUPERLATTICE

È stato studiato il comportamento a corrosione e tribocorrosione di riporti cermet e cermet/superlattice,applicati su campioni di acciaio. I riporti cermet consistono in riporti termici HVOF a spessore,di tipo WC-12Co o Cr3C2-37WC-18Me. I doppi riporti cermet/superlattice sono ottenuti sovrapponendoai depositi cermet citati un superlattice a base di nitruri, in cui si alternano strati di CrN e di NbN. Unasoluzione al 3.5 % di NaCl costituisce l’ambiente aggressivo. Le condizioni di tribocorrosione sono realizzateinducendo usura per strisciamento ad opera di un antagonista in allumina, durante l’esposizionestessa all’ambiente aggressivo.Tramite registrazione di curve di polarizzazione dopo 1 ora di esposizione e monitoraggio della resistenzadi polarizzazione fino a 3 giorni di esposizione è possibile evidenziare che fra i riporti cermet è il Cr3C2-37WC-18Me a fornire la migliore resistenza a corrosione, almeno a tempi brevi di esposizione, mentre entrambii riporti termici soffrono di elevate velocità di degrado, in condizioni di tribocorrosione. Il doppio riportoWC-12Co/superlattice offre invece prestazioni assai promettenti sia in condizioni di libera corrosioneche di tribocorrosione, entro i 3 giorni di prova

Parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) of fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) in the State of São Paulo, Brazil: associated plants and parasitism

Foram coletados 3.008 braconídeos em larvas/pupas de moscas-das-frutas em 26 espécies de frutos, distribuídos em 33 municípios paulistas. A maioria dos braconídeos pertencia a Opiinae (96,2%), representada por quatro espécies - Doryctobracon areolatus (Szépligeti), Doryctobracon brasiliensis (Szépligeti), Opius bellus (Gahan) e Utetes anastrephae (Viereck) - e os demais a Alysiinae (3,8%), representada apenas por Asobara anastrephae (Muesebeck). Doryctobracon areolatus foi atraída por mais frutos hospedeiros de moscas-das-frutas (26) e ocorreu na maioria dos municípios amostrados, totalizando 77,5% dos parasitóides coletados. Doryctobracon areolatus foi associada com Anastrepha fraterculus (Wied.), A. obliqua (Macquart), A. amita Zucchi e, pela primeira vez, em frutos de wampi (Clausena lansium) e em canela-batalha (Cryptocarya aschersoniana). Doryctobracon brasiliensis foi associada apenas com A. fraterculus e registrada, pela primeira vez, em larvas em ameixa-japonesa (Prunus salicina). Não foi possível associar as demais espécies de parasitóides às espécies de moscas-das-frutas. Opius bellus foi obtida de larvas em canela-batalha. A percentagem de parasitismo natural variou de <1% a 40%.A total of 3,008 braconid parasitoids in 26 species of fruit fly host plants were collected in 33 localities of São Paulo State. The majority of the braconids (96.2%) belonged to four Opiinae species, Doryctobracon areolatus (Szépligeti), Doryctobracon brasiliensis (Szépligeti), Opius bellus (Gahan) and Utetes anastrephae (Viereck), and the remaining 3.8%, a single species of Alysiinae, Asobara anastrephae (Muesebeck). Doryctobracon areolatus was collected on Anastrepha fraterculus (Wied), A. obliqua (Macquart) and A. amita Zucchi, and was found associated with the largest number of fruit fly host plant species (26), being recorded for the first time in fruits of Clausena lansium and Cryptocarya aschersoniana. This species was the most common, occurring in most of the sampled localities, totaling 77.5% of all parasitoids collected. Doryctobracon brasiliensis was associated only with A. fraterculus and recorded, for the first time, in Japanese plum (Prunus salicina). It was not possible to associate the remaining braconids to the fruit fly species. Opius bellus was also reared from larvae in C. aschersoniana. The natural parasitism percentage ranged from < 1% to 40%

Automated Design of a Broadside-Radiating Linearly Polarized Isotropic Metasurface Antenna

We present the automated design of a broadside-radiating metasurface antenna. The design is carried out by employing a continuous isotropic Impedance Boundary Condition through an optimization procedure based on the equivalent surface current only. A modified gradient-descent optimization algorithm is applied to minimize an objective function that incorporates both realizability and far field requirements. The antenna is then implemented by a suitable arrangement of circular unit cells, selected from a database of precomputed shapes. This procedure is applied to the design of a broadside-radiating, linearly polarized circular metasurface antenna working at 23 GHz, with size ≈12λ . The obtained design is then validated with commercial software simulations

Use of intravesical injections of platelet-rich plasma for the treatment of bladder pain syndrome: A comprehensive literature review

Background: Bladder pain syndrome/interstitial cystitis (BPS/IC) or primary bladder pain syndrome (PBPS) is a complex and poorly understood condition. This comprehensive review aimed to discuss the potential application of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) in the treatment of BPS/IC. The pathophysiology of BPS/IC is characterized by urothelial damage that triggers a chain of events leading to chronic inflammation and other conditions. Frequently, in subjects affected by BPS/IC, recurrent urinary tract infection (rUTI) is associated with difficult therapeutic management. For these reasons, many oral and intravesical treatments (e.g., antibiotic therapy and intravesical anesthetic instillations) have been proposed to alleviate the symptoms of IC/BPS. However, the limitation of these treatments is the short duration of improvement. The purpose of this review is to analyze the efficacy of intravesical PRP injections in subjects with PBS/IC and to try to understand the potential therapeutic effects on the pathophysiology of this disease. Methods: A nonsystematic literature search using Pubmed, EMBASE, Scopus, Web of Science, Medline was performed from January 2000 to August 2021. The following terms were combined to capture relevant publications: “platelet-rich plasma”, “interstitial cystitis”, “PRP”, “bladder pain syndrome”, and “painful bladder syndrome”. Results: After exclusion of non-pertinent studies/articles, we have analyzed 5 studies. In detail, 2 articles concerned preclinical studies in which animal models were used. The authors showed an improvement in the histological pattern with less bleeding in treated subjects, a lower presence of inflammatory cytokines and an increase in the mitotic index of urothelial cells in animals treated with intravesical PRP. In the three prospective clinical trials analyzed, patients with BPS/IC who underwent monthly intravesical PRP injections were found to have a statistically significant improvement in symptoms with modulation of growth factors and inflammatory proteins. Conclusions: New evidence suggests that treatment with intravesical PRP could improve urothelial regeneration and reduces chronic inflammation in BPS/IC, modifying the clinical history of its pathology