2,688 research outputs found
Magnetar-like activity from the central compact object in the SNR RCW103
The 6.67 hr periodicity and the variable X-ray flux of the central compact
object (CCO) at the center of the SNR RCW 103, named 1E 161348-5055, have been
always difficult to interpret within the standard scenarios of an isolated
neutron star or a binary system. On 2016 June 22, the Burst Alert Telescope
(BAT) onboard Swift detected a magnetar-like short X-ray burst from the
direction of 1E 161348-5055, also coincident with a large long-term X-ray
outburst. Here we report on Chandra, NuSTAR, and Swift (BAT and XRT)
observations of this peculiar source during its 2016 outburst peak. In
particular, we study the properties of this magnetar-like burst, we discover a
hard X-ray tail in the CCO spectrum during outburst, and we study its long-term
outburst history (from 1999 to July 2016). We find the emission properties of
1E 161348-5055 consistent with it being a magnetar. However in this scenario,
the 6.67 hr periodicity can only be interpreted as the rotation period of this
strongly magnetized neutron star, which therefore represents the slowest pulsar
ever detected, by orders of magnitude. We briefly discuss the viable slow-down
scenarios, favoring a picture involving a period of fall-back accretion after
the supernova explosion, similarly to what is invoked (although in a different
regime) to explain the "anti-magnetar" scenario for other CCOs.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures. To be published in the Astrophysical Journal
Letters; replaced to match the version accepted for publication on 2016
August 1
Galectin-3. One molecule for an alphabet of diseases, from A to Z
Galectin-3 (Gal-3) regulates basic cellular functions such as cellâcell and cellâmatrix interactions, growth, proliferation, differentiation, and inflammation. It is not surprising, therefore, that this protein is involved in the pathogenesis of many relevant human diseases, including cancer, fibrosis, chronic inflammation and scarring affecting many different tissues. The papers published in the literature have progressively increased in number during the last decades, testifying the great interest given to this protein by numerous researchers involved in many different clinical contexts. Considering the crucial role exerted by Gal-3 in many different clinical conditions, Gal-3 is emerging as a new diagnostic, prognostic biomarker and as a new promising therapeutic target. The current review aims to extensively examine the studies published so far on the role of Gal-3 in all the clinical conditions and diseases, listed in alphabetical order, where it was analyzed
Amelioration of glucose control mobilizes circulating pericyte progenitor cells in type 2 diabetic patients with microangiopathy
Chronic diabetic complications result from an imbalance between vascular damage and regeneration. Several circulating lineagecommitted progenitor cells have been implicated, but no data are available on pericyte progenitor cells (PPCs). Based on the evidence that PPCs increase in cancer patients after chemotherapy, we explored whether circulating PPC levels are affected by glucose control in type 2 diabetic patients, in relation to the presence of chronic complications. We enumerated peripheral blood PPCs as Syto16+CD45âCD31âCD140b+ events by flow cytometry at baseline and after 3 and 6 months of glucose control by means of add-on basal insulin therapy on top of oral agents in 38 poorly controlled type 2 diabetic patients. We found that, in patients with microangiopathy (n = 23), the level of circulating PPCs increased about 2 fold after 3 months and then returned to baseline at 6 months. In patients without microangiopathy (control group, n = 15), PPCs remained fairly stable during the whole study period. No relationship was found between change in PPCs and macroangiopathy (either peripheral, coronary, or cerebrovascular). We conclude that glucose control transiently mobilizes PPCs diabetic patients with microangiopathy. Increase in PPCs may represent a vasoregenerative event or may be a consequence of ameliorated glucose control on microvascular lesions
Enhanced Bioactivity of Pomegranate Peel Extract following Controlled Release from CaCO3 Nanocrystals
none9Pomegranate peel extract is rich of interesting bioactive chemicals, principally phenolic compounds, which have shown antimicrobial, anticancer, and antioxidative properties. The aim of this work was to improve extractâ bioactivity through the adsorption on calcium carbonate nanocrystals. Nanocrystals revealed as efficient tools for extract adsorption reaching 50% of loading efficiency. Controlled release of the contained metabolites under acidic pH has been found, as it was confirmed by quantitative assay and qualitative study through NMR analysis. Specific functionality of inorganic nanocarriers could be also tuned by biopolymeric coating. The resulting coated nanoformulations showed a great antimicrobial activity against B. cinerea fungus preventing strawberries disease better than a commercial fungicide. Furthermore, nanoformulations demonstrated a good antiproliferative activity in neuroblastoma and breast cancer cells carrying out a higher cytotoxic effect respect to free extract, confirming a crucial role of nanocarriers. Finally, pomegranate peel extract showed a very high radical scavenging ability, equal to ascorbic acid. Antioxidant activity, measured also in intracellular environment, highlighted a protective action of extract-adsorbed nanocrystals twice than free extract, providing a possible application for new nutraceutical formulations.Regione Puglia, Project Research for Innovation (REFIN) âSintesi di un sistema teranostico
a base di nano-cellulosa per la detection e la cura dei
tumoriâ
Ministero dello Sviluppo Economico, bando âAGRIFOODâ D.M. 5 marzo 2018 Capo III. Prog. N. F/200060/01-03/X45 PERSEFONE - Punica granatum e Nanotecnologie: una value chain per la valorizzazione degli scarti e sottoprodotti finalizzata alla produzione di integratori alimentari e compost.
PON Ricerca e Innovazione 2014-2020 - Avviso per la presentazione di progetti dei Ricerca Industriale e Sviluppo Sperimentale nelle 12 aree di specializzazione individuate dal PNR 2015 â 2020, di cui al Decreto Direttoriale MIUR del 13 luglio 2017, n. 1735 NanotEcnologie chiMiche green per la protEzione Sostenibile delle pIante (NEMESI) ARS01_01002 Area di Specializzazione âChimica Verdeâ CUP: F36C18000180005, Ministero dell'UniversitĂ e Ricerca.
âOlivicoltura e difesa da Xylella fastidiosa e da insetti vettori in Italia - (Oli.Di.X.I.It)â, prot. Mipaaf n.0011485 del 05/04/2017 Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies.openFrancesca Baldassarre; Viviana Vergaro; Federica De Castro; Francesca Biondo; Gian Paolo Suranna; Paride Papadia; Francesco P. Fanizzi; Domenico Rongai; Giuseppe CiccarellaBaldassarre, Francesca; Vergaro, Viviana; DE CASTRO, Federica; Biondo, Francesca; Suranna, Gian Paolo; Papadia, Paride; Fanizzi, Francesco P.; Rongai, Domenico; Ciccarella, Giusepp
Hematopoietic progenitor cell liabilities and alarmins S100A8/A9-related inflammaging associate with frailty and predict poor cardiovascular outcomes in older adults
Frailty affects the physical, cognitive, and social domains exposing older adults to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and death. The mechanisms linking frailty and cardiovascular outcomes are mostly unknown. Here, we studied the association of abundance (flow cytometry) and gene expression profile (RNAseq) of stem/progenitor cells (HSPCs) and molecular markers of inflammaging (ELISA) with the cardiorespiratory phenotype and prospective adverse events of individuals classified according to levels of frailty. Two cohorts of older adults were enrolled in the study. In a cohort of preâfrail 35 individuals (average age: 75Â years), a physical frailty score above the median identified subjects with initial alterations in cardiorespiratory function. RNA sequencing revealed S100A8/A9 upregulation in HSPCs from the bone marrow (>10âfold) and peripheral blood (>200âfold) of individuals with greater physical frailty. Moreover higher frailty was associated with increased alarmins S100A8/A9 and inflammatory cytokines in peripheral blood. We then studied a cohort of 104Â more frail individuals (average age: 81Â years) with multidomain health deficits. Reduced levels of circulating HSPCs and increased S100A8/A9 concentrations were independently associated with the frailty index. Remarkably, low HSPCs and high S100A8/A9Â simultaneously predicted major adverse cardiovascular events at 1âyear followâup after adjustment for age and frailty index. In conclusion, inflammaging characterized by alarmin and proâinflammatory cytokines in preâfrail individuals is mirrored by the pauperization of HSPCs in frail older people with comorbidities. S100A8/A9 is upregulated within HSPCs, identifying a phenotype that associates with poor cardiovascular outcomes
Comparison of the clinical usefulness of different urinary tests for the initial detection of bladder cancer: a systematic review
Objectives: The standard initial approach in patients with hematuria or other symptoms suggestive of bladder cancer (BC) is a combination of cystoscopy and urine cytology (UC); however, UC has low sensitivity particularly in low-grade tumors. The aim of the present review was to critically analyze and compare results in the literature of promising molecular urinary tests for the initial diagnosis of BC. Methods: We searched in the Medline and Cochrane Library databases for literature from January 2009 to January 2019, following the PRISMAguidelines. Results: In terms of sensitivity, ImmunoCyt showed the highest mean and median value, higher than UC. All tests analyses showed higher mean and median sensitivity when compared with UC. In terms of specificity, only UroVysion and Microsatellite analyses showed mean and median values similar to those of UC, whereas for all other tests, the specificity was lower than UC. It is evident that the sensitivity of UC is particularly low in low grade BC. Urinary tests mainly had improved sensitivity when compared to UC, and ImmunoCyt and UroVysion had the highest improvement in low grade tumors. Conclusions: Most of the proposed molecular markers were able to improve the sensitivity with similar or lower specificity when compared to UC. However, variability of results among the different studies was strong. Thus, as of now, none of these markers presented evidences so as to be accepted by international guidelines for diagnosis of BC
Four Years of Continuous Seafloor Displacement Measurements in the Campi Flegrei Caldera
We present 4Â years of continuous seafloor deformation measurements carried out in the Campi Flegrei caldera (Southern Italy), one of the most hazardous and populated volcanic areas in the world. The seafloor sector of the caldera has been monitored since early 2016 by the MEDUSA marine research infrastructure, consisting of four instrumented buoys installed where sea depth is less than 100Â m. Each MEDUSA buoy is equipped with a cabled, seafloor module with geophysical and oceanographic sensors and a subaerial GPS station providing seafloor deformation and other environmental measures. Since April 2016, the GPS vertical displacements at the four buoys show a continuous uplift of the seafloor with cumulative measured uplift ranging between 8 and 20Â cm. Despite the data being affected by environmental noise associated with sea and meteorological conditions, the horizontal GPS displacements on the buoys show a trend coherent with a radial deformation pattern. We use jointly the GPS horizontal and vertical velocities of seafloor and on-land deformations for modeling the volcanic source, finding that a spherical source fits best the GPS data. The geodetic data produced by MEDUSA has now been integrated with the data flow of other monitoring networks deployed on land at Campi Flegrei
Adding systematic biopsy to magnetic resonance ultrasound fusion targeted biopsy of the prostate in men with previous negative biopsy or enrolled in active surveillance programs
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) targeted biopsy (TBx) of the prostate demonstrated to improve detection rate (DR) of clinically significant prostate cancer (csPCa) in biopsy-naive patients achieving strong level of evidence. Nevertheless, the csPCa yield for TBx alone versus TBx plus systematic biopsy (SBx) after accounting for overlapping of SBx cores with TBx cores, in prior-negative or active surveillance (AS) patients has not been well established.The objective of the study was to investigate benefits in terms of detection rate and pathological stratification of prostate cancer (PCa) using contextual SBx during MRI-TBx.Patients previously submitted to negative-SBx (cohort A) and those enrolled in an AS program (cohort B) who showed at least 1 suspicious area with a PIRADSv2 score â„ 3 were prospectively and randomly assigned to only TBx strategy versus TBx plus SBx strategy. SBx locations could not encompass the TBx sites, so that the results of each type of biopsy were independent and did not overlap.A total of 312 patients were included in the 2 cohorts (cohort A: 213 cases; cohort B: 99 cases). No significant differences were found in terms of overall PCa-DR (77.6% vs 69.6% respectively; P = .36) and csPCa-DR (48.2% vs 60.9 respectively; P = .12). The MRI-TBx alone cohort showed higher csPCa/PCa ratio (87.5% vs 62.2%; P = .03). The MRI-TBx plus SBx group subanalysis showed significantly higher csPCa-DR obtained at the MRI-TBx cores when compared with the SBx cores (43.7% vs 24.1%, respectively; P = .01). Independently to age, prostatic-specific antigen and prostate imaging-reporting and data system score, either in rebiopsy (OR 0.43, 0.21-0.97) or AS (OR 0.46, 0.32-0.89) setting, SBx cores were negatively associated with the csPCa-DR when combined to TBx cores.MRI-TBx should be considered the elective method to perform prostate biopsy in patients with previous negative SBx and those considered for an AS program. Adding SBx samples to MRI-TBx did not improve detection rate of csPCa
Gazing at the ultraslow magnetar in RCW 103 with NuSTAR and Swift
We report on a new NuSTAR observation and on the ongoing Swift X-Ray Telescope monitoring campaign of the peculiar source 1E 161348â5055, located at the centre of the supernova remnant RCW 103, which is recovering from its last outburst in 2016 June. The X-ray spectrum at the epoch of the NuSTAR observation can be described by either two absorbed blackbodies (kTBB1 ⌠0.5 keV, kTBB2 ⌠1.2 keV) or an absorbed blackbody plus a power law (kTBB1⌠0.6 keV, Π⌠3.9). The observed flux was âŒ9 Ă 10â12 erg sâ1 cmâ2, âŒ3 times lower than what observed at the outburst onset, but about one order of magnitude higher than the historical quiescent level. A periodic modulation was detected at the known 6.67 h periodicity. The spectral decomposition and evolution along the outburst decay are consistent with 1E 161348â5055 being a magnetar, the slowest ever detected.The results reported in this paper are based on observations obtained with Swift and NuSTAR. Swift is a NASA mission with participation of the Italian Space Agency and the UK Space Agency. The NuSTAR mission is a project led by the Californian Institute of Technology. AB, PE, and NR are supported by an NWO Vidi Grant (PI: Rea). FCZ and NR are supported by grants AYA2015-71042-P and SGR2014-1073. We thank the PHAROS COST Action (CA16214) for partial support and the referee for the comments
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