The saponification of lauric acid with calcium soaps as an alternative to in-feed antibiotics in post-weaning piglets

In the search for the reduction of antibiotics in farm animals, a concept was developed based on studies with medium-chain fatty acid with 6-12 atoms (MCFA). In particular, they have been shown to exhibit against Gram+ bacteria in piglets at relatively high concentrations. However they can be hardly used as such because of their repellent odour and taste and for their rapid absorption in upper gastrointestinal tract. These problems could be overcome by the generation of monoacylglycerol, but esterification is usually carried out on a silica base, which reduces the concentration of FA, therefore limiting the antibacterial effects. Our hypothesis is that the saponification with calcium salts might positively affect their concentration in the GIT. The aim of the present study was to examine the effects of Laurate calcium soap (C12-Ca soap) on growth performance and health of post-weaning piglets. At weaning, 192 crossbreed Topics piglets were assigned to 3 experimental groups consisting of 16 pens (4 pigs/pen each): CTR (negative control), T1 (basal diet plus Amoxycillin at 400 mg/kg), and T2 (basal diet plus C12-Ca soap at 1 kg/ton). Gain and feed consumption did not differ among groups. Feed efficiency was higher in T1 (0,61) and T2 (0,58) than CTR (0,51) (P<0,01). Mortality was 0 in T1, and reduced in T2 (4,7%) compared to CTR (10,9%). These preliminary results suggest that saponification of MCFA may be a valuable alternative to in-feed antibiotics, used for growth promotion, and even for enhancing health in post-weaning piglets

Particle simulation of granular flows in electrostatic separation processes

In waste processing technology, the recent Corona Electrostatic Separation (CES) method is used to separate conductive from non-conductive particles in recycling streams. This paper proposes an innovative simulation approach based on non-smooth dynamics. In this context, a differential-variational formulation is used to implement a scalable and efficient time integrator that allows the large-scale simulation of trajectories of particles with different properties under the effect of particle-particle interactions and frictional contacts. Issues related to performance optimization, fast collision detection and parallelization of the code are discussed

Direct Monitoring of the Calcium Concentration in the Sarcoplasmic and Endoplasmic Reticulum of Skeletal Muscle Myotubes

Direct monitoring of the free Ca2+ concentration in the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) was carried out in rat skeletal myotubes transfected with a specifically targeted aequorin chimera (srAEQ). Myotubes were also transfected with a chimeric aequorin (erAEQ) that we have demonstrated previously is retained in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Immunolocalization analysis showed that although both recombinant proteins are distributed in an endomembrane network identifiable with immature SR, the erAEQ protein was retained also in the perinuclear membrane. The difficulty of measuring [Ca2+] in 100-1000 microM range was overcome with the use of the synthetic coelenterazine analogue, coelenterazine n. We demonstrate that the steady state levels of [Ca2+] measured with srAEQ is around 300 microM, whereas that measured with erAEQ is significantly lower, i.e. around 200 microM. The effects of caffeine, high KCl, and nicotinic receptor stimulation, in the presence or absence of external calcium or after blockade of the Ca-ATPase, were investigated with both chimeras. The kinetics of [Ca2+] changes revealed by the erAEQ were similar, but not identical, neither quantitatively nor qualitatively, to those monitored with the srAEQ, indicating that at this stage of muscle development, differences exist between SR and ER in their mechanisms of Ca2+ handling. The functional implications of these findings are discussed

The Dark and the Light Side of the Expatriate's Cross-Cultural Adjustment: A Novel Framework Including Perceived Organizational Support, Work Related Stress

The new context of the Psychology of Sustainability and Sustainable Development has reached the attention of the scientific community in recent years, due to its comprehensive approach aimed at enhancing the sustainability of interpersonal and intrapersonal talent, as well as of groups and communities. In this scenario, research on employee cross-cultural adjustment (CCA) is considered a key theme in human resource management. It is known that psychological support in the host country may alleviate distress and facilitate the integration of the expatriate workers. However, there is a lack of research investigating expatriate adjustment as an antecedent of the perceived organizational support. The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship among cross-cultural adjustment (CCA), perception of organizational support (POS), work-related stress (WRS), and innovation, considering these factors as a part of a unique innovative framework. A cross sectional study was performed using a sample of 234 expatriate workers of a multinational organization. Data were collected through a monitoring survey for the assessment of work-related stress risk factors of their expatriate staff. The results showed a positive correlation between CCA, POS, and innovation. On the other hand, a negative correlational effect of CCA and WRS, CCA and POS on WRS, and POS and WRS was found. Finally, POS was found to be a significant antecedent of CCA. These findings have implications for both international human resource management researchers and practitioners

PixFEL: development of an X-ray diffraction imager for future FEL applications

A readout chip for diffraction imaging applications at new generation X-ray FELs (Free Electron Lasers) has been designed in a 65 nm CMOS technology. It consists of a 32 × 32 matrix, with square pixels and a pixel pitch of 110 µm. Each cell includes a low-noise charge sensitive amplifier (CSA) with dynamic signal compression, covering an input dynamic range from 1 to 104 photons and featuring single photon resolution at small signals at energies from 1 to 10 keV. The CSA output is processed by a time-variant shaper performing gated integration and correlated double sampling. Each pixel includes also a small area, low power 10-bit time-interleaved Successive Approximation Register (SAR) ADC for in-pixel digitization of the amplitude measurement. The channel can be operated at rates up to 4.5 MHz, to be compliant with the rates foreseen for future X-ray FEL machines. The ASIC has been designed in order to be bump bonded to a slim/active edge pixel sensor, in order to build the first demonstrator for the PixFEL (advanced X-ray PIXel cameras at FELs) imager

The effect of spatial frequency on peripheral collinear facilitation

The detection of a Gabor patch (target) can be decreased or improved by the presence of co-oriented Gabor patches (flankers) having the same spatial frequency as the target. These phenomena are thought to be mediated by lateral interactions. Depending on the distance between target and flankers, commonly defined as a multiple of the wavelength (λ) of the carrier, flankers can increase or decrease a target's detectability. Studies with foveal presentation showed that for target-to-flankers distances 3λ contrast thresholds decrease. Earlier studies on collinear facilitation at the near-periphery of the visual field (4° of eccentricity) showed inconsistent facilitation (Shani & Sagi, 2005, Vision Research, 45, 2009-2024) whereas more recent studies showed consistent facilitation for larger separations (7-8λ) (Maniglia et al., 2011, PLoS ONE, 6, e25568; Lev & Polat, 2011, Vision Research, 51, 2488-2498). However, all of these studies used medium-to-high spatial frequencies (3-8cpd). In this study we tested lower spatial frequencies (1, 2, and 3cpd) with different target-to-flankers distances. The rationale was that near-peripheral vision is tuned for lower spatial frequencies and this could be reflected in collinear facilitation. Results show consistent collinear facilitation at 8λ for all the spatial frequencies tested, but also show collinear facilitation at shorter target-to-flanker distance (6λ) for the lowest spatial frequencies tested (1cpd). Additionally, collinear facilitation decreases as spatial frequency increases; opposite to the findings of Polat (2009, Spatial Vision, 22, 179-193) in the fovea, indicating a different spatial frequency tuning between foveal and peripheral lateral interactions

The Role of Fast and Deep PSA Response in Castration-sensitive Prostate Cancer

Background: Outcomes of castration-sensitive prostate cancer (CSPC) have improved owing to new therapies and early treatment, previously reserved for castration-resistant disease (CRPC). Prostatic-specific antigen (PSA) remains the most used marker to follow-up patients under treatment, but only limited data are available about the prognostic role of its changes over time and the impact of response to subsequent therapies. This analysis aims to assess the prognostic role of the magnitude and velocity of PSA response in CSPC and describe how this may affect the outcome to subsequent treatment outcomes in CRPC. Patients and methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on patients with de novo CSPC referring to six oncology centers in Italy. Clinical and pathological features were recorded. PSA response (PSA50), defined as a decrease > 50% compared to baseline, PSA velocity (PSAv), defined as any decrease in PSA levels over time and the deep and fast PSA response (4mPSA50), defined as the PSA response reached within the threshold of 4 months from the beginning of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) have been evaluated for their impact on survival. Survivals were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method and compared across groups using the log-rank test. Cox proportional-hazard models, stratified according to baseline characteristics, were used to estimate hazard ratios for overall survival (OS). Results: A totals of 94.4% of patients had PSA50, which was correlated to longer OS compared to patients without PSA50 (56.0 vs. 14.8 months; p<0.001). The median PSAv was 6.9 (ng/dl)/month, which was predictive for longer OS: Each decrease of 1 (ng/dl)/month was able to improve OS by 0.2% (HR=0.998, 95%CI=0.997-1.000; p=0.008). A total of 47.9% of patients reached 4mPSA50, with a median OS and progression-free survival (PFS) to ADT-based therapy of 101.0 and 23.4 months compared to 41.9 and 11.0 months for those who did not (p<0.001), respectively. The independent prognostic role of 4mPSA50 was retained even when evaluated in multivariable analysis adjusted for other baseline characteristics and early docetaxel for CSPC. In CRPC, 4mPSA50 evaluated during CSPC retains its prognostic role even if it does not predict a different outcome between patients treated with abiraterone/enzalutamide or taxanes. Conclusion: Achieving a deep and fast PSA response correlates with a better outcome in patients with de novo mCSPC, also positively influencing the prognosis of the subsequent first-line therapy for CRPC disease

Integration of tumour infiltrating lymphocytes, programmed cell-death ligand-1, CD8 and FOXP3 in prognostic models for triple-negative breast cancer: Analysis of 244 stage I-III patients treated with standard therapy.

Tumour infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) are an established prognostic biomarker for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). We evaluated the role of programmed cell-death ligand-1 (PD-L1), CD8 and FOXP3 expression in refining a prognostic model for non-metastatic TNBC beyond classic factors and TILs.Primary tumour samples from 244 early patients with TNBC, all treated with surgery and chemotherapy, were collected. Stromal TILs were evaluated on haematoxylin-eosin slides according to guidelines. PD-L1, CD8 and FOXP3 were assessed by immunohistochemistry and evaluated by digital pathology.TILs, PD-L1, CD8 and FOXP3 were positively correlated with each other (P 0.001). TILs were confirmed as an independent prognostic factor. When PD-L1, CD8 and FOXP3 were added to multivariable models including classic factors (age, stage, histologic grade) and TILs, PD-L1 provided the largest amount of additional prognostic information: likelihood ratio χBeyond clinicopathological factors and TILs, other immune biomarkers may add prognostic information for early TNBC. The increased PD-L1 expression on residual disease after neoadjuvant chemotherapy strengthens the rationale of testing immune checkpoint inhibitors in the post-neoadjuvant setting

Skin Safety and Health Prevention: an Overview of Chemicals in Cosmetic Products

Introduction. Cosmetic products contain a wide range of chemicals to which we are exposed every day. The aim of the study was to determine the presence of potential dangerous substances which can cause adverse health effects by examining product labels.Methods. A total of 283 products were collected from various shops in Lecce (Italy) and divided into 3 categories: rinse-off, leave-on and make-up. The label of every product was examined and a list including fragrances, preservatives and other chemicals of concern was created.Results. Fragrances were present in 52.3% of the examined products, mostly limonene (76.9%) and linalool (64.6%) but also citronellol (34.1%), geraniol (31.5%), coumarin (30%) and hexyl cinnamal (29.2%). Preservatives showed a rate of 60% and the most frequently identified were phenoxyethanol (48.7%), sodium benzoate (35.6%), potassium sorbate (22%), methylparaben (15.2%) and MI/MCI (9.9%). The other chemicals of concern were detected in 58% of products; included PEGs (62.3%), acrylate copolymer (34%), petrolatum (17.2%), polysorbates (14,8%), BHT (14.7%), ethylhextyl methoxycinnamate (13.6%), benzophenone-1 (3.7%), benzophenone-3 (4.9%), BHA (1.6%), cocamide DEA and toluene (1.2%).Conclusions. The use of many of these substances is allowed within certain limits, due to their toxicity at higher concentrations. Other important aspects should be considered as, for instance, the possibility of long-term effects. On the other hand, other substances may induce several acute adverse side-effects, i.e. contact dermatitis and allergic reactions. For these reasons, an enhancement of the criteria used for cosmetics formulation is required since many chemicals used singularly or combined are potentially unsafe

Evaluation of the Synovial Effects of Biological and Targeted Synthetic DMARDs in Patients with Psoriatic Arthritis: A Systematic Literature Review and Meta-Analysis

The aims of this systematic literature review (SLR) were to identify the effects of approved biological and targeted synthetic disease modifying antirheumatic drugs (b/tsDMARDs) on synovial membrane of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) patients, and to determine the existence of histological/molecular biomarkers of response to therapy. A search was conducted on MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, and Cochrane Library (PROSPERO:CRD42022304986) to retrieve data on longitudinal change of biomarkers in paired synovial biopsies and in vitro studies. A meta-analysis was conducted by adopting the standardized mean difference (SMD) as a measure of the effect. Twenty-two studies were included (19 longitudinal, 3 in vitro). In longitudinal studies, TNF inhibitors were the most used drugs, while, for in vitro studies, JAK inhibitors or adalimumab/secukinumab were assessed. The main technique used was immunohistochemistry (longitudinal studies). The meta-analysis showed a significant reduction in both CD3+ lymphocytes (SMD -0.85 [95% CI -1.23; -0.47]) and CD68+ macrophages (sublining, sl) (SMD -0.74 [-1.16; -0.32]) in synovial biopsies from patients treated for 4-12 weeks with bDMARDs. Reduction in CD3+ mostly correlated with clinical response. Despite heterogeneity among the biomarkers evaluated, the reduction in CD3+/CD68+sl cells during the first 3 months of treatment with TNF inhibitors represents the most consistent variation reported in the literature