Cardiac progenitor cells. The matrix has you

Components of the cardiac extracellular matrix (ECM) are synthesized by residing cells and are continuously remodeled by them. Conversely, residing cells (including primitive cells) receive constant biochemical and mechanical signals from the ECM that modulate their biology. The pathological progression of heart failure affects all residing cells, inevitably causing profound changes in ECM composition and architecture that, in turn, impact on cell phenotypes. Any regenerative medicine approach must aim at sustaining microenvironment conditions that favor cardiogenic commitment of therapeutic cells and minimize pro-fibrotic signals, while conversely boosting the capacity of therapeutic cells to counteract adverse remodeling of the ECM. In this Perspective article, we discuss multiple issues about the features of an optimal scaffold for supporting cardiac tissue engineering strategies with cardiac progenitor cells, and, conversely, about the possible antifibrotic mechanisms induced by cell therapy

FE-Modelling and Material Characterization of Ice-Hockey Helmet

A finite element model of an ice-hockey helmet has been developed from CAD geometry. The mechanical properties of the EPP liner were tested in the laboratory; these properties and those of the shell and the anvil were implemented into the model and simulations were run in order to validate the modelope

A pilot study on effectiveness of visual arts mediation in Cognitive Activation Therapy (CAT) on biological ageing and cognitive/functional status

openAgeing is one of the most significant phenomenons of the 21 st century with important consequences on all sectors of society. It’s also the greatest risk factor for the development of dementia, which is a complex clinic syndrome that gradually and irreversibly impairs cognitive functions and functional abilities. In this pilot study we analyse whether Cognitive Activation Therapy (CAT) with visual arts influences biological aging and cognition/functional. Twenty patients affected by major neurocognitive disorder in the mild to moderate phase of the disease (mainly Alzheimer's disease) were recruited at the Regional Center for the Study and Treatment of Cerebral Aging (CRIC). Patients aged between 47 and 85 years underwent a cycle of Cognitive Activation Therapy (CAT) mediated by the visual arts and a pre- and post-treatment neuropsychological and functional evaluation with 17 sessions of which 14 at the CRIC and 3 at the the Eremitani Civic Museums of Padua. The biological aging performed on blood samples at the beginning and at the end of the cognitive activation cycle mediated by the visual arts involved the evaluation of biological aging indicators: epigenetic age (DNAmAge) and telomere length. The preliminary statistical analysis of the data shows that the duration of the treatment, through the mediation of the visual arts in the use of a structured and standardized rehabilitation protocol (CAT), influences biological aging. The simple linear regression analysis showed a significant correlation (p=0.035) treatment days and an increased age acceleration DNAmAge (T1-T0). A multiple linear regression shows that the determinants in LTL elongation are being female and days of treatment. In particular, a prolonged duration of the rehabilitation protocol seems to significantly slow down biological aging. Standardizing this rehabilitation model would mean increasing the therapeutic options for people affected by neurocognitive disorders and identifying rehabilitation paradigms capable, not only of positively influencing cognition, but also of leveraging the person's potential, of creating social inclusion, modifying the social perception of disease and to combat stigma.Ageing is one of the most significant phenomenons of the 21 st century with important consequences on all sectors of society. It’s also the greatest risk factor for the development of dementia, which is a complex clinic syndrome that gradually and irreversibly impairs cognitive functions and functional abilities. In this pilot study we analyse whether Cognitive Activation Therapy (CAT) with visual arts influences biological aging and cognition/functional. Twenty patients affected by major neurocognitive disorder in the mild to moderate phase of the disease (mainly Alzheimer's disease) were recruited at the Regional Center for the Study and Treatment of Cerebral Aging (CRIC). Patients aged between 47 and 85 years underwent a cycle of Cognitive Activation Therapy (CAT) mediated by the visual arts and a pre- and post-treatment neuropsychological and functional evaluation with 17 sessions of which 14 at the CRIC and 3 at the the Eremitani Civic Museums of Padua. The biological aging performed on blood samples at the beginning and at the end of the cognitive activation cycle mediated by the visual arts involved the evaluation of biological aging indicators: epigenetic age (DNAmAge) and telomere length. The preliminary statistical analysis of the data shows that the duration of the treatment, through the mediation of the visual arts in the use of a structured and standardized rehabilitation protocol (CAT), influences biological aging. The simple linear regression analysis showed a significant correlation (p=0.035) treatment days and an increased age acceleration DNAmAge (T1-T0). A multiple linear regression shows that the determinants in LTL elongation are being female and days of treatment. In particular, a prolonged duration of the rehabilitation protocol seems to significantly slow down biological aging. Standardizing this rehabilitation model would mean increasing the therapeutic options for people affected by neurocognitive disorders and identifying rehabilitation paradigms capable, not only of positively influencing cognition, but also of leveraging the person's potential, of creating social inclusion, modifying the social perception of disease and to combat stigma

Nanoscale investigation of chromatin organization by structured illumination microscopy

This thesis work aims to present a novel approach to reconstruct Structured Illumination Microscopy, SIM, raw data and to analyze SIM reconstructed images. These new approaches will be demonstrated in the study of chromatin organization. The dissertation will be articulated as follows: Chapter 1 provides an introduction to chromatin nanoscale organization and optical fluorescence microscopy, which is one of the main tools involved in life sciences studies. Indeed, optical microscopy allowed investigating, with high specificity and sensitivity, living samples such as cells, and even tissues. The reader will be presented with a summary on the fluorescence optical microscopy and on the super-resolution, SR, techniques available today including SIM, which is the microscope used in this thesis work. In Chapter 2 the focus is on the introduction of a new reconstruction tool for specific SR-SIM microscopy powered by the Separation of Photons by Lifetime Tuning, SPLIT, method. The introduction of the concept, applied in other works to different SR techniques, will be followed by the practical implementation of the method on the SIM microscope. Then, the applicability of the technique, which we called SPLIT-SIM, will be demonstrated on several different samples. Indeed, it will be used on Simulated data, on test experimental beads, on biological samples both in one and two-color staining. In Chapter 3 the focus will move on the coupling of SIM reconstructed data to colocalization analysis. In particular, for the first time, SIM was coupled to Image Cross-Correlation Spectroscopy, ICCS, in the study of two-color images of a model sample. DNA origami-based structures were chosen as a model sample with precise distances allowing for evaluation of the analysis results. Moreover, all the images analyzed by the pixel-based technique, SIM-ICCS, were analyzed also with an object-based technique as a comparison to evaluate which could be the best choice in SIM acquisitions. Finally, Chapter 4 will be focused on the application of the analysis, performed in chapter 3, to two-color SIM images of nuclear structure. The analysis will be performed on \u2018positive control\u2019 in which the target structures will be colocalized and on a negative control in which the structured are spatially segregated within the nucleus. Both object-based and pixel-based analysis will be able to extract coherent results thus showing how SIM-ICCS can become an interesting and useful tool to analyze SIM multicolor acquisitions

Bone conductive implants in single sided deafness

Conclusion: The Bone Conductive Implants (BCI) showed to partly restore some of the functions lost when the binaural hearing is missing, such as in the single-sided deafness (SSD) subjects. The adoption of the single BCI needs to be advised by the clinician on the ground of a thorough counselling with the SSD subject. Objectives: To perform an overview of the present possibilities of BCI in SSD and to evaluate the reliability of the audiological evaluation for assessing the speech recognition in noise and the sound localization cues, as major problems related to the loss of binaural hearing. Method: Nine SSD subjects who underwent BCI implantation underwent a pre-operative audiological evaluation, consisting in the soundfield speech audiometry, as word recognition score (WRS) and sound localization, in quiet and in noise. Moreover, they were also tested for the accuracy of directional word recognition in noise and with the subjective evaluation with APHAB questionnaire. Results: The mean maximum percentage of word discrimination was 65.5% in the unaided condition and 78.9% in the BCI condition. The sound localization in noise with the BCI was better than the unaided condition, especially when stimulus and noise were on the same side of the implanted ear. The accuracy of directional word recognition showed to improve with BCI in respect to the unaided condition, in the BCI side, with either the stimulus on the implanted ear and the noise in the contralateral ear, or when both stimulus and noise were deliver to implanted ear

Translate Data Into Meaning: integration of meteorology and geomatics to generate meaningful information for decision makers

A variety of actors at all scales and acting in different domains such as emergency management, agriculture, sports and leisure and commercial activities, are becoming more aware of the challenges and opportunities that meteorological data analysis poses for their operational goals. The increasing availability of meteorological data coupled with a rapid improvement in technology led to the widespread dissemination of the weather information to a variety of users on a regular basis. Particularly through the internet and mobile application all users, despite their varied background, can access to big amount of data with a high potential to gather essential input that can significantly help their decisions. At the same time, simply creating and disseminating information without context does not necessarily offer an added value to sèecific users. One of the main issues is related to the scientific approach of weather analysis and to the representation of results, which are hardly understandable for non-technical users and therefore not easily usable to make decisions. As a result, there are several researches aiming at finding new ways of supporting decision making by supplying easy to use information. The main objective of this thesis is therefore to provide guidance on how to identify and characterize the needs for meaningful and usable information among various users of meteorology, including members of the public, emergency managers, other government decision makers, and private-sector entities, both direct users and intermediaries. In particular a methodology for the integration of meteorological data and GIS capabilities is investigated and applied to three different end users having similarities and differences. Scientific analysis, results and cartographic products are adapted to specific requirements, experience and perceptions of the three different users

Diversity, phylogeography and taxonomy of hard corals in the genus Porites

Tullia Terraneo studied the species richness, taxonomy and historical biogeography of Porites, one of the most important reef corals in the tropics. She found that Porites diversity needs to be reconsidered and the taxonomy of the genus revised. Finally, she found several species new to taxonomy that are awaiting description. This work increases our knowledge regarding coral reef biodiversity and will help guide future conservation strategies

Getting old through the blood. Circulating molecules in aging and senescence of cardiovascular regenerative cells

Global aging is a hallmark of our century. The natural multifactorial process resulting in aging involves structural and functional changes, affecting molecules, cells, and tissues. As the western population is getting older, we are witnessing an increase in the burden of cardiovascular events, some of which are known to be directly linked to cellular senescence and dysfunction. In this review, we will focus on the description of a few circulating molecules, which have been correlated to life span, aging, and cardiovascular homeostasis. We will review the current literature concerning the circulating levels and related signaling pathways of selected proteins (insulin-like growth factor 1, growth and differentiation factor-11, and PAI-1) and microRNAs of interest (miR-34a, miR-146a, miR-21), whose bloodstream levels have been associated to aging in different organisms. In particular, we will also discuss their potential role in the biology and senescence of cardiovascular regenerative cell types, such as endothelial progenitor cells, mesenchymal stromal cells, and cardiac progenitor cells

EMT/MET at the crossroad of stemness, regeneration and oncogenesis. The Ying-Yang equilibrium recapitulated in cell spheroids

The epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is an essential trans-differentiation process, which plays a critical role in embryonic development, wound healing, tissue regeneration, organ fibrosis, and cancer progression. It is the fundamental mechanism by which epithelial cells lose many of their characteristics while acquiring features typical of mesenchymal cells, such as migratory capacity and invasiveness. Depending on the contest, EMT is complemented and balanced by the reverse process, the mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition (MET). In the saving economy of the living organisms, the same (Ying-Yang) tool is integrated as a physiological strategy in embryonic development, as well as in the course of reparative or disease processes, prominently fibrosis, tumor invasion and metastasis. These mechanisms and their related signaling (e.g., TGF-β and BMPs) have been effectively studied in vitro by tissue-derived cell spheroids models. These three-dimensional (3D) cell culture systems, whose phenotype has been shown to be strongly dependent on TGF-β-regulated EMT/MET processes, present the advantage of recapitulating in vitro the hypoxic in vivo micro-environment of tissue stem cell niches and their formation. These spheroids, therefore, nicely reproduce the finely regulated Ying-Yang equilibrium, which, together with other mechanisms, can be determinant in cell fate decisions in many pathophysiological scenarios, such as differentiation, fibrosis, regeneration, and oncogenesis. In this review, current progress in the knowledge of signaling pathways affecting EMT/MET and stemness regulation will be outlined by comparing data obtained from cellular spheroids systems, as ex vivo niches of stem cells derived from normal and tumoral tissues. The mechanistic correspondence in vivo and the possible pharmacological perspective will be also explored, focusing especially on the TGF-β-related networks, as well as others, such as SNAI1, PTEN, and EGR1. This latter, in particular, for its ability to convey multiple types of stimuli into relevant changes of the cell transcriptional program, can be regarded as a heterogeneous "stress-sensor" for EMT-related inducers (growth factor, hypoxia, mechano-stress), and thus as a therapeutic target