Microparticles Carrying Sonic Hedgehog Are Increased in Humans with Peripheral Artery Disease.

Sonic hedgehog (Shh) is a prototypical angiogenic agent with a crucial role in the regulation of angiogenesis. Experimental studies have shown that Shh is upregulated in response to ischemia. Also, Shh may be found on the surface of circulating microparticles (MPs) and MPs bearing Shh (Shh + MPs) have shown the ability to contribute to reparative neovascularization after ischemic injury in mice. The goal of this study was to test the hypothesis that, in humans with peripheral artery disease (PAD), there is increased number of circulating Shh + MPs. This was done by assessing the number of Shh + MPs in plasma of patients with PAD and control subjects without PAD. We found significantly higher number of Shh + MPs in plasma of subjects with PAD, compared to controls, while the global number of MPs\u2014produced either by endothelial cells, platelets, leukocytes, and erythrocytes\u2014was not different between PAD patients and controls. We also found a significant association between the number of Shh + MPs and the number of collateral vessels in the ischemic limbs of PAD patients. Interestingly, the concentration of Shh protein unbound to MPs\u2014which was measured in MP-depleted plasma\u2014was not different between subjects with PAD and the controls, indicating that, in the setting of PAD, the call for Shh recapitulation does not lead to secretion of protein into the blood but to binding of the protein to the membrane of MPs. These findings provide novel information on Shh signaling during ischemia in humans, with potentially important biological and clinical implications

Caratterizzazione e identificazione di alabastri usati in antico

(a cura di Crisci G.M., Gattuso C.

Diagnosis of electrocution: The application of scanning electron microscope and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy in five cases

Deaths from electricity, generally, do not have specific findings at the autopsy. The diagnosis is commonly based on the circumstances of the death and the morphologic findings, above all the current mark. Yet, the skin injury due to an electrocution and other kinds of thermal injuries often cannot be differentiated with certainty. Therefore, there is a great interest in finding specific markers of electrocution. The search for the metallization of the skin through Scanning Electron Microscope equipped with Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (EDS) probe is of special importance in order to achieve a definite diagnosis in case of suspected electrocution

Zircon megacrysts from basalts of the Venetian Volcanic Province (NE Italy) : U-Pb ages, oxygen isotopes and REE data

Mafic alkaline lavas from the Venetian Volcanic Province (NE Italy) contain orange\u2013brown zircon megacrysts up to 15 mm long, subhedral to subrounded and showing equant morphology, with width-to-length ratios of 1:2\u20131:2.5. U\u2013Pb ages of zircon (51.1\ub11.5 to 30.5\ub10.51 Ma) fit the stratigraphic age of the host lava (Middle Eocene and Oligocene) and their oxygen isotope composition (\u3b418O=5.31\u20135.51\u2030) is similar to that of zircon formed in the upper mantle. Cathodoluminescence images and crystal chemical features, e.g. depletion of incompatible elements such as REE, Y, U and Th at constant Hf content, indicate that centre-to- edge zircon zoning is not consistent with evolution of the melt by fractional crystallization. All the above features, together with the fact that zircon and host basalts are coeval, indicate that the studied Zr megacrysts crystallised from a primitive alkaline mafic magma, which later evolved to the less alkaline host magma

Zircon megacrysts from basalts of the Venetian Volcanic Province (NE Italy) : U-Pb ages, oxygen isotopes and REE data

Mafic alkaline lava from the Venetian Volcanic Province (NE Italy) contain orange-brown zircon megacrysts up to 15 mm long, which are subhedral to subrounded and show equant morphology, with width-to-length ratios of 1:2-1:2.5. U-Pb ages of zircon (51.1\ub11.5 to 30.5\ub10.51 Ma) fit the stratigraphic age of the host alkaline mafic lava (Middle Eocene and Oligocene) and the oxygen isotope composition (delta 18 O = 5.31-5.51 \u2030) is similar to that of zircon forming in the upper mantle. Cathodoluminescence images and crystal chemical features, e.g., depletion of incompatible elements such as REE, Y, U and Th at constant Hf content, indicate that core-to-rim zircon zoning is not consistent with evolution of the melt by fractional crystallization. On the contrary, all the above features agree in indicating that the subhedral morphology is related to the genesis of the host alkaline mafic magma. The widespread presence of subhedral zircon in mafic and ultramafic rocks indicates that metasomatism of early mantle magmas may be invoked as a common process in the generation of basic alkaline magma

Neisseria meningitides Can Survive in Corpses for At Least Eleven Days

Among thepotentialhazardsofworkinginamortuaryandhandlingcorpses,theriskofinfectious diseaseacquisitioniswell-documented,andwarrantsattention.Themainbiologicalriskinthis environment isduetoinfectionscausedby Mycobacteriumtuberculosis, blood-bornehepatitis,and agentsresponsiblefortransmissiblespongiformencephalopathies,suchasvariantCreutzfeld-Jakob disease.Allthesepathogensremainaliveandareinfectiouspostmortem.Inaddition,other pathogenspresentincadavers,suchas Neisseriameningitidis, areapotentialsourceofinfection during necropsy

Death Due to Decapitation in Two Motorcyclists: A Description of a Unique Case and a Brief Review of the Literature

Deaths due to decapitation, especially related to traffic accidents, are rarely found in forensic practice. The present case involves a man and a woman who died from decapitation due to an unusual mechanism while they were riding on a motorbike down a mountain road. The autopsy, which was completed as a physics study, allowed the accident to be reconstructed as follows: A plastic cable that had detached from a timber-transporting machine whipped the road and hit the two motorcyclists. The impact resulted in the complete severing of both riders\ue2\u80\u99 heads. Involving different scientists in this accident investigation was crucial to understanding the dynamics of the accident. In fact, in addition to scene inspection and autopsy, a physics study was carried out on the cable and the clamp involved, which led to an explanation for the abrupt movement of the cable and, thus, to a thorough reconstruction of the accident