315 research outputs found
Sex/Gender- and Age-Related Differences in β-Adrenergic Receptor Signaling in Cardiovascular Diseases
Sex differences in cardiovascular disease (CVD) are often recognized from experimental and clinical studies examining the prevalence, manifestations, and response to therapies. Compared to age-matched men, women tend to have reduced CV risk and a better prognosis in the premenopausal period. However, with menopause, this risk increases exponentially, surpassing that of men. Although several mechanisms have been provided, including sex hormones, an emerging role in these sex differences has been suggested for β-adrenergic receptor (β-AR) signaling. Importantly, β-ARs are the most important G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), expressed in almost all the cell types of the CV system, and involved in physiological and pathophysiological processes. Consistent with their role, for decades, βARs have been considered the first targets for rational drug design to fight CVDs. Of note, β-ARs are seemingly associated with different CV outcomes in females compared with males. In addition, even if there is a critical inverse correlation between β-AR responsiveness and aging, it has been reported that gender is crucially involved in this age-related effect. This review will discuss how β-ARs impact the CV risk and response to anti-CVD therapies, also concerning sex and age. Further, we will explore how estrogens impact β-AR signaling in women
Guest editorial: Opportunities and threats in providing remote access to manufacturing-related environments
Anomalies and Tadpoles in Open/Closed String Duality
We discuss the role played by the divergences appearing in the interaction
between a fractional D3 brane dressed with an SU(N) gauge field and a stack of
N fractional D3 branes on the orbifolds C^2/Z_2 and C^3/(Z_2 x Z_2). In
particular we show that the logarithmic divergences in the closed string
channel, interpreted as due to twisted massless tadpoles, are mapped, under
open/closed string duality, in the logarithmic ones in the open string channel,
due to the massless states circulating in the annulus diagram and corresponding
to the one-loop divergences that one finds in the gauge theory living in the
world volume of the brane. This result provides a quantitative evidence of why
the chiral and scale anomalies of the supersymmetric and non conformal gauge
theories supported by the world volume of the branes can be inferred from
supergravity calculations.Comment: LaTeX, 8 pages. Contribution to the proceedings of the workshop of
the RTN Network "The quantum structure of space-time and the geometric nature
of fundamental interactions", Copenhagen, September 200
Importance of spinal deformity index in risk evaluation of VCF (vertebral compression fractures) in obese subjects: prospective study.
Introduction
Obesity and osteoporosis share many features and recent studies have identified many similarities suggesting common pathophysiological mechanisms. Obesity is associated with a higher risk of non-traumatic fractures despite bone mineral density (BMD) being normal or even increased.
Materials and methods
54 obese subjects were analyzed (51 ± 16 years, 10 males, 44 females). Spinal deformity index (SDI) is a semi-quantitative method that may be a surrogate index of bone microarchitecture. SDI index was higher in patients than in controls. In 87.5 % of patients and 10 % of controls we found morphometric vertebral fractures, despite a DEXA Tscore not diagnostic of osteoporosis.
Conclusion
The objective of this study was to assess in obese patients levels of 25OH vitamin D, parathyroid hormone, serum and urinary calcium (Ca) and phosphorus (P), BMD, and SDI. 87.5 % of the obese subjects present nontraumatic vertebral fractures and reduced bone quality as measured by SDI
Predictors of short-term readmission after beyond total mesorectal excision for primary locally advanced and recurrent rectal cancer
Unplanned readmissions heavily affect the cost of health care and are used as an indicator of performance. No clear data are available regarding beyond-total mesorectal excision (bTME) procedure. Aim of the study is to identify patient-related and surgery-related factors influencing the 30-day readmissions after bTME. Retrospective data were collected from 220 patients who underwent bTME procedures at single centre between 2006 and 2016. Patient-related and operative factors were assessed, including body mass index (BMI), age, gender, American Society of Anaesthesiologists’ (ASA) score, preoperative stage, neo-adjuvant therapy, primary tumour vs recurrence, the extent of surgery. The readmission rate was 8.18%. No statistically significant association was found with BMI, ASA score, length of stay and stay in the intensive care unit, primary vs recurrent tumour or blood transfusions. Not quite statistically significant was the association with pelvic side wall dissection (OR 3.32, p = 0.054). Statistically significant factors included preoperative stage > IIIb (OR: 4.77, p = 0.002), neo-adjuvant therapy (OR: 0.13, p = 0.0006), age over 65 years (OR: 5.96, p = 0.0005), any re-intervention during the first admission (OR: 7.4, p = 0.0001), and any post-operative complication (OR: 9.01, p = 0.004). The readmission rate after beyond-TME procedure is influenced by patient-related factors as well as post-operative morbidity
Longitudinal phase space measurement at the ELI-NP Compton gamma source
Virtual bunch length measurement can be carried out by means of ELEGANT code for tracking the bunch particles from RF deflector to the screen. The technique relies on the correlation between the bunch longitudinal coordinate and transverse coordinates induced through a RF deflector. Therefore, the bunch length measurement can be carried out measuring the vertical spot size at the screen, placed after the RF deflector. The deflecting voltage amplitude affects the resolution. Adding a dispersive element, e.g. a magnetic dipole between RF deflector and the screen, the full longitudinal phase space can be measured. In this paper, we discuss some issues relevant for the electron linac of the Compton source at the Extreme Light Infrastructure - Nuclear Physics (ELI-NP)
N=1* model and glueball superpotential from Renormalization-Group-improved perturbation theory
A method for computing the low-energy non-perturbative properties of SUSY
GFT, starting from the microscopic lagrangian model, is presented. The method
relies on covariant SUSY Feynman graph techniques, adapted to low energy, and
Renormalization-Group-improved perturbation theory. We apply the method to
calculate the glueball superpotential in N=1 SU(2) SYM and obtain a potential
of the Veneziano-Yankielowicz type.Comment: 19 pages, no figures; added references; note added at the end of the
paper; version to appear in JHE
β-adrenergic receptors and G protein-coupled receptor kinase-2 in Alzheimer's disease: a new paradigm for prognosis and therapy?
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a devastating form of dementia that imposes a severe burden on health systems and society. Although several aspects of AD pathogenesis have been elucidated over the last few decades, many questions still need to be addressed. In fact, currently available medications only provide symptomatic improvement in patients with AD without affecting disease progression. The β-adrenergic receptor (β-AR) system can be considered a possible target that deserves further exploration in AD. The central noradrenergic system undergoes substantial changes in the course of AD and β-ARs have been implicated not only in amyloid formation in AD brain but also in amyloid-induced neurotoxicity. Moreover, clinical evidence suggests a protective role of β-AR blockers on AD onset. In addition to that, post-receptor components of β-AR signaling seem to have a role in AD pathogenesis. In particular, the G protein coupled receptor kinase 2, responsible for β-AR desensitization and downregulation, mediates amyloid-induced β-AR dysfunction in neurons, and its levels in circulating lymphocytes of AD patients are increased and inversely correlated with patient's cognitive status. Therefore, there is an urgent need to gain further insight on the role of the adrenergic system components in AD pathogenesis in order to translate preclinical and clinical knowledge to more efficacious prognostic and therapeutic strategies
N=1 gauge superpotentials from supergravity
We review the supergravity derivation of some non-perturbatively generated
effective superpotentials for N=1 gauge theories. Specifically, we derive the
Veneziano-Yankielowicz superpotential for pure N=1 Super Yang-Mills theory from
the warped deformed conifold solution, and the Affleck-Dine-Seiberg
superpotential for N=1 SQCD from a solution describing fractional D3-branes on
a C^3 / Z_2 x Z_2 orbifold.Comment: LaTeX, iopart class, 8 pages, 3 figures. Contribution to the
proceedings of the workshop of the RTN Network "The quantum structure of
space-time and the geometric nature of fundamental interactions", Copenhagen,
September 2003; v2: published version with minor clarification
Predictors of short-term readmission after beyond total mesorectal excision for primary locally advanced and recurrent rectal cancer
Unplanned readmissions heavily affect the cost of health care and are used as an indicator of performance. No clear data are available regarding beyond-total mesorectal excision (bTME) procedure. Aim of the study is to identify patient-related and surgery-related factors influencing the 30-day readmissions after bTME. Retrospective data were collected from 220 patients who underwent bTME procedures at single centre between 2006 and 2016. Patient-related and operative factors were assessed, including body mass index (BMI), age, gender, American Society of Anaesthesiologists’ (ASA) score, preoperative stage, neo-adjuvant therapy, primary tumour vs recurrence, the extent of surgery. The readmission rate was 8.18%. No statistically significant association was found with BMI, ASA score, length of stay and stay in the intensive care unit, primary vs recurrent tumour or blood transfusions. Not quite statistically significant was the association with pelvic side wall dissection (OR 3.32, p = 0.054). Statistically significant factors included preoperative stage > IIIb (OR: 4.77, p = 0.002), neo-adjuvant therapy (OR: 0.13, p = 0.0006), age over 65 years (OR: 5.96, p = 0.0005), any re-intervention during the first admission (OR: 7.4, p = 0.0001), and any post-operative complication (OR: 9.01, p = 0.004). The readmission rate after beyond-TME procedure is influenced by patient-related factors as well as post-operative morbidity
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