Association between attention and heart rate fluctuations in pathological worriers

Recent data suggests that several psychopathological conditions are associated with alterations in the variability of behavioral and physiological responses. Pathological worry, defined as the cognitive representation of a potential threat, has been associated with reduced variability of heart beat oscillations (i.e., decreased heart rate variability; HRV) and lapses of attention indexed by reaction times (RTs). Clinical populations with attention deficit show RTs oscillation around 0.05 and 0.01 Hz when performing a sustained attention task. We tested the hypothesis that people who are prone to worry do it in a predictable oscillating pattern revealed through recurrent lapses in attention and concomitant oscillating HRV. Sixty healthy young adults (50% women) were recruited: 30 exceeded the clinical cut-off on the Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ; High-Worry, HW); the remaining 30 constituted the Low-Worry (LW) group. After a diagnostic assessment, participants performed two 15-min sustained attention tasks, interspersed by a standardized worry-induction procedure. RTs, HRV and moods were assessed. The analyses of the frequency spectrum showed that the HW group presents a significant higher and constant peak of RTs oscillation around 0.01 Hz (period 100 s) after the induction of worry, in comparison with their baseline and with the LW group that was not responsive to the induction procedure. Physiologically, the induction significantly reduced high-frequency HRV and such reduction was associated with levels of self-reported worry. Results are coherent with the oscillatory nature of the default mode network (DMN) and further confirm an association between cognitive rigidity and autonomic nervous system inflexibility

Cell damage induced by asbestos similar particles

The presence, in nature, of asbestos similar particles, highly toxic and potentially cancerogenic for human healthy is well known (1). Inhalation of the fibrous form of erionite, has been shown to cause effects compared to those observed with mineral fibers classified as ‘‘asbestos,’’ including malignant mesothelioma, a disease typically associated with occupational and environmental exposures to asbestos (2). In this work various zeolite materials have been considered because of their suspected carcinogenic activity and, the possible interactions occurring between asbestiform fibers and U937 cell, a human hemopoietic cell line, have been evaluated. Chemical and morpho-functional analyses have been carried out, both to characterize fiber structure and cell response. Cells showed the ability to internalize the minerals, as observed after TEM analyses. With zeolite exposure time increasing, a diffuse cell damage with features of apoptotic and necrotic death can be evidenced (3). These findings suggest that the fibrous form of scolecite or offretite too can be considered potentially toxic for cell culture in vitro

Exploring the Interactions of Ruthenium (II) carbosilane metallodendrimers and precursors with model cell membranes through a dual spin label spin probe technique using EPR

Dendrimers exhibit unique interactions with cell membranes, arising from their nanometric size and high surface area. To a great extent, these interactions define their biological activity and can be reported in situ by spin-labelling techniques. Schiff-base carbosilane ruthenium (II) metallodendrimers are promising antitumor agents with a mechanism of action yet to explore. In order to study their in situ interactions with model cell membranes occurring at a molecular level, namely cetyltrimethylammonium bromide micelles (CTAB) and lecithin liposomes (LEC), electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) was selected. Both a spin probe, 4-(N,N-dimethyl-N-dodecyl)ammonium-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl bromide (CAT12), able to enter the model membranes, and a spin label, 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl (TEMPO) covalently attached at newly synthesized heterofunctional dendrimers, were used to provide complementary information on the dendrimer-membrane interactions. The computer-aided EPR analysis demonstrated a good agreement between the results obtained for the spin probe and spin label experiments. Both points of view suggested the partial insertion of the dendrimer surface groups into the surfactant aggregates, mainly CTAB micelles, and the occurrence of both polar and hydrophobic interactions, while dendrimer-LEC interactions involved more polar interactions between surface groups. We found out that subtle changes in the dendrimer structure greatly modified their interacting abilities and, subsequently, their anticancer activity

Direct CD32 T-cell cytotoxicity: implications for breast cancer prognosis and treatment

The FcγRII (CD32) ligands are IgFc fragments and pentraxins. The existence of additional ligands is unknown. We engineered T cells with human chimeric receptors resulting from the fusion between CD32 extracellular portion and transmembrane CD8α linked toCD28/ζ chain intracellular moiety (CD32-CR). Transduced T cells recognized three breast cancer (BC) and one colon cancer cell line among 15 tested in the absence of targeting antibodies. Sensitive BC cell conjugation with CD32-CR T cells induced CD32 polarization and down-regulation, CD107a release, mutual elimination, and proinflammatory cytokine production unaffected by human IgGs but enhanced by cetuximab. CD32-CR T cells protected immunodeficient mice from subcutaneous growth of MDA-MB-468 BC cells. RNAseq analysis identified a 42 gene fingerprint predicting BC cell sensitivity and favorable outcomes in advanced BC. ICAM1 was a major regulator of CD32-CR T cell–mediated cytotoxicity. CD32-CR T cells may help identify cell surface CD32 ligand(s) and novel prognostically relevant transcriptomic signatures and develop innovative BC treatments

Sindrome della morte improvvisa del lattante (SIDS) in Sicilia: una valutazione dei principali determinanti di accudimento

Aim: to evaluate certain caring behaviors associated with the onset of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Methods: a telephone questionnaire was administered between May and July 2017 to a sample of 1055 Sicilian mothers within 30 days of delivery. A multivariate logistic analysis was conducted considering outcome variables: the sleeping position of the children, exclusive breastfeeding and passive smoking. Results: 62% of the participants place their children in the supine position, 37.9% practice exclusive breastfeeding and 89.0% are not smokers. Being aged < 32 years, having a low level of education and limited economic resources are risk factors for the non-supine positioning of children during sleep. A low level of education, primiparity, non-participation to an antenatal course expose mothers to a greater risk of not practicing exclusive breastfeeding at one month. Postpartum smoking is positively associated with a low level of education. Conclusions: the assessment of the main caring behaviors towards newborns and infants is essential for an effective campaign for reducing the risk of SIDS

Metabolic-imaging of human glioblastoma live tumors: A new precision-medicine approach to predict tumor treatment response early

Glioblastoma (GB) is the most severe form of brain cancer, with a 12-15 month median survival. Surgical resection, temozolomide (TMZ) treatment, and radiotherapy remain the primary therapeutic options for GB, and no new therapies have been introduced in recent years. This therapeutic standstill is primarily due to preclinical approaches that do not fully respect the complexity of GB cell biology and fail to test efficiently anti-cancer treatments. Therefore, better treatment screening approaches are needed. In this study, we have developed a novel functional precision medicine approach to test the response to anticancer treatments in organoids derived from the resected tumors of glioblastoma patients