Design and development of microfluidic platforms to control transport phenomena for biomedical applications

Design and development of microfluidic platforms to ensure the creation of a concentration gradient inside a culture chamber. Study of a reversible configuration in order to easily post-process the biological sample.openEmbargo temporaneo per motivi di segretezza e/o di proprietà dei risultati e/o informazioni sensibil

Monte Verità, un lieu révélateur de l’histoire du XXe siècle

Pour son prochain colloque, AMADES réunira ses invités, ses membres et les participants au Monte Verità (Montagne de la Verité), à Ascona, au Tessin. Ce choix n’est pas anodin : cette région de culture et langue italiennes, partie intégrante de la Confédération helvétique depuis le début du XIXe siècle, se prête tout particulièrement à réunir les ressortissants de toute l’Europe, aussi bien pour sa position géographique que par son inscription historique. Carrefour entre le Nord et le Sud de ..

Positive Influence of a Probiotic Mixture on the Intestinal Morphology and Microbiota of Farmed Guinea Fowls (Numida meleagris)

To understand the effectiveness of a probiotic mixture on intestinal morphology, mucus layer composition, and cecal microbiota diversity, 40 10-day-old Guinea fowls (Numida meleagris) were assigned to two groups: the control group (C), receiving drinking water, and the treated group (P), receiving water plus a commercial multi-strain probiotic (Slab51®, 2 × 1011 CFU/L). Birds were slaughtered after 4 months, and the intestines were collected. Samples from the duodenum, ileum, and cecum were processed for morphological and morphometric studies, and conventional glycohistochemistry. Cecal samples were also used to assess the microbiota by 16S metataxonomic approach. Group P showed significant increase in the villus height (p < 0.001 in the duodenum and p < 0.05 in the ileum and cecum), villus width (p < 0.05 in all investigated tracts), depth of crypts (p < 0.001 in the duodenum and cecum; p < 0.05 in the ileum), and goblet cells per villus (p < 0.001 in all investigated tracts) compared with group C. Cecal microbiota of the birds varied considerably and comparing the relative abundance of the main observational taxonomic units (OTUs), a positive enrichment of several beneficial taxa, such as Oscillospira, Eubacterium, Prevotella, and members of the Ruminococcaceae, was observed. The enrichment of those taxa can improve microbiota stability and resilience facing environmental stresses, enhancing its resistance against invading pathogens. Ruminococcaceae, which represent the most important taxon in both groups, and Prevotella have a key role in the gut physiology due to the production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), which are a vital energy source for enterocytes, improve glucose metabolism, and exert an overall anti-inflammatory effect. Probiotic administration enriches the presence of Coprococcus, Oscillospira, and Eubacterium taxa that produce butyrate, which exerts a beneficial effect on growth performance, structure of villi, and pathogen control and has anti-inflammatory properties too. This study indicates that Slab51® supplementation positively affects the morphology and microbiota diversity of the guinea fowl intestine

Coffee prevents fatty liver disease induced by a high-fat diet by modulating pathways of the gut-liver axis

Coffee consumption is inversely associated with the risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). A gap in the literature still exists concerning the intestinal mechanisms that are involved in the protective effect of coffee consumption towards NAFLD. In this study, twenty-four C57BL/6J mice were divided into three groups each receiving a standard diet, a high-fat diet (HFD) or an HFD plus decaffeinated coffee (HFD+COFFEE) for 12 weeks. Coffee supplementation reduced HFD-induced liver macrovesicular steatosis (P\ua0<\ua00\ub701) and serum cholesterol (P\ua0<\ua00\ub7001), alanine aminotransferase and glucose (P\ua0<\ua00\ub705). Accordingly, liver PPAR- \u3b1 (P\ua0<\ua00\ub705) and acyl-CoA oxidase-1 (P\ua0<\ua00\ub705) as well as duodenal ATP-binding cassette (ABC) subfamily A1 (ABCA1) and subfamily G1 (ABCG1) (P\ua0<\ua00\ub705) mRNA expressions increased with coffee consumption. Compared with HFD animals, HFD+COFFEE mice had more undigested lipids in the caecal content and higher free fatty acid receptor-1 mRNA expression in the duodenum and colon. Furthermore, they showed an up-regulation of duodenal and colonic zonulin-1 (P\ua0<\ua00\ub705), duodenal claudin (P\ua0<\ua00\ub705) and duodenal peptide YY (P\ua0<\ua00\ub705) mRNA as well as a higher abundance of Alcaligenaceae in the faeces (P\ua0<\ua00\ub705). HFD+COFFEE mice had an energy intake comparable with HFD-fed mice but starting from the eighth intervention week they gained significantly less weight over time. Data altogether showed that coffee supplementation prevented HFD-induced NAFLD in mice by reducing hepatic fat deposition and metabolic derangement through modification of pathways underpinning liver fat oxidation, intestinal cholesterol efflux, energy metabolism and gut permeability. The hepatic and metabolic benefits induced by coffee were accompanied by changes in the gut microbiota

Targeting in situ and imaging multiple inflammatory biomarkers with quantum dots in DSS model of colitis

Poster presented at Biomedical Technology Showcase 2006, Philadelphia, PA. Retrieved 18 Aug 2006 from http://www.biomed.drexel.edu/new04/Content/Biomed_Tech_Showcase/Poster_Presentations/Papazoglou_6.pdf.Inflammatory Bowel Disease affects nearly 1.5 million people. Currently, there are no efficient and reliable methods to quantify the degree of inflammation in these patients. The objective here was to image and quantify in an experimental model of colitis, MPO, IL1_ and TNF_ (proinflammatory cytokines) using Quantum Dots (QDs) conjugated with specific antibodies. The resulting fluorescence intensity was then used as a measure of concentration of MPO and in turn inflammation. The fluorescent images obtained from animals showed sequential increase in fluorescence intensity of MPO correlating (R = 0.96) with clinical disease. Fluorescent images also showed co-localization of all the three markers in both acute as well as chronic inflammation. These observations suggest that QD bioconjugates can be used nanotools to image biomarkers of inflammation

Conceptual Design of a Soft X‐ray SASE‐FEL Source

FELs based on SASE are believed to be powerful tools to explore the frontiers of basic sciences, from physics to chemistry to biology. Intense R&D programs have started in the USA and Europe in order to understand the SASE physics and to prove the feasibility of these sources. The allocation of considerable resources in the Italian National Research Plan (PNR) brought about the formation of a CNR‐ENEA‐INFN‐University of Roma "Tor Vergata" study group. A conceptual design study has been developed and possible schemes for linac sources have been investigated, bringing to the SPARX proposal. We report in this paper the results of a preliminary start to end simulation concerning one option we are considering based on an S‐band normal conducting linac with high brightness photoinjector integrated in a RF compressor