An Atypical Case of Taravana Syndrome in a Breath-Hold Underwater Fishing Champion: A Case Report

Dysbaric accidents are usually referred to compressed air-supplied diving. Nonetheless, some cases of decompression illness are known to have occurred among breath-hold (BH) divers also, and they are reported in the medical literature. A male BH diver ((à years old), underwater *shing champion, presented neurological disorders as dizziness, sensory numbness, blurred vision, and le+ frontoparietal pain a+er many dives to a $à–$( meters sea water depth with short surface intervals. Symptoms spontaneously regressed and the patient came back home. )e following morning, pain and neurological impairment occurred again and the diver went by himself to the hospital where he had a generalized tonic-clonic seizure and lost consciousness. A magnetic resonance imaging of the brain disclofsed a cortical T -weighted hypointense area in the temporal region corresponding to infarction with partial hemorrhage. An early hyperbaric oxygen therapy led to prompt resolution of neurological *ndings. All clinical and imaging characteristics were referable to the Taravana diving syndrome, induced by repetitive prolonged deep BH dives. )e reappearance of neurological signs a+er an uncommon ! -hour symptom-free interval may suggest an atypical case of Taravana syndrome

Correlating densities of centrality and activities in cities : the cases of Bologna (IT) and Barcelona (ES)

This paper examines the relationship between street centrality and densities of commercial and service activities in cities. The aim is to verify whether a correlation exists and whether some 'secondary' activities, i.e. those scarcely specialized oriented to the general public and ordinary daily life, are more linked to street centrality than others. The metropolitan area of Barcelona (Spain) is investigated, and results are compared with those found in a previous work on the city of Bologna (Italy). Street centrality is calibrated in a multiple centrality assessment (MCA) model composed of multiple measures such as closeness, betweenness and straightness. Kernel density estimation (KDE) is used to transform data sets of centrality and activities to one scale unit for correlation analysis between them. Results indicate that retail and service activities in both Bologna and Barcelona tend to concentrate in areas with better centralities, and that secondary activities exhibit a higher correlation

Project "Biodiversity MARE Tricase": a biodiversity inventory of the coastal area of Tricase (Ionian Sea, Italy) – Mollusca: Heterobranchia

The marine biodiversity of the Tricase coastal area (Ionian Sea, Italy) was investigated at the MARE Outpost (Avamposto MARE) between 2016 and 2017, with the help of citizen scientists and trained taxonomists. Among the most interesting groups encountered, heterobranch molluscs deserve a special mention. Altogether, 268 specimens were ascribed to this group and referred to 49 taxa. Notwithstanding the extensive literature on Mediterranean heterobranchs, two species proved to be new to the Italian coasts, the records of eight species represented their easternmost sightings in the Mediterranean Sea, and 13 taxa represented new records for the Ionian Sea. In addition, several feeding habits and phenological events were new to science. Although the European Union's Marine Strategy Framework Directive lists "Biodiversity is maintained" as the first descriptor in achieving "Good Environmental Status", our results highlighted the presence of conspicuous gaps in the knowledge of species distribution, taxonomy and ecology of heterobranch molluscs, indicating the necessity of even small-scale species checklists to understand biodiversity changes in worldwide biota

Targeting a phospho-STAT3-miRNAs pathway improves vesicular hepatic steatosis in an in vitro and in vivo model

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a leading cause of chronic liver disease. Although genetic predisposition and epigenetic factors contribute to the development of NAFLD, our understanding of the molecular mechanism involved in the pathogenesis of the disease is still emerging. Here we investigated a possible role of a microRNAs-STAT3 pathway in the induction of hepatic steatosis. Differentiated HepaRG cells treated with the fatty acid sodium oleate (fatty dHepaRG) recapitulated features of liver vesicular steatosis and activated a cell-autonomous inflammatory response, inducing STAT3-Tyrosine-phosphorylation. With a genome-wide approach (Chromatin Immunoprecipitation Sequencing), many phospho-STAT3 binding sites were identified in fatty dHepaRG cells and several STAT3 and/or NAFLD-regulated microRNAs showed increased expression levels, including miR-21. Innovative CARS (Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Scattering) microscopy revealed that chemical inhibition of STAT3 activity decreased lipid accumulation and deregulated STAT3-responsive microRNAs, including miR-21, in lipid overloaded dHepaRG cells. We were able to show in vivo that reducing phospho-STAT3-miR-21 levels in C57/BL6 mice liver, by long-term treatment with metformin, protected mice from aging-dependent hepatic vesicular steatosis. Our results identified a microRNAs-phosphoSTAT3 pathway involved in the development of hepatic steatosis, which may represent a molecular marker for both diagnosis and therapeutic targeting

PM10 Dispersion Modeling by Means of CFD 3D and Eulerian–Lagrangian Models: Analysis and Comparison with Experiments☆

Abstract This research deals with the analysis of the dispersion of PM10 by using fluid-dynamic simulation framework. Firstly, an experimental campaign was made in a wind tunnel. A cylindrical emitter of PM10 was characterized in terms of PM10 mass flow rate and outlet velocity. It was positioned in the wind tunnel chamber where several sensors were also placed downwind. The use of different sensor configurations allowed the evaluation of the PM10 concentrations in several locations. The experimental campaign was reproduced in ANSYS-Fluent, by recreating in Design-Model, a 3D geometries of the test case. Different calculation grids were tested in order to find the proper balance between computing time and accuracy. The CFD 3D model was based on the Eulerian approach for the continuous phase and Lagrangian approach for the dispersion phase setting the DPM for the evaluation and dispersion of particulate matters. The turbulence was solved by using a k-ɛ RANS approach and a quite advanced unsteady DES model. Several simulations were carried out by varying the flow inlet velocities in configurations with and without obstacles. The results obtained from the post-processing phase were then compared with the experimental campaign. With obstacles a PM concentration increment is observed at all imposed air velocity because of recirculation phenomena generated around the obstacles

Environmental and economic assessment of sustainability in Mediterranean wheat production

ArticleThis study proposes the application of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and economic evaluations conducted on different cereal production systems in semi-arid environments. Two different crop management systems of durum wheat were analysed by distinguishing Continuous Cropping (CC) and Crop Rotation (CR) with vetch, that are conducted through two different levels of crop intensification (in terms of tillage and fertilization strategies): Conventional (Conv) and Conservative (Cons). The resulting four scenarios were examined using LCA methodology to assess the environmental impacts, and the Production Cost (PC) analysis to estimate the economic results. Overall, the findings of this research provide an opportunity to identify sustainable crops management strategies

A perioperative uncontrollable bleeding in an elderly patient with acquired hemophilia A: a case report

Acquired hemophilia A should be taken into account in the differential diagnosis of perioperative bleeding in patients without any apparent reason for activated partial thromboplastin time prolongation

The Hippo Kinase Pathway: a master regulator of proliferation, development and differentiation

Hippo signaling transduction pathway is widely conserved through evolution and controls cell growth, homeostasis, apoptosis, commitment, differentiation and senescence. It consists of a conserved kinase cascade whose final targets are the transcriptional coactivator Yorkie (Yki) in Drosophila and the homologues YAP and TAZ in mammals. These transcriptional coactivators are unable to bind DNA per se, and can regulate the activity of their target genes only in association with transcription factors. In Drosophila, Yki associates with the transcription factors Sd and Hth regulating pro-proliferative and anti-apoptotic genes. In mammals instead, YAP/TAZ can associate with several distinct transcription factors. This depends from the type of signals to which cells are subjected, the cell type and the developmental stage. The transcriptional outcome resulting from this association can be either pro-apoptotic or pro-proliferative. Hippo pathway dysregulation has been associated with several pathologic conditions (tissue overgrowth, developmental defects and cancer). In particular, solid tumors show an upregulation or hyperactivation of YAP/TAZ, while several hematologic tumors are associated with YAP downregulation. This might suggest that the Hippo pathway holds the potential to be an attractive target for novel therapeutic approaches for cancer

Experimental Tools to Study Molecular Recognition within the Nanoparticle Corona

Advancements in optical nanosensor development have enabled the design of sensors using synthetic molecular recognition elements through a recently developed method called Corona Phase Molecular Recognition (CoPhMoRe). The synthetic sensors resulting from these design principles are highly selective for specific analytes, and demonstrate remarkable stability for use under a variety of conditions. An essential element of nanosensor development hinges on the ability to understand the interface between nanoparticles and the associated corona phase surrounding the nanosensor, an environment outside of the range of traditional characterization tools, such as NMR. This review discusses the need for new strategies and instrumentation to study the nanoparticle corona, operating in both in vitro and in vivo environments. Approaches to instrumentation must have the capacity to concurrently monitor nanosensor operation and the molecular changes in the corona phase. A detailed overview of new tools for the understanding of CoPhMoRe mechanisms is provided for future applications