Concanavalin A-induced hepatitis in mice is prevented by interleukin (IL)-10 and exacerbated by endogenous IL-10 deficiency

One single intra-venous (i.v.) injection of Concanavalin A (Con A) into mice provokes a cell-mediated immunoinflammatory hepatitis. We have presently evaluated the immunopharmacological effects of exogenous interleukin (IL)-10 and the role of endogenous IL-10 in this model by using exogenous IL-10, anti-IL-10 monoclonal antibody (mAb) and mice with disrupted IL-10 gene (IL-10 KO mice). Whilst exogenous IL-10 administered in a prophylactic (1 h prior to Con A) and even "early" therapeutic fashion (30 min after Con A) reduced the elevation of transaminase activities in plasma in a dose-dependent manner, observed in control mice, these biochemical markers of liver injury were significantly increased both in IL-10 KO mice as well as in those receiving anti-IL-10 mAb. Interestingly, doses of Con A lower than 20 mg/kg that were only capable of inducing slight serological signs of hepatitis in mice, exerted marked hepatitic effects when administered to either anti-IL-10 mAb-treated mice or to IL-10 KO mice. The disease modulating effects of exogenous IL-10 and either genetical or pharmacologically-induced IL-10 deficiency were associated with profound and opposite modifications of the Con A-induced increase in the circulating levels of IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha. Relative to control animals, the blood levels of these cytokines were diminished in IL-10-treated mice and augmented in both IL-10 KO mice and anti-IL-10 mAb-treated mice. These results prove the physiological antiinflammatory role of endogenous IL-10 in Con A induced hepatitis and the beneficial effects of IL-10 treatment to prevent this condition

An Adaptive Prosthetic Hand with Compliant Joints and EMG-based Control

In this paper some recent results about the experimental trials we are performing on a functional prosthetic hand characterized by an EMG-control and by a simple and low cost fabrication technology are shown. A compliant under-actuated prosthetic hand has been designed and fabricated. The five-fingered hand (both palm and fingers) is moulded as a soft polymeric single part with compliant joints and embedded tendon driven under-actuated mechanism for providing adaptive grasp. The maximum measured cylindrical grasping force is 30 N. The one DoF prosthetic hand is controlled using two pre-amplified EMG electrodes. The proposed EMG-based control is a Finite State Machine (FSM). A particular attention has been given to the calibration phase. In order to identify the end of the grasp, the intensity of the current is monitored. Moreover, the microcontroller stops the motor when the average current overcomes the value imposed. Compared to other EMG based controllers, the approach proposed is very simple but it presents a good robustness and needs a minimum computational cost

Functional assessment of hand orthopedic disorders using a sensorised glove: Preliminary results

The aim of this paper was to analyse the feasibility of using a sensorised glove as a tool for the assessment of hand function in persons with orthopedic disorders such as rhizoarthrosis. A glove embedding 20 Hall-effect sensors was used for this purpose. Its performance in terms of repeatability were preliminary investigated in order to define an effective strategy for the use of the glove in these applications. After this preliminary phase, focused clinical experiments were carried out in order to verify the existence of differences usable for performance assessment in the postures of the hand of able-bodied and subjects affected by rhizoarthrosis during grasping. The data were processed by using the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) technique. The preliminary results of these experiments showed that the use of the first and second Principal Components can allow to discriminate between able-bodied and disabled persons and also between disabled persons before and after the surgical intervention. For this reason, this approach could represent an effective tool for the surgeon during the rehabilitation process in this particular situation. Further experiments will be carried out in the future in order to confirm these preliminary results. Moreover, a new calibration, procedure of the sensorised glove will be developed in order to improve the performance of the glove.Peer reviewe

Microbial assemblages for environmental quality assessment: Knowledge, gaps and usefulness in the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive

The EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive 2008/56/EC (MSFD) defines a framework for Community actions in the field of marine environmental policy in order to achieve and/or maintain the Good Environmental Status (GES) of the European seas by 2020. Microbial assemblages (from viruses to microbial-sized metazoa) provide a major contribution to global biodiversity and play a crucial role in the functioning of marine ecosystems, but are largely ignored by the MSFD. Prokaryotes are only seen as \u2018\u2018microbial pathogens,\u2019\u2019 without defining their role in GES indicators. However, structural or functional prokaryotic variables (abundance, biodiversity and metabolism) can be easily incorporated into several MSFD descriptors (i.e. D1. biodiversity, D4. food webs, D5. eutrophication, D8. contaminants and D9. contaminants in seafood) with beneficial effects. This review provides a critical analysis of the current MSFD descriptors and illustrates the reliability and advantages of the potential incorporation of some prokaryotic variables within the set of indicators of marine environmental quality. Following a cost/benefit analysis against scientific and economic criteria, we conclude that marine microbial components, and particularly prokaryotes, are highly effective for detecting the effects of anthropogenic pressures on marine environments and for assessing changes in the environmental health status. Thus, we recommend the inclusion of these components in future implementations of the MSFD