Blue-green roofs as nature-based solutions for urban areas: hydrological performance and climatic index analyses

The water-regulating capacity of nature-based solutions (NBSs) plays a crucial role in providing a full range of ecosystem services and enhancing the resilience of urban systems. This work focuses on the hydrological performance of a particular NBS, the so-called blue-green roof (BGR). The BGR is designed to collect infiltrated rainfall in a water storage layer beneath the soil to support vegetation maintenance, enhance evapotranspiration and cooling, and minimize runoff and drainage system load. The study aims to evaluate the hydrological performance of the BGR at global and event scale and, for the first time, to model climatic factors (easy to measure using common sensors) that affect its stormwater retention capacity. The data collected over 2 years and 2 months at a 5-min resolution from a pilot study in Central Italy were analysed. Additionally, a new climatic index called AWWP-x (Antecedent Wet Weather Period index) was introduced and calculated. Results show that the BGR has an overall relevant retention rate (67.1%), although the value depends on the rainfall of the observed period. Approximately 50% of the rainfall events did not produce any runoff, and during the dry season, all events were totally absorbed by the BGR. Four climatic variables were identified as significant factors for predicting BGR retention performance (R2 = 0.50). The results suggest that AWWP-130 (number of days to reach 130 mm cumulative precipitation) could be a possible proxy for the BGR stormwater retention rate. In general, this study demonstrates the potential for evaluating, planning, and designing NBSs by considering the annual and interannual climatic variability of the investigated specific location.

Brain FDG-PET correlates of saccadic disorders in early PSP

BACKGROUND

New diagnostic criteria of Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) have highlighted the interest of Eye Movement Records (EMR) at the early stage of the disease.

OBJECTIVES

To investigate the metabolic brain correlates of ocular motor dysfunction using [18F] Fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography (FDG-PET) in early PSP.

METHODS

Retrospective observational descriptive study on longitudinal data with patients who underwent EMR and FDG-PET at the stage of suggestive and possible PSP according to Movement Disorders Society criteria. Longitudinal follow-up enables to confirm diagnosis of probable PSP. Using the Statistical Parametric Mapping software, we performed whole-brain voxel-based correlations between oculomotor variables and FDG-PET metabolism.

RESULTS

Thirty-seven patients with early PSP who fulfilled criteria of probable PSP during the follow-up were included. Decrease in the gain of vertical saccades correlated with reduced metabolism in Superior Colliculi (SC). We also found a positive correlation between mean velocity of horizontal saccades and SC metabolism as well as dorsal nuclei in the pons. Finally, increase in horizontal saccades latencies correlated with decrease of posterior parietal metabolism.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest the early involvement of SC in saccadic dysfunction in the course of PSP.

Integrating spatially-and temporally-heterogeneous data on river network dynamics using graph theory

The study of non-perennial streams requires extensive experimental data on the temporal evolution of surface flow presence across different nodes of channel networks. However, the consistency and homogeneity of available datasets is threatened by the empirical burden required to map stream network expansions and contractions. Here, we developed a data-driven, graph-theory framework aimed at representing the hierarchical structuring of channel network dynamics (i.e., the order of node activation/deactivation during network expansion/retraction) through a directed acyclic graph. The method enables the estimation of the configuration of the active portion of the network based on a limited number of observed nodes, and can be utilized to combine datasets with different temporal resolutions and spatial coverage. A proof-of-concept application to a seasonally-dry catchment in central Italy demonstrated the ability of the approach to reduce the empirical effort required for monitoring network dynamics and efficiently extrapolate experimental observations in space and time.

V-037 PARASTOMAL MESH INFECTIONS WITH INTESTINAL FISTULA: 2 RARE SURGICAL CASES AND HOW WE FIXED THEM

Parastomal hernias (PSH) occur in 50–80% after stoma formation and its treatment is considered a real challenge. According to the recent literature, the use of prophylactic mesh at the time of primary stoma should decrease the odds of hernia formation. The most common occurrences after PSH surgery are: recurrence, seroma and wound complications.

In this video, we report 2 cases of mesh infection with fistula necessitated removal after 10 and 4 years of mesh placement.

The first patient was a 66 years-old male.

In 2007 he underwent radical prostatectomy and pelvic lymphadenectomy following radiotherapy. He underwent a radical cystectomy and Bricker's cutaneous uretero-ileostomy for stenosis of the vesicourethral anastomosis. In 2012 for PSH he underwent laparo-alloplasty with a placement of an intraperitoneal mesh. In February 2022, with fever and dyspnoea, at the CT-scan of the abdomen we found air bubbles near the mesh and a suspected sigmoid-to-mesh fistula.

The second patient was a 66 years old male.

In 2018 the patient underwent neoadjuvant radiotherapy, then Miles’ procedure and prophylactic 3D intraperitoneal mesh, subsequent adjuvant therapy. During the oncological follow-up an abdominal CT-scan showed air bubbles around the stoma and suspicion of fistula on the adjacent intestinal loops.

In both cases there was an infection of the area around the stoma due to a fistula between the mesh and the intestine. We proceeded, in laparoscopy, to remove the infected mesh. We converted in open surgery with the resection of the fistulized intestine tract and we did a new ostomy.

Global-scale massive feature extraction from monthly hydroclimatic time series: Statistical characterizations, spatial patterns and hydrological similarity

Hydroclimatic time series analysis focuses on a few feature types (e.g., autocorrelations, trends, extremes), which describe a small portion of the entire information content of the observations. Aiming to exploit a larger part of the available information and, thus, to deliver more reliable results (e.g., in hydroclimatic time series clustering contexts), here we approach hydroclimatic time series analysis differently, i.e., by performing massive feature extraction. In this respect, we develop a big data framework for hydroclimatic variable behaviour characterization. This framework relies on approximately 60 diverse features and is completely automatic (in the sense that it does not depend on the hydroclimatic process at hand). We apply the new framework to characterize mean monthly temperature, total monthly precipitation and mean monthly river flow. The applications are conducted at the global scale by exploiting 40-year-long time series originating from over 13 000 stations. We extract interpretable knowledge on seasonality, trends, autocorrelation, long-range dependence and entropy, and on feature types that are met less frequently. We further compare the examined hydroclimatic variable types in terms of this knowledge and, identify patterns related to the spatial variability of the features. For this latter purpose, we also propose and exploit a hydroclimatic time series clustering methodology. This new methodology is based on Breiman's random forests. The descriptive and exploratory insights gained by the global-scale applications prove the usefulness of the adopted feature compilation in hydroclimatic contexts. Moreover, the spatially coherent patterns characterizing the clusters delivered by the new methodology build confidence in its future exploitation. Given this spatial coherence and the scale-independent nature of the delivered feature values (which makes them particularly useful in forecasting and simulation contexts), we believe that this methodology could also be beneficial within regionalization frameworks, in which knowledge on hydrological similarity is exploited in technical and operative terms.

Prevalence and characterisation of vocal fold motion impairment (VFMI) in patients with Multiple system atrophy compared with Parkinson's disease

INTRODUCTION

Multiple system atrophy (MSA) is a neurodegenerative disorder in which vocal fold mobility can be affected, sometimes leading to life-threatening situations. Our aim was to know if laryngeal examination could help differentiate MSA from Parkinson's disease (PD).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Between 2004 to 2014, all consecutive patients diagnosed with probable MSA were included in this retrospective, monocentric study. Flexible laryngoscopy was obtained in 51 MSA patients and compared with 27 patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Laryngeal muscles EMG was available in 6 MSA patients.

RESULTS

Vocal fold motion impairments (VFMI) was found in 35 (68.6%) MSA patients: 15 (29.4%) had uni- or bilateral vocal fold abnormal movement (VFAM), 13 (25.5%) had uni- or bilateral vocal fold abductor paresis (VFABP), 4 (7.8%) had uni- or bilateral vocal fold adductor paresis (VFADP), 10 (19.6%) had bilateral vocal fold paralysis (BVFP). VFMI was found in 13 PD patients (48.1%) all of whom had VFADP. Presence of BVFP was found associated with stridor (P<0.001) and dysphagia (P=0.002). In all muscles examined in 6 MSA patients, the EMG showed neuropathic patterns.

CONCLUSIONS

Our data support that VFMI may be encountered in two-thirds of MSA with a variable degree of gravity. Laryngological examination should be considered as a supplementary tool for the diagnosis and prognosis of MSA. VFMI in particular VFAM, VFABD and BVFP should be discussed as an additional possible red flag even at an early stage of MSA and could help discriminate MSA from PD.

Investigating runoff formation dynamics: field observations at Cape Fear experimental plot

In this paper, we explore the dynamics of surface runoff formation in an outdoor experimental plot, Cape Fear, by reporting the relationships among rainfall, runoff, and soil moisture for 101 rainfall-runoff events observed in the time span of more than five years (January 2014-March 2019). Cape Fear is a recently developed 7 × 7 m² experimental plot that combines features from both small scale facilities and catchment-scale experimental hillslopes, thus leveraging observation of major hydrological variables at high temporal and spatial resolution. Despite the small dimension and simplicity of the plot, the relations among hydrological variables are unexpectedly quite spread. Experimental results seem to suggest that Cape Fear runoff response presents an increasing and non-linear relationship with rainfall, with a surface runoff coefficient increasing for higher rainfall. Direct runoff apparently increases with soil moisture, while initial abstraction seems not to be influenced by rainfall and is found to decrease with increasing soil moisture. Observations suggest that complex interactions between soil moisture conditions and rainfall pattern properties modulate the plot response.

Flow monitoring with a camera: a case study on a flood event in the Tiber River

Monitoring surface water velocity during flood events is a challenging task. Techniques based on deploying instruments in the flow are often unfeasible due to high velocity and abundant sediment transport. A low-cost and versatile technology that provides continuous and automatic observations is still not available. Among remote methods, large-scale particle image velocimetry (LSPIV) is an optical method that computes surface water velocity maps from videos recorded with a camera. Here, we implement and critically analyze findings obtained from a recently introduced LSPIV experimental configuration during a flood event in the Tiber River at a cross section located in the center of Rome, Italy. We discuss the potential of LSPIV observations in challenging environmental conditions by presenting results from three tests performed during the hydrograph flood peak and recession limb of the event for different illumination and weather conditions. The obtained surface velocity maps are compared to the rating curve velocity and to benchmark velocity values. Experimental findings show that optical methods should be preferred in extreme conditions. However, their practical implementation may be associated with further hurdles and uncertainties.

Unraveling flow patterns through nonlinear manifold learning

From climatology to biofluidics, the characterization of complex flows relies on computationally expensive kinematic and kinetic measurements. In addition, such big data are difficult to handle in real time, thereby hampering advancements in the area of flow control and distributed sensing. Here, we propose a novel framework for unsupervised characterization of flow patterns through nonlinear manifold learning. Specifically, we apply the isometric feature mapping (Isomap) to experimental video data of the wake past a circular cylinder from steady to turbulent flows. Without direct velocity measurements, we show that manifold topology is intrinsically related to flow regime and that Isomap global coordinates can unravel salient flow features.

Assessment of fluorescent particles for surface flow analysis

In this paper, a systematic performance assessment of the measurement system for surface flow analysis developed by our group in (Tauro et al., Sensors, 2010) is presented. The system is based on the detection of buoyant fluorescent microspheres through a low-cost apparatus, which incorporates light sources to elicit fluorescence response and a digital camera to identify the particles' transit. Experiments are conducted using green fluorescent particles and further tests are executed to evaluate the system performance for red and orange particles varying in emission wavelength, degree of biocompatibility, and cost. The influence of the following parameters on surface flow sensing using fluorescent beads is investigated: (i) distance of the light sources from the water surface, (ii) presence of an ad-hoc filter tuned at the particle emission wavelength, (iii) camera resolution and frame rate, (iv) flow regime, and (v) ambient light. Experimental results are used to inform implementation guidelines for surface flow analysis in natural environments.

Immunosuppressive treatment in refractory chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy. A nationwide retrospective analysis

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

There are other options open to patients with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP) who are non-responders to conventional treatment, including immunosuppressive and immunomodulatory agents (IA). The aim of this study was to assess whether the use of IA is able to increase the number of responders.

METHODS

Clinical and electrophysiological data of patients with refractory CIDP, followed at 10 Italian centres, were collected, and the clinical outcome (Rankin Scale) and drug side effects (SE) for the different therapies were analysed.

RESULTS

A total of 110 patients were included. These patients underwent 158 different therapeutic procedures with IA. Seventy-seven patients were treated with azathioprine, 18 rituximab, 13 cyclophosphamide, 12 mycophenolate mofetil, 12 cyclosporine, 12 methotrexate, 11 interferon-alpha and three interferon beta-1a. The percentage of patients who responded to azathioprine (27%) was comparable to the percentage of responders to other therapies, after the exclusion of interferon beta-1a that was not effective in any of the three patients treated. The percentage of SE ranges from 8% (methotrexate) to 50% (cyclosporine).

CONCLUSIONS

One-fourth of patients, refractory to conventional treatment, showed an improvement in their disability with IA. Methotrexate had the lowest SE; cyclosporine was associated with severe SE and often led to drug discontinuation.

Human muscle-derived stem cells. Effectiveness in animal models of faecal incontinence. Research scheduling

Researchers believe that human muscle-derived cells are able to restore leak-point pressure to normal levels by differentiating into new muscle fibres that prevent anal sphincter muscle atrophy. Laboratory data are needed to identify exactly how these cells work to regenerate muscle. The objective of this study is to test whether stem cells can be employed to treat internal anal sphincter (IAS) injuries in humans; to this end, this work will use a two-step process to study: first, the effectiveness of the treatment in a sample of animals with artificial injuries to the IAS and then to verify the results in a population of selected humans affected by pathology.

The role of extracellular conditions during CaCo-2 cells growth: a preliminary study for numerical model validation

OBJECTIVES

One important limitation in cell therapy protocols, and regenerative medicine (an innovative and promising strategy for different pathologies treatment), is the lack of knowledge about cells engraftment, proliferation and differentiation. In order to allow an efficient and successful cell transplant, it is necessary to predict the logistics, economic and timing issues during cellular injection. It has been reported that several parameters, such as cells number, temperature and extracellular pH (pH0) value can influence metabolic pathways and cellular growth. Numerical analysis and model can help to reduce and understand the effects of the above environmental conditions on cell survival. The aim of this paper is to develop the first step of cells transplantation in order to identify "in vitro", which parameters can be useful to develop and validate a numerical model, able to evaluate "in vivo" cells engraftment and proliferation.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

We studied the variation of extracellular parameters--such as medium volume, buffer system, nutrient concentrations and temperature on human colon carcinoma cells (CaCo-2) "in vitro culture"--pursuing the goal of understanding in deeper details cellular processes such as growth, metabolic activity, survival and pH0.

RESULTS

Results showed that CaCo-2 cells growth and mortality increase after two days in culture when cells were suspended in 3.5 ml volume to respect of 10 ml volume. Different temperature values influenced CaCo-2 cells growth and metabolic activity showing a direct relationship with the volume of the medium.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results describe as CaCo-2 cell growth, metabolic activity, mortality and extracellular pH were influenced by extracellular parameters, enabling us to develop and validate a numerical model to be use to predict cells engraftment and proliferation.

[The mental health service at the pediatric clinic of the University "La Sapienza" in Rome: 1948-2009]

The article outlines the history of the Mental Health Center operating within the Pediatric Clinic and School of Pediatrics of the University "La Sapienza" in Rome, Italy from 1948 to 2009. The main aim of the Center was to contribute to the understanding of the developmental process in children, to study its promoting factors and, at the same time, to consider the psychological and human implications of health issues. The original idea of the Center was the need to integrate psychological implication in pediatric care. In times of increasing negative technical interferences in the doctor-patient relationship, the Center acted as an open cultural space proposing a medical model concerned with the wholeness of the patient and his psychophysical wellbeing.

High prevalence of neuropathies in patients with end-stage liver disease

OBJECTIVES

Peripheral neuropathy has been reported in association with end-stage liver disease, but there is only a limited number of reports on the incidence and features of these neuropathies.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In this study, 83 patients awaiting liver transplantation were evaluated for the presence of peripheral and autonomic neuropathy.

RESULTS

Sixty-five percent of the patients had evidence of neuropathy, in agreement with peripheral NCS or cardiovascular autonomic function test. The neuropathy was more frequent in patients with advanced hepatic failure, evaluated with the MELD score. The most frequent abnormalities in nerve conduction studies were sensory-motor neuropathies and sensory neuropathies, with a length-dependent pattern.

CONCLUSION

Peripheral neuropathy and autonomic neuropathy are common in patients with end-stage liver disease with different etiology and correlate with the severity of the liver disease.

A new anatomic approach for robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy: a feasibility study for completely intrafascial surgery

Robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy (RALP) has been disseminated widely, changing the knowledge of surgical anatomy of the prostate. The aim of our study is to demonstrate the feasibility of a new, purely intrafascial approach. The Bocciardi approach for RALP passes through the Douglas space, following a completely intrafascial plane without any dissection of the anterior compartment, which contains neurovascular bundles, Aphrodite's veil, endopelvic fascia, the Santorini plexus, pubourethral ligaments, and all of the structures thought to play a role in maintenance of continence and potency. In this case series, we present our first five patients undergoing the Bocciardi approach for RALP. We report the results of our technique in three patients following two unsuccessful attempts. No perioperative major complication was recorded. Pathologic stage was pT2c in two patients and pT2a in one patient, with no positive surgical margin. The day after removing the catheter, two of the three patients reported use of a single, small safety pad, and one patient was discharged without any pad. One patient reported an erection the day after removing the catheter. The anatomic rationale for better results compared with traditional RALP is strong, but well-designed studies are needed to evaluate the advantages of our technique.

Characterization of buoyant fluorescent particles for field observations of water flows

In this paper, the feasibility of off-the-shelf buoyant fluorescent microspheres as particle tracers in turbid water flows is investigated. Microspheres’ fluorescence intensity is experimentally measured and detected in placid aqueous suspensions of increasing concentrations of clay to simulate typical conditions occurring in natural drainage networks. Experiments are conducted in a broad range of clay concentrations and particle immersion depths by using photoconductive cells and image-based sensing technologies. Results obtained with both methodologies exhibit comparable trends and show that the considered particles are fairly detectable in critically turbid water flows. Further information on performance and integration of the studied microspheres in low-cost measurement instrumentation for field observations is obtained through experiments conducted in a custom built miniature water channel. This experimental characterization provides a first assessment of the feasibility of commercially available buoyant fluorescent beads in the analysis of high turbidity surface water flows. The proposed technology may serve as a minimally invasive sensing system for hazardous events, such as pollutant diffusion in natural streams and flash flooding due to extreme rainfall.

Investigating the Icr Effect in a Zhadin's Cell

Investigations into the ion cyclotronic resonance (ICR) in living matter confront the so called Zhadin effect (12), whose explanation is not fully achieved. Several attempts have been done to explain this phenomenon, the most interesting of which is based on Quantum Electrodynamics (18): the molecules of water, the ions and the biomolecules form extended mesoscopic regions, called Coherence Domains (CD), where they oscillate in unison between two selected levels of their spectra in tune with a self-produced coherent E.M. field having a well defined frequency, dynamically trapped within the CD. Moreover, it is possible, to induce, by an external applied field (either hydrodynamical or EM) or also by a chemical stimulation, coherent excitations of CD's that give rise to electric currents circulating without friction within the CD's: as a consequence magnetic fields are produced. A resonating magnetic field thus is able to extract the ions from the orbit and push them in the flowing current. Electrochemical investigation of the system suggested that the observed phenomenon involves the transitory activation of the anode due to ICR, followed by anode passivation due to the adsorption of amino acid and its oxidation products (18). This hypothesis induced us to investigate an alternate configuration of the experiment, removing the electrolytic cell and submitting a flask containing the solution into a condenser to be exposed to the proper ICR. Temperature and variable parameters involved in the effect have been investigated in order to overcome the randomness of the effect.

A lentiviral vector with a short troponin-I promoter for tracking cardiomyocyte differentiation of human embryonic stem cells

Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) may become important for cardiac repair due to their potentially unlimited ability to generate cardiomyocytes (CMCs). Moreover, genetic manipulation of hESC-derived CMCs would be a very promising technique for curing myocardial disorders. At the present time, however, inducing the differentiation of hESCs into CMCs is extremely difficult and, therefore, an easy and standardizable technique is needed to evaluate differentiation strategies. Vectors driving cardiac-specific expression may represent an important tool not only for monitoring new cardiac-differentiation strategies, but also for the manipulation of cardiac differentiation of ESCs. To this aim, we generated cardiac-specific lentiviral vectors (LVVs) in which expression is driven by a short fragment of the cardiac troponin-I proximal promoter (TNNI3) with a human cardiac alpha-actin enhancer, and tested its suitability in inducing tissue-specific gene expression and ability to track the CMC lineage during differentiation of ESCs. We determined that (1) TNNI3-LVVs efficiently drive cardiac-specific gene expression and mark the cardiomyogenic lineage in human and mouse ESC differentiation systems (2) the cardiac alpha-actin enhancer confers a further increase in gene-expression specificity of TNNI3-LVVs in hESCs. Although this technique may not be useful in tracking small numbers of cells, data suggested that TNNI3-based LVVs are a powerful tool for manipulating human ESCs and modifying hESC-derived CMCs.

Immunohistochemical Evaluation of VEGF Inflamed Cystic Radicular Lesions and in Keratocysts

Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor, also known as Vascular Permeability Factor, is a multifunctional cytokine hyperexpressed during angiogenesis and in numerous physiological and pathological processes characterised by an increase of vascular permeability. The aim of this study was to evaluate the angiogenetic processes which are accompanied by an expansion of cystic radicular lesions and of keratocysts of the jaw bone. 12 subjects were chosen with an average age of 43 years, of whom 8 were males and 4 females. After an accurate history and physical examination, the patients underwent surgery for removal of the cysts. The samples taken were histologically and immunohistochemical examined. The histological exam confirmed the diagnosis of radicular cysts and keratocysts. The immunohistochemical examinations were positive for VEGF in all the lesions analysed, even though they had different immunostaining. Using a semi-quantitative method, in the radicular cyst samples it was possible to highlight a wider expression of the vascular component, both in the inflamed area and the adjacent stroma. The lesions with keratin content showed newly formed and modest vascularisation both in the area showing slight inflammation, where the cellular component was prevalent, and in the adjacent areas showing no inflammation. Therefore, angiogenesis could take on a primary role in the development of cystic lesions of the jaw. However, the differences of expression of the VEGF protein suggest the need for wider monitoring to better evaluate a possible use of such a protein as a diagnostic marker.

Immunohistochemical evaluation of CD31 in human cystic radicular lesions and in keratocysts

Platelet-endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1 protein (PECAM-1/CD31) is expressed in numerous physiological and pathological processes characterized by an increase of vascular permeability, and in normal and tumour tissues. CD31, member of the immunoglobulin super-family that mediates cell-to-cell adhesion, is a transmembrane glycoprotein, 130-140 kDa, also know as platelet-endothelium cell adhesion molecule (PECAM-1). CD31 is a ligand for CD38 and plays a role in thrombosis and angiogenesis. CD31 is strongly expressed in endothelial cells and weakly expressed in megakaryocytes, platelets, occasional plasma cells, lymphocytes (marginal zone B-cells, peripheral T-cells) and neutrophils. The present study evaluates the angiogenetic processes which are accompanied by an expansion of cystic radicular and keratocystic lesions of the jaw bone. Twelve subjects with maxillary cysts (8 males and 4 females) with an average age of 43 years were selected by the Chieti University Oral Surgery Department. The surgical samples taken were subjected to histological and immunohistochemical analysis. The histological evaluation confirmed the diagnosis of radicular cystisis and keratocystisis. The immunohistochemical analyses were positive for CD31 protein in all the lesions analysed, even though they had different intensities. Using a semiquantive analysis it was possible to highlight, in the radicular cyst samples, an intense expression of the vascular component both in the inflamed area and the adjacent stroma. The lesions with cheratin content showed newly-formed, rather modest, vascularity both in the area showing slight inflammation, where the cellular component is prevalent, and in the adjacent areas showing no sign of inflammation. Therefore, in our observations, angiogenesis could take on a primary role in the development of cystic lesions of the jaw bones. The differences of CD31 expression, in all samples, would advise for a wider monitoring able to evaluate the possible use of such a protein as a diagnostic marker.

Growth delay in Down syndrome and zinc sulphate supplementation

Children affected with Down syndrome (DS) show deficient growth, immunodeficiency--especially concerning the T-cell population--and low plasma zinc levels. New growth charts have been recently proposed, and zinc supplementation to the diet has been reported to improve transiently the efficiency of the immune system. The aim of this study was to evaluate if in DS children zinc sulphate therapy could improve the growth rate and affect some endocrine parameters. We studied 22 patients (16 males and 6 females) who received zinc sulphate for 6 to 9 months. Fifteen of 22 patients studied reached a higher centile in their growth rate, whereas the remaining seven showed no change, at least to date. The average height velocity changed from 23.84 +/- 7.98 mm/6 months to 40.80 +/- 7.68 mm/6 months. Growth hormone serum level was 5.94 +/- 4.89 ng/ml compared with 7.49 +/- 6.75 ng/ml before and after therapy, respectively. Somatomedin serum level was 160.27 +/- 68.88 mU/ml and 205 +/- 124.07 mU/ml before and after therapy, respectively. In conclusion, zinc sulphate therapy of patients with DS affects not only the immune system, as previously reported, but can also accelerate growth.

Effects of levodopa oral bolus on the kinematics of the pointing movements in Parkinson's disease patients

We studied the time-course of a levodopa oral bolus effects on the kinematics of patients affected by a mild akinetic-rigid form of idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD). Eleven PD patients were evaluated: a) in OFF-state, that is before their first medication or after its withdrawal, b) in ON-state, that is at 1/2, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 24, 30 and 48 hours after the administration of 250 mg of levodopa plus 25mg of carbidopa. The main kinematics (i. e.movement time, peak of velocity, peak of acceleration and peak of deceleration) of pointing movements to six target-stimuli placed on the horizontal plane of a table were recorded. Clinical conditions were assessed according to the Motor Examination section of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale. The levopoda bolus had stable clinical effects only within the first six hours from its administration. The decline of the clinical response was marked by the changes of peak acceleration whereas other kinematics (i. e. movement time and the peak of velocity) changed also in the late observations (24, 30 and 48 hours after drug intake). The dissociation between the persistent improvement on movement time on peak velocity and the rapid deterioration of levodopa effects on early kinematics (i. e. peak acceleration) could be accounted for by a progressive decline in movement programming.

Exposure to 50 Hz electromagnetic radiation promote early maturation and differentiation in newborn rat cerebellar granule neurons

The wish of this work is the study of the effect of electromagnetic (EMF) radiations at a frequency of 50 Hz on the development of cerebellar granule neurons (CGN). Granule neurons, prepared from newborn rat cerebellum (8 days after birth), were cultured after plate-seeding in the presence of EMF radiations, with the plan of characterizing their cellular and molecular biochemistry, after exposure to the electromagnetic stimulus. Five days challenge to EMF radiations showed, by the cytotoxic glutamate (Glu) pulse test, a 30% decrease of cells survival, while only 5% of mortality was reported for unexposed sample. Moreover, blocking the glutamate receptor (GluR) with the Glu competitor MK-801, no toxicity effect after CGN challenge to EMF radiations and Glu was detected. By patch-clamp recording technique, the Kainate-induced currents from 6 days old exposed CGN exhibited a significant increase with respect to control cells. Western blot and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analyses show that EMF exposure of rats CGN, induces a change in both GluRs proteins and mRNAs expression with respect to control. In addition, the use of monoclonal antibody raised against neurofilament protein (NF-200) reveals an increase in NF-200 synthesis in the exposed CGN. All these results indicate that exposure to non-ionizing radiations contribute to a premature expression of GluRs reducing the life span of CGN, leading to a more rapid cell maturation.

Influence of 50-Hz electromagnetic field on anurian (Xenopus laevis) metamorphosis

In this study, we show the effect of a 1-mT magnetic field AC at 50 Hz on Xenopus laevis tadpole populations. In the course of a 65-day exposure to the field, tadpole survival showed a small, but significant, decrease (p < 0.0004), together with a striking parallel 6-day shift in tadpole maturation frequency and a significant impairment of their metamorphosis. Particularly, metamorphosis was successful for 85% of individuals in the unirradiated tadpole population and for 45% of individuals in the irradiated tadpole population, respectively.

Interaction Between Natural Killer and Dendritic Cells: the Role of CD40, CD80 and Major Histocompatibility Complex Class I Molecules in Cytotoxicity Induction and Interferon-gamma Production

This study focuses on the differential role of CD40 and CD80 costimulatory molecules and major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC-I) antigens in the regulation of the interplay between dendritic cells (DCs) and interleukin (IL)-2-activated human natural killer (NK) lymphocytes. Our data indicate that CD40 and CD80 molecules might play a preferential role in the induction of cytotoxic function but not in the interferon-gamma(IFN-gamma) production by human IL-2-activated NK effectors in the presence of autologous and allogeneic DCs. In addition, a critical role of CD94-dependent MHC-I recognition in the regulation of both IFN-gamma production and target cell lysis was shown in the functional interaction between NK and DCs.

SNOM and AFM microscopy techniques to study the effect of non-ionizing radiation on the morphological and biochemical properties of human keratinocytes cell line (HaCaT)

In this study we have employed atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM) techniques to study the effect of the interaction between human keratinocytes (HaCaT) and electromagnetic fields at low frequency. HaCaT cells were exposed to a sinusoidal magnetic field at a density of 50 Hz, 1 mT. AFM analysis revealed modification in shape and morphology in exposed cells with an increase in the areas of adhesion between cells. This latter finding was confirmed by SNOM indirect immunofluorescence analysis performed with a fluorescent antibody against the adhesion marker beta4 integrin, which revealed an increase of beta4 integrin segregation in the cell membrane of 50-Hz exposed cells, suggesting that a higher percentage of these cells shows a modified pattern of this adhesion marker.

Asymmetric binding of the high-affinity Q(H)(*)(-) ubisemiquinone in quinol oxidase (bo3) from Escherichia coli studied by multifrequency electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy

Ubiquinone-2 (UQ-2) selectively labeled with (13)C (I =(1)/(2)) at either the position 1- or the 4-carbonyl carbon is incorporated into the ubiquinol oxidase bo(3) from Escherichia coli in which the native quinone (UQ-8) has been previously removed. The resulting stabilized anion radical in the high-affinity quinone-binding site (Q(H)(*)(-)) is investigated using multifrequency (9, 34, and 94 GHz) electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. The corresponding spectra reveal dramatic differences in (13)C hyperfine couplings indicating a strongly asymmetric spin density distribution over the quinone headgroup. By comparison with previous results on labeled ubisemiquinones in proteins as well as in organic solvents, it is concluded that Q(H)(*)(-) is most probably bound to the protein via a one-sided hydrogen bond or a strongly asymmetric hydrogen-bonding network. This observation is discussed with regard to the function of Q(H) in the enzyme and contrasted with the information available on other protein-bound semiquinone radicals.

Mutations in both sides of the photosystem I reaction center identify the phylloquinone observed by electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy

The core of photosystem I (PS1) is composed of the two related integral membrane polypeptides, PsaA and PsaB, which bind two symmetrical branches of cofactors, each consisting of two chlorophylls and a phylloquinone, that potentially link the primary electron donor and the tertiary acceptor. In an effort to identify amino acid residues near the phylloquinone binding sites, all tryptophans and histidines that are conserved between PsaA and PsaB in the region of the 10th and 11th transmembrane alpha-helices were mutated in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. The mutant PS1 reaction centers appear to assemble normally and possess photochemical activity. An electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) signal attributed to the phylloquinone anion radical (A(1)(-)) can be observed either transiently or after illumination of reaction centers with pre-reduced iron-sulfur clusters. Mutation of PsaA-Trp(693) to Phe resulted in an inability to photo-accumulate A(1)(-), whereas mutation of the analogous tryptophan in PsaB (PsaB-Trp(673)) did not produce this effect. The PsaA-W693F mutation also produced spectral changes in the time-resolved EPR spectrum of the P(700)(+) A(1)(-) radical pair, whereas the analogous mutation in PsaB had no observable effect. These observations indicate that the A(1)(-) phylloquinone radical observed by EPR occupies the phylloquinone-binding site containing PsaA-Trp(693). However, mutation of either tryptophan accelerated charge recombination from the terminal Fe-S clusters.

Grasp with hand and mouth: a kinematic study on healthy subjects

Neurons involved in grasp preparation with hand and mouth were previously recorded in the premotor cortex of monkey. The aim of the present kinematic study was to determine whether a unique planning underlies the act of grasping with hand and mouth in humans as well. In a set of four experiments, healthy subjects reached and grasped with the hand an object of different size while opening the mouth (experiments 1 and 3), or extending the other forearm (experiment 4), or the fingers of the other hand (experiment 5). In a subsequent set of three experiments, subjects grasped an object of different size with the mouth, while opening the fingers of the right hand (experiments 6-8). The initial kinematics of mouth and finger opening, but not of forearm extension, was affected by the size of the grasped object congruently with the size effect on initial grasp kinematics. This effect was due neither to visual presentation of the object, without the successive grasp motor act (experiment 2) nor to synchronism between finger and mouth opening (experiments 3, 7, and 8). In experiment 9 subjects grasped with the right hand an object of different size while pronouncing a syllable printed on the target. Mouth opening and sound production were affected by the grasped object size. The results of the present study are discussed according to the notion that in an action each motor act is prepared before the beginning of the motor sequence. Double grasp preparation can be used for successive motor acts on the same object as, for example, grasping food with the hand and ingesting it after bringing it to the mouth. We speculate that the circuits involved in double grasp preparation might have been the neural substrate where hand motor patterns used as primitive communication signs were transferred to mouth articulation system. This is in accordance with the hypothesis that Broca's area derives phylogenetically from the monkey premotor area where hand movements are controlled.

QH*- ubisemiquinone radical in the bo3-type ubiquinol oxidase studied by pulsed electron paramagnetic resonance and hyperfine sublevel correlation spectroscopy

The high-affinity QH ubiquinone-binding site in the bo(3) ubiquinol oxidase from Escherichia coli has been characterized by an investigation of the native ubiquinone radical anion QH(*-) by pulsed electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. One- and two-dimensional electron spin-echo envelope modulation (ESEEM) spectra reveal strong interactions of the unpaired electron of QH(*-) with a nitrogen nucleus from the surrounding protein matrix. From analysis of the experimental data, the (14)N nuclear quadrupolar parameters have been determined: kappa = e(2)qQ/4h = 0.93 MHz and eta = 0.50. This assignment is confirmed by hyperfine sublevel correlation (HYSCORE) spectroscopy. On the basis of a comparison of these data with those obtained previously for other membrane-protein bound semiquinone radicals and model systems, this nucleus is assigned to a protein backbone nitrogen. This result is discussed with regard to the location and potential function of QH in the enzyme.

Three dimensional (3D) analysis of the morphological changes induced by 50 Hz magnetic field exposure on human lymphoblastoid cells (Raji)

Human Raji B lymphoid cells after exposure for 64 h to a 1 mT (rms) 50 Hz sinusoidal magnetic field showed a reorganization of membrane and cytoskeletal components. Atomic force microscopy in air revealed several modifications in 80% of the exposed cells, such as loss of microvilli-like structures followed by progressive appearance of membrane introflections. This change in plasma membrane morphology was also accompanied by a different actin distribution, as detected by phalloidin fluorescence. These observations support our previous hypothesis that electric and magnetic fields may modify the plasma membrane structure.

Cocaine potentiates the switch between latency and replication of Epstein-Barr virus in Raji cells

This paper shows that cocaine amplifies Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) reactivation in Raji cells. Its effect on early viral protein synthesis was maximal when it was added with 12-O-tetradecanoyl phorbol-13-acetate (TPA) plus n-butyrate, but nil when added alone. The enhancing effect of cocaine on early replicative stages of latent EBV was associated with an increase of Ca(2+) mobilization induced by the drug and with an induction of cellular protein phosphorylation in chemicals and cocaine-treated Raji cells. Cocaine also acted synergistically with TPA and n-butyrate to induce Z Epstein-Barr replication activator (ZEBRA), a nuclear phosphoprotein responsible for the activation of early viral gene expression. These findings provide the first evidence that cocaine may represent an important co-factor in the reactivation of early stages of latent EBV infection.

Tacrolimus suppresses tumour necrosis factor-alpha and protects against splanchnic artery occlusion shock

1. Tumour necrosis factor (TNF-alpha) is a pleiotropic cytokine which is deeply involved in the pathogenesis of splanchnic artery occlusion (SAO) shock. Tacrolimus, formerly known as FK506, is a macrolide antibiotic, that blocks the transcription of several proinflammatory cytokines including TNF-alpha. 2. Male anaesthetized rats were subjected to clamping of the splanchnic arteries for 45 min. This surgical procedure resulted in an irreversible state of shock (SAO shock). Sham operated animals were used as controls. SAO shocked rats had a decreased survival rate (0% at 4 h of reperfusion, while sham shocked rats survived more than 4 h), enhanced serum TNF-alpha concentrations (415+/-12 U ml(-1)), decreased mean arterial blood pressure (MAP), leukopenia and increased ileal leukocyte accumulation studied by means of myeloperoxidase activity (MPO=7.5+/-0.3 U g(-1) tissue). Moreover aortic rings from shocked rats showed a marked hyporeactivity to phenylephrine (PE, 1 nM - 10 microM), reduced responsiveness to acetylcholine (ACh, 10 nM - 10 microM) and increased staining for intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1). Furthermore increased mRNA for TNF-alpha was observed in peritoneal macrophages of SAO shocked rats. 3. Tacrolimus (100 microg kg(-1), 5 min after splanchnic arteries occlusion) increased survival rate (SAO + Tacrolimus = 100% at 4 h of reperfusion), reverted the marked hypotension, reduced serum TNF-alpha (15+/-3 U ml(-1)), ameliorated leukopenia, reduced ileal MPO (0.9+/-0.01 U g(-1) tissue), restored to control values the hyporeactivity to PE. improved the reduced responsiveness to ACh and blunted the enhanced immunostaining for ICAM-1 in the aorta. Finally tacrolimus suppressed cytokine mRNA levels in peritoneal macrophages. 4. The data suggest that tacrolimus may represent a new therapeutic approach in circulatory shock.