Tre recenti biografie di Ranke

Three newly issued biographies deal with the life of Leopold von Ranke in very different ways. The essay underlines the strengths and the weaknesses of each one of them and raises some questions about the meaning of this scholarly interest in Ranke. Finally, it provides some considerations on the difficulty of defining, even now, the figure of the German historian.

Differentiation and characterization of rat adipose tissue mesenchymal stem cells into endothelial-like cells

In this study, mesenchymal stem cells were isolated from rat adipose tissue (AD-MSCs) to characterize and differentiate them into endothelial-like cells. AD-MSCs were isolated by mechanical and enzymatic treatments, and their identity was verified by colony-forming units (CFU) test and by differentiation into cells of mesodermal lineages. The endothelial differentiation was induced by plating another aliquot of cells in EGM-2 medium, enriched with specific endothelial growth factors. Five subcultures were performed. The expression of stemness genes (OCT4, SOX2 and NANOG) was investigated. The presence of CD90 and the absence of the CD45 were evaluated by flow cytometry. The endothelial-like…

A simplified clinical risk score predicts the need for early endoscopy in non-variceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding

Abstract Background Pre-endoscopic triage of patients who require an early upper endoscopy can improve management of patients with non-variceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding. Aims To validate a new simplified clinical score (T-score) to assess the need of an early upper endoscopy in non variceal bleeding patients. Secondary outcomes were re-bleeding rate, 30-day bleeding-related mortality. Methods In this prospective, multicentre study patients with bleeding who underwent upper endoscopy were enrolled. The accuracy for high risk endoscopic stigmata of the T-score was compared with that of the Glasgow Blatchford risk score. Results Overall, 602 patients underwent early upper endoscopy, and…

Obtaining Mesenchymal Stem Cells From Adipose Tissue Of Murin Origin: Experimental Study

In vitro production of differentiated Endotelual Cells from Mesenchimal Stem Cells, collected from adult rat Adipose Tissue (AD-MSCs): preliminary results

Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) are multipotent cells that reside within various tissues, including adipose tissue and bone marrow. Research concerning the potential therapeutic role of MSCs has advanced significantly over the last decade. Many studies have demonstrated that adipose tissue is an excellent source of MSCs (AD-MSCs), easily accessible in experimental animals. AD-MSCs can be expanded in vitro over the short term and they can differentiate toward a variety of cell types of mesodermal lineage. Therefore, they are thought an attractive tool for cell therapy. Selection of appropriate animal models for preclinical evaluations is crucial for optimization and validation of therapeutic p…

Parthenolide generates reactive oxygen species and autophagy in MDA-MB231 cells. A soluble parthenolide analogue inhibits tumour growth and metastasis in a xenograft model of breast cancer.

Triple-negative breast cancers (TNBCs) are clinically aggressive forms associated with a poor prognosis. We evaluated the cytotoxic effect exerted on triple-negative MDA-MB231 breast cancer cells both by parthenolide and its soluble analogue dimethylamino parthenolide (DMAPT) and explored the underlying molecular mechanism. The drugs induced a dose- and time-dependent decrement in cell viability, which was not prevented by the caspase inhibitor z-VAD-fmk. In particular in the first hours of treatment (1–3 h), parthenolide and DMAPT strongly stimulated reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. The drugs induced production of superoxide anion by activating NADPH oxidase. ROS generation caused…

West Nile Disease (WND) in Sicily

WND is an emerging vector-borne zoonosis caused by an RNA virus included in the Japanese encephalitis group within the Flavivirus genus. In Italy, after the first appearance in Tuscany in 1998, West Nile Virus (WNV) has been continuously circulating since 2008. A National Surveillance Program consisting of monitoring horses, “sentinel poultries”, wild bird mortality and mosquitoes is active in the entire national territory since 2002. Authors describe the outbreaks which occurred in Sicily in 2010 and 2011. Case study: Between September-October 2010, seven horses from the western part of the island, in the Trapani province, showed neurological symptoms. In October 2011, another two horses s…

Canine Mesenchymal Stem Cells from visceral and subcutaneuous adipose tissue for cell-based therapy

This study compared some characteristics of canine Adipose tissue-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells (cAD-MSCs) from subcutaneous and visceral fat. These findings were directed to obtain high quantity and quality cAD-MSCs for clinical cell-based therapy.

Risultati di un test RFLP su ceppi vaccinali di Canine Distemper Virus in Italia

Canine Distemper (CD) is a highly contagious and multisystemic viral disease of domestic and wild carnivores. A published Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP) test, based on the presence of a PsiI cleavage site on hemagglutinin (H) gene, allows a rapid differentiation of all currently used vaccine strains by virulent field strains. The present study describes the results of this test carried out on different CD vaccines available in Italy in 2010. RFLP has also revealed that the CD strain present in the Vanguard (Pfizer Animal Health) vaccine reacts as a wild-type strain. Moreover, genetic analysis of H gene sequence has showed that Vanguard vaccine strain does not cluster in the…