Recent Approaches to Determine Static and Dynamic Redox State-Related Parameters

2022

Oxidative stress refers to an imbalance between oxidant and antioxidant molecules, which is usually associated with oxidative damage to biomolecules and mitochondrial malfunction. Redox state-related parameters include (1) the direct measurement of ROS, (2) the assessment of the antioxidant defense status, and (3) the analysis of the resulting oxidative damage to molecules. Directly measuring ROS appears to be the preferred method among scientists, but most ROS are extremely unstable and difficult to measure. The processes of determining both the oxidative damage to biomolecules and the antioxidant system status, although both are indirect approaches, provide a reliable method to measure ox…

Non-melancholic depressive symptoms are associated with above average fat mass index in the Helsinki birth cohort study

2022

AbstractThere is an existing link between two of the most common diseases, obesity and depression. These are both of great public health concern, but little is known about the relationships between the subtypes of these conditions. We hypothesized that non-melancholic depressive symptoms have a stronger relationship with both body composition (lean mass and fat mass) and dysfunctional glucose metabolism than melancholic depression. For this cross-sectional study 1510 participants from the Helsinki Birth Cohort Study had their body composition evaluated as lean mass and fat mass (Lean Mass Index [LMI, kg/m2] + Fat Mass Index [FMI kg/m2] = Body Mass Index). Participants were evaluated for dep…

Comparison of Nonclassic and Classic Phenotype of Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Focused on Prognostic Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Parameters: A Single-C…

2022

Patients with nonclassic phenotypes (NCP)—more advanced stages of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM)—constitute an intriguing and heterogeneous group that is difficult to diagnose, risk-stratify, and treat, and often neglected in research projects. We aimed to compare cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) parameters in NCP versus classic phenotypes (CP) of HCM with special emphasis given to the parameters of established and potential prognostic importance, including numerous variables not used in everyday clinical practice. The CMR studies of 88 patients performed from 2011 to 2019 were postprocessed according to the study protocol to obtain standard and non-standard parameters. In NCP, the late …

Building Nations after Empire: Post-Imperial Migrations to Portugal in a Western European Context

2022

Building on original research and dialoguing with scholarly works on Portugal, France and the United Kingdom, this article argues that decolonisation and migrations from the (former) colonies triggered and moulded a new, post-imperial nation-building in Western Europe. Analysing the highly significant but hitherto much-neglected case of Portugal in its broader Western European context, this claim is substantiated by surveying how these migrations affected citizenship and notions of the national community, the welfare state and public memories. Comparative and relational in its approach, the article links the histories of white ‘returnees’ from Portugal's African colonies after the 1974 Carn…

Indicators for Tourist Destinations: A General Assessment

2022

The assessment and monitoring of tourist destinations is now more than ever a prerogative of governments around the world. The contiguous situation caused by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic is pushing local destinations to adopt new standards that have never been considered until now. In addition, the collapse of tourist demand and the partial recovery of tourist activities could, in the medium term, affect tourist flows, but more importantly the tourist supply, which still suffers from suppliers and producers damaged by the blockage of services and production. The work aims to provide a general assessment of sustainability and competitiveness indicators, describing the work carried o…

In Patients with Grade I and II Ankle Sprains, Dynamic Taping Seems to Be Helpful during Certain Tasks, Exercises and Tests in Selected Phases of the…

2022

We aimed to investigate changes in postural stability on a stable surface after the application of dynamic tape for patients with inversion ankle sprains. This study enrolled 30 patients (age 25.5 ± 8.0 years) with grade I and II ankle sprains, which occurred 7–21 days before enrolment. Postural stability (balance, coordination, feedback) was assessed before and after the application of dynamic tape using a stabilographic platform. Three 32-s exercises were performed on the stabilographic platform, one with eyes open, one with eyes closed and one with visual feedback. After the application of dynamic tape, an improvement was observed in terms of the mean radius of sway (4.2 &pl…

Preliminary investigations on indirect competition among Italian employers’ associations, and the relevant effects on collective bargaining

2022

Le associazioni dei datori di lavoro sono attori importanti per il sistema delle relazioni industriali e della contrattazione collettiva. I datori di lavoro e i sindacati in genere negoziano gli standard di lavoro in termini di salari e condizioni di lavoro per conto rispettivamente delle aziende associate e dei dipendenti. Sebbene la maggior parte della letteratura sulle relazioni industriali si sia concentrata principalmente sulla forza associativa e sulla densità associativa delle associazioni dei datori di lavoro, in questa pubblicazione a cura di Michele Faioli e Silvio Bologna, gli autori si discostano da questa prospettiva e si concentrano sul funzionamento e sulla governance, ovvero…

Sexually Transmitted Diseases: Diagnosis and Control

2022

Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)—or sexually transmitted infections (STIs)—are generally acquired through sexual contact [...]

Increasing stability in the linearized inverse Schrödinger potential problem with power type nonlinearities

2022

We consider increasing stability in the inverse Schr\"{o}dinger potential problem with power type nonlinearities at a large wavenumber. Two linearization approaches, with respect to small boundary data and small potential function, are proposed and their performance on the inverse Schr\"{o}dinger potential problem is investigated. It can be observed that higher order linearization for small boundary data can provide an increasing stability for an arbitrary power type nonlinearity term if the wavenumber is chosen large. Meanwhile, linearization with respect to the potential function leads to increasing stability for a quadratic nonlinearity term, which highlights the advantage of nonlinearit…

Tau Appearance from High-Energy Neutrino Interactions

2022

High-energy muon- and electron-neutrinos yield a non-negligible flux of tau neutrinos as they propagate through Earth. In this letter, we address the impact of this additional component in the PeV and EeV energy regimes for the first time. This contribution is predicted to be significantly larger than the atmospheric background above 300 TeV, and alters current and future neutrino telescopes' capabilities to discover a cosmic tau-neutrino flux. Further we demonstrate that Earthskimming neutrino experiments, designed to observe tau neutrinos, will be sensitive to cosmogenic neutrinos even in extreme scenarios without a primary tau-neutrino component.

Influence of Coherent Context for Positioning Distinctive and Iconic Sicilian Sparkling Wines: Effect of a Sensorial Experience on a Gulet

2022

Spumante wines produced in Sicily region (southern Italy) have sensorial characteristics significantly different from those produced in other Italian regions, because of the great differences of terroir. Offering a product included in a coherent and consistent context allows consumers to differentiate in the marketplace. The aim of this study is to propose solutions for Sicilian wineries for positioning Sicilian Spumante in the market, based on empirical data. Moreover, it was investigated whether a positive experience in a context consistent with the Sicilian sparkling wines could influence consumers’ consumption intentions. A blind sensory test was performed by 146 expert wine tasters. Op…

12q21 Interstitial Deletions: Seven New Syndromic Cases Detected by Array-CGH and Review of the Literature.

2022

Interstitial deletions of the long arm of chromosome 12 are rare, with a dozen patients carrying a deletion in 12q21 being reported. Recently a critical region (CR) has been delimited and could be responsible for the more commonly described clinical features, such as developmental delay/intellectual disability, congenital genitourinary and brain malformations. Other, less frequent, clinical signs do not seem to be correlated to the proposed CR. We present seven new patients harboring non-recurrent deletions ranging from 1 to 18.5 Mb differentially scattered across 12q21. Alongside more common clinical signs, some patients have rarer features such as heart defects, hearing loss, hypotonia an…

Thermodynamic perfect fluid spheres admitting an orthogonal flat synchronization

2022

We analyze the interpretation of the spherically symmetric perfect fluid solutions that admit a flat synchronization orthogonal to the fluid flow as a thermodynamic perfect fluid in local thermal equilibrium. The ideal gas sonic condition is examined for this family of metrics, and the macroscopic conditions for physical reality are accurately tested for some specific solutions.

Boron and lithium behaviour in river waters under semiarid climatic conditions

2022

Boron (B) and Lithium (Li) concentrations were studied in the Platani river, one of the most important catchments of South-Central Sicily which is under semiarid climatic conditions for roughly eight months to a year. In this area, evaporites result in potential B and Li sources for surface waters. Results from river waters have measured ionic strength values between 0.1 and 4.54 M. B and Li distributions in these waters were studied in colloidal (CF, extracted by ultrafiltration from the 0.45 μm filtrate) and total dissolved (TDF) fractions and in fractions extracted from corresponding riverbed sediments, according to changes of the B/Li ratio. In river waters, CF and TDF showed very simil…

Perceived determinants of physical activity among women with prior severe preeclampsia: a qualitative assessment.

2022

Abstract Background The objective of this study was to (1) qualitatively identify the perceived determinants of physical activity among women who have experienced severe preeclampsia, and (2) examine whether these determinants are consistent with the overarching processes outlined in the integrated behavior change (IBC) model, a novel model that describes physical activity as being a result of motivational, volitional, and automatic processes. Methods Patients (n = 35) of the Follow-Up PreEClampsia (FUPEC) Outpatient Clinic, Erasmus MC, the Netherlands, participated in an anonymous online survey. The main outcomes under study were their perceived determinants of physical activity. Responses…

Stand-Alone or Combinatorial Effects of Grafting and Microbial and Non-Microbial Derived Compounds on Vigour, Yield and Nutritive and Functional Qual…

2022

The current research investigated the effects of endophytic fungi such as Trichoderma atroviride (Ta) or Ascophyllum nodosum seaweed extract (An) and their combination on growth, yield, nutritive and functional features, and mineral profile of ‘Birgah’ F1 eggplant either ungrafted, self-grafted or grafted onto the Solanum torvum rootstock. Eggplant exposed to An or An+Ta had a significant increase in root collar diameter 50 days after transplanting (RCD50), total yield (TY), marketable yield (MY), ascorbic acid (AA) content, Mg, Cu, and Zn concentration, and a reduction in glycoalkaloids (GLY) compared with the control. Furthermore, grafted plants had a higher TY, MY, number of marketable f…

El revival del sufijo -érrimo

2022

Este trabajo de investigación analiza el comportamiento actual del sufijo culto -érrimo, dado que hemos percibido una vitalidad que no encaja con la descripción como obsoleto que se realiza en las gramáticas y tratados de morfología. En consecuencia, para poder describir sus características, hemos seleccionado los types atestiguados en el corpus CdE:Now, que está compuesto de textos digitales provenientes de webs y magacines. Este nuevo comportamiento vincula su nueva vigencia a un discurso muy oralizado propio de blogs, redes sociales, columnas de opinión, interacciones con noticias, etc., con un registro coloquial. Los resultados constatados son que -érrimo presenta un perfil de sufijo ac…

Dietary Habits and Self-Reported Health Measures Among Norwegian Adults Adhering to Plant-Based Diets

2022

BackgroundAs plant-based diets is increasing, we aimed to investigate dietary habits, dietary motivation and self-reported health of Norwegian adults who adhere to different types of plant-based diets.MethodsIn 2020, 808 subjects (530 women and 278 men) participated in an online survey, including vegans (8%), lacto-ovo vegetarians (16%), pescatarians (23%), and flexitarians (53%).ResultsHalf of the participants reported to consume fruits daily, three quarters consumed vegetables daily, and one quarter consumed whole grain products daily. Half of the participants reported weekly consumption of sweets and salted snacks, and 10% reported daily consumption of sugary drinks. Daily consumption of…

Measurement Properties of Smartphone Approaches to Assess Physical Activity in Healthy Young People: Systematic Review

2022

Background Physical inactivity is a preventable risk factor for several chronic diseases and one of the driving forces behind the growing global burden of disease. Recent evidence has shown that interventions using mobile smartphone apps can promote a significant increase in physical activity (PA) levels. However, the accuracy and reliability of using apps is unknown. Objective The aim of our review was to determine the accuracy and reliability of using mobile apps to measure PA levels in young people. We conducted a systematic review guided by PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses). Methods Studies published from 2007 to 2020 were sourced from 8 databa…

The Landfilling of Municipal Solid Waste and the Sustainability of the Related Transportation Activities

2022

The management of municipal solid waste is a crucial issue to address as we move toward the decarbonization of urban contexts. Not by chance, this sector plays a relevant role in the Covenant of Mayors program, whereby municipalities are called to design their own Sustainable Energy Action Plans (SECAPs). However, despite new regulations strongly pushing the recycling and reuse of materials contained in municipal waste, many cities still use large landfills. As part of the overall environmental pressure exerted by these urban systems, the transport of waste from collection points to landfills or treatment facilities must be considered in order to correctly assess the full environmental burd…

Impact of COVID-19 in AChR Myasthenia Gravis and the Safety of Vaccines: Data from an Italian Cohort.

2022

Background and aims. Patients with Myasthenia gravis (MG) are considered vulnerable as they may present with respiratory muscle weakness and because they are on immunosuppressive treatment; thereby, COVID-19 may have a detrimental effect on these patients. Vaccines against COVID-19 are currently available and it has been shown as they can prevent severe COVID-19 in vulnerable patients. Notwithstanding their efficacy, vaccine hesitancy has not been completely dispelled in the general population. Unfortunately, there is limited data about the safety of these vaccines in MG patients. The aims of this study are to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 in a MG cohort, the adherence to COVID-19 vaccina…

Seasonal Changes in Urban PM2.5 Hotspots and Sources from Low-Cost Sensors

2022

PM2.5 concentrations in urban areas are highly variable, both spatially and seasonally. To assess these patterns and the underlying sources, we conducted PM2.5 exposure measurements at the adult breath level (1.6 m) along three ~5 km routes in urban districts of Mainz (Germany) using portable low-cost Alphasense OPC-N3 sensors. The survey took place on five consecutive days including four runs each day (38 in total) in September 2020 and March 2021. While the between-sensor accuracy was tested to be good (R² = 0.98), the recorded PM2.5 values underestimated the official measurement station data by up to 25 µg/m3. The collected data showed no consistent PM2.5 hotspots between September and M…

Genomic Analysis of Endophytic Bacillus-Related Strains Isolated from the Medicinal Plant Origanum vulgare L. Revealed the Presence of Metabolic Path…

2022

Multidrug-resistant pathogens represent a serious threat to human health. The inefficacy of traditional antibiotic drugs could be surmounted through the exploitation of natural bioactive compounds of which medicinal plants are a great reservoir. The finding that bacteria living inside plant tissues, (i.e., the endophytic bacterial microbiome) can influence the synthesis of the aforementioned compounds leads to the necessity of unraveling the mechanisms involved in the determination of this symbiotic relationship. Here, we report the genome sequence of four endophytic bacterial strains isolated from the medicinal plant Origanum vulgare L. and able to antagonize the growth of opportunistic pa…

A multiplex PCR for the detection of Vibrio vulnificus hazardous to human and/or animal health from seafood

2022

Vibrio vulnificus is a zoonotic pathogen linked to aquaculture that is spreading due to climate change. The pathogen can be transmitted to humans and animals by ingestion of raw shellfish or seafood feed, respectively. The aim of this work was to design and test a new procedure to detect V. vulnificus hazardous to human and/or animal health in food/feed samples. For this purpose, we combined a pre-enrichment step with multiplex PCR using primers for the species and for human and animal virulence markers. In vitro assays with mixed DNA from different Vibrio species and Vibrio cultures showed that the new protocol was 100 % specific with a detection limit of 10 cfu/mL. The protocol was succes…

End-Triassic Extinction in a Carbonate Platform From Western Tethys: A Comparison Between Extinction Trends and Geochemical Variations

2022

The Triassic/Jurassic boundary section cropping out at Mt Sparagio in north-western Sicily (Italy) consists of a thick and continuous peritidal succession typical of a Tethyan carbonate platform. The combined chemostratigraphic and biostratigraphic study of this section allowed us to parallel the environmental variations inferred by the isotopic records and the extinction trends recorded by the benthic organisms. In the studied section, the isotope data of C, O, and S are indicative of serious environmental perturbations related to the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP) activity, as recorded worldwide. Two negative excursions in the C-curve (Initial-CIE and Main-CIE) confirm the acid…

Differences in parasite community composition support ecological differentiation in a freshwater gadoid fish

2022

Several northern freshwater fishes have gone through rapid adaptive radiation after the last glacial period, resulting in new species or intraspecific morphs with distinct life histories. Parasite infections can promote adaptive radiations and spatiotemporal differences in patterns of infections can potentially reveal incipient or ongoing speciation processes. We investigated intraspecific differentiation in a freshwater gadoid fish, burbot (Lota lota), by exploring differences in parasite infections between two potential life-history morphs in Lake Konnevesi, Central-Finland, one reproducing species characteristically in shallow littoral waters in February and the other possibly in deep pr…

Bempedoic Acid: A New Tool for LDL-Cholesterol Control in Patients with Coronary Artery Disease

2022

First records of defensive tail vibration in the Italian Aesculapian Snake, Zamenis lineatus (Camerano, 1891)

2022

We report for the first time defensive tail vibration in the Italian Aesculapian Snake, Zamenis lineatus (Camerano, 1891)

Primary failure of eruption: occlusal and dentoalveolar characteristics in mixed and permanent dentition. A study with cone beam computed tomography.

2022

The main objective of this study was to describe the dentoalveolar and occlusal characteristics of subjects with primary failure of eruption (PFE) in cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) and compare them with a control group without the anomaly.This retrospective and comparative study evaluated CBCT images of 80 permanent molars divided into 2 groups of 40 molars each, which had or did not have PFE characteristics. Using CBCT a calibrated orthodontist performed 23 measurements related to the distances of the cusps to the occlusal, palatal and mandibular planes and measured the buccal-palatal and mesiodistal widths of the molar crowns and their root lengths. Independent Student's t or Mann-W…

Neutrophil extracellular traps arm DC vaccination against NPM-mutant myeloproliferation

2022

Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) are web-like chromatin structures composed by dsDNA and histones, decorated with antimicrobial proteins. Their interaction with dendritic cells (DCs) allows DC activation and maturation toward presentation of NET-associated antigens. Differently from other types of cell death that imply protein denaturation, NETosis preserves the proteins localized onto the DNA threads for proper enzymatic activity and conformational status, including immunogenic epitopes. Besides neutrophils, leukemic cells can release extracellular traps displaying leukemia-associated antigens, prototypically mutant nucleophosmin (NPMc+) that upon mutation translocates from nucleolus …

Initial-Stage Suicide Bereavement Experiences: A Case Study.

2022

This study aimed to shed light on the initial-stage bereavement experiences of an individual bereaved by suicide, at three months from the loss of his spouse to suicide. A semi-structured in-depth interview was conducted with the individual, a man in his thirties. The data were analyzed using qualitative assimilation analysis, based on the Assimilation Model and the Assimilation of Problematic Experiences Scale (APES). The APES ratings of the interview revealed that the individual’s bereavement was associated with the earlier stages of APES (all scoring under 3.5). In addition, the swift and frequent fluctuations in the APES ratings gave indications that the bereavement was unstable and co…

Music therapeutic emotional processing (MEP): Expression, awareness, and pain predict therapeutic outcome

2022

Successful emotional processing is pivotal for the therapeutic change, and music can support emotional processing. However, we know little on how music-based emotional processing actually predicts clinical outcomes. This study investigated music therapeutic emotional processing (MEP) as a predictor of therapeutic outcome in treatment for depression. Data consisted of self-reports of 64 clients (age range 19–57, 74% female) from a clinical trial (12 sessions) of integrative improvisational music therapy (IIMT). A 19-item MEP questionnaire was developed for assessing clients’ experiences after sessions. Emergent MEP factors were correlated with clients’ perceptions of the therapeutic value o…

Landscape in transition in the shadow of 2022 Russia’s invasion in Ukraine – notes from Hungary

2022

This research note focuses on two phenomena: the transformations in the landscape in Hungary as an effect of Russia’s invasion in Ukraine and the welcome/help centers that were established to channel mobility and provide a temporary safe space. I suggest that liminality (which serves as a main explanatory category) is characteristic of both. It is stated that in this context that the bodies of refugees are reminders of the existence of the (state) border, which gets reaffirmed by the process of welcoming and hosting and is also reflected in the visual reminders in the landscape. I also divide the management of the refugee crisis into three phases: spontaneous action, institutionalization, a…

The use of hydrogen purification and mixture of cosmetics acids, and the influence on acne skin parameters: a case report

2022

Background: Acne vulgaris is a common disease which causes physical and mental ailments that are associated with a significantly reduced quality of life. Contemporary cosmetology is looking for innovative and effective methods of treating acne vulgaris. The synergistic action of acids and hydrogen purification has a positive effect on the reduction of sebum secretion and thus the amount of skin eruptions. The aim of the study : To check the effectiveness of hydrogen purification treatment combined with topical acids for the treatment of acne vulgaris. Case report: The participant of this study is a 20-year-old female, struggling with acne vulgaris for 5 years. She has a problem with large s…

Practical, Not Radical : Examining Innovative Learning Culture in a Public Service Media Organization

2022

Recent scholarship has argued for media organizations’ need to radically innovate to ensure their survival in the future. This study deploys the innovative learning culture (ILC) framework to qualitatively study innovation and learning in a legacy public service media organization. While innovation and learning are linked, the learning processes of professional journalists have received only little attention. Through an analysis of a development network operating in a public service media organization, we identify characteristics of ILC in the network and how those characteristics manifest in practice, as well as examine contextual factors that shape ILC. Our findings indicate that innovati…

The effect of cannabinoid receptor agonist WIN 55,212-2 on anxiety-like behavior and locomotion in a genetic model of absence seizures in the elevate…

2022

GAERS and NEC rats were treated with cannabinoid 1/2 receptor agonist WIN 55,212-2 2 mg/kg and tested on the Elevated Plus-Maze