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Clinical Predictors of Cognitive Impairment in a Cohort of Patients with Older Age Bipolar Disorder
No full textBackground: An increased risk of cognitive decline has been reported in patients with older age bipolar disorder (OABD); however, the underlying factors contributing to this association remain unclear. This cross-sectional study aims to identify the clinical features associated with cognitive impairment in OABD. Methods: A total of 152 participants, aged at least 50 years and diagnosed with bipolar disorder (BD) and related disorders in agreement with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Text Revision criteria, were included in the study and divided into two subgroups based on the presence/absence of cognitive impairment, defined as a diagnosis of Mild Neurocognitive Disorder or Major Neurocognitive Disorder. Univariate comparisons and multivariate logistic regression models were performed to investigate the associations between clinical variables and cognitive impairment. Results: Cognitively impaired patients had a higher prevalence of otherwise specified BD/cyclothymic disorder, while BD type 2 was more common in the cognitively unimpaired group. Additionally, the cognitively impaired group had a later onset of major mood episodes (p < 0.05), fewer lifetime depressive episodes (p = 0.006), a higher prevalence of vascular leukoencephalopathy (p = 0.022) and dyslipidemia (p = 0.043), a lower prevalence of agoraphobia (p = 0.040), worse global functioning (p < 0.001), and higher psychopathology severity (p < 0.001). Late onset, vascular leukoencephalopathy, and dyslipidemia were all independently associated with cognitive impairment. Conclusions: Atypical BD, late onset of mood episodes, and somatic comorbidities like vascular leukoencephalopathy and dyslipidemia are associated with a higher risk of developing cognitive impairment and neurodegenerative disorders in OABD patients
Fat formulation of cow milk replacers affects nutrient fecal excretions of dairy calves.
No full textLa danza mancata di Eros e Thanatos. Hofmannsthal, Duse e Craig per Elektra
No full textThe missed dance of Eros and Thanatos. Hofmannsthal, Duse and Craig for Elektra
Eleonora Duse bought the rights for a production of Elektra by Hugo von Hofmannsthal in November 1904, but the play never came to fruition. The rediscovery of the French prose of Elektra, which Hofmannsthal wrote especially for the actress (from the first German version staged by Reinhardt in 1903), was the work of Taglioni in 1977. Cotticelli, Caretti, Mango and Simoncini have already dealt with the failure of this production, attributable to the difficult collaboration between Craig and the divine. It is therefore of no interest here to reconstruct ‘the chronicle of a death foretold’, but rather to understand what information on Duse's acting potential we can derive from this rewriting, identifying the variants from the original text. The German author had provided some stage rules (Szenische Vorschriften), which were first published in 1903 by the magazine ‘Das Theater’. Then there are Craig's pictures for the staging, including two sketches of the costumes and the final dance, a key junction of the entire work. If we compare these sources with the correspondence between the director/scenographer and Count Kessler, director of the entire project, we can guess what mimic-gestural, choreographic and luministic score was intended for Duse, who, by interpreting this Hamletic and Bacchic Elektra, was to take the first step in the theatrical renewal so much desired by Kessler when he decided to bring the three great artists together
Mantle upwelling at Afar triple junction shaped by overriding plate dynamics
No full textMantle upwellings drive large-scale surface volcanism and facilitate continental breakup and ocean basin formation. However, the spatial characteristics and internal composition of these upwellings alongside how they are modified by plate tectonics are poorly resolved. Afar, East Africa, is a classic triple junction comprising three rifts at various stages of evolution thought to be underlain by a mantle upwelling or plume, allowing examination of the controls on the mantle upwelling. Here we present geochemical data from >130 samples of ‘young’ volcanoes spanning the rifts defining the triple junction to show that the underlying mantle comprises a single, asymmetric upwelling. Using statistical modelling to integrate our data with existing geochemical and geophysical constraints, we suggest that Afar is fed by a spatially and chemically heterogeneous upwelling, which controls the composition and relative abundance of melt in all three rift arms. We identify repetitive signatures in mantle compositions in rift regions, whose variability is a longer wavelength in faster-extending rift arms. This suggests more rapid channelized mantle flow occurs where rifting rates are higher and the plate is thinner, aiding flow of the upwelling towards the faster-spreading Red Sea Rift. Our findings demonstrate how the evolution of mantle upwellings is influenced by the dynamics of overriding plates
Linifanib alone and in combination with metronomic chemotherapy is active on cutaneous T-cell lymphoma cells by targeting the AKT/mTOR signaling pathway
No full textCutaneous T-cell lymphomas (CTCLs) are a rare and heterogeneous subset of skin-localized, non-Hodgkin lymphomas. Our aim was to evaluate the in vitro antitumor activity of the multi-kinase inhibitor linifanib, either alone or in combination with metronomic vinorelbine (mVNR) or etoposide (mETO), on CTCL cells. In vitro proliferation assay and Luminex analysis showed that long-term, daily exposure of linifanib significantly inhibited the proliferation of the human CTCL cell line HH, in a concentration-dependent manner (IC50 = 48.4 ± 20.4 nM) and the phosphorylation of AKT/mTOR signaling pathway. The concomitant exposure of linifanib plus mVNR or mETO resulted in a strong synergism, with combination index values < 1. Linifanib significantly increased the VNR and ETO intracellular concentrations in HH cells, evaluated by UPLC-HRMS technology, and strongly reduced the ABCB1 and ABCG2 gene expression in HH. In conclusion, we reported a striking antitumor activity of daily, long-term linifanib and a clear synergistic effect when administered in combination with mCHEMO on CTCL cells, as a promising base for future clinical approaches in T-cell lymphomas
Il valore della ragione: la lezione di Giulio Preti
No full textL’articolo ricostruisce e interpreta la traiettoria filosofica di Giulio Preti durante il suo periodo fiorentino (1954–1972). Attraverso l’analisi delle sue opere, dei materiali inediti e dell’ambiente culturale italiano del secondo dopoguerra, il contributo mira a mettere in luce come l’esperienza neoilluminista, il complesso rapporto con l’empirismo logico, il confronto critico con la fenomenologia, il pragmatismo e la tradizione marxista abbiano condotto Preti a una posizione filosofica originale – e non esclusivamente in riferimento al contesto nazionale. Il saggio propone di individuare il nucleo teorico della posizione pretiana nell’elaborazione di una teoria dei valori che sia in grado di rendere conto tanto della capacità di raggiungere l’oggettività e l’accordo intersoggettivo nel discorso quanto della possibilità di mantenere un orizzonte critico e ideale di messa in questione dei concreti risultati valoriali di volta in volta raggiunti dalle diverse forme culturali storicamente determinate – siano essi valori morali (e quindi relativi all’ethos di un certo periodo storico), estetici (il gusto) o epistemico/scientifici (le teorie e le credenze giustificate).
The article reconstructs and interprets the philosophical trajectory of Giulio Preti during his Florentine period (1954–1972). Through an analysis of his published works, unpublished materials, and the Italian cultural environment of the post-war period, the contribution aims to shed light on how the Neo-Enlightenment experience, his complex relationship with logical empiricism, his critical engagement with phenomenology, pragmatism, and the Marxist tradition led Preti to develop an original philosophical position. The essay proposes to identify the theoretical core of Preti’s position in the elaboration of a theory of values capable of accounting both for the possibility of achieving objectivity and intersubjective agreement in discourse, and for the preservation of an ideal horizon from which to question and criticize the concrete value outcomes attained, at different times, by historically determined cultural forms
Volatile oil composition, phytochemical screening and larvicidal activities of indigofera tinctoria L. against African Sesamia calamistis
No full textSesamia calamistis, or the African pink stem borer, is a common pest in Nigeria that affects important crops like maize. Conventional pest control has relied heavily on synthetic insecticides, which pose risks due to their toxicity to mammals and potential ecological harm. Consequently, there is increasing interest in alternative pest management strategies utilising plant extracts. Hence, the aim of this research was to examine the volatile oil constituents, phytochemical components of Indigofera tinctoria, and evaluate its larvicidal effectiveness against S. calamistis. Phytochemical screening was performed using established methods, and volatile oils were extracted via hydrodistillation and characterized using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS). The larvicidal activity of the extracts was tested using the feeding assay method. The GC–MS analysis revealed that I. tinctoria leaf oils contained twenty compounds, while seed oils had eleven, accounting for 95.7% and 99.5% of the total oil, respectively. Phytol (34.1%) and 1-octen-3-ol (63.8%) were the major constituents in the leaf and seed oil of I. tinctoria, respectively. Flavonoids, alkaloids, and cardiac glycosides were present in the hexane, ethyl acetate, and ethanol fractions. Notably, the ethyl acetate fraction exhibited the highest larval mortality rate of 70.0% at a 0.4% concentration. These bioactive compounds found in I. tinctoria might be responsible for the larvicidal effects observed against S. calamistis in maize and the ethyl acetate fraction is therefore recommended for further isolation to ascertain the compound responsible for the larvicidal activities
Human-inspired compliance discrimination with a multi-degrees of freedom robotic manipulator
No full textIn humans, touch-mediated compliance perception
integrates sensory feedback with adaptive motor control
strategies that regulate internal muscle co-contraction. This
mechanism enables the extraction of meaningful information
from contact with objects, allowing for precise compliance
discrimination. Inspired by this capability, in [1] we developed
a biomimetic approach that combines a soft optical tactile
sensor, the TacTip −which mimics the main structure of the
human fingertip−, with a computational model of human
touch (tactile flow) and a single degree of freedom (dof)
Variable Stiffness Actuator (VSA), to infer the compliance of the
explored specimen. By mapping human muscular co-contraction
patterns to the control of the VSA −which emulates the agonistantagonist
behaviour of human muscles−, we demonstrated that
our model-based estimation approach achieved high-accuracy
results. In this work, we demonstrate the effectiveness of
our method using multi-dofs robotic platforms. The goal is
to provide a contribution towards the deployment of robots
with advanced perceptual and motor capabilities, working
alongside and with humans. We considered a 7-dofs robotic
manipulator, the Franka Emika Panda, and mapped human cocontraction
profiles through Cartesian Impedance regulation. We
achieved a maximum compliance estimation error of 6%, with
no statistically significant differences compared to the results
obtained with the single-dof VSA, confirming the robustness
and generalizability of our technique to more complex robotic
systems
Gli esercizi nelle grammatiche scolastiche italiane. Uno sguardo storico e una casistica minima
No full textRitenuti ancillari rispetto alla trattazione teorica, gli esercizi nelle grammatiche scolastiche sono troppo spesso sottovalutati o trascurati dagli autori stessi e dalle case editrici, tanto da essere confezionati in serie piuttosto ripetitive che mirano più alla quantità che alla qualità, o richiedono soluzioni meccaniche, o propongono esempi di lingua avulsi dalla realtà. Dopo averne tracciato una breve storia, il saggio propone una tipologia degli esercizi ad uso scolastico per cercare di vagliarne pregi e difetti e identificare i modelli didatticamente più efficaci.Considered ancillary to theoretical discussion, exercises in school grammar books are too often undervalued or neglected by authors themselves and by publishers, resulting in rather repetitive series that focus on quantity rather than quality, and requiring mechanical solutions or offering examples far from reality. After briefly outlining their history, the paper proposes a typology of exercises for school use, attempting to assess their strengths and weaknesses and identify the most effective teaching models