Archivio istituzionale della ricerca - Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna
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Classifying Low Back Pain Through Pain Mechanisms A Scoping Review for Physiotherapy Practice
Full text linkBackground: Low back pain (LBP) is a leading cause of disability worldwide, often driven by distinct pain mechanisms: nociceptive, neuropathic, and central sensitization. Accurate classification of these mechanisms is critical for guiding effective, targeted treatments. Methods: A scoping review was conducted following the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology and reported according to PRISMA-ScR guidelines. A comprehensive literature search was performed in MEDLINE, Cochrane CENTRAL, Scopus, PEDro, and Web of Science. Eligible studies included adults with LBP and focused on clinical criteria for classifying pain mechanisms. Data on study methods, population characteristics, and outcomes were extracted and synthesized. Results: Nine studies met the inclusion criteria. Nociceptive pain was characterized by localized symptoms proportional to mechanical triggers, with no neurological signs. Neuropathic pain was associated with burning sensations, dysaesthesia, and a positive neurodynamic straight leg raise (SLR) test. Central sensitization featured widespread pain, hyperalgesia, and disproportionate symptoms. Tools such as painDETECT, DN4, and the Central Sensitisation Inventory (CSI) were validated for neuropathic and central sensitization pain. Central sensitization and neuropathic pain were linked to greater disability and psychological distress compared to nociceptive pain. Conclusions: This review aims to provide a historical perspective on pain mechanism classifications and to explore how previous frameworks have influenced current diagnostic concepts in physiotherapy practice. By synthesizing key clinical criteria used to differentiate between nociceptive, neuropathic, and central sensitization pain, this review proposes a practical framework to improve the accuracy of pain classification in clinical settings
Harnessing the drucebo effect: A new frontier in podiatric patient care
No full textThe drucebo effect combines treatment, placebo, and patient expectations, influencing outcomes. This concept, underexplored in podiatry, offers opportunities to enhance care. By managing expectations and fostering positive therapeutic environments, clinicians can improve adherence, pain perception, and satisfaction, advancing evidence-based podiatric practice
A Benzodiazepine-Derived Molecule That Interferes with the Bio-Mechanical Properties of Glioblastoma-Astrocytoma Cells Altering Their Proliferation and Migration
Full text link: Glioblastoma multiforme (grade IV glioma) is characterized by a high invasive potential, making surgical intervention extremely challenging and patient survival very limited. Current pharmacological approaches show, at best, slight improvements in the therapy against this type of tumor. Microtubules are often the target of antitumoral drugs, and specific drugs affecting their dynamics by acting on microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs) without producing their depolymerization could affect both glioma cell migration/invasion and cell proliferation. Here, we analyzed on a cellular model of glioblastoma multiforme, the effect of a molecule (1-(4-amino-3,5-dimethylphenyl)-3,5-dihydro-7,8-ethylenedioxy-4h2,3-benzodiazepin-4-one, hereafter named 1g) which was shown to act as a cytostatic drug in other cell types by affecting microtubule dynamics. We found that the molecule acts also as a migration suppressor by inducing a loss of cell polarity. We characterized the mechanics of U87MG cell aggregates exposed to 1g by different biophysical techniques. We considered both 3D aggregates and 2D cell cultures, testing substrates of different stiffness. We established that this molecule produces a decrease of cell spheroid contractility and it impairs 3D cell invasion. At the same time, in the case of isolated cells, 1g selectively produces an almost instantaneous loss of cell polarity blocking migration and it also produces a disorganization of the mitotic spindle when cells reach mitosis, leading to frequent mitotic slippage events followed by cell death. We can state that the studied molecule produces similar effects to other molecules that are known to affect the dynamics of microtubules, but probably indirectly via microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs) and following different biochemical pathways. Consistently, we report evidence that, regarding its effect on cell morphology, this molecule shows a specificity for some cell types such as glioma cells. Interestingly, being a molecule derived from a benzodiazepine, the 1g chemical structure could allow this molecule to easily cross the blood-brain barrier. Thanks to its chemical/physical properties, the studied molecule could be a promising new drug for the specific treatment of GBM
Molecular hydride carbonyl clusters and nanoclusters
Full text linkThis minireview outlines the actual status of the chemistry of hydride metal carbonyl clusters (MCCs) by means of pertinent examples, without being comprehensive. After a brief introduction to the topic, the major synthetic routes for the introduction of hydride ligands in MCCs are described, with particular focus on the different typologies of reagents that can be employed. The structures of hydride MCCs and the different coordination modes of hydride ligands are, then presented, based on single-crystal X-ray and neutron diffraction data available. Some general considerations on 1H NMR studies of hydride MCCs are described, including fluxionality and the problems of detecting hydrides in larger MCCs. Moreover, electrochemical studies of hydride MCCs are summarized, focusing on electrochemistry as an indirect tool for determining the hydride nature of large MCCs, and tuning the redox potentials of MCCs by protonation/deprotonation reactions. Applications of hydride MCCs in catalysis and electrocatalysis are only briefly described at the end of this minireview, since this topic has been recently reviewed
Building trust: Consumer awareness, acceptance and attitudes related to European aquaculture and the potential effects of greenwashing.
Full text linkThe paper examines consumers’ awareness, attitudes and acceptance of sustainable aquaculture practices while examining the impact of greenwashing on consumer perceptions. We conducted an online survey with 2,500 participants from five European countries: France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK. The results revealed that consumer awareness of aquaculture production systems remains low across European consumers, despite generally positive attitudes and acceptance toward sustainability in aquaculture. The study identifies three distinct consumer segments based on their perceptions of greenwashing: unimpressed, trusting and uninformed. Each segment differs in terms of awareness, attitudes and acceptance of aquaculture practices, with the trusting group showing the highest levels of confidence and acceptance, while the uninformed group shows the lowest levels of awareness and confidence
Search for baryogenesis and dark matter in B+ → Λc+ +invisible decays
Full text linkA mechanism of baryogenesis and dark matter production via B meson oscillations and decays has recently been proposed to explain the observed dark matter abundance and matter-antimatter asymmetry in the universe. This mechanism introduces a low-mass dark sector particle (ψD) with a nonzero baryonic charge. We present a search for this new state in B+→Λc+ψD decays using data collected at the Υ(4S) resonance by the BABAR detector at SLAC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 431.0 fb-1. The search leverages the full reconstruction of the B- meson in Υ(4S)→B+B- decays, accompanied by the reconstruction of a Λc+, to infer the presence of ψD. No significant signal is observed, and limits on the B+→Λc+ψD branching fraction are set at the level of 1.6×10-4 at 90% confidence level for 0.94<2.99 GeV. These results set strong constraints on the parameter space allowed by B-meson baryogenesis
2024 consensus document of the Italian Society of Arterial Hypertension (SIIA) and the Italian Society of Cardiovascular Prevention (SIPREC): update on LDL cholesterol lowering in patients with arterial hypertension.
No full textHypertension and hypercholesterolemia often occur in the same individuals, increasing the risk of major cardiovascular (CV) outcomes, including myocardial infarction, stroke, CV death, as well as other CV complications. Concomitant management of these condition now represent a crucial step to reduce individual global CV risk and improve CV disease prevention in daily clinical practice. Given the high prevalence of hypertension and hypercholesterolemia in general population and their impact on health status, several pharmacological options are currently available to achieve the recommended therapeutic targets. These drugs, mostly including statins, ezetimibe, bempedoic acid, proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK-9) inhibitors and inclisiran, can be used either in monotherapies or in combination therapies, with different clinical indications, therapeutic efficacy and tolerability profile. Decision among different drug classes and dosages, as well as choice between monotherapy or combination therapy (fixed or free), largely depend on individual global CV risk profile and therapeutic targets of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels to be achieved under pharmacological therapy. The present consensus document represents an update of the previous document published on 2022 and endorsed by the Italian Society of Hypertension (SIIA) and the Italian Society of Cardiovascular Prevention (SIPREC). Here we propose a novel paradigm for the treatment of the patients with hypertension and hypercholesterolemia at high or very high cardiovascular risk. In addition, the pharmacological properties, and the clinical efficacy of novel agents recently approved for a tailored therapy of hypercholesterolemia in patients with atherosclerotic CV disease, including PCSK9 inhibitors and bempedoic acid, will be summarized
Translation and Data-Driven Learning
No full textData-driven learning (DDL) is particularly well suited to translator education, providing an adequate pedagogic approach for two related yet distinct learning objectives: the development of translation competence and the learning of foreign languages. Interest in data-driven learning in the translation classroom started in the 1990s, as an obvious development of corpus-based translation studies and corpus-assisted language learning. Two main types of translation-driven corpora have been used so far in this setting: bilingual comparable corpora (sets of nontranslated comparable texts in two languages) and parallel corpora (sets of original texts and their translations, aligned at sentence level). While the former raise challenges at the level of analysis, due to the difficulties involved in establishing cross-linguistic equivalences, the latter are easier to consult, but the evidence they offer should be carefully evaluated, as it may be influenced by the translation process. Attempts at assessing the effectiveness of DDL in translator education are still limited. Evidence obtained by comparing translations carried out with and without corpora remains inconclusive, even though a positive learning effect seems to exist, particularly for translation into the foreign language. The perceptions of students are also mixed, due to the cognitive burden of corpus analysis and its time-consuming nature. Yet a pedagogy that favours the acquisition of research skills and flexibility, like DDL, would seem to be particularly well suited at a time when the translation profession is faced with important societal and technological challenges. To address them, educators should favour a change of attitude in students, so that they embrace complexity
Clinical and neurophysiological predictors of the functional outcome in right-hemisphere stroke
Full text linkObjective: The aim of the present study is to examine the relationship between EEG measures and functional recovery in right-hemisphere stroke patients. Methods: Participants with stroke (PS) and neurologically unimpaired controls (UC) were enrolled. At enrolment, all participants were assessed for motor and cognitive functioning with specific scales (motricity index, trunk control test, Level of Cognitive Functioning, and Functional Independence Measure (FIM). Moreover, EEG data were recorded. At discharge, participants were re-tested with the FIM Results: Powers in the delta, theta, alpha, and beta bands and connectivity within the fronto-parietal network were compared between groups. Then, the between-group discriminative EEG measures and the motor/cognitive scales were used to feed a machine learning algorithm to predict FIM scores at discharge and the length of hospitalization (LoH). Higher delta, theta, and beta and impaired connectivity were found in PS compared to UC. Moreover, motor/cognitive functioning, beta power, and fronto-parietal connectivity predicted the FIM score at discharge and the LoH (accuracy=73.2 % and 85.2 % respectively). Conclusions: Results show that the integration of motor/cognitive scales and EEG measures can reveal the rehabilitative potentials of PS predicting their functional outcome and LoH. Significance: Synergistic clinical and electrophysiological models can support rehabilitative decision-making
Direct biogas methanation at moderate pressure: Mechanism investigation over Ni-based catalysts
No full textDirect upgrading of biogas by CO2 methanation aims to produce a gas to be injected into the grid. Operating at moderate pressures favors thermodynamics, but catalyst surface and reaction mechanism under realistic conditions are not well investigated. We study the role of basic and metallic sites on performance and mechanism of clean biogas methanation (CO2/CH4=1/1 v/v) at 1, 5 and 7 bar. Ni/Mg/La/Al hydrotalcite-derived catalysts, with different Ni and La contents, are investigated combining tests and physico-chemical characterization, including quasi-in situ XPS at 7 bar, with CO2-adsorption and methanation DRIFTS at 1 and 7 bar, respectively. An optimized catalyst (6.5 wt% La, 35 wt% Ni) with 3–4 nm Ni0 and balanced basicity, achieves 96 LCH4*gcat−1* h−1 (300°C, 7 bar). DRIFTS confirm catalysts activity experimental trend. Optimizing Ni and La results in higher consumption rates of formate intermediate and sufficient Ni0 sites for CO formation. Increasing pressure to 7 bar promotes CO and m-HCOO reactivity