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Luciano Erba: l'ultima intervista
No full textThis is the transcript of the last interview of Luciano Erba, held in February 2008, when the poet visited the Italian Department of the University of Reading as part of a UK tour to celebrate the publication of The Greener Meadow: Selected Poems, the English translation of his poetry by Peter Robinson, issued by Princeton University Press in 2006. The interview offered the opportunity
to review Erba’s long career as a poet and assess the impact of some key cultural figures and events on his poetic
Author Correction: Imaging-based representation and stratification of intra-tumor heterogeneity via tree-edit distance
No full textMartina Sollini and Paola Anna Erba were omitted from the author list in the original version of this Article. The Author Contributions section now reads: “L.C. conceived the pipeline, set up the case study, analysed the results, prepared the figures, and wrote the manuscript. M.P. formulated and tuned the pruned tree edit distance, provided the mathematical proofs and the simulation study, and wrote the manuscript. A.R. contributed to implement the patient representation pipeline. M.S. segmented the Prostate Cancer lesions and extracted the radiomic features for all patients in the case study. P.A.E collected the data and enrolled the patients in the clinical study. F.I. supervised the analyses and the conception of the pipeline. L.C., M.P., A.R. and F.I. reviewed and approved the manuscript.” The original Article and accompanying Supplementary Information file have been corrected.</p
Dietary intake and adherence to the Mediterranean diet in semi-professional female soccer players: a cross-sectional study
No full textBackground Adequate energy and nutrient intakes in athletes contribute to optimal performance and recovery, decrease the risk of injury, and help preserve athletes' health. The Mediterranean diet (MD) is considered suitable for covering the nutritional needs of athletes, while contributing to improve eating habits. The aim of the present study was to investigate the energy and nutrient intakes of semi-professional female soccer players and their adherence to the MD, during the competitive season.Methods A cross-sectional observational study was conducted on twenty-three female soccer players, who were invited to fill in a 3-day food diary twice, one month apart, to assess their energy and nutrient intakes and a validated questionnaire (MEDI-LITE) to evaluate their adherence to MD. Exercise energy expenditure during three training and match-play days was monitored by GPS.Results On average, the participants consumed 1,981 kcal/day, with 44% of their energy deriving from carbohydrates, 21% from protein, and 34% from fat; the mean MD adherence score was 10.1 +/- 1.8, corresponding to a good MD adherence. A substantial percentage of athletes were at risk of insufficient nutrient intakes for vitamin D (100%), iodine (87%), potassium (87%), vitamin E (39%), iron and zinc (17 and 30%, respectively).Conclusion The evaluation of the dietary intake in female soccer players showed energy deficiency in relation to training level, mainly due to the insufficient intake of carbohydrates, and micronutrient deficiencies. The technical staff should promote adequate consumption of starchy foods in female athletes and emphasize the importance of a proper distribution of energy intake among different eating occasions, including snacks. Periodic monitoring of the nutritional status of micronutrients (vitamin D and some minerals) could help reduce deficiency risk. Over all, nutrition education to improve eating habits of athletes seems worthy of attention, in order to preserve athletes' health and performance
One Month of Classic Therapeutic Ketogenic Diet Decreases Short Chain Fatty Acids Production in Epileptic Patients
No full textKetogenic diet (KD), a high fat and very low carbohydrates diet, is used worldwide for the treatment of drug resistant epilepsy but, due to its composition, it might exert an impact on gut health. Even though data of KD effects on intestinal microbiota changes are recently emerging, its influence on the gut environment has been scarcely addressed so far. The aim of this study was to investigate whether 1 month of KD affects the gut environment in epileptic patients, by analyzing short chain fatty acids (SCFA) production and fecal water toxicity. A total of seven patients were enrolled. Stool samples were collected before (T0) and after 1 month of KD (4:1 ketogenic ratio) (T1). SCFA were determined by GC-FID and fecal water toxicity in Caco-2 cell culture by comet assay. Concentrations of SCFA significantly decreased after KD (p < 0.05): in particular, we found a 55% reduction of total SCFA level, a 64% reduction of acetate, 33% of propionate, and 20% of butyrate (p < 0.05). Cytotoxicity of fecal water extracted from stool samples was not significantly altered by diet, while genotoxicity was slightly decreased after KD (p < 0.05). Genotoxicity values were consistent with data previously obtained from a healthy Italian population. The present study suggests that 1 month of KD significantly reduce SCFA production. Since SCFA produced by gut microbiota exert many health promoting effects on either the gut environment or human metabolism, these results open a new branch of investigation into KD effects
Radiosynthesis of 68Ga-labelled DOTA-biocytin (68Ga-r-BHD) and assessment of its pharmaceutical quality for clinical use
No full textBiocytin analogues labelled with indium-111, yttrium-90 and lutetium-177 have shown their effectiveness in the imaging of infections/inflammation in patients with osteomyelitis and function as efficient tools in pretargeted antibody-guided radioimmunotherapy. In this study, the labelling of a biocytin analogue coupled with DOTA (1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-1,4,7,10-tetraacetic acid), namely, r-BHD, with gallium-68 (68Ga) was optimized, and the quality and stability of the preparations were assessed for clinical use
Fecal water genotoxicity in healthy free-living young Italian people
No full textDietary habit affects the composition of human feces thus determining intestinal environment and exposure of colon mucosa to risk factors. Fecal water (FW) citotoxicity and genotoxicity were investigated in 33 healthy young Italian people, as well as the relationship between genotoxicity and nutrient intake or microflora composition. Two fecal samples were collected at 2 weeks apart and 3-d dietary diary was recorded for each volunteer. Cytotoxicity was measured using the Trypan Blue Dye Exclusion assay and genotoxicity using the Comet Assay (alkaline single-cell electrophoresis). Fecal bifidobacteria, total microbial count and nutrient intakes were also assessed.High intra- and inter-variability in genotoxicity data and in bacteria counts were found. None of the FW samples were citotoxic, but 90% of FW samples were genotoxic. Seventy five percent indicated intermediate and 15% were highly genotoxic. There was a different sex-related distribution. Genotoxicity was positively correlated to the total lipid intake in females and to the bifidobacteria/total bacteria count ratio in male volunteers.These results demonstrate that the majority of FW samples isolated from free-living Italian people show intermediate level of genotoxicity and sustain a relation between this possible non-invasive marker of colorectal cancer risk with both dietary habits and colonic ecosystem. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved
Effect of caseinphosphopeptides on inhibition of calcium intestinal absorption due to phosphate
No full textCaseinphosphopeptides (CPPs) are peptides resulting from enzyme digestion of whole casein,
characterized by the presence of an aminoacid cluster, negatively charged at physiological intestinal
pH, that binds cations. The aim of the present study was to compare Ca absorption through the everted
small intestine of rats from CaCl2 or Ca-CPPs solutions, in absence of inorganic phosphate (Pi) or
when two ratios between Ca and Pi occur. Secondly, it was evaluated whether the ion absorption could
be affected by the fatty acid pattern of enterocyte membrane. Results showed that in the absence of
Pi, Ca transport from CaCl2 was higher than from Ca-CPPs solutions. However, when Pi was added
to the CaCl2 solution, Ca absorption decreased by 90% (Ca:Pi = 1:1) and 97% (Ca:Pi = 1:2). On the
contrary, when Pi was added to the Ca-CPPs solution, Ca transport decreased only by 40% (Ca:Pi =
1:1) and 60% (Ca:Pi = 1:2). The enrichment of enterocyte membrane with n-3 fatty acids (fish oil
diet) compared to control diet did not modify the effect of CPPs on Ca transport in ileum of rats. These
findings demonstrate that CPPs can limit the inhibitory effect of phosphate on Ca availability and
increase Ca transport across the distal small intestine. This action could be of nutritional relevance
especially when the dietary intake of this mineral is lower than the recommended level or there is an
unbalanced ratio Ca/Pi in diet
Effect of green tea extract on DNA repair and oxidative damage due to H2O2 in Jurkat T cells
No full textGreen tea is considered as an aid to good health since it should increase the antioxidants defence system of the body against radical damage. The aim of this study was to investigate, in Jurkat cells, the protective effect of green tea extract (GTE) supplementation (10 mg/L, corresponding to 15 μmol/L EGCg, 24 h) against oxidative DNA damage induced by different concentrations of hydrogen peroxide (from 10 to 200 μmol/L H2O2 for 15 min). The DNA damage, evaluated by the Comet assay, was dose dependent, however it reached a plateau at 75 μmol/L of H2O2 without any protective effect exerted by GTE. The DNA repair process, completed within 2 hours, was unaffected by supplementation. These results seem to suggest that GTE supplementation, is not able to protect Jurkat cells against H2O2 induced DNA damage, at least under the conditions used in this study
Environmental and genotypic influences on trace element and mineral concentrations in whole meal flour of einkorn (Triticum monococcum L. subsp. monococcum)
No full textTrace elements (Zn, Fe, Cu and Mn) and minerals (Ca, Mg, P and K) concentrations were determined in whole meal flour of five einkorn accessions and one bread wheat cultivar, cropped in four different locations for two years. The major factors influencing mineral levels were year and genotype, as well as their interaction. Einkorn varieties exhibited higher Zn (7.18 +/- 0.76 mg/100 g DM), Fe (5.23 +/- 0.47), Mn (4.65 +/- 0.23), Cu (0.90 +/- 0.08), Mg (151.2 +/- 9.00) and P (541.1 +/- 35.37) concentration than bread wheat. Mg concentration correlated positively with that of other bivalent cations (Zn and Ca). The relevant amount of trace elements consistently found in einkorn further confirms the potential of this cereal in human nutrition, either by direct consumption or by introgression of superior alleles into enhanced polyploid wheat cultivars
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