193 research outputs found
Anisakis spp. larvae (Nematoda : Anisakidae) as biological tags: Genetic markers and fish stocks implication
No full textGenetic markers (20 enzyme loci) were used for the identification of different species of Anisakis larvae collected from two marine fish species (Trachurus trachurus and Merluccius merluccius) throughout their geographic range. A. simplex s.s., A.pegreffii, A.ziphidarum, A.typica, A. physeteris and A.brevispiculata were detected in M.merluccius; whereas, A.simplex s.s, A.pegreffii, A.physeteris in T.trachurus. Significant differences were observed in their relative proportions in the samples from Atlantic and Mediterranean waters suggesting their use as biological tags in fish stocks characteristion
Le iconografie di San Nicola di Bari e San Berardo sullo storico stendardo della Confraternita di San Berardo di Colli di Montebove
No full textÈ stata analizzata l’iconografia che contraddistingue San Nicola di Bari e San Berardo sullo stendardo del 1859 della confraternita di San Berardo (la Societas Sancti Berardi), firmato “L. Giannantorij”, custodito nella chiesa di San Berardo a Colli di Monte Bove.
Dal confronto iconografico e agiografico dei due santi, entrambi vescovi vissuti in periodi storici caratterizzati da grandi forze eversive, è ribadito il ruolo attribuito a San Nicola di intercessore, il cui culto è stato promosso dalla Chiesa cattolica in un periodo caratterizzato dal tentativo di riunificazione delle due chiese (greca e latina). Tuttavia, nello stendardo l’intermediario per eccellenza posto in risalto è San Berardo (in continuità con San Nicola), contraddistinto da una maggiore vicinanza al luogo natio, in cui si trova la confraternita
Initial steroid-free immunosuppression after liver transplantation in recipients with hepatitis c virus related cirrhosis
No full textAIM: Steroids can increase hepatitis C virus (HCV) replication. After liver transplantation (LTx), steroids are commonly used for immunosuppression and acute rejection is usually treated by high steroid dosages. Steroids can worsen the outcome of recurrent HCV infection. Therefore, we evaluated the outcome of HCV infected liver recipients receiving initial steroid-free immunosuppression. METHODS: Thirty patients undergoing LTx received initial steroid-free immunosuppression. Indication for LTx included 7 patients with HCV related cirrhosis. Initial immunosuppression consisted of tacrolimus 2x0.05 mg/kg.d po and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) 2x15 mg/kg.d po. The tacrolimus dosage was adjusted to trough levels in the target range of 10-15 mu g/L during the first 3 mo and 5-10 mu g/L thereafter. Manifestations of acute rejection were verified histologically. RESULTS: Patient and graft survival of 30 patients receiving initial steroid-free immunosuppression was 86% and 83% at 1 and 2 years. Acute rejection occurred in 8/30 patients, including 1 HCV infected recipient. All HCV-infected patients had HCV genotype II (1b). HCV seropositivity occurred within the first 4 mo after LTx. The virus load was not remarkably increased during the first year after LTx. Histologically, grafts had no severe recurrent hepatitis. CONCLUSION: From our experience, initial steroid-free immunosuppression does not increase the risk of acute rejection in HCV infected liver recipients. Furthermore, none of the HCV infected patients developed serious chronic liver diseases. It suggests that it may be beneficial to avoid steroids in this particular group of patients after LTx. Wietzke-Braun P, Braun F, Sattler B, Ramadori G, Ringe B. Initial steroid-free immunosuppression after liver transplantation in recipients with hepatitis c virus related cirrhosis. World J Gastroenterol 2004; 10(15): 2213-2217 http://www.wjgnet.com/1007-9327/10/2213.as
Preliminary Studies on the Synthesis and Antimicrobial activity of TiO2/Ag/Au nanoparticles on materials for sanitation of indoor Ambient Assisted Living environments.
No full textPreliminary Studies on the Synthesis and Antimicrobial activity of TiO2/Ag/Au nanoparticles on materials for sanitation of indoor Ambient Assisted Living environments.
Ramadori A. T. a,b Galassi R.,a Micozzi, D.,c Pucciarelli, S. c
a School of Science and Technology, Chemistry Division, University of Camerino, Via S. Agostino 1, 62032 Camerino; e-mail: [email protected]
b Fellow from T.R.A.S.P.A.R.E.N:T.E project
c School of Biology, Chemistry Division, University of Camerino, Via S. Agostino 1, 62032 Camerino;
Infectious diseases contracted in the home environment are still a significant problem in the western world due to the excessive use of antibiotics, the occurrence of bacterial resistance and not always correct behavior of the population; prevention and personal hygiene are able to dramatically reduce the risk of transmission, but in some circumstances, for example in the case of older people not fully self-sufficient, long-term care in hospitals and residential health and social environments, which are overcrowded and poorly ventilated, normal personal and domestic hygiene measures may be insufficient.1 Hence, in the development of new technology for the improvement of the sanitation of environments and objects, the use of nanoparticle (NP) systems2 based on Au, Ag and TiO2 NPs was taken into consideration as additives in plasters, resins for water-based paints and varnishes. TiO2 has been purchased, while different Au and Ag NPs syntheses have been perfomed.3 The NPs have been characterized by spectroscopic methods such as UV-vis or IR spectroscopy. Different formulations and concentrations of NPs have been attempted. The obtained samples were tested to evaluate their antimicrobial activity on pathogenic coltures.
References:
1) a) Bruce, N.; Perez-Padilla, R.; Albalak, R. Bull.World Health Org. 2000, 78, 1078-1092. b) Gandara, A.; Mota, L. C.; Gibbs S. G. Environ. Health Perspective 2006, 114, 1859-1864.
2) Ashavani, K.; Praveen, K. V.; Pulickel, M. A.; George, J. Nature Materials 2008, doi:10.1038/nmat2099.
3) a) Wojtysiak, S.; Kudelski, A. Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects, 2012, 410, 45-51. b) Rohiman, A., Anshori, I., Surawijaya, A., Idris, I. AIP Conf. Proc. 2011, 1415, 39-42. c) Cubillana-Aguilera, L.M.; Franco-Romano, M.; Gil, M.L.A.; Naranjo-Rodríguez, I.; Hidalgo-Hidalgo de Cisneros, J. L.; Palacios-Santander, J.M. Ultrasonics Sonochemistry, 2011, 18, 789-794
Synthesis and elaboration of peptidomimetic units
No full textRetro-peptides are peptidomimetics that present the direction of the amino acidic sequence reversed. A classical retro modification can be obtained by the introduction of the malonyl unit followed by a gem-diaminic unit, that can result in an increase of proteolysis resistance of the related parent peptide, retarding degradation and consequently enhancing therapeutic efficacy.This thesis aims at developing synthetic stategies to synthesize new interesting building blocks for the construction of peptidomimetics containing a retro modification.In this field Meldrum’s acid is recently reported as a useful scaffold to obtain non-symmetric disubstituted malonamides rAA-mGly-AA′ as building blocks for the synthesis of retro-peptides. The attention has been turned towards the synthetic elaboration of different rAA-mGly-AA′ with the aim of introducing, into the malonamide backbone, the olefinic moiety by a Knoevenagel condensation, obtaining correspondig malonyl dehydro peptides MDHPs.The investigation of a further elaboration was carried out to obtain the corresponding epoxy and aziridino peptides,interesting building blocks containing electrophilic sites known to react with nucleophilic amino acids within the active site of proteases. Starting from L-amino acids, a new methodology is presented for the synthesis of gem-diaminic units g-AA that replace the sense of direction of amino acids in retro-peptide chain.In the field of amino acid and peptide modifications by palladium catalysed reactions, in the University of Bath a methodology has been developed to synthesise biphenyl lysine derivatives by a two step procedure, where the key step involves a Suzuki cross-coupling reaction
La liquidità del paesaggio culturale: dalle tracce delle civiltà antiche ai segni della civiltà industriale
No full textNella società moderna (definita liquida da Bauman), dai legami fragili e mutevoli, incerta, flessibile, vulnerabile, il paesaggio culturale, costituito da un ambiente che presenta segni dell’intervento umano testimoni della cultura di una o più epoche, ha avuto una significativa evoluzione, riflesso della stessa società che lo riconosce e lo fruisce.
È sintomatico, dal punto di vista normativo, il passaggio in Italia, in meno di un secolo, da una tutela prevalente delle «cose», comprendenti ville, parchi e giardini di interesse artistico o storico, e da una concezione estetizzante dell’ambiente naturale, inteso come «bellezze naturali panoramiche», in cui la tutela del contesto era finalizzata a decoro e godimento del bene (legge Bottai, 1 giugno 1939, n. 1089), a una tutela dei beni culturali comprendenti anche le cose immobili e mobili che rivestono un interesse particolarmente importante per la scienza, la tecnica, l’industria e la cultura in genere nonché i beni paesaggistici (Codice dei beni culturali e del paesaggio, d.l. 22 gennaio 2004, n. 42, art. 10 della l. 6 luglio 2002, n. 137).
L’archeologia dei paesaggi è quindi chiamata a considerare tra le tracce delle civiltà sviluppate, alternate e stratificate in un determinato luogo e le sue risorse, pure quelle successive alla rivoluzione industriale e all’avvento della modernizzazione, anche se invasive e non rispettose dell’ambiente stesso.
Si propone dunque di analizzare il cambiamento della definizione di paesaggio culturale (sviluppatosi dalla “teoria del contesto” che attribuiva senso pieno e valore alle opere solo se inserite nel proprio ambito culturale), attraverso il cambiamento estetico della visione dell’ambiente e degli interventi umani su di esso, nell’ambito archeologico, artistico, del restauro, con i suoi rapporti con l’ecologia e le normative internazionali per la tutela ambientale
Early gene expression of hepatocyte growth factor in mononuclear phagocytes of rat liver after administration of carbon tetrachloride
No full textBackground: Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) is a potent hepatocyte mitogen supposed to be a main stimulant of hepatocyte replication during liver regeneration. During acute liver injury, HGF has been detected in nonparenchymal cells of the liver. Methods: We performed in situ hybridization of HGF in rat livers after administration of carbon tetrachloride (CCl4). Mononuclear phagocytes (MNP) were isolated from normal and injured livers and HGF expression was analyzed by Northern blotting, in situ hybridization, and immunoprecipitation of S-35-labeled proteins. Results: In situ hybridization of normal liver revealed few HGF positive cells within hepatic sinusoids. In injured livers, the number of cells containing HGF transcripts was increased at 6-24 h after CCl4. Hepatocyte growth factor transcripts in MNP from normal liver were detectable in trace amounts, but became clearly detectable at 6 h and persisted up to 24 h after CCl4 administration. In situ hybridization of MNP isolated from normal liver did not reveal positive cells. Mononuclear phagocytes became HGF-positive when isolated 6 h after CCl4. Hepatocyte growth factor protein was detected in MNP isolated 24 h after CCl4. Conclusions: Hepatocyte growth factor in MNP is not directly induced by interferon-alpha, interferon-gamma or tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha). Stimulated resident mononuclear phagocytes may play a significant role in the increase of HGF expression in liver regeneration after acute liver injury
Improved quality of life in patients with refractory or recidivant ascites after insertion of transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunts
No full textBackground. We have recently shown that the transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) is more effective than paracentesis in the treatment of cirrhotic patients with severe ascites and can prolong survival in selected patients. Although an improved quality of life (QOL) has been suggested in these patients after the TIPS procedure, so far there are no data available to substantiate this assumption. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the effect of TIPS on the QOL in cirrhotic patients with refractory or recidivant ascites. Methods: 21 cirrhotic patients who underwent TIPS for refractory or recidivant ascites were investigated. All patients were pretreated with repeated paracentesis for at least 1 year. Before the procedure and at 3 and 6 months during follow-up, the patients themselves rated QOL, fatigue and physical performance on a visual analogue scale (range 0-100). Furthermore, QOL was determined by the QOL index (range 0-10) according to Spitzer. Results: Patients' rating of the QOL on the visual analogue scale significantly increased from 35 +/- 25 (baseline) to 64 +/- 28 (3 months), and 66 +/- 24 (6 months; p = 0.02). Similarly, the QOL index significantly increased from 6.9 +/- 2.0 (baseline) to 8.3 +/- 2.1 (3 months), and 8.6 +/- 1.7 (6 months; p < 0.001). The increase of QOL was more pronounced in patients with complete response to TIPS. Conclusions: We demonstrate that TIPS for refractory or recidivant ascites improves the QOL in patients with cirrhosis. Our data indicates that this improvement is dependent on the response to therapy. Copyright (C) 2002 S. Karger AG, Basel
Synthesis of gem-diamino acid derivatives by a Hofmann rearrangement
No full textStarting from commercially available N-protected l-alpha-amino acids, N,N'-protected gem-diaminic units were obtained by a two-step methodology. A Hofmann reaction performed using a primary alcohol as the solvent to trap the isocyanate intermediate represents the key step of the new synthetic procedure. Then, the methodology was applied to alpha-carbamoyl alpha'-carboxyl aziridines, also functionalized with l-alpha-amino esters and stable gem-diaminic units characterized by an aziridine ring and by a retro-peptide modification were obtained. The use of the latter units in the retro-peptide chemistry allows to obtain modified peptides containing an aziridine ring able to behave as an electrophilic site and as a biomimetic structural analog of proline
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