684 research outputs found
Anesthesia-induced developmental neurodegeneration: The role of neuronal organelles
Get PDFExposure to general anesthetics (GAs) and antiepileptics during critical stages of brain development causes significant neurotoxicity to immature neurons. Many animal, and emerging human studies have shown long-term functional sequelae manifested as behavioral deficits and cognitive impairments. Since GAs and antiepileptic drugs are a necessity, current research is focused on deciphering the mechanisms responsible for anesthesiainduced developmental neurotoxicity so that protective strategies can be devised. These agents promote massive and wide-spread neuroapoptosis that is caused by the impairment of integrity and function of neuronal organelles. Mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum are particularly vulnerable. By promoting significant release of intracellular calcium from the endoplasmic reticulum, anesthetics cause an increase in mitochondrial calcium load resulting in the loss of their integrity, release of pro-apoptotic factors, functional impairment of ATP synthesis, and enhanced accumulation of reactive oxygen species. The possibility that GAs may have direct damaging effects on mitochondria, resulting in the impairment of their morphogenesis, also has been proposed. This review will present evidence that neuronal organelles are critical and early targets of anesthesia-induced developmental neurotoxicity. © 2012 Jevtovic-Todorovic, Boscolo, Sanchez and Lunardi
Modern strategies and tools for water saving and drought mitigation in Southern Italy. In “Drought management: Scientific and technological innovation
No full textThe Role of a Steepness Parameter in the Exponential Stability of a Model Problem. Numerical Aspects
Get PDFThe Nekhoroshev theorem considers quasi integrable Hamiltonians providingstability of actions in exponentially long times.One of the hypothesis required by the theorem is a mathematical condition called steepness. Nekhoroshev conjectured that different steepness properties should implynumerically observable differences in the stability times.After a recent study on this problem (Guzzo et al. 2011, Todorovic et al. 2011) we show some additional numerical resultson the change of resonances and the diffusion laws produced by the increasing effect of steepness.The experiments are performed on a 4-dimensional steep symplectic map designed in a way that a parametersmoothly regulates the steepness properties in the model
Little Red Transister Radio from Trieste
No full textA book of short stories.
Dragan Todorovic’s Little Red Transistor Radio from Trieste is the first collection of his uniquely dark, surreal and searing short stories. From a young boy discovering rock ‘n’ roll rebellion via his transistor radio in a small town in the former Yugoslavia, to a speculative supermarket where even the fake fruit and air fresheners can’t hide pervasive shades of death, these stories encounter other ‘possible selves’, passengers, angels and voyeurs; things are lost and found and nowhere or no-one is quite as they appear to be
Immunohistological demonstration of CaV3.2 T-type voltage-gated calcium channel expression in soma of dorsal root ganglion neurons and peripheral axons of rat and mouse
No full textPrevious behavioral studies have revealed that CaV3.2 T-type calcium channels support peripheral nociceptive transmission and electrophysiological studies have established the presence of T-currents in putative nociceptive sensory neurons of dorsal root ganglion (DRG). To date, however, the localization pattern of this key nociceptive channel in the soma and peripheral axons of these cells has not been demonstrated due to lack of isoform-selective anti-CaV3.2 antibodies. In the present study a new polyclonal CaV3.2 antibody is used to localize CaV3.2 expression in rodent DRG neurons using different staining techniques including confocal and electron microscopy (EM). Confocal microscopy of both acutely dissociated cells and short-term cultures demonstrated strong immunofluorescence of anti-CaV3.2 antibody that was largely confined to smaller diameter DRG neurons where it co-localized with established immuno-markers of unmyelinated nociceptors, such as, CGRP, IB4 and peripherin. In contrast, a smaller proportion of these CaV3.2-labeled DRG cells also co-expressed neurofilament 200 (NF200), a marker of myelinated sensory neurons. In the rat sciatic nerve preparation, confocal microscopy demonstrated anti-CaV3.2 immunofluorescence which was co-localized with both peripherin and NF200. Further, EM revealed immuno-gold labeling of CaV3.2 preferentially in association with unmyelinated sensory fibers from mouse sciatic nerve. Finally, we demonstrated the expression of CaV3.2 channels in peripheral nerve endings of mouse hindpaw skin as shown by co-localization with Mrgpd-GFP-positive fibers. The CaV3.2 expression within the soma and peripheral axons of nociceptive sensory neurons further demonstrates the importance of this channel in peripheral pain transmission. © 2013 IBRO
Alphas in disguise: A new approach to uncovering them
Get PDFFama-French (Carhart) alphas of passive indices should be zero, but recent evidence shows otherwise. Inaccuracies of factors in the performance measurement models have been put forward as the main reason for this. Some computationally intensive solutions to factor adjustment have been proposed, but are not applicable to all benchmark indices. We propose an optimisation algorithm that makes minor adjustments to the market, size, value and momentum factors to obtain zero alphas for any benchmark index. In the sample of 1281 active and 102 passive US equity mutual funds benchmarking against S&P500, our adjustment leads to augmentation of fund performance upwards in periods of index underperformance and downwards in periods of index outperformance. Overall, the adjusted alphas of both groups of funds are significantly negative, signalling poor performance. This is particularly pronounced for tracker funds, whose managers have not been successful in enhancing returns adequately to make-up for the costs involved in any of the sub-periods examined
Synthesis, characterization and biological activity evaluation of Pt(II), Pd(II), Co(III) and Ni(II) complexes with N-heteroaromatic selenosemicarbazones
No full textFive new complexes of Pt(II), Pd(II), Co(III) and Ni(II) with 2-pyridine(quinoline) carboxaldehyde selenose-micarbazones were synthesized and characterized. Crystal structures of Pt(II) complex with the pyridine derivative and Co(III) complex with the quinoline derivative were determined. In all complexes the ligands were coordinated through N(2)Se donor atom set forming either square-planar (Pt, Pd) or octahedral (Co, Ni) geometry. All complexes showed biological activity. (C) 2009 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved
Comparing the interactive effects of water and nitrogen on durum wheat and barley grown in a Mediterranean environment
Get PDFThe understanding of the interactive effect of water and N availability, associated with the ability of crops to efficiently use these resources, is a crucial issue for stabilizing cereal production in Mediterranean areas. A 3-year side by side experiment on durum wheat and barley, under different water regimes and nitrogen levels, was carried out in a typical Mediterranean environment of Southern Italy, to identify the outstanding features of these species that contribute to enhanced grain yield and improved water and nitrogen use efficiency. Wheat and barley response was assessed under three water supply regimes (I100, I50, I0: full irrigation, 50% of full irrigation and rainfed) coupled with two N fertilizer levels (high N: 120 kg ha-1 and low N: not fertilized). In order to evaluate barley yield response under lower N rates, 60 kg ha-1 were applied in 2006. The occurrence of abundant rainfall during the experimental period determined only mild water stress during most of the growing season, especially in 2006 and 2007. Under these conditions, nitrogen fertilization was the main factor affecting crop response, and different crop traits in response to irrigation were primarily evident on tissue N concentrations. Grain number per unit land area explained a high proportion of grain yield and it was mainly influenced by N fertilization. Water availability enhanced N absorption: the response of both crops to N fertilization, in terms of N uptaken and grain N concentration, was higher in the year characterized by greater water availability during the most sensitive stages to drought stress. Under unfertilized conditions, the two crops showed similar response in terms of number of grains per unit land area; under N fertilization, barley exhibited a higher increase in number of grains per unit land area, but wheat achieved similar yields as consequence of the higher grain weight. In years characterized by similar average productivity of wheat, barley did not show further increase in number of seeds, even doubling the rate of N supplied. By increasing irrigation water supply, the two crops showed a similar yield response, but a different N partition, as confirmed by the lower nitrogen harvest index values for barley over 2007-2008. At similar total availability of N, barley reached higher N utilization efficiency than wheat, mainly because of a lower N concentration in the grain rather than a higher efficiency in using the available N. © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
Cardiorespiratory fitness in volleyball athletes following a covid-19 infection: A cross-sectional study
Get PDFAthletes’ lifestyles have been dramatically affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Since COVID-19 primarily affects the respiratory system and to a lesser degree the cardiovascular system, the goal of this study was to examine the effects of COVID-19-caused detraining on cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) of recently recovered volleyball athletes. Sixteen experienced volleyball athletes (age 24 ± 4.5 years) who were recently diagnosed and recovered from a COVID-19 infection volunteered to participate in this study and were tested for CRF and spirometry. Given that participants had only mild symptoms of infection, the primary focus of this study was on the effects of detraining on CRF. On average, the time to exhaustion was 9.4 ± 1.4 min. VE, VCO2, RER and oxygen pulse increased, heart rate exceeded 90% of predicted values, and peak VO2 values were typical for this level of athlete (44.1 ± 3.4 mL/kg). Pulmonary function reflected in FVC, FEV1/FVC and MVV values were well above 80% of predicted values for each of the participants while electrocardiography revealed no ischemia, arrythmias or conduction and repolarization abnormalities were found in the tested subjects. Conclusions: participants experienced typical consequences of detraining. Due to a lack of CRF data prior to COVID-19 infection, we were unable to estimate the magnitude detraining had on CRF. Complete CRF assessment after COVID-19 infection in athletes can be useful for screening of residual myocardial and/or respiratory system damage for safe return-to-play decisions
Synthesis, structure and cytotoxic activity evaluation of a dinuclear complex of Cd(II) with N ',N '(2)-bis[(1E)-1-(2-pyridyl)ethylidene]propanedihydrazide
No full textA new dinuclear complex of Cd(II) with N',N'(2)-bis[(1E)-1-(2-pyridyl)ethylidene]propanedihydrazide (H2L) was synthesized and its crystal structure determined. The basic structural unit of the complex is the binuclear [Cd-2(H2O)(2)(H2L)(2)](4+) cation, where each cadmium atom is heptacoordinated by two tridentate H2L ligands, by means of the NNO chelating system, and one water molecule. A 12-membered macrocycle is defined at the core of the binuclear cation. The complex showed a pronounced cytotoxic activity to murine melanoma B16 cells and human cervical cancer HeLa cells. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
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