266 research outputs found
Urinary Dickkopf-3 and Contrast- Associated Kidney Damage
No full textBACKGROUND Administration of iodinated contrast medium (CM) during invasive cardiovascular procedures may be associated with impairment of kidney function. OBJECTIVES Urinary dickkopf-3 (DKK3), a stress-induced renal tubular epithelium–derived glycoprotein, has been identified as a biomarker predicting both acute kidney injury (AKI) and persistent kidney dysfunction. METHODS Urinary DKK3/creatinine ratio (uDKK3/uCr), urine and serum neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (uNGAL, sNGAL) and serum cystatin C (sCyC) were assessed in 458 patients with chronic kidney disease scheduled for invasive cardiovascular procedures requiring CM administration with universal adoption of nephroprotective interventions. Contrast-associated AKI (CA-AKI) was defined as serum creatinine increase 25% at 1 month compared with baseline. RESULTS CA-AKI occurred in 64 or the 458 patients (14%), and baseline uDKK3/uCr 322 pg/mg appeared as the best threshold for its prediction. Adding baseline uDKK3/uCr to the Mehran, Gurm, and NCDR scores significantly increased IDI and NRI (all p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS Baseline uDKK3/uCr seems to be a reliable marker for improving the identification of patients with chronic kidney disease undergoing invasive coronary and peripheral procedures at risk for AKI and persistent kidney dysfunction. (J Am Coll Cardiol 2021;77:2667–76) © 2021 by the American College of Cardiology Foundation."This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 891551"
La riforma (ancora in cantiere) della magistratura onoraria e la decisione della Consulta n. 41/2021: la partecipazione degli ausiliari nei collegi d’appello “sarà” costituzionalmente illegittima
No full textTaking into account the outcomes of the sentence no. 41/2021 of Italian Constitutional Court, which declared the incostincency of the legislation that introduced the “auxiliary judges” in the appeal
courts, the Author reflects on the current role of the non professional judges, in a general context of law-making’s and case-law’s interest on the subject. The Author analyzes also the decision-making process adopted by the Court which led to the “manipulation” of the temporal effects of the decision upholding the question of constitutional inconsistency
Marsico G., Valsiner J. (2018). Is there any reason for suffering—for science in psychology? In G. Marsico & J. Valsiner, J. (2018). Beyond the Mind: Cultural Dynamics of the Psyche. (pp. 49-52), Charlotte, N.C. USA: Information Age Publishing;
No full textPart I includes texts about the current state of affairs in psychology, and of the emergence of the new area—cultural psychology—that turns out to be older than psychology itself. The sentiments expressed in these two papers seem to represent the doubts their author has about the future of psychology as a science
miR-221 acts as stemness promoter in breast cancer cells by targeting DNMT3b
No full textCurrent hypotheses suggest that tumor originates from cells that carry out a process of “malignant reprogramming” driven by genetic and epigenetic alterations. Multiples studies reported the existence of stem-cell-like cells that acquire the ability to self-renew and are able to generate the bulk of more differentiated cells that form the tumor. This population of cancer cells, called cancer stem cells (CSC), is responsible for sustaining the tumor growth and is able to disseminate and migrate giving metastases to distant organs. Furthermore, CSCs have shown to be more resistant to anti-tumor treatments than the differentiated cells, suggesting that surviving CSCs could be responsible for tumor relapse after therapy. Nevertheless, the cancer stem-like properties are not well characterized yet. MicroRNAs (miRs) are small, noncoding RNAs (20-25 nucleotidies) that play a crucial role in biological processes including development, proliferation, and apoptosis. Previous investigations have linked miRs to the control of self-renewal and differentiation of normal stem cells. The aim of this study was to test the functional role of miRs in human Breast Cancer Stem Cells (BCSCs) also named mammospheres. We analyzed, by miR-Array, the miRs differentially expressed in BCSCs and their differentiated counterpart. Among several miRs, we focused our attention on miR-221 that was found increased in mammospheres. In order to validate data achieved in primary cultures, we obtained mammospheres from T47D, an immortalized breast cancer cell line. Interestingly, like primary cultures mammospheres, also T47D mammospheres exhibited increased levels of miR-221 compared to T47D differentiated cells. Moreover, the overexpression of miR-221 by a miR mimic in T47D differentiated cells was able to increase the number of mammospheres and the expression of stem cell protein markers. Among miR-221 targets, we demonstrated, by luciferase-assay, that miR-221 targets the 3' untranslated region of DNMT3b, a DNA Methyl Transferase. Furthermore, our data showed that DNMT3b was able to repress the expression of some stemness genes, such as Nanog and Oct3/4, and mammospheres formation partially reverting miR-221 mediated effects on stemness properties. In conclusion, we hypothesize that miR-221 may contribute to breast cancer tumorigenicity regulating the stemness properties through DNMT3b expression
Spunti per il dibattito sul Regolamento (UE) 2017/625: armonizzazione normativa e atti delegati
No full textIn this work the Author examines the legislative technique used by the European Parliament in the regulation 625 of 2017 which entrusts the instrument of delegation with the integration of important parts of the same and highlights how this technique removes the European legislator from the aim pursued rationalization and simplification of the global regulatory framework by integrating the rules relating to official controls, currently located in specific sectors, in a single regulatory framework relating to official controls
Il Messale di Gjon Buzuku: la lingua materna nella prassi liturgica albanese
No full textMeshari ‘The Missal’ (1555) is the first known printed book in Albanian. It is a translation from the Latin of the Catholic Missal, made by the ecclesiastical Gjon Buzuku. The only known copy extant is preserved in the Apostolic Library of the Vatican in Rome. It is missing the frontispiece and the first 16 pages, so the title and place of publication of the work are not known. The place the book was printed is thought to be Venice. The Meshari contains texts of prayers, rituals, catechetical texts and the liturgies of the main holidays. All we know about the author is from the book’s colophon written by Buzuku himself in Albanian. In the colophon, he explains the reasons that led him to divulge the Christian doctrine using the language of its land. The time in which The Meshari appeared was of great cultural decay for Albania, a land where frictions have been consumed between Catholicism and Orthodoxy, and where Christian and Muslim civilizations were one against the other. Buzuku offers to the people of Albanian believers to approach the Sacred scriptures through their language. Since the use of Latin was far from the understanding of Albanian people, Buzuku translated the divine Word in order to allow that it was comprehensible to the Albanian Christians
Andrej Belyj. Sinfonia (2-a, la drammatica). E il tempo scorreva senza sosta...
No full textAndrej Belyj (1913-1914), esordisce nel 1902 con un’opera che inaugura in Russia il genere letterario della sinfonia. Nell’introduzione a Sinfonia (2-a, la drammatica) Belyj spiega che l’opera «ha tre significati: uno musicale, uno satirico e uno ideologico-simbolico». Dal «significato musicale», che porta l’autore a «dividere la sinfonia in parti, le parti in frammenti e i frammenti in versi (frasi musicali)», nasce il genere misto di prosa e poesia di cui Belyj si serve per enfatizzare il contenuto mistico, satirico e grottesco dell’opera, che caratterizzerà poi anche Pietroburgo. Nella Seconda sinfonia}Belyj prende di mira i gruppi di mistici che andavano formandosi all’inizio del Novecento a Mosca e Pietroburgo, citando esplicitamente o raffigurando velatamente personaggi reali del mondo della letteratura, dell’arte e della filosofia, come Vladimir Solov’ev (1853-1900), Dmitrij Merežkovskij (1865-1941) e altri. Motivi strettamente autobiografici vengono così presentati sotto forma di immagini grottesche e iperboliche, alternate a momenti di estremo lirismo. Al «significato musicale» è legata anche la particolare scansione del tempo in cui si dispiega la trama dell’opera, che inizia con il lento trascorrere di un’intera giornata e accelera poi nel passare dei mesi e delle stagioni per ritornare, ciclicamente e drammaticamente, al punto di partenza. Questo procedimento artistico è ben sintetizzato in uno dei leitmotive dell’opera: «E il tempo scorreva senza sosta, e nello scorrere del tempo si rifletteva l’Eternità brumosa». Andrei Bely (1880-1934), poet, novelist, theorist and literary critic of the Russian Symbolist movement, author of the famous novel in rhythmic prose Petersburg (1913-1914), made his literary debut in 1902 with a work introducing in Russia a new literary genre, the symphony. In the introduction to The Dramatic Symphony, Bely explains that the work «has three meanings: a musical meaning, a satirical meaning, and a symbolic ideological meaning». The «musical meaning» inspires the author in splitting the Symphony «into parts, the parts into fragments, and the fragments into verses (musical phrases)», thus creating a new literary genre, which combines prose and poetry, and emphasizes the mystic, satirical and grotesque content of the work. This mix of prose and poetry is also typical of the novel Petersburg. In the Dramatic Symphony Bely was targeting groups of mystics operating in the early 1900’s in Moscow and Saint Petersburg. He openly mentions or covertly alludes to actual protagonists of the literary, artistic and philosophical Russian society: Vladimir Solovyov (1853-1900), Dmitry Merezhkovsky (1865-1941) and others. Strictly autobiographical themes are presented in form of grotesque and hyperbolic images, alternating with moments of great lyrical tension. The «musical meaning» is also linked to the particular conception of time through which the plot of Bely’s Symphony is developed. At the beginning, a whole day passes by very slowly; then time speeds up and the plot goes through several months and seasons. At the end of the work we are back to where we started, like in a dramatic cycle. This method is well summarized in one of the leitmotive of the work: «And the time flowed without stopping, and the passage of time reflected the Eternity misty».</p
Highly Homogeneous Biotinylated Carbon Nanodots: Red-Emitting Nanoheaters as Theranostic Agents toward Precision Cancer Medicine
No full textVery
recent red-emissive carbon nanodots (CDs) have shown potential
as near-infrared converting tools to produce local heat useful in
cancer theranostics. Besides, CDs seem very appealing for clinical
applications combining hyperthermia, imaging, and drug delivery in
a single platform capable of selectively targeting cancer cells. However,
CDs still suffer from dramatic dot-to-dot variability issues such
that a rational design of their structural, optical, and chemical
characteristics for medical applications has been impossible so far.
Herein, we report for the first time a simple and highly controllable
layer-by-layer synthesis of biotin-decorated CDs with monodisperse
size distribution, well established polymeric shell thickness, and
degree of surface functionalization, endowed with strong red luminescence
and the ability to convert NIR light into heat. These CDs, henceforth
named CDs-PEG-BT, consist of a carbonaceous core passivated with biotin-terminated
PEG2000 chains, which we demonstrate as active targeting
groups to recognize cancer cells. The CDs-PEG-BT are designed to efficiently
incorporate a high amount of anticancer drugs such as irinotecan (16–28%)
and to act as NIR-activated nanoheaters capable of triggering local
hyperthermia and massive drug release inside tumors, thus provoking
sudden and efficient tumor death. The potential of the irinotecan-loaded
CDs-PEG-BT (CDs-PEG-BT@IT) in fluorescence imaging was studied on
2D cultures and on complex 3D spheroids mimicking in vivo tumor architectures,
showing their capability of selectively entering cancer cells through
biotin receptors overexpressed in cell membranes. The efficient anticancer
effect of these CDs was thoroughly assessed on multicellular 3D spheroids
and patient organoids (tumor-on-a-dish preclinical models) to predict
the drug response in humans in view of personalized medicine applications.
CDs-PEG-BT@IT have a smart combination of properties, which pave the
way to their real-world use as anticancer theranostic agents for image-guided
photothermal applications
Marsico, G., Brandelli Costa, A., (2023). The Journal’s Growth: The Role of the Associate Editors, Trends in Psychology. 10.1007/s43076-023-00296-6
No full textIt is always with great happiness that we announce the growth of our journal. Based
on Springer annual report, since 2020, the journal has doubled the number of articles
accepted for publication. Also, the number of accesses to the full texts of published
articles increased by almost three times. The journal has also seen an increasing
diversity in terms of geographic regions for both the submissions received and
the accesses, with author and readers from all the continents. This is the result of the
collective efforts of our associate editors, along with the Brazilian Society of Psychology and the Springer Team
I piccoli padiglioni universitari progettati da Enrico Mandolesi a Cagliari
No full textBetween 1962 and 1964, Enrico Mandolesi designed three small pavilions for the University of Cagliari: the Great Models Pavilion for the Institute of Construction 377 377 Antonello Sanna, Giuseppina Monni, Emanuela Quaquero I PICCOLI PADIGLIONI UNIVERSITARI PROGETTATI DA ENRICO MANDOLESI A CAGLIARI Science, the Pavilion for the Institute of Hydraulics and the Institute of Genetics. In all cases, the “pictorial” dimension, placing on the same level the warm tones of the clinker and the neutral one of the reinforced concrete, shows the author’s firm belief that all the materials have the same relevance. This is a lesson that Mandolesi learns from Mario Ridolfi, precursor of the Italian realism that abolishes the hierarchy between structural elements and finishes and declares that the creative idea of architecture lies in the precision of details. In the Great Models Pavilion for the Institute of Construction Science he chose to create a new volume connected to preexisting buildings with a small building. The horizontal and vertical windows declare the non-structural nature of the envelope made of bricks. A cultured design approach that uses the paradigm of the Illinois Institute of Technology by Mies van de Rohe. The Institute of Genetics is a building composed of two small volumes articulated on two levels and hinged to an independent stairway with a square plan. In this case, on a formal level, the basic principle is the horizontality that Mandolesi pursues at every level of detail. The author applied a combined solution that includes solid brick walls and a steel structure that connects to the frames of the fixtures. Both cases represent an accurate narration of construction stories that uses the combination of different materials, classic elements and modern solutions, the rough surfaces of reinforced concrete and the smooth ones of brick strips
- …
