115 research outputs found
Francesco V. Tomassi (comp.) : Der Zyklop in der Wissenschaft. Kant und die anthopologia transcendentalis, Archiv für Begriffsgeschichte, 14, Hamburg: Félix Meiner Verlag, 2018
No full textReseña de: Francesco V. Tomassi (comp.), Der Zyklop in der Wissenschaft. Kant und die anthopologia transcendentalis, Archiv für Begriffsgeschichte, 14, Hamburg, Félix Meiner Verlag, 2018, 207 pp. ISBN: 978-3-7873-3427-8
Strumenti per il raggiungimento delle coperture vaccinali, verifica della qualità delle prestazioni e valutazione dei programmi vaccinali
No full textOpportunità di uno “screening” perimetrico negli addetti alla guida di mezzi ad alta velocità.
No full textPossibilità di uno screening perimetrico per gli addetti alla guida di mezzi ad alta velocità.
No full textStrumenti per il raggiungimento delle coperture vaccinali, verifica della qualità delle prestazioni e valutazione dei programmi vaccinali
No full textBDNF transcripts modulation in the blood of subjects exposed to childhood trauma history
No full textAdverse influences, particularly early in development, can result in permanent changes in physiology and metabolism, which result in increased disease risk in adulthood. Childhood trauma experiences have been indeed found able to modulate brain structure and functions through alterations in neuroplasticity [1].
Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) is a neurotrophin that plays a crucial role in neuronal development and plasticity; it is involved in the effects of stress and also in the pathogenesis of several mental disorders. The human BDNF gene is very complex and it consists of several transcripts that are all characterized by the presence of the common coding exon at the 3’end [2,3].
To date no information regarding the expression of BDNF transcripts in the blood and of their possible modulation by stressful experiences is available.
The aim of this study was to characterize the expression of BDNF transcripts in the blood of human subjects and investigate their modulation in association to exposure to stressful life experiences.
We have measured total BDNF mRNA levels through Real Time PCR in peripheral blood of adult subjects (n=40) clinically assessed for exposure during childhood to sexual, emotional and/or physical trauma by childhood trauma questionnaire. We found a significant reduction in the mRNA levels of total BDNF in the blood of subjects exposed to childhood trauma versus not exposed subjects (p<0.05, −32%).
Then, to identify the BDNF transcript able to contribute to this BDNF modulation, we assessed the expression levels of the different BDNF transcript in the blood and we found that only transcripts IV and IX were well expressed. Thus, we focused our subsequent analyses on these transcripts and we evaluated by Real Time PCR their modulation in association with childhood trauma events. We found a significant modulation of both the transcripts, although a more pronounced effect was observed for transcript IV (−71%, p<0.05 for transcript IV; −35%, p<0.05 for transcript IX).
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In order to better characterize BDNF variants modulation we measured the levels of total BDNF and of the transcript IV and IX in an in vitro model represented by human hippocampal progenitors stem cells (HPSc) that we treated for three days during proliferation phase. Gene expression analyses were performed after 10 days of differentiation. We found that BDNF total levels and transcript IV and IX were downregulated also in HPC treated with cortisol (total BDNF −25%, p<0.05; transcript IV −19%, p<0.05; transcript IX −27%, p<0.05).
In order to investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying these long lasting changes in BDNF we are evaluating the role of DNA methylation and miRNAs as possible epigenetic mechanisms.
These data indicate that BDNF levels are reduced in the peripheral blood of subjects exposed to childhood trauma and that similar modulation occurs in neurons. BDNF variants IV and IX are the transcripts that contribute to BDNF modulation and a better characterization of their modulation may identify novel target for preventative therapies in subjects exposed to trauma and thus at higher risk to develop psychiatric illnesses in adulthood
Crack path in a Zn-Cu-Al PE alloy under uniaxial load
No full textPseudo-elastic (PE) materials are an important class of metallic alloy which exhibit unique features
with respect to common engineering metals. Because of these unique properties, PEs are able to recover their
original shape after high values of mechanical deformations, by removing the mechanical load (PE). From the
microstructural point of view shape memory and pseudo-elastic effects are due to a reversible solid state
microstructural diffusionless transitions from austenite to martensite, which can be activated by mechanical
and/or thermal loads. Copper-based shape memory alloys are preferred for their good memory properties and
low cost of production.
This paper describes the main crack initiation and its propagation in an tensile test in order to evaluate crack
path and its behaviour at low and at high values of deformation. Both grain boundary chemical properties and
X-ray diffraction will be discussed in order to correlate structural transition involved in an Cu-Zn-Al alloy
characterized by a PE behaviour
Wavelet shrinkage using adaptive structured sparsity constraints
No full textStructured sparsity approaches have recently received much attention in the statistics, machine learning, and signal processing communities. A common strategy is to exploit or assume prior information about structural dependencies inherent in the data; the solution is encouraged to behave as such by the inclusion of an appropriate regularisation term which enforces structured sparsity constraints over sub-groups of data. An important variant of this idea considers the tree-like dependency structures often apparent in wavelet decompositions. However, both the constituent groups and their associated weights in the regularisation term are typically defined a priori. We here introduce an adaptive wavelet denoising framework whereby a sparsity-inducing regulariser is modified based on information extracted from the signal itself. In particular, we use the same wavelet decomposition to detect the location of salient features in the signal, such as jumps or sharp bumps. Given these locations, the weights in the regulariser associated to the groups of coefficients that cover these time locations are modified in order to favour retention of those coefficients. Denoising experiments show that, not only does the adaptive method preserve the salient features better than the non-adaptive constraints, but it also delivers significantly better shrinkage over the signal as a whole
Tackling the challenges of the oral administration of a fermented flour extract with liposomes: Effect on intestinal HT-29 cells
No full textLisosanG is a fermented flour that contains polyphenols, polyunsaturated fatty acids, vitamins, and alpha-lipoic acid with antioxidant/anti-inflammatory properties. These compounds are often characterized by instability, low solubility/bioavailability, and poor absorption that restrict their application in therapy. These problems can be solved by using delivery systems among which liposomes have emerged as prominent candidates. Liposomes can load compounds with varied physico-chemical properties, providing protection from degradation, increased solubility, modulation of release, and facilitated diffusion across biomembranes. Lisosan G liposomes tailored for oral administration were prepared. Eudragit® enteric polymer was added to protect the liposomes from acidic pH. The Eudragit-liposomes were around 100 nm and unilamellar. They were resistant to acidic conditions and did not alter cell viability, nor intracellular ROS levels. These findings confirm that liposomes are an efficient system for the loading of multicomponent-based extracts and that, when properly formulated, can offer protection from physiological degradation, and be safely applied to cells
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