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Oxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in low-density lipoproteins (LDL) trapped in the arterial intima plays a critical role in atherosclerosis. Though there have been many studies on the atherogenicity of oxidized derivatives of unsaturated fatty acid esters of cholesterol, the effects of the oxidation end-products of these esters has been ignored in the literature.Through lipidomics analyses of the plasma of cardiovascular disease patients and human endarterectomy specimens we identified and quantified cholesteryl hemiesters (ChE), end-products of oxidation of polyunsaturated-fatty acid esters of cholesterol. Cholesteryl hemiazelate (ChA) was the most prevalent ChE identified. Importantly human monocytes, monocyte-derived macrophages (MDM) and neutrophils exhibit inflammatory features when exposed to sub-toxic concentrations of ChAin vitro. ChA increases the secretion of proinflammatory cytokines such as IL-1β and IL-6 and modulates the surface markers profile of monocytes and MDM.In vivo, when zebrafish larvae were fed with a ChA-enriched diet they exhibited neutrophil and macrophage accumulation in the vasculature in a caspase 1- and cathepsin B-dependent manner. ChA also triggered lipid accumulation at the bifurcation sites of the vasculature of the zebrafish larvae and negatively impacted their life expectancy.We conclude that ChA has pro-atherogenic properties and can be considered part of a damage-associated molecular pattern (DAMP) in the development of atherosclerosis.

Background & Objectives: Recently, constant and night pain has been discarded as adequate clinical markers to predict the presence of an underlying pathology in pediatric back pain. The pain intensity has been recognized as an important domain in the pain assessment. Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) is one of the most common validated tools to assess pediatric pain intensity in children above 8 years of age. The aim of this study is to assess NRS as a predictor of underlying pathologies found by magnetic resonance image (MRI) in pediatric back pain. We hypothesize that a higher NRS score is associated with a high sensitivity, specificity and likelihood ratio to identify the present of organic pathology in pediatric chronic back pain. Methodology: After obtaining Institutional Review Board approval, a retrospective electronical medical record review was conducted. All pediatric patients who reported back pain lasting > 4 weeks between 2009 to 2018 were enrolled in the study. As per regular protocol, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon evaluated all patients who presented with back pain. After a non-diagnostic history, physical examination and spinal x-ray; spine MRI was order. Pain was graded with the use of NRS from 0 to 10. Patients were divided in two groups: NRS (1-5) & NRS (6-10). Variables such as gender, age, pain frequency, night pain, neurological exam, and the presence of an underlying pathology were compared between both groups. Patients that presented with injury due to trauma, previous diagnosis of back pain or cervical pain were excluded. Results: A total of 467 patients were evaluated in the study. Mean age of subjects was 15 years; 69% being female. An underlying pathology was identified in 131/315 (41.6%) patients with NRS (6-10), and 55/152 (36.2%) patients with NRS (1-5) (P=0.27). Patients with NRS (6-10) had two times more probability of suffering constant pain (PConclusion: Evaluation and treatment of children and adolescent with chronic back pain is challenging. Our study shows a strong association between NRS high (6-10) and constant pain and/or abnormal neurological exam. However, the use of NRS of (6-10) was not found as adequate predictor for the presence of an underlying organic pathology in children and adolescent patients. Therefore, physicians should not rely only high NRS score to recommend advance imaging study to assess chronic back pain in children and adolescent patients. Summary [Table: see text]

This review tackles three important works within the broad Gramscian scholarship that have recently been translated into English. The three books (originally one in Portuguese, one in Spanish, and ...

Ever since the full text of The German Ideology appeared in 1932 it has been subject to persistent misreading due to the fact that the idiosyncratic nature of this work—as merely a rough, unedited, and unfinished draft as well as a fiercely polemical text—has been neglected. As a result, the majority of scholars have tended to claim that Marx and Engels in this work propose an empiricist or positivistic conception of human history and society. A critical reading that is sensitive to the peculiar nature of this text reveals that these common interpretations are wholly ungrounded and that, on the contrary, the authors develop their polemic against the Young Hegelians from an outlook that is deeply indebted to the Hegelian philosophical legacy (even though paradoxically the latter espouses an absolute idealistic viewpoint).

This is a review of Scritti su Marx, a collection of unpublished texts by important Italian political theorist and philosopher of law Norberto Bobbio (1909–2004). Although the book may lack substance in that it contains mostly preparatory notes for university seminars and for essays and texts that were eventually published in finished form, it has the spark and liveliness that always seemed to characterize Bobbio's permanent critical engagement with Marx, Marxism, and Marxists. It is also a welcomed volume in that it provides a brief view of the inner workings of a classic author of modern political theory.