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Summary: A crucial pathogenetic role of serum amyloid A (SAA) in granulomatous inflammation of sarcoidosis has recently been reported. In this study we analyzed SAA expression in detail, starting from proteomic analysis of serum of sarcoidosis patients. We also used the faster ELISA method that enabled us to examine a greater number of samples. Serum concentrations of SAA were significantly higher in sarcoidosis patients than controls (p < 0.001), inversely correlated with FEV1 and significantly higher in patients with subacute onset requiring prolonged and multiple steroid treatments (class 6 SCAC) than in patients with subacute onset not requiring therapy (class 4 SCAC) (p < 0.001). Our results suggest that serum amyloid A could be a suitable marker of sarcoidosis: its serum concentrations are significantly higher in sarcoidosis patients than controls, the protein is only expressed in gels of sarcoidosis patients and not in healthy subjects, and the SAA1 isoforms could match the unidentified biomarker of sarcoidosis reported in a previous proteomic study by another group. The effectiveness of SAA as a clinical biomarker of sarcoidosis should now be investigated in a large prospective study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The goal of the trial was to evaluate meat quality, with an emphasis on intramuscular fatty acid composition, of Sanfratellano foals, compared to that from Haflinger foals,both slaughtered at 18 months of age. Thirty foals, half of Sanfratellano breed and half of Haflinger breed, naturally weaned at 7–8 months, were divided into two homogeneous groups at 15 months of age and fed a finishing diet based on polyphite hay and concentrate. The finishing period lasted three months. Sanfratellano foals showed higher slaughter weight (P <0.05) as well carcass weight (P <0.05) compared to Haflinger foals. Meat physical and proximate analyses did not discriminate the two groups. Normal pH values (5.6–5.7) measured at 4–6 day post mortem were recorded in meat from both groups. Shear force values accounted (range 55–58N) for a favourable tenderness in both groups. The intramuscular fat level was low in both groups (<2.5%) supporting the healthy image of this meat. The proportion of linolenic acid was higher (P <0.01) in Haflinger meat than in Sanfratellano one, thus causing a higher (P <0.05) total n−3 fatty acid content. Overall meat from both groups showed a favourable repartition among saturated (36–37% total FAME’s), monounsaturated (33% total FAME’s) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (30–31% total FAME’s). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The theory of multidimensional persistent homology was initially developed in the discrete setting, and involved the study of simplicial complexes filtered through an ordering of the simplices. Later, stability properties of multidimensional persistence have been proved to hold when topological spaces are filtered by continuous functions, i.e. for continuous data. This paper aims to provide a bridge between the continuous setting, where stability properties hold, and the discrete setting, where actual computations are carried out. More precisely, a stability preserving method is developed to compare the rank invariants of vector functions obtained from discrete data. These advances confirm that multidimensional persistent homology is an appropriate tool for shape comparison in computer vision and computer graphics applications. The results are supported by numerical tests. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Fourteen Barbaresca lambs were divided into two groups of seven at 24h from birth and reared exclusively on natural milk (NR) or on artificial milk (AR). Lambs were slaughtered at 40 days of age. The NR group tended (P <0.10) to grow faster, thus resulting in a higher (P <0.10) carcass weight as compared to the AR group. AR meat was darker (P <0.05), leaner (P <0.001) and with a higher moisture (P <0.10) and ash (P <0.05) content than its counterpart. The proportion of polyunsaturated fatty acids was higher (P <0.01), while that of saturated lower (P <0.01) in meat from the AR group, resulting in a higher (P <0.01) polyunsaturated/saturated ratio. Linoleic acid content (P <0.001) and its n-6 series derivatives, except 9–12 trans C18:2 n-6 (P <0.001), increased more in the AR group meat than in the NR group. On the other hand, α-linolenic (P <0.001) and other n-3 series fatty acids were higher in meat from the NR group than in the AR group, leading to a lower (P <0.001) n-6/n-3 ratio. Furthermore, 9 cis 11 trans CLA was higher (P <0.001) in NR meat compared to AR meat. Finally, a milk-feeding regime exclusively based on artificial milk adversely affected the dietetic value of lamb meat compared to a natural rearing system, reducing the level of desirable fatty acids such as n-3 series and CLA. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• An architecture for evaluation of Instrument Transformer impact on PMUs is proposed. • In presence of modulation even a linear IT can strongly worsen PMU performance. • Even compensating CT systematic errors, CT exceeds limits for their accuracy class. • Even compensating CT systematic errors, the PMU errors can approach standard limit. • Lower IT accuracy classes imply higher errors in presence of modulations. Instrument Transformers (ITs) are essential devices for all the measurement tasks, f.i. metering, protection and diagnostics, in electricity grids, since they scale voltage and current down to levels compatible with measuring instruments. At the input of Power Quality (PQ) instruments and Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs), inductive voltage and current transformers (VTs and CTs) are still the most used ITs, even if, their performance in presence of disturbances is not fully assessed. This paper analyses the impact of the inductive CTs on the measurement of fundamental synchrophasors, by a PMU, in presence of a particular class of disturbances, the undesired modulations on current signals. Experimental tests, on two different CTs, show that there are critical situations, where, even compensating CT systematic ratio and phase errors, 1) CT exceeds its accuracy class limit and 2) considering the sole contribution of CT, PMU performance stays very close to the error limits of the standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The level of consciousness is normally assessed based on the ability of an individual to interact with the surrounding environment and communicate. Theoretically, consciousness is thought to rely on brain complexity (i.e., joint presence of functional integration and functional differentiation). Transcranial magnetic stimulation combined with electroencephalography (TMS/EEG) has been recently proposed as a neurophysiological tool able to gauge the conjoint presence of integration and information in physiological and pathological conditions. Here we tested the reliability of the algorithmic complexity of TMS-evoked potentials (Perturbational Complexity Index, PCI) by comparing PCI with the Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R) in sixty chronic brain-injured patients (22 vegetative state-VS, 25 minimally conscious state-MCS, 13 conscious state-CS) with a stable clinical diagnosis. CRS-R was significantly lower in VS as compared to MCS and CS groups. Interestingly, PCI invariably discriminated between VS and MCS/CS conditions at the single-patient level. Although preliminary, our results suggest that PCI may serve as a valuable tool to discriminate VS and MCS/CS conditions also when the behavioral evaluation gives ambiguous indications. Future studies should further validate PCI in discriminating VS from MCS/CS by involving larger samples and by comparing it with other brain functional assessments, e.g., event-related potentials and/or functional magnetic resonance imaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]