Search

Natural wound healing products are in increased demand. The potential for unexplored Sedum species in wound healing was discovered based on benefits of the genus reported in traditional medicine. The objectives were to screen ten Sedum species for wound healing, to ascertain the optimal harvest period using the five best, and finally to investigate effects of extraction protocols on wound healing using the most promising species. Different protocols were used to extract leaf polyphenol and mucilage content. Wound healing was assessed from L929 fibroblast migration. April was the optimal harvest month for wound healing efficacy, whereas the highest polyphenol content and antioxidant activity were evident in September and November. S. album Murales (ALBU), the best candidate, was then compared with S. telephium (TELE), which is well recognized in skin care. The mucilage-containing aqueous extract of ALBU was shown for the first time to induce the highest fibroblast migration after 24 h, not evident in TELE. Moreover, functional constituents contained within the absolute acetone- and isopropanol-containing polyphenol pools from ALBU induced significantly higher migration compared to TELE. A prototype cream, containing the water- and solvent-extracted bioactive compounds was effective at inducing fibroblast migration at 24 h in ALBU. The potential of ALBU in wound healing was evidenced and warrants further investigation.

The cancer hazard associated with lifetime exposure to radiofrequency radiation (RFR) was examined in Sprague Dawley (SD) rats at the Ramazzini Institute (RI), Italy. There were increased incidences of gliomas and cardiac schwannomas. The translational relevance of these rare rat tumors for human disease is poorly understood. We examined the genetic alterations in RFR-derived rat tumors through molecular characterization of important cancer genes relevant for human gliomagenesis. A targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS) panel was designed for rats based on the top 23 orthologous human glioma-related genes. Single-nucleotide variants (SNVs) and small insertion and deletions (indels) were characterized in the rat gliomas and cardiac schwannomas. Translational relevance of these genetic alterations in rat tumors to human disease was determined through comparison with the Catalogue of Somatic Mutations in Cancer (COSMIC) database. These data suggest that rat gliomas resulting from life-time exposure to RFR histologically resemble low grade human gliomas but surprisingly no mutations were detected in rat gliomas that had homology to the human IDH1 p.R132 or IDH2 p.R172 suggesting that rat gliomas are primarily wild-type for IDH hotspot mutations implicated in human gliomas. The rat gliomas appear to share some genetic alterations with IDH1 wildtype human gliomas and rat cardiac schwannomas also harbor mutations in some of the queried cancer genes. These data demonstrate that targeted NGS panels based on tumor specific orthologous human cancer driver genes are an important tool to examine the translational relevance of rodent tumors resulting from chronic/life-time rodent bioassays.

We analysed all the Holocene structures defining the Fremrinamar Fissure Swarm (FFS), in the Northern Volcanic Zone of Iceland, through the interpretation of aerial photos, orthomosaics and Digital Surface Models (DSMs), and field surveys. We measured the strike, dip, length and kinematics of 761 normal faults and reconstructed the slip profile of 76 main faults (length >2 km), with the purpose of evaluating the overall direction of along-axis rift propagation. We also measured the strike of 146 eruptive fissures and 1,128 extension fractures. A total of 421 faults dip towards the east and 340 dip towards the west, mainly striking N0°-10°E. Maximum fault length is 14.2 km, and W-dipping faults are longer than E-dipping faults. The majority of eruptive fissures strike N10°-20°E, and are concentrated in the southern part of the FFS, around the Fremrinamar central volcano. Extension fractures mainly strike N0°-10°E, with a maximum length of 2,508 m. We evaluated the variation of strike, fracture density and spacing along the FFS, and observed a change of its trend from NNE-SSW in the central-southern part, to NNW-SSE in the northern part. We interpret this evidence as the effect of the intersection with the Grimsey Lineament. The tapering of fault slip profiles indicates a main northward propagation of the rift, and thus of the deformation, interpreted as the effect of lateral propagation of dykes from the magma chamber below the central volcano towards the north. Such interpretation is also supported by the distribution of normal faults, vertical offset and dilation values, and also by the rift width, which tend to decrease towards the north.

This work is aimed at reviewing the current state of the art in geosite selection, assessment, and communication. We first highlight the main papers that have defined paramount concepts such as geodiversity, geoheritage, and geosites. We then delve into the theoretical principles and guidelines that have been proposed over the last twenty years by researchers who have thoroughly illustrated how to individuate and assess geosites. In doing so, we illustrate notable field examples of applications of qualitative and quantitative assessments of geosites in places such as Serbia, India, Iceland, Ecuador, Sardinia (Italy), Egypt, Tasmania (Australia), and Brazil. The third part of this work is dedicated to illustrating a list (by no means exhaustive) of works that have tried to come up with innovative tools, strategies, and solutions to promote and communicate geosites. From our work, it appears that geosites can be extremely effective as fully fledged outreach tools capable of bridging the gap between Earth science and the lay public.

In the North Volcanic Zone of Iceland, we studied with the greatest possible detail the complete structural architecture and kinematics of the whole Theistareykir Fissure Swarm (ThFS), an N-S-trending, 70 km long active rift. We made about 7500 measurements along 6124 post-Late Glacial Maximum (LGM) extension fractures and faults, and 685 pre-LGM structures. We have collected the data over the last 6 years, through extensive field surveys and with the aid of drone mapping with centimetric resolution. In the southern sector of the study area, extension fractures and faults strike mainly N10°-20°, the opening direction is about N110°, and the dilation amount is in the range 0.1–10 m. In the central sector, faults and extension fractures strike mainly N00-10°, the opening direction is N90-100°, and the dilation amount is 0.1–9 m. In the northern sector, extension fractures and faults strike N30-40°, the opening direction is about N125°, and the dilation amount is 0.1–8 m. The variations in strike are attributable to two processes: the interaction with the WNW-ESE-striking Husavik-Flatey transform fault and Grímsey Oblique Rift (Grímsey lineament), and the structural inheritance of older NNE- to NE-striking normal faults. Most extension fractures show a minor strike-slip component: a systematic right-lateral component can be accounted for by the interaction with the WNW-ESE-striking fault zones and the regional, oblique opening of the rift. We regard dyke propagation as a possible cause for the more complex strike-slip components measured at several other fractures. Cumulated dilation and fracture frequency decrease along the rift with distance away from the Theistareykir volcano, situated in the central sector of the ThFS. This is interpreted as a decrease in the number of dykes that are capable of reaching great distances after being injected from the magma chamber.

The predictability of the flood event affecting Soverato (Southern Italy) in September 2000 is investigated by considering three different configurations of ECMWF ensemble: the operational Ensemble Prediction System (EPS), the targeted EPS and a high-resolution version of EPS. For each configuration, three successive runs of ECMWF ensemble with the same verification time are grouped together so as to generate a highly-populated "super-ensemble". Then, five members are selected from the super-ensemble and used to provide initial and boundary conditions for the integrations with a limited-area model, whose runs generate a Limited-area Ensemble Prediction System (LEPS). The relative impact of targeting the initial perturbations against increasing the horizontal resolution is assessed for the global ensembles as well as for the properties transferred to LEPS integrations, the attention being focussed on the probabilistic prediction of rainfall over a localised area. At the 108, 84 and 60- hour forecast ranges, the overall performance of the global ensembles is not particularly accurate and the best results are obtained by the high-resolution version of EPS. The LEPS performance is very satisfactory in all configurations and the rainfall maps show probability peaks in the correct regions. LEPS products would have been of great assistance to issue flood risk alerts on the basis of limited-area ensemble forecasts. For the 60-hour forecast range, the sensitivity of the results to the LEPS ensemble size is discussed by comparing a 5-member against a 51-member LEPS, where the limited-area model is nested on all EPS members. Little sensitivity is found as concerns the detection of the regions most likely affected by heavy precipitation, the probability peaks being approximately the same in both configurations.

While the mechanism by which Grp94 displays its chaperone function with client peptides in the cell has been elucidated extensively, much less is known about the nature and properties of how Grp94 can engage binding to proteins once it is exposed on the cell surface or liberated in the extra-cellular milieu, as occurs in pathological conditions. In this work, we wanted to investigate the molecular aspects and structural characteristics of complexes that Grp94 forms with human IgG, posing the attention on the influence that glycosylation of Grp94 might have on the binding capacity to IgG, and on the identification of sites involved in the binding. To this aim, we employed both native, fully glycosylated and partially glycosylated Grp94, and recombinant, non-glycosylated Grp94, as well as IgG subunits, in different experimental conditions, including the physiological setting of human plasma. Regardless of the species and type, Grp94 engages a similar, highly specific and stable binding with IgG that involves sites located in the N-terminal domain of Grp94 and the hinge region of whole IgG. Grp94 does not form stable complex with Fab, F(ab)2 or Fc. Glycosylation turns out to be an obstacle to the Grp94 binding to IgG, although this negative effect can be counteracted by ATP and spontaneously also disappears in time in a physiological setting of incubation. ATP does not affect at all the binding capacity of non-glycosylated Grp94. However, complexes that native, partially glycosylated Grp94 forms with IgG in the presence of ATP show strikingly different characteristics with respect to those formed in absence of ATP. Results have relevance for the mechanism regulating the formation of stable Grp94-IgG complexes in vivo, in the pathological conditions associated with the extra-cellular location of Grp94.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have shown that attitudes towards depression may be influenced by country-specific social and cultural factors. A survey was carried out to collect beliefs on and attitudes toward depression in Italy, which has an established community-based mental health system. METHODS: A telephone survey was carried out in a probabilistic sample aged ≥15 years. A 20-item questionnaire was administered to explore knowledge of depression, stigma, causal beliefs, treatment preference, and help-seeking attitudes. RESULTS: Of the 1001 participants, 98% were aware of depression, and 62% had experienced it, either directly or indirectly. A widespread belief (75%) was that people suffering from depression should avoid talking about their problem. A minority of the sample viewed depression as a condition that should be managed without recourse to external help or a "socially dangerous" illness. Among perceived causes of depression, most respondents mentioned life stressors or physical strains. Psychologists were often indicated as an adequate source of professional help. Half of the sample believed that depression should be pharmacologically treated, but drugs were often seen as addictive. Referring to a primary care physician (PCP) was considered embarrassing; furthermore, many people thought that PCPs are too busy to treat patients suffering from depression. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that depression is seen as a reaction to significant life events that should be overcome with the support of significant others or the help of health professionals (mainly psychologists). However, there are still barriers to the disclosure of depressive symptoms to PCPs, and concerns about the addictive effect of antidepressants. In the presence of a gap between people's beliefs and what health professionals consider appropriate for the treatment of depression, a "shared decision making" approach to treatment selection should be adopted taking into account the patients' preference for psychological interventions to ensure active compliance with effective treatments.

Milk Fat Globule--EGF--factor VIII (MFGE8), also called lactadherin, is a secreted protein, which binds extracellularly to phosphatidylserine and to αvβ3 and αvβ5 integrins. On human and mouse cells expressing these integrins, such as endothelial cells, phagocytes and some tumors, MFGE8/lactadherin has been shown to promote survival, epithelial to mesenchymal transition and phagocytosis. A protumoral function of MFGE8 has consequently been documented for a few types of human cancers, including melanoma, a subtype of breast cancers, and bladder carcinoma. Inhibiting the functions of MFGE8 could thus represent a new type of therapy for human cancers. Here, we show by immunohistochemistry on a collection of human ovarian cancers that MFGE8 is overexpressed in 45% of these tumors, and we confirm that it is specifically overexpressed in the triple-negative subtype of human breast cancers. We have established new in vitro assays to measure the effect of MFGE8 on survival, adhesion and migration of human ovarian and triple-negative breast cancer cell lines. Using these assays, we could identify new MFGE8-specific monoclonal antibodies, which efficiently blocked these three tumor-promoting effects of MFGE8. Our results suggest future use of MFGE8-blocking antibodies as new anti-cancer therapeutics in subgroups of ovarian carcinoma, and triple-negative breast carcinoma patients.

Seven winters of analyses and forecasts from the operational archives of the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecast had been previously analyzed to assess the performance of the model in forecasting blocking events. This work updates some of this previous diagnostic work to the last five winters, from 1987/88 to 1991/92. The data set therefore covers all winter seasons (DJF) from 1980/81 to 1991/92, and consists of daily northern hemisphere 500 hPa geopotential height analyses and of the ten corresponding forecasts verifying on the same day ("Lorenz data"). Local blocking and sector blocking have been defined, using different modifications of the original Lejenas and Økland index. The comparison between the first seven and the last five winters, within the restrictions imposed by limited length of the data set, suggests a much improved situation as far as model climatology of blocking is concerned, especially over the Euro-Atlantic region. Operational predictability of blocking as an initial value problem is also shown to be measurably improved, in both Atlantic and Pacific sectors. All such improvements are shown to have taken place together with a considerable reduction of the model systematic error. Nevertheless, forecasting blocking in the medium range remains a difficult task for the model. More work is needed to understand whether the improvements are to be ascribed to the increased model resolution or to better physical parametrisations.

Magmatic structures related to the mechanical interaction between mafic magmas and granitoids have been studied in the Valle Fértil calc-alkaline igneous complex, Argentina. Excepcional outcrops with vertical walls of more than 300 m high allow us the study of three-dimensional geometries of individual blobs of mafic magma as well as the geometry of pipe-like structures in which mafic microgranular enclaves are concentrated in more than 50 times the normal abundance in the granodiorite mass. The shape of enclaves and pipe-like structures are interpreted as the ressult of top-to-down intrusions of a mafic magma into a granodiorite-tonalite mass. These sinking structures are the result of a reverselly stratified magma chamber with gabbros and diorites at the top and granodiorite-tonalite at the bottom. They may account for most of the structures found in microgranular enclaves and magma mingling zones that characterize calc-alkaline batholiths. Synplutonic intrusions from the top is the only plausible mechanism to account for the observed structures. The model may be of general application to calc-alkaline batholiths characterized by the presence of mafic microgranular enclaves. An implication of these reverselly stratified magma chambers is the presence of a petrological inversion which may be the consequence of cold diapirs emplaced below the mantle wedge in a suprasubduction setting.

Seven winters of analyses and forecasts from the operational archives of the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecast had been previously analyzed to assess the performance of the model in forecasting blocking events. This work updates some of this previous diagnostic work to the last five winters, from 1987/88 to 1991/92. The data set therefore covers all winter seasons (DJF) from 1980/81 to 1991/92, and consists of daily northern hemisphere 500 hPa geopotential height analyses and of the ten corresponding forecasts verifying on the same day ("Lorenz data"). Local blocking and sector blocking have been defined, using different modifications of the original Lejenas and Økland index. The comparison between the first seven and the last five winters, within the restrictions imposed by limited length of the data set, suggests a much improved situation as far as model climatology of blocking is concerned, especially over the Euro-Atlantic region. Operational predictability of blocking as an initial value problem is also shown to be measurably improved, in both Atlantic and Pacific sectors. All such improvements are shown to have taken place together with a considerable reduction of the model systematic error. Nevertheless, forecasting blocking in the medium range remains a difficult task for the model. More work is needed to understand whether the improvements are to be ascribed to the increased model resolution or to better physical parametrisations.

Summary: Nowadays, radiative coolers are extensively investigated for the thermal management of solar cells with the aim of improving their performance and lifetime. Current solutions rely on meta-materials with scarce elements or complex fabrication processes, or organic polymers possibly affected by UV degradation. Here, the potential of innovative cement-based solutions as a more sustainable and cost-effective alternative is reported. By combining chemical kinetics, molecular mechanics and electromagnetic simulations, it is shown that the most common cements, i.e., Portland cements, can be equipped with excellent radiative cooling properties, which might enable a reduction of the operating temperature of solar cells by up to 20 K, with outstanding efficiency and lifetime gains. This study represents a first step toward the realization of a novel class of energy-efficient, economically viable and robust radiative coolers, based on cheap and available cementitious materials.

In B-Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (B-CLL) kinase Lyn is overexpressed, active, abnormally distributed, and part of a cytosolic complex involving hematopoietic lineage cell-specific protein 1 (HS1). These aberrant properties of Lyn could partially explain leukemic cells' defective apoptosis, directly or through its substrates, for example, HS1 that has been associated to apoptosis in different cell types. To verify the hypothesis of HS1 involvement in Lyn-mediated leukemic cell survival, we investigated HS1 protein in 71 untreated B-CLL patients and 26 healthy controls. We found HS1 overexpressed in leukemic as compared to normal B lymphocytes (1.38±0.54 vs 0.86±0.29, p