Search

Mitochondria are cytoplasmic organelles having a fundamental role in the regulation of neural stem cell (NSC) fate during neural development and maintenance. During embryonic and adult neurogenesis, NSCs undergo a metabolic switch from glycolytic to oxidative phosphorylation with a rise in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) content, changes in mitochondria shape and size, and a physiological augmentation of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species which together drive NSCs to proliferate and differentiate. Genetic and epigenetic modifications of proteins involved in cellular differentiation (Mechanistic Target of Rapamycin), proliferation (Wingless-type), and hypoxia (Mitogen-activated protein kinase)–and all connected by the common key regulatory factor Hypoxia Inducible Factor-1A–are deemed to be responsible for the metabolic shift and, consequently, NSC fate in physiological and pathological conditions. Both primary mitochondrial dysfunction due to mutations in nuclear DNA or mtDNA or secondary mitochondrial dysfunction in oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) metabolism, mitochondrial dynamics, and organelle interplay pathways can contribute to the development of neurodevelopmental or progressive neurodegenerative disorders. This review analyses the physiology and pathology of neural development starting from the available in vitro and in vivo models and highlights the current knowledge concerning key mitochondrial pathways involved in this process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: Poor oral health and oral diseases are common among people experiencing homelessness. The aim of this study was to evaluate the dental demands and needs of a population of homeless persons in the city of Rome, Italy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The clinical records of 165 homeless patients admitted between October 2020 and October 2021 to the dental service of the Primary Care Services of the Eleemosynaria Apostolica, Vatican City, were retrospectively reviewed. The service employed dentists to evaluate dental needs and oral conditions in patients experiencing homelessness. The main dental and oral pathological conditions were noted. RESULTS: One hundred and sixty-five records of homeless patients were included in the study. The sample consisted in 138 males (76.97%) and 27 females (23.03%) with a mean age of 46.9 years (range 7-85 years). Acute tooth pain was reported by 132 (80%) patients, 42 (25.45%) had edentulism or missing teeth and 18 (10.91%) patients had oral lesions. Both dental and oral pathologies were intercepted and managed in secondary healthcare facilities. CONCLUSIONS: Given the specific peculiarities of this vulnerable population, it is important to implement strategies that facilitate the access of persons experiencing homelessness to dental evaluation with a preventive and curative perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: People experiencing homelessness have peculiar characteristics that make them more vulnerable to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission and to more serious forms of Coronavirus Disease 19 (COVID-19). The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the homeless population assisted by the primary care services of the Eleemosynaria Apostolica, Vatican City. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Persons experiencing homelessness and the volunteers assisting them were tested for COVID-19 through PCR and antigen rapid test between October 1st, 2020, and June 5th, 2021, in the clinical facilities of the Eleemosynaria Apostolica. RESULTS: A total of 1665 subjects from 96 different countries in five continents were included in the study; age range was 1-90 years. Overall, 2315 COVID-19 tests through nasopharyngeal swab were performed; 1052 Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests and 1263 antigen rapid tests. Nearly 40% of the subjects underwent both tests (n=650, 39.04%), 402 were tested with PCR test only (24.14%) and 613 with antigen test only (36.8%). PCR tests were negative in 966 cases and positive in 86 (8.17%), while antigen tests were negative in 1205 cases and positive in 58 (4.59%). The number of positive cases varied over time, with a drastic increase during the winter months of 2020 and a progressive decrease over 2021. Among positive cases, 24.41% were symptomatic; symptoms included fever, breathing difficulties, anosmia/hyposmia, cough, headache, and diarrhea. CONCLUSIONS: This study reported an overall prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in our sample slightly above 8%. Additional data on viral genome through sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 in positive cases are of utmost importance to help identify variants and implement specific infection control measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: To develop a deep learning-based decision tree for the primary care setting, to stratify adult patients with confirmed and unconfirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), and to predict the need for hospitalization or home monitoring. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We performed a retrospective cohort study on data from patients admitted to a COVID hospital in Rome, Italy, between 5 March 2020 and 5 June 2020. A confirmed case was defined as a patient with a positive nasopharyngeal RT-PCR test result, while an unconfirmed case had negative results on repeated swabs. Patients' medical history and clinical, laboratory and radiological findings were collected, and the dataset was used to train a predictive model for COVID-19 severity. RESULTS: Data of 198 patients were included in the study. Twenty-eight (14.14%) had mild disease, 62 (31.31%) had moderate disease, 64 (32.32%) had severe disease, and 44 (22.22%) had critical disease. The G2 value assessed the contribution of each collected value to decision tree building. On this basis, SpO2 (%) with a cut point at 92 was chosen for the optimal first split. Therefore, the decision tree was built using values maximizing G2 and LogWorth. After the tree was built, the correspondence between inputs and outcomes was validated. CONCLUSIONS: We developed a machine learning-based tool that is easy to understand and apply. It provides good discrimination in stratifying confirmed and unconfirmed COVID-19 patients with different prognoses in every context. Our tool might allow general practitioners visiting patients at home to decide whether the patient needs to be hospitalized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 has dramatically affected working forces. We aim to report our occupational medicine service's experience in managing suspected COVID-19 cases during the pandemic through a retrospective observational study. We compared the number of days employees were absent from work due to flu-like symptoms from March 2020 to February 2021 to the same period the previous year (2019-2020). Two hundred thirty-four patients (+47.2% compared to the previous year) who tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 reported flu-like symptoms; the number of days of absence from work was 2812 (+190.2% compared to the previous year). On average, employees with flu-like symptoms lost 12.07 working days compared to 6.12 in the previous year (p<0.0001). In conclusion, in our sample COVID-19 has increased the number of working day loss. However, our approach proved to be important, especially during the first months of the pandemic, to limit SARS-CoV-2 spread in workplaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyvinylidenedifluoride (PVdF) and polyethyleneoxide (PEO) are blended and electrospun in order to obtain membranes suitable as Li-ion battery separators. The separators are characterized, and their properties investigated and compared with those of PVdF and commercial separators. The PVdF-PEO based separators ensure increased conductivities, greater electrolyte uptake and higher porosities than commercial polyolefines, all factors that improve cell performance. They are also safer than PVdF separators thanks to lower shutdown temperature, even if their mechanical properties are not yet comparable with those of the latter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the electrochemical properties of composite cathodes obtained by mixing LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 (LNMO), reduced graphene oxide (RGO) and carbon black (C65). Electrochemical electrode characterization was carried out in ethylene carbonate: dimethyl carbonate and 1 M LiPF6 by galvanostatic charge/discharge cycles up to 4.8 V vs. Li+/Li and impedance spectroscopy. We demonstrate that RGO improves the electrode/electrolyte interface stability at high potentials and, consequently, the cycling stability of LNMO cathodes in the presence of C65 with 92% capacity retention after 100 cycles at 1 C. The reciprocal effect of RGO and C65 is also beneficial for rate capability, which retained a specific capacity of 75 mAh g-1 at 10 C. The electric contact between particles is promoted by C65's conductive percolating network; RGO enhances the electrical conductivity of the composite electrode and hinders undesirable reactions between LNMO and the electrolyte. Despite RGO's lower electronic resistivity with respect to C65, the addition of RGO alone to LNMO is not sufficient to assure good performance. The mixing procedure without C65 promotes the agglomeration of graphene nanosheets rather than their distribution among LNMO particles and aggregates, limiting the electron and Li+ transport in the cathode material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovative separators able to improve the performance and safety of Li-ion batteries are under investigation to meet the growing demand for large-size and high energy density electrochemical cells. In this work, highly porous nanofibrous Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVdF) separators loaded with oxide nanoparticles were produced by electrospinning. Silicon oxide and tin oxide nanoparticles were added to PVdF and membranes were characterized by SEM-EDS and TGA. The effect of nanoparticle addition on electrolyte uptake, mechanical properties and conductivity was investigated and such properties were compared to those of a commercial separator (Celgard 2400). Results showed that a small amount of additive can significantly improve the properties of PVdF electrospun membranes and that the different nanoparticles investigated in this work have different effect on membrane performances. In particular, the addition of SiO2 increases the rate of electrolyte uptake and the toughness of the electrospun membrane, while the addition of SnO2 decreases the rate of electrolyte uptake and increases the stiffness of the electrospun membrane. When loaded with nanoparticles, PVdF membranes maintain their insulating character also at high temperature. Preliminary electrochemical results on half-cell vs Li with LiFePO4 and electrospun separators showed good cycling performance, highlighting interesting features of this technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The paper reports and discusses the results of electrochemical tests carried out according to the DOE Battery Test Manual for plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) on laboratory high-voltage graphite/LiNi0.4Mn1.6O4 cells with electrode formulation and mass-loading suitable for scale-up, and mixed ethylene carbonate–dimethyl carbonate with two diverse lithium salts, lithium tris(pentafluoroethyl)trifluorophosphate and LiPF6, as electrolytes. The cells, assembled with two different separators, a polypropylene monolayer separator (Celgard®2400) and a reinforced polyvinylidene fluoride macroporous membrane (PVdF-NCC), were also tested by deep charge/discharge cycles. The results show the strong impact of the separator on high-rate cell functioning in PHEVs. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The performance of full cells featuring high-voltage LiNi0.4Mn1.6O4 cathode and graphite anode with carbonate-based electrolytes, ethylene carbonate (EC) -dimethyl carbonate (DMC) with conventional LiPF6 and non-conventional Li[(C2F5)3PF3] (LiFAP) lithium salts with and without SEI-forming additives 1-fluoro ethylene carbonate (F1EC) and succinic anhydride (SA) is investigated. The results evidence the beneficial impact of EC-DMC-1M LiFAP electrolyte (LF30), with respect to EC-DMC-1M LiPF6 electrolyte (LP30), also in presence of 1.6% F1EC-2% SA additives, on charge retention over cycling and on self-discharge of full cells. After the 25 cycles of the charge capability test, the charge retention reached values up to 70% with LF30 and 87% with LF30 and additives, and fully charged cells with LF30-additives delivered 53% of the stored charge after one week in OCV. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Objective: In our previous work, patients affected by SSc were treated with intravenous urokinase and showed clinical improvement. In this study we used microscopy to document ultrastructural alterations occurring in sclerodermic skin from SSc patients treated with urokinase.Methods: Ten patients with SSc were selected for this study. Skin biopsies were taken from the medial side of the right forearm on the third proximal on the volar surface. The patients were then treated with urokinase for 7 consecutive days. At the end of the treatment, the patients were examined and a new skin biopsy was taken close to the above-mentioned zone of the forearm for optic and electron microscopy examination.Results: The patients showed a gradual improvement of the skin after urokinase treatment. Raynaud's appeared to be less intense, and they had an increased articular range, with the restoration of movements that had previously been limited. Histological findings showed that, after treatment, skin alterations appeared attenuated, in particular the connective tissue showed a decreased density and inflammatory infiltrate was slight. Electron microscopy findings showed that collagen fibres appeared to have a more regular diameter, and the capillary vessels' lining was thicker, with fewer pinocytotic vesicles.Conclusion: These observations show that urokinase treatment seems to be an interesting therapeutic strategy to consider for the treatment of SSc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphite/LiNi0.4Mn1.6O4 cells assembled with a new reinforced polyvinylidene fluoride (pVDF)–nano crystalline cellulose (NCC) separator and EC–DMC 1 M LiFAP electrolyte with additives were tested by deep charge/discharge cycles at different C-rates and by the FreedomCAR DOE protocol to simulate the dynamic functioning of the batteries in power-assist full hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). The results of this study evidence the beneficial impact of the pVDF–NCC macroporous membrane with respect to the polypropylene monolayer Celgard®2400 separator on the high C-rate cell performance. The deep charge/discharge of the cell with pVDF–NCC at C/1 effective rate provided 101 W h kg−1 to be compared with 85 W h kg−1 of the cell with Celgard®2400 (the cell weight was considered twice the composite electrode weight of both electrodes). Also hybrid pulse power characterization tests based on the FreedomCAR protocol at 5 C and 10 C demonstrated the superior performance of the cells with pVDF–NCC with respect to that of the cells with Celgard®2400 even if both cells exceed the FreedomCAR goals of power and energy for minimum and maximum power-assist HEV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The aim of this project was to evaluate the Cozart® RapiScan Oral fluid Drug Testing System as an on-site screening tool for vitreous humor samples collected during post-mortem examinations. Vitreous humor is easy to collect and as it is contained within the eye it is almost completely unaffected by post-mortem redistribution. The ability to carry out an initial drug screen on vitreous humor at the earliest stage of the death investigation process could contribute significantly to the assessment of the role drugs may have played prior to confirmation with toxicological analyses at the laboratory. Vitreous humor (n =146) was collected from autopsy examinations (111 males and 35 females) with a specific focus on cases where death occurred following a road traffic accident or where an overdose was suspected. All samples were screened using the five-panel methadone Cozart® RapiScan Cartridge with an overall positive rate of 29%. Of the positive results, 43% screened positive for benzodiazepines, 17% for cocaine, 7% for methadone and 33% for opiates. Positive samples, with the exception of benzodiazepines, and 20% of negative samples were analysed by GC/MS. This is the first reported use of this system as an on-site forensic tool in death investigation and for screening for drugs of abuse in vitreous humor. The conclusions from this study show that the Cozart® RapiScan System could play an important role in obtaining information on the toxicological state of the person at the time of death. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

MT-45 is a synthetic opioid that was developed in the 1970s as an analgesic compound. However, in recent years MT-45 has been associated with multiple deaths in Europe and has been included in the class of novel psychoactive substances known as novel synthetic opioids (NSOs). Little is known about the pharmaco-toxicological effects of MT-45. Therefore, we used a dynamic mass redistribution (DMR) assay to investigate the pharmacodynamic profile of this NSO in vitro compared with morphine. We then used in vivo studies to investigate the effect of the acute systemic administration of MT-45 (0.01–15 mg/kg i.p.) on motor and sensorimotor (visual, acoustic and tactile) responses, mechanical and thermal analgesia, muscle strength and body temperature in CD-1 male mice. Higher doses of MT-45 (6–30 mg/kg i.p.) were used to investigate cardiorespiratory changes (heart rate, respiratory rate, SpO 2 saturation and pulse distention). All effects of MT-45 were compared with those of morphine. In vitro DMR assay results demonstrated that at human recombinant opioid receptors MT-45 behaves as a potent selective mu agonist with a slightly higher efficacy than morphine. In vivo results showed that MT-45 progressively induces tail elevation at the lowest dose tested (0.01 mg/kg), increased mechanical and thermal antinociception (starting from 1 to 6 mg/kg), decreased visual sensorimotor responses (starting from 3 to 6 mg/kg) and reduced tactile responses, modulated motor performance and induced muscle rigidity at higher doses (15 mg/kg). In addition, at higher doses (15–30 mg/kg) MT-45 impaired the cardiorespiratory functions. All effects were prevented by the administration of the opioid receptor antagonist naloxone. These findings reveal the risks associated with the ingestion of opioids and the importance of studying these drugs and undertaking more clinical studies of the current molecules to better understand possible therapeutic interventions in the case of toxicity. • MT-45 behaves as a potent selective mu agonist in DMR assay. • MT-45 and morphine dose-dependently increased mechanical and thermal analgesia. • MT-45 progressively impaired the motor-sensorimotor responses in mice as morphine. • MT-45 altered cardiorespiratory responses in mice at higher doses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]