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The authors, psychologists, social workers, educators, care workers of the "Don Vincenzo Matrangolo" Association, aware that in the field of Reception and Inte-gration there is no shared methodology to define in detail the process of psychosocial planning, present the validation of an accurate and meticulous proposal in which they define the "phases, tools and timing" of a professional work that faces the complex emergency of migration.

Type 1 diabetes is characterized by autoimmune destruction of pancreatic β-cells in genetically susceptible individuals. Triggers of islet autoimmunity, time course, and the precise mechanisms responsible for the progressive β-cell failure are not completely understood. The recent escalation of obesity in affluent countries has been suggested to contribute to the increased incidence of type 1 diabetes. Understanding the link between metabolism and immune tolerance could lead to the identification of new markers for the monitoring of disease onset and progression. We studied several immune cell subsets and factors with high metabolic impact as markers associated with disease progression in high-risk subjects and type 1 diabetic patients at onset and at 12 and 24 months after diagnosis. A multiple correlation matrix among different parameters was evaluated statistically and assessed visually on two-dimensional graphs. Markers to predict residual β-cell function up to 1 year after diagnosis were identified in multivariate logistic regression models. The meta-immunological profile changed significantly over time in patients, and a specific signature that was associated with worsening disease was identified. A multivariate logistic regression model measuring age, BMI, fasting C-peptide, number of circulating CD3(+)CD16(+)CD56(+) cells, and the percentage of CD1c(+)CD19(-)CD14(-)CD303(-) type 1 myeloid dendritic cells at disease onset had a significant predictive value. The identification of a specific meta-immunological profile associated with disease status may contribute to our understanding of the basis of diabetes progression.

Organ-specific autoimmune diseases, such as type 1 diabetes, are believed to result from T-cell-mediated damage of the target tissue. The immune-mediated tissue injury, in turn, is known to depend on complex interactions between genetic and environmental factors. Nevertheless, the mechanisms whereby environmental factors contribute to the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases remain elusive and represent a major untapped target to develop novel strategies for disease prevention. Given the impact of the early environment on the developing immune system, epigenetic changes induced by maternal factors during fetal life have been linked to a likelihood of developing an autoimmune disease later in life. In humans, DNA methylation is the epigenetic mechanism most extensively investigated. This review provides an overview of the critical role of DNA methylation changes induced by prenatal maternal conditions contributing to the increased risk of immune-mediated diseases on the offspring, with a particular focus on T1D. A deeper understanding of epigenetic alterations induced by environmental stressors during fetal life may be pivotal for developing targeted prevention strategies of type 1 diabetes by modifying the maternal environment.

While human enteroviruses are generally regarded as a lytic virus, and persistent non-cytolytic enterovirus infection in pancreatic beta cells has been suspected of playing a role in type 1 diabetes pathogenesis. However, it is still unclear how enteroviruses could exit the pancreatic beta cell in a non-lytic manner. This study aimed to investigate the role of beta cell-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) in the non-lytic enteroviral spread and infection. Size-exclusion chromatography and antibody-based immunoaffinity purification were used to isolate EVs from echovirus 16-infected human beta EndoC-βH1 cells. EVs were then characterized using transmission electron microscopy and Multiplex Bead-Based Flow Cytometry Assay. Virus production and release were quantified by 50% cell culture infectious dose (CCID50) assay and qRT-PCR. Our results showed that EVs from echovirus 16-infected EndoC-βH1 cells harbor infectious viruses and promote their spread during the pre-lytic phase of infection. Furthermore, the EVs-mediated infection was not inhibited by virus-specific neutralizing antibodies. In summary, this study demonstrated that enteroviruses could exit beta cells non-lytically within infectious EVs, thereby thwarting the access of neutralizing antibodies to viral particles. These data suggest that enterovirus transmission through EVs may contribute to viral dissemination and immune evasion in persistently infected beta cells.

Human enteroviruses (HEV), especially coxsackievirus serotype B (CVB) and echovirus (E), have been associated with diseases of both the exocrine and endocrine pancreas, but so far evidence on HEV infection in human pancreas has been reported only in islets and ductal cells. This study aimed to investigate the capability of echovirus strains to infect human exocrine and endocrine pancreatic cells. Infection of explanted human islets and exocrine cells with seven field strains of E6 caused cytopathic effect, virus titer increase and production of HEV protein VP1 in both cell types. Virus particles were found in islets and acinar cells infected with E6. No cytopathic effect or infectious progeny production was observed in exocrine cells exposed to the beta cell-tropic strains of E16 and E30. Endocrine cells responded to E6, E16 and E30 by upregulating the transcription of interferon-induced with helicase C domain 1 (IF1H1), 2'-5'-oligoadenylate synthetase 1 (OAS1), interferon-β (IFN-β), chemokine (C–X–C motif) ligand 10 (CXCL10) and chemokine (C–C motif) ligand 5 (CCL5). Echovirus 6, but not E16 or E30, led to increased transcription of these genes in exocrine cells. These data demonstrate for the first time that human exocrine cells represent a target for E6 infection and suggest that certain HEV serotypes can replicate in human pancreatic exocrine cells, while the pancreatic endocrine cells are permissive to a wider range of HEV.

Three large-scale Echovirus (E) epidemics (E4,E16,E30), each differently associated to the acute development of diabetes related autoantibodies, have been documented in Cuba. The prevalence of islet cell autoantibodies was moderate during the E4 epidemic but high in the E16 and E30 epidemic. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of epidemic strains of echovirus on beta-cell lysis, beta-cell function and innate immunity gene expression in primary human pancreatic islets. Human islets from non-diabetic donors (n = 7) were infected with the virus strains E4, E16 and E30, all isolated from patients with aseptic meningitis who seroconverted to islet cell antibody positivity. Viral replication, degree of cytolysis, insulin release in response to high glucose as well as mRNA expression of innate immunity genes (IFN-b, RANTES, RIG-I, MDA5, TLR3 and OAS) were measured. The strains of E16 and E30 did replicate well in all islets examined, resulting in marked cytotoxic effects. E4 did not cause any effects on cell lysis, however it was able to replicate in 2 out of 7 islet donors. Beta-cell function was hampered in all infected islets (P

The well-known cohesive crack model describes strain localization with a softening stress variation in concrete members subjected to tension. An analogous behavior is also observed in compression, when strain localization takes place in a damaged zone and the stress reaches the compression strength with surface energy dissipation. In the present paper, we propose the new concept of overlapping crack model, which is analogous to the cohesive one and permits us to simulate material interpenetration due to crushing. The two aforementioned elementary models are merged into a more complex algorithm able to describe both cracking and crushing growths during loading processes in reinforced concrete members. A numerical procedure based on elastic coefficients is developed, taking into account the proposed constitutive laws in tension and compression. With this algorithm, it is possible to effectively capture the flexural behavior of reinforced concrete beams by varying the reinforcement percentage and/or the beam depth. CE Database subject headings: Reinforced concrete; Ductility; Size effect; Crushing; Nonlinear analysis; Finite element method; Bending.

BACKGROUND: The Goto-Kakizaki (GK) rat is a well-studied non-obese spontaneous type 2 diabetes (T2D) animal model characterized by impaired glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS) in the pancreatic beta cells. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short regulatory RNAs involved in many fundamental biological processes. We aim to identify miRNAs that are differentially-expressed in the pancreatic islets of the GK rats and investigate both their short- and long term glucose-dependence during glucose-stimulatory conditions. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Global profiling of 348 miRNAs in the islets of GK rats and Wistar controls (females, 60 days, N = 6 for both sets) using locked nucleic acid (LNA)-based microarrays allowed for the clear separation of the two groups. Significant analysis of microarrays (SAM) identified 30 differentially-expressed miRNAs, 24 of which are predominantly upregulated in the GK rat islets. Monitoring of qPCR-validated miRNAs during GSIS experiments on isolated islets showed disparate expression trajectories between GK and controls indicating distinct short- and long-term glucose dependence. We specifically found expression of rno-miR-130a, rno-miR-132, rno-miR-212 and rno-miR-335 to be regulated by hyperglycaemia. The putative targets of upregulated miRNAs in the GK, filtered with glucose-regulated mRNAs, were found to be enriched for insulin-secretion genes known to be downregulated in T2D patients. Finally, the binding of rno-miR-335 to a fragment of the 3'UTR of one of known down-regulated exocytotic genes in GK islets, Stxbp1 was shown by luciferase assay. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The perturbed miRNA network found in the GK rat islets is indicative of a system-wide impairment in the regulation of genes important for the normal functions of pancreatic islets, particularly in processes involving insulin secretion during glucose stimulatory conditions. Our findings suggest that the reduced insulin secretion observed in the GK rat may be partly due to upregulated miRNA expression leading to decreased production of key proteins of the insulin exocytotic machinery.

Mature microRNAs (miRNAs), derived through cleavage of pre-miRNAs by the Dicer1 enzyme, regulate protein expression in many cell-types including cells in the pancreatic islets of Langerhans. To investigate the importance of miRNAs in mouse insulin secreting β-cells, we have generated mice with a β-cells specific disruption of the Dicer1 gene using the Cre-lox system controlled by the rat insulin promoter (RIP). In contrast to their normoglycaemic control littermates (RIP-Cre(+/-) Dicer1(Δ/wt)), RIP-Cre(+/-)Dicer1(flox/flox) mice (RIP-Cre Dicer1(Δ/Δ)) developed progressive hyperglycaemia and full-blown diabetes mellitus in adulthood that recapitulated the natural history of the spontaneous disease in mice. Reduced insulin gene expression and concomitant reduced insulin secretion preceded the hyperglycaemic state and diabetes development. Immunohistochemical, flow cytometric and ultrastructural analyses revealed altered islet morphology, marked decreased β-cell mass, reduced numbers of granules within the β-cells and reduced granule docking in adult RIP-Cre Dicer1(Δ/Δ) mice. β-cell specific Dicer1 deletion did not appear to disrupt fetal and neonatal β-cell development as 2-week old RIP-Cre Dicer1(Δ/Δ) mice showed ultrastructurally normal β-cells and intact insulin secretion. In conclusion, we have demonstrated that a β-cell specific disruption of the miRNAs network, although allowing for apparently normal β-cell development, leads to progressive impairment of insulin secretion, glucose homeostasis and diabetes development.

BackgroundThe FFAR1 receptor is expressed mainly in pancreatic beta cells and is activated by medium to long chain free fatty acids (FFAs), as well as by thiazolidinediones, resulting in elevated Ca(2+) concentrations and promotion of insulin secretion. These properties suggest that FFAR1 could be a mediator of lipotoxicity and a potential candidate gene for Type 2 diabetes (T2D). We therefore investigated whether variations at the FFAR1 locus are associated with T2D and beta cell function.Methodology/principal findingsWe re-sequenced the FFAR1 region in 96 subjects (48 healthy and 48 T2D individuals) and found 13 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) 8 of which were not previously described. Two SNPs located in the upstream region of the FFAR1 gene (rs1978013 and rs1978014) were chosen and genotyped in 1929 patients with T2D and 1405 healthy control subjects. We observed an association of rs1978013 and rs1978014 with insulinogenic index in males (p = 0.024) and females (p = 0.032), respectively. After Bonferroni corrections, no association with T2D was found in the case-control material, however a haplotype consisting of the T-G alleles conferred protection against T2D (p = 0.0010).Conclusions/significanceVariation in the FFAR1 gene may contribute to impaired beta cell function in T2D.