Bioindicators for toxicity assessment of effluents from a wastewater treatment plant

The discharge of effluents and toxic compounds into aquatic systems represents a growing environmental problem involving an impact on water ecology and potential effect on human health. Most municipal wastewaters are complex mixtures; their complexity led as to carry out a hazard assessment using chemical analyses and biological tests. This study investigates biochemical alteratiobns in two sentinel organisms, the Anodonta cygnea mussel and the Xenopus laevis frog exposed for different lengths of time to various concentration of wastewater of the S. Antonino Ticino treatment plant. The results point out the long-life of toxic compounds.     

A -80 dB THD, 4 Vpp switched capacitor filter for 1.5 Vbattery-operated systems

A fully differential fifth-order SC filter that can operate from power supplies as low as 1.5 V featuring a -80 dB THD up to 4 V_pp output voltage is presented. A measured p-weighted noise of 120 μV_rms leads to a dynamic range of 81.5 dB. This circuit is used as reconstruction filter for a low voltage 14-b DAC. The very low voltage operation has been possible by integrating a regulated voltage-multiplier on the same chip. The filter active area is 0.54 mm ² in a 0.8 μm CMOS technology. Typical power consumption is 0.8 mW at 1.5 V supply     

Graph averaging as a means to compare multichannel EEG coherence networks and its application to the study of mental fatigue and neurodegenerative disease

A method is proposed for quantifying differences between multichannel EEG coherence networks represented by functional unit (FU) maps. The approach is based on inexact graph matching for attributed relational graphs and graph averaging, adapted to FU-maps. The mean of a set of input FU-maps is defined in such a way that it not only represents the mean group coherence during a certain task or condition but also to some extent displays individual variations in brain activity. The definition of a mean FU-map relies on a graph dissimilarity measure which takes into account both node positions and node or edge attributes. A visualization of the mean FU-map is used with a visual representation of the frequency of occurrence of nodes and edges in the input FUs. This makes it possible to investigate which brain regions are more commonly involved in a certain task, by analysing the occurrence of a FU of the mean graph in the input FUs. Furthermore, our method gives the possibility to quantitatively compare individual FU-maps by computing their distance to the mean FU-map. The method is applied to the analysis of EEG coherence networks in two case studies, one on mental fatigue and one on patients with corticobasal ganglionic degeneration (CBGD). The method is proposed as a preliminary step towards a complete quantitative comparison, and the real benefit of its application is still to be proven.     

Human-and-Humanoid Postures Under External Disturbances: Modeling,Simulation, and Robustness. Part 1: Modeling

It is a well-known fact that the growth of technology has radically changed our approach to biosciences and medicine. What is interesting is that in the last decade we have witnessed a reverse influence—a trend towards “biologically inspired” solutions to technical problems. This leads to a true symbiosis between bio and technical sciences. A good example is the intersection and overlapping of three distinct fields: sports, medicine, and robotics. This paper intends to apply sophisticated methods developed for mathematical modeling of humanoid robots in real human motions, particularly in posture stabilization and selection of appropriate postures for different situation in sports and every day life. A general simulation system is realized: following a deductive principle, the algorithm considers particular human/humanoid motions (like those occurring in different sports) as being just special cases of a general motion and impact theory. Simulation includes the interaction with the environment. Simulating a human/humanoid dynamics in a given task, all relevant characteristics could be found: trajectories, velocities and accelerations, loads of joints, power requirements, energy consumption, contact forces including ground reactions, impact effects, etc. Simulation is used in solving a problem that is important for both humans and humanoid robots, namely, the behavior of a posture (keeping stability or collapsing) when subject to different disturbances. Although “posture” is mainly a static term, maintaining its balance in the presence of disturbances is a truly dynamic problem. Typical postures from every day life and sports are considered, such as: upright standing, squat (and partial squat), and three karate postures. Two sorts of disturbances are applied to eventually, compromise the posture: external impulse and permanent external force. This paper does not aim to suggest some new control strategy but to develop the dynamic model and simulation algorithm, and apply them to compare the robustness of different postures to external disturbances.     

老邻新居

坐落于布达佩斯市中心的纽约宫无疑是这个城市最著名的建筑之一。这次的工程主要是扩建这个古老建筑,在这座4层老建筑旁边“逐层”平铺,新建一个7层高的五星酒店,一个独一无二的与古城堡相连的五星酒店。整个设计的重点是会议区域,这是一个总占地面积超过1900m2的大型会议区,具     

Vitamin D Deficiency in Testicular Cancer Survivors: A Systematic Review

Testicular cancer (TC) is the most frequent tumor in young males. In the vast majority of cases, it is a curable disease; therefore, very often patients experience a long survival, also due to their young age at diagnosis. In the last decades, the role of the vitamin D deficiency related to orchiectomy has become an increasingly debated topic. Indeed, vitamin D is essential in bone metabolism and many other metabolic pathways, so its deficiency could lead to various metabolic disorders especially in long-term TC survivors. In our article, we report data from studies that evaluated the incidence of hypovitaminosis D in TC survivors compared with cohorts of healthy peers and we discuss molecular mechanisms and clinical implications.     

Guide Cells Support Muscle Regeneration and Affect Neuro-Muscular Junction Organization

Muscular regeneration is a complex biological process that occurs during acute injury and chronic degeneration, implicating several cell types. One of the earliest events of muscle regeneration is the inflammatory response, followed by the activation and differentiation of muscle progenitor cells. However, the process of novel neuromuscular junction formation during muscle regeneration is still largely unexplored. Here, we identify by single-cell RNA sequencing and isolate a subset of vessel-associated cells able to improve myogenic differentiation. We termed them ‘guide’ cells because of their remarkable ability to improve myogenesis without fusing with the newly formed fibers. In vitro, these cells showed a marked mobility and ability to contact the forming myotubes. We found that these cells are characterized by CD44 and CD34 surface markers and the expression of Ng2 and Ncam2. In addition, in a murine model of acute muscle injury and regeneration, injection of guide cells correlated with increased numbers of newly formed neuromuscular junctions. Thus, we propose that guide cells modulate de novo generation of neuromuscular junctions in regenerating myofibers. Further studies are necessary to investigate the origin of those cells and the extent to which they are required for terminal specification of regenerating myofibers.     

Mechanically strong waterborne poly(urethane-urea) films and nanocomposite films

A series of transparent waterborne poly(urethane-urea) (PUU) films and nanocomposite films were prepared using isocyanate excess (5–50 mol% excess relative to the hydroxyl groups) and omitting the common chain-extension step in the acetone method of the preparation. The surplus isocyanate groups were converted into urea and eventually biuret linkages via the reaction with water during the last phase inversion step. Nanocomposites were prepared by the direct mixing of the PUU nanoparticles in water with aqueous nanosilica or montmorillonite powder followed by slow water evaporation. Variable urea/biuret content is responsible for substantially different tensile properties; the neat organic films show elongation-at-break values of 100%–1120%, tensile strength values of 0.07–22.1 MPa, and energy-to-break of 0.1–85 mJ × mm⁻³. All of the materials can be potentially used as soft-to-hard topcoats, depending on the specific demands. The most promising materials are films prepared at 30 and particularly 40 mol% isocyanate excess.     

How miR-31-5p and miR-33a-5p Regulates SP1/CX43 Expression in Osteoarthritis Disease: Preliminary Insights

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative bone disease that involved micro and macro-environment of joints. To date, there are no radical curative treatments for OA and novel therapies are mandatory. Recent evidence suggests the role of miRNAs in OA progression. In our previous studies, we demonstrated the role of miR-31-5p and miR-33a families in different bone regeneration signaling. Here, we investigated the role of miR-31-5p and miR-33a-5p in OA progression. A different expression of miR-31-5p and miR-33a-5p into osteoblasts and chondrocytes isolated from joint tissues of OA patients classified in based on different Kellgren and Lawrence (KL) grading was highlighted; and through a bioinformatic approach the common miRNAs target Specificity proteins (Sp1) were identified. Sp1 regulates the expression of gap junction protein Connexin43 (Cx43), which in OA drives the modification of (i) osteoblasts and chondrocytes genes expression, (ii) joint inflammation cytokines releases and (iii) cell functions. Concerning this, thanks to gain and loss of function studies, the possible role of Sp1 as a modulator of CX43 expression through miR-31-5p and miR-33a-5p action was also evaluated. Finally, we hypothesize that both miRNAs cooperate to modulate the expression of SP1 in osteoblasts and chondrocytes and interfering, consequently, with CX43 expression, and they might be further investigated as new possible biomarkers for OA.     

Therapeutic miR-21 Silencing Reduces Cardiac Fibrosis and Modulates Inflammatory Response in Chronic Chagas Disease

Chagas disease, caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi), remains a serious public health problem for which there is no effective treatment in the chronic stage. Intense cardiac fibrosis and inflammation are hallmarks of chronic Chagas disease cardiomyopathy (CCC). Previously, we identified upregulation of circulating and cardiac miR-21, a pro-fibrotic microRNA (miRNA), in subjects with CCC. Here, we explored the potential role of miR-21 as a therapeutic target in a model of chronic Chagas disease. PCR array-based 88 microRNA screening was performed in heart samples obtained from C57Bl/6 mice chronically infected with T. cruzi and serum samples collected from CCC patients. MiR-21 was found upregulated in both human and mouse samples, which was corroborated by an in silico analysis of miRNA-mRNA target prediction. In vitro miR-21 functional assays (gain-and loss-of-function) were performed in cardiac fibroblasts, showing upregulation of miR-21 and collagen expression upon transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGFβ1) and T. cruzi stimulation, while miR-21 blockage reduced collagen expression. Finally, treatment of T. cruzi-infected mice with locked nucleic acid (LNA)-anti-miR-21 inhibitor promoted a significant reduction in cardiac fibrosis. Our data suggest that miR-21 is a mediator involved in the pathogenesis of cardiac fibrosis and indicates the pharmacological silencing of miR-21 as a potential therapeutic approach for CCC.