Adipose Tissue Dysfunction and Obesity-Related Male Hypogonadism

Obesity is a chronic illness associated with several metabolic derangements and comorbidities (i.e., insulin resistance, leptin resistance, diabetes, etc.) and often leads to impaired testicular function and male subfertility. Several mechanisms may indeed negatively affect the hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal health, such as higher testosterone conversion to estradiol by aromatase activity in the adipose tissue, increased ROS production, and the release of several endocrine molecules affecting the hypothalamus–pituitary–testis axis by both direct and indirect mechanisms. In addition, androgen deficiency could further accelerate adipose tissue expansion and therefore exacerbate obesity, which in turn enhances hypogonadism, thus inducing a vicious cycle. Based on these considerations, we propose an overview on the relationship of adipose tissue dysfunction and male hypogonadism, highlighting the main biological pathways involved and the current therapeutic options to counteract this condition.     

Training,research, and technical assistance to improve the water resources management in Southern Italy — The experience of CSEI Catania

Water resources management may be improved through the activities of organizations devoted to practice-oriented research, continuing education, and technical assistance. The experience carried out in southern Italy by CSEI Catania during 13 years of activity is presented. Two main activities are discussed: the research and training program on regional pollution control plans and the development of a water data bank.     

Morphological and Biological Evaluations of Human Periodontal Ligament Fibroblasts in Contact with Different Bovine Bone Grafts Treated with Low-Temperature Deproteinisation Protocol

Several types of deproteinised bovine bone mineral (DBBM) are available on the market, and each one is obtained with a thermic and chemical process that can differ, achieving different results. Currently, several protocols using low temperature are suggested to reduce the possible particle crystallisation during the production process. This study aimed to evaluate the biomorphological reaction of periodontal fibroblast cultures in contact with different DBBM particles treated with a low-temperature protocol (Thermagen^®) and without exposure to sodium hydroxide (NaOH). Morphological evaluation was performed using light, confocal laser, and scanning electron microscopy, and the biological reaction in terms of proliferation was performed using an XTT proliferation assay at 24 h (T1), 72 h (T2), and 7 days (T3). The morphological analysis highlighted how the presence of the materials stimulated a change in the morphology of the cells into a polygonal shape, surface reactions with the thickening of the membrane, and expression of actin. In particular, the morphological changes were appreciable from T1, with a progressive increase in the considered morphological characteristics at T2 and T3 follow-ups. The proliferation assay showed a statistical significance between the different experimental materials and the negative control in T2 and T3 follow-ups. The post hoc analysis did not reveal any differences between the materials. In conclusion, the grafts obtained with the low-temperature extractions protocol and not exposed to NaOH solution showed positive morphological reactions with no differences in the sizes of particles.     

Challenges in Metabolomics-Based Tests,Biomarkers Revealed by Metabolomic Analysis,and the Promise of the Application of Metabolomics in Precision Medicine

Metabolomics helps identify metabolites to characterize/refine perturbations of biological pathways in living organisms. Pre-analytical, analytical, and post-analytical limitations that have hampered a wide implementation of metabolomics have been addressed. Several potential biomarkers originating from current targeted metabolomics-based approaches have been discovered. Precision medicine argues for algorithms to classify individuals based on susceptibility to disease, and/or by response to specific treatments. It also argues for a prevention-based health system. Because of its ability to explore gene–environment interactions, metabolomics is expected to be critical to personalize diagnosis and treatment. Stringent guidelines have been applied from the very beginning to design studies to acquire the information currently employed in precision medicine and precision prevention approaches. Large, prospective, expensive and time-consuming studies are now mandatory to validate old, and discover new, metabolomics-based biomarkers with high chances of translation into precision medicine. Metabolites from studies on saliva, sweat, breath, semen, feces, amniotic, cerebrospinal, and broncho-alveolar fluid are predicted to be needed to refine information from plasma and serum metabolome. In addition, a multi-omics data analysis system is predicted to be needed for omics-based precision medicine approaches. Omics-based approaches for the progress of precision medicine and prevention are expected to raise ethical issues.     

Making a mesh router/gateway from a smartphone: Is that a practical solution?

This paper aims at answering the question whether it is practical to build a mesh-phone or not. A mesh-phone is a smartphone acting as a mesh router, i.e. either actively participating in the process of packet forwarding towards a mesh gateway, or acting itself as a gateway toward the Internet. Technical aspects of the mesh-phone implementation, such as design constraints and implementation details, are addressed. The technical feasibility is validated by describing the implementation of a prototype of the mesh-enabled phone over the Openmoko^TM open platform. Besides technical feasibility also convenience of the addressed solution is analyzed in terms of the consumed power, and some “energy-saving” related enhancements are suggested to be applied to future user’s devices.     

An approximate model for three-dimensional alternating current potential drop analyses using a commercial finite element code

Alternating current potential drop (ACPD) is an established technique for non-destructive testing and materials characterisation. Finite element (FE) simulation is a very useful tool for the optimisation of probes and the prediction of test results, but three-dimensional models of ACPD problems are computationally intensive. This paper presents a new, simple model in which frequency-related effects are taken into account by appropriately modifying the geometry of the modelled structure: a DC analysis can then be performed on a smaller domain, thus reducing the computational power required. The results of experimental tests for the validation of the model are also presented and discussed.     

White Electroluminescence by Supramolecular Control of Energy Transfer in Blends of Organic‐Soluble Encapsulated Polyfluorenes

Here, it is demonstrated that energy transfer in a blend of semiconducting polymers can be strongly reduced by non‐covalent encapsulation of one constituent, ensured by threading of the conjugated strands into functionalized cyclodextrins. Such macrocycles control the minimum intermolecular distance of chromophores with similar alignment, at the nanoscale, and therefore the relevant energy transfer rates, thus enabling fabrication of white‐light‐emitting diodes (CIE coordinates: x = 0.282, y = 0.336). In particular, white electroluminescence in a binary blend of a blue‐emitting, organic‐soluble rotaxane based on a polyfluorene derivative and the green‐emitting poly(9,9‐dioctylfluorene‐alt‐benzothiadiazole ( F8BT ) is achieved. Morphological and structural analyses by atomic force microscopy, fluorescence mapping, µ‐Raman, and fluorescence lifetime microscopy are used to complement optical and electroluminescence characterization, and to enable a deeper insight into the properties of the novel blend.     

The influence of hydrogen and nitrogen on the formation of Si nanoclusters embedded in sub-stoichiometric silicon oxide layers

This work reports the study concerning the influence of the preparation conditions on the structure of silicon rich oxide (SRO) deposited by PECVD method by which the structural properties of the film are strictly related. In particular we investigated the role of reactant gases N₂O and SiH₄ on the total Si concentration, Si excess concentration, Si clustered concentration and size of nanoclusters formed by high annealing temperature. We payed particular attention on the role of the hydrogen and nitrogen during the Si agglomeration.The presence of hydrogen atoms on the as-deposited specimen, confirmed by the Si–H bonds peak on the FTIR analysis, has been directly correlated to the silicon excess concentration in the layer. The silicon, oxygen and nitrogen atomic density has been calculated from RBS analysis. These information were coupled to the ones obtained using methodology based on electron energy loss spectroscopy combined with energy filtered images, which allowed us to quantify the clustered silicon concentration in annealed sub-stoichiometric silicon oxide layers (SiO_x). We have verified that the nitrogen dissolved in the layer inhibits the Si excess clustering so that the efficiency of silicon agglomeration process decreases as the nitrogen content increases.     

A VLSI structure forX(modm) operation

High-computing speed and modularity have made RNS-based arithmetic processors attractive for a long time, especially in signal processing, where additions and multiplications are very frequent. The VLSI technology renewed this interest because RNS-based circuits are becoming more feasible; however, intermodular operations degradate their performance and a great effort results on this topic. In this paper, we deal with the problem of performing the basic operationX(modm), that is the remainder of the integer divisionX/m, for large values of the integerX, following an approximating and correcting approach, which guarantees the correctness of the result. We also define a structure to computeX(modm) by means of few fast VLSI binary multipliers, which is exemplified for 32-bit long numbers, obtaining a total response time lower than 200 nsec. Furthermore, such a structure is evaluated in terms of VLSI complexity and area and time figuresA=?(n ² T _m ² ) andT=?(T _M ) for the parameterT _M in \([\log n,\sqrt n ]\) are derived. A simple positional-to-residue converter is finally presented, based on this structure; it improves some complexity results previously obtained by authors.     

新型自振荡电源转换器VK05CFL

1.技术概述 VK05CFL是一种用于驱动微型荧光灯的自振荡转换器,采用意法半导体的VIPower M3-3专利技术制造而成,允许在同一芯片上集成控制部分和电源级。电源级是一个“发射器开关”,其构成是在级联配置内放置一个双极高压复合晶体管和一个低压MOSFET,因此,在高击穿电