Deep Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Affects Gut Microbiota Composition in Obesity: Results of Randomized Clinical Trial

Growing evidence highlights the crucial role of gut microbiota in affecting different aspects of obesity. Considering the ability of deep transcranial magnetic stimulation (dTMS) to modulate the cortical excitability, the reward system, and, indirectly, the autonomic nervous system (ANS), we hypothesized a potential role of dTMS in affecting the brain-gut communication pathways, and the gut microbiota composition in obesity. In a hospital setting, 22 subjects with obesity (5 M, 17 F; 44.9 ± 2.2 years; BMI 37.5 ± 1.0 kg/m²) were randomized into three groups receiving 15 sessions (3 per week for 5 weeks) of high frequency (HF), low frequency (LF) dTMS, or sham stimulation. Fecal samples were collected at baseline and after 5 weeks of treatment. Total bacterial DNA was extracted from fecal samples using the QIAamp DNA Stool Mini Kit (Qiagen, Italy) and analyzed by a metagenomics approach (Ion Torrent Personal Genome Machine). After 5 weeks, a significant weight loss was found in HF (HF: −4.1 ± 0.8%, LF: −1.9 ± 0.8%, sham: −1.3 ± 0.6%, p = 0.042) compared to LF and sham groups, associated with a decrease in norepinephrine compared to baseline (HF: −61.5 ± 15.2%, p < 0.01; LF: −31.8 ± 17.1%, p < 0.05; sham: −35.8 ± 21.0%, p > 0.05). Furthermore, an increase in Faecalibacterium (+154.3% vs. baseline, p < 0.05) and Alistipes (+153.4% vs. baseline, p < 0.05) genera, and a significant decrease in Lactobacillus (−77.1% vs. baseline, p < 0.05) were found in HF. Faecalibacterium variations were not significant compared to baseline in the other two groups (LF: +106.6%, sham: +27.6%; p > 0.05) as well as Alistipes (LF: −54.9%, sham: −15.1%; p > 0.05) and Lactobacillus (LF: −26.0%, sham: +228.3%; p > 0.05) variations. Norepinephrine change significantly correlated with Bacteroides (r² = 0.734; p < 0.05), Eubacterium (r² = 0.734; p < 0.05), and Parasutterella (r² = 0.618; p < 0.05) abundance variations in HF. In conclusion, HF dTMS treatment revealed to be effective in modulating gut microbiota composition in subjects with obesity, reversing obesity-associated microbiota variations, and promoting bacterial species representative of healthy subjects with anti-inflammatory properties.     

Mechanical properties of nanocrystalline diamond/amorphous carbon composite films prepared by microwave plasma chemical vapour deposition

Nanocrystalline diamond films (NCD) have been deposited by microwave plasma chemical vapour deposition from CH₄/N₂ mixtures with varying methane content. They consist of diamond nanocrystallites with sizes of 3–5 nm embedded in an amorphous matrix with grain boundary widths of 1–1.5 nm. The CH₄ content in the gas phase has almost no influence on the microscopic structure but a strong effect on the macroscopic structure and morphology. The mechanical and tribological properties of these films have been investigated by nanoindentation, nano tribo tests, and nano scratch tests. The hardness of a 4-μm-thick film deposited with 17% methane was about 40 GPa, the indentation modulus 387 GPa, and the elastic recovery 75%. Ball-on-disk tests against an Al₂O₃ ball revealed, after initially higher values, a friction coefficient of ≤0.1. Tribo tests and scratch tests proved a strong adhesion and a protective effect on silicon substrates. Finally, the correlations between the macroscopic structure of the films and their mechanical and tribological properties are discussed.     

Power-to-gas leverage effect on power-to-heat application for urban renewable thermal energy systems

High Renewable Energy Sources (RES) share in energy systems entails environmental advantages in its use but drawbacks in its distribution, management and effectiveness. The interconnection between electricity, heat and transport sector seems to be a comprehensive answer. Its actual link is on-going and, currently, involves electricity and heat. Indeed, Power to Heat (P2H) is the strategy of meeting the heating demand by supplying electricity to feed Heat Pump (HP). Their higher efficiency compared to fossil fuel boilers requires a further check in the quality of the heating demand to meet, i.e. the temperature levels. Great part of current building stock calls for High Temperature (HT) Heat which is not affordable by HP maintaining their Coefficient of Performance. To face this issue, RES can be used to produce synthetic fuels for feeding existing energy systems, the so-called Power-to-Gas option. In this way, greening the fuel supply can be seen as the best option for meeting HT heating demand while, Medium and Low Temperature are met by HP. Therefore, two technological scenarios, P2H and its combination with P2G, are presented and assessed in three reference Urban Energy Systems. The authors investigated on the impact of RES share increase from 25% up to 50% in the electricity mix with the objective function of Primary Energy Consumption (PEC). The outcomes of twenty-four energy scenarios, eight for each Reference City were assessed also through the value of delivered Renewable Heat. Finally, the leverage effect of P2G on the system is evaluated in terms of renewable heat contribution.     

Thermodynamic properties of the Pd77.5Cu6Si16.5 undercooled liquid

Proper understanding of glass formation implies the knowledge of the thermodynamics of the undercooled melts. Specifically, high values of the excess specific heat of the liquid are expected for good glass-formers. Extending the work of Gillessen and Herlach [F. Gillessen, D.M. Herlach, J. Non-Cryst. Solids 117–118 (1990) 555–558], we re-propose a calculation of the temperature dependence of entropy difference between amorphous-liquid and crystal states.An amorphous Pd_77.5Cu₆Si_16.5 alloy has been produced by injection casting in a cylindrical copper mould. DSC measurements in the liquid, amorphous and crystalline states were performed with samples sliced from the cylinder to determine the heat of fusion, of crystallization and the difference in specific heat capacity between amorphous-liquid and crystal phases. These thermodynamic quantities are used to calculate the thermodynamic functions of the liquid-glass with reference to the equilibrium crystal mixture. The data are compared to those of other bulk glass-formers in terms of fragility plots.     

Greedy scheduling algorithm (GSA) – Design and evaluation of an efficient and flexible WiMAX OFDMA scheduling solution

WiMAX is one of the most promising technologies to provide broadband wireless access in the near future. In this paper we focus on the study of the combined performance of a WiMAX Base Station MAC downlink scheduler and OFDMA packing algorithm which mainly determine the usage efficiency of the available radio resources. We design and analyze an efficient and flexible solution, greedy scheduling algorithm (GSA), and evaluate its performance as compared to several relevant alternative solutions. Specifically, we analyze performance differences with respect to efficiency, flexibility to provide per subscriber station burst shape preferences, interference mitigation and computational load. Our results show that GSA achieves a performance similar to the one of the competing approaches considered in terms of efficiency, even better in some cases, and significantly outperforms them in flexibility to provide per subscriber station burst shape preferences, interference mitigation and computational load. As a conclusion, the proposed GSA solution is a promising candidate to maximize the utilization of the available WiMAX radio resources at a low computational cost while at the same time being able to fulfill a wide range of requirements based on operators’ preferences and/or network environment specifics.     

Relation between Doppler echo-flowmetry and oncogenic markers in pelvic masses

BACKGROUND: The differential diagnosis between benign and malignant pelvic masses is still difficult and is based on clinical semeiotics and echography, whereas a reliable diagnosis can only be obtained by histological analysis. METHODS: A total of 40 patients were examined using transvaginal Doppler echoflowmetry which was used to evaluate the vascular distribution and intralesional and perilesional flowmetric values. These values were then compared with oncogenic markers and with histological tests of the neoformations. RESULTS: Histological analysis revealed that a flow with high PI is a marker of benignancy, whereas a low PI value tends to show malignancy. On the contrary oncogenic markers reveal a high level of sensitivity but low specificity, especially CA 125.     

Measurement of thermophysical properties of liquid metallic alloys in a ground- and microgravity based research programme — theThermoLab project

The ThermoLab project is concerned with the measurement of the thermophysical properties of industrial alloys in the liquid phase. The project combines long and short duration microgravity measurements based on containerless processing with an electromagnetic levitation device and a ground based experimental programme using conventional and containerless processing techniques. An overview of the project and representative results from the ground based experimental programme are given. Alloys investigated included Ni-based, Fe-based, a Cu-Sn-Mg alloy and a γ-TiAl alloy.     

Structural investigation of the HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein gp160 cleavage site, 2: relevance of an N-terminal helix

Proteolytic activation of the HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein gp160 is selectively performed by the proprotein convertase furin at the C-terminus of the sequence R508-E-K-R511 (site 1), in spite of the presence of another consensus sequence, Lys500-Ala-Lys-Arg503 (site 2). On the basis of the solution structural analysis of the synthetic peptide p498, spanning the gp160 sequence Pro498-Gly516, we previously suggested a possible role of an N-terminal helix in regulating the exposure and accessibility of the gp160 physiological cleavage site, enclosed in a loop. Here we report on the activity and conformation of the 23-residue peptide h-REKR, designed to exhibit a large N-terminal helix, followed by the gp160 native sequence, Arg508-Gly516. h-REKR is digested by furin with high efficiency, comparable to the full native p498. Circular dichroism analyses, in mixtures from pure water to 98 % trifluoroethanol, outline a significant content of helical structure in the peptide conformation. The molecular model obtained from NMR data collected in trifluoroethanol/water, by means of DYANA and AMBER simulations, indeed has helical structure on a large N-terminal segment. Such a long helix does not seem to affect the loop conformation of the C-terminal site 1-containing sequence, which exhibits the same proton chemical shifts already observed for the full native p498.