Effect of age and dietary fat (fish,corn and coconut oils) on tocopherol status of C57BL/6Nia mice

The effect of age and dietary fat type on tocopherol status was investigated using young and old C57BL/6Nia mice fed semipurified diets containing 5% (by weight) fish, corn or coconut oils and supplemented with 30, 100 or 500 ppm dl-α-tocopheryl acetate for 6 wk. Tocopherol levels in the diets, plasma, liver, kidney and lung were measured by high performance liquid chromatography following appropriate extractions. The results indicate that mice fed fish oil maintain lower plasma and tissue tocopherol concentrations than those fed corn and cononut oils (fish<corn oil<coconut oil). The difference was not due to a loss of tocopherol prior to consumption, but rather appeared to occur during the absorption process. Old mice had lower plasma and liver tocopherol concentrations than young mice. Old mice fed fish oil, however, maintained plasma tocopherol levels better than young mice fed fish oil, presumably due to their larger tocopherol pool. No age effect was detected on kidney and lung tocopherol levels. It is concluded that tocopherol status is affected by age and dietary fat type, especially fish oil.     

Vandetanib versus Cabozantinib in Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma: A Focus on Anti-Angiogenic Effects in Zebrafish Model

Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) is a tumor deriving from the thyroid C cells. Vandetanib (VAN) and cabozantinib (CAB) are two tyrosine kinase inhibitors targeting REarranged during Transfection (RET) and other kinase receptors and are approved for the treatment of advanced MTC. We aim to compare the in vitro and in vivo anti-tumor activity of VAN and CAB in MTC. The effects of VAN and CAB on viability, cell cycle, and apoptosis of TT and MZ-CRC-1 cells are evaluated in vitro using an MTT assay, DNA flow cytometry with propidium iodide, and Annexin V-FITC/propidium iodide staining, respectively. In vivo, the anti-angiogenic potential of VAN and CAB is evaluated in Tg(fli1a:EGFP)^y1 transgenic fluorescent zebrafish embryos by analyzing the effects on the physiological development of the sub-intestinal vein plexus and the tumor-induced angiogenesis after TT and MZ-CRC-1 xenotransplantation. VAN and CAB exert comparable effects on TT and MZ-CRC-1 viability inhibition and cell cycle perturbation, and stimulated apoptosis with a prominent effect by VAN in MZ-CRC-1 and CAB in TT cells. Regarding zebrafish, both drugs inhibit angiogenesis in a dose-dependent manner, in particular CAB shows a more potent anti-angiogenic activity than VAN. To conclude, although VAN and CAB show comparable antiproliferative effects in MTC, the anti-angiogenic activity of CAB appears to be more relevant.     

Corrosion Properties of NdFeB Magnets Coated by a Ni/Cu/Ni Layer in Chloride and Sulfide Environments

In this study, the corrosion behavior of a permanent magnetic alloy, Nd-Fe-B, coated by a triple layer of nickel-copper-nickel was studied. The corrosion resistance was investigated by (i) flux tests, carried out at 90 °C in an atmosphere containing chlorides or at 70 °C containing sulfides, (ii) electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and (iii) potentiodynamic polarization tests, carried out in solution at different temperatures (0-90 °C) containing chlorides or sulfides. The morphology and the composition of the samples and the corrosion products were analysed by optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, equipped with an energy dispersive x-ray detector. The magnetic properties were characterized by magnetic flow measurements. The flux tests indicated that the triple layer of coating provided a greater corrosion resistance in atmosphere containing chlorides than the one with sulfides. The potentiodynamic and the EIS tests showed that the corrosion rate increased with temperature. The magnetic properties of the sample remained unchanged after exposure to the aggressive environment.     

Passive adaptation or active engagement? The challenges of Housing First internationally and in the Italian case

In recent years, a peculiar homelessness policy that goes under the name of ‘Housing First’ has become increasingly popular all over the world. Epitomising a quintessential case of policy-mobility, Housing First can today be considered an heterogeneous assemblage of experiences and approaches that sometimes have little in common with each other. Introducing and commenting upon this heterogeneity, the paper critically analyses why and how Housing First has become a planetary success and what are the issues at stake with its widespread implementation. If recent scholarship published in this journal has granted us a fine understanding of Housing First’s functioning in the US, this paper offers something currently absent from the debate: a nuanced and critical understanding of the ambiguities related to the international success of this policy, with specific references to the challenges associated to its translation in the Italian case.     

Understanding the detrimental effect of nitrate presence on EBPR systems: effect of the plant configuration

The interaction between enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EPBR) and biological nitrogen removal may result in EBPR failure in full‐scale wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). This work studies one of the common causes of this failure: the presence of nitrate in the anaerobic phase, which may act as an inhibitor for polyphosphate accumulating organisms (PAO) activity or may activate the competition between PAO and denitrifying bacteria for the carbon source. Several batch experiments were performed with different carbon sources (acetic acid, propionic acid and sucrose) at different nitrate concentrations using PAO‐enriched sludge from two different pilot plants: an anaerobic/aerobic sequential batch reactor (SBR) and an anaerobic/anoxic/aerobic (A²/O) continuous plant. The results imply that the operational conditions of the A²/O pilot plant selected a PAO population capable of i) coexisting with nitrate without an inhibitory effect and ii) outcompeting denitrifying bacteria for the carbon source, in contrast to the SBR pilot plant where nitrate had an inhibitory effect on EBPR. Copyright © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry     

SmartK: Smart cards in operating systems at kernel level

A smart card is a tamper-resistant miniature computer that performs some basic computations on input a secret information. So far, smart cards have been widely used for securing many digital transactions (e.g., pay television, ATM machines).We focus on the implementation of operating system security services leveraging on smart cards. This very challenging feature allows one to personalize some functionalities of the operating system by simply changing a smart card. Current solutions for integrating smart card features in operating system services require at least a partial execution of some of the operating system functionalities at “user level”. Unfortunately, system functionalities built on top of components lying at both kernel and user levels may negatively affect the overall system security, due to the introduction of multiple points of failure.In this work, we present the design and implementation of SmartK: a framework that integrates features of smart cards uniquely in the Linux kernel. In order to validate our approach, we propose a host of enhancements to the Linux operating system built on top of SmartK: 1) in-kernel clients' authentication with Kerberos; 2) execution of trusted code; 3) key management in secure network filesystems.In particular, we present an experimental Linux OS distribution (SalSA), which addresses the security issues related to downloading packages and to updating an operating system through the Internet.     

Analysis of cubic and orthorhombic C<Subscript>3</Subscript>A hydration in presence of gypsum and lime

Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) have been used to study the microstructural changes and phase development that take place during the hydration of cubic (pure) and orthorhombic (Na-doped) tricalcium aluminate (C₃A) and gypsum in the absence and presence of lime. The results demonstrate that important differences occur in the hydration of each C₃A polymorph and gypsum when no lime is added; orthorhombic C₃A reacts faster with gypsum than the cubic phase, forming longer ettringite needles; however, the presence of lime slows down the formation of ettringite in the orthorhombic sample. Additional rheometric tests showed the possible effects on the setting time in these cementitious mixes.     

Quail egg yolk (Coturnix coturnix japonica) enriched with omega-3 fatty acids

This experiment was carried out with 58-week old laying quails (Coturnix coturnix japonica) assigned to four treatment groups with eight quails per replication in six repetitions in a completely randomized design. The treatments consisted of diets with different levels of flaxseed (0, 1.5, 3.0, and 5.0%). The amounts of cholesterol and total lipids and the fatty acid composition of quail egg yolk were determined in four 21-day cycles. No difference was found in cholesterol levels between the four treatments and the four cycles. The increased ingestion of linolenic acid (LNA) in diet reduced the formation of arachidonic acid (AA) significantly. The 3.0 and 5.0% treatment groups presented a reduction in total saturated fatty acids (TSFA) with the increase in percent flaxseed in feed comparatively to the control value. The n-3 fatty acid level was high in all treatments when compared to that of the control group. The n-6/n-3 ratio decreased from 21.30 (control) to 4.52 (5.0%), which is a better value from the nutritional viewpoint.