Anomaly Detection for Power Quality Analysis Using Smart Metering Systems.

The problem of Power Quality analysis is becoming crucial to ensuring the proper functioning of complex systems and big plants. In this regard, it is essential to rapidly detect anomalies in voltage and current signals to ensure a prompt response and maximize the system's availability with the minimum maintenance cost. In this paper, anomaly detection algorithms based on machine learning, such as One Class Support Vector Machine (OCSVM), Isolation Forest (IF), and Angle-Based Outlier Detection (ABOD), are used as a first tool for rapid and effective clustering of the measured voltage and current signals directly on-line on the sensing unit.

Reliability Analysis of Wireless Sensor Network for Smart Farming Applications.

Wireless Sensor Networks are subjected to some design constraints (e.g., processing capability, storage memory, energy consumption, fixed deployment, etc.

Antidepressant-like effect of artemin in mice: a mechanism for acetyl-L-carnitine activity on depression.

Rationale: Depression may be associated with altered plasticity of the nervous system. The importance of neurotrophic factor levels is strongly suggested, and the neuronal-related family is extensively studied with respect to glial-derived one.

Objectives: Aimed to contribute to the study of nervous plasticity modulation as therapeutical target in mood disorders, the role of the glial-derived factor artemin (ARTN) in depression and in the pharmacodynamics of the antidepressant and trophic compound acetyl-L: -carnitine (ALCAR) was evaluated.

Analgesic and antineuropathic drugs acting through central cholinergic mechanisms.

The role of muscarinic and nicotinic cholinergic receptors in analgesia and neuropathic pain relief is relatively unknown. This review describes how such drugs induce analgesia or alleviate neuropathic pain by acting on the central cholinergic system. Several pharmacological strategies are discussed which increase synthesis and release of acetylcholine (ACh) from cholinergic neurons.

Protective effect of alpha7 nAChR: behavioural and morphological features on neuropathy.

Traumatic, toxic or metabolic damage to the nervous system is the etiological foundation of neuropathic pain. Neuropathies are extremely difficult to treat and available drugs rarely joint an anti-hyperalgesic with a neurorestorative effect. From the literature, evidences support the alpha7 nicotinic receptor (nAChR) subtype as having a role in neuropathic pain as well as possessing neuroprotective properties.

A prolonged protein kinase C-mediated, opioid-related antinociceptive effect of st John's Wort in mice.

Unlabelled: The antinociceptive profile of St. John's Wort (SJW) was investigated in mice in a condition of acute thermal and chemical pain, together with the mechanism that might underlie this effect. A dried extract of SJW induced a prolonged antinociception that persisted for 120 minutes after administration.

Receptor-independent modulation of reconstituted Galpha(i) protein mediated by liposomes.

A cationic amphiphile, BC5 (N-pentadecylpiperidin-4-amine), was recently designed and tested for its ability to directly stimulate the activity of recombinant Galpha inhibitory subunits. However, amphiphilic drugs can self-associate and bind to plasma membranes, causing undesired side effects. In this contribution, we report on the incorporation of BC5 in 1,2-dipalmytoyl-sn-glycerophosphocoline (DPPC) liposomes and on the characterization of the mixed DPPC/BC5 systems at various lipid/drug mole ratios by means of dynamic light scattering, differential scanning calorimetry and fluorescence spectroscopy.

Acetyl-L-carnitine in the management of pain during methadone withdrawal syndrome.

Introduction: This study was designed to determine the short-term effect of acetyl-l-carnitine (ALC) on symptoms of withdrawal in opiate-dependent subjects and animals and, in particular, on pain, given the efficacy of ALC in other typologies of pain. The study consists of 2 branches: a clinical study and a preclinical one, both with a randomized placebo-controlled design.

Methods: Thirty subjects meeting clinical criteria for methadone dependence were consecutively recruited and treated with ALC 2 g/d or placebo for a 3-week detoxification period.

Neuroprotective effects of acetyl-L-carnitine on neuropathic pain and apoptosis: a role for the nicotinic receptor.

Several pathologies related to nervous tissue alterations are characterized by a chronic pain syndrome defined by persistent or paroxysmal pain independent or dependent on a stimulus. Pathophysiological mechanisms related to neuropathic disease are associated with mitochondrial dysfunctions that lead to an activation of the apoptotic cascade. In a model of peripheral neuropathy obtained by the loose ligation of the rat sciatic nerve, acetyl-L-Carnitine (ALCAR; 100 mg/kg intraperitoneally [i.

A gene-specific cerebral types 1, 2, and 3 RyR protein knockdown induces an antidepressant-like effect in mice.

Elevation of baseline intracellular calcium levels was observed in platelets or lymphoblasts of patients with bipolar affective disorders suggesting an altered intracellular Ca(2+) homeostasis in the pathophysiology of mood disorders. The role of supraspinal endoplasmic ryanodine receptors (RyRs), which allow mobilization of intracellular Ca(2+) stores, in the modulation of depressive states was, then, investigated. Ryanodine and FK506 reduced the immobility time in the mouse forced swimming test showing an antidepressant-like profile comparable with that produced by amitriptyline and clomipramine.

Different involvement of type 1, 2, and 3 ryanodine receptors in memory processes.

The administration of the ryanodine receptor (RyR) agonist 4-Cmc (0.003-9 nmol per mouse intracerebroventricularly [i.c.

A recombinant transductor-effector system: in vitro study of G inhibitory protein (G-alpha-i1) direct activators.

Mutations and altered functionality of the inhibitory subfamily of G proteins (Gi) are involved in pathological states. Compounds able to activate Gi in a receptor-independent manner would be useful to treat these pathological conditions. Aimed to study Gi direct activation we have reconstituted a recombinant transductor-effector complex cloning both the mammalian Galpha(i1) subunit and adenylate cyclase (AC).

Gi/o proteins: expression for direct activation enquiry.

G protein-mediated pathways are fundamental mechanisms of cell signaling. In this paper, the expression and the characterization of the alphai1, alphai3, alphao1, beta1, and gamma2 subunits of the human G protein are described. This approach was developed to evaluate the G protein activation profile of new compounds.

Blockade of intracellular calcium release induces an antidepressant-like effect in the mouse forced swimming test.

The role of intracellular calcium in the modulation of a depressant-like condition was investigated in the mouse forced swimming test. I.c.

Design, synthesis, and preliminary pharmacological evaluation of a set of small molecules that directly activate gi proteins.

Heterotrimeric G proteins play a pivotal role in the communication of cells with the environment. G proteins are stimulated by cell surface receptors (GPCR) that catalyze the exchange of GDP, bound to Galpha subunit, with GTP and can per se be the target of drugs. Based on the structure of two nonpeptidic modulators of Gi proteins, a series of new molecules characterized by a long hydrophobic chain and at least two nitrogen atoms protonated at physiological pH was designed.

Ryanodine receptors are involved in muscarinic antinociception in mice.

The role of ryanodine receptors (RyRs) in the induction of muscarinic antinociception was investigated in a condition of acute thermal pain by means of the mouse hot-plate test. I.c.

Role of intracellular calcium in acute thermal pain perception.

The role of intracellular calcium in acute thermal nociception was investigated in the mouse hot-plate test. Intracerebroventricular (i.c.

Effects of endogenous morphine deprivation on memory retention of passive avoidance learning in mice.

Memory and the processes of learning in mammals are well known to be affected by opioid agonists such as morphine, which has been proven to interfere and cause amnesia. The presence of endogenous morphine has been demonstrated in various tissues from mammals to invertebrates. In this study, we have investigated the effects caused by in-vivo immunodepletion of endogenous morphine on working memory under different experimental conditions.

Alpha-2 agonist-induced memory impairment is mediated by the alpha-2A-adrenoceptor subtype.

The activation of alpha2-adrenoceptors has been reported to impair memory functions in both rats and humans. The alpha2-adrenoceptor subtype responsible for this detrimental effect is still unknown. The effect of the alpha2-agonists clonidine and guanabenz on memory processes, in dependence to the time of administration, was evaluated in the mouse passive avoidance test.

Prochlorperazine induces central antinociception mediated by the muscarinic system.

The antinociceptive effect of the D(2) antagonist prochlorperazine was examined in the mouse hot-plate and abdominal constriction tests. Prochlorperazine (1-2 mg kg(-1) s.c.

H1-receptor stimulation induces hyperalgesia through activation of the phospholipase C-PKC pathway.

The supraspinal cellular events involved in H(1)-mediated hyperalgesia were investigated in a condition of acute thermal pain by means of the mouse hot-plate test. I.c.

Acetyl-L-carnitine requires phospholipase C-IP3 pathway activation to induce antinociception.

The cellular events involved in acetyl-L-carnitine (ALCAR) analgesia were investigated in the mouse hot plate test. I.c.

4-Aminopiperidine derivatives as a new class of potent cognition enhancing drugs.

Extrusion of one of the nitrogens of the piperazine ring of potent nootropic drugs previously described gave 4-aminopiperidine analogues that maintained high cognition enhancing activity in the mouse passive avoidance test. One of the new compounds (9, active at 0.01 mg/kg ip) may represent a new lead for the development of cognition enhancers useful to treat the cognitive deficit produced by neurodegenerative pathologies like Alzheimer's disease.

The phospholipase C-IP3 pathway is involved in muscarinic antinociception.

The cellular events involved in muscarinic analgesia were investigated in the mouse hot-plate test. Intracerebroventricular (i.c.

[(3-Chlorophenyl)piperazinylpropyl]pyridazinones and analogues as potent antinociceptive agents.

A number of [(3-chlorophenyl)piperazinylpropyl]pyridazinones and the corresponding isoxazolopyridazinones, showing the arylpiperazinyl substructure present in very potent antinociceptive agents reported in the literature, were synthesized and tested for their analgesic activity. The investigated compounds showed antinociceptive properties in the mouse hot-plate test (thermal nociceptive stimulus) after systemic administration with an efficacy similar to that exerted by morphine. The increase of the pain threshold induced by the compounds labeled 5a, 7, 8, and 11 was prevented by reserpine, suggesting the involvement of the noradrenergic and/or serotoninergic system in their mechanism of action.