Immunological and Clinical Effect of Diet Modulation of the Gut Microbiome in Multiple Sclerosis Patients: A Pilot Study.

Pathogenesis of autoimmune disorders, including multiple sclerosis (MS), has been linked to an alteration of the resident microbial commensal community and of the interplay between the microbiota and the immune system. Dietary components such as fiber, acting on microbiota composition, could, in principle, result in immune modulation and, thus, could be used to obtain beneficial outcomes for patients. We verified this hypothesis in a pilot study involving two groups of clinically similar relapsing-remitting (RR) MS patients who had undergone either a high-vegetable/low-protein diet (HV/LP diet group;  = 10) or a "Western Diet" (WD group;  = 10) for at least 12 months.

Active removal of waste dye pollutants using TaN/WO nanocomposite fibres.

A scalable solvothermal technique is reported for the synthesis of a photocatalytic composite material consisting of orthorhombic TaN nanoparticles and WO nanowires. Through X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, the as-grown tungsten(VI) sub-oxide was identified as monoclinic WO. The composite material catalysed the degradation of Rhodamine B at over double the rate of the TaN nanoparticles alone under illumination by white light, and continued to exhibit superior catalytic properties following recycling of the catalysts.

An Alternative Route to Pentavalent Postperovskite.

Two different high-pressure and -temperature synthetic routes have been used to produce only the second-known pentavalent CaIrO3-type oxide. Postperovskite NaOsO3 has been prepared from GdFeO3-type perovskite NaOsO3 at 16 GPa and 1135 K. Furthermore, it has also been synthesized at the considerably lower pressure of 6 GPa and 1100 K from a precursor of hexavalent Na2OsO4 and nominally pentavalent KSbO3-like phases.

[43 cases of primary empty sella syndrome: a case series].

Primary empty sella syndrome (ESS) is an anatomo-radiological picture characterized by the presence of an arachnoid herniation filled with liquor that compresses the pituitary against the sellar wall. ESS occurs particularly in obese, hypertensive, cephalalgic women. It is often asymptomatic but may be associated with ophthalmologic, neurologic and non-characterizing endocrine disorders.