Alpha-Synuclein Preserves Mitochondrial Fusion and Function in Neuronal Cells.

Dysregulations of mitochondria with alterations in trafficking and morphology of these organelles have been related to Parkinson's disease (PD), a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by brain accumulation of Lewy bodies (LB), intraneuronal inclusions mainly composed of -synuclein (-syn) fibrils. Experimental evidence supports that -syn pathological aggregation can negatively impinge on mitochondrial functions suggesting that this protein may be crucially involved in the control of mitochondrial homeostasis. The aim of this study was to assay this hypothesis by analyzing mitochondrial function and morphology in primary cortical neurons from C57BL/6JOlaHsd -syn null and C57BL/6J wild-type (wt) mice.

Evaluation of microbiological air quality and of microclimate in university classrooms.

The proliferation of air-diffused microorganisms inside public buildings such as schools, hospitals, and universities, is often indicated as a possible health risk. In this research, we have illustrated the results of an investigation realized to determine the health of the air in some university classrooms, both from a microbiological and a microclimatic viewpoint, during the normal didactic activity of direct lessons. The results obtained have been expressed by means of contamination indices, already used in previous works.

Late reproduction at lower risk in Sardinia island: a case of reproductive longevity?

Population of Sardinia Island is characterized by geographical and historical isolation, a deep-rooted tendency to postpone childbearing, and a demographic and genetic structure largely different from that of continental Italy and other European countries. Based on such differences we investigated whether the risk of adverse pregnancy outcome associated with late reproduction was different between the Sardinian population and two mainland areas (North+Centre and South+Sicily), representative of different Italian socio-economic contexts. In particular we suggest that parents, who show aptitude to late childbearing associated with a reduced risk of adverse pregnancy outcome, enjoy "reproductive longevity".

Gestational age shortening in single births at term. Italy 1990-1998.

The increasing incidence of moderate preterm births (32-36 gestation weeks) might reflect a more general tendency toward a shortening of the gestational length occurring also in the term births (37 + gestation weeks). We examined all Italian 1st live born singletons (n = 2,356,365) and found that from 1990 to 1998 the births of 40 + gestation weeks decreased from 60.7 to 51.

Paternal age and preterm birth in Italy, 1990 to 1998.

Background: Advanced paternal age has been reported to impair pregnancy outcome. Here, we investigated the association of advanced paternal age with preterm birth by using a very large national data set.

Methods: We analyzed data from 1990 to 1998 on Italian firstborn singletons to mothers 20-24 and 25-29 years of age (n = 1,510,823).

Birthweight by gestational age in preterm babies according to a Gaussian mixture model.

Objective: To provide a statistically sound criterion for identifying implausibly large birthweights for gestational age.

Design: Review of ISTAT 1990-1994 national newborn records.

Setting: Italy

Population: Forty-two thousand and twenty-nine single first and second liveborn preterm babies.

Trends in childbearing and stillbirth risk: heterogeneity among Italian regions.

In Italy, as in all Western countries, the almost monotonic decline in fertility observed since the 1960s has been paralleled until the beginning of the 1980s by a decrease in maternal age at delivery. Since then, age at marriage and at childbearing has been increasing and marital fertility has continued to decrease. By 1994 Italy showed extreme values of low total fertility rate (1.

Delayed maternity and risk at delivery.

We evaluated the effect of the mother's age on the risk of unfavourable pregnancy outcome. The study considered 1348 190 first-born and 957 689 second-born babies born in Italy in 1990-94. The risk of stillbirth, preterm birth in liveborns, and low birthweight in liveborns at term, was first evaluated separately and then globally as a function of maternal age, education and parity.