Utility of factor D and other alternative complement factors as biomarkers in systemic sclerosis-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension (SSc-PAH).

Background: Activation of the complement cascade is thought to play a role in scleroderma vasculopathy. We previously showed that complement factor D was elevated in patients with limited cutaneous SSc and pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). In this study, we sought to assess multiple relevant components of the complement cascade to determine if they are altered in SSc-PAH, as well as their potential utility as biomarkers of disease severity and progression.

Wearable sensors to measure the influence of sonic seasoning on wine consumers in a live context: a preliminary proof-of-concept study.

Background: Any action capable of creating expectations about product quality would be able to modulate experienced pleasantness. In this context, during the 2022 edition of the Internet Festival (Pisa, Italy) a 'social experiment' was promoted to set up an affordable and reliable methodology based on wearable sensors to measure the emotions aroused in a live context on consumers by different kinds of wines. Therefore, five wines (two faulty ones and three high-quality samples) were proposed to 50 non-selected consumers in an arousing context with live jazz music as background.

An overview of bioinformatics courses delivered at the academic level in Italy: Reflections and recommendations from BITS.

In Italian universities, bioinformatics courses are increasingly being incorporated into different study paths. However, the content of bioinformatics courses is usually selected by the professor teaching the course, in the absence of national guidelines that identify the minimum indispensable knowledge in bioinformatics that undergraduate students from different scientific fields should achieve. The Training&Teaching group of the Bioinformatics Italian Society (BITS) proposed to university professors a survey aimed at portraying the current situation of bioinformatics courses within undergraduate curricula in Italy (i.

Thy-1 plays a pathogenic role and is a potential biomarker for skin fibrosis in scleroderma.

Thy-1 (CD90) is a well-known marker of fibroblasts implicated in organ fibrosis, but its contribution to skin fibrosis remains unknown. We examined Thy-1 expression in scleroderma skin and its potential role as a biomarker and pathogenic factor in animal models of skin fibrosis. Skin from patients with systemic sclerosis demonstrated markedly elevated Thy-1 expression compared with controls, colocalized with fibroblast activator protein in the deep dermis, and correlated with the severity of skin involvement (modified Rodnan skin score).

Tomographic Analysis of the Anatomical Parameters for the Insertion of Cortical Bone Screws.

 To study the parameters related to the insertion path of cortical screws and to describe this technique.  Computed tomography (CT) scans of 30 patients, as well as the measurements from the L1 to the L5 vertebrae, were studied. A second observer evaluated ten randomly-selected exams.

PLG nanoparticles target fibroblasts and MARCO+ monocytes to reverse multiorgan fibrosis.

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a chronic, multisystem orphan disease with a highly variable clinical course, high mortality rate, and a poorly understood complex pathogenesis. We have identified an important role for a subpopulation of monocytes and macrophages characterized by surface expression of the scavenger receptor macrophage receptor with collagenous structure (MARCO) in chronic inflammation and fibrosis in SSc and in preclinical disease models. We show that MARCO+ monocytes and macrophages accumulate in lesional skin and lung in topographic proximity to activated myofibroblasts in patients with SSc and in the bleomycin-induced mouse model of SSc.

Circulating CTRP9 Is Associated With Severity of Systemic Sclerosis-Associated Interstitial Lung Disease.

Objective: While interstitial lung disease (ILD) is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in systemic sclerosis (SSc), there remains a paucity of predictive markers to assess disease progression. We previously demonstrated that adipose tissue metabolism and adipokine homeostasis is dysregulated in SSc. The present study was undertaken to determine the association and predictive ability of the novel adipokine C1q/tumor necrosis factor-related protein 9 (CTRP9) for SSc-associated ILD.

A Vibrissa-Inspired Highly Flexible Tactile Sensor: Scanning 3D Object Surfaces Providing Tactile Images.

Just as the sense of touch complements vision in various species, several robots could benefit from advanced tactile sensors, in particular when operating under poor visibility. A prominent tactile sense organ, frequently serving as a natural paragon for developing tactile sensors, is the vibrissae of, e.g.

Pathological pulmonary vascular remodeling is induced by type V collagen in a model of scleroderma.

Objective: The pulmonary vascular remodeling in systemic sclerosis (SSc) is poorly understood and animal models are lacking. Type V collagen (COLV) is elevated in SSc and is implicated in the pathogenesis, and immunization with human COLV induces SSc-like skin and lung changes in rabbits and mice. Here we tested the hypothesis that COLV immunization will induce pathological and functional changes that phenocopy SSc-associated pulmonary vascular disease.

Wearable Sensors for Assessing the Role of Olfactory Training on the Autonomic Response to Olfactory Stimulation.

Wearable sensors are nowadays largely employed to assess physiological signals derived from the human body without representing a burden in terms of obtrusiveness. One of the most intriguing fields of application for such systems include the assessment of physiological responses to sensory stimuli. In this specific regard, it is not yet known which are the main psychophysiological drivers of olfactory-related pleasantness, as the current literature has demonstrated the relationship between odor familiarity and odor valence, but has not clarified the consequentiality between the two domains.

Resolution of the paradox of the diamagnetic effect on the Kibble coil.

Employing very simple electro-mechanical principles known from classical physics, the Kibble balance establishes a very precise and absolute link between quantum electrical standards and macroscopic mass or force measurements. The success of the Kibble balance, in both determining fundamental constants (h, [Formula: see text], e) and realizing a quasi-quantum mass in the 2019 newly revised International System of Units, relies on the perfection of Maxwell's equations and the symmetry they describe between Lorentz's force and Faraday's induction, a principle and a symmetry stunningly demonstrated in the weighing and velocity modes of Kibble balances to within [Formula: see text], with nothing but imperfect wires and magnets. However, recent advances in the understanding of the current effect in Kibble balances reveal a troubling paradox.

Targeting CD38-dependent NAD metabolism to mitigate multiple organ fibrosis.

The processes underlying synchronous multiple organ fibrosis in systemic sclerosis (SSc) remain poorly understood. Age-related pathologies are associated with organismal decline in nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) that is due to dysregulation of NAD homeostasis and involves the NADase CD38. We now show that CD38 is upregulated in patients with diffuse cutaneous SSc, and CD38 levels in the skin associate with molecular fibrosis signatures, as well as clinical fibrosis scores, while expression of key NAD-synthesizing enzymes is unaltered.

A yeast living ancestor reveals the origin of genomic introgressions.

Genome introgressions drive evolution across the animal, plant and fungal kingdoms. Introgressions initiate from archaic admixtures followed by repeated backcrossing to one parental species. However, how introgressions arise in reproductively isolated species, such as yeast, has remained unclear.

Adipocytic Progenitor Cells Give Rise to Pathogenic Myofibroblasts: Adipocyte-to-Mesenchymal Transition and Its Emerging Role in Fibrosis in Multiple Organs.

Purpose Of Review: Adipocytes have recently been shown to be able to reprogram to a myofibroblastic phenotype in a process termed adipocyte mesenchymal transition (AMT). This review seeks to discuss the relevance of this process to disease and explore its mechanisms.

Recent Findings: AMT occurs in multiple organs and diseases, transdifferentiation goes through a precursor cell and there is a reversible process that can be influenced by metabolic stress, myeloid cells, immune dysregulation, and pharmacological intervention.

High-throughput quantitative histology in systemic sclerosis skin disease using computer vision.

Background: Skin fibrosis is the clinical hallmark of systemic sclerosis (SSc), where collagen deposition and remodeling of the dermis occur over time. The most widely used outcome measure in SSc clinical trials is the modified Rodnan skin score (mRSS), which is a semi-quantitative assessment of skin stiffness at seventeen body sites. However, the mRSS is confounded by obesity, edema, and high inter-rater variability.

The JAK/STAT pathway is activated in systemic sclerosis and is effectively targeted by tofacitinib.

Rationale: Fibrosis leads to failure of the skin, lungs, and other organs in systemic sclerosis; accounts for substantial morbidity and mortality; and lacks effective therapy. Myofibroblast activation underlies organ fibrosis, but the key extracellular cues driving persistence of the process remain incompletely characterized.

Objectives: The objectives were to evaluate activation of the IL6/JAK/STAT axis associated with fibrosis in skin and lung biopsies from systemic sclerosis patients and effects of the Food and Drug Administration-approved JAK/STAT inhibitor, tofacitinib, on skin and lung fibrosis in animal models.

Soft tissue necrosis in patients treated with transoral robotic surgery and postoperative radiotherapy: preliminary results.

Objective: Postoperative radiotherapy (PORT) is indicated in almost two-thirds of patients treated with transoral robotic surgery (TORS) for head and neck tumors. The aim of this study was to quantify the toxicity profile of patients treated with PORT after TORS in oropharyngeal and supraglottic laryngeal cancer focusing on soft tissue necrosis (STN).

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 28 patients.

Clinical features and management of antrochoanal polyps in children: Cues from a clinical series of 58 patients.

Objective: To review the clinical features of pediatric patients affected by antrochoanal polyps (ACPs) and surgically treated at three University settings.

Methods: Retrospective study. The present research includes the clinical data of subjects affected by ACPs, aged <18 years and referred to three ENT Departments, between January 1st 2003 and September 30th 2016.

Adipocyte-specific Repression of PPAR-gamma by NCoR Contributes to Scleroderma Skin Fibrosis.

Background: A pivotal role for adipose tissue homeostasis in systemic sclerosis (SSc) skin fibrosis is increasingly recognized. The nuclear receptor PPAR-γ is the master regulator of adipogenesis. Peroxisome proliferator activated receptor-γ (PPAR-γ) has antifibrotic effects by blocking transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) and is dysregulated in SSc.

The non-neuronal cyclin-dependent kinase 5 is a fibrotic mediator potentially implicated in systemic sclerosis and a novel therapeutic target.

The mechanisms underlying persistent fibroblast activation and myofibroblast phenoconversion in underlying multi-organ fibrosis in systemic sclerosis (SSc) remain incompletely understood, hindering effective therapies to slow or reverse the process. Cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (CDK5) is a pleiotropic member of the CDK family originally identified in neuronal cells. In contrast to other CDKs, CDK5 activity depends on its CDK5R1 subunit p35.

Do protocells preferentially retain macromolecular solutes upon division/fragmentation? A study based on the extrusion of POPC giant vesicles.

A key process of protocell behaviour is their recursive growth and division. In order to be sustainable, the latter must be characterized by an even and homogeneous partition of the solute molecules initially present in the parent protocell among the daughter ones. Here we have investigated, by means of an artificial division model (extrusion of giant lipid vesicles) and confocal microscopy, the fate of solutes when a large vesicle fragments into many smaller vesicles.