Publications by authors named "Massara E"

We present cosmological constraints from a simulation-based inference (SBI) analysis of galaxy clustering from the SimBIG forward modeling framework. SimBIG leverages the predictive power of high-fidelity simulations and provides an inference framework that can extract cosmological information on small nonlinear scales. In this work, we apply SimBIG to the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) CMASS galaxy sample and analyze the power spectrum, [Formula: see text], to [Formula: see text].

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Bitter taste receptors are involved not only in taste perception but in various physiological functions as their anatomical location is not restricted to the gustatory system. We previously demonstrated expression and activity of the subtype hTAS2R46 in human airway smooth muscle and broncho-epithelial cells, and here we show its expression and functionality in human skeletal muscle cells. Three different cellular models were used: micro-dissected human skeletal tissues, human myoblasts/myotubes and human skeletal muscle cells differentiated from urine stem cells of healthy donors.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Muscular diseases are characterized by a wide genetic diversity and the Ca-signalling machinery is often perturbed. Its characterization is therefore pivotal and requires appropriate cellular models. Muscle biopsies are the best approach but are invasive for the patient and difficult to justify if the biopsy is not for diagnostic purposes.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Cosmological neutrinos have their greatest influence in voids: These are the regions with the highest neutrino to dark matter density ratios. The marked power spectrum can be used to emphasize low-density regions over high-density regions and, therefore, is potentially much more sensitive than the power spectrum to the effects of neutrino masses. Using 22 000 N-body simulations from the Quijote suite, we quantify the information content in the marked power spectrum of the matter field and show that it outperforms the standard power spectrum by setting constraints improved by a factor larger than 2 on all cosmological parameters.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Methylxanthines are important pharmacological agents in the treatment of asthma and of chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases. The present study was designed to compare the ability of doxofylline and theophylline to modulate inflammatory pathways in human monocytes.

Methods: Monocytes isolated from healthy anonymous human buffy coats were treated with doxofylline or theophylline in the presence of phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) or lipopolysaccharide (LPS), and their phenotype, the oxidative burst, cytokine expression and release, cAMP production, and protein kinase C (PKC) activity were evaluated.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Von Willebrand disease (VWD) is the most frequent inherited bleeding disorder and is caused by either a quantitative and/or qualitative defect of the multimeric glycoprotein vonWillebrand factor (VWF).[..

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP) has been extensively used for the treatment of immune-mediated diseases for over 20 years and has a consistent and predictable safety profile with long-term use. Documenting the efficacy of ECP as therapeutic treatment has long been a matter of importance for physicians.

Areas Covered: The authors reviewed publications in this field with the goal of providing an overview of this therapeutic approach.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) is a hematopoietic growth factor that stimulates the proliferation and differentiation of neutrophil precursor cells. G-CSF-mobilized peripheral blood (PB) hematopoietic progenitor stem cells (HPSCs) collected by apheresis are being increasingly employed for allogeneic transplantation in patients with malignancies as an alternative to bone marrow (BM) transplant. Documenting the safety of G-CSF as a mobilizing agent for HPSC donation has long been a matter of importance for physicians, particularly when volunteer, unrelated adult donors are involved.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Different factors influence the clinical outcome of allogeneic transplants, the foremost being good immune recovery.

Materials And Methods: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of different factors, such as stem cell source, type of donor, conditioning regimen and acute graft-versus-host disease, on early lymphocyte recovery after transplantation. We then analyzed the impact of early CD4+ cell count on overall survival, transplant-related mortality and disease-related mortality.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Healthy donors (HDs) who were mobilized using lenograstim (LENO) and who were undergoing peripheral haematopoietic progenitor cell collection with apheresis (HPC-A) were enrolled in a surveillance protocol. In all, 184 HDs have been assessed with a median follow-up of 62 months (range 2-155). HDs received LENO at a median dose of 10 microg/kg (range 5-15).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The aim of the study was to verify the utility of the clinical practice of administering thrombophilic screening and antithrombotic prophylaxis with low-molecular-weight heparin to healthy donors receiving granulocyte colony-stimulating factor to mobilize peripheral blood stem cells. Thrombophilia screening comprised of testing for factor V Leiden G1691A, prothrombin G20210A, the thermolabile variant (C677T) of the methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase gene, protein C, protein S, factor VIII and homocysteine plasmatic levels, antithrombin III activity, and acquired activated protein C resistance. We investigated prospectively 72 white Italian healthy donors, 39 men and 33 women, with a median age of 42 years (range, 18-65).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Although a double autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplant (APBSCT) is an effective therapy for patients (pts) with multiple myeloma and extends progression-free survival and overall survival, pts show a continued pattern of recurrent disease. The feasibility and tolerability of thalidomide (Thal) administered in the post-transplantation period as maintenance therapy was tested in 17 pts at a dose of 100 mg/d starting between 3 and 5 months after the second transplantation and continuing either until toxicity precluded further therapy or until pts had disease progression. After a median administration of 13 months (range: 3-26), 76.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

We undertook a comparative study of Pegfilgrastim vs. Filgrastim after high-dose melphalan and autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (APBSCT) in multiple myeloma (MM) patients. Thirty-seven consecutive patients were randomly assigned to receive a single 6 mg dose of Pegfilgrastim on day 1 post-transplant (n = 18 patients) vs.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Angiogenesis is critical for the clinical progression of haematopoietic malignancies and depends on angiogenic factors. Angiogenin is a powerful factor produced by neoplastic cells and host microenvironment. High levels of soluble angiogenin (sAng) correlate with a poor prognosis in patients affected by acute myeloid leukaemia and myelodysplastic syndromes, but no data are available on sAng in chronic myeloproliferative disorders (CMD).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The exemplars in this article reflect caring contexts and creative nursing solutions to dementia, depression, and addiction, common mental health problems afflicting elderly patients and for which inpatient evaluation and treatment are necessitated. Optimal functioning and quality of life for elderly individuals depend substantially upon both physical and mental capacity. The coexistence of mental and physical illness leads to rapid impairment of functioning and interrupts the individual's zest for living.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A series of photographs of persons which had been varied by anamorphic lens to produce images both thinner and thicker than the originals were assessed by three experts in terms of percentage deviation from ideal body weight. Together with the photographs, five questions about preferences for body size were put to 341 persons who were also asked to assign each photograph to one of six basic categories of body weight in Puerto Rican culture.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF