Publications by authors named "Pacifico D"

Article Synopsis
  • - The study investigated the prevalence and characteristics of C. difficile infections in children and adolescents with diarrhea in northeastern Brazil, revealing a significant infection rate of 30.4% among samples tested.
  • - A total of four toxigenic strains were identified, with most samples showing susceptibility to metronidazole and vancomycin, while diarrhea associated with these infections lasted an average of 11 days and was often severe.
  • - The research indicates that comorbid chronic diseases were key risk factors for these infections, underscoring the need for further awareness and understanding of C. difficile's impact on pediatric health in the region.
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Strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) was introduced in Sicily (Italy) in the 1930s in the small town of Maletto, on the slopes of Etna volcan, where it's currently cultivated in a total area of 30 ha. The French cv.

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The grapevine industry is of high economic importance in several countries worldwide. Its growing market demand led to an acceleration of the entire production processes, implying increasing use of water resources at the expense of environmental water balance and the hydrological cycle. Furthermore, in recent decades climate change and the consequent expansion of drought have further compromised water availability, making current agricultural systems even more fragile from ecological and economical perspectives.

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Tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV) is a tobamovirus recently identified on tomatoes in Jordan (Salem et al. 2016). New infections were rapidly reported all over the world becoming a serious threat to tomato production.

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Background: COVID-19 patients can report 'brain fog' and may exhibit cognitive symptoms for months after recovery (Cognitive COVID). However, evidence on whether and the extent to which SARS-CoV-2 infection impacts cognition irrespective of COVID-19 course and severity is limited to clinical samples and mainly comes from prognostic studies. We aimed to explore the association between serologically confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection and cognitive functioning in community-based and institutionalized older adults, irrespective of COVID-19 symptoms.

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Article Synopsis
  • Next-generation sequencing (NGS) of total RNA has enhanced our understanding of viruses affecting various hosts, including fungi, by revealing new viruses and their evolutionary patterns.
  • The text outlines specific procedures for isolating the plant pathogenic fungus Botrytis cinerea from grapevine plants with gray mold, as well as methods for culturing and maintaining this fungus.
  • It details the process of RNA extraction for NGS, a bioinformatics pipeline for identifying mycoviruses in the samples, and techniques for validating the detected mycoviruses.
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Background: We explored whether number of languages spoken and language proficiency are associated with cognitive performance among older adults living in the community and in long-term care (LTC) in Switzerland.

Methods: Among study participants, 664 lived in the community in the Canton of Zurich (Mean age = 72.97 years; SD = 6.

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(1) Background: Patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) often present impairment in executive functions (EFs). This study aimed to investigate the effect of high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) on EFs in patients with MCI. (2) Methods: A prospective trial was conducted on 11 patients with MCI.

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Background: Subjective cognitive decline (SCD) and subjective memory decline (SMD) are common among older people. Evidence linking SCD and SMD with cognitive and memory impairment is inconsistent. Moreover, little is known about the associations of SCD and SMD with disability.

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Background: Increasing public awareness and understanding of dementia is the second key action area of the 2017 WHO Global action plan on a public health response to dementia. To achieve this aim, the first indispensable step is to understand the average level of dementia knowledge and to identify areas of low dementia knowledge. We aimed to quantify dementia knowledge in the general population, and to explore the extent to which it differs by age, sex, education, and indirect experience with dementia.

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Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with cognitive impairment (CI) frequently suffer from sleep disturbances and emotional symptoms. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between CI and sleep disturbances and the role of anxiety and depression on this relationship in MS patients.

Methods: Prospective cross-sectional study including 80 MS patients that underwent neurologic, cognitive, psychiatric assessment, and polysomnographic registration.

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High throughput sequencing allowed the discovery of many new viruses and viral organizations increasing our comprehension of virus origin and evolution. Most RNA viruses are currently characterized through similarity searches of annotated virus databases. This approach limits the possibility to detect completely new virus-encoded proteins with no detectable similarities to existing ones, i.

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Wine yeasts can be natural hosts for dsRNA, ssRNA viruses and retrotransposon elements. In this study, high-throughput RNA sequencing combined with bioinformatic analyses unveiled the virome associated to 16 and 8 non- strains of oenological interest. Results showed the presence of six viruses and two satellite dsRNAs from four different families, two of which- and -were not reported before in yeasts, as well as two ORFan contigs of viral origin.

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Objective: The aim of this study is to identify a possible link between macrovascular hemodynamic status and microvascular hemodynamic indices in patients with periodontal disease.

Methods And Materials: Seventeen adult patients are recruited on a voluntary basis at the Dentistry Department of the "Mater Domini" University of Catanzaro, with sampling that determines the lipid profile, blood glucose, inflammatory mediators, blood plasma viscosity: anamnesis, blood pressure measurement, and detection of anthropometric parameters: eco-Doppler of the carotid arteries and brachial arteries with noninvasive measurements of hemodynamics and evaluation of inflammation and periodontal circulation with a noninvasive spectroscopic technique. The subjects underwent a dental inspection with periodontal proves.

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is one of the most important plant-pathogenic fungus. Products based on microorganisms can be used in biocontrol strategies alternative to chemical control, and mycoviruses have been explored as putative biological agents in such approaches. Here, we have explored the mycovirome of isolates from grapevine of Italy and Spain to increase the knowledge about mycoviral diversity and evolution, and to search for new widely distributed mycoviruses that could be active ingredients in biological products to control this hazardous fungus.

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Defatted seed meals of oleaginous Brassicaceae, such as , and potato peel are excellent plant matrices to recover potentially useful biomolecules from industrial processes in a circular strategy perspective aiming at crop protection. These biomolecules, mainly glycoalkaloids and phenols for potato and glucosinolates for Brassicaceae, have been proven to be effective against microbes, fungi, nematodes, insects, and even parasitic plants. Their role in plant protection is overviewed, together with the molecular basis of their synthesis in plant, and the description of their mechanisms of action.

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toxin A (TcdA) has been shown to inhibit cellular Wnt signaling, the major driving force behind the proliferation of epithelial cells in colonic crypts, likely through the inhibition of β-catenin nuclear translocation. Herein, we aimed to advance the understanding of this mechanism by replicating the findings and by investigating the specific role of Rac1, a member of the Rho GTPase family, on the inhibition of the Wnt-induced β-catenin nuclear translocation triggered by TcdA. To investigate the effects of TcdA on the Wnt/β-catenin pathway , we injected the ileal loops of C57BL/6 mice with TcdA [phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) as the control] to induce disease-like ileitis.

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Background: Instrumented treadmills are potentially useful tools for the assessment of gait parameters in orthopaedic clinical settings, but their measurement properties remain uncertain.

Research Question: What is the discriminant validity and reproducibility of spatiotemporal and kinetic gait parameters measured by a pressure-instrumented treadmill at different speeds and inclinations in patients with knee osteoarthritis (KOA)?

Methods: A total of 54 patients with unilateral KOA and 23 healthy controls took part in the study. Step length, single-limb support duration and ground reaction force were recorded during level and uphill walking at 3 and 4 km/h using a commercially-available treadmill instrumented with an integrated pressure platform.

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Article Synopsis
  • Grapevines are crucial for wine and fruit production, featuring a high diversity of varieties through clonal propagation.
  • There is ongoing debate about whether grapevine domestication from its wild ancestor occurred just once or multiple times during its spread throughout the Mediterranean.
  • A study of Sicilian grapevine, involving genetic analysis of 170 domestic cultivars and 125 wild plants, reveals that local wild populations significantly contribute to the genetic diversity of cultivated grapevines in Sicily and Italy.
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Endophytism within represents a topic of critical relevance due to the multiple standpoints from which it can be approached and considered. From the biological and botanical perspectives, the interaction between microorganisms and perennial woody plants falls within the category of stable relationships from which the plants can benefit in multiple ways. The life cycle of the host ensures persistence in all seasons, repeated chances of contact, and consequent microbiota accumulation over time, leading to potentially high diversity compared with that of herbaceous short-lived plants.

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The biological bases of recovery of two grapevine cultivars, Nebbiolo and Barbera, showing different susceptibility and recovery ability to "flavescence dorée" (FD) phytoplasma infection were investigated. The expression over one vegetative season, in FD-recovered and healthy grapevines, of 18 genes involved in defence, hydrogen peroxide and hormone production was verified at two time points. Difference (Δ) between the relative expressions of August and July were calculated for each target gene of both cultivars.

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This study aimed to evaluate the effect of DSM 17938 (DSM) on ethanol-induced gastric injury, and if its possible mechanism of action is related to inhibiting the transient receptor potential vanilloid type 1 (TRPV1). We evaluated the effect of supplementing 10⁸ CFU•g body wt•day of DSM on ethanol-induced gastric injury. DSM significantly reduced the ulcer area (1.

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Transcriptomic analyses addressed to study phytoplasma gene expression may present few difficulties due to the uncultivable nature of these intracellular, obligate pathogens. While RNA extraction from insect vectors does not imply any particular adaptation of the protocols used in most commercial kits, RNA isolation from phytoplasma-infected plants can be a challenging task, given the high levels of polyphenol contents and accumulation of sucrose and starch in the different plant tissues. Here, we describe two different transcriptomic approaches, one focused on RNA phytoplasma sequencing and the other on phytoplasma quantitative gene expression in relation to pathogen load.

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Hydrogen sulphide (HS) is a gasotransmitter that participates in various physiological and pathophysiological processes within the gastrointestinal tract. We studied the effects and possible mechanism of action of HS in secretory diarrhoea caused by cholera toxin (CT). The possible mechanisms of action of HS were investigated using an intestinal fluid secretion model in isolated intestinal loops on anaesthetized mice treated with CT.

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