Golden Tomato Juice Enhances Hepatic PPAR-α Expression, Mitigates Metabolic Dysfunctions and Influences Redox Balance in a High-Fat-Diet Rat Model.

Golden tomato (GT), harvested at the veraison stage, has gained attention due to its rich content of bioactive compounds and potential health benefits. Previous studies have highlighted GT's antioxidant properties and its positive effects on metabolic syndrome (MetS), a condition characterized by obesity, dyslipidemia, and oxidative stress. This study investigates for the first time a derivative from GT, i.

Transcranial alternating current stimulation can modulate the blink reflex excitability. Effects of a 10- and 20-Hz tACS session on the blink reflex recovery cycle in healthy subjects.

Background: The blink reflex excitability, assessed through paired electrical stimuli responses, has been modulated using traditional non-invasive neurostimulation techniques. Recently, transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation (tACS) emerged as a tool to modulate brain oscillations implicated in various motor, perceptual, and cognitive functions. This study aims to investigate the influence of 20-Hz and 10-Hz tACS sessions on the primary motor cortex and their impact on blink reflex excitability.

Pressure ulcers/injuries prevention in emergency services: A scoping review.

Aim Of The Study: To map the available evidence on nursing care provided to prevent the development of pressure ulcers/injuries in emergency services.

Material And Methods: Scoping review that follows the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and the Meta-Analyses extensions for Scoping Reviews and the Joanna Briggs Institute guidelines. The inclusion criteria were based on the PCC mnemonic.

The remarkable impact of Opuntia Ficus Indica fruit administration on metabolic syndrome: Correlations between cognitive functions, oxidative stress and lipid dysmetabolism in the high-fat, diet-fed rat model.

Background: A wealth of evidence underscores the bioactive properties of nutraceuticals and functional foods in addressing oxyinflammatory-based diseases with implications at both peripheral and central levels. Opuntia ficus-indica (OFI) is well-documented for its health-promoting attributes, though its fruit (OFIF) remains relatively understudied. Not only poses Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) cardiometabolic risks but also contributes significantly to cognitive impairment, especially in crucial brain areas such as hippocampus and hypothalamus.

Vascularized versus Free Nerve Grafts: An Experimental Study on Rats.

Background: Vascularized nerve grafts (VNGs) have been proposed as a superior alternative to free nerve grafts (FNGs) for complex nerve defects. A greater regenerative potential has been suggested by clinical and experimental studies, but conclusive evidence is still lacking.

Methods: In this experimental study, 10 adult male Wistar rats received a non-vascularized orthotopic sciatic nerve graft on their right side, and a vascularized orthotopic sciatic nerve graft nerve on their left side.

Red and golden tomato administration improves fat diet-induced hepatic steatosis in rats by modulating HNF4α, Lepr, and GK expression.

Introduction: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), characterized by lipid accumulation within hepatocytes exceeding 5% of liver weight, is strongly related to metabolic disorders, obesity, and diabetes and represents a health emergency worldwide. There is no standard therapy available for NAFLD. Lifestyle intervention, including phytonutrient intake, is key in preventing NAFLD development and progression.

Reducing Visuospatial Pseudoneglect in Healthy Subjects by Active Video Gaming.

Pseudoneglect phenomenon refers to a condition in which healthy subjects tend to perceive the left side of exactly bisected lines as being slightly longer than the right one. However, behavioural data showed that athletes practising an open-skill sport display less pseudoneglect than the general population. Given the fact that so-called exergames (also known as active video games) are platforms designed to fully mimic sport activity, this work intends to investigate whether and how a one-week training period of exergame open-skill sport can determine a similar decrease in pseudoneglect.

"Golden" Tomato Consumption Ameliorates Metabolic Syndrome: A Focus on the Redox Balance in the High-Fat-Diet-Fed Rat.

Tomato fruits defined as "golden" refer to a food product harvested at an incomplete ripening stage with respect to red tomatoes at full maturation. The aim of this study is to explore the putative influence of "golden tomato" (GT) on Metabolic Syndrome (MetS), especially focusing on the effects on redox homeostasis. Firstly, the differential chemical properties of the GT food matrix were characterized in terms of phytonutrient composition and antioxidant capacities with respect to red tomato (RT).

Impact of Wound Dressing Changes on Nursing Workload in an Intensive Care Unit.

The objective of this study is to understand how the type of wound dressing changes (routine or frequent) in patients admitted to intensive care units influences nurses' workload. This study used a database of retrospective and analytical observational study from one Portuguese intensive care unit. The sample included 728 adult patients admitted between 2015 and 2019.

A systematic review of prevalence and incidence of pressure ulcers/injuries in hospital emergency services.

Aim: To develop a systematic review on the prevalence and the incidence of pressure ulcers/injuries in adult patients in hospital emergency services.

Materials And Methods: Systematic review of prevalence and incidence studies developed according to the Preferred Reporting Items Form Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols and the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology. The inclusion criteria were based on the CoCoPop mnemonic.

Correlation of Metabolic Syndrome with Redox Homeostasis Biomarkers: Evidence from High-Fat Diet Model in Wistar Rats.

Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) is an extremely complex disease. A non-balanced diet such as high-fat diet (HFD) induces metabolic dysfunction that could modify redox homeostasis. We here aimed at exploring redox homeostasis in male Wistar rats, following 8 weeks of HFD, correlating the eventual modification of selected biomarkers that could be associated with the clinical manifestations of MetS.

Modulation of Human Motor Cortical Excitability and Plasticity by Opuntia Ficus Indica Fruit Consumption: Evidence from a Preliminary Study through Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation.

Indicaxanthin (IX) from Opuntia Ficus Indica (OFI) has been shown to exert numerous biological effects both in vitro and in vivo, such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, neuro-modulatory activity in rodent models. Our goal was to investigate the eventual neuro-active role of orally assumed fruits containing high levels of IX at nutritionally-relevant amounts in healthy subjects, exploring cortical excitability and plasticity in the human motor cortex (M1). To this purpose, we applied paired-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation and anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (a-tDCS) in basal conditions and followed the consumption of yellow cactus pear fruits containing IX or white cactus pear fruits devoid of IX (placebo).

Nursing workload assessment in an intensive care unit: A retrospective observational study using the Nursing Activities Score.

Background: Nursing Activities Score (NAS) is a promising tool for calculating the nursing workload in intensive care units (ICU). However, data on intensive care nursing activities in Portugal are practically non-existent.

Aim: To assess the nursing workload in a Portuguese ICU using the NAS.

TRPV1 channels in nitric oxide-mediated signalling: insight on excitatory transmission in rat CA1 pyramidal neurons.

Nitric oxide (NO) is a fascinating signalling molecule implicated in a plethora of biological functions, especially at the synaptic level. Exploring neurotransmission in the hippocampus could be instrumental in the individuation of putative targets for nitric-oxide mediated neuromodulation, especially in terms of the potential repercussions on fundamental processes i.e.

Ketogenic and Modified Mediterranean Diet as a Tool to Counteract Neuroinflammation in Multiple Sclerosis: Nutritional Suggestions.

Ketogenic Diet is a nutritional pattern often used as dietotherapy in inflammatory diseases, including neurological disorders. Applied on epileptic children since 1920, in recent years it has been taken into account again as a tool to both reduce inflammatory burdens and ameliorate the nutritional status of patients affected by different pathologies. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is considered an immune-mediated neuro-inflammatory disease and diet is a possible factor in its pathogenesis.

Prevalence and incidence of pressure ulcers/injuries in emergency services: A systematic review protocol.

Aim: To develop a systematic review protocol on the prevalence and/or the incidence of pressure ulcers/injuries in adult patients in emergency services.

Materials And Methods: This protocol was developed according to the Preferred Reporting Items Form Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols (PRISMA-P) and the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) methodology for systematic reviews of prevalence and incidence studies. The inclusion criteria will be based on the CoCoPop mnemonic.

Modulating Long Term Memory at Late-Encoding Phase: An rTMS Study.

Despite a huge effort of the scientific community, the functioning of Long-Term Memory (LTM) processes is still debated and far from being elucidated. Functional and neurophysiological data point to an involvement of Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex (DLPFC) in both encoding and retrieval phases. However, the recently proposed Explicit/Implicit Memory Encoding and Retrieval (EIMER) model proposes that LTM at the encoding phase consists of anatomically and chronologically different sub-phases.

Polybutylene succinate artificial scaffold for peripheral nerve regeneration.

Regeneration and recovery of nerve tissues are a great challenge for medicine, and positively affect the quality of life of patients. The development of tissue engineering offers a new approach to the problem with the creation of multifunctional artificial scaffolds that act on various levels in the damaged tissue, providing physical and biochemical support for the growth of nerve cells. In this study, the effects of the use of a tubular scaffold made of polybutylene succinate (PBS), surgically positioned at the level of a sciatic nerve injured in rat, between the proximal stump and the distal one, was investigated.

Haptic Perception in Extreme Obesity: qEEG Study Focused on Predictive Coding and Body Schema.

Haptic perception (HP) is a perceptual modality requiring manual exploration to elaborate the physical characteristics of external stimuli through multisensory integrative cortical pathways. Cortical areas exploit processes of predictive coding that collect sensorial inputs to build and update internal perceptual models. Modifications to the internal representation of the body have been associated with eating disorders.

Microtubule Dynamics and Neuronal Excitability: Advances on Cytoskeletal Components Implicated in Epileptic Phenomena.

Extensive researches have deepened knowledge on the role of synaptic components in epileptogenesis, but limited attention has been devoted to the potential implication of the cytoskeleton. The study of the development of epilepsy and hyperexcitability states involves molecular, synaptic, and structural alterations of neuronal bioelectric activity. In this paper we aim to explore the neurobiological targets involved in microtubule functioning and cytoskeletal transport, i.

Through Predictive Personalized Medicine.

Neuroblastoma (NBM) is a deadly form of solid tumor mostly observed in the pediatric age. Although survival rates largely differ depending on host factors and tumor-related features, treatment for clinically aggressive forms of NBM remains challenging. Scientific advances are paving the way to improved and safer therapeutic protocols, and immunotherapy is quickly rising as a promising treatment that is potentially safer and complementary to traditionally adopted surgical procedures, chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

Being in the Past and Perform the Future in a Virtual World: VR Applications to Assess and Enhance Episodic and Prospective Memory in Normal and Pathological Aging.

The process of aging commonly features a gradual deterioration in cognitive performance and, in particular, the decline of memory. Despite the increased longevity of the world's population, the prevalence of neurodegenerative conditions, such as dementia, continues to be a major burden on public health, and consequently, the latest research has been focused on memory and aging. Currently, the failure of episodic and Prospective memory (PM) is one of the main complaints in the elderly, considered among the early symptoms of dementia.