1,438 results match your criteria: "Cittadella Universitaria[Affiliation]"

Article Synopsis
  • Parkinson's disease (PD) presents a range of motor and non-motor symptoms, making diagnosis challenging due to the absence of reliable biomarkers.
  • A study analyzed the salivary proteome of 36 PD patients alongside 36 healthy controls and 35 Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients, using advanced techniques to identify significant differences in protein profiles.
  • Results showed that certain proteins like cystatins and statherin could effectively differentiate between PD, healthy individuals, and AD patients, while some markers also correlated with olfactory issues in PD, indicating their potential as diagnostic tools.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) international database: aims, scope, and call for data.

Eur J Clin Nutr

December 2023

Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Cagliari, Cittadella Universitaria, Monserrato, 09042, Cagliari, Italy.

Background: Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) is a technique widely used for estimating body composition and health-related parameters. The technology is relatively simple, quick, and non-invasive, and is currently used globally in diverse settings, including private clinicians' offices, sports and health clubs, and hospitals, and across a spectrum of age, body weight, and disease states. BIA parameters can be used to estimate body composition (fat, fat-free mass, total-body water and its compartments).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Managing Excess Lead Iodide with Functionalized Oxo-Graphene Nanosheets for Stable Perovskite Solar Cells.

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl

September 2023

Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH, Hahn-Meitner-Platz 1, 14109, Berlin, Germany.

Stability issues could prevent lead halide perovskite solar cells (PSCs) from commercialization despite it having a comparable power conversion efficiency (PCE) to silicon solar cells. Overcoming drawbacks affecting their long-term stability is gaining incremental importance. Excess lead iodide (PbI ) causes perovskite degradation, although it aids in crystal growth and defect passivation.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Viral replication often depends on RNA maturation and degradation processes catalyzed by viral ribonucleases, which are therefore candidate targets for antiviral drugs. Here, we synthesized and studied the antiviral properties of a novel nitrocatechol compound () and other analogs that are structurally related to the catechol derivative dynasore. Interestingly, compound strongly inhibited two DEDD box viral ribonucleases, HIV-1 RNase H and SARS-CoV-2 nsp14 3'-to-5' exoribonuclease (ExoN).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Radiation Damage by Heavy Ions in Silicon and Silicon Carbide Detectors.

Sensors (Basel)

July 2023

Laboratori Nazionali del Sud (LNS), Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), 95123 Catania, Italy.

While silicon has been a steadfast semiconductor material for the past 50 years, it is now facing competition from other materials, especially for detector design. In that respect, due to its high resistance to radiation damage, silicon carbide is one of the most promising materials. In this work, we discuss the radiation damage studies of a new, large area, p-n junction silicon carbide device developed by the SiCILIA collaboration.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study analyzed Pecorino Romano cheese for seasonal differences in fatty acids and minerals by examining samples from January, April, and June, noting some samples had missing data.
  • Probabilistic principal component analysis and Linear Discriminant Analysis were used to effectively classify the samples by production season, even with incomplete data.
  • Key findings showed higher levels of beneficial fatty acids in spring, while the accuracy of the classification model reached 98%, and the imputation of missing data achieved an impressive 99.53% accuracy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Epidemiological studies have shown that consuming olive oil rich in phenolic bioactive compounds is associated with a lower risk of neurodegenerative diseases and better cognitive performance in aged populations. Since oxidative stress is a common hallmark of age-related cognitive decline, incorporating exogenous antioxidants could have beneficial effects on brain aging. In this review, we firstly summarize and critically discuss the current preclinical evidence and the potential neuroprotective mechanisms.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Importance: Neonatal seizures pose a significant challenge in critical care, and continuous video electroencephalography (cEEG) monitoring holds promise for early detection of seizures. However, large-scale data on the incidence of neonatal seizures and monitoring systems in China are lacking.

Objectives: To determine the incidence of neonatal seizures in infants with high risk in China.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Mitochondrial double-stranded RNA triggers induction of the antiviral DNA deaminase APOBEC3A and nuclear DNA damage.

J Biol Chem

September 2023

Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biophysics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Department of Biochemistry and Structural Biology, University of Texas Health San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Texas Health San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas, USA. Electronic address:

APOBEC3A is an antiviral DNA deaminase often induced by virus infection. APOBEC3A is also a source of cancer mutation in viral and nonviral tumor types. It is therefore critical to identify factors responsible for APOBEC3A upregulation.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The increasing misuse of novel synthetic opioids (NSOs) represents a serious public health concern. In this regard, U-47700 (trans-3,4-dichloro-N-[2-(dimethylamino)cyclohexyl]-N-methylbenzamide) and related "U-compounds" emerged on recreational drug markets as synthetic substitutes for illicit heroin and constituents of counterfeit pain medications. While the pharmacology of U-compounds has been investigated using in vitro and in vivo methods, there is still a lack of understanding about the details of ligand-receptor interactions at the molecular level.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Multi-Organ Morphological Findings in a Humanized Murine Model of Sickle Cell Trait.

Int J Mol Sci

June 2023

Department of Biomedical Sciences, Section of Cytomorphology, University of Cagliari, Cittadella Universitaria di Monserrato, 09042 Monserrato, Italy.

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is caused by the homozygous beta-globin gene mutation that can lead to ischemic multi-organ damage and consequently reduce life expectancy. On the other hand, sickle cell trait (SCT), the heterozygous beta-globin gene mutation, is still considered a benign condition. Although the mechanisms are not well understood, clinical evidence has recently shown that specific pathological symptoms can also be recognized in SCT carriers.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

We evaluated sex differences in the perception of bitter compounds and an aromatic bitter herbal liqueur (Mirtamaro) obtained by the infusion of myrtle leaves/berries together with a mixture of Mediterranean herbs/plants as flavoring/bittering ingredients. In a healthy population ( = 231 participants), using bivariate correlations and multivariate linear regression analyses, significant sex differences emerged in quinine bitterness perception, with women showing a higher bitter taste intensity rating than men. Among all participants, 40 subjects (subpopulation) were randomly selected for the evaluation of sex differences in Mirtamaro gustatory and olfactory perception using a hedonic Likert-type scale.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Metabolomics investigation of post-mortem human pericardial fluid.

Int J Legal Med

November 2023

Department of Medical Sciences and Public Health, Section of Legal Medicine, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy.

Introduction: Due to its peculiar anatomy and physiology, the pericardial fluid is a biological matrix of particular interest in the forensic field. Despite this, the available literature has mainly focused on post-mortem biochemistry and forensic toxicology, while to the best of authors' knowledge post-mortem metabolomics has never been applied. Similarly, estimation of the time since death or post-mortem interval based on pericardial fluids has still rarely been attempted.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A novel heteroleptic Cu(II)-phenanthroline-UDCA complex as lipoxygenase inhibitor and ER-stress inducer in cancer cell lines.

J Inorg Biochem

September 2023

Department of Chemical and Geological Sciences, University of Cagliari, Cittadella Universitaria, 09042, Monserrato, Cagliari, Italy. Electronic address:

A new heteroleptic copper(II) compound named C0-UDCA was prepared by reaction of [Cu(phen)(OH)](ClO) (C0) with the bile ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA). The resulting compound is able to inhibit the lipoxygenase enzyme showing more efficacy than the precursors C0 and UDCA. Molecular docking simulations clarified the interactions with the enzyme as due to allosteric modulation.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Accumulating evidence suggests that obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCSs) are positively associated with exposure to traumatic experiences and dissociative symptoms in both clinical and community samples. The current study was aimed at investigating the relationships between traumatic experiences, dissociation, and OCSs. A sample of 333 community adults (56.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Mechanochemical Reactions from Individual Impacts to Global Transformation Kinetics.

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl

August 2023

Department of Mechanical, Chemical and Materials Engineering, CSGI research unit, University of Cagliari, via Marengo 2, 09123, Cagliari, Italy.

Typically induced by the mechanical processing of powders in ball mills, mechanochemical transformations are considered to result from the application of mechanical force to solid reactants. However, the undeniable deep connection between the dynamic compaction of powders during impacts and the overall transformation degree has yet to be disclosed. In the present work, we show that the square planar bis(dibenzoylmethanato)Ni coordination compound undergoes trimerization when its powder experiences even a single ball impact.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Unlabelled: Diabetic macular edema (DME) is a common cause of vision impairment in diabetic retinopathy. The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between visual outcome and anatomic changes detected by traditional multimodal retinal imaging and optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) in DME eyes under treatment with Aflibercept.

Methods: Sixty-six DME eyes of 62 patients under treatment with intravitreal Aflibercept and with one-year follow-up were enrolled.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Neurobiology of Parkinson's Disease.

Int J Mol Sci

June 2023

National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Neuroscience Institute-Cagliari, Cittadella Universitaria, Monserrato, 09042 Cagliari, Italy.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is one of the most rapidly growing neurological disorders [...

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

This study investigated chemical composition, cytotoxicity in normal and cancer cells, and antimicrobial and antioxidant activity of the essential oil (EO) isolated by hydrodistillation from the discarded leaves of lemon () plants cultivated in Sardinia (Italy). The volatile chemical composition of lemon leaf EO (LLEO) was analyzed with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry combined with flame ionization detection (GC/MS and GC/FID). The most abundant component of LLEO was limonene (260.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Machine Learning-Based Classification to Disentangle EEG Responses to TMS and Auditory Input.

Brain Sci

May 2023

Department of Clinical and Movement Neurosciences, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London WC1N 3BG, UK.

Article Synopsis
  • The combination of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and electroencephalography (EEG) aids in studying brain responses by identifying transcranial-evoked potentials (TEPs), which can be confused with auditory evoked potentials (AEPs) caused by the TMS click.
  • Researchers investigated using machine learning algorithms to differentiate between TEPs (with and without masking of the TMS click) and AEPs in healthy participants.
  • The study found that while machine learning classifiers performed well at the individual level, classification accuracy decreased when analyzing group data or comparing multiple stimulation conditions, suggesting that averaging TEPs enhances classification performance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A series of 1H-indeno[2',1':5,6]dihydropyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidine and 1H-indeno[2',1':5,6]pyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidine derivatives was prepared and screened for antiparasitic and viral RNase H inhibitory activity. Several compounds showed considerable activity against Toxoplasma gondii parasites and Leishmania major amastigotes, which warrants further investigation. Based on the structural similarities of certain derivatives with common viral RNase H inhibitors, a HIV-1 RNase H assay was used to study the RNase H inhibition by selected test compounds.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A pilot study of occupational exposure to ultrafine particles during 3D printing in research laboratories.

Front Public Health

June 2023

Department of Medical Sciences and Public Health, Division of Occupational Medicine, University of Cagliari, Cittadella Universitaria, Cagliari, Italy.

Introduction: 3D printing is increasingly present in research environments, and could pose health risks to users due to air pollution and particulate emissions. We evaluated the nanoparticulate emissions of two different 3D printers, utilizing either fused filament fabrication with polylactic acid, or stereolithography (SLA) with light curing resin.

Methods: Nanoparticulate emissions were evaluated in two different research environments, both by environmental measurements in the laboratory and by personal sampling.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

In this article, we describe the effects of tail pinch (TP), a mild acute stressor, on the levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and its tyrosine kinase receptor B (trkB) proteins in the hippocampus (HC) of the outbred Roman High- (RHA) and Low-Avoidance (RLA) rats, one of the most validated genetic models for the study of fear/anxiety- and stress-related behaviors. Using Western blot (WB) and immunohistochemistry assays, we show for the first time that TP induces distinct changes in the levels of BDNF and trkB proteins in the dorsal (dHC) and ventral (vHC) HC of RHA and RLA rats. The WB assays showed that TP increases BDNF and trkB levels in the dHC of both lines but induces opposite changes in the vHC, decreasing BDNF levels in RHA rats and trkB levels in RLA rats.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

There is increasing interest in the role of metal halide perovskites for heterogeneous catalysis. Here, we report a Ge-based 2D perovskite material that shows intrinsic water stability realized through organic cation engineering. Incorporating 4-phenylbenzilammonium (PhBz) we demonstrate, by means of extended experimental and computational results, that PhBzGeBr and PhBzGeI can achieve relevant air and water stability.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • During the COVID-19 pandemic, drug repurposing was used to quickly address medical challenges, focusing on methotrexate (MTX) and its anti-viral effects.
  • Research found that DHFR inhibitors significantly impacted virus-induced cell damage, showing both anti-metabolic and anti-viral properties.
  • Pralatrexate and trimetrexate were particularly effective against viral infections, suggesting that their broader effects could benefit patients already using similar treatments for SARS-CoV-2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF