Alternative Splicing by NOVA Factors: From Gene Expression to Cell Physiology and Pathology.

NOVA1 and NOVA2, the two members of the NOVA family of alternative splicing factors, bind YCAY clusters of pre-mRNAs and assemble spliceosomes to induce the maintenance/removal of introns and exons, thus governing the development of mRNAs. Members of other splicing families operate analogously. Activity of NOVAs accounts for up to 700 alternative splicing events per cell, taking place both in the nucleus (co-transcription of mRNAs) and in the cytoplasm.

Testosterone, level of the lesion and age are independently associated with prostate volume in men with chronic spinal cord injury.

Purpose: Although men with spinal cord injury (SCI) exhibit a prostate volume significantly smaller compared to age-matched able-bodied men, the independent association of lower prostate volume with its putative determinants has never been analyzed in this population. This study was designed to identify variables independently associated with prostate volume in men with chronic SCI.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, prostate volume of 138 men with chronic (> 1 years) SCI, aged 54.

Independent Association of Erectile Dysfunction and Low Testosterone Levels With Life Dissatisfaction in Men With Chronic Spinal Cord Injury.

Background: The loss of global functional independence, along with bladder, bowel, and sexual dysfunctions, may contribute to psychological distress and life dissatisfaction after spinal cord injury (SCI).

Aim: To explore the relationship of erectile function and androgenic status with life satisfaction, independently from confounders recognizable in spinal cord-injured men.

Methods: 100 consecutive men (49 ± 17 years) admitted to a rehabilitation program because of chronic SCI (≥1 year) underwent clinical/biochemical evaluations, including the assessment of life and sexual satisfaction using the Life-Satisfaction Questionnaire-9 (LiSat-9), erectile function using the International Index of Erectile Function-5 (IIEF-5), global and bowel-bladder functional independence using the Spinal Cord Independence Measure (SCIM) and measurement of total testosterone (TT) levels.

Metabolic syndrome is the key determinant of impaired vaginal lubrication in women with chronic spinal cord injury.

Purpose: Spinal cord injury (SCI) affects sexual health of both male and female, but little attention has been given to sexuality of SCI women. Similar to penile erection, vaginal lubrication represents a neurovascular event and then both denervation and vascular damage might contribute to its impairment. Nevertheless, the relative weight of lesion location/degree and vascular risk factors in determining hypolubrication in women with SCI has not yet been investigated.

FGF23-related hypophosphatemia in patients with low bone mineral density and fragility fractures: challenges in diagnosis and management.

Purpose: Hypophosphatemia (HP) can be observed in patients evaluated for skeletal fragility. We investigated prevalence of HP among outpatients referred for low bone density or fragility fractures, HP-associated clinical and biochemical features and outcomes of recommended diagnostic algorithm in our cohort.

Methods: Chronic HP (phosphate ≤ 2.

Valve-in-Valve Implantation Using the ACURATE Neo in Degenerated Aortic Bioprostheses: An International Multicenter Analysis.

Objectives: This study reports an international experience using the transfemoral ACURATE neo transcatheter heart valve (Boston Scientific, Marlborough, Massachusetts) for the treatment of degenerated surgical aortic bioprostheses.

Background: Transcatheter valve-in-valve procedures have emerged as an alternative to redo surgery. Supra-annular prostheses might be particularly useful in this indication.

Two distinct pathological substrates associated with MMSE-pentagons item deficit in DLB and AD.

Introduction: Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB) is characterized by a prominent deficit in visuospatial abilities. Visuospatial impairment is also detectable in the course of Alzheimer's dementia (AD). However, visuospatial impairment presents some differences in these two conditions, suggesting pathological involvement of distinct brain circuits.

Alzheimer's disease: Key developments support promising perspectives for therapy.

Alzheimer's is the neurodegenerative disease affecting the largest number of patients in the world. In spite of the intense research of the last decades, progress about its knowledge and therapy was limited. In particular, various cytotoxic processes remained debated, while the few drugs approved for therapy were of only marginal relevance.

Transcatheter Valve Repair for Patients With Mitral Regurgitation: 30-Day Results of the CLASP Study.

Objectives: The authors report the procedural and 30-day results of the PASCAL Transcatheter Valve Repair System (Edwards Lifesciences, Irvine, California) in patients with mitral regurgitation (MR) enrolled in the multicenter, prospective, single-arm CLASP study.

Background: Severe MR may lead to symptoms, impaired quality of life, and reduced functional capacity when untreated.

Methods: Eligible patients had grade 3+ or 4+ MR despite optimal medical therapy and were deemed appropriate for the study by the local heart team.

Progression of brain white matter hyperintensities in asymptomatic patients with carotid atherosclerotic plaques and no indication for revascularization.

Background And Aims: Brain white matter hyperintensities (WMHs) have been associated with an increased risk of ischemic stroke and considered as markers of brain ischemia. Progression of WMHs in asymptomatic patients with non-hemodynamically significant carotid plaque could represent a putative marker of plaque vulnerability. We prospectively evaluate progression and determinants of WMHs in this population.

6-Month Outcomes of Tricuspid Valve Reconstruction for Patients With Severe Tricuspid Regurgitation.

Background: Severe tricuspid regurgitation (TR) is associated with high morbidity and mortality rates with limited treatment options.

Objectives: The authors report the 6-month safety and performance of a transcatheter tricuspid valve reconstruction system in the treatment of moderate to severe functional TR in 30 patients enrolled in the TRI-REPAIR (TrIcuspid Regurgitation RePAIr With CaRdioband Transcatheter System) study.

Methods: Between October 2016 and July 2017, 30 patients were enrolled in this single-arm, multicenter, prospective trial.

Recent Progress in Space Physiology and Aging.

Astronauts coming back from long-term space missions present with different health problems potentially affecting mission performance, involving all functional systems and organs and closely resembling those found in the elderly. This review points out the most recent advances in the literature in areas of expertise in which specific research groups were particularly creative, and as they relate to aging and to possible benefits on Earth for disabled people. The update of new findings and approaches in space research refers especially to neuro-immuno-endocrine-metabolic interactions, optic nerve edema, motion sickness and muscle-tendon-bone interplay and aims at providing the curious - and even possibly naïve young researchers - with a source of inspiration and of creative ideas for translational research.

Update on bone density measurements and their interpretation in children and adolescents.

Following the increased awareness about the central role of the pediatric age in building bone for life, clinicians face more than ever the necessity of assessing bone health in pediatric subjects at risk for early bone mass derangements or in healthy children, in order to optimize their bone mass accrual and prevent osteoporosis. Although the diagnosis of osteoporosis is not made solely upon bone mineral density measurements during growth, such determination can be very useful in the follow-up of pediatric patients with primary and secondary osteoporosis. The ideal instrument would give information on the mineral content and density of the bone, and on its architecture.

Sirtuins in gamete biology and reproductive physiology: emerging roles and therapeutic potential in female and male infertility.

Background: Sirtuins (SIRT1-7) are a family of NAD+-dependent deacetylases that catalyze post-translational modifications of proteins. Together, they respond to metabolic challenges, inflammatory signals or hypoxic/oxidative stress, and are associated with aging and longevity. The role of Sirtuins in the regulation of fertility emerged in 2003 when a defective reproductive phenotype was observed in SIRT1-null mice.

Factors influencing psychological well-being in patients with Parkinson's disease.

Background: Both motor and non-motor symptoms could contribute to significant deterioration of psychological well-being in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). However, its assessment has been only indirectly evaluated using tools based on health-related quality of life (HRQoL), such as the PDQ-39 scale.

Objectives: To evaluate psychological well-being in PD using a specific tool of assessment, the Psychological Well-being Scale (PWS), and its clinical correlates.

Animal models for the study of inflammatory bowel diseases: a meta-analysis on modalities for imaging inflammatory lesions.

Inflammatory bowel diseases are lifelong disorders affecting the gastrointestinal tract characterized by intermittent disease flares and periods of remission with a progressive and destructive nature. Unfortunately, the exact etiology is still not completely known, therefore a causal therapy to cure the disease is not yet available. Current treatment options mainly encompass the use of non-specific anti-inflammatory agents and immunosuppressive drugs that cause significant side effects that often have a negative impact on patients' quality of life.

Basal insulin therapy is associated with beneficial effects on postoperative infective complications, independently from circulating glucose levels in patients admitted for cardiac surgery.

Background: Although hyperglycemia is a strong predictor of postoperative infective complications (PIC), little is known about the effect of basal insulin therapy (BIT) on PIC.

Aim: To evaluate if there is an association between BIT, independent of glucose levels, and a possible improvement of PIC during the perioperative cardiosurgery period (PCP).

Methods: In 812 patients admitted for cardiac intervention and treated with a continuous intravenous insulin infusion (CIII) for hyperglycemic levels (>130 mg/dl), a retrospective analysis was performed during the PCP (January 2009-December 2011).

Restoring microenvironmental redox and pH homeostasis inhibits neoplastic cell growth and migration: therapeutic efficacy of esomeprazole plus sulfasalazine on 3-MCA-induced sarcoma.

Neoplastic cells live in a stressful context and survive thanks to their ability to overcome stress. Thus, tumor cell responses to stress are potential therapeutic targets. We selected two such responses in melanoma and sarcoma cells: the xc- antioxidant system, that opposes oxidative stress, and surface v-ATPases that counteract the low pHi by extruding protons, and targeted them with the xc- blocker sulfasalazine and the proton pump inhibitor esomeprazole.

Relation between characteristics of carotid atherosclerotic plaques and brain white matter hyperintensities in asymptomatic patients.

White matter hyperintensities (WMH) can be incidentally found in patients with carotid atherosclerosis on brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We investigated the relationship between WMH and characteristics of carotid plaques in asymptomatic patients without indication for carotid revascularization. We prospectively screened 235 consecutive patients with carotid stenosis <70%.

Additive Role of a Potentially Reversible Cognitive Frailty Model and Inflammatory State on the Risk of Disability: The Italian Longitudinal Study on Aging.

Objective: Cognitive frailty is a condition recently defined by operationalized criteria describing the simultaneous presence of physical frailty and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Two subtypes for this clinical construct have been proposed: "potentially reversible" cognitive frailty (physical frailty plus MCI) and "reversible" cognitive frailty (physical frailty plus pre-MCI subjective cognitive decline). Here the prevalence of a potentially reversible cognitive frailty model was estimated.

Determination of spermatic vein reflux after varicocele repair helps to define the efficacy of treatment in improving sperm parameters of subfertile men.

Purpose: A continuous spermatic venous reflux (SVR) at colour Doppler ultrasound (CDU) is an evidence for varicocele, a frequent correlate for male subfertility. We explored whether SVR after left varicocele repair is predictive for changes in semen quality in subfertile men.

Methods: Blood hormones (FSH, LH, and total testosterone) and scrotal CDU were obtained in subfertile patients with left grade II or grade III varicocele on physical evaluation and a poor sperm quality.

Excimer laser facilitated coronary angioplasty of a heavy calcified lesion treated with bioresorbable scaffolds.

: Excimer coronary laser atherectomy (ECLA) has been shown to be both well tolerated and effective for plaque modification. Its technology is based on ultraviolet energy and is capable of disintegrating atheroma, without burning or grossly fragmenting it. ELCA has proven effective in the percutaneous treatment of a variety of complex lesions.