Bloccare l’infiammazione per ridurre le disabilità cognitive

Per la prima volta uno studio pubblicato sulla prestigiosa rivista eLife dimostra la relazione diretta tra le disabilità cognitive che caratterizzano i disturbi dello sviluppo del cervello infantile e l’infiammazione che colpisce le sinapsi, cioè le strutture cerebrali di smistamento di informazioni e segnali a tutto il corpo. Questa importante scoperta potrebbe aprire la strada al trattamento con antinfiammatori E’ nota da diversi anni la relazione tra i difetti genetici nella produzione di proteine che operano a livello delle sinapsi nel cervello e i disturbi del neurosviluppo caratterizzati da deficit cognitivi. Tuttavia, una percentuale di tali patologie non ha chiare cause genetiche. Uno studio realizzato da Humanitas e Istituto di neuroscienze del Consiglio nazionale delle ricerche (In-Cnr), in collaborazione con l’Universidad Miguel Hernández lnstituto de Neurociencias, per la prima volta identifica la relazione tra alti livelli di infiammazione e aumentata espressione della proteina MeCP2.

The researcher Oscar Barambones behind a solar panel at the University of the Basque Country (Nuria González / UPV/EHU)

Researchers at the UPV/EHU-University of the Basque Country have managed to maintain the maximum power point of solar panels despite changes in irradiation and load. The Advanced Control Group of the UPV/EHU’s Department of Systems Engineering and Automation has developed a control system designed to ensure that photovoltaic generators always work at their maximum power point by adapting them in terms of the level of irradiance received from the sun and the load connected to the system. This constitutes an improvement in the efficiency of photovoltaic generators with respect to current control systems, although it also requires the use of more powerful processors and elements and therefore more expensive ones.

Palmer amaranth infestation

Palmer amaranth is a nightmare of a weed, causing yield losses up to 80 percent in severely infested soybean fields. It scoffs at farmers’ attempts at control, having evolved resistance to six classes of herbicides since its discovery in the United States 100 years ago. And now, scientists have discovered it has two new tricks up its sleeve. About a year ago, a group of researchers discovered Palmer is resistant to the herbicide class known as PPO-inhibitors, due to a mutation—known as the glycine 210 deletion—on the PPX2 gene. “We were using a quick test that we originally developed for waterhemp to determine PPO-resistance based on that mutation. A lot of times, the test worked. But people were bringing in samples that they were fairly confident were resistant, and the mutation wasn’t showing up. We started to suspect there was another mechanism out there,” says University of Illinois molecular weed scientist Patrick Tranel.

Dr Ruth Griffin in the laboratories at Kingston University

Kingston University London scientists have completed the genome sequence for a deadly strain of the bacteria that causes meningitis and septicaemia – a breakthrough which could lead to improved vaccines to help prevent its spread. Meningococcal infections are the most common cause of bacterial meningitis in the United Kingdom, a life-threatening disease that poses a continuing threat worldwide. With growing fears around the increase of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, understanding why certain strains don't respond to vaccines could prove vital in helping reduce the number of global deaths from the disease. The Kingston University London team focused on meningococcal B (menB) strains, which have historically proven problematic to vaccinate against. As part of their work examining how bacteria respond to vaccines, the researchers have now been able to determine the complete DNA sequence of the genome for a particular strain called L91543.

Close-up of Polykrilos kofoidii. Photo: Urban Tillmann.

Researchers have obtained an unprecedented view of the ‘ballistic’ weaponry of planktonic microbes, including one that can fire projectiles as if wielding a Gatling gun. “We think of plankton as the tiny alphabet soup of the ocean, floating around passively while larger organisms eat it,” says biologist Gregory Gavelis, who lead the study while a researcher at the University of British Columbia (UBC). “But some planktonic microbes, like dinoflagellates, are predators and have developed incredible defensive and prey capture mechanisms.” Until now, how dinoflagellates acquired and fired these projectiles, called extrusomes, was unclear. Gavelis and colleagues studied two types of dinoflagellates: Polykrikos kofoidii and Nematodinium sp. They were able to capture the first 3D views of the microbes’ interior and determined Polykrikos launch a harpoon-like structure to snag their prey, then tow it in. Nematodinium, on the other hand, discharge the contents within a ring of capsules, like a Gatling gun.

Concluso a Firenze il 17° Congresso Nazionale dell’Associazione Italiana Psicogeriatria. Relazioni, sentimenti, sfera sessuale al centro dei contributi dinanzi a oltre mille specialisti.

Leo Nahon (già direttore della divisione psichiatrica dell’Ospedale Niguarda di Milano): “In media, il 20-25% degli anziani tra i 75 e gli 85 anni sostiene di aver avuto almeno un rapporto sessuale nell’ultimo anno. Una quota di anziani più ampia del previsto conserva una vita sessuale vera e propria”.

ANZIANI: RELAZIONI SESSUALI E AFFETTIVA. Esiste una quota di anziani verosimilmente più ampia del previsto che conserva una vita sessuale vera e propria. “In un editoriale del New England Journal of Medicine del 2015, John Bancroft del Kinsey Institute rilevava che nel gruppo di età fra i 75 e gli 85 anni il 38,5% degli uomini e il 16,7% delle donne riferiva di avere avuto un rapporto sessuale con un partner nell’anno in corso” afferma il prof. Leo Nahon, psichiatra, già direttore della divisione psichiatrica dell’Ospedale Niguarda di Milano. Sono più gli uomini a ricercare il piacere del sesso: per ogni due donne ci sono 3 uomini pronti a vivere questa esperienza appagante. Una curiosità, che lascia intendere come gli uomini ricerchino partner spesso più giovani. Per sessualità non si intende necessariamente il rapporto sessuale completo, ma anche altre forme di erotismo sessuale che gli anziani possono trovare. “Tuttavia, in ambito medico e anche specialistico, l’argomento della sessualità non viene messo tra gli elementi più rilevanti” dichiara ancora Nahon. “In altri termini, né il medico di base né lo specialista, quando si trovano di fronte un ultra 70enne, indagano sul tema della sessualità, a meno che non sia lo stesso paziente a sollevare la questione”.

A new study demonstrates that gender dysphoria in individuals with coexisting psychotic disorders can be adequately diagnosed and safely treated with gender affirming psychological, endocrine, and surgical therapies. The study is published in LGBT Health, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the LGBT Health website until May 3, 2017. In this novel and important report, Julia Meijer, MD, PhD, Guus Eeckhout, MD, Roy van Vlerken, MD, and Annelou de Vries, MD, PhD, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, describe a small series of case studies involving transgender men and women ages 29-57 years diagnosed with gender dysphoria and schizophrenia-related disorders who underwent gender affirmative treatment with a minimum follow-up of 3 years.

The release of a water droplet. Image: I.M. Hauner et al.

The surface tension of a liquid is a measure of the cohesive forces that hold the molecules together. It is responsible for a water drop assuming a spherical shape and for the effects of surfactants to produce bubbles and foams. The value of the surface tension of water at room temperature is known accurately to four significant figures and is recommended as a standard for the calibration of other devices. New research in which Ines Hauner and Daniel Bonn (Institute of Physics) are involved now shows that this value is not as universal as previously believed.

Osteoblast-cells of a mouse growing on 3D matrices and developed from the waste of agri-food industry (Author: Milagros Ramos, Ángeles Martín, Malcolm Yates and Violeta Zurdo (CTB-UPM y CSIC).

Researchers from UPM and CSIC have employed waste from the agri-food industry to develop biomaterials that are able to act as matrices to regenerate bone and cartilage tissues, which is of great interest for the treatment of diseases related to aging. A team of researchers from the Centre for Biomedical Technology at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (CTB-UPM), in collaboration with Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales (ICMM-CSIC) and Institute of Catalysis and Petrochemistry (ICP-CSIC) from Spanish Council for Scientific Research (CSIC), have produced biocompatible materials from waste of the agri-food industry, specifically from the apple pomace resulting from the juice production.

Research shows surprising conclusions about fish numbers

We're all familiar with the idea of extreme events. Meteorologists keep us up to date on hurricanes, floods and high temperatures. Economists watch the stock market for signs of crashes or rallies. Researchers spend a lot of time trying to better predict these events, yet are often surprised by the outcomes. According to a new study in the journal Limnology & Oceanography Letters, when it comes to nature's extremes, nothing seems to beat what happens underwater. Scientists at the National Science Foundation (NSF) North Temperate Lakes Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) site -- one of 28 NSF LTER sites -- are routinely measuring everything from water temperature to nutrient concentrations to fish populations in Wisconsin lakes.