Earth's atmosphere, whose ionization stability plays a fundamental role for the evolution and endurance of life, is exposed to the effect of cosmic explosions producing high energy Gamma-ray-bursts. ...Being able to abruptly increase the atmospheric ionization, they might deplete stratospheric ozone on a global scale. During the last decades, an average of more than one Gamma-ray-burst per day were recorded. Nevertheless, measurable effects on the ionosphere were rarely observed, in any case on its bottom-side (from about 60 km up to about 350 km of altitude). Here, we report evidence of an intense top-side (about 500 km) ionospheric perturbation induced by significant sudden ionospheric disturbance, and a large variation of the ionospheric electric field at 500 km, which are both correlated with the October 9, 2022 Gamma-ray-burst (GRB221009A).
Cholesterol-Lowering Interventions and Stroke De Caterina, Raffaele, MD, PhD; Scarano, Marco, MSc; Marfisi, RosaMaria, MSc ...
Journal of the American College of Cardiology,
2010, Letnik:
55, Številka:
3
Journal Article
Recenzirano
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Objectives This meta-analysis was performed to determine the effects of various cholesterol-lowering treatments on the risk of stroke and its relationship with the extent of cholesterol lowering. ...Background Statins reduce the incidence of stroke, and it has been proposed that such effect is independent of cholesterol lowering and is explained by alternative mechanisms. Methods We performed a meta-analysis of randomized trials of cholesterol-lowering treatments in cardiovascular disease reporting on stroke, involving 266,973 patients investigated and a cumulative 946,582 person-years of exposure, and a meta-regression analysis of the extent of stroke reduction as a function of changes in total cholesterol. Results The odds ratio (OR) for the incidence of stroke in actively treated groups versus controls was 0.88 (95% confidence interval: 0.83 to 0.94, p < 0.001). No treatment affected fatal strokes. Whereas statins decreased the risk of total stroke significantly (OR: 0.85, 95% confidence interval: 0.78 to 0.92; p < 0.001), the benefit of nonstatin interventions was smaller and not statistically significant (diet OR: 0.92, fibrates OR: 0.98, other treatments OR: 0.81). We found a significant relationship between percent reduction of total (and low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol and percent reduction of total strokes (p = 0.0017), with each 1% reduction of total cholesterol predicting a 0.8% relative risk reduction of stroke. We found no significant association between stroke reduction and changes of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, and inconsistent associations with reduction of triglycerides. Conclusions Among cholesterol-lowering treatments, statins are the most effective at decreasing the risk of total stroke, but their benefit is proportional to the percent reduction of total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. No lipid-lowering intervention was associated with a reduction of fatal stroke.
Monetary Policy with Weakened Unions Barbier-Gauchard, Amélie; Betti, Thierry; De Palma, Francesco
Revue d'économie politique,
8/2023, Letnik:
133, Številka:
4
Journal Article
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Nous évaluons l’impact du pouvoir de négociation des syndicats sur l’inflation et l’emploi dans le cadre d’un modèle de contrat optimal à la Mac Donald & Solow 1981. Nous considérons un jeu à la ...Stackelberg entre la banque centrale et les partenaires sociaux (entreprises et syndicats). Les entreprises et les syndicats négocient l’emploi et le salaire nominal, tandis que la banque centrale, qui joue le rôle de leader , fixe le taux d’inflation. Nous montrons qu’une diminution du pouvoir de négociation des syndicats tend à réduire le salaire nominal et l’emploi. Dans un tel contexte de banque centrale leader , la politique monétaire optimale consiste à augmenter le taux d’inflation optimal afin d’éviter une hausse du chômage. De plus, nous démontrons que l’augmentation du taux d’inflation optimal a des effets plus importants lorsque la banque centrale est faiblement conservatrice. Ces résultats plaident en faveur d’une réduction du conservatisme de la banque centrale pour compenser l’impact macroéconomique de la baisse du pouvoir de négociation des syndicats. Classification JEL : E02, E24, E52, E58, J51
This meta-analysis was performed to determine the effects of various cholesterol-lowering treatments on the risk of stroke and its relationship with the extent of cholesterol lowering.
Statins reduce ...the incidence of stroke, and it has been proposed that such effect is independent of cholesterol lowering and is explained by alternative mechanisms.
We performed a meta-analysis of randomized trials of cholesterol-lowering treatments in cardiovascular disease reporting on stroke, involving 266,973 patients investigated and a cumulative 946,582 person-years of exposure, and a meta-regression analysis of the extent of stroke reduction as a function of changes in total cholesterol.
The odds ratio (OR) for the incidence of stroke in actively treated groups versus controls was 0.88 (95% confidence interval: 0.83 to 0.94, p < 0.001). No treatment affected fatal strokes. Whereas statins decreased the risk of total stroke significantly (OR: 0.85, 95% confidence interval: 0.78 to 0.92; p < 0.001), the benefit of nonstatin interventions was smaller and not statistically significant (diet OR: 0.92, fibrates OR: 0.98, other treatments OR: 0.81). We found a significant relationship between percent reduction of total (and low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol and percent reduction of total strokes (p = 0.0017), with each 1% reduction of total cholesterol predicting a 0.8% relative risk reduction of stroke. We found no significant association between stroke reduction and changes of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, and inconsistent associations with reduction of triglycerides.
Among cholesterol-lowering treatments, statins are the most effective at decreasing the risk of total stroke, but their benefit is proportional to the percent reduction of total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. No lipid-lowering intervention was associated with a reduction of fatal stroke.
CSES (China Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite) is a mission developed by CNSA (Chinese National Space Administration) and ASI (Italian Space Agency), to investigate the near-Earth electromagnetic, ...plasma and particle environment, for studying the seismo-associated disturbances in the ionosphere-magnetosphere transition zone. The anthropogenic and electromagnetic noise, as well as the natural non-seismic electromagnetic emissions is mainly due to tropospheric activity. In particular, the mission aims to confirming the existence of possible temporal correlations between the occurrence of earthquakes for medium and strong magnitude and the observation in space of electromagnetic perturbations, plasma variations and precipitation of bursts with high-energy charged particles from the inner Van Allen belt. In this framework, the high energy particle detector (HEPD) of the CSES mission has been developed by the Italian LIMADOU Collaboration. HEPD is an advanced detector based on a tower of scintillators and a silicon tracker that provides good energy and angular resolution and a wide angular acceptance, for electrons of 3–100 MeV, protons of 30–200 MeV and light nuclei up to the oxygen. CSES satellite has been launched on February 2
nd
, 2018 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center (China).
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Tetrahydroberberine (THB), otherwise known as canadine, is a natural alkaloid showing significant pharmacological properties and antioxidant protection against oxidative damage. ...Herein, we synthetized structurally complex THB analogues, namely pyrrolino-tetrahydroberberines (PTHBs) 4a–g, containing the pyrrolino2,3-bpyridine system, by means of the reactions of 1,2-diaza-1,3-dienes and 7,8-dihydroberberine. Aim of the study was to explore the in vitro antioxidant properties of PTHBs in comparison to THB thus to identify the most effective against free radical-induced oxidative injury, by using three different antioxidant tests: the ORAC method, the DNA nicking assay, and the DCFH-DA cellular assay. As a result, PTHB 4d emerged among the other THB analogues by exhibiting the best antioxidant properties. First, it was the only compound having an ORAC value completely comparable to that of THB, indicating the same ability to neutralize peroxyl radicals. Secondly, 4d showed an even better antioxidant capacity than THB in protecting DNA against ferrous ion-induced strand breaks. These observations were also confirmed in NCTC-2544 human keratinocytes exposed to hydrogen peroxide. Indeed, 4d protected cells against oxidation more efficiently than THB both in the short (1 and 3 h) and long (24 h) period of incubation, possibly suggesting increased cell membrane permeability and/or intracellular stability of 4d as compared to THB.
The China Seismo‐Electromagnetic Satellite (CSES) space mission—also known as Limadou in Italian—is a scientific collaboration between China and Italy that aims to investigate the structure and ...dynamics of the iono/magnetosphere, and in particular to study the possible correlation of perturbations to the occurrence of high‐magnitude seismic events. The Chinese satellite houses the Italian high‐energy particle detector (HEPD), an apparatus composed of a silicon tracker and a calorimeter system, which detects electrons and protons in the energy ranges 3–100 and 30–200 MeV, respectively. The satellite was launched on February 2, 2018; after a commissioning phase dedicated to the setting of an optimal configuration, HEPD is fully operational since July 28, 2018. After a general overview of the CSES‐Limadou mission, this article presents the structure of the HEPD apparatus and describes the design and implementation of the software for the embedded computer system that is responsible for HEPD management. The onboard software runs on the digital signal processors of two electronic boards (CPU and data acquisition), monitors system status, handles instrument data acquisition, performs periodic calibration of the subdetectors, performs data compression, and communicates with the satellite. An overview of HEPD in‐flight operations and performance is given in the last section.
In this work we present the High‐Energy Particle Detector (HEPD‐01) observations of proton fluxes from space during the 28 October 2021 solar energetic particle event, which produced a ground‐level ...enhancement on Earth. The event was associated with the major, long‐duration X1‐class flare and the concomitant coronal mass ejection (CME) that erupted from the Active Region 12887. This is the first direct measurement from space of solar particles emitted during the current solar cycle, recorded by a single instrument in the energy range from ∼50 MeV/n up to ∼250 MeV/n. We have performed a Weibull‐modeled spectral analysis of the energy spectrum in the wide energy range 300 keV–250 MeV, obtained from combination of HEPD‐01 proton measurements with the ones from ACE/ULEIS, SOHO/EPHIN, and SOHO/ERNE. The good agreement between data and model, also corroborated by a comparison with other spectral shapes commonly used in these studies, suggests that particles could have possibly been accelerated out from the ambient corona through the contribution of stochastic acceleration at the CME‐driven shock, even if the presence of seed populations influencing spectral shape could not be excluded. Finally, a Solar Proton Release time of 16:01 UTC ± 13 min and a magnetic path‐length of L = 1.32 ± 0.24 AU have been obtained, in agreement with previous results for this event. We remark that new and precise data on protons in the tens/hundreds MeV energy range—like the one provided by HEPD‐01—could shed more light on particle acceleration as well as provide a reliable parametrization of solar energetic particle spectra for Space Weather purposes.
Plain Language Summary
In this work we present the observation from space of protons emitted by the Sun during the 28 October 2021 solar event. This event was particularly strong and it was even registered at Earth by instruments called Neutron Monitors. Such highly energetic phenomena are rather rare and they can give a lot of information on particle acceleration and propagation from Sun to Earth. By using data from various spacecrafts, like High‐Energy Particle Detector, we were able to address some characteristics of this event, like its duration, the most probable mechanism that accelerate particles, the path traveled by such particles, as well as to constrain the time in which they are accelerated.
Key Points
High‐Energy Particle Detector (HEPD‐01) measurements of solar protons (50–250 MeV) emitted during the first ground‐level enhancement of solar cycle 25
Spectral analysis conducted on a energy‐extended, time‐integrated proton spectrum using also ACE, ERNE, and EPHIN data
Time‐of‐arrival analysis in good agreement with the literature and highlights the central role of HEPD‐01 at energies around hundreds of MeV
Abstract
Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most frequent and aggressive primary brain tumour in adults. Despite advances in surgical and medical neuro oncology, prognosis for GBM patients remains dismal, ...with a median survival of about 15 months. It has been demonstrated that the modest benefit of conventional therapies depends on a small population of cancer stem cells within the tumor, named Glioma Stem Cells (GSCs) that cause tumor relapse and chemoresistance and therefore could play a key role in GBM recurrence. Thus, the identification of new specific ligands for GSCs could be a fundamental challenge for the development of effective glioma therapies. Here, we developed an in vitro evolution based approach, named differential whole cellSELEX; it is used to generate nucleic acid ligands, named aptamers, with high affinity and specificity for GSCs. Aptamers, were obtained through the iterative evolution of a random pool of sequences using human primary GSCs as target. Among different potential candidates we focused on one sequence, named 40L. The 40L aptamer and its truncated form, 40S, were selective for human GSCs distinguishing them from tumor differentiated cells, obtained from the stem cells induced to differentiate. 40L revealed to be functionally active on target cells and able to inhibit stemness, cell growth and migration. 40s preserves binding ability of 40L sequence and it has further proven to strongly reduce tumor proliferation in in vivo experiment. Moreover, both 40L and 40s were able to rapidly internalize upon target binding and therefore may serve as selective vehicle for therapeutics.In conclusion, our results indicate that 40L and its short form 40s can selectively target GSCs both in vitro and in vivo. Given the crucial role of these cells in GBM recurrence and therapy resistance, 40L and 40s represent innovative drug candidates with a great potential in the GBM treatment.
Citation Format: Alessandra Affinito, Cristina Quintavalle, Maurizio Albero, Claudia Vilardo, Francesco Palma, Giuseppina Roscigno, Lucia Ricci Vitiani, Roberto Pallini, Carla Lucia Esposito, Vittorio de Franciscis, Gerolama Condorelli. Identification of RNA aptamers selectively recognizing and affecting glioblastoma stem cells abstract. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 169.
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