La produzione dei canzonieri latini nella Napoli aragonese si sviluppò in un quadro di grande complessità culturale tra il Latino e le lingue volgari in uso presso la corte. Focalizzando i loro ...caratteri distintivi, il saggio si propone di realizzarne un’interpretazione coerente col quadro della cultura del loro tempo. La sintesi che emerge dall’indagine mostra come, con l’adesione degli intellettuali al programma della politica aragonese nel momento del suo splendore, i canzonieri erotici esprimessero anche un impegno ideologico nella rappresentazione e nella costruzione dei valori della società: è l’epoca dei canzonieri di Giovanni Pontano e dei suoi coetanei, Elisio Calenzio e Gabriele Altilio. Col cambiare degli equilibri esistenti tra gli intellettuali e il potere politico nella crisi della corona e con l’avvento del Vice Regno spagnolo, essa mostra, poi, come cambi anche il carattere della produzione poetica, che tende a porre in secondo piano l’elemento amoroso, diventando perlopiù encomiastica e celebrativa, e ad allontanarsi dall’impegno in precedenza espresso. In quest’epoca solo due canzonieri, uno di Girolamo Angeriano ed uno di Pomponio Gaurico, sono propriamente amorosi ed esprimono il nuovo modo di vivere l’amore in un mondo in cui l’introspezione e la riflessione si sostituiscono all’impegno ideologico e sociale. I canzonieri erotici di questo periodo così denso di trasformazioni mostrano quanto possa essere stretto il rapporto tra una produzione letteraria di carattere sia pure intimo e la società nella quale essa abbia visto la luce, fornendo, così, una paradigmatica chiave di lettura del loro tempo.
Absolute Pitch (AP) is commonly defined as a rare ability that allows an individual to identify any pitch by name. Most researchers use classificatory tests for AP which tracks the number of isolated ...correct answers. However, each researcher chooses their own procedure for what should be considered correct or incorrect in measuring this ability. Consequently, it is impossible to evaluate comparatively how the stimuli and criteria classify individuals in the same way. We thus adopted a psychometric perspective, approaching AP as a latent trait. Via the Latent Variable Model, we evaluated the consistency and validity for a measure to test for AP ability. A total of 783 undergraduate music students participated in the test. The test battery comprised 10 isolated pitches. All collected data were analyzed with two different rating criteria (perfect and imperfect) under three Latent Variable Model approaches: continuous (Item Response Theory with two and three parameters), categorical (Latent Class Analysis), and the Hybrid model. According to model fit information indices, the perfect approach (only exact pitch responses as correct) measurement model had a better fit under the trait (continuous) specification. This contradicts the usual assumption of a division between AP and non-AP possessors. Alternatively, the categorical solution for the two classes demonstrated the best solution for the imperfect approach (exact pitch responses and semitone deviations considered as correct).
Given that in patients with cardiac amyloidosis (CA), deposition of amyloid protein is not restricted to the left ventricular (LV) myocardium, it can be hypothesized that the diagnostic value of ...deformation mechanics would be enhanced by considering right ventricular (RV) strain measures. The aim of the present study was to examine the potential utility of left ventricular (LV) and right ventricular (RV) deformation and rotational parameters derived from three-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiograph (3DSTE) to diagnose cardiac amyloidosis and differentiate this disease from other forms of myocardial hypertrophy.
Twenty-three patients with biopsy-proven light-chain (AL) amyloidosis, 23 patients with systemic arterial hypertension (HTN), 23 patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), 23 athletes and 23 normal controls were prospectively studied by conventional echocardiography and 3DSTE. LV longitudinal strain (LV LS), LV circumferential strain (LV CS), RV global longitudinal strain and RV free-wall longitudinal strain (RV FW LS) were obtained by 3DSTE, as well as LV rotation and rotational velocities.
LV and RV longitudinal strains were reduced in cardiac amyloidosis (CA) patients compared to controls. By multivariate analysis, LV basal LS (p = 0.002), LV peak basal rotation (p = 0.003), and RV basal FW LS (p = 0.014) were independently associated with CA in the overall population. A significant improvement in global χ2 value was noted with RV 3D-strain parameters over only LV-3DSTE + conventional indices for detection of CA (p < 0.001). Comparison of ROC curves showed that the AUC using combined LV basal LS, LV basal rotation and RV basal FW LS had a higher discriminative value than the other echocardiographic parameters used for detecting CA (AUC 0.93, 95%CI 0.81–0.97).
Three-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography reveals regional and global biventricular dysfunction in CA. Assessment of RV ventricular dysfunction has an additive value in differentiating CA from other causes of myocardial wall thickening.
•We examined the potential utility of three-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography in cardiac amyloidosis (CA).•Three-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography revealed regional and global biventricular dysfunction in CA.•Right ventricular dysfunction assessment had an additive value in differentiating CA from other myocardial hypertrophies.
The efferent ductules and the epididymis are parts of the male reproductive system where spermatozoa mature. Specialized epithelial cells in these ducts contribute to the transport of fluids produced ...by spermatozoa’s metabolic activity. Aquaporins (AQPs) have been demonstrated to be expressed in the spermatozoan membrane and testis epithelial cells, where they contribute to regulating spermatozoan volume and transit through environments of differing osmolality. Due to the lack of detailed literature regarding AQP expression in the canine male genital tract, the aim of this study was to investigate both the distribution and expression of AQP7, AQP8, and AQP9 in the efferent ductules and epididymal regions (caput, corpus, and cauda) from normal and cryptorchid dogs by using immunohistochemistry, Western blotting, and real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Our results show different patterns for the distribution and expression of the examined AQPs, with particular evidence of their upregulation in the caput and downregulation in the cauda region of the canine cryptorchid epididymis. These findings are associated with a modulation of Hsp70 and caspase-3 expression, suggesting the participation of AQPs in the luminal microenvironment modifications that are peculiar characteristics of this pathophysiological condition.
The production of Latin Canzonieri in the Aragonese Kingdom of Naples developed in a context of great cultural complexity that was the interaction of Latin and the vernacular languages used at court. ...By focusing on the distinctive characteristics of these songbooks, this essay aims to create an interpretation that is coherent with the framework of the culture of their time. The synthesis that emerges from our study shows how, with the adherence of intellectuals to the Aragonese political program in the moment of its splendour, erotic songbooks also expressed an ideological commitment in the representation and construction of society’s values: it is the era of the lyric collections of Giovanni Pontano and his peers, Elisio Calenzio and Gabriele Altilio. With a new balance struck between intellectuals and political power during the crisis of the crown, and with the advent of the Spanish Vice-Kingdom, we see how the character of poetic production also changes, which relegated the amorous to the background, where it becomes mostly laudatory and celebratory, moving away from ideological commitment mentioned above. In this time only two lyric collections, one by Girolamo Angeriano and one by Pomponio Gaurico, are properly amorous, and express the new way of living love in a world where introspection and reflection replace ideological and social commitment. The amorous songbooks of this transformative period show how close the relationship is between literary production, even one of an intimate nature, and the society from which it springs, thus providing a hermeneutic key for understanding the historical period of the Canzoniere itself.
La produzione dei canzonieri latini nella Napoli aragonese si sviluppò in un quadro di grande complessità culturale tra il latino e le lingue volgari in uso presso la corte. Focalizzando i loro caratteri distintivi, il saggio si propone di realizzarne un’interpretazione coerente col quadro della cultura del loro tempo. La sintesi che emerge dall’indagine mostra come, con l’adesione degli intellettuali al programma della politica aragonese nel momento del suo splendore, i canzonieri erotici esprimessero anche un impegno ideologico nella rappresentazione e nella costruzione dei valori della società: è l’epoca dei canzonieri di Giovanni Pontano e dei suoi coetanei, Elisio Calenzio e Gabriele Altilio. Col cambiare degli equilibri esistenti tra gli intellettuali e il potere politico nella crisi della corona e con l’avvento del Vice Regno spagnolo, essa mostra, poi, come cambi anche il carattere della produzione poetica, che tende a porre in secondo piano l’elemento amoroso, diventando perlopiù encomiastica e celebrativa, e ad allontanarsi dall’impegno in precedenza espresso. In quest’epoca solo due canzonieri, uno di Girolamo Angeriano ed uno di Pomponio Gaurico, sono propriamente amorosi ed esprimono il nuovo modo di vivere l’amore in un mondo in cui l’introspezione e la riflessione si sostituiscono all’impegno ideologico e sociale. I canzonieri erotici di questo periodo così denso di trasformazioni mostrano quanto possa essere stretto il rapporto tra una produzione letteraria di carattere sia pure intimo e la società nella quale essa abbia visto la luce, fornendo, così, una paradigmatica chiave di lettura del loro tempo.
Tumor hypoxia stimulates release of extracellular vesicles (EVs) that facilitate short- and long-range intercellular communication and metastatization. Albeit hypoxia and EVs release are known ...features of Neuroblastoma (NB), a metastasis-prone childhood malignancy of the sympathetic nervous system, whether hypoxic EVs can facilitate NB dissemination is unclear.
Here we isolated and characterized EVs from normoxic and hypoxic NB cell culture supernatants and performed microRNA (miRNA) cargo analysis to identify key mediators of EVs biological effects. We then validated if EVs promote pro-metastatic features both in vitro and in an in vivo zebrafish model.
EVs from NB cells cultured at different oxygen tensions did not differ for type and abundance of surface markers nor for biophysical properties. However, EVs derived from hypoxic NB cells (hEVs) were more potent than their normoxic counterpart in inducing NB cells migration and colony formation. miR-210-3p was the most abundant miRNA in the cargo of hEVs; mechanistically, overexpression of miR-210-3p in normoxic EVs conferred them pro-metastatic features, whereas miR-210-3p silencing suppressed the metastatic ability of hypoxic EVs both in vitro and in vivo.
Our data identify a role for hypoxic EVs and their miR-210-3p cargo enrichment in the cellular and microenvironmental changes favoring NB dissemination.
To assess the findings of temporal artery colour duplex sonography (CDS) in GCA characterized by a histological pattern of periadventitial small vessel vasculitis (SVV) and/or vasa vasorum vasculitis ...(VVV) and compare it with those observed in classic GCA with transmural vasculitis.
We studied 30 patients with SVV and/or VVV, 63 patients with classic GCA and 67 biopsy-negative patients identified over a 9-year period. CDS of the temporal arteries was performed in all patients by one ultrasonographer. Temporal artery biopsy was used as the reference standard. Sensitivities, specificities and likelihood ratios (LRs) were calculated.
The frequency of the halo sign on CDS was significantly lower in the patients with SVV and/or VVV compared with those with classic GCA (20% vs 82.5%, P = 0.0001). The halo sign had a sensitivity of only 20% (95% CI 8.4, 39.1%) and a specificity of 80.6% (95% CI 68.7, 88.9%) for the diagnosis of SVV and/or VVV. The negative LR was 0.992 (CI 0.824, 1.195), and the positive LR was 1.030 (CI 0.433, 2.451). The halo sign for the diagnosis of biopsy-proven classic GCA had a higher sensitivity of 82.5% (CI 70.5, 90.5%), the same specificity of 80.6% (CI 68.7, 88.9%) and a higher positive LR (4.253; CI 2.577, 7.021).
The halo sign is infrequently found in GCA characterized by a histological pattern of SVV and/or VVV. This limits the sensitivity of CDS in correctly identifying patients with GCA.
Abstract
Background
Despite to PFAPA syndrome is considered a benign and self-limited condition in childhood its impact on patients and families can be remarkable in many cases. Currently, the ...therapeutic options for managing are non-specific and no consensus exists about the best treatment to use. Pidotimod has been suggested as a new potential treatment in PFAPA syndrome for its immunodulatory effects. We conducted a preliminary, prospective, controlled, open, cross-over trial to assess the efficacy and the safety of Pidotimod in the treatment of children with PFAPA syndrome.
Methods
22 children with PFAPA syndrome were randomly allocated to treatment with pidotimod (with 2 vials of 400 mg daily) in combination with betamethasone 0.5–1 mg on need, based on parents/caregivers’ decision (group A) or betamethasone 0.5-1 mg on need, based on parents/caregivers’ decision (group B). Each treatment period was for 3 months (Phase 1), after that patients were switched to the other arm for other 3 months (Phase 2). Efficacy was expressed in terms of number of episodes of fever, pharyngitis, or aphthous stomatitis, as well as the additional use of betamethasone on need. Safety and tolerability of the Pidotimod were evaluated on the basis of the number and type of adverse events (AEs) recorded during the treatment.
Results
Patients receiving Pidotimod and use betametasone showed a significant decrease in frequency of fevers (
p
= 0.002); number of episodes of pharyngitis (
p
= 0.049); aphthous stomatitis (
p
= 0.036) as well as the betamethasone use on need (
p
= 0.007). Overall, 19/22 (86.4%) showed benefits from Pidotimod administration. The safety profile of Pidotimod was excellent as no serious adverse events have been reported in the treated groups.
Conclusions
We firstly showed that high dosage of Pidotimod could be an effective and safe to reduce the PFAPA attacks in children.
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