Despite a substantial amount of literature on tissue-guided regeneration, decellularization process, repopulation time points and stem cell turnover, more in-depth study on the argument is required. ...Currently, there are plenty of reports involving large animals, as well as clinical studies facing cardiac repair with decellularized homografts, but no exhaustive rodent models are described. The purpose of this study was to develop such a model in rats; preliminary results are also herein reported.
Fresh or decellularized pulmonary homografts from wild type rats were implanted in the abdominal aorta of green fluorescent protein positive rats. Three experimental groups were build up: sham, fresh homograft recipients and decellularized homograft recipients. The homograft decellularization process was performed with three cycles of detergent-enzymatic treatment protocol. Surgical technique of pulmonary homograft implantation and postoperative ultrasonographic evaluation were also reported; gross, histology and immunohistochemistry analysis on unimplanted and postoperative homografts were also carried out.
The median total recipient operating time was 148 minutes, with a surgical success rate of 82%. The decellularization protocol resulted effective and showed a complete decellularization with intact extracellular matrix. At 15 days from surgery, the implanted decellularized pulmonary homografts exhibited cell repopulation in the outer media wall and partial endothelial lining in absence of rejection.
Our technique is a feasible and reproducible model that can be fundamental for building a valid study for further exploitation on the field. Even in a short-term follow up, the decellularized pulmonary homografts showed autologous repopulation in absence of rejection.
Population genetic studies on European populations have highlighted Italy as one of genetically most diverse regions. This is possibly due to the country's complex demographic history and large ...variability in terrain throughout the territory. This is the reason why Italy is enriched for population isolates, Sardinia being the best-known example. As the population isolates have a great potential in disease-causing genetic variants identification, we aimed to genetically characterize a region from northeastern Italy, which is known for isolated communities. Total of 1310 samples, collected from six geographically isolated villages, were genotyped at >145000 single-nucleotide polymorphism positions. Newly genotyped data were analyzed jointly with the available genome-wide data sets of individuals of European descent, including several population isolates. Despite the linguistic differences and geographical isolation the village populations still show the greatest genetic similarity to other Italian samples. The genetic isolation and small effective population size of the village populations is manifested by higher levels of genomic homozygosity and elevated linkage disequilibrium. These estimates become even more striking when the detected substructure is taken into account. The observed level of genetic isolation in Friuli-Venezia Giulia region is more extreme according to several measures of isolation compared with Sardinians, French Basques and northern Finns, thus proving the status of an isolate.
Peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing applications allow large communities of users to share multimedia contents. According to their willingness to participate in the P2P community, nodes can switch on and ...off. An active node participates in the community by downloading content from other nodes and by allowing others to download content which are stored in its own memory. In this paper, we focus on the design of content management at the nodes. Basically, whenever a node retrieves some new content, it may store it in the shared memory and make it available to other users, or it may “consume” it on the fly. The storing policy impacts the effectiveness of the application to provide content to users. Indeed, if only few copies of a given content are available, it may happen that, while the nodes storing those copies are off, the content is not available. Based on the probability that this content unavailability occurs, we define a notion of Quality-of-Service (QoS) and we propose criteria for the QoS design of content management policies. Moreover, we consider a simple policy based on these criteria and we evaluate its performance by an analytical model based on a Markovian approach.
This study examined whether measuring myocardial blood flow (MBF) in the sub-endocardial (SEN) and sub-epicardial (SEP) layers of the left ventricular myocardium using
NH
positron emission tomography ...(PET) and an automated procedure gives reasonable results in patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease (CAD).
Resting and stress
NH
dynamic PET were performed in 70 patients. Using ≥ 70% diameter stenosis in invasive coronary angiography (ICA) to identify significant CAD, we examined the diagnostic value of SEN- and SEP-MBF, and coronary flow reserve (CFR) vs. the corresponding conventional data averaged on the whole wall thickness.
ICA demonstrated 36 patients with significant CAD. Their global stress average 1.61 (1.26, 1.87) mL·min
·g
, SEN 1.39 (1.2, 1.59) mL·min
·g
and SEP 1.22 (0.96, 1.44) mL·min
·g
MBF were significantly lower than in the 34 no-CAD patients: 2.05 (1.76, 2.52), 1.72 (1.53, 1.89) and 1.46 (1.23, 1.89) mL·min
·g
, respectively, all P < .005. In the 60 CAD vs. the 150 non-CAD territories, stress average MBF was 1.52 (1.10, 1.83) vs. 2.06 (1.69, 2.48) mL·min
·g
, SEN-MBF 1.33 (1.02, 1.58) vs. 1.66 (1.35, 1.93) mL·min
·g
, and SEP-MBF 1.07 (0.80, 1.29) vs. 1.40 (1.12, 1.69) mL·min
·g
, respectively, all P < .05. Using receiver operating characteristics analysis for the presence of significant CAD, the areas under the curve (AUC) were all significant (P < .0001 vs. AUC = 0.5) and similar: stress average MBF = 0.79, SEN-MBF = 0.75, and SEP-MBF = 0.73. AUC was 0.77 for the average CFR, 0.75 for SEN, and 0.70 for SEP CFR. The stress transmural perfusion gradient (TPG) AUC (0.51) was not significant. However, stress TPG was significantly lower in segments subtended by totally occluded arteries vs. those subtended by sub-total stenoses: 1.10 (0.86, 1.33) vs. 1.24 (0.98, 1.56), respectively, P < .005.
Automatic assessment of SEN- and SEP-MBF (and CFR) using
NH
PET gives reasonable results that are in good agreement with the conventional average whole wall thickness data. Further studies are needed to examine the utility of layer measurements such as in patients with hibernating myocardium or microvascular disease.
Vaccination against communicable diseases is crucial for disease prevention, but this practice poses challenges to healthcare professionals in patients with haemophilia. Poor knowledge of the ...vaccination requirements for these patients and safety concerns often result in vaccination delay or avoidance. In order to address this issue, a panel of 11 Italian haemophilia and immunization experts conducted a Delphi consensus process to identify the main concerns regarding the safe use of vaccines in patients with haemophilia. The consensus was based on a literature search of the available evidence, which was used by the experts to design 27 consensus statements. A group of clinicians then rated these statements using the 5‐point Likert‐type scale (1 = strongly disagree; 5 = strongly agree). The main issues identified by the expert panel included vaccination schedule for haemophilic patients; protocol and optimal route of vaccine administration; vaccination of haemophilic patients with antibodies inhibiting coagulation factor VIII (inhibitors); and vaccination and risk of inhibitor development. This manuscript discusses these controversial areas in detail supported by the available literature evidence and provides evidence‐ and consensus‐based recommendations. Overall, participants agreed on most statements, except those addressing the potential role of vaccination in inhibitor formation. Participants agreed that patients with haemophilia should receive vaccinations according to the institutional schedule for individuals without bleeding disorders; however, vaccination of patients with haemophilia requires comprehensive planning, taking into account disease severity, type and route of vaccination, and bleeding risk. Data also suggest vaccination timing does not need to take into consideration when the patient received factor VIII replacement.
Background
Moderate normobaric hyperoxia causes alveolar and vascular lung derangement in the newborn rat. Endogenous nitric oxide (NO), which promotes lung growth, is produced from the metabolism of
...l
-arginine to
l
-citrulline in endothelial cells. We investigated whether administering
l
-citrulline by raising the serum levels of
l
-arginine and enhancing NO endogenous synthesis attenuates moderate hyperoxia-induced lung injury.
Methods
Newborn rats were exposed to FiO
2
= 0.6 or room air for 14 days to induce lung derangement and then were administered
l
-citrulline or a vehicle (sham). Lung histopathology was studied with morphometric features. Lung tissues and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were collected for analysis. Lung vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), and matrix metalloproteinase 2 (
MMP2
) gene and protein expressions were assessed.
Results
Serum
l
-arginine rose in the L-citr + hyperoxia group (
p
= 0.05), as well as the Von Willebrand factor stained vessels count (
p
= 0.0008). Lung VEGF immune staining, localized on endothelial cells, was weaker in the sections under hyperoxia than the
l
-citr + hyperoxia and room air groups. This pattern was comparable with the VEGF gene and protein expression profiles. Mean alveolar size increased in the untreated hyperoxia and sham-treated groups compared with the groups reared in room air or treated with
l
-citrulline under exposure to hyperoxia (
p
= 0.0001). Lung VEGF and eNOS increased in the
l
-citrulline-treated rats, though this treatment did not change
MMP2
gene expression but regulated the MMP2 active protein, which rose in BALF (
p
= 0.003).
Conclusions
We conclude that administering
l
-citrulline proved effective in improving alveolar and vascular growth in a model of oxygen-induced pulmonary damage, suggesting better lung growth and matrix regulation than in untreated groups.
Aims
The purpose of this study was to examine the tools used in Italy to diagnose mild cognitive impairment (MCI).
Methods
In collaboration with the Luigi Amaducci Research Consortium, the Italian ...Network of Alzheimer Evaluation Units prepared a questionnaire to describe how MCI is diagnosed in the Italian Centres for cognitive disorders and dementia (CCDD).
Results
Most of the ninety-two CCDDs participating in the survey were located in hospitals (54.7%); large percentages were coordinated by neurologists (50.8%) and geriatricians (44.6%). Almost all (98.5%) used the Mini Mental State Examination to diagnose MCI; the Clock Drawing Test was also frequently used (83.9%). Other neuropsychological, imaging and biomarker tests were utilized less frequently and a wide diversity in the instruments used was noted.
Conclusions
According to the results, diagnoses of MCI are based on a multitude of instruments, with major differences in the clinical assessment of geriatricians and neurologists. Standardized testing protocols, validated instruments and cut-off points need to be identified and adopted by the CCDDs for assessing MCI.
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