The church of San Bernardino in Ivrea (Piedmont) houses a cycle of frescoes of “The Life of Christ” by the Italian painter Giovanni Martino Spanzotti. In the painting, a damned soul of the Hell with ...a large bi-lobar goiter is represented, confirming the interest of Renaissance artists towards thyroid diseases.
The aim of this study is to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Italian version of the Dispositional Flow Scale-2 (DFS-2), for use with Italian adults, young adults and adolescents.
In ...accordance with the guidelines for test adaptation, the scale has been translated with the method of back translation. The understanding of the item has been checked according to the latest standards on the culturally sensitive translation. The scale thus produced was administered to 843 individuals (of which 60.69% female), between the ages of 15 and 74. The sample is balanced between workers and students. The main activities defined by the subjects allow the sample to be divided into three categories: students, workers, athletes (professionals and semi-professionals).
The confirmatory factor analysis, conducted using the Maximum Likelihood Estimator (MLM), showed acceptable fit indexes. Reliability and validity have been verified, and structural invariance has been verified on 6 categories of Flow experience and for 3 subsamples with different with different fields of action. Correlational analysis shows significant high values between the nine dimensions.
Our data confirmed the validity and reliability of the Italian DFS-2 in measuring Flow experiences. The scale is reliable for use with Italian adults, young adults and adolescents. The Italian version of the scale is suitable for the evaluation of the subjective tendency to experience Flow trait characteristic in different contest, as sport, study and work.
Glycerol kinase (GK) and glycerol 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GPDH) are critical in glucose homeostasis. The role of genistein and metformin on these enzymes and glucose production was investigated in ...C2C12, HepG2, and 3T3-L1 cells. Enzyme kinetics, Real-Time PCR and western blots were performed to determine enzyme activities and expressions of mRNAs and proteins. Glucose production and uptake were also measured in these cells. siRNAs were used to assess their impact on the enzymes and glucose production. Ki values for the compounds were determined using purified GK and GPDH. Genistein decreased GK activity by ∼45 %, while metformin reduced cGPDH and mGPDH activities by ∼32 % and ∼43 %, respectively. Insignificant changes in expressions (mRNAs and proteins) of the enzymes were observed. The compounds showed dose-dependent alterations in glucose production and uptake in these cells. Genistein non-competitively inhibited His-GK activity (Ki 19.12 μM), while metformin non-competitively inhibited His-cGPDH (Ki 75.52 μM) and mGPDH (Ki 54.70 μM) activities. siRNAs transfection showed ∼50 % and ∼35 % decrease in activities of GK and mGPDH and a decrease in glucose production (0.38-fold and 0.42-fold) in 3T3-L1 cells. Considering the differential effects of the compounds, this study may provide insights into the potential therapeutic strategies for type II diabetes mellitus.
•Genistein and metformin differentially inhibit the activities of GK and GPDH in C2C12, HepG2, and 3T3-L1 cells.•The compounds also alter glucose production and glucose uptake in these cells.•Knock-down of GK and mGPDH by siRNAs decreases the activities of GK and mGPDH and glucose production in 3T3-L1 cells.•Genistein and metformin non-competitively inhibit purified human GK and GPDH, respectively.
Secondary
organic aerosol (SOA) forms a major part of the tropospheric submicron
aerosol. Still, the exact formation mechanisms of SOA have remained elusive.
Recently, a newly discovered group of ...oxidation products of volatile organic
compounds (VOCs), highly oxygenated organic molecules (HOMs), have been
proposed to be responsible for a large fraction of SOA formation. To assess
the potential of HOMs to form SOA and to even take part in new particle
formation, knowledge of their exact volatilities is essential. However, due
to their exotic, and partially unknown, structures, estimating their
volatility is challenging. In this study, we performed a set of continuous
flow chamber experiments, supported by box modelling, to study the
volatilities of HOMs, along with some less oxygenated compounds, formed in the
ozonolysis of α-pinene, an abundant VOC emitted by boreal forests.
Along with gaseous precursors, we periodically injected inorganic seed
aerosol into the chamber to vary the condensation sink (CS) of low-volatility
vapours. We monitored the decrease of oxidation products in the gas phase in
response to increasing CS, and were able to relate the responses to the
volatilities of the compounds. We found that HOM monomers are mainly of low
volatility, with a small fraction being semi-volatile. HOM dimers were all at
least low volatility, but probably extremely low volatility; however, our
method is not directly able to distinguish between the two. We were able to
model the volatility of the oxidation products in terms of their carbon,
hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen numbers. We found that increasing levels of
oxygenation correspond to lower volatilities, as expected, but that the
decrease is less steep than would be expected based on many existing models
for volatility, such as SIMPOL. The hydrogen number of a compound also
predicted its volatility, independently of the carbon number, with higher
hydrogen numbers corresponding to lower volatilities. This can be explained
in terms of the functional groups making up a molecule: high hydrogen numbers
are associated with, e.g. hydroxy groups, which lower volatility more than,
e.g. carbonyls, which are associated with a lower hydrogen number. The method
presented should be applicable to systems other than α-pinene
ozonolysis, and with different organic loadings, in order to study different
volatility ranges.
The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment satellites (GRACE) provide, for the first time, a method to directly measure mass exchange between the land and oceans over time. The dominant components ...of this exchange are due to continental ice loss/gain and land hydrology. Here, we determine the secular trend in these two components during the GRACE measurement era: 2003–2009. For each component, we model the distinct regional signatures or fingerprints of relative sea‐level (RSL) change, obtaining maxima at low latitudes between ±40° N/S, but with particularly strong regional patterns. We estimate that the total ice and water mass loss from the continents is causing global mean sea‐level to rise by 1.0 ± 0.4 mm/yr. Isolating the ice and hydrological signals, we find that the former is the sole net contributor to the global mean, while the latter dominates regional RSL changes in many coastal areas.
The impact of aerosols on climate and air quality remains poorly understood due to multiple factors. One of the current limitations is the incomplete understanding of the contribution of oxygenated ...products, generated from the gas-phase oxidation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), to aerosol formation. Indeed, atmospheric gaseous chemical processes yield thousands of (highly) oxygenated species, spanning a wide range of chemical formulas, functional groups and, consequently, volatilities. While recent mass spectrometric developments have allowed extensive on-line detection of a myriad of oxygenated organic species, playing a central role in atmospheric chemistry, the detailed quantification and characterization of this diverse group of compounds remains extremely challenging. To address this challenge, we evaluated the capability of current state-of-the-art mass spectrometers equipped with different chemical ionization sources to detect the oxidation products formed from α-Pinene ozonolysis under various conditions. Five different mass spectrometers were deployed simultaneously for a chamber study. Two chemical ionization atmospheric pressure interface time-of-flight mass spectrometers (CI-APi-TOF) with nitrate and amine reagent ion chemistries and an iodide chemical ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometer (TOF-CIMS) were used. Additionally, a proton transfer reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometer (PTR-TOF 8000) and a new “vocus” PTR-TOF were also deployed. In the current study, we compared around 1000 different compounds between each of the five instruments, with the aim of determining which oxygenated VOCs (OVOCs) the different methods were sensitive to and identifying regions where two or more instruments were able to detect species with similar molecular formulae. We utilized a large variability in conditions (including different VOCs, ozone, NOx and OH scavenger concentrations) in our newly constructed atmospheric simulation chamber for a comprehensive correlation analysis between all instruments. This analysis, combined with estimated concentrations for identified molecules in each instrument, yielded both expected and surprising results. As anticipated based on earlier studies, the PTR instruments were the only ones able to measure the precursor VOC, the iodide TOF-CIMS efficiently detected many semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) with three to five oxygen atoms, and the nitrate CI-APi-TOF was mainly sensitive to highly oxygenated organic (O > 5) molecules (HOMs). In addition, the vocus showed good agreement with the iodide TOF-CIMS for the SVOC, including a range of organonitrates. The amine CI-APi-TOF agreed well with the nitrate CI-APi-TOF for HOM dimers. However, the loadings in our experiments caused the amine reagent ion to be considerably depleted, causing nonlinear responses for monomers. This study explores and highlights both benefits and limitations of currently available chemical ionization mass spectrometry instrumentation for characterizing the wide variety of OVOCs in the atmosphere. While specifically shown for the case of α-Pinene ozonolysis, we expect our general findings to also be valid for a wide range of other VOC–oxidant systems. As discussed in this study, no single instrument configuration can be deemed better or worse than the others, as the optimal instrument for a particular study ultimately depends on the specific target of the study.
Over millennia, human intervention has transformed European habitats mainly through extensive livestock grazing. "Dehesas/Montados" are an Iberian savannah-like ecosystem dominated by oak-trees, ...bushes and grass species that are subject to agricultural and extensive livestock uses. They are a good example of how large-scale, low intensive transformations can maintain high biodiversity levels as well as socio-economic and cultural values. However, the role that these human-modified habitats can play for individuals or species living beyond their borders is unknown. Here, using a dataset of 106 adult GPS-tagged Eurasian griffon vultures (Gyps fulvus) monitored over seven years, we show how individuals breeding in western European populations from Northern, Central, and Southern Spain, and Southern France made long-range forays (LRFs) of up to 800 km to converge in the threatened Iberian "dehesas" to forage. There, extensive livestock and wild ungulates provide large amounts of carcasses, which are available to scavengers from traditional exploitations and rewilding processes. Our results highlight that maintaining Iberian "dehesas" is critical not only for local biodiversity but also for long-term conservation and the ecosystem services provided by avian scavengers across the continent.
Bedrock uplift in Antarctica is dominated by a combination of glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) and elastic response to contemporary mass change. Here, we present spatially extensive GPS ...observations of Antarctic bedrock uplift, using 52% more stations than previous studies, giving enhanced coverage, and with improved precision. We observe rapid elastic uplift in the northern Antarctic Peninsula. After considering elastic rebound, the GPS data suggests that modeled or empirical GIA uplift signals are often over‐estimated, particularly the magnitudes of the signal maxima. Our observation that GIA uplift is misrepresented by modeling (weighted root‐mean‐squares of observation‐model differences: 4.9–5.0 mm/yr) suggests that, apart from a few regions where large ice mass loss is occurring, the spatial pattern of secular ice mass change derived from Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) data and GIA models may be unreliable, and that several recent secular Antarctic ice mass loss estimates are systematically biased, mainly too high.
Key Points
Spatially extensive GPS observations of Antarctic GIA show low rates
GIA models are systematically biased, mainly too high
Recent secular Antarctic ice mass loss estimates are also systematically biased
While acknowledged as key components in the formation of new particles in the atmosphere, the accurate characterization of gaseous (highly) oxygenated organic compounds remains challenging and ...requires analytical developments. Earlier studies have successfully used the nitrate ion (NO3 –) based chemical ionization (CI) coupled to atmospheric pressure interface time-of-flight mass spectrometry (CI-APi-TOF) for monitoring these compounds. Despite many breakthroughs in recent years, the CI-APi-TOF has many limitations, preventing for instance the unambiguous ion identification of overlapping peaks. To tackle this analytical challenge, we developed a CI interface coupled to an ultrahigh-resolution Orbitrap mass spectrometer (CI-Orbitrap). We show that the CI-Orbitrap has similar sensitivity and selectivity as the CI-APi-TOF, but with over an order of magnitude higher mass resolving power (up to 140 000). Equally importantly, the CI-Orbitrap allows tandem mass spectrometry, providing the possibility for structural elucidation of the highly oxygenated organic molecules (HOM). As a proof of concept, we characterized HOM formed during the ozonolysis of two biogenic compounds (α-pinene and limonene), under different environmental conditions in a flow reactor. The CI-Orbitrap exhibited high sensitivity to both HOM and radical species, while easily separating ions of different elemental composition in cases where the more common TOF applications would not have been able to distinguish all ions. Our tandem mass spectrometry analyses revealed distinct fingerprint spectra for all the studied HOM. Overall, the CI-Orbitrap is an extremely promising instrument, and it provides a much-needed extension to ongoing research on HOM, with potential to impact also many other fields within atmospheric chemistry.
PDF
