Objective. The aim of the study was to determine the effect of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) intervention on emotion regulation and glycemic control of patients with type 2 diabetes. ...Materials and Methods. Sixty patients with type 2 diabetes were recruited for this randomized controlled trial from an outpatient clinic at Imam Hospital in Iran. The intervention group participated in 8 sessions of MBSR, and the control group continued the treatment as usual. Fasting blood sugar and HbA1c were measured as two indices of glycemic control. Overall mental health, depression, and anxiety were measured using the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28), Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS), and Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HARS), respectively. All the assessments were performed at baseline and after 8 weeks and 3 months as follow-up. Results. In comparison with the control group, the MBSR intervention group showed a significant reduction on all outcome measures including FBS, HbA1C, HARS, and HDRS scores (p<0/05). Conclusion. MBSR had a remarkable improvement on emotional wellbeing and glycemic control of patients with type 2 diabetes.
Aldosterone exerts deleterious effects on the cardiovascular system and promotes adipose tissue expansion via mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) activation. We previously demonstrated that ...administration of steroidal mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists (MRA) in mice fed a moderate high-fat diet is able to reduce white adipose tissue (WAT) expansion, stimulate browning of WAT and activate interscapular brown adipose tissue (iBAT). Here, we aimed to compare the metabolic and adipose tissue-specific effects of the novel non-steroidal MRA finerenone (Fine) and spironolactone (Spiro) in a mouse model of very high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity. C57BL/6 J male mice were fed a 60% HFD containing or not Spiro or Fine for 12 weeks. WAT and iBAT morphology and adipose tissue gene expression analysis were assessed. After 12 weeks, both groups of mice showed similar weight gain compared to the HFD group. Histological and molecular analyses of WAT did not show significant differences among all experimental groups; differently, iBAT histological analysis revealed that Fine was able to increase recruitment of brown adipocytes in this depot, whereas mice treated with Spiro failed to elicit any iBAT response, as indicated by no changes in lipid droplets size and iBAT density, compared to HFD. Increased iBAT recruitment could explain, at least in part, the improved insulin resistance observed in mice treated with Fine, as shown by a significant reduction in homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA) index. These findings were confirmed by gene expression analysis of
ucp-1, pgc1-α, and beta-3 adrenoreceptor
(
Adrb3
) in iBAT, revealing significantly higher expression of these thermogenic genes in HFD + Fine group compared to HFD, whereas Spiro did not modify their expression. In summary, we demonstrated that, differently from Fine, Spiro did not induce iBAT recruitment. Our current study suggests that Fine, through its direct effects on iBAT, represents a promising pharmacologic tool to treat human metabolic diseases associated with adipose tissue dysfunctions.
The European Union (EU), within the renewal plan of the Common Fisheries Policy and the Common Market Organization, with the Cape IV of Reg. (EU) n. 1379/2013 have introduced new requirements for the ...labelling of fisheries and aquaculture products. These, as well as providing consumers with more complete information, integrate the provisions of Reg. (EU) n. 1169/2011 and acts as a tool to prevent frauds and illegal fishing. In this work the new seafood labelling provisions were evaluated, starting from the analysis of the art. 35 of the Chapter IV and comparing it with the previous EU dispositions (Reg. (EC) no. 104/2000 and no. 2065/2001). The exclusion of prepared and processed products and aquatic invertebrates from the application of the mandatory seafood labelling provisions and the role of the mass caterer operators with respect to the labelling requirements were identified as the two major shortcomings that still need to be better addressed by the legislator. Overall, what emerged from this work is that, if on the one hand the European legislation on seafood labelling has achieved important goals, evolving and improving itself, on the other it is still controversial and plagued by the same problems as 15 years ago. Therefore, the authors suggest that the regulation is modified at least extending its scope to all products and to at all stages of the fishery logistic chain.
•Governments worldwide are engaged in improving seafood traceability and labelling.•The EU regulatory framework on seafood labelling and traceability has been evaluated.•EU dispositions on seafood labelling show major and minor shortcomings.•EU should legislate the labelling of processed products and aquatic invertebrate.•EU should define how operators ought to provide seafood information at mass caterers.
This paper reviews the current status of soft robots in biomedical field. Soft robots are made of materials that have comparable modulus of elasticity to that of biological systems. Several ...advantages of soft robots over rigid robots are safe human interaction, ease of adaptation with wearable electronics and simpler gripping. We review design factors of soft robots including modeling, controls, actuation, fabrication and application, as well as their limitations and future work. For modeling, we survey kinematic, multibody and numerical finite element methods. Finite element methods are better suited for the analysis of soft robots, since they can accurately model nonlinearities in geometry and materials. However, their real-time integration with controls is challenging. We categorize the controls of soft robots as model-based and model-free. Model-free controllers do not rely on an explicit analytical or numerical model of the soft robot to perform actuation. Actuation is the ability to exert a force using actuators such as shape memory alloys, fluid gels, elastomers and piezoelectrics. Nonlinear geometry and materials of soft robots restrict using conventional rigid body controls. The fabrication techniques used for soft robots differ significantly from that of rigid robots. We survey a wide range of techniques used for fabrication of soft robots from simple molding to more advanced additive manufacturing methods such as 3D printing. We discuss the applications and limitations of biomedical soft robots covering aspects such as functionality, ease of use and cost. The paper concludes with the future discoveries in the emerging field of soft robots.
Background
Weight loss is a milestone in the prevention of chronic diseases associated with high morbility and mortality in industrialized countries. Very-low calorie ketogenic diets (VLCKDs) are ...increasingly used in clinical practice for weight loss and management of obesity-related comorbidities. Despite evidence on the clinical benefits of VLCKDs is rapidly emerging, some concern still exists about their potential risks and their use in the long-term, due to paucity of clinical studies. Notably, there is an important lack of guidelines on this topic, and the use and implementation of VLCKDs occurs vastly in the absence of clear evidence-based indications.
Purpose
We describe here the biochemistry, benefits and risks of VLCKDs, and provide recommendations on the correct use of this therapeutic approach for weight loss and management of metabolic diseases at different stages of life.
Wild boar (Sus scrofa L.) is one of the large mammals most spread worldwide, highly adaptable, and its population rapidly increased in many areas in Europe, including Italy, where Tuscany is ...considered particularly suitable for wild boar. Wild boars are potential hosts for different etiological agents, such as Brucella spp., Leptospira spp. and Pseudorabies virus and they can contribute to maintain and/or to disseminate some bacterial or viral pathogens to humans and domestic animals, above all-in free-range farms. In order to identify hypothetical genomic regions associated with these infection diseases, 96 samples of wild boars hunted in Tuscany during the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 hunting seasons were considered. Diagnosis was achieved by serological tests and 42 Pseudorabies, 31 Leptospira and 15 Brucella positive animals were identified. All animals were genotyped with Geneseek Genomic Profiler Porcine HD (70 k) and a genome-wide scan was then performed. Significant markers were highlighted for Pseudorabies (two SNPs), Brucella (seven SNPs), and Leptospira (four SNPs) and they were located within, or nearby, 29 annotated genes on chromosome 6, 9, 12, 13, 14 and 18. Eight genes are implicated in viral (SEC14L1, JMJD6, SRSF2, TMPRSS2, MX1, MX2) or bacterial (COL8A1, SPIRE1) infections, seven genes (MFSD11, METTL23, CTTNBP2, BACE2, IMPA2, MPPE1 and GNAL) are involved in mental disorders and one gene (MGAT5B) is related to the Golgi complex. Results presented here provide interesting starting points for future research, validation studies and fine mapping of candidate genes involved in bacterial and viral infections in wild boar.
The number of seafood species sold on Western markets is constantly growing and many unconventional species are sold in ethnic food outlets. In this work, 68 ethnic seafood products variously ...processed were collected from the Italian market and a molecular analysis was performed by sequencing a full cytochrome c oxidase (COI) DNA barcode (FDB, ∼655 bp) or a mini COI DNA barcode (MDB, ∼139 bp) using universal primers. Barcodes were then compared with sequences available in BOLD and GenBank. In addition, the label information was assessed according to the European legislation. By using the IDs analysis on BOLD a maximum species identity ≥98% was retrieved for 84% of the sequences. Of these, 67% were unambiguously identified at species level (51.3% of the FDB and 74% of the MDB). Using NCBI BLAST, 74% of the sequences scored a maximum species identity ≥98%, of which 73% were identified at species level (52% of the FDB and 61% of the MDB). Both databases performed better in mollusk identification. Overall, 45 products (66%) were not correctly labeled according to the European requirements. Finally, the comparison between the molecular and the label analysis highlighted that 48.5% of the products presented discrepancies between labeling and molecular identification. In particular, health implications were highlighted for 2 samples labeled as squid but identified as Lagocephalus spp., a poisonous puffer fish species banned from the EU market. The present results confirm DNA barcoding as a reliable tool for protecting consumers' health and economic interests.
•Unconventional seafood species are sold in ethnic food retailers in Western countries.•DNA barcoding is a useful tool for seafood species identification.•Full and mini-DNA barcodes have been used for ethnic seafood identification.•Full and mini-DNA barcodes show high discriminatory ability.•Molecular and labeling analysis highlighted widespread mislabeling.
COVID-19 is still a global challenge in regard for management and therapy. Pulmonary embolism (PE) seems to have a higher prevalence in COVID-19 instead of non-COVID patients. Clinical and laboratory ...parameters related with PE are still unknown.
We conducted a retrospective unicentre study in Alto Vicentino Hospital between March 1st, 2020, and January 31st, 2021 in patients admitted for COVID-19 tested with a RT-PCR nasal swab. Data about patients studied with computed tomography pulmonary angiogram (CTPA) because of PE suspicion were collected, as their clinical and laboratory parameters too.
2621 patients were admitted for COVID-19 in Alto Vicentino Hospital between March 1st, 2020, and January 31st, 2021 and in 267 of them a CTPA was performed finding 50 PE (18.7%). Only non-Caucasian race (OR = 5.44; 95% CI 1.22–24.35; p = 0.027) and previous VTE (OR = 5.3; 95% CI 1.09–26.17; p = 0.039) were found to be independently associated with PE.
PE is a frequent complication of COVID-19 and clinician need high degree of suspicion because clinical and laboratoristic parameters cannot drive diagnosis.
•This study tries to find a correlation between COVID-19 and pulmonary embolism.•COVID-19 infection appears to be most correlated with thromboembolic events.•Unfortunately, clinical and laboratoristic parameters cannot drive diagnosis of pulmonary embolism in COVID-19 patients.
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