Statistical studies of paleosecular variation (PSV) are used to infer the structure and behavior of the geomagnetic field. This study presents a new database, paleosecular variation of the Miocene ...(PSVM), of high‐quality directional data from the Miocene Epoch (5.3–23 Ma), compiled from 1,454 sites from 44 different localities. This database is used to model the latitude dependence of paleosecular variation with varying selection criteria using a quadratic form based on Model G. Our fitted model parameter for latitude‐invariant PSV (Model G a) is 15.6° and the latitude dependent PSV term (Model G b) is 0.23. The latitude invariant term is substantially higher than previously observed for the past 10 Myrs or any other studied ages. We also present a new stochastic model of the time‐average field, BB‐M22, using a covariant giant Gaussian process (GGP) which is constrained using data from PSVM, PINT and Earth‐like geodynamo numerical simulations. BB‐M22 improves the fit to PSVM data relative to prior GGP models, as it reproduces the higher virtual geomagnetic pole (VGP) dispersion observed during the Miocene. Our findings suggest a more variable magnetic field and more active geodynamo in the Miocene Epoch than the past 10 Myrs, perhaps linked to elevated core‐mantle heat flow. Our results suggest that the average axial dipole dominance of the time‐instantaneous field was lower than in more recent times. We note however, that the inclination anomaly estimates, suggest that it cannot be ruled out that the Miocene time averaged field resembles a geocentric axial dipole.
Plain Language Summary
The variability of the Earth's magnetic field is dependent on characteristics of the geodynamo in the Earth's outer core. Changes of the geomagnetic field throughout Earth's history are important to study as they give us insight into the evolution of the interior of our planet. We study the changes of the geomagnetic field using data from volcanic rocks that preserved the geomagnetic field direction from when they were formed. In this study, we gathered all the data from the Miocene period (23–5 million years ago) to see how the geomagnetic field was behaving during that time. The database shows that the geomagnetic field in the Miocene Epoch was more variable than in the past 10 million years. Studies that have produced simulations of the geodynamo suggest that when the outer core undergoes stronger convection, this produces a more variable and complicated geomagnetic field at the Earth's surface. The higher variability of the geomagnetic field in the Miocene therefore suggests more vigorous convection in the outer core at that time.
Key Points
We compiled a new database, paleosecular variation of the Miocene comprising 1,454 paleomagnetic directions from 44 different localities of Miocene volcanics
Virtual geomagnetic pole dispersions indicate a more variable field during the Miocene compared to the last 10 Myrs
The elevated equatorial virtual geomagnetic pole dispersion suggests more vigorous convection in the outer core during this time
Abstract
An association between climatic conditions and asthma incidence has been widely assumed. However, it is unclear whether climatic variations have a fingerprint on asthma dynamics over long ...time intervals. The aim of this study is to detect a possible correlation of the Summer North Atlantic Oscillation (S-NAO) index and the self-calibrated palmer drought severity index (scPDSI) with asthma incidence over the period from 1957 to 2006 in Italy. To this aim, an analysis of non-stationary and non-linear signals was performed on the time series of the Italian databases on respiratory health (ISAYA and GEIRD) including 36,255 individuals overall, S-NAO, and scPDSI indices to search for characteristic periodicities. The ISAYA (Italian Study on Asthma in Young Adults) and GEIRD (Gene Environment Interactions in Respiratory Diseases) studies collected information on respiratory health in general population samples, born between 1925 and 1989 and aged 20–84 years at the time of the interview, from 13 Italian centres. We found that annual asthma total incidence shared the same periodicity throughout the 1957–2006 time interval. Asthma incidence turned out to be correlated with the dynamics of the scPDSI, modulated by the S-NAO, sharing the same averaged 6 year-periodicity. Since climate patterns appear to influence asthma incidence, future studies aimed at elucidating the complex relationships between climate and asthma incidence are warranted.
Disorders in skin wound healing are a major health problem that requires the development of innovative treatments. The use of biomaterials as an alternative of skin replacement has become relevant, ...but its use is still limited due to poor vascularization inside the scaffolds, resulting in insufficient oxygen and growth factors at the wound site. In this study, we have developed a cell-based wound therapy consisting of the application of collagen-based dermal scaffolds containing mesenchymal stem cells from Wharton’s jelly (WJ-MSC) in an immunocompetent mouse model of angiogenesis. From our comparative study on the secretion profile between WJ-MSC and adipose tissue-derived MSC, we found a stronger expression of several well-characterized growth factors, such as VEGF-A, angiopoietin-1 and aFGF, which are directly linked to angiogenesis, in the culture supernatant of WJ-MSC, both on monolayer and 3D culture conditions. WJ-MSC proved to be angiogenic both in vitro and in vivo, through tubule formation and CAM assays, respectively. Moreover, WJ-MSC consistently improved the healing response in vivo in a mouse model of human-like dermal repair, by triggering angiogenesis and further providing a suitable matrix for wound repair, without altering the inflammatory response in the animals. Since these cells can be easily isolated, cultured with high expansion rates and cryopreserved, they represent an attractive stem cell source for their use in allogeneic cell transplant and tissue engineering.
Paleosecular variation analysis is a primary tool for characterizing ancient geomagnetic behavior and its evolution through time. This study presents a new high‐quality directional data set, ...paleosecular variation of the Paleogene (PSVP), with and without correction for serial correlation, compiled from 1,667 sites from 45 different localities from the Paleogene and late Cretaceous (84–23 Ma). The data set is used to study the variability, structure, and latitude dependence of the geomagnetic field during that period by varying selection criteria and PSV models. Modeled values for the equatorial virtual geomagnetic pole (VGP) dispersion have over‐lapping uncertainty intervals within their uncertainty bounds between 8.3° and 18.6° for the past 250 Ma. We investigate the suitability of two descriptive models of PSV, Model G‐style quadratic fits and covariant Giant Gaussian Process models, and find that both styles of model fail to satisfactorily reproduce the latitude dependent morphology of PSV, but suggest that estimates of the equatorial VGP dispersion may still robustly characterize aspects of Earth's long‐term field morphology. During this time where the PSV behavior has not changed substantially, the reversal frequency has varied widely. The lack of a clear relationship between PSV behavior and reversal frequency is not trivially explained in the context of published findings regarding numerical geodynamo simulations.
Plain Language Summary
The geomagnetic field is saved in volcanic rocks, which can be used to study the direction and intensity of this field millions of years later. The magnetic field is formed in the geodynamo in the Earth's outer core. The study of geomagnetic field changes through time gives us information on the changes in the Earth's outer core, lower mantle and inner core. In this study, all the data from the Paleogene and Late Cretaceous were gathered (84–23 million years ago) and studied to see how much the geomagnetic field changed through that time. With this study we now have information on the variability of the field for the entirety of the past 320 million years. We see that during the last 250 million years, the directional variability of the field seems to have varied little, even though the frequency of reversals varied massively. Some numerical simulations of the dynamo process occurring in Earth's core had previously suggested that both of these two things were directly correlated to the magnitude of heat flowing from the outer core to the mantle. Our new results suggest a more complex, nuanced picture.
Key Points
A new data set, paleosecular variation of the Paleogene, comprising 1,667 paleomagnetic directions from 45 different localities of volcanics aged between 84 and 23 Ma
Median equatorial dispersions of virtual geomagnetic poles have overlapping uncertainty bounds since 250 Ma
Large fluctuations in the reversal frequency are not associated with large fluctuations in the inferred median axial dipole dominance
Due to the inflammatory nature of multiple sclerosis (MS), the most widely used therapeutic approach targets the immune response but can comprise side effects (e.g. secondary immunosuppression). For ...these reasons, among non-pharmaceutical interventions without known side effects, physical activity (PA) gained importance because it is feasible, safe and a supportive complementary treatment strategy to alleviate symptoms in MS subjects. Consequently, the main aim of this systematic review is to analyze the effect of PA protocols, as a complementary therapy, on inflammatory status in MS patients.
Four electronic databases (PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, and Cochrane CENTRAL) were systematically searched up to 01 June 2023 (Prospero Protocol ID=CRD42021244418). The refined search strategy was based on three concepts: “MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS” AND “PHYSICAL ACTIVITY” AND “INFLAMMATION”.
three main findings emerged: 1) untrained subjects showed a negative modulation of inflammatory biomarkers concentrations when compared to trained people (−0.74, 95 %C.I.–1.16, −0.32); 2) training modulated positively inflammatory biomarkers (+0.47, 95 %C.I. 0.24,0.71); 3) Aerobic PA protocol enhance higher positive influence on inflammation.
Persistent, low-grade inflammation in MS could be upregulated by non-pharmacological complementary therapies, in particular by regular aerobic PA that could reduce and positively modulate inflammation.
•PA could be a useful and reliable complementary therapy in MS.•PA could positively upregulate persistent, low-grade inflammation in MS.•Aerobic PA protocol enhance higher positive influence on inflammation.
Cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) is an ion transporter that regulates mucus hydration, viscosity and acidity of the airway epithelial surface. Genetic defects in
impair ...regulation of mucus homeostasis, causing severe defects of mucociliary clearance as seen in cystic fibrosis. Recent work has established that CFTR dysfunction can be acquired in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and may also contribute to other diseases that share clinical features of cystic fibrosis, such as asthma, allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis and bronchiectasis. Protean causes of CFTR dysfunction have been identified including cigarette smoke exposure, toxic metals and downstream effects of neutrophil activation pathways. Recently, CFTR modulators, small molecule agents that potentiate CFTR or restore diminished protein levels at the cell surface, have been successfully developed for various
gene defects, prompting interest in their use to treat diseases of acquired dysfunction. The spectrum of CFTR dysfunction, strategies for CFTR modulation, and candidate diseases for CFTR modulation beyond cystic fibrosis will be reviewed in this manuscript.
Maintaining the identity of Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) is critical for controlling immune responses in the gut, where an imbalance between Tregs and T effector cells has been linked to ...inflammatory bowel disease. Accumulating evidence suggests that Tregs can convert into Th17 cells and acquire an inflammatory phenotype. In this study, we used an adoptive transfer model of Ag-specific T cells to study the contribution of different factors to the reprogramming of in vitro-generated Treg cells (iTreg) into IL-17-producing cells in a mouse model of gut inflammation in vivo. Our results show that intestinal inflammation induces the reprogramming of iTreg cells into IL-17-producing cells and that vitamin A restrains reprogramming in the gut. We also demonstrate that the presence of IL-2 during the in vitro generation of iTreg cells confers resistance to Th17 conversion but that IL-2 and retinoic acid (RA) cooperate to maintain Foxp3 expression following stimulation under Th17-polarizing conditions. Additionally, although IL-2 and RA differentially regulate the expression of different Treg cell suppressive markers, Treg cells generated under different polarizing conditions present similar suppressive capacity.
Amelanotic/hypomelanotic melanoma (AHM) may be difficult to diagnose because of a lack of pigmentation. To evaluate whether dermoscopy can be useful for the diagnosis of early AHM, 133 digital ...dermoscopic images of lesions histopathologically diagnosed as amelanotic/hypomelanotic superficial spreading melanoma with ≤1 mm thickness (AHSSMs) (n = 27), amelanotic/hypomelanotic non‐melanocytic lesions (AHNMLs) (e.g., seborrhoeic keratosis and basal cell carcinoma) (n = 79), and amelanotic/hypomelanotic benign melanocytic lesions (AHBMLs) (e.g., compound and dermal nevi) (n = 27), were dermoscopically assessed by three blinded dermatologists. Using multivariate analysis, we found a significantly increased risk of diagnosing AHSSM versus AHNML and AHBML when the lesion was characterized by the presence of more than one shade of pink (odds ratio OR 37.11), irregular dots/globules (OR 23.73), asymmetric pigmentation (OR 8.85), and structureless pattern (OR 7.33). In conclusion, dermoscopy may improve early AHM detection, discriminating AHSSM from amelanotic/hypomelanotic non melanoma lesions.
Olfactory systems for medical applications D’Amico, A.; Di Natale, C.; Paolesse, R. ...
Sensors and actuators. B, Chemical,
03/2008, Letnik:
130, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Prevention strategy is nowadays the main way in the complex issue of medical diagnosis. In this wake, performing non-invasive medical tests oriented to an early diagnosis is one of the challenges for ...the promotion of new classes of instruments and for a faster intervention on the patient.
Clinical chemistry is the starting point of this challenge due to the fact that its scope is the quantification of specific compounds found in urine and blood, known to be related to specific pathologies.
This paper will deal with an overview of the electronic nose (EN) applications in medicine and in particular with recent data related to the following pathologies: lung cancer, schizophrenia, melanoma.
The design of an appropriate measurement protocol for each of the above mentioned applications is a crucial point of these studies, in order to guarantee the representativeness of the measured samples and the reproducibility of the experiments.
The efforts spent so far have produced many stimulant and promising results together with fundamental questions about the real potentialities of this technology in medical fields and about the physiological mechanism involved in the modification of the chemical compounds related to the studied diseases. Results, related to the above-mentioned pathologies, related to the EN application will be illustrated and commented.
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