Climate change scenarios and the need of sustainable tools to reduce global warming impact on agriculture have led to the formulation of a large number of natural products or biostimulants that ...should increase plant resilience to abiotic stress.
Ascophyllum nodosum
(AN) extract is one of the most studied biostimulants to increase tolerance to drought stress, but the physiological mechanism underlying its action is still poorly understood. The aim of the present work was to determine AN extract impact on grapevine gas exchange under well-watered and water stress conditions and to examine its mode of action under stress (light and temperature). AN caused a slight increase in stomatal conductance that resulted in an increase of water plant conductivity to atmosphere. Increased transpiration induced by AN improved leaf thermoregulation, facilitating vine recovery after a stress period. AN increased transpiration through a reduction of stomatal sensitivity to VPD. AN action on stomata regulation indicated that this biostimulant could be a new potential tool to limit leaf damage during events of extreme temperature, even when they are not combined with water stress conditions.
The measures taken to contain the spread of COVID-19 in 2020 included restrictions of people's mobility and reductions in economic activities. These drastic changes in daily life, enforced through ...national lockdowns, led to abrupt reductions of anthropogenic CO2 emissions in urbanized areas all over the world. To examine the effect of social restrictions on local emissions of CO2, we analysed district level CO2 fluxes measured by the eddy-covariance technique from 13 stations in 11 European cities. The data span several years before the pandemic until October 2020 (six months after the pandemic began in Europe). All sites showed a reduction in CO2 emissions during the national lockdowns. The magnitude of these reductions varies in time and space, from city to city as well as between different areas of the same city. We found that, during the first lockdowns, urban CO2 emissions were cut with respect to the same period in previous years by 5% to 87% across the analysed districts, mainly as a result of limitations on mobility. However, as the restrictions were lifted in the following months, emissions quickly rebounded to their pre-COVID levels in the majority of sites.
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•Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, people's activities drastically changed due to mobility restrictions.•This affected urban CO2 emissions and we wanted to quantify its impact during the lockdown and in the following months.•We analysed eddy covariance measurements of urban CO2 fluxes over the lockdown in thirteen European city districts.•Data provided the measured evidence of a consistent reduction of CO2 emissions, proportional to the stringency of restrictions.•The reduction was temporary in most of the city districts, as emissions rebounded to usual levels once restrictions were eased.
The phosphoinositide 3-OH kinase (PI3K)-PKB/Akt signaling pathway has been shown to mediate both Ras- and cytokine-induced protection from apoptosis. In addition, apoptosis induced by the p53 tumor ...suppressor protein can be inhibited by Ras- and cytokine-mediated signaling pathways. It was therefore of interest to determine if the PI3K-PKB/Akt signaling pathway was capable of conferring protection from apoptosis induced by p53. We demonstrate in this report that constitutively active PI3K and PKB/Akt are capable of significantly delaying the onset of p53-mediated apoptosis. This was manifested as a delay in the kinetics of DNA degradation and cell death as well as a profound attenuation in the accumulation of cells with a sub-G1 DNA content. Moreover, we found that this effect is mediated in the absence of changes in expression of Bcl-2, Bcl-Xl, and the pro-apoptotic protein Bax. Our results provide the first direct and unambiguous link between p53-mediated apoptosis and the PI3K-PKB/Akt signaling pathway.
Decreases in 30-day readmissions following the implementation of the Medicare Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP) have occurred against the backdrop of increasing hospital observation stay ...use, yet observation stays are not captured in readmission measures.
To examine whether the HRRP was associated with decreases in 30-day readmissions after accounting for observation stays.
This retrospective cohort study included a 20% sample of inpatient admissions and observation stays among Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries from January 1, 2009, to December 31, 2015. Data analysis was performed from November 2021 to June 2022. A differences-in-differences analysis assessed changes in 30-day readmissions after the announcement of the HRRP and implementation of penalties for target conditions (heart failure, acute myocardial infarction, and pneumonia) vs nontarget conditions under scenarios that excluded and included observation stays.
Thirty-day inpatient admissions and observation stays.
The study included 8 944 295 hospitalizations (mean SD age, 78.7 8.2 years; 58.6% were female; 1.3% Asian; 10.0% Black; 2.0% Hispanic; 0.5% North American Native; 85.0% White; and 1.2% other or unknown). Observation stays increased from 2.3% to 4.4% (91.3% relative increase) of index hospitalizations among target conditions and 14.1% to 21.3% (51.1% relative increase) of index hospitalizations for nontarget conditions. Readmission rates decreased significantly after the announcement of the HRRP and returned to baseline by the time penalties were implemented for both target and nontarget conditions regardless of whether observation stays were included. When only inpatient hospitalizations were counted, decreasing readmissions accrued into a -1.48 percentage point (95% CI, -1.65 to -1.31 percentage points) absolute reduction in readmission rates by the postpenalty period for target conditions and -1.13 percentage point (95% CI, -1.30 to -0.96 percentage points) absolute reduction in readmission rates by the postpenalty period for nontarget conditions. This reduction corresponded to a statistically significant differential change of -0.35 percentage points (95% CI, -0.59 to -0.11 percentage points). Accounting for observation stays more than halved the absolute decrease in readmission rates for target conditions (-0.66 percentage points; 95% CI, -0.83 to -0.49 percentage points). Nontarget conditions showed an overall greater decrease during the same period (-0.76 percentage points; 95% CI, -0.92 to -0.59 percentage points), corresponding to a differential change in readmission rates of 0.10 percentage points (95% CI, -0.14 to 0.33 percentage points) that was not statistically significant.
The findings of this study suggest that the reduction of readmissions associated with the implementation of the HRRP was smaller than originally reported. More than half of the decrease in readmissions for target conditions appears to be attributable to the reclassification of inpatient admission to observation stays.
Impaired endothelial function and arterial stiffness are associated with hypertension and are important risk factors for cardiovascular events. Reactive oxygen species reduce nitric oxide ...bioavailability and have a pivotal role in endothelial function. Resistant hypertension (RHTN) is characterized by blood pressure (BP) above goal (140/90mmHg) in spite of the concurrent use of ≥3 antihypertensive drugs of different classes. This study evaluated the association between 8-isoprostane levels, an oxidative stress marker, endothelial function and arterial stiffness, in RHTN.
Ninety-four RHTN and 55 well-controlled hypertensive (HT) patients were included. Plasma 8-isoprostane levels were determined by ELISA. Also, flow-mediated dilation (FMD) and pulse wave velocity (PWV) were evaluated to determine endothelial function and arterial stiffness, respectively.
Levels of 8-isoprostane were markedly higher in RHTN compared to HT patients (22.5±11.2 vs. 17.3±9.8pg/ml, p<0.05, respectively). A significant inverse correlation was observed between FMD and 8-isoprostane (r=−0.35, p=0.001) in RHTN. Finally, multiple logistic regression revealed that 8-isoprostane was a significant predictor of endothelial dysfunction (FMD≤median) in RHTN group.
RHTN showed markedly higher oxidative stress measured by 8-isoprostane, compared to HT patients. Taken together, our findings suggest the involvement of oxidative stress in endothelial function in RHTN.
•Oxidative stress has a pivotal role in endothelial function and systemic vasodilation.•Impaired endothelial function and arterial stiffness are associated with resistant hypertension.•Plasma 8-isoprostane levels were higher in resistant hypertension compared to well-controlled hypertensive patients.•The oxidative stress marker 8-isoprostane was predictor of endothelial dysfunction in resistant hypertension.
Abstract Objective Repeated exposure to carboplatin can lead to hypersensitivity reactions during retreatment with carboplatin. This may prevent its further use in platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer ...patients. At our institution, an increasing proportion of patients are prophylactically converted to an extended schedule of infusion after 8 cycles of carboplatin. We sought to determine whether an incrementally increasing, extended 3-hour infusion of carboplatin with appropriate premedication was associated with a lower rate of hypersensitivity reactions compared to the standard 30-minute schedule in sequentially treated patients. Methods We performed a retrospective electronic medical record review of patients with recurrent ovarian cancer retreated with carboplatin at our institution from January 1998 to December 2008. Results Seven hundred and seventy-seven patients with relapsed ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer were retreated with carboplatin and met study inclusion criteria. Of these, 117 (17%) developed hypersensitivity reactions during second-line or greater carboplatin-based treatment for recurrent disease. Only 6 (3.4%) of the 174 patients who received the extended schedule developed hypersensitivity reactions (0% grade 4; 50% grade 3) compared to 111 (21%) of 533 patients in the standard schedule group (13% grade 4; 77% grade 3). The first hypersensitivity episode occurred after a median of 16 platinum (carboplatin and cisplatin) treatments in the extended group compared to 9 in the standard group. Using the Fisher exact test, there was an association with a reduced incidence of hypersensitivity reactions with the extended infusion schedule ( P < 0.001). Conclusion Our data suggest appropriate premedication and prophylactic conversion to an extended infusion during carboplatin retreatment may reduce hypersensitivity reactions.
Anderson-Fabry disease is an X-linked lysosomal storage disorder resulting from the deficiency of the hydrolytic enzyme alpha galactosidase A, with consequent accumulation of globotrioasoyl ceramide ...in cells and tissues of the body, resulting in a multi-system pathology including end organ failure. In the classical phenotype, cardiac failure, renal failure and stroke result in a reduced median life expectancy. The current causal treatment for Fabry disease is the enzyme replacement therapy (ERT): two different products, Replagal (agalsidase alfa) and Fabrazyme (agalsidase beta), have been commercially available in Europe for almost 10years and they are both indicated for long-term treatment. In fact, clinical trials, observational studies and registry data have provided many evidences for safety and efficacy of ERT in improving symptoms of pain, gastrointestinal disturbances, hypohidrosis, left ventricular mass index, glomerular filtration rate and quality of life. Few data are available on comparison of the two treatments and on the clinical course of the disease. This article reviews the published evidence for clinical efficacy of the two available enzyme preparations.
► Anderson-Fabry disease is an X-linked lysosomal storage disorder resulting from the deficiency of the hydrolytic enzyme alpha galactosidase A. ► The current causal treatment for Fabry disease is the enzyme replacement therapy with two different products, Replagal (agalsidase alfa) and Fabrazyme (agalsidase beta) that have been commercially available in Europe for almost 10years. ► This article reviews the published evidence of the clinical efficacy of the two available enzyme preparations. ► This review also focuses on the novel treatments and therapeutic options that are currenty available in patients with Anderson-Fabry disease.
Resistant hypertension (RHTN) is a multifactorial and polygenic disease, frequently associated with obesity. Low plasma adiponectin levels, a hormone produced by the adipose tissue, were associated ...with RHTN. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) ‐11377C/G (rs266729) and +276G/T (rs1501299) in ADIPOQ (adiponectin gene) were associated with hypertension. This study evaluated the association between two SNPs (‐11377C/G and +276G/T) and adiponectin levels in RHTN. This study comprised 109 patients with RHTN genotyped for both polymorphisms. A cross‐sectional study was designed to compare features of CC homozygous versus G allele carriers for ‐11377C/G and GG homozygous versus T allele carriers for +276G/T. Office and ambulatory BP measurements were similar among genotypes subgroups in both SNPs as well as the markers of target organ damage (arterial stiffness, left ventricular mass index and microalbuminuria). Adiponectin concentrations were significantly higher in CC compared to G carrier for ‐11377C/G (CC:7.0 (4.0–10.2) versus G allele:5.5 (2.5–7.9), p = 0.04) and lower in GG compared to T carrier for +276G/T (GG:5.3 (2.3–7.7) versus T allele:7.1 (3.6–10.5), p = 0.04). Adjusting for systolic ambulatory BP, body mass index, age, gender, race and presence of type 2 diabetes, multiple linear regression analyses revealed that the minor alleles G (β‐coefficient= ‐0.14, SE=0.07, p = 0.03) and T (β‐coefficient=0.12, SE=0.06, p = 0.04) were independent predictors of adiponectin. The ‐11377C/G and +276G/T SNPs in ADIPOQ were associated with adiponectin levels in RHTN individuals.
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