In questo volume è ricostruito il carteggio di Giuseppe De Blasiis (1832-1914), primo professore di Storia dell’ateneo napoletano. Protagonista della storiografia ottocentesca italiana, a lui si deve ...l’assetto scientifico della Società Napoletana di Storia Patria, di cui fu socio fondatore e in seguito presidente. I suoi studi sul Medioevo, senza tralasciare l’Età moderna, e soprattutto la sua vasta conoscenza delle fonti documentarie e bibliografiche napoletane, lo resero interlocutore privilegiato per chiunque volesse accostarsi alla storia del Mezzogiorno continentale.
La Società Napoletana di Storia Patria fu creata nel 1875 per volontà di alcuni politici e studiosi napoletani, mutuando la sua struttura dalle società storiche già sorte. Come gli altri istituti ...italiani, anche il sodalizio napoletano ebbe come primari interessi l’edizione di fonti, la difesa della propria autonomia, il tentativo di conciliare piccola e grande patria. Lo scopo era duplice: rafforzare il legame tra la popolazione e la dinastia sabauda ed evidenziare, tramite le memorie locali, il contributo dato al processo di nation building. Attraverso la ricostruzione biografica di alcuni membri della società storica napoletana, si comprende bene che nulla di ciò che accadeva in città era lontano dall’istituto: dal controllo dell’istruzione pubblica alla tutela dei monumenti, all’amministrazione degli enti di beneficenza. Pur essendoci già prestigiosi cenacoli culturali, la società storica seppe creare infatti un’ampia rete di rapporti, grazie anche al numero aperto delle iscrizioni e a una quota associativa tutto sommato accessibile. Le vicende di questo istituto, qui ricostruite dall’anno di fondazione al 1946 attraverso fonti documentarie inedite e una ricca bibliografia, si rivelano pertanto utili per chi voglia conoscere da vicino le dinamiche culturali del Mezzogiorno continentale all’indomani dell’Unità.
Nearly 10 years ago, the World Health Organization reported the increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity worldwide as a challenge for public health due to the associated adverse consequences. ...Epidemiological studies established a firm relationship between an elevated body mass index and chronic conditions such as diabetes, dyslipidemia, hypertension, heart disease, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and some types of cancer. Omic studies demonstrated that microRNA (miRNA) profile changes in tissues correlate with a number of diseases, including obesity. Recent studies showed a remarkable stability of miRNAs also in blood, emphasizing their potential as theranostic agents for a variety of disorders and conditions. A number of miRNAs enriched in homeostasis of obesity and metabolic disorders have been characterized in previous researches.
This work was finalized to investigate the differential circulating miRNAs signature in early childhood obesity. Our cross-sectional study analyzed the signature of circulating miRNAs in plasma samples of normal weight (
= 159) and overweight/obese (
= 149) children and adolescents participating to the I.Family study, an EC-funded study finalized to investigate the etiology of overweight, obesity and related disorders and the determinants of food choice, lifestyle, and related health outcomes in children and adolescents of eight European countries (www.ifamilystudy.eu).
Differences in miRNA signature with respect to anthropometric and biochemical variables were analyzed. A high degree of variability in levels of circulating miRNAs was identified among children from different countries, in line with recent reports supporting the hypothesis that these molecules are likewise affected by environmental and lifestyle factors. A panel of miRNAs differentially expressed in overweight/low-grade obesity children was characterized (miR-551a and miR-501-5p resulted upregulated; miR-10b-5p, miR-191-3p, miR-215-5p, and miR-874-3p resulted downregulated). ROC curves were also constructed for experimentally confirmed miRNAs. Single miRNAs generally exhibited low AUC values with the highest values for miR-874-3p and miR-501-5p which in combination provided an interesting value (AUC = 0.782). Pearson's analysis confirmed that miR-10b-5p, miR-215-5p, miR-501-5p, miR-551a, and miR-874-3p significantly correlated with BMI
-score. Molecular interactions of obesity-associated miRNAs were also predicted by bioinformatics tools.
Our work showed that several circulating miRNAs are differentially represented in overweight/low-grade obesity children and adolescents. Although causal pathways cannot be firmly inferred, it is conceivable that circulating miRNAs may be new biomarkers of early childhood obesity.
ISRCTN, ISRCTN62310987. Registered 23/02/2018 - Retrospectively registered.
Tritordeum is an amphiploides species resulting from the hybridization between durum wheat (
) and wild barley (
). This new cereal is considered a natural crop as it is obtained by traditional ...breeding techniques. Given its appreciable organoleptic characteristics, agronomic features, presence of interesting components, and good technological properties, Tritordeum is of promising interest for the development of health-oriented foods. In this study, we evaluated two registered Tritordeum cultivars, Bulel and Aucan.
(Provenzal) was employed as the positive control. The extracted proteins were digested by gastric/pancreatic proteases, and their biological effects on Caco-2 differentiated on transwell inserts were determined. Changes in cell viability, monolayer permeability, organization of F-actin microfilaments, and ER stress triggered by protein-digested samples (DPs) were inspected. Our results showed that exposure to Provenzal-DPs promptly disrupted the tight junction barrier. Conversely, Aucan-DPs did not enhance monolayer permeability, whereas Bulel-DPs exerted only slight effects. Provental-DPs-induced toxicity was also confirmed by changes in cell viability and by the deep reorganization of the enterocyte cytoskeleton. In contrast, Aucan-DPs and Bulel-DPs did not affect monolayer viability and cytoskeleton structure. Overall, our findings suggest that both Tritordeum cultivars could be potential candidates for mitigating the toxicity of wheat flour.
Increasing data suggest that overnutrition-induced obesity may trigger an inflammatory process in adipose tissue and upturn in the innate immune system. Numerous players have been involved in ...governing the inflammatory response, including epigenetics. Among epigenetic players, miRNAs are emerging as crucial regulators of immune cell development, immune responses, autoimmunity, and inflammation. In this study, we aimed at identifying the involvement of candidate miRNAs in relation to inflammation-associated biomarkers in a subsample of European children with overweight and obesity participating in the I.Family study. The study sample included individuals with increased adiposity since this condition contributes to the early occurrence of chronic low-grade inflammation. We focused on the acute-phase reagent C-reactive protein (CRP) as the primary outcome and selected cytokines as plausible biomarkers of inflammation. We found that chronic low-grade CRP elevation shows a highly significant association with miR-26b-3p and hsa-miR-576-5p in boys. Furthermore, the association of CRP with hsa-miR-10b-5p and hsa-miR-31-5p is highly significant in girls. We also observed major sex-related associations of candidate miRNAs with selected cytokines. Except for IL-6, a significant association of hsa-miR-26b-3p and hsa-miR-576-5p with TNF-α, IL1-Ra, IL-8, and IL-15 levels was found exclusively in boys. The findings of this exploratory study suggest sex differences in the association of circulating miRNAs with inflammatory response biomarkers, and indicate a possible role of miRNAs among the candidate epigenetic mechanisms related to the process of low-grade inflammation in childhood obesity.
Recent studies have shown an inverse association between the level of dietary Ca, particularly from dairy sources, and body weight in adults; there is, however, a paucity of data regarding this ...relationship in children. We therefore investigated this issue in 1087 children who underwent body weight and height measurement during a survey on childhood obesity. Lifestyle and dietary habits were investigated by a questionnaire. After excluding children who were following a dietary regimen for any reason, 884 children (M:F 451:433; age 7.5 (sd 2.1) years) were selected. Milk consumption was pooled into four frequency categories: poor (less than or equal to 1/week; n 125), moderate (>1 but less than or equal to 5-6/week; n 133), regular (1/d; n 408) and high (greater than or equal to 2/d; n 218). The frequency of consumption of milk was inversely and significantly associated (t=-2.964, P=0.003) with age- and sex-specific BMI z-scores by linear regression analysis, controlling for sex, age, physical activity, birth weight and parental overweight and education. The statistical association remained significant (t=-2.831, P=0.005) after the inclusion of children consuming only skimmed milk (n 91). Milk consumption was still significantly and inversely associated with BMI z score (t=-2.791, P=0.005) in the whole-milk consumers when controlling for age and the frequency of consumption of various foods; this association was no longer significant (P=0.21) when children consuming skimmed milk were included in the analysis. This is the first report showing a significant inverse association between frequency of milk consumption and body mass in children. Regardless of the mechanisms involved, our results might encourage further research on this issue and might have important implications for the prevention of obesity.
Giuseppe De Blasiis (1832-1914), a patriot and professor of "National History" at the University of Naples, distinguished himself in the search for documents about Southern Italy in the medieval and ...modern ages in order to find evidences of the Italian unification process according to a Romantic and Risorgimental idea.
This volume contains the correspondence of Giuseppe De Blasiis (1832-1914), the first History professor of the Neapolitan University. In his leading role as a 19th century Italian Historiographer, he ...was responsible for the scientific structure of the Neapolitan Society of National History, of which he was a founding member and later president. His studies on Medieval History, without forgetting those he carried out on the modern age, as well as his vast knowledge of the documentary and bibliographical sources from Naples, made him a privileged spokesman for anyone who wanted to approach the history of southern continental Italy.
The aldosterone synthase gene (CYP1B2) locus is a candidate region involved in the development of hypertension.
To study the relationship between the C-344T CYP1B2 polymorphism, plasma aldosterone, ...renin activity and blood pressure in a multi-ethnic population.
Population-based, cross-sectional study of 1313 middle-aged men and women (456 white, 441 of African origin and 416 South Asian). Anthropometry, blood pressure, biochemistry, questionnaire data and timed urine collections were taken with standardized techniques. All were genotyped for the C-344T CYP11B2 polymorphism.
The frequency of the C allele was significantly lower in people of African origin (0.21) than in white (0.46) and South Asian (0.43) (P < 0.001). After adjustment for age, sex and ethnicity the TT genotype was associated with 14% higher plasma aldosterone levels, 3.7 mmHg higher systolic and 2.1 mmHg higher diastolic blood pressure than CC (P for linear trend < 0.05). No significant interactions with age, sex, ethnicity, body mass index (BMI) and fractional excretion of sodium were found in the associations between genotype and both blood pressure and aldosterone levels. In a sub-sample of participants in which plasma renin activity was measured (n = 457), a significant excess of T alleles was found in those with a raised (>/= 750) aldosterone-to-renin ratio (ARR).
In this multi-ethnic population, the C-344T CYP1B2 polymorphism is associated with blood pressure, plasma aldosterone levels and ARR. Although significant differences in allele frequencies were found between groups, ethnicity does not explain the results.
The Neapolitan Society of Homeland History was created in 1875 through the will of some Neapolitan politicians and scholars, who borrowed its structure from previously established historical ...societies. Like the other Italian institutions, the Neapolitan association was also primarily interested in the publication of sources, the defense of autonomy, and the attempt to reconcile the smaller and the larger nation. The objective was twofold: to reinforce the ties between the local people and the Savoy dynasty, and to underline, through historical memory, the local contribution made to the process of nation building. Through the biographical reconstruction of some members of the Neapolitan historical society, it is well understood that nothing that happened in the city took place far from the institution; from the control of public instruction to the protection of monuments, to the administration of charity organizations. Although there were already some prestigious cultural associations, the historical society knew how to create a wide network of relationships, thanks to the policy of open membership and a fairly accessible membership fee. The events which took place at this institution, reconstructed here from its founding to 1946, through previously unpublished documentary sources and a full bibliography, are thus useful for those who wish to learn about the cultural dynamics of southern continental Italy and the period following the Unification.
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