Adipose Tissue Dysfunction and Obesity-Related Male Hypogonadism

Obesity is a chronic illness associated with several metabolic derangements and comorbidities (i.e., insulin resistance, leptin resistance, diabetes, etc.) and often leads to impaired testicular function and male subfertility. Several mechanisms may indeed negatively affect the hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal health, such as higher testosterone conversion to estradiol by aromatase activity in the adipose tissue, increased ROS production, and the release of several endocrine molecules affecting the hypothalamus–pituitary–testis axis by both direct and indirect mechanisms. In addition, androgen deficiency could further accelerate adipose tissue expansion and therefore exacerbate obesity, which in turn enhances hypogonadism, thus inducing a vicious cycle. Based on these considerations, we propose an overview on the relationship of adipose tissue dysfunction and male hypogonadism, highlighting the main biological pathways involved and the current therapeutic options to counteract this condition.     

Training,research, and technical assistance to improve the water resources management in Southern Italy — The experience of CSEI Catania

Water resources management may be improved through the activities of organizations devoted to practice-oriented research, continuing education, and technical assistance. The experience carried out in southern Italy by CSEI Catania during 13 years of activity is presented. Two main activities are discussed: the research and training program on regional pollution control plans and the development of a water data bank.     

Morphological and Biological Evaluations of Human Periodontal Ligament Fibroblasts in Contact with Different Bovine Bone Grafts Treated with Low-Temperature Deproteinisation Protocol

Several types of deproteinised bovine bone mineral (DBBM) are available on the market, and each one is obtained with a thermic and chemical process that can differ, achieving different results. Currently, several protocols using low temperature are suggested to reduce the possible particle crystallisation during the production process. This study aimed to evaluate the biomorphological reaction of periodontal fibroblast cultures in contact with different DBBM particles treated with a low-temperature protocol (Thermagen^®) and without exposure to sodium hydroxide (NaOH). Morphological evaluation was performed using light, confocal laser, and scanning electron microscopy, and the biological reaction in terms of proliferation was performed using an XTT proliferation assay at 24 h (T1), 72 h (T2), and 7 days (T3). The morphological analysis highlighted how the presence of the materials stimulated a change in the morphology of the cells into a polygonal shape, surface reactions with the thickening of the membrane, and expression of actin. In particular, the morphological changes were appreciable from T1, with a progressive increase in the considered morphological characteristics at T2 and T3 follow-ups. The proliferation assay showed a statistical significance between the different experimental materials and the negative control in T2 and T3 follow-ups. The post hoc analysis did not reveal any differences between the materials. In conclusion, the grafts obtained with the low-temperature extractions protocol and not exposed to NaOH solution showed positive morphological reactions with no differences in the sizes of particles.     

Challenges in Metabolomics-Based Tests,Biomarkers Revealed by Metabolomic Analysis,and the Promise of the Application of Metabolomics in Precision Medicine

Metabolomics helps identify metabolites to characterize/refine perturbations of biological pathways in living organisms. Pre-analytical, analytical, and post-analytical limitations that have hampered a wide implementation of metabolomics have been addressed. Several potential biomarkers originating from current targeted metabolomics-based approaches have been discovered. Precision medicine argues for algorithms to classify individuals based on susceptibility to disease, and/or by response to specific treatments. It also argues for a prevention-based health system. Because of its ability to explore gene–environment interactions, metabolomics is expected to be critical to personalize diagnosis and treatment. Stringent guidelines have been applied from the very beginning to design studies to acquire the information currently employed in precision medicine and precision prevention approaches. Large, prospective, expensive and time-consuming studies are now mandatory to validate old, and discover new, metabolomics-based biomarkers with high chances of translation into precision medicine. Metabolites from studies on saliva, sweat, breath, semen, feces, amniotic, cerebrospinal, and broncho-alveolar fluid are predicted to be needed to refine information from plasma and serum metabolome. In addition, a multi-omics data analysis system is predicted to be needed for omics-based precision medicine approaches. Omics-based approaches for the progress of precision medicine and prevention are expected to raise ethical issues.     

Artistic edge and corner enhancing smoothing.

Two important visual properties of paintings and painting-like images are the absence of texture details and the increased sharpness of edges as compared to photographic images. Painting-like artistic effects can be achieved from photographic images by filters that smooth out texture details, while preserving or enhancing edges and corners. However, not all edge preserving smoothers are suitable for this purpose. We present a simple nonlinear local operator that generalizes both the well known Kuwahara filter and the more general class of filters known in the literature as "criterion and value filter structure." This class of operators suffers from intrinsic theoretical limitations which give rise to a dramatic instability in presence of noise, especially on shadowed areas. Such limitations are discussed in the paper and overcome by the proposed operator. A large variety of experimental results shows that the output of the proposed operator is visually similar to a painting. Comparisons with existing techniques on a large set of natural images highlight conditions on which traditional edge preserving smoothers fail, whereas our approach produces good results. In particular, unlike many other well established approaches, the proposed operator is robust to degradations of the input image such as blurring and noise contamination.     

Subspace identification analysis of RFX and T2R reversed-field pinches

Input–output datasets from two magnetic confinement fusion (MCF) experiments of the reversed-field pinch (RFP) type are examined. The RFP datasets, which are samples of the distributed magnetic field dynamics, are naturally divided into many smaller batches due to the pulsed-plasma operation of the experiments. The two RFP experiments considered are (i) EXTRAP T2R (T2R) with 64 inputs and 64 outputs and (ii) RFX-mod (RFX) with 192 inputs and 192 outputs. Both T2R and RFX are magnetohydrodynamically unstable and operates under magnetic feedback with optional dither injection. Using subspace system identification techniques and randomised cross-validation (CV) methods to minimise the generalisation error, state-space orders of the empirical systems are suggested. These system orders are compared to “stabilisation diagrams” commonly used in experimental modal analysis practice. The relation of the CV system order to the decay of the singular values from the subspace method is observed. Both (i) stable vacuum diffusion and (ii) unstable plasma response datasets are analysed. Apparent simulation and prediction errors are quantified for both cases using a deviation-accounted-for index. These results are purely data-driven. A simple approach towards exploitation of the subspace techniques for finite-element model refinement and data confrontation is presented.     

A spatial relation-based framework to perform visual information extraction

The Spatial Relation Query (SRQ) tool is a graphical software environment, supported by a SQL-like language, which enables users to perform information extraction driven by the visual appearance and the spatial arrangement of the information. The tool has been initially customised to work on specific application domains, like web pages and geospatial data. In this paper, we present the theoretical formalisation of the visual information extraction (VIE) task and accordingly the redesign of the SRQ tool, which is now a full-featured, general-purpose information extraction system. Moreover, we show a new application of the VIE framework to the analysis and visual information extraction from PDF files.     

Determination of pyrethroids in chicken egg samples: development and validation of a confirmatory analytical method by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry

The aim of this study was to develop and validate an efficient analytical method based on gas chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (GC/MS/MS) for detection and quantification of six pyrethroids residues (Phenothrin, Permethrin, Cyfluthrin, Cypermethrin, Deltamethrin and Fenvalerate) in chicken eggs. The method was based on a preliminary liquid–liquid extraction of albumen‐free yolk samples, followed by a clean‐up by solid‐phase extraction. GC/MS/MS analyses were carried out in the selected reaction monitoring mode. Validation parameters such as specificity, detection capability, decision limit, precision, recovery, stability and ruggedness were determined, resulting in compliance with Decision 2002/657/EC. No complicated apparatus are required; moreover, low volumes of organic solvents and a nonintensive manual labour are required. These low costs and simple procedure, based on rapid and safe operations, may represent a useful tool in the routine analysis of pyrethroids pesticides, in the place of the currently used conventional techniques.     

Structural Refinement and Photoluminescence Properties of MnWO4 Nanorods Obtained by Microwave-Hydrothermal Synthesis

Manganese tungstate (MnWO₄) nanorods were prepared at room temperature by the co-precipitation method and synthesized after processing in a microwave-hydrothermal (MH) system at 140 °C for 6–96 min. These nanorods were structurally characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Rietveld refinements and Fourier transform (FT)-Raman spectroscopy. The growth direction, shape and average size distribution of nanorods were observed by means of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high resolution TEM (HR-TEM). The optical properties of the nanorods were investigated by ultraviolet visible (UV-vis) absorption and photoluminescence (PL) measurements. XRD patterns, Rietveld refinement data and FT-Raman spectroscopy indicate that the MnWO₄ precipitate is not a single phase structure while the nanorods synthesized by MH processing have a wolframite-type monoclinic structure without deleterious phases. FT-Raman spectra exhibited the presence of 17 Raman-active modes from 50 to 1,000 cm⁻¹. TEM and HR-TEM micrographs indicated that the nanorods are aggregated due to surface energy by Van der Waals forces and grow along the [100] direction. UV–vis absorption measurements confirmed non-linear values for the optical band gap (from 3.2 to 2.72 eV), which increased as the MH processing time increased. The structural characterizations indicated that the presence of defects in the MnWO₄ precipitate promotes a significant contribution to maximum PL emission, while MnWO₄ nanorods obtained by MH processing decrease the PL emission due to the reduction of defects in the lattice.     

Anisotropic molecular packing of soluble C60 fullerenes in hexagonal nanocrystals obtained by solvent vapor annealing

We describe the self-assembly of soluble, chemically modified fullerene [6,6]-phenyl C₆₁ butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) into a new crystalline phase where the C₆₀ moieties are arranged in parallel layers. Minimum C₆₀ center-to-center distance is 10 Å within the layers, and up to 15 Å perpendicular to the layers. Highly anisotropic, mesoscopic hexagonal crystals of this material, with a lateral size of many microns and a thickness below 1 μm, are obtained from chloroform solution by solvent vapor annealing, and characterized by optical microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The crystalline structure is deduced combining experimental data with molecular modeling and ab initio calculations. The large difference in C₆₀–C₆₀ spacing indicates a high anisotropy in electrical and charge transport properties of this new phase.