Maggio 2020



Researchers from Osaka University, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, and Niigata University identify the amino acid arginine as a potential disease-modifying drug for polyglutamine diseases, such as familial spinocerebellar ataxia and Huntington disease

Familial spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA), Huntington disease, and spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy are inherited neurodegenerative diseases. Because of their similar molecular pathogenesis, they are also called polyglutamine (polyQ) diseases. Current treatments for these diseases only focus on symptomatic improvement, as disease-modifying approaches have remained an unmet clinical need. Now, researchers from Osaka University, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, and Niigata University have identified the natural amino acid arginine as a novel potential approach to attenuate symptoms, as well as the molecular pathogenesis of polyQ diseases. In a new study published in Brain, they show how arginine improved neurological symptoms when given to mice with polyQ diseases before and even after the onset of symptoms.

PolyQ diseases are caused by an abnormal expansion of a specific DNA sequence consisting of the three bases: cytosine, adenine and guanine (CAG). In certain genes that are important for normal neuronal function, CAG can appear back to back multiple times. The number of CAG repetitions varies between individuals and different neuronal genes, but if the repetition happens too often, the function of the protein that is built from the gene can be severely impaired. While an increased number of CAG repeats results in protein misfolding and aggregation with concurrent damage to nerve cells, medication that actually halts this process of neurodegeneration has yet to be developed.

Pubblicato in Scienceonline

 


Al via il progetto Fedkito coordinato dall’Università di Pisa per proteggere i cibi con formulazioni di chitosano addizionate di oli essenziali. L’obiettivo è garantire sicurezza alimentare integrata nell’ottica dell’economia circolare e della sostenibilità


Uno spray all’aroma di pepe per conservare più a lungo la carne oppure una pellicola alla cannella per proteggere le mele da insetti e funghi, tutto a base di chitosano una sostanza del tutto naturale e biodegradabile ricavata in questo caso dagli insetti.
E’ questo lo scenario di un futuro non troppo lontano al quale stanno lavorando gli scienziati di Fedkito, un progetto triennale appena finanziato nell’ambito di PRIMA (Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area) attualmente il più importante programma di ricerca dell’area euro-mediterranea.
La professoressa Barbara Conti dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Agro-ambientali dell’Università di Pisa è la coordinatrice del progetto che coinvolge Italia, Francia, Grecia, Tunisia e Marocco con la partecipazione di atenei, istituti di ricerca e aziende.

Pubblicato in Medicina

 


Study finds use of chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine is linked to increased rates of mortality and heart arrhythmias among hospital patients with COVID-19.


Authors suggest that these drug regimens should not be used to treat COVID-19 outside of clinical trials and urgent confirmation from randomised clinical trials is needed. A large observational study suggests that treatment with the antimalarial drug chloroquine or its analogue hydroxychloroquine (taken with or without the antibiotics azithromycin or clarithromycin) offers no benefit for patients with COVID-19. The study analysed data from nearly 15,000 patients with COVID-19 receiving a combination of any of the four drug regimens and 81,000 controls.

Treatment with these medications among patients with COVID-19, either alone or in combination with macrolide antibiotics, was linked to an increased risk of serious heart rhythm complications in these patients.

Researchers suggest these treatment regimens should not be used to treat COVID-19 outside of clinical trials until results from randomised clinical trials are available to confirm the safety and efficacy of these medications for COVID-19 patients.

Pubblicato in Scienceonline
Lunedì, 25 Maggio 2020 09:00

Using wastewater to monitor COVID-19



Wastewater could be used as a surveillance tool to monitor the invasion, spread and eradication of COVID-19 in communities.
A recent review paper from an international research group involving Hokkaido University and the University of Yamanashi in Japan shows how wastewater could provide a useful tool for monitoring COVID-19 and highlights the further research needed to develop this as a viable method for tracking virus outbreaks. This research was published in Science of the Total Environment.

The major transmission routes of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, are via inhalation from person to person, aerosol or droplets, and transmission via hands or contaminated materials. However, there is growing evidence of gastrointestinal symptoms such as diarrhea amongst COVID-19 patients, and genetic material from the virus has been found not only in patients’ feces but also in wastewater.

“The presence of SARS-CoV-2 genetic material in wastewater provides an opportunity to monitor the spread of COVID-19 in a community. Although wastewater is not widely used as a disease surveillance tool, it is starting to gain some traction,” says Masaaki Kitajima, an environmental engineer at Hokkaido University.

Pubblicato in Scienceonline

 

 


• Child poverty was rising rapidly before coronavirus hit family incomes
• Between 2014/15 and 2018/19, child poverty increased by nearly a fifth, from 15.6% to 18.4%, before the pressure of rising housing costs on families is taken into account
• Loughborough University analysis shows how this increase varies greatly across the UK
• Highest increase came in the North East, where child poverty rose from 17.3% to 23.7% (+6.5%)
• The East Midlands region remains unchanged at 16.6% (-/+0%)
• However, the West Midlands, it rose from 19.1% to 23.8%, widening the gap between the two Midlands regions
• Temporary boosts to Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit should be made permanent and more widely available to help those families who are struggling

New research shows that child poverty in the UK has increased by 2.8% in the last four years, but experts fear the figure will grow due to the impact of coronavirus.

Researchers from Loughborough University’s Centre for Research in Social Policy (CRSP) have analysed data that shows which regions, local authorities and parliamentary constituencies are most at risk of deprivation. The report, published today by the charity End Child Poverty, highlights the North East as the biggest regional area of concern, with a 6.5% rise between 2014/15 and 2018/19.

Pubblicato in Scienceonline

 

È uno dei pochi modelli computazionali che, riproducendo l'attività di diversi network genetici, è in grado di fare predizioni poi verificate in vivo. Lo studio, coordinato dal Dipartimento di Biologia e biotecnologie Charles Darwin della Sapienza in collaborazione con l’Università di Utrecht, è stato pubblicato sulla rivista Developmental Cell
La crescita di un organo è un processo articolato in cui l’attività delle cellule e dei tessuti che lo compongono deve essere finemente regolata per garantire una forma e una dimensione finale compatibili con la sua funzione. Ciò vale anche per i vegetali, dei quali sono ancora poco noti i meccanismi alla base della formazione di organi, quali radici, fusti e foglie.

Con le moderne tecnologie di analisi molecolare ad ampio spettro è stato possibile raccogliere negli ultimi anni un'enorme quantità di dati di rilevanza biologica, ma la possibilità di integrarli in un modello capace di predire il comportamento in funzione di alcuni parametri resta ancora molto limitata.

Pubblicato in Matematica

 

Zampa: “Dopo il forzato isolamento le bambine, i bambini e gli adolescenti devono giocare, stare con gli amici, apprendere e nutrirsi in modo equilibrato e completo, tornando a una sana vita di relazione con adulti e coetanei”

 

Siglato il protocollo di intesa tra Ministero della Salute, Società Italiana di Pediatria (SIP) e Save the Children - l’Organizzazione che da oltre 100 anni lotta per salvare i bambini a rischio e garantire loro un futuro -, su interventi innovativi rivolti a bambini, adolescenti e alle loro famiglie, la cui condizione di vulnerabilità si è acuita a seguito dell’emergenza Covid19, perché in condizione di povertà economica ed educativa e marginalizzazione sociale, nonché vittime o a rischio di abusi in ambito familiare.

Tra gli interventi, in presenza e online, da destinare ai bambini, alle bambine e agli adolescenti beneficiari di Save the Children durante l’estate del 2020 e in fase di post-emergenza, attività di educazione sanitaria, educazione alla salute e a sani stili di vita, supporto psicosociale e sostegno nel contatto con la rete sociosanitaria territoriale, valorizzando gli aspetti di empowerment di comunità e di partecipazione attiva dei minori coinvolti.

Pubblicato in Medicina
Venerdì, 22 Maggio 2020 14:45

Fantastic particles and where to find them

 


Mysterious material properties are laying the groundwork for photon-electron channels communication devices: the TOCHA project

Typical activities in ordinary life consist of sending and receiving information. The news or notifications we see on smartphones, from magazine gossip to football scores, reach the device from a domestic Wi-Fi router or mobile phone mast, which receives input from a giant server network disseminated across the world.

Zooming in the path, two particles are information vehicles: photons, from servers to devices, and electrons inside the devices. These two communication mechanisms require different hardware platforms that, when combined, are often inefficient and dissipate energy. Could scientists improve on this process by producing more stable channels for information?

The TOCHA project is trying to send information with the smallest waste of energy by identifying efficient channels at the nanometre scale – one billionth of a meter. Set across nine European research institutions, the project is coordinated by the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2) and funded by the EU’s FET (Future and Emerging Technologies) programme.

Pubblicato in Scienceonline

Immagine del cristallo che cattura la luce

 


Come una foglia artificiale, un cristallo, in cui sono integrati motori molecolari e molecole fotosensibili, può catturare la luce e trasformarla in energia, utile a generare un moto rotatorio unidirezionale.

E’ questo il risultato dello studio condotto dal gruppo di ricercatori guidato da Angiolina Comotti, Professore Ordinario presso il Dipartimento di Scienza dei materiali dell’Università di Milano-Bicocca (www.mater.unimib.it), in collaborazione con il team del Professor Ben Feringa dell’Università di Groningen, Premio Nobel nel 2016 per la scoperta delle macchine molecolari.

La ricerca internazionale, pubblicata su “Journal of American Chemical Society” (doi.org/10.1021/jacs.0c03063), rappresenta un approccio innovativo poiché consente di attivare un motore molecolare, sfruttando una fonte di energia largamente disponibile, qual è la luce visibile. Si garantisce in questo modo un processo energeticamente sostenibile.

Pubblicato in Chimica



The human immune system is reactive to more than just the viral protein on which researchers have focused to date. This is relevant for tests and potential vaccines.

Research teams from Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) and Essen University Hospital have identified the parts of the Sars-Cov-2 virus to which the human immune system reacts: in addition to the spike protein, which has been the focus so far, two other proteins can also trigger a strong immune response. This discovery is relevant for the development of diagnostic tests and vaccines. “We shouldn’t focus exclusively on the spike protein,” says the principal investigator of the study Professor Nina Babel from the Centre for Translational Medicine at Marien Hospital Herne, the RUB’s university hospital. The study, which is currently being reviewed by independent experts, is available online on a preprint server.

Pubblicato in Scienceonline

 

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Autorizzazioni del Tribunale di Roma – diffusioni:
telematica quotidiana 229/2006 del 08/06/2006
mensile per mezzo stampa 293/2003 del 07/07/2003
Scienceonline, Autorizzazione del Tribunale di Roma 228/2006 del 29/05/06
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