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A plethora of studies have demonstrated the pathophysiological roles played by paraxonase 2 (PON2) in oxidative stress control, inhibition of apoptosis, infections, and the progression of various types of malignancies. The continuous interest in PON2 has not gone hand in hand with the development of its inhibitors. Indeed, only one inhibitor for PON2, namely TQ416, is known, although neither its preparation nor a systematic structure-activity relationship analysis has been so far reported. Herein, we outline the first study aimed at the definition of structure-activity relationships of TQ416 by the preparation of a small library of its analogues. Successfully, we identified some [1,2,4]triazolo[4,3- ]quinoline derivatives more potent than TQ416 as PON2 inhibitors, and among them one endowed with an IC value in the nanomolar range. We tested the parent TQ416 and its most effective congener in cells showing their effectiveness and complex behaviour.

Bacteria use lipid carrier undecaprenyl phosphate (C55-P) to build and maintain their cell envelope, which is necessary for survival and is the target of many antibiotics. Recent studies have implicated DedA family proteins in C55-P transport, but how these proteins function in important pathogens like Pseudomonas aeruginosa remains uncharacterized. In this work, we uncover a specific DedA protein, PA4029, and show its involvement in C55-P recycling and importance for bacteria’s ability to develop resistance to the last-resort antibiotic colistin. These findings extend the relevance of DedA-mediated lipid transport to one of the most dreaded human pathogens.

We recently introduced an animal model to study incubation of drug craving after prolonged voluntary abstinence, mimicking the human condition of relapse after successful contingency management treatment. Here we studied the role of the nucleus accumbens (NAc) in this model. We trained rats to self-administer a palatable solution (sucrose 1% + maltodextrin 1%, 6 h/day, 6 days) and methamphetamine (6 h/day, 12 days). We then evaluated relapse to methamphetamine seeking after 1 and 15 days of voluntary abstinence, achieved via a discrete choice procedure between the palatable solution and methamphetamine (14 days). We used RNAscope in-situ hybridization to quantify the colabeling of the neuronal activity marker Fos, and dopamine Drd1- and Drd2-expressing medium spiny neurons (MSNs) in NAc core and shell during the incubation tests. Next, we determined the effect of pharmacological inactivation of NAc core and shell by either GABAA and GABAB agonists (muscimol + baclofen, 50 + 50 ng/side), Drd1–Drd2 antagonist (flupenthixol, 10 µg/side), or the selective Drd1 or Drd2 antagonists (SCH39166, 1.0 µg/side or raclopride, 1.0 µg/side) during the relapse tests. Incubated methamphetamine seeking after voluntary abstinence was associated with a selective increase of Fos expression in the NAc core, but not shell, and Fos was colabeled with both Drd1- and Drd2-MSNs. NAc core, but not shell, injections of muscimol + baclofen, flupenthixol, SCH39166, and raclopride reduced methamphetamine seeking after 15 days of abstinence. Together, our results suggest that dopamine transmission through Drd1 and Drd2 in NAc core is critical to the incubation of methamphetamine craving after voluntary abstinence.

A plethora of studies have demonstrated the pathophysiological roles played by paraxonase 2 (PON2) in oxidative stress control, inhibition of apoptosis, infections, and the progression of various types of malignancies. The continuous interest in PON2 has not gone hand in hand with the development of its inhibitors. Indeed, only one inhibitor for PON2, namely TQ416, is known, although neither its preparation nor a systematic structure-activity relationship analysis has been so far reported. Herein, we outline the first study aimed at the definition of structure-activity relationships of TQ416 by the preparation of a small library of its analogues. Successfully, we identified some [1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-a]quinoline derivatives more potent than TQ416 as PON2 inhibitors, and among them one endowed with an IC50 value in the nanomolar range. We tested the parent TQ416 and its most effective congener 2 in cells showing their effectiveness and complex behaviour.A plethora of studies have demonstrated the pathophysiological roles played by paraxonase 2 (PON2) in oxidative stress control, inhibition of apoptosis, infections, and the progression of various types of malignancies. The continuous interest in PON2 has not gone hand in hand with the development of its inhibitors. Indeed, only one inhibitor for PON2, namely TQ416, is known, although neither its preparation nor a systematic structure-activity relationship analysis has been so far reported. Herein, we outline the first study aimed at the definition of structure-activity relationships of TQ416 by the preparation of a small library of its analogues. Successfully, we identified some [1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-a]quinoline derivatives more potent than TQ416 as PON2 inhibitors, and among them one endowed with an IC50 value in the nanomolar range. We tested the parent TQ416 and its most effective congener 2 in cells showing their effectiveness and complex behaviour.

Nowadays, Circular Economy (CE) is shifting from a nice-to-have marketing operation to a business development strategy that is central to the restoring and preservation of our natural ecosystem. However, despite motivated promotion efforts, the concrete application of this model at the micro-level is still in its infancy due to several challenges that companies face. One of these challenges is the uncertainty that businesses have in the estimation of the actual impact that adopting CE strategies can have on their activities from an environmental and economic perspective. This work aims to define a conceptual framework to be applied to the Life Cycle Extension Strategies (LCES) of products, which is meant to understand whether the application of a strategy is beneficial from an environmental and economic point of view. In order to address the identified need, a list of indicators to be exploited in the LCES performance analysis has been designed and divided into the two categories of environmental and economic indicators. On the top of this, a calculation methodology that is based on life cycle perspective approaches is applied, which exploits a gap-based approach and thus, compares the effects generated by the linear strategy and those created by the LCES analysis. The evaluation approach is meant to highlight the possible advantages and disadvantages offered by the CE model for product lifecycles. The conceptual framework is tested through an industrial case study and further analysis leading to the improvement of the calculation methodology is discussed.

7he adoption of technologies enabling the fourth industrial revolution (14.0) performs a crucial role in delivering reduced costs and improving both the flexibility and sustainability of manufacturing systems, thus creating the opportunity to achieve more resilient and sustainable supply networks. In this fast-changing context, professionals need a twofold enrichment. On one hand, they have the necessity to extend their technical knowledge to influence design changes and production configurations toward efficient sustainable manufacturing systems. On the other hand, they need to acquire those soft skills useful to make the transition both effective and accepted by the company ecosystem. This paper aims at presenting the undertaken approach in the creation of asynchronous online learning courses finalised at leveraging actual gaps in existing professionals\" curricula. Before the courses\" development, three main steps have been performed, that are: the identification of target profiles, the skills gap analysis, and finally the definition of a skills maturity model. The development of the content has been performed in a one-year horizon project, focusing especially on two topics: i) innovation and change management; ii) introduction to sustainable production. The courses have been tailored to empower those selected profiles (i.e., white collars) able to keep on following the changing pace and bring forward business transformation projects towards more eco-efficient and sustainable production systems.

ObjectiveEfforts to manage non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are limited by the incomplete understanding of the pathogenic mechanisms and the absence of accurate non-invasive biomarkers. The aim of this study was to identify novel NAFLD therapeutic targets andbiomarkers by conducting liver transcriptomic analysis in patients stratified by the presence of the PNPLA3 I148M genetic risk variant.DesignWe sequenced the hepatic transcriptome of 125 obese individuals. ‘Severe NAFLD’ was defined as the presence of steatohepatitis, NAFLD activity score ≥4 or fibrosis stage ≥2. The circulating levels of the most upregulated transcript, interleukin-32 (IL32), were measured by ELISA.ResultsCarriage of the PNPLA3 I148M variant correlated with the two major components of hepatic transcriptome variability and broadly influenced gene expression. In patients with severe NAFLD, there was an upregulation of inflammatory and lipid metabolism pathways. IL32 was the most robustly upregulated gene in the severe NAFLD group (adjusted p=1×10−6), and its expression correlated with steatosis severity, both in I148M variant carriers and non-carriers. In 77 severely obese, and in a replication cohort of 160 individuals evaluated at the hepatology service, circulating IL32 levels were associated with both NAFLD and severe NAFLD independently of aminotransferases (p<0.01 for both). A linear combination of IL32-ALT-AST showed a better performance than ALT-AST alone in NAFLD diagnosis (area under the curve=0.92 vs 0.81, p=5×10−5).ConclusionHepatic IL32 is overexpressed in NAFLD, correlates with hepatic fat and liver damage, and is detectable in the circulation, where it is independently associated with the presence and severity of NAFLD.

Memory B cells persist for a lifetime and rapidly differentiate into antibody-producing plasmablasts and plasma cells upon antigen re-encounter. The clonal relationship and evolution of memory B cells and circulating plasmablasts is not well understood. Using single-cell sequencing combined with isolation of specific antibodies, we found that in two healthy donors, the memory B cell repertoire was dominated by large IgM, IgA and IgG2 clonal families, whereas IgG1 families, including those specific for recall antigens, were of small size. Analysis of multiyear samples demonstrated stability of memory B cell clonal families and revealed that a large fraction of recently generated plasmablasts was derived from long-term memory B cell families and was found recurrently. Collectively, this study provides a systematic description of the structure, stability and dynamics of the human memory B cell pool and suggests that memory B cells may be active at any time point in the generation of plasmablasts.Lanzavecchia and colleagues use single-cell B cell receptor sequencing to examine the clonal structure, stability and dynamics of the B cell repertoire and the relationship between memory B cells and newly generated plasma cells in humans.

Nowadays porous materials from organic waste, i.e., Biochar (BC), are receiving increased attention for environmental applications. This study adds information on three BCs that have undergone a number of studies in recent years. A Biochar from pine wood, one from rice husk and one from Eupatorium shrubs enriched with Iron, labelled as PWBC, RHBC and EuFeBC respectively, are evaluated for Trichloroethylene (TCE) removal from aqueous solution. Physical-chemical description is performed by SEM-EDS and BET analysis. The decrease of TCE over time follows a pseudo-second order kinetics with increased removal by the PWBC. Freundlich and Langmuir models well fit equilibrium test data. The optimized values of the maximum adsorbed amount, qmax (mg g−1), follows this order 109.41 PWBC > 30.35 EuFeBC > 21.00 RHBC. Fixed-bed columns are also carried out. Best performance is again achieved by PWBC, which operates for a higher number of pore volume, followed by EuFeBC and RHBC. Continuous testing confirms batch studies and makes it possible to evaluate the workability of materials in configurations closer to reality. Results are promising for potential environmental application. In particular, the characterization of several classes of contaminants opens the doors to possible uses in mixed contamination cases.

Background. To validate the 17-item Computer Vision Symptom Scale questionnaire (CVSS17) in Italian. Methods. Cross-sectional validation study on video terminal (VDT) users and a reference sample of subjects not working at a VDT (control group), cognitively able to respond to a health status interview. The Italian self-administered version of the CVSS17 questionnaire was administered to all participants. The reliability and validity of the Italian translation of the CVSS17 were tested using standard statistical methods for questionnaire validation. The Rasch analysis was performed as well. Results. A total of 216 subjects were enrolled. Concerning the reliability, the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.925 (from 0.917 to 0.924), and the test–retest stability was 0.91 (<0.001). Concerning the validity, the control group had significantly better scores, and there were good correlations between responses to the CVSS17 and analogous domains of the GSS. Conclusion. The Italian version of the CVSS17 has shown psychometric properties comparable to those of the Spanish version, having good validity, discriminatory power, internal consistency and reliability. The questionnaire is a specific measure of vision-related quality of life in Italian-speaking VDT workers and can be used both in clinical practice and for research purposes.