Chiral domain dynamics and transient interferences of mirrored superlattices in nonequilibrium electronic crystals

Mirror symmetry plays a major role in determining the properties of matter and is of particular interest in condensed many-body systems undergoing symmetry breaking transitions under non-equilibrium conditions. Typically, in the aftermath of such transitions, one of the two possible broken symmetry states is emergent. However, synthetic systems and those formed under non-equilibrium conditions may exhibit metastable states comprising of both left (L) and right (R) handed symmetry. Here we explore the formation of chiral charge-density wave (CDW) domains after a laser quench in 1T-TaS2 with scanning tunneling microscopy. Typically, we observed transient domains of both chiralities, separated spatially from each other by domain walls with different structure. In addition, we observe transient density of states modulations consistent with interference of L and R-handed charge density waves within the surface monolayer. Theoretical modeling of the intertwined domain structures using a classical charged lattice gas model reproduces the experimental domain wall structures. The superposition (S) state cannot be understood classically within the correlated electron model but is found to be consistent with interferences of L and R-handed charge-density waves within domains, confined by surrounding domain walls, vividly revealing an interference of Fermi electrons with opposite chirality, which is not a result of inter-layer interference, but due to the interaction between electrons within a single layer, confined by domain wall boundaries.

Development of an artificial intelligence-based method for the diagnosis of the severity of myxomatous mitral valve disease from canine chest radiographs

An algorithm based on artificial intelligence (AI) was developed and tested to classify different stages of myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD) from canine thoracic radiographs. The radiographs were selected from the medical databases of two different institutions, considering dogs over 6 years of age that had undergone chest X-ray and echocardiographic examination. Only radiographs clearly showing the cardiac silhouette were considered. The convolutional neural network (CNN) was trained on both the right and left lateral and/or ventro-dorsal or dorso-ventral views. Each dog was classified according to the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM) guidelines as stage B1, B2 or C + D. ResNet18 CNN was used as a classification network, and the results were evaluated using confusion matrices, receiver operating characteristic curves, and t-SNE and UMAP projections. The area under the curve (AUC) showed good heart-CNN performance in determining the MMVD stage from the lateral views with an AUC of 0.87, 0.77, and 0.88 for stages B1, B2, and C + D, respectively. The high accuracy of the algorithm in predicting the MMVD stage suggests that it could stand as a useful support tool in the interpretation of canine thoracic radiographs.

[Acute effects of environmental pollution on the urban vigilants airways]

AIM OF THE STUDY

The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the acute exposure to air pollution, in a group of policemen of Padua, is correlated with increased inflammatory biomarkers (exhaled nitric oxide, feNO) and alterations of bronchiolar cells (assessed by CC16 Clara cell-specific protein).

METHODS

We studied 44 healthy, non-smokers divided in exposed to traffic and controls (office workers). Before and after the Monday shift serum and urinary concentration of CC16, feNo and spirometry were measured in each subject. Data on air pollutants, PM2.5, PM10, SO2, NO2, CO, O3 were collected from official bulletin online (ARPAV).

RESULTS

In exposed policemen serum CC16 decreased after shift (before 4.6 +/- 0.2 vs after 6.4 +/- 0.8 ng/ml, = 0.02), while feNO increased significantly (33.2 +/- 4.4 vs 29.7 +/- 3.9 ppb, p = 0.02). feNO cross-shift changes were positively correlated with environmental SO2 levels (rho = 0.48; p = 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS

Our results suggest that in healthy and nonsmokers subjects the exposure to air pollution is associated with subclinical airway inflammation and decrease of bronchiolar epithelium function.

Effects of MR889, a cyclic thiolic neutrophil elastase inhibitor, on rheologic properties of mucus

MR889 is a synthetic inhibitor of human neutrophil elastase with potential in clinical conditions characterized by a high load of this proteolytic enzyme, mainly chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. On the basis of its mechanism of inhibition, it has been suggested that MR889, upon reaction with elastase, would generate new free thiol groups. The aim of this study was to investigate whether MR889, upon reaction with elastase, may modify rheologic properties, i.e. apparent viscosity and elasticity, of both human sputum and porcine stomach mucus, in ex-vivo and in vitro experiments. MR889 10(-4) M alone had no effect on rheologic properties of samples, whereas an agent with free thiol group, n-acetylcysteine 10(-4) M reduced both viscosity and elasticity. MR889 10(-4) M upon reaction with elastase 0.03 nMol (giving 83% of elastase inhibition) had no effect on rheologic properties of samples, whereas upon reaction with elastase 0.15 nMol (49% inhibition) yielded a marked decrease in viscosity. This result would suggest that MR889, in the presence of a high load of elastase, may acquire direct mucus modifying capacity, likely because of its greater utilization upon reaction with the enzyme.

Antigliadin antibody classes in chronic liver disease

Antigliadin antibody (AGA) subtypes (IgG and IgA class) were tested in sera from 67 patients with chronic liver disease of different aetiology (29 with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), 31 with chronic non-A non-B hepatitis, and 7 with autoimmune chronic active hepatitis (CAH) compared with 23 subjects with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Nineteen patients with coeliac disease served as positive controls. IgA-AGA alone were found in 3.4% of patients with primary biliary cirrhosis and in 3.2% of non-A, non-B CAH. IgG-AGA alone were found in 1.3% of patients with IBD, in 6.8% of primary biliary cirrhosis and in 14.2% of autoimmune CAH. IgA-AGA and IgG-AGA together were found in 6.8% of PBC and in 1 patient with autoimmune CAH. Jejunal biopsy, performed in 7 out of the 2 patients with both IgA and IgG-AGA, showed the characteristic features of coeliac disease in one subject with autoimmune CAH. The same patient had the highest titre of AGA. In conclusion, these results indicate that AGA (either IgG and IgA) can be present at low titre in chronic liver disease and their presence may be secondary to the liver damage per sè. High titres of AGA in chronic liver disease may suggest a real association with coeliac disease.

Heterogeneity of immunoreactive dynorphin B-like material in human, rat, rabbit and guinea-pig heart

Immunoreactive dynorphin B-like material (ir-dyn B) was detected in acetic acid extracts of human atrial specimens and of rat, rabbit and guinea-pig atria and ventricles by a validated radioimmunoassay. Levels were high in rabbit atrium (66.76 +/- 7.04 pmol/g) but lower and superimposable in human and rat atria (28.18 +/- 3.20 and 30.22 +/- 2.45 pmol/g, respectively). Gel permeation chromatography revealed ir-dyn B eluting close to column exclusion and in forms with an apparently higher molecular weight than authentic dyn B in human and rat samples. In contrast, almost all the immunoreactivity from rabbit and guinea-pig acetic extracts eluted as a single peak in the region of standard dyn B. Reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography of the pooled gel chromatography fractions of this peak showed up a molecular form with the same retention time as authentic dyn B and a second minor peak of unknown immunoreactive material eluting three fractions earlier. Digestion with carboxypeptidase B excluded the hypothesis that this latter could be dyn B-Arg14. Therefore, it might be a metabolite of endogenous dyn B recognized by the antibody used in this study.

Synthesis and pharmacological activity of 2-alkylthio substituted thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidine-4-one and 5H-pyrimido [5,4-b]indol-4-one

Quaternary salts of several 2-alkylthio substituted derivatives of thieno [2,3-d]pyrimidin-4-one and 5H-pyrimido [5,4-b]indol-4-one with a basic group in position 2 of the alkyl chain were synthesized and screened for potential spasmolytic activity. These substances were prepared by condensation of the corresponding mercapto compounds with a 2-chloroalkyltertiary amine. The tertiary bases were quaternized with methyl iodide. Among the assayed compounds, the thieno [2-3-d]pyrimidin-4-one derivatives displayed a potent spasmolytic activity in the in vitro and in vivo assays.

Changes in heart rate during feedback control of respiration

Subjects received one of eight treatments: practice at increasing heart rate with heart-rate feedback, practice at decreasing heart rate with heart-rate feedback, practice at increasing heart rate without heart-rate feedback, practice at decreasing heart rate without heart-rate feedback, practice at increasing respiration rate with respiratory feedback, practice at decreasing respiration rate with respiratory feedback, practice at increasing respiration rate with respiratory instructions only, practice at decreasing respiration rate with respiratory instructions only. Heart rate, Respiration rate, and Respiration depth were measured. Analysis indicated that subjects who controlled respiration with respiratory feedback reliably increased and decreased heart rate; subjects who controlled respiration with respiratory instructions only reliably increased but not decreased heart rate; subjects in the respiratory-feedback conditions showed higher heart-rate increase and decrease than heart-rate increase and decrease of subjects in the other six conditions.

CA 19-9 in the differential diagnosis between pancreatic cancer and chronic pancreatitis

CA 19-9 serum concentration was determined by a immunoradiometric technique in 130 subjects to evaluate its role in differentiating pancreatic cancer from chronic pancreatitis. Two threshold values were chosen, 17 and 37 U/ml. With the former, sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic accuracy were 86.7, 62.3 and 49.0 respectively, with the latter 73.3, 87.0 and 60.3%. The receiver-operating characteristic curves demonstrated a satisfactory discriminating capacity of CA 19-9 as regards pancreatic cancer and chronic pancreatitis; in contrast, the discrimination was poor for other gastrointestinal diseases, mainly of a malignant nature.

Interaction between intermittent photic stimulation and auditory stimulation on the human EEG. Preliminary investigation through power spectral analysis

The effects of flicker photic stimulation (6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16 flashes/sec) and of white noise (80 dB SPL) on the EEG of man were investigated with the aid of power spectral analysis. In order to evaluate both the alpha attenuation response (AAR) and the 'driving' reaction induced by flicker as well as the effect of noise, the analysis was carried out on broad (delta, theta, alpha, beta) and on narrow (bandwidth: 1 Hz) spectral bands. A significant correlation between the amount of AAR induced by noise and a measure of the tendency to exhibit photic driving was found, though there was no clear-cut interaction between the photic stimuli and noise when delivered stimultaneously.