Use of aglepristone for the treatment of P4 induced insulin resistance in dogs

Insulin resistance (IR) in dogs is suspected when hyperglycemia is present despite administration of insulin doses greater than 1.0 to 1.5 UI/kg. IR is caused by increases in counter regulatory hormones concentrations (glucagon, glucocorticoids, catecholamines and growth hormone). This study was conducted to investigate the use of aglepristone (RU 46534), a P₄ receptor antagonist, for the treatment of IR diabetes mellitus in bitches during the luteal phase. All animals were treated with porcine insulin zinc suspension (Caninsulin) and aglepristone (Alizin) 10 mg/kg subcutaneously at day 1, 2, 9 and 17 from diagnosis. At day 5, no significant variation in glycemia was shown. At day 12 and 20, serum glucose concentrations were significant lower (p < 0.05). From day 12 the insulin dose was reduced to 0.8 IU BID. Insulin was reduced in the following weeks and glycemia was controlled.     

Exploitation of bacterial pectinolytic strains for improvement of hemp water retting

Summary Retting is the major limitation to an efficient production of textile hemp fibres. Traditional retting has been carried out by autochthonous bacterial community. Aerobic and anaerobic pectinolytic strains were isolated from hemp or flax sources and characterised. Anaerobic pectinolytic strains had a wide range of acid polygalacturonase (PG) activity, whereas aerobic isolates did not produce any acid PG activity, but only an alkalophylic one, suggesting they could play a minor role in the retting process, except in the early stages. Analysis of 16S rDNA sequences assigned anaerobic strains to the Clostridium genus and aerobic isolates to the Bacillus and Paenibacillus genus. C. felsineum and C. acetobutylicum were confirmed as the main anaerobic agents. Nevertheless, a high proportion of anaerobic and aerobic pectinolytic strains was assigned to C. saccharobutylicum and B. pumilus, respectively, both species never being described as involved in water retting. Anaerobic and aerobic strains with high PG activity were selected and characterized. PG activity is well correlated with the strain retting efficiency and improvement of the process was obtained by inoculating the retting water with spores of selected aerobic and anaerobic bacteria. An advisable feature of retting strains is the absence of cellulosolytic activity. An aerobic strain with no cellulosolytic activity was identified. In contrast, all the anaerobic isolates showed cellulosolytic activity. Mutagenesis was ineffective for selection of Cel-Pec⁺ mutants. Localization of the C. felsineum L1/6 PG activity was investigated.     

The involvement of the orbitofrontal cortex in the experience of regret

Facing the consequence of a decision we made can trigger emotions like satisfaction, relief, or regret, which reflect our assessment of what was gained as compared to what would have been gained by making a different decision. These emotions are mediated by a cognitive process known as counterfactual thinking. By manipulating a simple gambling task, we characterized a subject's choices in terms of their anticipated and actual emotional impact. Normal subjects reported emotional responses consistent with counterfactual thinking; they chose to minimize future regret and learned from their emotional experience. Patients with orbitofrontal cortical lesions, however, did not report regret or anticipate negative consequences of their choices. The orbitofrontal cortex has a fundamental role in mediating the experience of regret.     

Aging effects and grape variety dependence on the content of sulfur volatiles in wine

Thirteen sulfur compounds (boiling points from 35 to 231 degrees C), usually considered as possible off-flavoring volatiles, were quantified by a concurrent headspace-solid phase microextraction method coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-SPME/GC-MS) on 80 not off-flavoring wines of four varieties (Merlot, Marzemino, and Teroldego as red wines and Chardonnay as a white one) and of five vintages produced in the North Italian Trentino region. The results of the research, the first Italian data-bank per variety on such volatiles, allow us to make a comparison with the data of other winegrowing areas, to investigate the aging effect on the considered volatiles, and, finally, to try a variety discrimination using statistical procedures. Dimethyl sulfide, 3-(methylthio)-1-propanol, diethyl sulfide, and diethyl disulfide were found to increase with time whereas 2-mercaptoethanol and ethylmercaptan showed a decreasing trend. Furthermore, the concentration of several compounds was found to be dependent on the variety. For instance, sulfide, disulfides, benzothiazole, and thioalcohols are at higher levels in Merlot wines, whereas thiols and thioacetates are more abundant in Marzemino and Teroldego wines. Chardonnay products, well apart from the other wines, are the poorest in 3-(methylthio)-1-propanol and rather rich in dimethyl disulfide and in diethyl disulfide, mostly in the aged wines. Applying the principal component analysis to the data, it was possible to demonstrate that Chardonnay and Merlot wines are well-discriminated from the Italian native varietal wines, which on their turn are only partially distinguishable among them. A contribution of these compounds to the variety characteristics of wine is reasonable.     

Assessing the potential of marine Natura 2000 sites to produce ecosystem‐wide effects in rocky reefs: A case study from Sardinia Island (Italy)

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Illegal ingegno fishery and conservation of deep red coral banks in the Sicily Channel (Mediterranean Sea)

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