Background Sepsis is an emergency medical condition that can lead to death and it is defined as a life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by immune dysregulation in response to an infection. It is considered the main killer in intensive care units. Sepsis associated-encephalopathy (SAE) is mostly caused by a sepsis-induced systemic inflammatory response. Studies report SAE in 14–63% of septic patients. Main SAE symptoms are not specific and usually include acute impairment of consciousness, delirium and/or coma, along with electroencephalogram (EEG) changes. For those who recover from sepsis and SAE, impaired cognitive function, mobility and quality of life are often observed months to years after hospital discharge, and there is no treatment available today to prevent that. Inflammation and oxidative stress are key players for the SAE pathophysiology. Gold nanoparticles have been demonstrated to own important anti-inflammatory properties. It was also reported 20 nm citrate-covered gold nanoparticles (cit-AuNP) reduce oxidative stress. In this context, we tested whether 20 nm cit-AuNP could alleviate the acute changes caused by sepsis in brain of mice, with focus on inflammation. Sepsis was induced in female C57BL/6 mice by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP), 20 nm cit-AuNP or saline were intravenously (IV) injected 2 h after induction of sepsis and experiments performed 6 h after induction. Intravital microscopy was used for leukocyte and platelet adhesion study in brain, blood brain barrier (BBB) permeability carried out by Evans blue assay, cytokines measured by ELISA and real time PCR, cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) by flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry, and transcription factors, by western blotting. Results 20 nm cit-AuNP treatment reduced leukocyte and platelet adhesion to cerebral blood vessels, prevented BBB failure, reduced TNF- concentration in brain, and ICAM-1 expression both in circulating polymorphonuclear (PMN) leukocytes and cerebral blood vessels of mice with sepsis. Furthermore, 20 nm cit-AuNP did not interfere with the antibiotic effect on the survival rate of mice with sepsis. Conclusions Cit-AuNP showed important anti-inflammatory properties in the brain of mice with sepsis, being a potential candidate to be used as adjuvant drug along with antibiotics in the treatment of sepsis to avoid SAE
In Europe, the demographic profile is towards an increasingly aged workforce [1], characterized by a significant aging of the population. The people aged 55 years or more accounted for one fifth of the total workforce, and as one consequence of increasing longevity, must work more years before retirement [2].Aging of the workforce is a growing problem for many developed and developing countries, pushing companies to explore ways to keep older workers employed for a longer period of time and to support them to maintain their work ability and increase their employability. The literature shows that “age related factors should be taken into consideration in daily management, including work arrangements and individual work tasks, so that everybody, regardless of age, feels empowered in reaching their own and corporate goals” [3].At the same rhythm with these challenges related to the ageing workforce, the work itself is undergoing technological upgrading driven by digitization. ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) have radically determined the modification of people's habits and lifestyles, also in the field of work, introducing new methods of working for example the smart working. These evolving work methods required smart workers to acquire new professional skills in a short time and to adapt to new technologies, new work processes and new forms of collaboration. All these changes lead to greater difficulties, especially for aged smart workers, such as: i) lack of physical interactions and the resulting isolation; ii) increased workload and consequently increased stress (always on); iii) difficulties in communication and time management problems; iv) work-life balance and personal life problems. Therefore it emerges the need to design innovative and friendly devices to address the challenges and difficulties mentioned above, facilitating interaction between smart workers, time management and work organization. These innovative devices and systems need to be easy to use and intuitive to learn in order to increase the inclusion of the aging smart workers, reducing the digital divide.Tangible User Interfaces could represent a fertile ground with the greatest potential to tackle these challenges as they give physical form to digital information and computation, and at the same time they facilitate the direct manipulation of bits. Unlike GUIs, where human-machine interaction occurs through the use of a mouse, keyboard or touchpad and is displayed on a screen as interaction’s results, the use of TUIs involves direct interaction with physical objects to which digital information has been associated, within a defined action space.In this context, the challenge is how ICT-embedded solutions, particularly Tangible User Interfaces, can meet the needs of a growing number of ageing smart worker in terms of inclusion, and of social, physical and mental wellbeing to sustain a team spirit, maintain team cohesion by offering sensory user experience and a tactile interaction with digitized work.The general objective of the research project presented in this article is to develop ICT-embedded devices based on TUIs, aimed at aging smart workers, with following objectives:fostering communication and interaction with the digital world through a tactile experience;increasing the organization, motivation, and job satisfaction; promoting work-life balance to increase physical and mental wellbeing. The result consists of a digital devices’ system, that can interact with each other and with users through a dedicated application for mobile. The system allows to improve the smart workers experience and their well-being through:empowerment, with the introduction of a "digital personal coach" who accompanies the worker during the performance of the activities;enhancement of concentration by providing for the performance of only one activity at a time to increase the overall efficiency of the worker;work-life balance improvement, with a better management of the balance between working and private dimensions;communication and collaboration facilitation with other colleagues;reduction of technological abundance through the use of tangible interfaces;exploitation of peripheral interaction to reduce the risk of loss of concentration during activities.1.European Commission - Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs: The 2015 Ageing Report. Underlying Assumptions and Projection Methodologies. European Economy 8-2014 (2014). 2.Giakoumis, D., Votis, K., Altsitsiadis, E., Segkouli, S., Paliokas, I., & Tzovaras, D.: Smart, personalized and adaptive ICT solutions for active, healthy and productive ageing with enhanced workability. In: 12th ACM International Conference on PErvasive Technologies Related to Assistive Environments, pp. 442-447. Association for Computing Machinery, New York (2019).3.Ilmarinen, J. (2012). Promoting active ageing in the workplace. European Agency for Safety and Health at Work.
Sepsis is a grave systemic condition that affects several organs and is caused by an infectious disease. Among the organs targeted by sepsis is the brain, a condition named sepsis-associated encephalopathy (SAE). Epidemiological studies indicate that 25%–70% of sepsis patients develop SAE, presenting acute and chronic symptoms. The main acute symptom is delirium, while chronic symptoms include cognitive impairment, locomotor dysfunction and mood disorders, amongst them, depression. The physiopathology of SAE involves systemic and local actions. Systemically, reduced brain perfusion, hyperglycemia, and activation of the sensory vagus nerve contribute to SAE. Locally, inflammation, enhanced oxidative stress, and enhanced excitotoxicity play vital roles in SAE development. Today, there is no commercially available treatment for SAE. We recently demonstrated that twenty-nanometer citrate-capped gold nanoparticles (cit-AuNP) intravenously injected two or four hours after induction of sepsis could reduce cerebral inflammation in mice. In the present study, we showed that cit-AuNP acutely injected in mice with sepsis exhibited faster clinical symptom resolution and reduced glutamate levels in the brain thirty days after sepsis induction. The acute twenty-nanometer cit-AuNP treatment also prevented depression-like behavior in mice after a sepsis episode. Thus, cit-AuNP therapy may potentially be used to prevent sepsis-induced depression.
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