Although the contribution to anatomical illustration by Vesalius and his followers has received much attention, less credit has been given to Veslingius and particularly Fabricius. By 1600, Fabricius had amassed more than 300 paintings that together made the Tabulae Pictae, a great atlas of anatomy that was highly admired by his contemporaries. Many of his new observations were incorporated into subsequent books, including those by Casserius, Spighelius, Harvey and Veslingius. Also of importance were the Tabulae by Eustachius (1552), which, although only published in 1714, greatly influenced anatomical wax modelling. In 1742, Pope Benedict XIV established a Museum of Anatomy in Bologna, entrusting to Ercole Lelli the creation of several anatomical preparations in wax. Felice Fontana realised that the production of a large number of models by the casting method would make cadaveric specimens superfluous for anatomical teaching and in 1771 he asked the Grand Duke to fund a wax-modelling workshop in Florence as part of the Natural History Museum, later known as La Specola. Fontana engaged Giuseppe Ferrini as his first modeller and then the 19-year-old Clemente Susini who, by his death in 1814, had superintended the production of, or personally made, more than 2000 models. In 1780, the Austrian Emperor Joseph II visited La Specola and ordered a great number of models for his Josephinum museum; these were made by Fontana with the help of Clemente Susini and supervised by the anatomist Paolo Mascagni. It is, however, in Cagliari that some of Susini's greatest waxes are to be found. These were made when he was free of Fontana's influence and were based on dissections made by Francesco Antonio Boi (University of Cagliari). Their distinctive anatomical features include the emphasis given to nerves and the absence of lymphatics in the brain, a mistake made on earlier waxes. The refined technical perfection of the anatomical details demonstrates the closeness of the cooperation between Susini and Boi, whereas the expressiveness of the faces and the harmony of colours make the models of Cagliari masterpieces of figurative art.

Decellularization is a process of tissue treatment targeting cell removal. Sonication system was developed in order to decellularize meniscus tissues. The samples were sonicated in 0.1% sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) for 10 hours and at 40 kHz ultrasound frequency. All the samples were structurally examined using van Gieson, Picrosirius red, Safranin-O/Fast green staining, and scanning electron microscopic (SEM) observation. Histological analysis of sonication treated-samples by van Gieson staining demonstrated complete nuclei removal compared to the control samples. The Picrosirius red and Safranin-O/Fast green staining indicate the preservation of collagen and glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) structure, respectively. In addition, the morphological observation by SEM shows the availability of micropores on the surface of decellularized sample. Consequently, the sonication decellularization treatment did not affect extracellular matrix (ECM) properties, while forming micropores on the surface of meniscus tissues. This made it possible to proceed in other fulfillment of bioscaffold preparation.

Introduction Several studies evaluated the influence of cultural\ud components on the Sniffin’ Sticks Identification Test in\ud different countries. The aim of this study was to analyze the\ud olfactory function in a large sample of healthy subjects living\ud in Sardinia, an island known for its historic genetic isolation,\ud in relation to different age ranges to provide new data in\ud healthy Sardinian subjects.\ud Methods Olfactory perception of 161 participants (108 females\ud and 53 males; age range 19–78 years) was assessed\ud through three different parameters: odor detection threshold,\ud discrimination, and identification by means of the\ud Sniffin’Sticks Extended test (SST).\ud Results Our results show that young adults were generally\ud normosmic, while in subjects over 55, a statistically significant\ud age-related decrease of all the parameters was observed.\ud Regarding odor identification task, a few, such as leather, apples,\ud lemons, cloves, and pineapples, were frequently\ud incorrectly identified by participants probably due to the similarities\ud between the odors and distractors.\ud Conclusion and Implications Our data provide a comprehensive\ud evaluation of the three olfactory components in the\ud Sardinian population and confirm a decrease in the odor detection\ud threshold, discrimination and identification as well as\ud in the global TDI score in subjects over 55 years of age. These\ud results may be useful in providing normative values for routine\ud clinical use of the SSET in Sardinian subjects

The results indicate that diabetes affects submandibular gland structure even when glandular function appears unaltered and suggest that morphological changes reflect functional changes chiefly regarding the secretory activity.

Background: Non-motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD) are often associated with a negative impact on the patients' quality of life and on their weight regulation. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of olfactory and gustatory dysfunction, apathy, fatigue, depression, and motor symptoms on weight regulation in PD patients. Methods: We analyzed 112 participants, 63 PD patients (mean age ± SD: 69.2 ± 10.1), and 49 controls (mean age ± SD: 68 ± 9.6). For each participant we collected age, weight, height, BMI, olfactory and gustatory function, cognitive performance, apathy and fatigue. Results: Our data showed that 61.9% (n = 39) of PD patients had hyposmia, while 38.1% (n = 24) had anosmia. In PD patients, we observed a significant effect of Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), apathy, odor threshold, sweet perception and fatigue on weight regulation. Instead, there was no significant effect for depression and levodopa equivalent daily dosage (LEDD). Conclusion: Our results suggest that PD non-motor symptoms such as olfactory/gustatory deficits and mood disorders may influence body weight.Brain Sci. 2020, 10, 218 2 of 10 function has been observed [13,14]. Subjects with olfactory dysfunction typically show problems with food intake, reduced enjoyment in social life and become more prone to apathy and depression [15].The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of olfactory and gustatory dysfunction, apathy, fatigue, depression and motor symptoms on body weight in PD patients. Materials and Methods PatientsWe evaluated 112 participants (57 men and 55 women) in this study, 63 PD patients (mean age ± SD, 69.2 ± 10.1) and 49 healthy controls (mean age ± SD, 68 ± 9.6). In this study, 12 patients from our previous studies [16,17] were enrolled. Data collection started from September 2018 to October 2019 and further participants were recruited at the Movement Disorders Center of the University of Cagliari during regular out-patient follow-up examination. PD was diagnosed according to Gelb criteria [18] and United Kingdom Parkinson's Disease Society Brain Bank criteria [19].Controls were identified among relatives of non-Parkinsonian patients attending the out-patient department during the same period without evidence of any neurological disease. Exclusion criteria were atypical Parkinsonism, dementia, psychiatric conditions interfering with study participation, and chronic/acute rhinosinusitis. In order to evaluate weight differences between patients and controls all participants were divided into two age groups: 45-65 years (n = 44), and ≥ 66 years (n = 68).

The hormone melatonin influences oral health through a variety of actions, such as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, immunomodulatory and antitumour. Many of these melatonin functions are mediated by a family of membrane receptors expressed in the oral epithelium and salivary glands. Using immunoblotting and immunohistochemistry, recent studies have shown that the melatonin membrane receptors, MT1 and MT2, are present in rat and human salivary glands. To date, no investigation has dealt with the ultrastructural distribution of the melatonin receptors. This was the aim of the present study, using the immunogold method applied to the human parotid gland. Reactivity to MT1 and, with less intensity, to MT2 appeared in the secretory granules of acinar cells and in the cytoplasmic vesicles of both acinar and ductal cells. Plasma membranes were also stained, albeit slightly. The peculiar intracytoplasmic distribution of these receptors may indicate that there is an uptake/transport system for melatonin from the circulation into the saliva.

Using specimens of human submandibular glands, we have investigated in vitro the morphological modifications induced by clozapine, a dibenzodiazepine derivative that is used in psychotic patients and that provokes hypersalivation, a side-effect of therapy. The effects of the drug, used alone or in combination with carbachol, have been compared with those observed after treatment with drugs acting on specific receptors. To quantify the response to stimulation, we have calculated (with statistical methods) the number of microvilli and microbuds (corresponding to pits seen in images obtained by transmission electron microscopy) per square micrometre of the cytoplasmic surface of the intercellular canaliculi luminal membrane in images obtained by high-resolution scanning electron microscopy. Clozapine, when directly acting on human submandibular specimens, induces a small secretory response in serous cells; this is partially decreased by muscarinic and adrenergic antagonists and by combined incubation with carbachol, thus confirming its behaviour as a partial agonist to muscarinic receptors. We also suggests that the drug acts on the nerve terminals contained within the glandular specimens.

In herbivorous insects, host selection involves various sensory modalities (sight, smell, taste), but the contact chemoreceptors capable of detecting stimuli both from host and non‐host plants play an important role in the final steps of oviposition behavior. Female butterflies scratch and drum the leaf surface and taste the compounds present in plant saps with their tarsal chemosensilla. We assumed that tarsal taste sensitivity may be related to the breadth of host selection in ovipositing females of Papilio hospitonGéné (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae). The spike activity of tarsal taste basiconic sensilla was recorded in response to stimulation with NaCl, bitter compounds, and carbohydrates, with the aim of characterizing the gustatory receptor neurons (GRNs) and of comparing the response patterns in the light of differences in acceptability of host plants. Then we studied the sensitivity of GRNs to saps of the host plants Ferula communis L., Peucedanum paniculatumLoisel, Pastinaca latifolia (Duby) DC. (all Apiaceae), and Ruta lamarmorae Bacch., Brullo et Giusso (Rutaceae), and evaluated the relationship between taste sensitivity and oviposition preference. The results indicate that (1) each sensillum houses sugar‐, bitter‐, and salt‐sensitive cells; (2) the spike activity of the gustatory neurons in response to plant saps produces a different response pattern across all active GRNs; and (3) the number of eggs laid on each plant is highest on F. communis and lowest on R. lamarmorae. These results suggest that the varying activity of the tarsal GRNs may affect host plant acceptability and that ovipositing females of P. hospiton seem to be able to discriminate between host plants.