No abstract

Our results strongly support the hypothesis of a pivotal role of innate immunity in type-A Stanford AAD.

Pre-treatment with levosimendan in patients undergoing surgical myocardial revascularization resulted in less myocardial injury, a reduction in tracheal intubation time, less requirement for inotropic support, and a shorter length of ICU stay.

Patients receiving a short infusion of levosimendan before CABG showed evidence of less myocardial damage, suggestive of a preconditioning effect. Larger outcome studies are thus indicated to confirm benefit.

The geologic study of the Apulian Tavoliere plain (Apulia región, southern Italy) is extremely difficult due to the scarcity of outcrops and fauna that could be used for dating. The survey inprogressof the 1:50,000 scale geological sheetno. 409 "Zapponeta" (including the coastal zone of the Apulian Tavoliere) has prompted us to tackle this problem by using a large set of borehole data and the AAR dating method applied to ostracod shells, which are capable of colonizing all types of environment as long as there is water. This alternative approach has allowed us to recognise nine stratigraphic units or synthems and, for the first time in this área, to date them, and to find a correlation between them and the cycles of sea level variation. The recognised stratigraphic units are: the Coppa Nevigata sands (NEA; middle Pleistocene: MIS 17-16), argíüe subappennine unit (ASP; middle Pleistocene: MIS 15-13), the Coppa Nevigata synthem (NVI; middle Pleistocene: MIS 11), the Arriendóla subsynthem (MLMi; middle Pleistocene: MIS 11), an undifferentiated continental unit (UCI; middle Pleistocene: MIS 8-7), the Foggia synthem (TGF; middlelate Pleistocene: MIS 6), the Carapelle and Cervaro streams synthem (RPL; late Pleistocene: MIS 5-3), and the Inacquata farm synthem (NAQ; Holocene). Within the RPL unit, a buried Cladocora caespitosa bioherm referable to MIS 5.5, lacking in warm fauna, and in which the coral is embedded in clay has been found in some boreholes. This is the first finding of Tyrrhenian deposits with C. caespitosa along the Italian Adriatic coast; the presence of this coral in clayey sediments, a very uncommon occurrence, strengthens the hypothesis that the major fossil reefs grew in coastal waters that were characterised by alluvial inputs of fine sediments, higher turbidity, and higher temperature than today. In addition, on the basis of the current evidence, some consideration about the fauna of the MIS 5.5 layer allows us to hypothesise that the Adriatic Sea underwent a more modérate warming compared to that of the Ionian and Tyrrhenian seas. Instead, the finding in the NVI unit of a tropical lagoonal deposit with stromatolites referred to MIS 11 proves that the warming in this stage was undoubtedly greater than that of MIS 5.5. The MM4 borehole, which goes through the MIS 5 layers of the RPL unit, made it possible to recognise two marine phases during MIS 5: the first is referable to the MIS 5.5-5.3 interval, and the second to MIS 5.1. MIS 5.2 is marked by land emersión, whereas no evidence of land emersión between MIS 5.5 and 5.3 has been found. Also for the first time in this área, uplifting and subsiding áreas have been recognised and the vertical movements assessed. In general, the data suggest that the Garganic Apulian foreland and the Amendola highland experienced an uplift, while the central-southern part of the study área, belonging to the Apulian Tavoliere plain, suffered a subsidence with rates increasing from north-northwest to south-southeast. In particular, the finding of the MIS 5.5 bu...

The role of adiponectin and epicardial adipose tissue in coronary artery disease (CAD) is a subject of debate. Whether plasma adiponectin concentration in the coronary circulation is locally modulated by the epicardial fat is still unexplored. We evaluated the hypothesis whether intracoronary plasma adiponectin levels are related to adiponectin expression in epicardial adipose tissue in vivo in patients with CAD and without CAD (non-CAD). We examined 12 patients with CAD who required CABG and 10 patients with non-CAD who underwent cardiac surgery for valve replacement. Plasma levels of adiponectin were measured in peripheral vein circulation and in left coronary artery (LCA) during coronary angiography. Epicardial adipose tissue biopsy for adiponectin protein extraction was performed during cardiac surgery in both CAD and non-CAD subjects. Adiponectin protein expression in epicardial adipose tissue was lower in patients with CAD than in those with non-CAD (0.45+/-0.4 vs. 1.1+/-1.0, p<0.05). LCA plasma adiponectin levels significantly correlated with epicardial adipose tissue adiponectin protein expression (r=0.68, p=0.02) in all subjects. Peripheral adiponectin levels and epicardial fat adiponectin protein expression were the best correlates of LCA adiponectin, r (2)=0.49, p<0.01, p<0.05, respectively). Our study showed that intracoronary adiponectin levels reflect systemic adiponectin levels. Epicardial adipose tissue could partially contribute to adiponectin levels in the coronary circulation.

The objective of our research was to define the main human–environment interactions during the Neolithic period (6500–3700 bc) in the Apulia region of southeastern Italy based on available published and unpublished data. Knowledge of these interactions is crucial to understanding the cultural and social dynamics of the period, particularly concerning the earliest farmers. Using a multidisciplinary approach, paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatological data at the regional and Mediterranean scales were compared with the results of analyses performed on natural deposits and deposits in Neolithic settlements. The following data sets were used: (1) 121 14C dates for settlements, from which probability curves (%) of the Apulian Archaeological Occupation (AAO) were developed; (2) offshore data obtained from analyses performed on two offshore sediment cores drilled in the Adriatic Sea; (3) offsite data from studies conducted in two natural coastal contexts; and (4) onsite archaeobotanical data from 35 settlements. This study allowed us to tentatively define the main climatic features between 6200 and 3700 bc. We identified two dry phases (one between 5000 and 4600 bc and a second that peaked c. 4000 bc) and two wet intervals (one between 6200 and 5500 bc and a second that peaked around 4400 bc). Climate changes appear to have been relatively gradual. The use of archaeobotanical data allowed us to determine a direct link between paleoclimatic and archaeological sequences. These data highlight the variations in agricultural strategies (species used and harvest times) as humans responded to changes in the rainfall regime.

rFVIIa was successfully used as an additional therapy both during and after acute aortic dissection surgery with deep hypothermic circulatory arrest, when bleeding was refractory to conventional methods. Randomized studies are necessary to confirm the safety and efficacy of rFVIIa in this setting.