Explore the vast range of titles available.

The majority of local recurrences, after conservative surgery of breast cancer, occurs in the same anatomical area where the tumour was originally located. For the treatment of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), a new medical device, named BAT-90, (BetaGlue Technologies SpA) has been proposed. BAT-90 is based on the administration of 90 Y β-emitting microspheres, embedded in a bio-compatible matrix. In this work, the Geant4 simulation toolkit is used to simulate BAT-90 as a homogenous cylindrical 90 Y layer placed in the middle of a bulk material. The activity needed to deliver a 20 Gy isodose at a given distance z from the BAT-90 layer is calculated for different device thicknesses, tumour bed sizes and for water and adipose bulk materials. A radiobiological analysis has been performed using both the Poisson and logistic Tumour Control Probability (TCP) models. A range of radiobiological parameters (α and β), target sizes, and densities of tumour cells were considered. Increasing α values, TCP increases too, while, for a fixed α value, TCP decreases as a function of clonogenic cell density. The models predict very solid results in case of limited tumour burden while the activity/dose ratio could be further optimized in case of larger tumour beds.

Hibernation has been proposed as a tool for human space travel. In recent years, a procedure to induce a metabolic state known as “synthetic torpor” in non-hibernating mammals was successfully developed. Synthetic torpor may not only be an efficient method to spare resources and reduce psychological problems in long-term exploratory-class missions, but may also represent a countermeasure against cosmic rays. Here we show the preliminary results from an experiment in rats exposed to ionizing radiation in normothermic conditions or synthetic torpor. Animals were irradiated with 3 Gy X-rays and organs were collected 4 h after exposure. Histological analysis of liver and testicle showed a reduced toxicity in animals irradiated in torpor compared to controls irradiated at normal temperature and metabolic activity. The expression of ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) in the liver was significantly downregulated in the group of animal in synthetic torpor. In the testicle, more genes involved in the DNA damage signaling were downregulated during synthetic torpor. These data show for the first time that synthetic torpor is a radioprotector in non-hibernators, similarly to natural torpor in hibernating animals. Synthetic torpor can be an effective strategy to protect humans during long term space exploration of the solar system.

The possible existence of phenomena beyond the standard model of particle physics at the TeV scale implies the production of highly boosted heavy objects, whose decay products tend to be collimated and can be reconstructed as jets with large radius parameter. Jet substructure analysis techniques have been developed and successfully applied to LHC Run1 data to perform cross section measurements in the high transverse momentum regime and searches for new physics phenomena. An overview of selected physics results obtained by ATLAS and CMS using jet substructure techniques is presented.

The increasing use of 177 Lu-labelled agents for targeted radionuclide cancer therapy highlights the radiation protection challenges in the management of radioactive waste due to 177m Lu impurities. To ensure safe disposal, compliance with clearance criteria must be verified using calibrated systems, such as Hyper Pure Germanium (HPGe) spectrometers. This work aims to validate a customized GEANT4 model of our HPGe system in Marinelli beaker geometry to propose an operational approach properly quantifying 177 Lu and 177m Lu in waste samples. The system's efficiency curve was calculated by modelling gamma sources in the energy range of interest and validated by spectra measurements of 177 Lu and 99m Tc sources. Correction factors accounting for true coincidence summing (TCS) effect were simulated for 177 Lu, 177m Lu and 99m Tc and they were applied to the spectrum measurement of a waste sample model with known activities of 177 Lu and 177m Lu. Thus, an operational approach for activities quantification was tested comparing the results with the nominal values. No significant differences were observed between simulated and measured efficiency values. TCS correction factors are significant only for 177m Lu (1.6 at 112.95 keV and 204.11 keV). Eventually, the proposed framework to quantify 177 Lu in a waste sample allowed to estimate the 177 Lu and 177m Lu component activities within a maximum 16% uncertainty. Results show that the HPGe model could be a powerful resource for a wide range of applications in daily clinical routine and it could be used to build a simple quality assurance program to monitor the detector response constancy in time.

Differential cross sections of \\(t \\overline{t}\\) production have been measured by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. Monte Carlo calculations provide an overall good modeling of all measured distributions, except for the transverse momentum of the top quark, for which all the generators at the next-to-leading order produce harder spectra. These measurements have been also included in the PDF fits, contributing to a sensible reduction of the gluon PDF uncertainty at large \\(x\\).

The LHC experiments are designed to detect large amount of physics events produced with a very high rate. Considering the future upgrades, the data acquisition rate will become even higher and new computing paradigms must be adopted for fast data-processing: General Purpose Graphics Processing Units (GPGPU) is a novel approach based on massive parallel computing. The intense computation power provided by Graphics Processing Units (GPU) is expected to reduce the computation time and to speed-up the low-latency applications used for fast decision taking. In particular, this approach could be hence used for high-level triggering in very complex environments, like the typical inner tracking systems of the multi-purpose experiments at LHC, where a large number of charged particle tracks will be produced with the luminosity upgrade. In this article we discuss a track pattern recognition algorithm based on the Hough Transform, where a parallel approach is expected to reduce dramatically the execution time.

Several allergic and immunologic diseases including asthma, food allergy (FA), chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU), atopic dermatitis (AD), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), systemic sclerosis (SSc), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and Behçet’s disease (BD) are characterized by the involvement of Th2 immunity. Several mediators lead to immunoglobulin (Ig)E production, thus including key cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-4, IL-5, and IL-13. Among them, IL-31 and IL-33 have been recently studied as novel biomarkers and future therapeutic targets for allergic and immunological disorders. IL-31 is a proinflammatory cytokine—it regulates cell proliferation and is involved in tissue remodeling. IL-33, acting through its receptor suppression of tumorigenity (ST2L), is an alarmin cytokine from the IL-1 family, whose expression is mediated by tissue damage. The latter has a pleiotropic effect, as it may modulate specific and innate immune cells functions. To date, several researchers have investigated the involvement of IL-31 and IL-33 in several allergic and immune-mediated diseases. Further studies are needed to understand the future applications of these molecules as novel therapeutic agents. This paper aims to give the readers a complete and updated review of IL-31 and IL-33 involvement among the most common autoimmune and allergic disorders.

Background Metabolic reprogramming is a well-known marker of cancer, and it represents an early event during hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development. The recent approval of several molecular targeted agents has revolutionized the management of advanced HCC patients. Nevertheless, the lack of circulating biomarkers still affects patient stratification to tailored treatments. In this context, there is an urgent need for biomarkers to aid treatment choice and for novel and more effective therapeutic combinations to avoid the development of drug-resistant phenotypes. This study aims to prove the involvement of miR-494 in metabolic reprogramming of HCC, to identify novel miRNA-based therapeutic combinations and to evaluate miR-494 potential as a circulating biomarker. Methods Bioinformatics analysis identified miR-494 metabolic targets. QPCR analysis of glucose 6-phosphatase catalytic subunit (G6pc) was performed in HCC patients and preclinical models. Functional analysis and metabolic assays assessed G6pc targeting and miR-494 involvement in metabolic changes, mitochondrial dysfunction, and ROS production in HCC cells. Live-imaging analysis evaluated the effects of miR-494/G6pc axis in cell growth of HCC cells under stressful conditions. Circulating miR-494 levels were assayed in sorafenib-treated HCC patients and DEN-HCC rats. Results MiR-494 induced the metabolic shift of HCC cells toward a glycolytic phenotype through G6pc targeting and HIF-1A pathway activation. MiR-494/G6pc axis played an active role in metabolic plasticity of cancer cells, leading to glycogen and lipid droplets accumulation that favored cell survival under harsh environmental conditions. High miR-494 serum levels associated with sorafenib resistance in preclinical models and in a preliminary cohort of HCC patients. An enhanced anticancer effect was observed for treatment combinations between antagomiR-494 and sorafenib or 2-deoxy-glucose in HCC cells. Conclusions MiR-494/G6pc axis is critical for the metabolic rewiring of cancer cells and associates with poor prognosis. MiR-494 deserves attention as a candidate biomarker of likelihood of response to sorafenib to be tested in future validation studies. MiR-494 represents a promising therapeutic target for combination strategies with sorafenib or metabolic interference molecules for the treatment of HCC patients who are ineligible for immunotherapy.

Background and Objectives: Gait disorders represent one of the most disabling aspects in multiple sclerosis (MS) that strongly influence patient quality of life. The improvement of walking ability is a primary goal for rehabilitation treatment. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of robot-assisted gait training (RAGT) in association with physiotherapy treatment in patients affected by MS in comparison with ground conventional gait training. Study design: Randomized controlled crossover trial. Materials and Methods: Twenty-seven participants affected by MS with EDSS scores between 3.5 and 7 were enrolled, of whom seventeen completed the study. They received five training sessions per week over five weeks of conventional gait training with (experimental group) or without (control group) the inclusion of RAGT. The patients were prospectively evaluated before and after the first treatment session and, after the crossover phase, before and after the second treatment session. The evaluation was based on the 25-foot walk test (25FW, main outcome), 6 min walk test (6MWT), Tinetti Test, Modified Ashworth Scale, and modified Motricity Index for lower limbs. We also measured disability parameters using Functional Independence Measure and Quality of Life Index, and instrumental kinematic and gait parameters: knee extensor strength, double-time support, step length ratio; 17 patients reached the final evaluation. Results: Both groups significantly improved on gait parameters, motor abilities, and autonomy recovery in daily living activities with generally better results of RAGT over control treatment. In particular, the RAGT group improved more than control group in the 25FW (p = 0.004) and the 6MWT (p = 0.022). Conclusions: RAGT is a valid treatment option that in association with physiotherapy could induce positive effects in MS-correlated gait disorders. Our results showed greater effectiveness in recovering gait speed and resistance than conventional gait training.

Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is a common disease that, in many cases, can be conservatively treated through bracing. High adherence to brace prescription is fundamental to gaining the maximum benefit from this treatment approach. Wearable sensors are available that objectively monitor the brace-wearing time, but their use, combined with other interventions, is poorly investigated. The aims of the current review are as follows: (i) to summarize the real compliance with bracing reported by studies using sensors; (ii) to find out the real brace wearing rate through objective electronic monitoring; (iii) to verify if interventions made to increase adherence to bracing can be effective according to the published literature. We conducted a systematic review of the literature published on Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL, Scopus, CENTRAL, and Web of Science. We identified 466 articles and included examples articles, which had a low to good methodological quality. We found that compliance a greatly varied between 21.8 and 93.9% (weighted average: 58.8%), real brace wearing time varied between 5.7 and 21 h per day (weighted average 13.3), and specific interventions seemed to improve both outcomes, with compliance increasing from 58.5 to 66% and brace wearing increasing from 11.9 to 15.1 h per day. Two comparative studies showed positive effects of stand-alone counseling and information on the sensors’ presence when added to counseling. Sensors proved to be useful tools for objectively and continuously monitoring adherence to therapy in everyday clinical practice. Specific interventions, like the use of sensors, counseling, education, and exercises, could increase compliance. However, further studies using high-quality designs should be conducted in this field.