Regulatory T Cells in Severe Persistent Asthma in the Era of Monoclonal Antibodies Target Therapies.

Asthma is an immunoinflammatory disease characterized by bronchial hyper-reactivity to different external stimuli. New monoclonal target treatments have been developed, but few studies have investigated the role of regulatory T cells in severe asthma and the modulatory effect of biological therapy on regulatory T cell functions. Their dysfunction may contribute to the development and exacerbation of asthma.

Alveolar nitric oxide is related to periostin levels in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Background: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic and progressive diffuse lung disease leading to chronic respiratory failure and death in 3-5 years. Among potential prognostic biomarkers, alveolar nitric oxide (CaNO) and serum periostin showed to predict mortality and disease progression in these patients. The aim of this study is to investigate potential correlations between CaNO and serum periostin and evaluate their prognostic value.

An Update on Antibodies to Necleosome Components as Biomarkers of Sistemic Lupus Erythematosus and of Lupus Flares.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease with variable clinical expression. It is a potentially devastating condition affecting mostly women and leading to clinically unpredictable outcomes. Remission and flares may, in fact, alternate over time and a mild involvement limited to few articular sites may be followed by severe and widespread organ damage.

Local Failure After Accelerated Partial Breast Irradiation with Intraoperative Radiotherapy with Electrons: An Insight into Management and Outcome from an Italian Multicentric Study.

Background: The aim of this work is to evaluate pattern of care and clinical outcome in a large series of patients with in-breast recurrence (IBR), after quadrantectomy and intraoperative radiation therapy with electrons (IOERT) as partial breast irradiation.

Patients And Methods: Patients with IBR after IOERT, treated with salvage surgery ± adjuvant reirradiation (re-RT), were selected from a multiinstitution database. Disease-free survival (DFS), overall survival (OS), cumulative incidence of second IBR, and distant metastases (DM) were estimated.

Serum amyloid A: A potential biomarker of lung disorders.

Serum amyloid A is an acute-phase protein with multiple immunological functions. Serum amyloid A is involved in lipid metabolism, inflammatory reactions, granuloma formation, and cancerogenesis. Additionally, serum amyloid A is involved in the pathogenesis of different autoimmune lung diseases.

The effect of cigarette smoking on bronchoalveolar lavage protein profiles from patients with different interstitial lung diseases.

The proteomic approach applied to the analysis of BAL gives a panorama of the complex network of proteins of different origin and function and their modifications at alveolar level. Cigarette smoking may influence BAL protein composition and it represents the most relevant risk factor for several lung diseases. This review, for the first time, discusses the available literature regarding the effects of cigarette smoking on BAL protein composition of healthy subjects and patients affected by interstitial lung diseases (ILD).

Regional coral disease outbreak overwhelms impacts from a local dredge project.

A repeated-measures coral monitoring program established as part of the PortMiami expansion program provided an unparalleled opportunity to quantify the levels of coral mortality that resulted from both local dredging stress and as a result of climate-related bleaching stress and the subsequent outbreak of a white-plague-like disease (WPD) epizootic. By comparing measured rates of coral mortality at 30 sites throughout Miami-Dade County to predicted mortality levels from three different coral mortality scenarios, we were able to evaluate the most likely source of coral mortality at both the local and regional levels during the 2014-2016 coral bleaching and WPD event. These include scenarios that assume (1) local dredging increases coral disease mortality, (2) regional climate-related stress is the proximal driver of coral disease mortality, and (3) local and regional stressors are both responsible for coral disease mortality.

NK and NKT-like cells in granulomatous and fibrotic lung diseases.

Background The pathogenetic and regulatory roles of natural killer (NK) and natural killer T-like cells in interstitial lung diseases (ILDs), fibrotic and granulomatous of unknown etiology are unclear. Objectives Here we investigated NK and NKT-like cells in peripheral blood (PB) and Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) from patients with ILDs. Method 190 patients (94 male mean age 61 ± 14.

Colonization of floats from submerged derelict fishing gears by four protected species of deep-sea corals and barnacles in the Strait of Messina (central Mediterranean Sea).

The distribution of floating litter in marine waters, influenced by currents and wind drag, often determines the dispersal of its encrusting fauna. In the present paper, we observed for the first time the colonization of rafting floats from abandoned, lost or derelict fishing gears (ALDFG) by the four protected deep-sea species: Errina aspera, Desmophyllum pertusum, Madrepora oculata Pachylasma giganteum. Overall, 41 floats, colonized by deep benthic species, were found stranded on the shore of the Sicilian coast of the Strait of Messina, between 2016 and 2019.

A Dynamic Framework for Modelling Set-Shifting Performances.

Higher-order cognitive functions can be seen as a class of cognitive processes which are crucial in situations requiring a flexible adjustment of behaviour in response to changing demands of the environment. The cognitive assessment of these functions often relies on tasks which admit a dynamic, or longitudinal, component requiring participants to flexibly adapt their behaviour during the unfolding of the task. An intriguing feature of such experimental protocols is that they allow the performance of an individual to change as the task unfolds.

Protein Kinases in the Photic Signaling of the Mammalian Circadian Clock.

Circadian clocks drive biological rhythms in physiology and behavior, providing a selective advantage by enabling organisms to synchronize to the 24 h environmental day. This process depends on light-dark transitions as the main signal that shifts the phase of the clock. In mammals, the light input reaches the master circadian clock in the hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nucleus through glutamatergic afferents from the retina, resulting in phase-shifts of the overt rhythms which depend on the time of the day at which light is applied, leading to changes in the activity of circadian core clock genes (, ).

Baseline haematological and biochemical reference values for healthy male adults from Mali.

Introduction: Haematological reference values are very important for diagnostic orientation and treatment decision. The aim of this study was to establish haematological reference values for Malian healthy adults.

Methods: A cross-sectional study including 161 male Malians aged between 19 and 54 years old was performed.

Investigating the need for routine ultrasound screening to detect developmental dysplasia of the hip in infants born with breech presentation.

Objectives: Breech presentation is a recognized risk factor for developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH). Within North America, there is a lack of consensus on screening guidelines for DDH in infants with a negative physical examination of the hips. This study evaluates the need for ultrasound screening in all breech born infants to detect DDH and whether this is influenced by gender, gestational age and mode of delivery.

Automated Intelligent Microscopy for the Recognition of Decoy Cells in Urine Samples of Kidney Transplant Patients.

Background: BK virus (BKV)-associated nephropathy is definitely involved in allograft failure after kidney transplant. Thus, the need for an early control of viral reactivation in immunocompromised patients is well established. Determination of urinary release of decoy cells (DC) and BK viral load in plasma and urine by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) usually precedes renal biopsy.

Long-term Glomerular Filtration Rate and Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes Stage Stability After Conversion to Once-Daily Tacrolimus in Kidney Transplant Recipients.

Close monitoring of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) is important for early recognition of worsening renal function to prevent further deterioration. Safe conversion from twice-daily tacrolimus (TD-Tac) to once-daily tacrolimus (OD-Tac) has been reported, but the effects on eGFR are contrasting. The aim of our study is to evaluate long-term stability of eGFR after 1:1 conversion from TD-Tac to OD-Tac and the effects on serum cytokine blood levels.

A new nonparametric test for the race model inequality.

The race model inequality (RMI), as first introduced by Miller (Cognitive Psychology, 14, 247-279, 1982), entails an upper bound on the amount of statistical facilitation for reaction times (RTs) attainable by a race model within the redundant-signals paradigm. A violation of RMI may be considered as empirical evidence for a coactivation model rather than a race model. Here, we introduce a novel nonparametric procedure for evaluating the RMI for single participant analysis.

CRELD1 is an evolutionarily-conserved maturational enhancer of ionotropic acetylcholine receptors.

The assembly of neurotransmitter receptors in the endoplasmic reticulum limits the number of receptors delivered to the plasma membrane, ultimately controlling neurotransmitter sensitivity and synaptic transfer function. In a forward genetic screen conducted in the nematode , we identified as a gene required for the synaptic expression of ionotropic acetylcholine receptors (AChR). We demonstrated that the CRLD-1A isoform is a membrane-associated ER-resident protein disulfide isomerase (PDI).

Resurfacing with Ablation of Periorbital Skin Technique: Indications, Efficacy, Safety, and 3D Assessment from a Pilot Study.

Objectives And Background: Nowadays, several approaches for skin rejuvenation of the lower eyelid are available. We present a new technique of resurfacing with ablation of periorbital skin (RAP) performed in a single session.

Methods: This is a retrospective study involving 20 patients showing skin elastosis with or without evidence of the nasojugal fold and atrophic and dyschromic skin or needing a combined approach of transconjuntival lower blepharoplasty for fat bag removal.

Multi-omic network-based interrogation of rat liver metabolism following gastric bypass surgery featuring SWATH proteomics.

Morbidly obese patients often elect for Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB), a form of bariatric surgery that triggers a remarkable 30% reduction in excess body weight and reversal of insulin resistance for those who are type II diabetic. A more complete understanding of the underlying molecular mechanisms that drive the complex metabolic reprogramming post-RYGB could lead to innovative non-invasive therapeutics that mimic the beneficial effects of the surgery, namely weight loss, achievement of glycemic control, or reversal of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). To facilitate these discoveries, we hereby demonstrate the first multi-omic interrogation of a rodent RYGB model to reveal tissue-specific pathway modules implicated in the control of body weight regulation and energy homeostasis.

Observational study of coagulation activation in early breast cancer: development of a prognostic model based on data from the real world setting.

Background: Cancer and coagulation activation are tightly related. The extent to which factors related to both these pathologic conditions concur to patient prognosis intensely animates the inherent research areas. The study herein presented aimed to the development of a tool for the assessment and stratification of risk of death and disease recurrence in early breast cancer.

Adverse events linked with the use of chimeric and humanized anti-CD20 antibodies in children with idiopathic nephrotic syndrome.

Aims: Anti-CD20 antibodies are increasingly being used to treat idiopathic nephrotic syndrome (INS) in children. While they may allow steroid and calcineurin inhibitor withdrawal, repeated infusions of anti-CD20 antibodies are often required to maintain remission. Data on their potential toxicity in INS are needed, to consider repeated infusions.