Polycaprolactone/Starch/Agar Coatings for Food-Packaging Paper: Statistical Correlation of the Formulations' Effect on Diffusion, Grease Resistance, and Mechanical Properties.

Paper is one of the most promising materials for food packaging and wrapping due to its low environmental impact, but surface treatments are often needed to improve its performance, e.g., the resistance to fats and oils.

Landscape of Druggable Molecular Pathways Downstream of Genomic CDH1/Cadherin-1 Alterations in Gastric Cancer.

Loss of CDH1/Cadherin-1 is a common step towards the acquisition of an abnormal epithelial phenotype. In gastric cancer (GC), mutation and/or downregulation of CDH1/Cadherin-1 is recurrent in sporadic and hereditary diffuse GC type. To approach the molecular events downstream of CDH1/Cadherin-1 alterations and their relevance in gastric carcinogenesis, we queried public databases for genetic and DNA methylation data in search of molecular signatures with a still-uncertain role in the pathological mechanism of GC.

Statistical optimization of a sustainable fertilizer composition based on black soldier fly larvae as source of nitrogen.

In the present work, a statistical optimization of a sustainable coating for core-shell NPK (Nitrogen-Phosphorus-Potassium) fertilizers was investigated. The environmental green coating was enriched in nitrogen using a biomass and renewable source, namely the nitrogen rich fraction of black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) (Hermetia Illucens, Diptera: Stratiomyidae) reared on vegetable waste. A rational approach was proposed with the aim of calculating the best formulation of the coating, considering both its manufacturing behavior, such as adhesion to the core, and its physical properties, such as homogeneity or plasticity.

Phase Change Material Evolution in Thermal Energy Storage Systems for the Building Sector, with a Focus on Ground-Coupled Heat Pumps.

The building sector is responsible for a third of the global energy consumption and a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions. Phase change materials (PCMs) have shown high potential for latent thermal energy storage (LTES) through their integration in building materials, with the aim of enhancing the efficient use of energy. Although research on PCMs began decades ago, this technology is still far from being widespread.

Effect of the Rearing Substrate on Total Protein and Amino Acid Composition in Black Soldier Fly.

Insects are becoming increasingly relevant as protein sources in food and feed. The Black Soldier Fly (BSF) is one of the most utilized, thanks to its ability to live on many leftovers. Vegetable processing industries produce huge amounts of by-products, and it is important to efficiently rear BSF on different substrates to assure an economical advantage in bioconversion and to overcome the seasonality of some leftovers.

Wnt (canonical and non canonical) pathways in breast carcinoma with extensive vascular invasion and inflammatory breast carcinoma.

Background: Breast carcinoma with extensive peritumoral vascular invasion (ePVI-BC) is a cancer with massive vascular invasion (>10) detected in more than one slide. This neoplasm shows clinic-pathological affinity with inflammatory breast carcinoma (IBC). In this paper we evaluate their biological relationship through the study of surrogate markers (β-catenin and NFAT5) of Canonical (cWnt) and non-canonical (nWnt) Wnt pathways activation.

Preliminary Study on Sustainable NPK Slow-Release Fertilizers Based on Byproducts and Leftovers: A Design-of-Experiment Approach.

In this study, an organic nitrogen-based coating was developed based on black soldier fly (BSF) prepupae reared on poultry dejections and deposited on ceramic lightweight aggregates (LWAs), containing phosphorous (P) and potassium (K) from agroresidues, leading to a complete nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (NPK) fertilizer. To obtain a resistant coating with good adhesion to LWAs, different plasticizing agents were tested (e.g.

Valorization of seasonal agri-food leftovers through insects.

Most of the leftovers from agricultural productions and industrial processing of vegetables are currently discarded as waste, augmenting production costs and environmental impacts. Black soldier flies (BSF) are non-pest insects that can grow on various types of organic materials. The larvae initially act as fast and efficient bioconverters, before being further valorized as biomass rich in proteins, fats and chitin.

MenACWY-CRM conjugate vaccine booster dose given 4-6 years after priming: Results from a phase IIIb, multicenter, open label study in adolescents and adults.

Background: Vaccination strategies against bacterial meningitis vary across countries. In the United States, a single dose of quadrivalent meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MenACWY) is recommended at 11-12 years of age, with a booster dose approximately 5 years later. We assessed immune responses to a booster dose of MenACWY-CRM vaccine after priming with MenACWY-CRM or MenACWY-D vaccines in adolescents and adults.

One-year antibody persistence and safety of a 4-dose schedule of MenACWY-CRM in healthy infants from South Korea.

Purpose: Results from a post-marketing study to generate evidence on 1-year antibody persistence and safety following vaccination of infants from South Korea with the quadrivalent meningococcal conjugate vaccine MenACWY-CRM.

Materials And Methods: In this phase IV, open-label, multi-center study (NCT02446691), 128 infants received MenACWY-CRM at ages 2, 4, 6, and 12 months. One-year antibody persistence following the full vaccination course was evaluated (primary objective) for the four meningococcal serogroups (Men) by serum bactericidal activity assay using human or rabbit complement (hSBA/rSBA).

Antibody persistence and booster response following MenACWY-CRM vaccination in children as assessed by two different assay methods.

Background: The quadrivalent meningococcal conjugate vaccine MenACWY-CRM has been shown to be immunogenic and well-tolerated in infants and toddlers. We evaluated antibody persistence for up to 4 years after vaccination with MenACWY-CRM in the first years of life and response to a booster dose administered at 60 months of age.

Methods: This was phase 3b, open-label, multicenter extension trial (NCT01148017).

Gene Expression Profiling of Lung Atypical Carcinoids and Large Cell Neuroendocrine Carcinomas Identifies Three Transcriptomic Subtypes with Specific Genomic Alterations.

Introduction: DNA mutational profiling showed that atypical carcinoids (ACs) share alterations with large cell neuroendocrine carcinomas (LCNECs). Transcriptomic studies suggested that LCNECs are composed of two subtypes, one of which shares molecular anomalies with SCLC. The missing piece of information is the transcriptomic relationship between ACs and LCNECs, as a direct comparison is lacking in the literature.

Rational design and characterization of bioplastics from Hermetia illucens prepupae proteins.

In this study proteins extracted from prepupae of Hermetia illucens, also known as black soldier fly, are investigated as promising base for a new type of bioplastics for agricultural purposes. Design of experiments techniques are employed to perform a rational study on the effects of different combination of glycerol as plasticizer, citric acid as cross-linking agent and distilled water as solvent on the capability of proteins to form a free-standing film through casting technique, keeping as fixed the quantity of proteins. Glycerol shows interesting properties as plasticizer contributing to the formation of homogenous and free-standing film.

Breadth of coverage against a panel of 110 invasive disease isolates, immunogenicity and safety for 2 and 3 doses of an investigational MenABCWY vaccine in US adolescents - Results from a randomized, controlled, observer-blind phase II study.

Background: Neisseria meningitidis serogroups A, B, C, W and Y cause most meningococcal disease worldwide. An investigational MenABCWY vaccine combining serogroup B antigens and a meningococcal ACWY CRM-glycoconjugate vaccine (MenACWY-CRM) could provide protection against all 5 serogroups. Complement mediated bactericidal activity induced by MenABCWY was tested against a panel of 110 randomly-selected serogroup B strains causing invasive disease in the US to evaluate the vaccine's breadth of coverage (BoC).

MYC-related microRNAs signatures in non-Hodgkin B-cell lymphomas and their relationships with core cellular pathways.

In order to investigate the role of microRNAs in the pathogenesis of different B-cell lymhoma subtypes, we have applied an array-based assay to a series of 76 mixed non-Hodgkin B-cell lymphomas, including Burkitt's lymphoma (BL), diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, primary mediastinal B-cell lymphoma, mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) and follicular lymphoma. Lymphomas clustered according to histological subtypes, driven by two miRNA clusters (the miR-29 family and the miR-17-92 cluster). Since the two miRNA clusters are known to be MYC-regulated, we investigated whether this would be supported in MYC-driven experimental models, and found that this signature separated BL cell lines and a -translocated MCL cell lines from normal germinal center B-cells and other B-cell populations.

Whole-exome sequencing of duodenal neuroendocrine tumors in patients with neurofibromatosis type 1.

Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is a hereditary cancer predisposition syndrome characterized by frequent cutaneous and nervous system abnormalities. Patients with NF1 also have an increased prevalence of multiple gastrointestinal and peripancreatic neoplasms-neuroendocrine tumors of the ampulla that express somatostatin are particularly characteristic of NF1. In this study, we characterize the genetic alterations of a clinically well-characterized cohort of six NF1-associated duodenal neuroendocrine tumors using whole-exome sequencing.

MicroRNA signatures and Foxp3 cell count correlate with relapse occurrence in follicular lymphoma.

First line drug treatment of follicular lymphoma (FL) patients is followed by a highly variable disease-free time before relapse in about one third of patients. No molecular marker is able to predict efficiently the risk of relapse. We investigated the expression profile of microRNAs (miRNAs) by microarrays and of the tumor microenvironment by immunohistochemistry in 26 FLs and 12 reactive lymph nodes (rLN) as reference.

Corrigendum: Whole-genome landscape of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours.

This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/nature21063.

Lung neuroendocrine tumours: deep sequencing of the four World Health Organization histotypes reveals chromatin-remodelling genes as major players and a prognostic role for TERT, RB1, MEN1 and KMT2D.

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) was applied to 148 lung neuroendocrine tumours (LNETs) comprising the four World Health Organization classification categories: 53 typical carcinoid (TCs), 35 atypical carcinoid (ACs), 27 large-cell neuroendocrine carcinomas, and 33 small-cell lung carcinomas. A discovery screen was conducted on 46 samples by the use of whole-exome sequencing and high-coverage targeted sequencing of 418 genes. Eighty-eight recurrently mutated genes from both the discovery screen and current literature were verified in the 46 cases of the discovery screen, and validated on additional 102 LNETs by targeted NGS; their prevalence was then evaluated on the whole series.

RASSF1 tumor suppressor gene in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma: correlation of expression, chromosomal status and epigenetic changes.

Background: The Ras Association Domain Family Member 1 (RASSF1) is one of the most frequently reported methylation-inactivated tumor suppressor genes in primary pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas (PDAC). Limited information is still available about the impact of RASSF1 gene silencing on the expression of its different isoforms in neoplastic cells.

Methods: A series of 96 primary PDAC, with known clinico-pathological parameters, was tested for RASSF1 methylation status by methylation-specific PCR, RASSF1 locus copy number alterations by fluorescence in situ hybridization, and Rassf1a protein expression by immunohistochemistry.

A Cross-Species Analysis in Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors Reveals Molecular Subtypes with Distinctive Clinical, Metastatic, Developmental, and Metabolic Characteristics.

Unlabelled: Seeking to assess the representative and instructive value of an engineered mouse model of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PanNET) for its cognate human cancer, we profiled and compared mRNA and miRNA transcriptomes of tumors from both. Mouse PanNET tumors could be classified into two distinctive subtypes, well-differentiated islet/insulinoma tumors (IT) and poorly differentiated tumors associated with liver metastases, dubbed metastasis-like primary (MLP). Human PanNETs were independently classified into these same two subtypes, along with a third, specific gene mutation-enriched subtype.

Reporting tumor molecular heterogeneity in histopathological diagnosis.

Background: Detection of molecular tumor heterogeneity has become of paramount importance with the advent of targeted therapies. Analysis for detection should be comprehensive, timely and based on routinely available tumor samples.

Aim: To evaluate the diagnostic potential of targeted multigene next-generation sequencing (TM-NGS) in characterizing gastrointestinal cancer molecular heterogeneity.