Delivery mode and risk of intraventricular hemorrhage: A retrospective single-center study on 1760 preterm infants of less than 32 weeks.

Objective: To evaluate the association between delivery mode and intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) in infants with a gestational age (GA) < 32 weeks.

Study Design: We retrospectively reviewed data of 1760 infants with a GA between 24 and 31 weeks/days born between 01.01.

In-beam PET treatment monitoring of carbon therapy patients: Results of a clinical trial at CNAO.

Purpose: Carbon ion therapy treatments can be monitored non-invasively with in-beam Positron Emission Tomography (PET). At CNAO the INSIDE in-beam PET scanner has been used in a clinical trial (NCT03662373) to monitor cancer treatments with proton and carbon therapy. In this work we present the analysis results of carbon therapy data, acquired during the first phase of the clinical trial, analyzing data of nine patients treated at CNAO for various malignant tumors in the head-and-neck region.

Inguinoscrotal Hernia, a Possible Cause of Rapidly Developing Fetal Scrotal Mass: Case Report and Literature Update.

Inguinoscrotal hernia is a common pediatric disease but a rare condition in the fetus. We present a case, from our institution, of fetal inguinoscrotal hernia with possible rapid development. In addition to our case, we present a literature update on fetal inguinoscrotal hernia in order to enhance the ability to recognize it from the other scrotal masses on ultrasound.

Few-seconds range verification with short-lived positron emitters in carbon ion therapy.

In-beam PET (Positron Emission Tomography) is one of the most precise techniques for in-vivo range monitoring in hadron therapy. Our objective was to demonstrate the feasibility of a short irradiation run for range verification before a carbon-ion treatment. To do so a PMMA target was irradiated with a 220 MeV/u carbon-ion beam and annihilation coincidences from short-lived positron emitters were acquired after irradiations lasting 0.

The dawn of spatial omics.

Spatial omics has been widely heralded as the new frontier in life sciences. This term encompasses a wide range of techniques that promise to transform many areas of biology and eventually revolutionize pathology by measuring physical tissue structure and molecular characteristics at the same time. Although the field came of age in the past 5 years, it still suffers from some growing pains: barriers to entry, robustness, unclear best practices for experimental design and analysis, and lack of standardization.

Antenatal Diagnosis and Management of Fetal Intestinal Volvulus: Case Series and Literature Review.

Fetal intestinal volvulus is a rare condition that can lead to hemorrhage, bowel necrosis, and urgent surgical treatment after birth. Thus, prompt diagnosis and treatment are essential to avoiding fetal or neonatal demise. Prenatal ultrasound is a keystone tool in the diagnostic course.

From a genome-wide screen of RNAi molecules against SARS-CoV-2 to a validated broad-spectrum and potent prophylaxis.

Expanding the arsenal of prophylactic approaches against SARS-CoV-2 is of utmost importance, specifically those strategies that are resistant to antigenic drift in Spike. Here, we conducted a screen of over 16,000 RNAi triggers against the SARS-CoV-2 genome, using a massively parallel assay to identify hyper-potent siRNAs. We selected Ten candidates for in vitro validation and found five siRNAs that exhibited hyper-potent activity (IC50 < 20 pM) and strong blockade of infectivity in live-virus experiments.

Mouse primordial germ-cell-like cells lack piRNAs.

PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) are small RNAs bound by PIWI-clade Argonaute proteins that function to silence transposable elements (TEs). Following mouse primordial germ cell (mPGC) specification around E6.25, fetal piRNAs emerge in male gonocytes from E13.

GPU-accelerated Monte Carlo simulation of electron and photon interactions for radiotherapy applications.

. The Monte Carlo simulation software is a valuable tool in radiation therapy, in particular to achieve the needed accuracy in the dose evaluation for the treatment plans optimisation. The current challenge in this field is the time reduction to open the way to many clinical applications for which the computational time is an issue.

range verification analysis with in-beam PET data for patients treated with proton therapy at CNAO.

Morphological changes that may arise through a treatment course are probably one of the most significant sources of range uncertainty in proton therapy. Non-invasive treatment monitoring is useful to increase treatment quality. The INSIDE in-beam Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanner performs range monitoring in proton and carbon therapy treatments at the National Center of Oncological Hadrontherapy (CNAO).

Genome wide screen of RNAi molecules against SARS-CoV-2 creates a broadly potent prophylaxis.

Expanding the arsenal of prophylactic approaches against SARS-CoV-2 is of utmost importance, specifically those strategies that are resistant to antigenic drift in Spike. Here, we conducted a screen with over 16,000 RNAi triggers against the SARS-CoV-2 genome using a massively parallel assay to identify hyper-potent siRNAs. We selected 10 candidates for validation and found five siRNAs that exhibited hyper-potent activity with IC50<20pM and strong neutralisation in live virus experiments.

A Data-Driven Fragmentation Model for Carbon Therapy GPU-Accelerated Monte-Carlo Dose Recalculation.

The advent of Graphics Processing Units (GPU) has prompted the development of Monte Carlo (MC) algorithms that can significantly reduce the simulation time with respect to standard MC algorithms based on Central Processing Unit (CPU) hardware. The possibility to evaluate a complete treatment plan within minutes, instead of hours, paves the way for many clinical applications where the time-factor is important. FRED (Fast paRticle thErapy Dose evaluator) is a software that exploits the GPU power to recalculate and optimise ion beam treatment plans.

Deep Seated Tumour Treatments With Electrons of High Energy Delivered at FLASH Rates: The Example of Prostate Cancer.

Different therapies are adopted for the treatment of deep seated tumours in combination or as an alternative to surgical removal or chemotherapy: radiotherapy with photons (RT), particle therapy (PT) with protons or even heavier ions like C, are now available in clinical centres. In addition to these irradiation modalities, the use of Very High Energy Electron (VHEE) beams (100-200 MeV) has been suggested in the past, but the diffusion of that technique was delayed due to the needed space and budget, with respect to standard photon devices. These disadvantages were not paired by an increased therapeutic efficacy, at least when comparing to proton or carbon ion beams.

Localization of anatomical changes in patients during proton therapy with in-beam PET monitoring: A voxel-based morphometry approach exploiting Monte Carlo simulations.

Purpose: In-beam positron emission tomography (PET) is one of the modalities that can be used for in vivo noninvasive treatment monitoring in proton therapy. Although PET monitoring has been frequently applied for this purpose, there is still no straightforward method to translate the information obtained from the PET images into easy-to-interpret information for clinical personnel. The purpose of this work is to propose a statistical method for analyzing in-beam PET monitoring images that can be used to locate, quantify, and visualize regions with possible morphological changes occurring over the course of treatment.

Biological Impact of Target Fragments on Proton Treatment Plans: An Analysis Based on the Current Cross-Section Data and a Full Mixed Field Approach.

Clinical routine in proton therapy currently neglects the radiobiological impact of nuclear target fragments generated by proton beams. This is partially due to the difficult characterization of the irradiation field. The detection of low energetic fragments, secondary protons and fragments, is in fact challenging due to their very short range.

Monitoring Carbon Ion Beams Transverse Position Detecting Charged Secondary Fragments: Results From Patient Treatment Performed at CNAO.

Particle therapy in which deep seated tumours are treated using C ions (Carbon Ions RadioTherapy or CIRT) exploits the high conformity in the dose release, the high relative biological effectiveness and low oxygen enhancement ratio of such projectiles. The advantages of CIRT are driving a rapid increase in the number of centres that are trying to implement such technique. To fully profit from the ballistic precision achievable in delivering the dose to the target volume an online range verification system would be needed, but currently missing.

Foetal ductus arteriosus constriction unrelated to non-steroidal anti-Inflammatory drugs: a case report and literature review.

Foetal ductus arteriosus (DA) constriction can be found in complex foetal heart malformations, but rarely as an isolated defect. Although many cases of DA constriction are usually related to Non-steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) maternal intake, other causes remain without an established aetiology and are referred to as idiopathic. Recently, a wide range of risks factors or substances (polyphenol-rich foods intake, naphazoline, fluoxetine, caffeine and pesticides) showed a definitive effect upon the pathway of inflammation, causing DA constriction.

Does Head Orientation Influence 3D Facial Imaging? A Study on Accuracy and Precision of Stereophotogrammetric Acquisition.

This study investigates the reliability and precision of anthropometric measurements collected from 3D images and acquired under different conditions of head rotation. Various sources of error were examined, and the equivalence between craniofacial data generated from alternative head positions was assessed. 3D captures of a mannequin head were obtained with a stereophotogrammetric system (Face Shape 3D MaxiLine).

A Novel Approach to Design and Evaluate BNCT Neutron Beams Combining Physical, Radiobiological, and Dosimetric Figures of Merit.

(1) Background:The quality of neutron beams for Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) is currently defined by its physical characteristics in air. Recommendations exist to define whether a designed beam is useful for clinical treatment. This work presents a new way to evaluate neutron beams based on their clinical performance and on their safety, employing radiobiological quantities.

FLUKA simulation of target fragmentation in proton therapy.

In proton therapy, secondary fragments are created in nuclear interactions of the beam with the target nuclei. The secondary fragments have low kinetic energies and high atomic numbers as compared to primary protons. Fragments have a high LET and deposit all their energy close to the generation point.

Inter-fractional monitoring of [Formula: see text]C ions treatments: results from a clinical trial at the CNAO facility.

The high dose conformity and healthy tissue sparing achievable in Particle Therapy when using C ions calls for safety factors in treatment planning, to prevent the tumor under-dosage related to the possible occurrence of inter-fractional morphological changes during a treatment. This limitation could be overcome by a range monitor, still missing in clinical routine, capable of providing on-line feedback. The Dose Profiler (DP) is a detector developed within the INnovative Solution for In-beam Dosimetry in hadronthErapy (INSIDE) collaboration for the monitoring of carbon ion treatments at the CNAO facility (Centro Nazionale di Adroterapia Oncologica) exploiting the detection of charged secondary fragments that escape from the patient.

Biomedical Research Programs at Present and Future High-Energy Particle Accelerators.

Biomedical applications at high-energy particle accelerators have always been an important section of the applied nuclear physics research. Several new facilities are now under constructions or undergoing major upgrades. While the main goal of these facilities is often basic research in nuclear physics, they acknowledge the importance of including biomedical research programs and of interacting with other medical accelerator facilities providing patient treatments.

Initial validation of the diagnostic performance of Thymic-Thoracic Ratio as a marker of conotruncal abnormalities and for prediction of surgical prognosis in fetuses without 22q11.2 deletion.

Aim: The present study aimed to perform an initial validation of the Thymic-Thoracic Ratio as a sonographic marker of conotruncal defects in non-syndromic fetuses and to assess the possible correlation between the grade of thymic hypoplasia and the severity of conotruncal defects.

Methods: The study was conducted between January and June 2018 on singleton pregnant women who underwent fetal echocardiography at our institution. Fetuses with a diagnosis of conotruncal defects without 22q11.

Design of a BNCT irradiation room based on proton accelerator and beryllium target.

Preliminary studies for the design of an accelerator-based BNCT clinical facility are presented. The Beam Shaping Assembly neutron activation was evaluated experimentally and with Monte Carlo simulations. The activations of patient, air and walls in the room, the absorbed doses by the patient and the in-air dose distributions were evaluated.