Addressing transboundary conservation challenges through marine spatial prioritization.

The Adriatic and Ionian Region is an important area for both strategic maritime development and biodiversity conservation in the European Union (EU). However, given that both EU and non-EU countries border the sea, multiple legal and regulatory frameworks operate at different scales, which can hinder the coordinated long-term sustainable development of the region. Transboundary marine spatial planning can help overcome these challenges by building consensus on planning objectives and making the trade-offs between biodiversity conservation and its influence on economically important sectors more explicit.

Resistance detected in PBMCs predicts virological rebound in HIV-1 suppressed patients switching treatment.

Background: Genotypic resistance test (GRT) performed in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) represents a chance to evaluate resistance in virologically suppressed HIV infected patients.

Objectives: To evaluate the impact of baseline resistance detected through PBMC GRT on virological rebound after switching treatment.

Study Design: Baseline genotypic susceptibility scores (GSS) from PBMC GRT (DNA-GSS) and from previous cumulative plasma GRTs (when available, pRNA-GSS) were evaluated.

Tuning Molecular Interactions for Highly Reproducible and Efficient Formamidinium Perovskite Solar Cells via Adduct Approach.

The Lewis acid-base adduct approach has been widely used to form uniform perovskite films, which has provided a methodological base for the development of high-performance perovskite solar cells. However, its incompatibility with formamidinium (FA)-based perovskites has impeded further enhancement of photovoltaic performance and stability. Here, we report an efficient and reproducible method to fabricate highly uniform FAPbI films via the adduct approach.

Topological Arrangement of Cardiac Fibroblasts Regulates Cellular Plasticity.

Rationale: Cardiac fibroblasts do not form a syncytium but reside in the interstitium between myocytes. This topological relationship between fibroblasts and myocytes is maintained throughout postnatal life until an acute myocardial injury occurs, when fibroblasts are recruited to, proliferate and aggregate in the region of myocyte necrosis. The accumulation or aggregation of fibroblasts in the area of injury thus represents a unique event in the life cycle of the fibroblast, but little is known about how changes in the topological arrangement of fibroblasts after cardiac injury affect fibroblast function.

Comparison of coronal leakage of different root canal filling techniques: an ex vivo study.

The aim of this study was to compare the quality of the coronal seal, using an in vitro bacterial invasion test, of three different root canal filling systems. Twenty-seven freshly extracted mandibular premolars were selected and divided into three experimental groups (G1, G2 and G3 n=7) and two control groups (Ct+ and Ct- n=3). All teeth in the experimental groups were prepared using NiTi Mtwo rotating instruments and then the endodontic treatments were completed using the three-tested warm guttapercha root filling techniques: Microseal (G1), Thermafil (G2) and System B (G3).

Outcomes and prognostic factors for postsurgical pulmonary vein stenosis in the current era.

Background: The optimal management and prognostic factors of postsurgical pulmonary vein stenosis remain controversial. We sought to determine current postsurgical pulmonary vein stenosis outcomes and prognostic factors in a multicentric study in the current era.

Methods: Seventy-five patients with postsurgical pulmonary vein stenosis who underwent 103 procedures in 14 European/North American centers (2000-2012) were included retrospectively.

Endovascular Treatment of Very Large and Giant Intracranial Aneurysms: Comparison between Reconstructive and Deconstructive Techniques-A Meta-Analysis.

Background: The safety and efficacy of reconstructive and deconstructive endovascular treatments of very large/giant intracranial aneurysms are not completely clear.

Purpose: Our aim was to compare treatment-related outcomes between these 2 techniques.

Data Sources: A systematic search of 3 data bases was performed for studies published from 1990 to 2017.

Separation of cancer cells using vortical microfluidic flows.

Label-free separation of viable cancer cells using vortical microfluidic flows has been introduced as a feasible cell collection method in oncological studies. Besides the clinical importance, the physics of particle interactions with the vortex that forms in a wall-confined geometry of a microchannel is a relatively new area of fluid dynamics. In our previous work [Haddadi and Di Carlo, J.

Evaluation of PD-L1 expression on vortex-isolated circulating tumor cells in metastatic lung cancer.

Metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a highly fatal and immunogenic malignancy. Although the immune system is known to recognize these tumor cells, one mechanism by which NSCLC can evade the immune system is via overexpression of programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1). Recent clinical trials of PD-1 and PD-L1 inhibitors have returned promising clinical responses.

Elastomeric sensor surfaces for high-throughput single-cell force cytometry.

As cells with aberrant force-generating phenotypes can directly lead to disease, cellular force-generation mechanisms are high-value targets for new therapies. Here, we show that single-cell force sensors embedded in elastomers enable single-cell force measurements with ~100-fold improvement in throughput than was previously possible. The microtechnology is scalable and seamlessly integrates with the multi-well plate format, enabling highly parallelized time-course studies.

Active Control of Inertial Focusing Positions and Particle Separations Enabled by Velocity Profile Tuning with Coflow Systems.

Inertial microfluidics has drawn much attention not only for its diverse applications but also for counterintuitive new fluid dynamic behaviors. Inertial focusing positions are determined by two lift forces, that is, shear gradient and wall-induced lift forces, that are generally known to be opposite in direction in the flow through a channel. However, the direction of shear gradient lift force can be reversed if velocity profiles are shaped properly.

Fast and Label-Free Isolation of Circulating Tumor Cells from Blood: From a Research Microfluidic Platform to an Automated Fluidic Instrument, VTX-1 Liquid Biopsy System.

Tumor tissue biopsies are invasive, costly, and collect a limited cell population not completely reflective of patient cancer cell diversity. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) can be isolated from a simple blood draw and may be representative of the diverse biology from multiple tumor sites. The VTX-1 Liquid Biopsy System was designed to automate the isolation of clinically relevant CTC populations, making the CTCs available for easy analysis.

Continuous and Quantitative Purification of T-Cell Subsets for Cell Therapy Manufacturing Using Magnetic Ratcheting Cytometry.

T-cell-based immunotherapies represent a growing medical paradigm that has the potential to revolutionize contemporary cancer treatments. However, manufacturing bottlenecks related to the enrichment of therapeutically optimal T-cell subpopulations from leukopak samples impede scale-up and scale-out efforts. This is mainly attributed to the challenges that current cell purification platforms face in balancing the quantitative sorting capacity needed to isolate specific T-cell subsets with the scalability to meet manufacturing throughputs.

Multiple high-grade gliomas: epidemiology, management, and outcome. A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Multiple high-grade gliomas (M-HGGs) are well--separated tumors, differentiated as multifocal (MF) and multicentric (MC) by their MRI features. The authors performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of literature examining epidemiology, clinical and radiological characteristics, management, and the overall survival from M-HGGs. According to PRISMA guidelines, a comprehensive review of studies published between January 1990 and January 2017 was carried out.

Enzyme-Free Nucleic Acid Amplification Assay Using a Cellphone-Based Well Plate Fluorescence Reader.

Nucleic acids, DNA and RNA, provide important fingerprint information for various pathogens and have significant diagnostic value; however, improved approaches are urgently needed to enable rapid detection of nucleic acids in simple point-of-care formats with high sensitivity and specificity. Here, we present a system that utilizes a series of toehold-triggered hybridization/displacement reactions that are designed to convert a given amount of RNA molecules (i.e.

Dynamics and phylogenetic relationships of HIV-1 transmitted drug resistance according to subtype in Italy over the years 2000-14.

Background: Transmitted drug-resistance (TDR) remains a critical aspect for the management of HIV-1-infected individuals. Thus, studying the dynamics of TDR is crucial to optimize HIV care.

Methods: In total, 4323 HIV-1 protease/reverse-transcriptase sequences from drug-naive individuals diagnosed in north and central Italy between 2000 and 2014 were analysed.

Probing Cell Adhesion Profiles with a Microscale Adhesive Choice Assay.

In this work, we introduce, to our knowledge, a new set of adhesion-based biomarkers for characterizing mammalian cells. Mammalian cell adhesion to the extracellular matrix influences numerous physiological processes. Current in vitro methods to probe adhesion focus on adhesive force to a single surface, which can investigate only a subcomponent of the adhesive, motility, and polarization cues responsible for adhesion in the 3D tissue environment.

Optofluidic time-stretch quantitative phase microscopy.

Innovations in optical microscopy have opened new windows onto scientific research, industrial quality control, and medical practice over the last few decades. One of such innovations is optofluidic time-stretch quantitative phase microscopy - an emerging method for high-throughput quantitative phase imaging that builds on the interference between temporally stretched signal and reference pulses by using dispersive properties of light in both spatial and temporal domains in an interferometric configuration on a microfluidic platform. It achieves the continuous acquisition of both intensity and phase images with a high throughput of more than 10,000 particles or cells per second by overcoming speed limitations that exist in conventional quantitative phase imaging methods.

Prevalence, genotype distribution and temporal dynamics of human papillomavirus infection in a population in southern Italy.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is considered the most important risk factor for the development of ano-genital region cancer in both women and men. Whereas low-risk genotypes are responsible for cutaneous and genital lesions, high-risk genotypes are associated with ano-genital cancer. The aim of this study was to retrospectively analyse the prevalence, genotype distribution and temporal dynamics of HPV infection in 2312 specimens from 2312 subjects (2149 women and 163 men) who attended the laboratory of molecular biology, UOC Microbiology and Virology, Azienda Ospedaliera-Universitaria, Policlinico of Bari, Italy.

Viro-immunological response of drug-naive HIV-1-infected patients starting a first-line regimen with viraemia >500,000 copies/ml in clinical practice.

Background: Virological success (VS) and immunological reconstitution (IR) of antiretroviral-naive HIV-1-infected patients with pre-therapy viral load (VL) >500,000 copies/ml was assessed after 12 months of treatment according to initial drug-class regimens.

Methods: An observational multicentre retrospective study was performed. VS was defined as the first VL <50 copies/ml from treatment start.

Gα facilitates shortening in human airway smooth muscle by modulating phosphoinositide 3-kinase-mediated activation in a RhoA-dependent manner.

Background And Purpose: PI3K-dependent activation of Rho kinase (ROCK) is necessary for agonist-induced human airway smooth muscle cell (HASMC) contraction, and inhibition of PI3K promotes bronchodilation of human small airways. The mechanisms driving agonist-mediated PI3K/ROCK axis activation, however, remain unclear. Given that G family proteins activate ROCK pathways in other cell types, their role in M muscarinic acetylcholine receptor-stimulated PI3K/ROCK activation and contraction was examined.

Shape-based separation of microalga Euglena gracilis using inertial microfluidics.

Euglena gracilis (E. gracilis) has been proposed as one of the most attractive microalgae species for biodiesel and biomass production, which exhibits a number of shapes, such as spherical, spindle-shaped, and elongated. Shape is an important biomarker for E.