Adaptive evolution of flight in butterflies.

The diversity of flying animals suggests that countless combinations of flight morphologies and behaviors have evolved with specific lifestyles, thereby exploiting diverse aerodynamic mechanisms. How morphology, flight behavior, and aerodynamic properties together diversify with contrasting ecology remains to be elucidated. We studied the adaptive codivergence in wing shape, flight behavior, and aerodynamic efficiency among butterflies living in different forest strata by combining high-speed videography in the field with morphometric analyses and aerodynamic modeling.

Setting Up a Medical Oncology Educational Program in Sub-Saharan Africa.

One of the major problems facing healthcare systems in countries with poor socio-economic conditions is the need to strengthen the system through the training of physicians, nurses and other healthcare operators. Partnering with more affluent countries is the key for hospitals in these areas, but such alliances are often based on limited educational exchanges. We present a retrospective study of our experience in building a collaborative relationship between our cancer institute in Italy and a Medical Center in sub-Saharan Africa (Tanzania).

Lineage-specific mechanisms and drivers of breast cancer chemoresistance revealed by 3D biomimetic culture.

To improve the success rate of current preclinical drug trials, there is a growing need for more complex and relevant models that can help predict clinical resistance to anticancer agents. Here, we present a three-dimensional (3D) technology, based on biomimetic collagen scaffolds, that enables the modeling of the tumor hypoxic state and the prediction of in vivo chemotherapy responses in terms of efficacy, molecular alterations, and emergence of resistance mechanisms. The human breast cancer cell lines MDA-MB-231 (triple negative) and MCF-7 (luminal A) were treated with scaling doses of doxorubicin in monolayer cultures, 3D collagen scaffolds, or orthotopically transplanted murine models.

Phase II study of liposomal doxorubicin, docetaxel and trastuzumab in combination with metformin as neoadjuvant therapy for HER2-positive breast cancer.

Background: The aim of this study was to improve activity over single human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-blockade sequential neaodjuvant regimens for HER2-positive breast cancer, by exploiting the concomitant administration of trastuzumab, taxane and anthracycline, while restraining cardiac toxicity with use of liposomal doxorubicin, and by adding metformin, based on preliminary evidence of antitumor activity.

Patients And Methods: This multi-center, single-arm, two-stage phase II trial, assessed the safety and the activity of a new treatment regimen for HER2-positive, early or locally advanced breast cancer. Patients received six 21-day cycles of non-pegylated liposomal doxorubicin, 50 mg/m intravenously (i.

An initiative to assess the quality of Tanzanian cervical cancer specimens for HPV and telomerase detection.

The aim of our study was to assess the quality of Tanzanian cervical cancer specimens, evaluating telomerase alterations and human papilloma virus (HPV) infection in relation to histopathological characteristics since these biomarkers are not routinely analyzed. Thirty-two Tanzanian women with invasive cervical cancer were included in the study. Histopathological classification and all the analyses on tissue, including TERT immunohistochemistry, were performed at IRST IRCCS (Meldola, Italy).