CD36 enrichment in HER2-positive mesenchymal stem cells drives therapy refractoriness in breast cancer.

Background: Growing evidence shows that the reprogramming of fatty acid (FA) metabolism plays a key role in HER2-positive (HER2 +) breast cancer (BC) aggressiveness, therapy resistance and cancer stemness. In particular, HER2 + BC has been defined as a "lipogenic disease" due to the functional and bi-directional crosstalk occurring between HER2-mediated oncogenic signaling and FA biosynthesis via FA synthase activity. In this context, the functional role exerted by the reprogramming of CD36-mediated FA uptake in HER2 + BC poor prognosis and therapy resistance remains unclear.

Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Incidence in Scleroderma Patients Treated with Bosentan for Digital Ulcers: Evidence from the Italian SPRING Registry.

Objective: Bosentan (BOS) is approved for treating pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and preventing digital ulcers (DU) in systemic sclerosis (SSc). Our study aimed to evaluate whether BOS prescribed for DU could reduce the incidence of PAH in a large SSc cohort from the SPRING registry.

Methods: Patients with SSc from the SPRING registry, meeting ACR/EULAR 2013 classification criteria with data on PAH onset, DU status, BOS exposure, and at least a one-year follow-up between 2015 and 2020, and no known PAH at baseline were included.

Hypogammaglobulinemia and severe infections in Multiple Sclerosis patients on anti-CD20 agents: A multicentre study.

Background: Hypogammaglobulinemia (HG) is a known side effect of treatment with anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies, and it is associated with the risk of infections.

Objectives: Aim of this retrospective multicentre study was to assess the frequency of HG in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder patients treated with Ocrelizumab or Rituximab and its association with the occurrence of severe infections (SI). Furthermore, predictors of HG and SI were sought.

Admixture Mapping of Chronic Kidney Disease and Risk Factors in Hispanic/Latino Individuals From Central America Country of Origin.

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is highly prevalent in Central America, and genetic factors may contribute to CKD risk. To understand the influences of genetic admixture on CKD susceptibility, we conducted an admixture mapping screening of CKD traits and risk factors in US Hispanic and Latino individuals from Central America country of origin.

Methods: We analyzed 1023 participants of HCHS/SOL (Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos) who reported 4 grandparents originating from the same Central America country.

Breast cancer patient-derived organoids for the investigation of patient-specific tumour evolution.

Background: A reliable preclinical model of patient-derived organoids (PDOs) was developed in a case study of a 69-year-old woman diagnosed with breast cancer (BC) to investigate the tumour evolution before and after neoadjuvant chemotherapy and surgery. The results were achieved due to the development of PDOs from tissues collected before (O-PRE) and after (O-POST) treatment.

Methods: PDO cultures were characterized by histology, immunohistochemistry (IHC), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), confocal microscopy, flow cytometry, real-time PCR, bulk RNA-seq, single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) and drug screening.

A Large-Scale Genome-Wide Study of Gene-Sleep Duration Interactions for Blood Pressure in 811,405 Individuals from Diverse Populations.

Although both short and long sleep duration are associated with elevated hypertension risk, our understanding of their interplay with biological pathways governing blood pressure remains limited. To address this, we carried out genome-wide cross-population gene-by-short-sleep and long-sleep duration interaction analyses for three blood pressure traits (systolic, diastolic, and pulse pressure) in 811,405 individuals from diverse population groups. We discover 22 novel gene-sleep duration interaction loci for blood pressure, mapped to genes involved in neurological, thyroidal, bone metabolism, and hematopoietic pathways.

Mapping dysfunctional circuits in the frontal cortex using deep brain stimulation.

Frontal circuits play a critical role in motor, cognitive and affective processing, and their dysfunction may result in a variety of brain disorders. However, exactly which frontal domains mediate which (dys)functions remains largely elusive. We studied 534 deep brain stimulation electrodes implanted to treat four different brain disorders.

Role of Daytime Continuous Polysomnography in the Diagnosis of Pediatric Narcolepsy Type 1.

Background And Objectives: Narcolepsy type 1 (NT1) is still largely underdiagnosed or diagnosed too late in children. Difficulties in obtaining rapid and reliable diagnostic evaluations of the condition in clinical practice partially explain this problem. Predictors of NT1 include cataplexy and sleep-onset REM periods (SOREMPs), documented during nocturnal polysomnography (N-PSG) or through the multiple sleep latency test (MSLT), although low CSF hypocretin-1 (CSF hcrt-1) is the definitive biological disease marker.

Halide Perovskite Artificial Solids as a New Platform to Simulate Collective Phenomena in Doped Mott Insulators.

The development of quantum simulators, artificial platforms where the predictions of many-body theories of correlated quantum materials can be tested in a controllable and tunable way, is one of the main challenges of condensed matter physics. Here we introduce artificial lattices made of lead halide perovskite nanocubes as a new platform to simulate and investigate the physics of correlated quantum materials. We demonstrate that optical injection of quantum confined excitons in this system realizes the two main features that ubiquitously pervade the phase diagram of many quantum materials: collective phenomena, in which long-range orders emerge from incoherent fluctuations, and the excitonic Mott transition, which has one-to-one correspondence with the insulator-to-metal transition described by the repulsive Hubbard model in a magnetic field.

Atypical ductal hyperplasia on vacuum-assisted breast biopsy: a scoring system to predict the risk of upgrade to malignancy.

Rationale And Objectives: Our multicentric study analysed clinical, radiologic and pathologic features in patients with atypical ductal hyperplasia (ADH) diagnosed with vacuum-assisted biopsy (VAB), to identify factors associated with the risk of upgrade, to develop a scoring system to support decision making.

Materials And Methods: Patients with ADH on VAB under stereotactic/tomosynthesis guidance (2012-2022) were eligible. Inclusion criteria were availability of surgical histopathological examination of the entire lesion or radiologic follow-up (FUP) ≥ 24 months.

Interplay Between Chronic Kidney Disease, Hypertension, and Stroke: Insights From a Multivariable Mendelian Randomization Analysis.

Background And Objectives: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) increases the risk of stroke, but the extent through which this association is mediated by hypertension is unknown. We leveraged large-scale genetic data to explore causal relationships between CKD, hypertension, and cerebrovascular disease phenotypes.

Methods: We used data from genome-wide association studies of European ancestry to identify genetic proxies for kidney function (CKD diagnosis, estimated glomerular filtration rate [eGFR], and urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio [UACR]), systolic blood pressure (SBP), and cerebrovascular disease (ischemic stroke and its subtypes and intracerebral hemorrhage).

Prevalence of 2-year "No evidence of disease activity" (NEDA-3 and NEDA-4) in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. A real-world study.

Background: No evidence of disease activity (NEDA) is becoming a gold standard in the evaluation of disease modifying therapies (DMT) in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). NEDA-3 status is the absence of relapses, new activity on brain MRI, and disability progression. NEDA-4 meets all NEDA-3 criteria plus lack of brain atrophy.

A Bibliometric Analysis of the Oligometastatic State over the Last Two Decades: A Shifting Paradigm for Oncology? An AIRO Oligometastatic Study Group.

The term "oligometastasis" represents a relatively novel idea, which denotes a condition characterized by cancer dissemination with a limited number of lesions (usually fewer than five). The aim of the present study is to report a bibliometric analysis of the oligometastatic disease/state, incorporating all relevant studies on the topic for more than 20 years. The research strategy included at least one the terms "Oligmetastases", "Oligometastasis", "Oligometastatic", "Oligoprogression, "Oligoprogressive", "Oligorecurrent", or "Oligorecurrency" in the title, abstract, and/or keywords.

Understanding the genetic complexity of puberty timing across the allele frequency spectrum.

Pubertal timing varies considerably and has been associated with a range of health outcomes in later life. To elucidate the underlying biological mechanisms, we performed multi-ancestry genetic analyses in ~800,000 women, identifying 1,080 independent signals associated with age at menarche. Collectively these loci explained 11% of the trait variance in an independent sample, with women at the top and bottom 1% of polygenic risk exhibiting a ~11 and ~14-fold higher risk of delayed and precocious pubertal development, respectively.

Portable, high speed blood flow measurements enabled by long wavelength, interferometric diffuse correlation spectroscopy (LW-iDCS).

Diffuse correlation spectroscopy (DCS) is an optical technique that can be used to characterize blood flow in tissue. The measurement of cerebral hemodynamics has arisen as a promising use case for DCS, though traditional implementations of DCS exhibit suboptimal signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and cerebral sensitivity to make robust measurements of cerebral blood flow in adults. In this work, we present long wavelength, interferometric DCS (LW-iDCS), which combines the use of a longer illumination wavelength (1064 nm), multi-speckle, and interferometric detection, to improve both cerebral sensitivity and SNR.

Selective Axillary Dissection after Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Patients with Lymph-Node-Positive Breast Cancer (CLYP Study): The Radio-Guided Occult Lesion Localization Technique for Biopsy-Proven Metastatic Lymph Nodes.

(1) Background: To help to refine the accuracy of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) in breast cancer (BC) patients with biopsy-proven nodal disease prior to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT), a method of marking the biopsy-proven positive LN at diagnosis to enable its removal during surgery was proposed. The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of the Radio-Guided Occult Lesion Localization (ROLL) technique of biopsy-proven metastatic LN in nodal staging after NACT among node-positive BC patients. (2) Methods: Patients with invasive BC and biopsy-proven axillary metastases receiving NACT were enrolled.

Mapping Dysfunctional Circuits in the Frontal Cortex Using Deep Brain Stimulation.

Frontal circuits play a critical role in motor, cognitive, and affective processing - and their dysfunction may result in a variety of brain disorders. However, exactly which frontal domains mediate which (dys)function remains largely elusive. Here, we study 534 deep brain stimulation electrodes implanted to treat four different brain disorders.

Improving Adherence to a Home Rehabilitation Plan for Chronic Neck Pain through Immersive Virtual Reality: A Case Report.

Idiopathic chronic neck pain is a highly disabling musculoskeletal condition. Immersive virtual reality shows a promising efficacy in the treatment of chronic cervical pain through the mechanism of distraction from the pain. This case report describes the management of C.

Systemic sclerosis sine scleroderma: clinical and serological features and relationship with other cutaneous subsets in a large series of patients from the national registry 'SPRING' of the Italian Society for Rheumatology.

Objective: To describe demographic, clinical and laboratory features of systemic sclerosis sine scleroderma (ssSSc) in a large multicentre systemic sclerosis (SSc) cohort.

Methods: Data involving 1808 SSc patients from Italian Systemic sclerosis PRogression INvestiGation registry were collected. The ssSSc was defined by the absence of any cutaneous sclerosis and/or puffy fingers.

Biomedical consequences of elevated cholesterol-containing lipoproteins and apolipoproteins on cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular outcomes.

Background: Higher concentrations of cholesterol-containing low-density lipoprotein (LDL-C) increase the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). The association of LDL-C with non-CVD traits remains unclear, as are the possible independent contributions of other cholesterol-containing lipoproteins and apolipoproteins.

Methods: Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy was used to measure the cholesterol content of high density (HDL-C), very low-density (VLDL-C), intermediate-density (IDL-C), as well as low-density lipoprotein fractions, the apolipoproteins Apo-A1 and Apo-B, as well as total triglycerides (TG), remnant-cholesterol (Rem-Chol) and total cholesterol (TC).

A proof-of-concept study on the genomic evolution of Sars-Cov-2 in molnupiravir-treated, paxlovid-treated and drug-naïve patients.

Little is known about SARS-CoV-2 evolution under Molnupiravir and Paxlovid, the only antivirals approved for COVID-19 treatment. By investigating SARS-CoV-2 variability in 8 Molnupiravir-treated, 7 Paxlovid-treated and 5 drug-naïve individuals at 4 time-points (Days 0-2-5-7), a higher genetic distance is found under Molnupiravir pressure compared to Paxlovid and no-drug pressure (nucleotide-substitutions/site mean±Standard error: 18.7 × 10 ± 2.