Pentraxin 3, a new biomarker for the diagnosis and management of PJI in primary and revision hip arthroplasty.

Unlabelled: Background/Aim of the study: The periprosthetic or superficial site infections are one of the most catastrophic and difficult to manage complications following total hip arthroplasty. Recently, in addition to well know systemic markers of inflammation, the blood and synovial fluid biomarkers are focused to have a possible role in the infection diagnosis. The long Pentraxin 3 (PTX3) seems to be a sensitive biomarker of acute phase inflammation.

Metastatic Dissemination: Role of Tumor-Derived Extracellular Vesicles and Their Use as Clinical Biomarkers.

Cancer is a major cause of mortality in humans; often, rather than the primary tumor, it is the presence of metastases that are the cause of death. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are small structures released by both normal and cancer cells; regarding the latter, they have been demonstrated to modulate almost all cancer-related processes, such as invasion, angiogenesis induction, drug resistance, and immune evasion. In the last years, it has become clear how EVs are widely involved in metastatic dissemination as well as in pre-metastatic niche (PMN) formation.

Cancer Three-Dimensional Spheroids Mimic In Vivo Tumor Features, Displaying "Inner" Extracellular Vesicles and Vasculogenic Mimicry.

The role of extracellular vesicles (EVs) as mediators of cell-to-cell communication in cancer progression is widely recognized. In vitro studies are routinely performed on 2D culture models, but recent studies suggest that 3D cultures could represent a more valid model. Human ovarian cancer cells CABA I were cultured by the hanging drop method to form tumor spheroids, that were moved to low adhesion supports to observe their morphology by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and to isolate the EVs.

Tumor-Derived Extracellular Vesicles Activate Normal Human Fibroblasts to a Cancer-Associated Fibroblast-Like Phenotype, Sustaining a Pro-Tumorigenic Microenvironment.

Fibroblasts in the tumor microenvironment have been proven to actively participate in tumor progression; they can be "educated" by cancer cells acquiring an activated state and, as such, are identified as cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs); CAFs, in turn, remodel tumor stroma to be more advantageous for cancer progression by modulating several processes, including angiogenesis, immunosuppression, and drug access, presumably driving the chemoresistance. That is why they are believed to hamper the response to clinical therapeutic options. The communication between cancer cells and fibroblasts can be mediated by extracellular vesicles (EVs), composed of both exosomes (EXOs) and microvesicles (MVs).

Development of a new fetal growth curve from a large sample of Italian population.

Background: Intrauterine growth curves are considered an essential instrument in prenatal medicine for an appropriate auxological classification of fetuses and they have a great importance in clinical practice. Nowadays, in Italy a national curve published in 1975, is the most used. It Is based on birth weights of 8458 newborns from physiological pregnancies.

A multicenter study on the appropriateness of hospitalization in obstetric wards: application of Obstetric Appropriateness Evaluation Protocol (Obstetric AEP).

The cross-sectional study has been based on the implementation of the Obstetric Appropriateness Evaluation Protocol (OAEP) in seven hospitals to determine inappropriate hospital admissions and days of stay. The outcomes were: inappropriateness of admission and "percentage of inappropriateness" for one hospitalization. A total number of 2196 clinical records were reviewed.