Publications by authors named "L Lastrucci"

Purpose: Data from recently trials have provided practice-changing recommendations in management of the axilla in early breast cancer (eBC). However, further controversies have been raised, resulting in heterogeneous diffusion of these recommendations. Our purpose was to obtain a better homogeneity.

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Article Synopsis
  • Trait-based ecology traditionally focuses on broad axes of trait variation, but this study emphasizes the importance of intraspecific trait variability (ITV) in understanding plant adaptive strategies.
  • By analyzing ITV across 167 species in various habitats in Italy, the research showed that ITV can rotate the axes of trait variation, enhance the variance explained by these axes, and influence the functional structure of trait space, albeit with small and context-dependent effects.
  • The findings call for a careful approach in applying ITV patterns to different traits and environments, providing a framework to better integrate ITV into future trait space analyses.
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Invasive alien species are among the main global drivers of biodiversity loss posing major challenges to nature conservation and to managers of protected areas. The present study applied a methodological framework that combined invasive Species Distribution Models, based on propagule pressure, abiotic and biotic factors for 14 invasive alien plants of Union concern in Italy, with the local interpretable model-agnostic explanation analysis aiming to map, evaluate and analyse the risk of plant invasions across the country, inside and outside the network of protected areas. Using a hierarchical invasive Species Distribution Model, we explored the combined effect of propagule pressure, abiotic and biotic factors on shaping invasive alien plant occurrence across three biogeographic regions (Alpine, Continental, and Mediterranean) and realms (terrestrial and aquatic) in Italy.

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About 60-90% of cancer patients are estimated to develop bone metastases, particularly in the spine. Bone scintigraphy, computed tomography (CT ) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI ) are currently used to assess metastatic bone disease; positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET-CT ) has become more widespread in clinical practice because of its high sensitivity and specificity with about 95% diagnostic accuracy. The most common and well-known radiotracer is 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG); several other PET-radiotracers are currently under investigation for different solid tumors, such as C or FDG-choline and prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-PET/CT for prostate cancer.

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Narrow endemic plants constitute a pivotal group for conservation, being often reduced to a small contingent of individuals and frequently threatened. However, effective conservation actions require reliable basic information about distribution range, ecological requirements, and population traits. Nevertheless, such knowledge results are incomplete or even completely missing for some neglected or recently described plants, such as , a thistle exclusive to the N-Apennines (Italy).

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