Duration of Disease and Long-Term Outcomes in Patients With Difficult-To-Treat Recurrent Pericarditis: A Chronic Condition Treated With Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs, Colchicine, Corticosteroids, and Anti-Interleukin-1 Agents.

Objective: We aimed to investigate the remission rate and disease duration in idiopathic or post-cardiac injury pericarditis and risk factors for disease duration and anti-interleukin-1 (IL-1) agent discontinuation.

Methods: This was a multicenter, longitudinal, observational study including 370 patients (51.4% female).

The role of elasticity on adhesion and clustering of neurons on soft surfaces.

The question of whether material stiffness enhances cell adhesion and clustering is still open to debate. Results from the literature are seemingly contradictory, with some reports illustrating that adhesion increases with surface stiffness and others suggesting that the performance of a system of cells is curbed by high values of elasticity. To address the role of elasticity as a regulator in neuronal cell adhesion and clustering, we investigated the topological characteristics of networks of neurons on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) surfaces - with values of elasticity (E) varying in the 0.

The Triglycerides and Glucose (TyG) Index Is Associated with 1-Hour Glucose Levels during an OGTT.

Background And Objectives: Among individuals with normal glucose tolerance (NGT), subjects with high levels of plasma glucose (≥155 mg/dL) at sixty minutes during an oral glucose tolerance test (1h-OGTT) are at an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes. We investigated the association between the triglycerides and glucose (TyG) index, a novel marker of insulin resistance, with 1h-OGTT glucose plasma concentrations.

Material And Methods: 1474 non-diabetic Caucasian subjects underwent a 75 g OGTT and were divided into two groups according to the cutoff 1h-OGTT plasma glucose < 155 mg/dL (NGT-1h-low) and ≥ 155 mg/dL (NGT-1h-high).

Wall-free droplet microfluidics for probing biological processes by high-brilliance X-ray scattering techniques.

Here we review probing biological processes initiated by the deposition of droplets on surfaces by micro- and nanobeam X-ray scattering techniques using synchrotron radiation and X-ray free-electron laser sources. We review probing droplet evaporation on superhydrophobic surfaces and reactions with substrates, basics of droplets deposition and flow simulations, droplet deposition techniques and practical experience at a synchrotron beamline. Selected applications with biological relevance will be reviewed and perspectives for the latest generation of high-brilliance X-ray sources discussed.

Optimization of High-Density Fe-Au Nano-Arrays for Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy of Biological Samples.

The method of realizing nanostructures using porous alumina templates has attracted interest due to the precise geometry and cheap cost of nanofabrication. In this work, nanoporous alumina membranes were utilized to realize a forest of nanowires, providing a bottom-up nanofabrication method suitable for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). Gold and iron were electroplated through the straight channels of the membrane.

Size-Exclusion Particle Separation Driven by Micro-Flows in a Quasi-Spherical Droplet: Modelling and Experimental Results.

Aqueous solution droplets are supported quasi contact-free by superhydrophobic surfaces. The convective flow in evaporating droplets allows the manipulation and control of biological molecules in solution. In previous works, super-hydrophobic drops on nano-patterned substrates have been used to analyze otherwise undetectable species in extremely low concentration ranges.

Labile PT-INR in a Covid-19 Patient Under Long-term Vitamin K Antagonist Therapy: a Case Report.

The COronaVIrus Disease-19 (COVID-19) has been associated with thromboembolic complications, but evidence on its impact on hemorrhagic risk are still scarce. We describe a case of COVID-19 with hemorrhagic complication in the post-acute phase of the disease. The patient was a 93-year-old woman admitted to a post-acute care unit for COVID-19 patients in northern Italy.

Cell Theranostics on Mesoporous Silicon Substrates.

The adhesion, proliferation, and migration of cells over nanomaterials is regulated by a cascade of biochemical signals that originate at the interface of a cell with a substrate and propagate through the cytoplasm to the nucleus. The topography of the substrate plays a major role in this process. Cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) have a characteristic size of some nanometers and a range of action of some tens of nanometers.

Plasmonic Nanowires for Wide Wavelength Range Molecular Sensing.

In this paper, we propose the use of a standing nanowires array, constituted by plasmonic active gold wires grown on iron disks, and partially immersed in a supporting alumina matrix, for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy applications. The galvanic process was used to fabricate nanowires in pores of anodized alumina template, making this device cost-effective. This fabrication method allows for the selection of size, diameter, and spatial arrangement of nanowires.

Gas and seismicity within the Istanbul seismic gap.

Understanding micro-seismicity is a critical question for earthquake hazard assessment. Since the devastating earthquakes of Izmit and Duzce in 1999, the seismicity along the submerged section of North Anatolian Fault within the Sea of Marmara (comprising the "Istanbul seismic gap") has been extensively studied in order to infer its mechanical behaviour (creeping vs locked). So far, the seismicity has been interpreted only in terms of being tectonic-driven, although the Main Marmara Fault (MMF) is known to strike across multiple hydrocarbon gas sources.

Continuous monitoring of noise levels in the Gulf of Catania (Ionian Sea). Study of correlation with ship traffic.

Acoustic noise levels were measured in the Gulf of Catania (Ionian Sea) from July 2012 to May 2013 by a low frequency (<1000Hz) hydrophone, installed on board the NEMO-SN1 multidisciplinary observatory. NEMO-SN1 is a cabled node of EMSO-ERIC, which was deployed at a water depth of 2100m, 25km off Catania. The study area is characterized by the proximity of mid-size harbors and shipping lanes.

Annual Acoustic Presence of Fin Whale (Balaenoptera physalus) Offshore Eastern Sicily, Central Mediterranean Sea.

In recent years, an increasing number of surveys have definitively confirmed the seasonal presence of fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) in highly productive regions of the Mediterranean Sea. Despite this, very little is yet known about the routes that the species seasonally follows within the Mediterranean basin and, particularly, in the Ionian area. The present study assesses for the first time fin whale acoustic presence offshore Eastern Sicily (Ionian Sea), throughout the processing of about 10 months of continuous acoustic monitoring.

Directed Growth of Virus Nanofilaments on a Superhydrophobic Surface.

The evaporation of single droplets of colloidal tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) nanoparticles on a superhydrophobic surface with a hexagonal pillar-pattern results in the formation of coffee-ring type residues. We imaged surface features by optical, scanning electron, and atomic force microscopies. Bulk features were probed by raster-scan X-ray nanodiffraction.

Networks of neuroblastoma cells on porous silicon substrates reveal a small world topology.

The human brain is a tightly interweaving network of neural cells where the complexity of the network is given by the large number of its constituents and its architecture. The topological structure of neurons in the brain translates into its increased computational capabilities, low energy consumption, and nondeterministic functions, which differentiate human behavior from artificial computational schemes. In this manuscript, we fabricated porous silicon chips with a small pore size ranging from 8 to 75 nm and large fractal dimensions up to Df ∼ 2.

A superhydrophobic chip based on SU-8 photoresist pillars suspended on a silicon nitride membrane.

We developed a new generation of superhydrophobic chips optimized for probing ultrasmall sample quantities by X-ray scattering and fluorescence techniques. The chips are based on thin Si3N4 membranes with a tailored pattern of SU-8 photoresist pillars. Indeed, aqueous solution droplets can be evaporated and concentrated at predefined positions using a non-periodic pillar pattern.

Probing droplets on superhydrophobic surfaces by synchrotron radiation scattering techniques.

Droplets on artificially structured superhydrophobic surfaces represent quasi contact-free sample environments which can be probed by X-ray microbeams and nanobeams in the absence of obstructing walls. This review will discuss basic surface wettability concepts and introduce the technology of structuring surfaces. Quasi contact-free droplets are compared with contact-free droplets; processes related to deposition and evaporation on solid surfaces are discussed.

Differential cell adhesion on mesoporous silicon substrates.

Porous silicon (PSi) is a promising material in several biomedical applications because of its biocompatibility and biodegradability. Despite the plethora of studies focusing on the interaction of cells with micrometer and submicro geometrical features, limited information is available on the response of cells to substrates with a quasi-regular distribution of nanoscopic pores. Here, the behavior of four different cell types is analyzed on two mesoporous (MeP) silicon substrates, with an average pore size of ∼5 (MeP1) and ∼20 nm (MeP2), respectively.

Successful use of central venous catheter as permanent hemodialysis access: 84-month follow-Up in lucania.

Cuffed tunneled venous access catheters are commonly used for temporary and permanent access in hemodialysis (HD) patients. These catheters serve an essential role in providing permanent access in subjects in whom all other access options have been exhausted. The predominant complications are catheter thrombosis, catheter fibrin sheating and infection.