Left bundle branch area pacing using a stylet-driven, retractable-helix lead: Short-term results from a prospective multicenter IDE trial (the BIO-CONDUCT study).

Background: Left bundle branch area pacing (LBBAP) has swiftly emerged as a safe and effective alternative to right ventricular pacing. Limited data exist on the use of retractable-helix, stylet-driven leads for LBBAP.

Objective: The objective of this study was to prospectively evaluate the performance and safety of a stylet-driven pacing lead in a rigorously controlled multicenter trial to support US market application.

Production of donor-derived cytotoxic T lymphocytes with potent anti-leukemia activity for adoptive immunotherapy in high-risk pediatric patients given haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Background Aims: Somatic cell therapy based on the infusion of donor-derived cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) able to recognize patients' leukemia blasts (LB) is a promising approach to control leukemia relapse after allogeneic HSCT. The success of this approach strongly depends on the ex vivo generation of high-quality donor-derived anti-leukemia CTL in compliance with Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP). We previously described a procedure for generating large numbers of donor-derived anti-leukemia CTL through stimulation of CD8-enriched lymphocytes with dendritic cells (DCs) pulsed with apoptotic LB in the presence of interleukin (IL)-12, IL-7 and IL-15.

Predictors of first pass isolation of the pulmonary veins in real world ablations: An analysis of 2671 patients from the REAL-AF registry.

Introduction: During atrial fibrillation ablation (AFA), achievement of first pass isolation (FPI) reflects effective lesion formation and predicts long-term freedom from arrhythmia recurrence. We aim to determine the clinical and procedural predictors of pulmonary vein FPI.

Methods: We reviewed AFA procedures in a multicenter prospective registry of AFA (REAL-AF).

Predictors of bacteremia and death, including immune status, in a large single-center cohort of unvaccinated ICU patients with COVID-19 pneumonia.

Background: We investigated the possible role of the immune profile at ICU admission, among other well characterized clinical and laboratory predictors of unfavorable outcome in COVID-19 patients assisted in ICU.

Methods: Retrospective analysis of clinical and laboratory data collected for all consecutive patients admitted to the ICUs of the General Hospital of Pescara (Abruzzo, Italy), between 1 March 2020 and 30 April 2021, with a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 respiratory failure. Logistic regressions were used to identify independent predictors of bacteremia and mortality.

High-Frequency Low-Tidal Volume Ventilation Improves Long-Term Outcomes in AF Ablation: A Multicenter Prospective Study.

Background: High-frequency, low-tidal-volume (HFLTV) ventilation is a safe and simple strategy to improve catheter stability and first-pass isolation during pulmonary vein (PV) isolation. However, the impact of this technique on long-term clinical outcomes has not been determined.

Objectives: This study sought to assess acute and long-term outcomes of HFLTV ventilation compared with standard ventilation (SV) during radiofrequency (RF) ablation of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF).

The antimicrobial peptide Magainin-2 interacts with BamA impairing folding of membrane proteins.

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are a unique and diverse group of molecules endowed with a broad spectrum of antibiotics properties that are being considered as new alternative therapeutic agents. Most of these peptides are membrane-active molecules, killing bacteria by membrane disruption. However, recently an increasing number of AMPs was shown to enter bacterial cells and target intracellular processes fundamental for bacterial life.

First clinical application of cord blood mesenchymal stromal cells in children with multi-drug resistant nephrotic syndrome.

Background And Objectives: Children with multi-drug resistant idiopathic nephrotic syndrome (MDR-INS) usually progress to end-stage kidney disease with a consistent risk of disease recurrence after transplantation. New therapeutic options are needed for these patients. Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are multipotential non-hematopoietic cells with several immunomodulatory properties and growing clinical applications.

Tools in the Era of Multidrug Resistance in Bacteria: Applications for New Antimicrobial Peptides Discovery.

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are small molecules belonging to innate immunity that act against bacteria, fungi, and viruses. With the spread of bacterial strains resistant to current antibiotics, the scientific community is deeply committed to the identification and study of new molecules with putative antimicrobial activity. In this context, AMPs represent a promising alternative to overcome this problem.

Structural and Functional Characterization of a Novel Recombinant Antimicrobial Peptide from .

Antibiotics are commonly used to treat pathogenic bacteria, but their prolonged use contributes to the development and spread of drug-resistant microorganisms raising the challenge to find new alternative drugs. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are small/medium molecules ranging 10-60 residues synthesized by all living organisms and playing important roles in the defense systems. These features, together with the inability of microorganisms to develop resistance against the majority of AMPs, suggest that these molecules might represent effective alternatives to classical antibiotics.

The Escalating Crisis of Health and Safety Law Enforcement in Great Britain: What Does Brexit Mean?

This paper explores occupational safety and health regulation in Great Britain following the UK's exit from the European Union. In particular, the paper focuses on the credibility of regulatory enforcement. The prospects raised by the UK's exit from the European Union have long been part of a free-market fantasy-even obsession-of right-wing politicians and their ideologues.

Nanoporous-Crystalline Poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene)oxide Aerogels with Selectively Sulfonated Amorphous Phase for Fast VOC Sorption from Water.

This paper describes the preparation and characterization of poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene)oxide (PPO) highly porous monolithic aerogels with a hydrophobic nanoporous-crystalline phase and a hydrophilic sulfonated amorphous phase. The sulfonated aerogels were obtained by the sulfonation of PPO physical gels, followed by the supercritical CO extraction of solvents. WAXD and FTIR analysis showed that the nanoporous-crystalline phase was preserved for a degree of sulfonation up to c.

Interaction of Temporin-L Analogues with the FtsZ Protein.

The research of new therapeutic agents to fight bacterial infections has recently focused on the investigation of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), the most common weapon that all organisms produce to prevent invasion by external pathogens. Among AMPs, the amphibian Temporins constitute a well-known family with high antibacterial properties against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. In particular, Temporin-L was shown to affect bacterial cell division by inhibiting FtsZ, a tubulin-like protein involved in the crucial step of Z-ring formation at the beginning of the division process.

Insect antimicrobial peptides: potential weapons to counteract the antibiotic resistance.

Misuse and overuse of antibiotics have contributed in the last decades to a phenomenon known as antibiotic resistance which is currently considered one of the principal threats to global public health by the World Health Organization. The aim to find alternative drugs has been demonstrated as a real challenge. Thanks to their biodiversity, insects represent the largest class of organisms in the animal kingdom.

HCMV-controlling NKG2C NK cells originate from novel circulating inflammatory precursors.

Background: There is limited knowledge on the origin and development from CD34 precursors of the ample spectrum of human natural killer (NK) cells, particularly of specialized NK subsets.

Objective: This study sought to characterize the NK-cell progeny of CD34DNAM-1CXCR4 and of other precursors circulating in the peripheral blood of patients with chronic viral infections (eg, HIV, hepatitis C virus, cytomegalovirus reactivation).

Methods: Highly purified precursors were obtained by flow cytometric sorting and cultured in standard NK-cell differentiation media (ie, SCF, FLT3, IL-7, IL-15).

Role of Ovarian Proteins Secreted by (Viereck) (Hymenoptera, Braconidae) in the Early Suppression of Host Immune Response.

(Viereck) (Hymenoptera, Braconidae) is an endophagous parasitoid of the larval stages of the tobacco budworm, (Fabricius) (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae). During oviposition, injects into the host body, along with the egg, the venom, the calyx fluid, which contains a Polydnavirus ( BracoVirus: BV), and the Ovarian Proteins (OPs). Although viral gene expression in the host reaches detectable levels after a few hours, a precocious disruption of the host metabolism and immune system is observed right after parasitization.

A bioinformatic study of antimicrobial peptides identified in the Black Soldier Fly (BSF) Hermetia illucens (Diptera: Stratiomyidae).

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) play a key role in the innate immunity, the first line of defense against bacteria, fungi, and viruses. AMPs are small molecules, ranging from 10 to 100 amino acid residues produced by all living organisms. Because of their wide biodiversity, insects are among the richest and most innovative sources for AMPs.

Phenotypic and Functional Characterization of NK Cells in αβT-Cell and B-Cell Depleted Haplo-HSCT to Cure Pediatric Patients with Acute Leukemia.

NK cells can exert remarkable graft-versus-leukemia (GvL) effect in HLA-haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (haplo-HSCT). Here, we dissected the NK-cell repertoire of 80 pediatric acute leukemia patients previously reported to have an excellent clinical outcome after αβT/B-depleted haplo-HSCT. This graft manipulation strategy allows the co-infusion of mature immune cells, mainly NK and γδT cells, and hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs).

Characterization of the Proteins Involved in the DNA Repair Mechanism in .

Several alkylating agents that either occur in the environment or are self-produced can cause DNA-damaging injuries in bacterial cells. Therefore, all microorganisms have developed repair systems that are able to counteract DNA alkylation damage. The adaptive response to alkylation stress in consists of the Ada operon, which has been widely described; however, the homologous system in (MTB) has been shown to have a different genetic organization but it is still largely unknown.

Antimicrobial and Antibiofilm Peptides.

The increasing onset of multidrug-resistant bacteria has propelled microbiology research towards antimicrobial peptides as new possible antibiotics from natural sources. Antimicrobial peptides are short peptides endowed with a broad range of activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and are less prone to trigger resistance. Besides their activity against planktonic bacteria, many antimicrobial peptides also show antibiofilm activity.

The antimicrobial peptide Temporin L impairs E. coli cell division by interacting with FtsZ and the divisome complex.

Background: The comprehension of the mechanism of action of antimicrobial peptides is fundamental for the design of new antibiotics. Studies performed looking at the interaction of peptides with bacterial cells offer a faithful picture of what really happens in nature.

Methods: In this work we focused on the interaction of the peptide Temporin L with E.

Inhibitory Effects of Indomethacin in Human MNNG/HOS Osteosarcoma Cell Line .

Recurrence or metastasis remains the major cause of poor prognosis and mortality in Osteosarcoma patients. Therefore, development of more effective therapeutic approaches is required. We showed that indomethacin, significantly induces apoptosis in MNNG/HOS cell line, which was confirmed by morphological changes, increased Annexin-V + cells and nuclear fragmentation.