Transfer learning classification of suspicious lesions on breast ultrasound: is there room to avoid biopsies of benign lesions?

Background: Breast cancer (BC) is the most common malignancy in women and the second cause of cancer death. In recent years, there has been a strong development in artificial intelligence (AI) applications in medical imaging for several tasks. Our aim was to evaluate the potential of transfer learning with convolutional neural networks (CNNs) in discriminating suspicious breast lesions on ultrasound images.

Vibrational spectroscopies for biochemical investigation of X-ray exposure effects on SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cells.

Neuroblastoma is the most recurring cancer in childhood and adolescence. The SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cell line is generally adopted for elaborating new therapeutical approaches and/or elaborating strategies for the prevention of central nervous system disturbances. In fact, it represents a valid model system for investigating in vitro the effects on the brain of X-ray exposure using vibrational spectroscopies that can detect early radiation-induced molecular alterations of potential clinical usefulness.

Differential Radiomodulating Action of L. cv. Caiazzana Leaf Extract on Human Normal and Cancer Cells: A Joint Chemical and Radiobiological Approach.

The identification of a natural compound with selectively differential radiomodulating activity would arguably represent a valuable asset in the striving quest for widening the therapeutic window in cancer radiotherapy (RT). To this end, we fully characterized the chemical profile of olive tree leaf polyphenols from the Caiazzana cultivar (OLC), autochthonous to the Campania region (Italy), by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HR-MS). Oleacein was the most abundant molecule in the OLC.

The Proton-Boron Reaction Increases the Radiobiological Effectiveness of Clinical Low- and High-Energy Proton Beams: Novel Experimental Evidence and Perspectives.

Protontherapy is a rapidly expanding radiotherapy modality where accelerated proton beams are used to precisely deliver the dose to the tumor target but is generally considered ineffective against radioresistant tumors. Proton-Boron Capture Therapy (PBCT) is a novel approach aimed at enhancing proton biological effectiveness. PBCT exploits a nuclear fusion reaction between low-energy protons and B atoms, i.

The COVID-19 Infection in Italy: A Statistical Study of an Abnormally Severe Disease.

We statistically investigate the Coronavirus Disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic, which became particularly invasive in Italy in March 2020. We show that the high apparent lethality or case fatality ratio (CFR) observed in Italy, as compared with other countries, is likely biased by a strong underestimation of the number of infection cases. To give a more realistic estimate of the lethality of COVID-19, we use the actual (March 2020) estimates of the infection fatality ratio (IFR) of the pandemic based on the minimum observed CFR and analyze data obtained from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, a good representation of a "laboratory" case-study from an isolated system in which all the people have been tested.

Multivariate Analysis of Difference Raman Spectra of the Irradiated Nucleus and Cytoplasm Region of SH-SY5Y Human Neuroblastoma Cells.

Previous works showed that spatially resolved Raman spectra of cytoplasm and nucleus region of single cells exposed to X-rays evidence different features. The present work aims to introduce a new approach to profit from these differences to deeper investigate X-ray irradiation effects on single SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cells. For this aim, Raman micro-spectroscopy was performed in vitro on single cells after irradiation by graded X-ray doses (2, 4, 6, 8 Gy).

Study of SH-SY5Y Cancer Cell Response to Treatment with Polyphenol Extracts Using FT-IR Spectroscopy.

Plant polyphenols are important components of human diet and a number of them are considered to possess chemo-preventive and therapeutic properties against cancer. They are recognized as naturally occurring antioxidants, but also as pro-oxidant, pro-apoptotic, or chromosomal aberrations inducers, depending on their concentration and/or the stage of cell-cycle of the cells with which they interact. For these reasons, particular interest is devoted to knowing the total effects of polyphenols on the cell cycle and metabolism.