«Ut ait Pacuvius»:* sulle citazioni pacuviane nel De Divinatione di Cicerone

El artículo reflexiona sobre la función de las citas de Pacuvio en De divinatione de Cicerón, en div . 1, 24; 29; 81; 131 y 2, 133. El discurso poético trazado por el de Arpino parece trazar un proceso paralelo al de la prosa, cumpliendo el propósito racionalista – típicamente ciceroniano – de educar a su audiencia en la reflexión y la búsqueda de la verdad con consecuencias evidentes e importantes en la formación del buen civis . La ocasión brinda laoportunidad de investigar el uso de versos de Pacuvio en autores posteriores, reconstruyendo sumariamente la fortuna del tragediógrafo presuntamente en deuda con la tradición de Cicerón.L’articolo riflette sulla funzione delle citazioni pacuviane presenti nel De divinatione di Cicerone, in div . 1, 24; 29; 81; 131 e in 2, 133. Il discorso poetico tracciato dall’Arpinate sembra disegnare un iter parallelo a quello in prosa, ottemperando allo scopo razionalistico – tipicamente ciceroniano – di educare il suo pubblico alla riflessione e alla ricerca della verità con evidente e importante ricaduta nella formazione del buon civis . L’occasione offre lospunto per indagare anche l’uso dei versi pacuviani in autori successivi, ricostruendo sommariamente la fortuna del tragediografo presumibilmente debitrice alla tradizione ciceroniana

Il "De fato" di Cicerone: un commento tematico

La tesi verte sull'analisi filologica del "De fato" di Cicerone, analizzandone i contenuti, il contesto storico e passi di difficile interpretazione. Di questi passi si è proposta, lì dove possibile, un'esegesi alternativa a quella tradizionale. L'innovazione sta nell'aver analizzato e approfondito tematiche di carattere filosofico attraverso l'analisi contrastiva di altri testi ciceroniani, allo scopo di comprendere e giustificare, nonché interpretare, le scelte lessicali compiute dall'autore; il tutto alla luce dello sfondo politico, delicato e instabile, del 44 a. C., successivo all'uccisione di Cesare

Decellularized Human Dermal Matrix as a Biological Scaffold for Cardiac Repair and Regeneration.

The complex and highly organized environment in which cells reside consists primarily of the extracellular matrix (ECM) that delivers biological signals and physical stimuli to resident cells. In the native myocardium, the ECM contributes to both heart compliance and cardiomyocyte maturation and function. Thus, myocardium regeneration cannot be accomplished if cardiac ECM is not restored. We hypothesize that decellularized human skin might make an easily accessible and viable alternate biological scaffold for cardiac tissue engineering (CTE). To test our hypothesis, we decellularized specimens of both human skin and human myocardium and analyzed and compared their composition by histological methods and quantitative assays. Decellularized dermal matrix was then cut into 600-mm-thick sections and either tested by uniaxial tensile stretching to characterize its mechanical behavior or used as three-dimensional scaffold to assess its capability to support regeneration by resident cardiac progenitor cells (hCPCs) in vitro. Histological and quantitative analyses of the dermal matrix provided evidence of both effective decellularization with preserved tissue architecture and retention of ECM proteins and growth factors typical of cardiac matrix. Further, the elastic modulus of the dermal matrix resulted comparable with that reported in literature for the human myocardium and, when tested in vitro, dermal matrix resulted a comfortable and protective substrate promoting and supporting hCPC engraftment, survival and cardiomyogenic potential. Our study provides compelling evidence that dermal matrix holds promise as a fully autologous and cost-effective biological scaffold for CTE

"Ut ait Pacuvius": quotations from Pacuvius in Cicero’s De Divinatione.

L’articolo riflette sulla funzione delle citazioni pacuviane presenti nel De divinatione di Cicerone, in div. 1, 24; 29; 81; 131 e in 2, 133. Il discorso poetico tracciato dall’Arpinate sembra disegnare un iter parallelo a quello in prosa, ottemperando allo scopo razionalistico – tipicamente ciceroniano – di educare il suo pubblico alla riflessione e alla ricerca della verità con evidente e importante ricaduta nella formazione del buon civis. L’occasione offre lo spunto per indagare anche l’uso dei versi pacuviani in autori successivi, ricostruendo sommariamente la fortuna del tragediografo presumibilmente debitrice alla tradizione ciceroniana.El artículo reflexiona sobre la función de las citas de Pacuvio en De divinatione de Cicerón, en div. 1, 24; 29; 81; 131 y 2, 133. El discurso poético trazado por el de Arpino parece trazar un proceso paralelo al de la prosa, cumpliendo el propósito racionalista – típicamente ciceroniano – de educar a su audiencia en la reflexión y la búsqueda de la verdad con consecuencias evidentes e importantes en la formación del buen civis. La ocasión brinda la oportunidad de investigar el uso de versos de Pacuvio en autores posteriores, reconstruyendo sumariamente la fortuna del tragediógrafo presuntamente en deuda con la tradición de Cicerón

Insights from a Long-Term Follow-Up Evaluation of Early Breast Cancer Outcomes by Tumor Subtype

Our understanding of the granularity of breast cancer (BC) clinical outcomes by biologic subtype may be impaired by limited study follow-up times

Human Decellularized Dermis as Novel Scaffold for Cardiac Regenerative Medicine: Structure and Mechanical Behaviour

In the last decade, the potential of decellularized tissues as biological scaffolds for regenerative medicine applications has been deeply investigated. For myocardial regeneration, human decellularized dermis (HDD) was recently proposed as an innovative and easy accessible alternative to the native matrix. In this study, HDD was characterized at both structural and mechanical level. Histological and quantitative analyses provided evidence of effective decellularization, preserved tissue architecture and elastin retention. Uniaxial tensile tests confirmed, in terms of both anisotropy and stiffness, the mechanical suitability of HDD as scaffold for myocardial regeneration

Prognostic Value of Preoperative Serum Levels of Periostin (PN) in Early Breast Cancer (BCa)

PN is a secreted cell adhesion protein critical for carcinogenesis. Elevated serum levels of PN have been implicated as playing an important role in different types of cancer, and a few reports suggest a potential role as a prognostic marker. We evaluated the prognostic significance of preoperative serum PN concentration in patients with BCa receiving curative surgery. Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) was performed to determine the preoperative serum PN level in 182 patients. The correlations between serum PN concentration with clinical pathological features and PN expression in primary tumor samples were analyzed. The prognostic impact of serum PN levels with all-cause and BCa-specific mortality was also investigated. Appropriate statistics were used. Elevated serum PN levels were significantly associated with patient age (p = 0.005), adjuvant systemic therapy (p = 0.04) and progesterone receptor (PgR) status (p = 0.02). No correlation between PN preoperative serum levels and other clinical-pathological parameters, including either the epithelial or the stromal PN expression of primary tumor or the combination of the two, was found. Similarly, no association between serum PN levels and either all-cause or BCa-specific mortality was found. However, subgroup analysis revealed a correlation between higher PN serum levels and all-cause mortality in patients with node-negative disease (p = 0.05) and in those with a low PgR expression (p = 0.03). Higher levels of serum PN were also found to correlate with BCa-specific mortality in the subgroup of patients who did not receive any adjuvant systemic therapy (p = 0.04). Our findings suggest that PN was detectable in the serum of early BCa patients before surgery and increased base-line serum levels predicted worse long-term survival outcomes in specific subgroups of patients

Abiraterone acetate and prednisone in the pre- and post-docetaxel setting for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer: a mono-institutional experience focused on cardiovascular events and their impact on clinical outcomes

Background: The aim of this work was to to evaluate the incidence and risk factors of adverse events (AEs), focusing on cardiovascular events (CVEs) and hypokalemia, in patients treated with abiraterone acetate (AA) and prednisone (PDN) outside clinical trials, and their association with survival outcomes. Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study of 105 patients treated from 2011 to 2016. Incidence of AEs was descriptively summarized in the whole cohort and by subgroup (pre- versus post-docetaxel). Multivariable Cox proportional hazards models assessed factors associated with progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Results: Overall, median PFS and OS were 14.9 and 24.6 months, respectively. Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) ⩾ 10 ng/ml ( p = 0.007), Gleason Score >7 ( p = 0.008), Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status (PS)1–2 ( p = 0.002), duration of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) ⩽ 43.2 months ( p = 0.01), and body mass index (BMI) > 25 ( p = 0.03) were associated with worse PFS; presence of pain ( p = 0.01), ECOG PS1–2 ( p = 0.004), duration of ADT ⩽ 43.2 ( p = 0.05), and BMI > 25 ( p = 0.042) were associated with worse OS. Incidence of CVEs was as follows: hypertension 17.1%, fluid retention 4.8%, cardiac disorders 8.6%. 16.2% of patients developed hypokalemia. Age ⩾ 75 years was associated with higher probability of cardiac disorders ( p = 0.001) and fluid retention ( p = 0.03). CVEs did not impact on PFS or OS. Hypokalemia was associated with better median OS ( p = 0.036). Similar associations were observed after stratification by subgroup. Conclusions: Median PFS and OS estimates and incidence of CVEs and hypokalemia in our series are consistent with those of pivotal trials of AA plus PDN, confirming the efficacy and safety of this regimen also in the real-world setting. Elderly patients have higher odds of developing/worsening CVEs. However, regardless of age, CVEs were not associated with worse outcomes. Treatment-related hypokalemia seemed to be associated with longer OS, albeit this finding needs confirmation within larger, prospective series