A Semi-Automatic Method on a Small Italian Sample for Estimating Sex Based on the Shape of the Crown of the Maxillary Posterior Teeth

Teeth are known to be reliable substrates for human identification and are endowed with significant sexual dimorphism not only in the size but also in the shape of the crowns. In the preliminary phase of our study (already published in 2021), a novel sex estimation method based on dental morphometric geometric (GMA) analysis combined with the artificial neural network (ANN) was developed and validated on a single dental element (first upper premolar) with an accuracy rate of 80%. This study aims to experiment and validate the combination of GMA-ANN on the upper first and second left premolars and the upper left first molar to obtain a reliable classification model based on the sexual dimorphic traits of multiple maxillary teeth of Caucasian Italian adults (115 males and 115 females). A general procrustes superimposition (GPS) and principal component analysis (PCA) were performed to study the shape variance between the sexes and to reduce the data variations. The "set-aside" approach was used to validate the accuracy of the proposed ANN. As the main findings, the proposed method correctly classified 94% of females and 68% of males from the test sample and the overall accuracy gained was 82%, higher than the odontometric methods that similarly consider multiple teeth. The shape variation between male and female premolars represents the best dimorphic feature compared with the first upper molar. Future research could overcome some limitations by considering a larger sample of subjects and experimenting with the use of computer vision for automatic landmark positioning and should verify the present evidence in samples with different ancestry

Single-Step 3D Printing of Silver-Patterned Polymeric Devices for Bacteria Proliferation Control

This work describes the fabrication of silver-patterned polymeric devices via light-based 3D printing methods from a tailored resin. An acrylate resin containing silver nitrate (AgNO3) as a silver precursor is employed to generate silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) through the in situ reduction of the metallic salt. The silver-based resin is processed through a customized stereolithography SL-3D printing to fabricate structures with silver-patterned surfaces. This customized SL-printer (emitting at 405 nm) offers the possibility of adjusting the machine settings during the printing process allowing for AgNPs to be selectively generated by modifying the laser settings during the 3D printing step. Thus, the resin photopolymerization and the photoinduced formation of AgNPs-based strands can be sequentially achieved during the same printing process with the same light source and using the same printable resin. The fabricated silver-patterned devices exhibit different surface features that might be exploited in systems working in a marine environment to control biofilm proliferation. As a proof-of-concept, the antimicrobial behavior of the silver-based 3D printed device is tested against environmental bacterial mixed communities via UV–vis spectroscopy and evaluating the absorbance change. Further tests, however, would be needed to reinforce the evidence of the bacteria behavior on the silver-patterned 3D printed devices

Experimental evaluation of mechanical properties repeatability of SLA polymers for labs-on-chip and bio-MEMS

Stereolithography (SLA) is a rapid prototyping technique based on photo-polymerization of liquid resin by laser source. The process is well known for many prototyping activities and additive manufacturing operations and started to show its potential in bio-MEMS applications like lab-on-chips. Unfortunately, the strong linkage between process parameters setting and final properties of downscaled devices is at present the primary cause of design failure and delays. In fact, it is crucial to control geometrical tolerances and mechanical properties. The aim of this work is to investigate the interactions between the most influent SLA process parameters on final mechanical and topological properties of biomedical polymers. The cross-interactions of polymer transparency, port-curing time and hatching direction are analyzed. The terms of comparison used to analyze process performances are geometrical dimensions and mechanical properties (Young’s modulus, ultimate stress/strain). The analysis of variance (ANOVA) method is used to identify the factor of influence of each process parameter

Feasibility of bendamustine in elderly patients with b-cell non hodgkin lymphomas

n/

Prolonged response to cytoreductive surgery and Sunitinib in an elderly patient with synchronous multiple metastases from renal cell carcinoma

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is a cancer with a relatively low incidence, accounting for about 2-3% of all cancer cases. Multitargeted therapy of advanced RCC appears to be a better option than immunotherapy. Sunitinib is a multitarget tyrosine kinase inhibitor whose activity has been demonstrated in phase III and expanded-access studies. In the present paper, we report the case of an elderly patient with multiple metastases who attained a prolonged response to sunitinib. A 72-year-old woman with a Karnofsky performance status of 90, no significant medical history, and no comorbidities except hypertension treated with transdermal clonidine (TTS-1) was referred to our hospital in October 2006 complaining of flank pain and gross hematuria. At clinical examination, a mass in the right flank and a 2 cm subcutaneous nodule in the right breast were detected. Total-body computed tomography (CT) scan showed a right kidney neoplasm of 15 cm, a mass in the left adrenal gland, peripancreatic abnormal tissue, small lung nodules (three bilateral nodules of 1 cm) and extensive hilarmediastinal lymphadenopathies (maximum diameter 3.8 cm). At cranial CT evaluation, a sub-centimetric (0.4 cm) thalamic lesion of uncertain etiology was identified. Bone scintigraphy was normal. At blood chemistry assay, mild anemia (Hb 11.7 g/dl) was present; LDH and calcium were in the normal range. Surgical excision of the subcutaneous breast nodule revealed an adenocarcinoma of metastatic origin. The patient underwent a right radical nephrectomy and abdominal cytoreductive surgery, including left adrenalectomy and distal pancreatectomy. No residual intra-abdominal gross tumor remained after surgery. Final pathology documented a 15 710 78 cm clear cell RCC, Fuhrman grade 2, pT3cN0M1, with pancreatic and contralateral adrenal involvement. After surgery, the patient recovered quickly and was placed on long-term corticosteroid treatment. Four weeks later (December 2006), she began subcutaneous interferon-alpha (IFN) 6 MU three times/weekly; higher doses were not tolerated. In February 2007, treatment was discontinued because of malaise and bone pain in the left hip. A CT scan of the pelvis revealed bone involvement of the left ischium. On CT and MRI, the thalamic lesion was found to have increased to 1 cm, with peripheral edema. The patient underwent stereotactic radiosurgery (Cyberknife) of the brain lesion. After cardiological assessment with ECG and echocardiography, in April 2007, she was placed on 50 mg sunitinib daily in a six-week cycle according to a 4/6 schedule (four weeks on treatment, two weeks off treatment. Up to June 2010, the patient was continuing sunitinib treatment and there was good control of arterial blood pressure with the three-drug combination, no electrocardiographic or echocardiographic alterations, normal thyroid function, grade 1 leukopenia and thrombocytopenia, and macrocytosis. The patient was in good performance status (Karnofsky 80) and was asymptomatic, but complaining of asthenia, especially during the four weeks of sunitinib administration, causing mild impairment of quality of life. The role of surgery in metastatic RCC is still debatable especially in this new era of targeted therapy. In conclusion, in the treatment of older people with targeted therapies, the following recommendations are made: assessment of the type and severity of co-morbidities; careful monitoring of cardiac, thyroid and metabolic dysfunctions, and assessment of the impact of every kind and grade of the developed toxicities on quality of life. 1 Flanigan RC, Mickisch GH, Sylvester R, Tangel C, Van Poppel H and Crawford ED: Cytoreductive nephrectomy in patients with metastatic renal cancer: a combined analysis. J Urol 171: 1071-1076, 2004. 2 Hofmann HS, Neef H, Krohe K, Andreev P and Silber RE: Prognostic factors and survival after pulmonary resection of metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Eur Urol 48: 77-81, 2005. 3 Karellas ME, Jang TL, Kagiwada MA, Kinnaman MD, Jarnagin WR and Russo P: Advanced-stage renal cell carcinoma treated by radical nephrectomy and adjacent organ or structure resection. BJU Int 103: 160-164, 2008

Broadband Dielectric Transmitarray with Scanning Capabilities

In this paper, some preliminary results on the scanning capabilities of a dielectric, 3D-printable Transmitarray (TA) are presented. In a previous work, it was already proved that the TA presents a wide-band behavior, thanks to the use of an innovative dielectric unit-cell, composed of three layers: the central one has a square hole, whose constant size is changed to control the phase of the incident field; the two identical, external ones present a truncated pyramid hole, acting as a wide-band matching circuit. Here, it is shown that the behavior of the unit-cell stays almost the same for different angles of incidence, and this makes it particularly convenient for the realization of beam scanning antennas