Palbociclib in a patient with HR+/HER2- advanced breast cancer and HIV1 infection: A case report

The use of drugs that affect the cell cycle represents one of the common strategies for the control of some unrelated pathologies, such as chronic viral HIV infections or cancer. The authors report the case of a patient followed for a hormone receptor-positive (HR+)/HER2 negative (HER2-) advanced breast cancer, treated with hormone therapy and CDK 4/6 inhibitors, and a concomitant HIV infection under antiretroviral treatment. The authors consider the function of the sterile alpha motif and HD domain-containing protein-1 (SAMHD1) enzyme, its implications in the control of viral replication and the correlation between its activity and the mechanism of action of the CDK 4/6 inhibitor palbociclib

Leukocyte Rheology Before and After Chemotactic Activation in some Venous Diseases

AbstractObjective: to evaluate leukocyte rheology, polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMN) membrane fluidity and cytosolic Ca2+ concentration in subjects with post-phlebitic leg syndrome (PPS) and acute deep-venous leg thrombosis (DVT). Subjects: twenty-two subjects with leg PPS and 14 subjects with leg DVT. Methods: we evaluated the leukocyte filtration (unfractionated, mononuclear cells (MN) and PMN), the PMN membrane fluidity and the PMN cytosolic Ca2+ concentration. Subsequently, we evaluated the same PMN variables after in vitro chemotactic activation with 4-phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) and N -formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (fMLP). Results: at baseline we observed a significant difference in the filtration variables of unfractionated and MN cells and in PMN cytosolic Ca2+ concentration. After activation, in normal subjects and subjects with PPS and DVT, a significant variation in PMN filtration at 5 and 15 minutes was evident. In normal subjects, no variation was present in PMN membrane fluidity or cytosolic Ca2+ concentration after activation. In subjects with PPS and DVT, we found a decrease in PMN membrane fluidity and an increase in PMN cytosolic Ca2+ concentration. After PMN activation (at 5 and 15 min) Δ% of IRFR distinguished normal subjects from subjects with PPS and DVT, while no difference was found in Δ% of membrane fluidity or cytosolic Ca2+ concentration. Conclusions: there is a functional alteration of leukocytes in these patients whose mechanisms are not yet clear

Electrical Properties of Self-Assembled Nano-Schottky Diodes

A bottom-up methodology to fabricate a nanostructured material by Au nanoclusters on 6H-SiC surface is illustrated. Furthermore, a methodology to control its structural properties by thermal-induced self-organization of the Au nanoclusters is demonstrated. To this aim, the self-organization kinetic mechanisms of Au nanoclusters on SiC surface were experimentally studied by scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, Rutherford backscattering spectrometry and theoretically modelled by a ripening process. The fabricated nanostructured materials were used to probe, by local conductive atomic force microscopy analyses, the electrical properties of nano-Schottky contact Au nanocluster/SiC. Strong efforts were dedicated to correlate the structural and electrical characteristics: the main observation was the Schottky barrier height dependence of the nano-Schottky contact on the cluster size. Such behavior was interpreted considering the physics of few electron quantum dots merged with the concepts of ballistic transport and thermoionic emission finding a satisfying agreement between the theoretical prediction and the experimental data. The fabricated Au nanocluster/SiC nanocontact is suggested as a prototype of nano-Schottky diode integrable in complex nanoelectronic circuits

No Brain No Game? Altered Sensorimotor and Fronto-Limbic Circuitry in Individuals with ACL Rupture

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Publisher's Note: Defect Influence on Heteroepitaxial 3C-SiC Young's Modulus [Electrochem. Solid-State Lett., 14, H161 (2011)]

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Role of Intrinsic Subtype Analysis with PAM50 in Hormone Receptors Positive HER2 Negative Metastatic Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review.

Endocrine therapy (ET), associated with CDK 4/6 inhibitors, represents the first choice of treatment for HR+/HER2- metastatic breast cancer (mBC). Primary or secondary endocrine resistance could develop; however validated biomarkers capable of predicting such a conditions are not available. Several studies have shown that HR+/HER2- mBC comprises five intrinsic subtypes. The purpose of this systematic review was to analyze the potential correlations between intrinsic subtype, efficacy of treatment, and patient outcome. Five papers that analyzed the intrinsic subtype with PAM50 assay in patients (pts) with HR+/HER2- mBC treated with ET (alone or in combination) within seven phase III clinical trials (EGF30008, BOLERO-2, PALOMA-2,3, MONALEESA-2,3,7) were identified. Non-luminal subtypes are more frequent in endocrine-resistant pts and in metastatic sites (vs. primary tumors), have less benefit from ET, and worse prognosis. Among these, HER2-enriched subtypes are similar to HER2+ tumors and benefit from the addition of anti-HER2 agents (lapatinib) and, for less clear reasons, of ribociclib (unconfirmed data for palbociclib and everolimus). Basal-like subtypes are similar to triple-negative tumors, making them more sensitive to chemotherapy. The intrinsic subtype is also not static but can vary over time with the evolution of the disease. Currently, the intrinsic subtype does not play a decisive role in the choice of treatment in clinical practice, but has potential prognostic and predictive value that should be further investigated

Entry and Exit of Nonprofit Organizations. An investigation with Italian census data

The latest census of Italian nonprofit organizations \u2013 compared with the previous one - showed a significant development of the nonprofit sector between 2001 and 2011. The number of organizations increased more than 28% while the growth of employees (about 61%) was even more impressive. These results notwithstanding, the mere comparison of aggregate census data does not give a true understanding of the dynamic of the sector. In particular, the entry and exit of organizations, as well as their migration between different sectors of activity, or geographical areas, cannot be detected with aggregate data. In this paper, we try to fill this gap using \u2013 for the first time \u2013 census micro-data. Our analysis tempers the optimism arising from the reading of aggregate data. We show that organizations that were already active a decade ago gave the most important contribution to the growth of employment, while newly created organizations were not as relevant

Sensorimotor Cortical Thickness Moderates Corticospinal Excitability

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Numerical modeling of bifacial PV string performance: Perimeter effect and influence of uniaxial solar trackers

The bifacial photovoltaic (PV) systems have recently met large interest. The performance of such systems heavily depends on the installation conditions and, in particular, on the albedo radiation collected by the module rear side. Therefore, it is of crucial importance to have an accurate performance model. To date, in the scientific literature, numerous models have been proposed and experimental data collected to study and optimize bifacial PV system performance. Currently, 3D and 2D models of bifacial PV devices exist. Though the former are more mathematically complex, they can lead to more accurate results, since they generally allow to fully consider the main aspects influencing a bifacial PV system performance. Recently, we have proposed and validated through experimental data a 3D model tested as a function of module height, tilt angle, and ground albedo. In this work, through such a model, we studied the role played by the perimeter zones surrounding the PV string, by considering PV strings of 30 or 60 modules. We considered the cases of fixed installation with optimal PV module tilt and of installation with uniaxial horizontal solar tracker. We evaluated the PV energy yield as a function of the size of the perimeter zones for the two cases, i.e., both with and without the solar tracker. In optimal perimeter conditions, we then studied the behavior of bifacial and mono-facial PV strings by varying the geographical location in a large latitude range