Class II Phosphoinositide 3-Kinases Contribute to Endothelial Cells Morphogenesis

PMCID: PMC3539993This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

On the Combined Use of Ground Penetrating Radar and Crack Meter Sensors for Structural Monitoring: Application to the Historical Consoli Palace in Gubbio, Italy

The paper deals with joint use of non-invasive monitoring technologies and civil engineering analysis methods aimed at providing multi-sensing information about the structural health of historical and cultural assets. Specifically, linear variable displacement transducers (LVDT) and ground penetrating radar (GPR) are considered for monitoring a significant crack affecting the Consoli Palace in Gubbio, Italy, precisely one of the walls of the cross-hall leading to the Loggia. In this frame, LVDT is adopted to control horizontal amplitude variations of the crack, while GPR is applied to investigate the wall interior and to detect the occurrence of inner issues related to the visible appearance of the crack on the wall surface. The effectiveness of GPR surveys is improved by means of a microwave tomography-based data processing strategy. The main result is that there is a consistency between the monitoring outputs of LVDT, which allowed us to display the crack widening/contraction due to the seasonal temperature variations, and the fact that no significant changes of the geometry of the inner areas of the walls were observed by the GPR

Non-Destructive Characterization of Magnetic Polymeric Scaffolds using Terahertz Time-of-Flight Imaging

Magnetic Scaffolds MagS are 3D composite materials, in which magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) are used to load a polymeric matrix. Due to their wide use in various medical applications, there is an increasing demand of advanced techniques for non-destructive quality assessment procedures aimed at verifying the absence of defects and, more generally, dedicated to the characterization of MagS. In this framework, the use of TeraHertz (THz) waves for the non-destructive characterization of multifunctional scaffolds represents an open challenge for the scientific community. This paper deals with an approach for the characterization of MagS by means of a THz time-domain system used in reflection mode. THz analyses are performed on poly($\epsilon$ - capprolactone) (PCL) scaffolds magnetized with iron oxide (Fe $_{3}$ O$_{4}$) MNPs through a drop-casting deposition and tuned to obtain different distributions of MNP in the biomaterial. The proposed data processing approach allows a quantitative characterization MagS, in terms of their (estimated) thickness and refractive index. Moreover, the proposed procedure allows to identify the areas of the scaffold wherein MNP are mainly concentrated and thus, it gives us information about MNP spatial distribution

Gpr investigation at the archaeological site of le cesine, lecce, italy

In this contribution, we present some results achieved in the archaeological site of Le Cesine, close to Lecce, in southern Italy. The investigations have been performed in a site close to the Adriatic Sea, only slightly explored up to now, and where the presence of an ancient Roman harbour is alleged on the basis of remains visible above all under the current sea level. This measurement campaign has been performed in the framework of a short-term scientific mission (STSM) performed in the framework of the European Cost Action 17131 (acronym SAGA), and has been aimed to identify possible points where future localized excavation might and hopefully will be performed in the next few years. Both a traditional elaboration and an innovative data processing based on a linear inverse scattering model have been performed on the data

4D flow imaging of the thoracic aorta: is there an added clinical value?

Four-dimensional (4D) flow MRI has emerged as a powerful non-invasive technique in cardiovascular imaging, enabling to analyse in vivo complex flow dynamics models by quantifying flow parameters and derived features. Deep knowledge of aortic flow dynamics is fundamental to better understand how abnormal flow patterns may promote or worsen vascular diseases. In the perspective of an increasingly personalized and preventive medicine, growing interest is focused on identifying those quantitative functional features which are early predictive markers of pathological evolution. The thoracic aorta and its spectrum of diseases, as the first area of application and development of 4D flow MRI and supported by an extensive experimental validation, represents the ideal model to introduce this technique into daily clinical practice. The purpose of this review is to describe the impact of 4D flow MRI in the assessment of the thoracic aorta and its most common affecting diseases, providing an overview of the actual clinical applications and describing the potential role of derived advanced hemodynamic measures in tailoring follow-up and treatment

Association between OLR1 K167N SNP and intima media thickness of the common carotid artery in the general population

Background and Purpose: The lectin-like oxidised LDL receptor-1 (OLR1) gene encodes a scavenger receptor implicated in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Although functional roles have been suggested for two variants, epidemiological studies on OLR1 have been inconsistent. Methods - We tested the association between the non-synonymous substitution K167N (rs11053646) and intima media thickness of the common carotid artery (CCA-IMT) in 2,141 samples from the Progression of Lesions in the Intima of the Carotid (PLIC) study (a prospective population-based study). Results: Significantly increased IMT was observed in male carriers of the minor C (N) allele compared to GC and GG (KN and KK) genotype. Functional analysis on macrophages suggested a decreased association to Ox-LDL in NN carriers compared to KN and KK carriers which is also associated with a reduced OLR1 mRNA expression. Macrophages from NN carriers present also a specific inflammatory gene expression pattern compared to cells from KN and KK carriers. Conclusions: These data suggest that the 167N variant of LOX-1 receptor affects the atherogenic process in the carotid artery prior to evidence of disease through an inflammatory process. © 2012 Predazzi et al

Digital Workflow for Prosthetically Driven Implants Placement and Digital Cross Mounting: A Retrospective Case Series

Fully digital workflow in implant dentistry is ever increasing. Treatment of partial edentulous cases is well-documented; nevertheless, complete edentulous cases are still a challenge. To present several innovations in the treatment of complete edentulous patients using digital solutions, both for implant placement and restoration delivery, was the objective of this study. It was designed as a retrospective case series study, aimed to tune further research with larger sample size, and a longer follow-up. Patients requiring complete, implant-supported restoration were asked to participate in this study. Enrolled patients were treated with four implants, immediate loading and a definitive complete arch restoration. Patients were treated using computer-assisted, template-based surgery. Multi-piece surgical templates were used to accurately place the implants, to manage the bone if needed and to make immediate loading procedure quicker and easier. After osseointegration period, definitive, extra-oral, digital impressions were taken using newly developed scan analogs, connected in the patient mouth using temporary cylinders and stabilized by means of the low-shrinkage, flowable, resin composite. Outcomes were implant and prosthesis survival rate, complications, accuracy, and patient satisfaction. Radiographic evaluation performed with a preliminary, radiopaque aluminum try-in, was used to test the accuracy of the digital impressions. Overall, 20 implants were placed in five patients. All the implants osseointegrated without complications. One impression was taken a second time due to inaccuracy of the aluminum tray-in. Finally, all of the patients were completely satisfied with both surgical and prosthetic procedures. Within the limitations of this case series, multi-piece surgical templates showed promising results improving the clinician’s confidence in the case of bone reduction, post-extractive implants and immediate loading. The prosthetic template increased the trueness of the digital impression for complete edentulous patients. Finally, even if an impression was performed again, the scan-analog used for extra-oral chair-side digital impressions seemed to be a promising tool. Continuous improvements and further study are needed to confirm these preliminary results

Broadband Electromagnetic Sensing for Food Quality Control: A Preliminary Experimental Study

Quality control is of great importance in food industry, both for the evaluation of product characteristics and to avoid the occurrence of foreign bodies contamination in packaged items. With respect to the inspections against possible contaminants inside the product, different technologies are currently adopted along production chain lines. However, the number of accidents involving low density objects remains very large. To overcome this limitation, the use of electromagnetic technologies has been recently proposed. In this work, the synergic use of terahertz and microwaves technologies is proposed, so to provide high resolution images and in-depth inspections of different scenarios, including low density materials. A focus study on sugar samples is considered, reporting both its broadband characterization at microwaves and preliminary terahertz imaging to evaluate the integrity of the packaging. Ongoing research is devoted to the development and validation of a microwave device for monitoring food products along the production line

Treatment gaps in the implementation of LDL cholesterol control among high- and very high-risk patients in Europe between 2020–2021: the multinational observational SANTORINI study

Background European data pre-2019 suggest statin monotherapy is the most common approach to lipid management for preventing cardiovascular (CV) events, resulting in only one-fifth of high- and very high-risk patients achieving the 2019 ESC/EAS recommended low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) goals. Whether the treatment landscape has evolved, or gaps persist remains of interest. Methods Baseline data are presented from SANTORINI, an observational, prospective study that documents the use of lipid-lowering therapies (LLTs) in patients ≥18 years at high or very high CV risk between 2020 and 2021 across primary and secondary care settings in 14 European countries. Findings Of 9602 enrolled patients, 9044 with complete data were included (mean age: 65.3 ± 10.9 years; 72.6% male). Physicians reported using 2019 ESC/EAS guidelines as a basis for CV risk classification in 52.0% (4706/9044) of patients (overall: high risk 29.2%; very high risk 70.8%). However, centrally re-assessed CV risk based on 2019 ESC/EAS guidelines suggested 6.5% (308/4706) and 91.0% (4284/4706) were high- and very high-risk patients, respectively. Overall, 21.8% of patients had no documented LLTs, 54.2% were receiving monotherapy and 24.0% combination LLT. Median (interquartile range [IQR]) LDL-C was 2.1 (1.6, 3.0) mmol/L (82 [60, 117] mg/dL), with 20.1% of patients achieving risk-based LDL-C goals as per the 2019 ESC/EAS guidelines. Interpretation At the time of study enrolment, 80% of high- and very high-risk patients failed to achieve 2019 ESC/EAS guidelines LDL-C goals. Contributory factors may include CV risk underestimation and underutilization of combination therapies. Further efforts are needed to achieve current guideline-recommended LDL-C goals. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04271280. Funding This study is funded by Daiichi Sankyo Europe GmbH, Munich, Germany