Amniotic membrane application in complex cases of penetrating keratoplasty surgery

INTRODUCTION. The aim of the study is to investigate the ability of an amniotic membrane implant combined with penetrating keratoplasty to reduce early and mid-term complications in complex cases such as penetrating burns, infective ulcers, keratitis, or corneal graft failure. MATERIALS AND METHODS. Fifty patients: 12 with keratitis, 24 with infective ulcers, 10 with penetrating trauma, and four with a history of corneal graft failure, were divided into two groups. The first group of 25 patients (Group A) underwent penetrating keratoplasty alone, while the second group of 25 patients (Group B) received penetrating keratoplasty associated with an amniotic membrane implant. Amniotic membrane implantation was performed in a ‘patch modality’, and the membrane was sewn to the graft with the epithelium/basement membrane side facing inwards. All patients were evaluated, respectively, 3, 15, 30, 90, and 180 days after surgery. At each visit a slit-lamp examination was performed together with corneal thickness and endothelial cell count assessment. All the data were subjected to statistical analysis with Student’s t-test. RESULTS. At the slit-lamp examination in Group A 48% of patients showed Descemet folds at one and three months, respectively, while 80% of patients of Group B did not show any Descemet folds. In Group A we registered two cases of early graft failure and two cases of shallow anterior chamber, while none of these complications appeared in Group B. In Group A the average corneal thickness at 15, 30, 90, and 180 days post-operatively was, respectively, 695 ± 43 μm, 658 ± 31 μm, 588 ± 12 μm, and 518 ± 20 μm, while in Group B it was found to be, respectively, 667 ± 12 μm, 632 ± 17 μm, 562 ± 16 μm, and 516 ± 10 μm. Differences in corneal thickness between Group A and Group B were found to be statistically significant (p = 0.05). Endothelial cell count was in Group A 2582 c/mm2 at 15 days, 2500 c/mm2 at one month, 2335 c/mm2 at three months, and 2111 c/mm2 at six months, while the average count for Group B patients was 2607 c/mm2, 2503 c/mm2, 2299 c/mm2, and 2086 c/mm2, respectively. Differences in endothelial cell count between the two groups did not show any statistical significance (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS. Amniotic membrane implantation associated with penetrating keratoplasty reduces early and mid-term complications of corneal grafts in patients with high risk of failure. This positive effect may be due to the anti-inflammatory, neurotrophic, and anti-angiogenetic properties of the amniotic membrane. Longer observation and larger case series can be useful in evaluation of the functional outcome of grafts in these patients

Universal parity effects in the entanglement entropy of XX chains with open boundary conditions

We consider the Renyi entanglement entropies in the one-dimensional XX spin-chains with open boundary conditions in the presence of a magnetic field. In the case of a semi-infinite system and a block starting from the boundary, we derive rigorously the asymptotic behavior for large block sizes on the basis of a recent mathematical theorem for the determinant of Toeplitz plus Hankel matrices. We conjecture a generalized Fisher-Hartwig form for the corrections to the asymptotic behavior of this determinant that allows the exact characterization of the corrections to the scaling at order o(1/l) for any n. By combining these results with conformal field theory arguments, we derive exact expressions also in finite chains with open boundary conditions and in the case when the block is detached from the boundary.Comment: 24 pages, 9 figure

Universal corrections to scaling for block entanglement in spin-1/2 XX chains

We consider the R\'enyi entropies $S_n(\ell)$ in the one dimensional spin-1/2 Heisenberg XX chain in a magnetic field. The case n=1 corresponds to the von Neumann ``entanglement'' entropy. Using a combination of methods based on the generalized Fisher-Hartwig conjecture and a recurrence relation connected to the Painlev\'e VI differential equation we obtain the asymptotic behaviour, accurate to order ${\cal O}(\ell^{-3})$, of the R\'enyi entropies $S_n(\ell)$ for large block lengths $\ell$. For n=1,2,3,10 this constitutes the 3,6,10,48 leading terms respectively. The o(1) contributions are found to exhibit a rich structure of oscillatory behaviour, which we analyze in some detail both for finite $n$ and in the limit $n\to\infty$.Comment: 25 pages, 5 figure

Synthesis, anticancer and antioxidant properties of new indole and pyranoindole derivatives

The indole scaffold has been recognized, over the years, as a model for the synthesis of compounds with anticancer activity by dint of its substantiated ability to act via multiple mechanisms, which also involves the inhibition of enzymes engaged in DNA replication. In this regard, a new series of indole and pyranoindole derivatives have been prepared, some of which showed good antitumor activity and proved their inhibitory effects on the tubulin target. The anticancer activity of the newly synthesized compounds has been evaluated on breast cancer cell lines, as MCF-7 and MDA-MB231, cervical cancer cells line HeLa and Ishikawa endometrial cancer cell line. Among the compounds under study, 7 exhibited a good antitumor activity on HeLa cell line (IC50 = 3.6 ± 0.5), leading to cell death by apoptosis due to the inhibition of tubulin polymerization, which demonstrated that the compound can explicate its function in a similar way to Vinblastine, a well-known inhibitor of tubulin polymerization. The data were also confirmed by in silico assays. No cytotoxicity against normal cells has been detected. Furthermore, in order to investigate the antioxidant properties, DPPH and ABTS tests were performed, together with fluorescence assays on 3T3-L1 cells. All our findings taken together led us to consider compound 7 a favourable candidate for the battle against cancer

Amniotic membrane application in complex cases of penetrating keratoplasty surgery

INTRODUCTION. The aim of the study is to investigate the ability of an amniotic membrane implant combined with penetrating keratoplasty to reduce early and mid-term complications in complex cases such as penetrating burns, infective ulcers, keratitis, or corneal graft failure. MATERIALS AND METHODS. Fifty patients: 12 with keratitis, 24 with infective ulcers, 10 with penetrating trauma, and four with a history of corneal graft failure, were divided into two groups. The first group of 25 patients (Group A) underwent penetrating keratoplasty alone, while the second group of 25 patients (Group B) received penetrating keratoplasty associated with an amniotic membrane implant. Amniotic membrane implantation was performed in a 'patch modality', and the membrane was sewn to the graft with the epithelium/basement membrane side facing inwards. All patients were evaluated, respectively, 3, 15, 30, 90, and 180 days after surgery. At each visit a slit-lamp examination was performed together with corneal thickness and endothelial cell count assessment. All the data were subjected to statistical analysis with Student's t-test. RESULTS. At the slit-lamp examination in Group A 48% of patients showed Descemet folds at one and three months, respectively, while 80% of patients of Group B did not show any Descemet folds. In Group A we registered two cases of early graft failure and two cases of shallow anterior chamber, while none of these complications appeared in Group B. In Group A the average corneal thickness at 15, 30, 90, and 180 days post-operatively was, respectively, 695 ± 43 μm, 658 ± 31 μm, 588 ± 12 μm, and 518 ± 20 μm, while in Group B it was found to be, respectively, 667 ± 12 μm, 632 ± 17 μm, 562 ± 16 μm, and 516 ± 10 μm. Differences in corneal thickness between Group A and Group B were found to be statistically significant (p = 0.05). Endothelial cell count was in Group A 2582 c/mm2 at 15 days, 2500 c/mm2 at one month, 2335 c/mm2 at three months, and 2111 c/mm2 at six months, while the average count for Group B patients was 2607 c/mm2, 2503 c/mm2, 2299 c/mm2, and 2086 c/mm2, respectively. Differences in endothelial cell count between the two groups did not show any statistical significance (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS. Amniotic membrane implantation associated with penetrating keratoplasty reduces early and mid-term complications of corneal grafts in patients with high risk of failure. This positive effect may be due to the anti-inflammatory, neurotrophic, and anti-angiogenetic properties of the amniotic membrane. Longer observation and larger case series can be useful in evaluation of the functional outcome of grafts in these patients

ChronoMoMoWo

ChronoMoMoWo is a timeline conceived for the International Travelling Exhibition of the European project "MoMoWo – Women’s creativity since the Modern Movement". This timeline has been devised as a framework that helps to understand the activity carried out between 1918 and 2018 by European female architects, designers and civil engineers. ChronoMoMoWo mirrors the growing of visibility of women's professional creativity and provides a continuum of personal achievements that have contributed to breaking the glass ceiling that is often found in architecture and design. ChronoMoMoWo traces two lines that are related from a historical point of view. The lower area shows a summary of the main achievements of European women in the fields of politics, society, culture, science, education and sports. The upper area presents the most relevant milestones by female architects and designers, including the access of women to higher education, the awards received, and the creation of female professional associations or the most important works by several cohorts of female designers. This timeline represents a historical context that evolves from black and white pictures to colour photographs, portraying a group of capable and talented women that have been –and still are– able to compete with their male counterparts in their professional careers

Primary cutaneous plasmacytoma after rejection of a transplanted kidney: case report and review of the literature.

Immunosuppressed organ allograft recipients are at risk of developing lymphomas and lymphoproliferative disorders as a consequence of immunosuppressive therapy and long-term antigenic stimulation from both the graft and possible viral infections. No more than 4% of the malignant tumors detected in organ recipients are plasmacytomas. Primary cutaneous plasmacytoma is a rare type of cutaneous B-cell lymphoma arising primarily in the skin. It is derived from clonally expanded plasma cells with various degrees of maturation and atypia. We report the occurrence of a solitary cutaneous plasmacytoma in a 56-year-old male patient undergoing hemodialysis after rejection of a grafted kidney. The diagnosis was made a few months after the kidney had been surgically removed. A thorough examination showed no evidence of systemic disease. Skin lesions were successfully treated with local radiotherapy. After 2 years of follow-up there were no local or systemic recurrences

Entanglement entropy of two disjoint blocks in XY chains

We study the Renyi entanglement entropies of two disjoint intervals in XY chains. We exploit the exact solution of the model in terms of free Majorana fermions and we show how to construct the reduced density matrix in the spin variables by taking properly into account the Jordan-Wigner string between the two blocks. From this we can evaluate any Renyi entropy of finite integer order. We study in details critical XX and Ising chains and we show that the asymptotic results for large blocks agree with recent conformal field theory predictions if corrections to the scaling are included in the analysis correctly. We also report results in the gapped phase and after a quantum quench.Comment: 34 pages, 11 figure

Entanglement, combinatorics and finite-size effects in spin-chains

We carry out a systematic study of the exact block entanglement in XXZ spin-chain at Delta=-1/2. We present, the first analytic expressions for reduced density matrices of n spins in a chain of length L (for n<=6 and arbitrary but odd L) of a truly interacting model. The entanglement entropy, the moments of the reduced density matrix, and its spectrum are then easily derived. We explicitely construct the "entanglement Hamiltonian" as the logarithm of this matrix. Exploiting the degeneracy of the ground-state, we find the scaling behavior of entanglement of the zero-temperature mixed state.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, one mathematica file attache

Osservatorio territoriale droga e tossicodipendenze. Il Fenomeno delle dipendenze sul territorio della ASL MI 3. Anno 2007.

Report on the state of legal and illegal substances use in the territory of the Local Healthcare Service-Mi 3, Province of Milan.Il report analizza il fenomeno delle dipendenze nel territorio della ASL Milano 2. La descrizione del fenomeno si sviluppa intorno all\u27analisi degli indicatori individuati dall\u27Osservatorio Europeo delle Dipendenze di Lisbona (OEDT): 1-uso di sostanze nella popolazione generale (questo indicatore va a rilevare i comportamenti nei confronti di alcol e sostanze psicoattive da parte della popolazione generale); 2-prevalenza d\u27uso problematico delle sostanze psicoattive; 3-domanda di trattamento degli utilizzatori di sostanze; 4-mortalit? degli utilizzatori di sostanze; 5-malattie infettive. Altri due importanti indicatori che si stanno sviluppando, e che vengono qui illustrati, sono l\u27analisi delle Schede di Dimissione Ospedaliera (SDO) e gli indicatori relativi alle conseguenza sociali dell\u27uso di droghe (criminalit? droga correlata). Inoltre sono state applicate diverse metodologie standard di stima sia per quantificare la quota parte sconosciuta di utilizzatori di sostanze che non afferiscono ai servizi, sia per identificarne alcune caratteristiche