Genetic testing for hepatocellular carcinoma: An ambitious goal still to achieve

Background & Aims: A single nucleotide polymorphism 61⁄G (rs4444903) in the epidermal growth factor (EGF) gene has been associated, in two case–control studies, with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We tested associations between demographic, clinical, and genetic data and development of HCC, and developed a simple predictive model in a cohort of patients with chronic hepatitis C and advanced fibrosis. Methods: Black and white subjects from the Hepatitis C Antiviral Long-term Treatment against Cirrhosis (HALT-C) trial (n = 816) were followed up prospectively for development of a definite or presumed case of HCC for a median time period of 6.1 years. We used the Cox proportional hazards regression model to determine the hazard ratio for risk of HCC and to develop prediction models. Results: Subjects with EGF genotype G/G had a higher adjusted risk for HCC than those with genotype A/A (hazard ratio, 2.10; 95% confidence interval, 1.05–4.23; P = .03). After adjusting for EGF genotype, blacks had no increased risk of HCC risk compared with whites. Higher serum levels of EGF were observed among subjects with at least one G allele (P = .08); the subset of subjects with EGF G/G genotype and above-median serum levels of EGF had the highest risk of HCC. We developed a simple prediction model that included the EGF genotype to identify patients at low, intermediate, and high risk for HCC; 6-year cumulative HCC incidences were 2.3%, 10.4%, and 26%, respectively. Conclusions: We associated the EGF genotype G/G with increased risk for HCC; differences in its frequency among black and white subjects might account for differences in HCC incidence between these Journal of Hepatology 2

The Plant Simulator as viable means to prevent and manage risk through competencies management: Experiment results

Making decisions and managing competences in complex systems is a challenging task to accomplish. Specifically, the process industry is known for its complexity and sensitivity to critical procedures. Recent disasters like the ‘‘Deepwater Horizon” (2010, 11 fatalities), BP Texas City (2005, 15 fatalities), and AZF Toulouse (2001, 29 fatalities), clearly showed the risk to which we are all exposed. The increasing complexity of processes, due to the simultaneous escalation of automation, optimisation and intensification processes (followed to face globalisation challenges), are moving the attention to the management of abnormal situations, which are even more complex in nature and frequent. This increasing complexity, coupled with the fact that abnormal situations may lead to irreversible losses, is imposing the adoption of adequate approaches and tools that allow for better learning and properly managing abnormal situations. The paper presents a simulation-enabled, experiment-based approach that can be used to prevent and manage risk through competencies management. More specifically, the paper presents the results of the first experiment campaign performed in a Plant Simulator (PS), the first known in the process industry domain, and shows the efficacy of using Immersive Virtual Environments (IVE) both to make decisions and to train teams (not just single operators). The experiment results presented in the paper show the effectiveness of IVE to increase the competencies and train operators and managers. In addition, they explain how conveniently the data collected by means of the PS can be used for making daily decisions to better prevent and manage risks

Cordierite ceramics from silicone resins containing nano-sized oxide particle fillers

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HEGEL E I PRIMI PRINCÌPI METAFISICI DELLA SCIENZA DELLA NATURA

I Primi princìpi metafisici della scienza della natura (1786) di Kant sono stati approfonditamente letti dai filosofi dell’età kantiana, dai cosiddetti minori e dai grandi, spesso in dialogo tra loro, come Hegel e Schelling. Hegel, in particolare, cerca di mostrare come possano contribuire alla formazione del concetto di assoluto, di totalità e, nello stesso tempo, come possano salvaguardare l’individualità specifica degli enti. Nella Differenza dei sistemi filosofici di Fichte e Schelling (1802), l’interpretazione dei Primi princìpi metafisici conduce a una nozione discorsiva di assoluto, inteso come totalità immanente delle condizioni intellettuali dell’esperienza

sono assembly of nanostructures via tyrosine tyrosine coupling reactions at the interface of acoustic cavitation bubbles

The reactive and oscillating surface of cavitation microbubbles acts as a catalytic binding site for the coupling of amphiphilic biomolecules

An unusual cutaneous infection caused by Mycobacterium marinum

Introduction. Mycobacterium marinum is a non-tubercular mycobacterium residing in fresh or salt water (in tropical or temperate areas); it is a fish and human pathogen, and in immunocompromised patients can cause severe cutaneous and subcutaneous infections.Case presentation.A 46-year-old white man who underwent immunosuppressive therapy was admitted to our department in May 2016 for skin lesions previously diagnosed as 'unusual erysipelas'. We rejected the hypothesis of erysipelas, due to the clinical features, and our diagnostic hypotheses were oriented towards sporotrichosis, atypical mycobacteriosis, cutaneous tuberculosis and cutaneous sarcoidosis. Histological examination performed after a skin biopsy was compatible with a diagnosis of sporotrichosis. However, PCR performed on fresh tissue demonstrated the presence ofM. marinum.Conclusion.The case reported is interesting for the unusual clinical localization and modality of infection. The patient became infected by contact with contaminated remains or in the sea, in a geographical area not endemic forM.marinum. The previous state of immunosuppression favoured infection; however, the presence ofM. marinumin this area suggests a possible tropicalization of the water of the Mediterranean Sea. To our knowledge, this case is the only one reported in the literature with this modality of infection and in that geographical area

Participation and privatisation in neoliberal policies. The Case of Italian ‘Piani di Zona’

Nowadays, participation is a core issue in the broad field of social sciences. In the specific context of social policy, citizen participation is viewed as a key element of local welfare systems, and particularly for the planning activities that are linked to it. The institutional documents which formalise these activities-‘Piani di Zona’ (PdZ, local 3-year social plan)-contain discourses that strongly emphasise the role of ordinary citizens and third sector organisations. Yet, despite the intentions proclaimed within the texts of the Plans, the type of participation effectively promoted by these documents seems restricted to certain organisations of civil society-well-structured interest groups-rather than to the general citizenry. So the texts of the PdZ do not describe in a clear and plausible manner the procedures by which the involvement of ordinary citizens should be made possible. This article aims to demonstrate that this discrepancy be-tween the purposes declared within the PdZ and the means to be deployed is a catalyst for a process of privatisation of social policies. To this end, the article focuses on the PdZ as documents containing dis-courses, and analyses them through the lens of critical discourse studies (CDS)Nowadays, participation is a core issue in the broad field of social sciences. In the specific context of social policy, citizen participation is viewed as a key element of local welfare systems, and particularly for the planning activities that are linked to it. The institutional documents which formalise these activities-'Piani di Zona' (PdZ, local 3-year social plan)-contain discourses that strongly emphasise the role of ordinary citizens and third sector organisations. Yet, despite the intentions proclaimed within the texts of the Plans, the type of participation effectively promoted by these documents seems restricted to certain organisations of civil society-well-structured interest groups-rather than to the general citizenry. So the texts of the PdZ do not describe in a clear and plausible manner the procedures by which the involvement of ordinary citizens should be made possible. This article aims to demonstrate that this discrepancy between the purposes declared within the PdZ and the means to be deployed is a catalyst for a process of privatisation of social policies. To this end, the article focuses on the PdZ as documents containing discourses, and analyses them through the lens of critical discourse studies (CDS)

Localized scleroderma unius lateri and Borrelia burgdoferi infection

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Engineering of Silicone-based Mixtures for the Digital Light Processing of Åkermanite Scaffolds

Abstract Silicones mixed with oxide fillers are interesting precursors for several bioactive glass-ceramics. A key point is represented by the coupling of synthesis and shaping, since highly porous bodies, in form of foams or scaffolds, are first manufactured with silicones in the polymeric state, at low temperature, and later subjected to ceramic transformation. After successful application of direct ink writing, the present study illustrates the tuning of silicone-based mixtures in order to form akermanite (Ca2MgSi2O7) reticulated scaffolds by digital light processing. This implied the selection of commercial silicones, producing stable and homogeneous blends with a photocurable resin and enabling the manufacturing of defect-free printed scaffolds, before and after firing, without fillers. The blends were further refined with the introduction of fillers, followed by firing at 1100 °C, in air. Optimized samples (from H44 resin) and reactive fillers (including up to 4.5 wt.% borax additive), led to crack-free and phase-pure scaffolds with microporous struts

Structural study of decrespignyite-(Y), a complex yttrium rare earth copper carbonate chloride, by three-dimensional electron and synchrotron powder diffraction

The crystal structure of the mineral decrespignyite-(Y) from the Paratoo copper mine (South Australia) has been obtained by applying d recycling direct methods to 3D electron diffraction (ED) data followed by Rietveld refinements of synchrotron data. The unit cell is a = 8.5462(2), c = 22.731(2) Å and V = 1437.8(2) Å3, and the chemical formula for Z = 1 is (Y10.35REE1.43Ca0.52Cu5.31 σ17.61(CO3)14Cl2.21(OH)16.79• 18.35H2O (REE. rare earth elements). The ED data are compatible with the trigonal P 3m1 space group (no. 164) used for the structure solution (due to the disorder affecting part of the structure, the possibility of a monoclinic unit cell cannot completely be ruled out). The structure shows metal layers perpendicular to [001], with six independent positions for Y, REE and Cu (sites M1 to M4 are full, and sites M5 and M6 are partially vacant), and two other sites, Cu1 and Cu2, partially occupied by Cu. One characteristic of decrespignyite is the existence of hexanuclear (octahedral) oxo-hydroxo yttrium clusters [Y6(μ6-O)(μ3-OH)8O24] (site M1) with the 24 bridging O atoms belonging to two sets of symmetry-independent.CO3/2- ions, with the first set (2×) along a ternary axis giving rise to a layer of hexanuclear clusters and the second set (6×) tilted and connecting the hexanuclear clusters with hetero-tetranuclear ones hosting Cu, Y and REE (M2 and M3 sites). The rest of the crystal structure consists of two consecutive M3 C M4 layers containing the partially occupied M5, M6, and Cu2 sites and additional carbonate anions in between. The resulting structure model is compatible with the chemical analysis of the type material which is poorer in Cu and richer in (REE, Y) than the above-described material.Fil: Rius, Jordi. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto de Ciencia de los Materiales de Barcelona; EspañaFil: Colombo, Fernando. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Tierra. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Centro de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Tierra; ArgentinaFil: Vallcorba, Oriol. Alba Synchrotron Light Facility; EspañaFil: Torrelles, Xavier. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto de Ciencia de los Materiales de Barcelona; EspañaFil: Gemmi, Mauro. Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia. Center for Nanotechnology Innovation; ItaliaFil: Mugnaioli, Enrico. Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia. Center for Nanotechnology Innovation; Itali