Le projet Demopædia: questions terminologiques liées à l’élaboration du Dictionnaire démographique multilingue

The aim of this paper is to present the terminological issues that have accompanied the process of translation and harmonization of the Italian edition of the multilingual demographic Dictionary Demopædia started in 2007 and ended in 2012. After presenting a brief history of the demographic multilingual dictionaries, the authors describe the computerization process and harmonization of dictionaries, in particular of the Italian edition

When in Rome, Not All International Students Do as the Romans Do. A Survey-based Typification of International Students’ Experiences and Profiles at Sapienza University of Rome

Universities often consider international students as a homogeneous group, that is of value for internationalisation purposes. Yet, migratory paths, cultural encounters, motivations and expectations make the experience of these students much varied and highly differentiated. Acknowledging this diversity allows to go beyond aggregate statistics and to assess specific needs and constraints. The present study focuses on the Italian context, introducing a quali-quantitative survey developed to investigate the variety of experiences and profiles of international students enrolled at Sapienza University of Rome. An analysis of multiple correspondence was applied to the survey’s responses. Results were triangulated with qualitative data collected in previous steps of the research, confirming the reliability of the survey and its capacity to discriminate different profiles. Three groups were identified (the «transnational migrants», the «international students», and the «invisible» ones), revealing a series of specificities, and a particular group as most vulnerable. Results are discussed highlighting the need to implement inclusive policies

Gendering health differences between nonmigrants and migrants by duration of stay in Italy

Background: Gender and migrant status are important factors for health. A common finding is that women report poorer health than men and that migrants' health converges with nonmigrants' health as the duration of stay in the host country increases. However, little is known about whether gender differences in health persist within migrant groups and whether the migrant-native health convergence differs by gender, especially in the Italian context. Objective: This study aims to include the gender dimension in the analysis of the health differences between Italians and migrants by duration of stay, focusing on how gender interacts with duration of stay in determining migrants' health. Methods: We performed multivariate logistic regression on a sample of 70,154 residents in Italy aged 20-64, using the 2013 Italian Health Survey. We modelled the association between duration of stay and three health dimensions by gender and computed predicted probabilities to show the interaction effect of gender and duration of stay. Results: We found evidence of a migrant health advantage among recent migrant men and women that becomes weaker among long-term migrants. After a long duration of stay, differences in health between migrants and nonmigrants are slightly more pronounced among women than among men. Contribution: This is the first study in Italy that contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of the role played by gender in determining the health differences observed. The study highlights the need to consider migrant status and gender in tandem when looking at adult health inequalities

Percutaneous CT-Guided Renal Cryoablation: Technical Aspects, Safety, and Long-Term Oncological Outcomes in a Single Center

Background and objectives: Cryoablation is emerging as a safe and effective therapeutic option for treating renal cell carcinoma. This study analyzed the safety and long-term oncological outcomes of cryoablation in our center. Materials and methods: Patients who underwent computed tomography (CT)-guided percutaneous cryoablation between February 2011 and June 2020 for one or more clinically localized renal tumors were identified. Technical success and treatment efficacy were assessed. Post-procedural complications were classified according to the Clavien-Dindo system. Recurrence-free survival was determined for biopsy-proven malignant renal tumors. Results: A total of 174 renal tumors, 78 of which were biopsy-proven malignant carcinomas, were treated in 138 patients (97 males and 41 females, mean age: 73 years, range: 43-89 years). Mean tumor size was 2.25 cm and 54.6% of the lesions required a complex approach. Technical success was achieved in 171 out of 174 tumors (98.3%). Primary treatment efficacy was 95.3% and increased to 98.2% when retreats were taken into account. The overall complication rate was 29.8%. No complications of Clavien-Dindo grade III or more were encountered. Median follow-up was 21.92 months (range: 0.02-99.87). Recurrence-free survival was 100% at 1 year, 95.3% (95% CI: 82.1%-98.8%) at 3 years, and 88.6% (95% CI: 71.8%-95.7%) at 5 years. Conclusions: Cryoablation is a safe and effective technique for the treatment of small renal lesions, with no major complications when performed by expert interventional radiologists. The multidisciplinary discussion is essential, especially considering the high number of histologically undetermined lesions. Our long-term oncological outcomes are encouraging and in line with the literature

Current Status of Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor-Targeted Therapies in Breast Cancer

Breast cancer (BC) is the most common malignancy and second only to lung cancer in terms of mortality in women. Despite the incredible progress made in this field, metastatic breast cancer has a poor prognosis. In an era of personalized medicine, there is an urgent need for better knowledge of the biology leading to the disease, which can lead to the design of increasingly accurate drugs against patients’ specific molecular aberrations. Among one of the actionable targets is the fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) pathway, triggered by specific ligands. The Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptors/Fibroblast Growth Factors (FGFRs/FGFs) axis offers interesting molecular targets to be pursued in clinical development. This mini-review will focus on the current knowledge of FGFR mutations, which lead to tumor formation and summarizes the state-of-the-art therapeutic strategies for targeted treatments against the FGFRs/FGFs axis in the context of BC

Deterministic optical rogue waves

Experimental observations of rare giant pulses or rogue waves were done in the output intensity of an optically injected semiconductor laser. The long-tailed probability distribution function of the pulse amplitude displays clear non-Gaussian features that confirm the rogue wave character of the intensity pulsations. Simulations of a simple rate equation model show good qualitative agreement with the experiments and provide a framework for understanding the observed extreme amplitude events as the result of a deterministic nonlinear process.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

A Case–Control Study by ddPCR of ALU 260/111 and LINE-1 266/97 Copy Number Ratio in Circulating Cell-Free DNA in Plasma Revealed LINE-1 266/97 as a Potential Biomarker for Early Breast Cancer Detection

Background: In Western countries, breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer in women. Early detection has a positive impact on survival, quality of life, and public health costs. Mammography screening programs have increased early detection rates, but new approaches to more personalized surveillance could further improve diagnosis. Circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) in blood could provide a potential tool for early diagnosis by analyzing cfDNA quantity, circulating tumor DNA mutations, or cfDNA integrity (cfDI). Methods: Plasma was obtained from the blood of 106 breast cancer patients (cases) and 103 healthy women (controls). Digital droplet PCR was used for the determination of ALU 260/111 bp and LINE-1 266/97 bp copy number ratio and cfDI. cfDNA abundance was calculated using copies of the EEF1A2 gene. The accuracy of biomarker discrimination was analyzed with receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC). Sensitivity analyses were performed to account for age as a potential confounder. Results: Cases had significantly lower ALU 260/111 or LINE-1 266/97 copy number ratios (median; ALU 260/111 = 0.08, LINE-1 266/97 = 0.20), compared with control (median; ALU 260/111 = 0.10, LINE-1 266/97 = 0.28) (p < 0.001). ROC analysis showed that copy number ratio discriminated cases from controls (area under the curve, AUC = 0.69, 95% CI: 0.62–0.76 for ALU and 0.80, 95% CI: 0.73–0.86 for LINE-1). ROC from cfDI confirmed the better diagnostic performance of LINE-1 compared with ALU. Conclusions: Analysis of LINE-1 266/97 copy number ratio or cfDI by ddPCR appears to be a useful noninvasive test that could aid in early BC detection. Further studies in a large cohort are needed to validate the biomarker

Perianal Crohn's disease and hidradenitis suppurativa: a possible common immunological scenario

Crohn's disease (CD) and Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) are both chronic inflammatory diseases. The pathogenesis of these diseases is multifactorial, due to the interaction of genetic and environmental factors leading to a deregulated local immune response where T lymphocytes play a major role. To the best of our knowledge, no previous study has clarified whether the pathogenetic mechanism of perianal CD and HS is the same. We therefore analyzed the cellular expression pattern and the cytokine repertoire in three patients suffering from both perianal CD and HS

Tumour infiltrating lymphocytes and immune-related genes as predictors of outcome in pancreatic adenocarcinoma

Background: We investigated the correlation between pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma patient progno- sis and the presence of tumour infiltrating lymphocytes and expression of 521 immune sys- tem genes. Methods: Intratumoural CD3+, CD8+, and CD20+ lymphocytes were examined by immunohistochem- istry in 12 PDAC patients with different outcomes who underwent pancreaticoduodenect- omy. The results were correlated with gene expression profile using the digital multiplexed NanoString nCounter analysis system (NanoString Technologies, Seattle, WA, USA). Results: Twenty immune system genes were significantly differentially expressed in patients with a good prognosis relative to patients with a worse prognosis: TLR2 and TLR7 (Toll-like recep- tor superfamily); CD4, CD37, FOXP3, PTPRC (B cell and T cell signalling); IRF5, IRF8, STAT1, TFE3 (transcription factors); ANP32B, CCND3 (cell cycle); BTK (B cell develop- ment); TNF, TNFRF1A (TNF superfamily); HCK (leukocyte function); C1QA (complement system); BAX, PNMA1 (apoptosis); IKBKE (NF\u3baB pathway). Differential expression was more than twice log 2 for TLR7, TNF, C1QA, FOXP3, and CD37. Discussion: Tumour infiltrating lymphocytes were present at higher levels in samples from patients with better prognosis. Our findings indicate that tumour infiltrating lymphocyte levels and expres- sion level of the immune system genes listed above influence pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma prognosis. This information could be used to improve selection of best responders to immune inhibitors