A reference map of the human binary protein interactome.

Global insights into cellular organization and genome function require comprehensive understanding of the interactome networks that mediate genotype-phenotype relationships(1,2). Here we present a human 'all-by-all' reference interactome map of human binary protein interactions, or 'HuRI'. With approximately 53,000 protein-protein interactions, HuRI has approximately four times as many such interactions as there are high-quality curated interactions from small-scale studies. The integration of HuRI with genome(3), transcriptome(4) and proteome(5) data enables cellular function to be studied within most physiological or pathological cellular contexts. We demonstrate the utility of HuRI in identifying the specific subcellular roles of protein-protein interactions. Inferred tissue-specific networks reveal general principles for the formation of cellular context-specific functions and elucidate potential molecular mechanisms that might underlie tissue-specific phenotypes of Mendelian diseases. HuRI is a systematic proteome-wide reference that links genomic variation to phenotypic outcomes

Human Exposure to 4G LTE Systems: Enhancing the Reliability of EMF Extrapolation Techniques Based on Spectrum Analyzer Measurements

Radio frequency sources heavily impact human life due to the high number of technologies exploiting them. Their level assessment is a complex task because of differences in technologies working principles and high growth rate. Among them, cellular communications are the most pervasive, and several concerns are often addressed to currently deploying 5G. Here, 4G long-term evolution (LTE) technology is focused because it is still the largest used communication facility. To assess human exposure due to LTE, apart from traditional broadband and narrowband methods, easier and faster approaches have been proposed in the literature and the most recent technical standards: the extrapolation techniques (ETs). They measure pilot signals' levels and process them to obtain the equivalent worst case channel power. They are designed to overestimate the current channel power by estimating the maximum channel power in the measurement point, thus warranting a conservative approach. Nevertheless, some of the needed hypotheses, such as the pilot signal power constancy, do not always pass the experimental validation. Based on that, in some cases, supposed overestimation can turn into underestimation, thus losing the 'conservative' feature and making the power measurement unreliable. Through a wide experimental analysis, this article aims to highlight those issues and derive an improved measurement procedure, under the assumption that a basic spectrum analyzer is adopted as a measuring instrument

LTE Human Exposure Evaluation: Maximum RF Field Strength Extrapolation Technique Repeatability Analysis

The measurement of human exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMFs) is an important topic in today's scenarios where a pervasive diffusion of cellular networks, as well as short-range and personal wireless devices, negatively affects the human exposure issues. Focusing the attention on cellular systems, despite regulators and normative committees are conveying specific guidelines for the measurements of EMFs generated by cellular networks, there are several issues still to be addressed regarding the most reliable measurement procedures and the evaluation of their measurement uncertainty. In this framework, this article focuses on long-term evolution (LTE) systems by providing a large experimental analysis aimed at evaluating the repeatability of the measurement results, achieved by means of one widely recognized human exposure assessment methods, i.e., maximum RF field strength extrapolation technique, which is recommended to give worst case and time-independent estimations of the maximum electric field. To this aim, a huge amount of signal acquisitions (about 112 000 traces) is collected for several weeks, by considering two mobile network operators and two frequency bands. Results have shown how some factors, as instrument settings and the time interval in which the measurements are taken, can significantly affect the measurement results and their repeatability. Furthermore, in some cases, such effects become comparable to or even larger than typical uncertainty components of the measurement chain. To mitigate these issues, the authors also suggest some possible solutions to improve the measurement procedure's overall repeatability

I tumori cistici del pancreas. Revisione della letteratura e proposta di un percorso diagnostico-terapeutico

In questo lavoro, gli Autori esaminano gli aspetti epidemiologici, clinici, anatomo-patologici, morfologico-strumentali e chimico-fisici propri di ogni singolo tipo di lesione cistica del pancreas e li paragonano tra di loro in maniera critica. In tal modo riescono ad individuare per ogni singola categoria le caratteristiche più salienti. Un percorso composto di quattro gruppi principali di esami strumentali e di laboratorio (ecografia addominale standard / EUS, TC, RM, FNA / biopsia / dosaggio di oncomarkers ed amilasi del contenuto cistico) è stato prescelto per l’acquisizione di tutti questi dati in virtù di precisi criteri di specificità, sensibilità ed accuratezza diagnostica forniti dalla letteratura scientifica internazionale. Per ogni sottogruppo di tumore cistico del pancreas viene proposto, infine, il piano terapeutico accreditato di miglior successo, sempre secondo la comune opinione scientifica internazional

Open inguinal hernia repair with self-gripping Parietex ProGrip mesh. A retrospective study of 204 cases

Chronic pain and recurrence rates are the main challenge in modern inguinal hernia surgery. Several trials have investigated the role of self-adhesive mesh repair for inguinal hernia, with special attention to the incidence of chronic postoperative inguinal pain and recurrence. The purpose of our study was to retrospectively evaluate the early and long-term results using a self-gripping mesh (Parietex Progrip® , Covidien) in our institution. A total of 204 patients, mean age 50.3 standard deviation (SD) 15.3, was included in the study. The repair was performed under local anaesthesia in 159 (78%) cases and locoregional anaesthesia in remaining 45 (22%). Mean operative time was 39 ± 20 minutes. The time for self-gripping mesh placement ranged from 5 to 9 minutes (mean 7 ± 2 minutes). There were no intraoperative complications. Clinical follow-up was performed at 1 month, 1 year and 2 years and consisted in the evaluation of complications, discomfort/pain and recurrence. One case of cutaneous infection and three cases of seroma were observed at one-month follow-up and were all treated conservatively. 8 patients were lost at one year follow-up, and another 4 were lost at 2 years. 3 patients died for other causes during follow-up. At 1 year and 2 years follow-up no cases of seroma, testicular complications or mesh infection were observed. Two cases of recurrence were recorded at 2 years follow up. No patient reported VAS score > 2 at one month, 1 year and 2 years follow-up. There were no readmissions, systemic complications or death during 2 years follow-up. Lichtenstein open repair using Parietex Progrip® mesh is a simple, rapid, effective and safe method for inguinal hernia repair. The main advantage of self-fixing mesh is the reduced operative time. A suturless fixation seems to prevent the development of postoperative chronic pain, without increasing recurrence rate in the majority of the trials

New prognostic factors in gastric cance. The role of lympho-plasmacytic infiltrate

BACKGROUND:Gastric cancer triggers an immune response, manifested by immunocompetent cells infiltrating the tumor, such as macrophages, NK cells, neutrophils, T and B-lymphocytes, and plasma cells. METHODS:Were viewed 300 patients who received surgery for gastric cancer, with removal of at least 15 regional lymph nodes, from January 1998 through December 2008, at the Policlinico "Umberto I", Department of Surgery "Pietro Valdoni", "Sapienza" University of Rome, and at "Santa Maria Goretti" Hospital of Latina, Italy. We selected a subset of 46 patients identified according to the following selection criteria: presence of gastric cancer (both intestinal-type and diffuse-type), early-stage (T1 and T2), absence of nodal metastases (N0), or involvement of less than 8 lymph nodes (N1), absence of distant metastases (M0), stage I and II. The sample included 28 males and 18 females. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that a high number of tumour-associated macrophages (TAM) along the margins of the tumour is related to a worse outcome, and an increased secretion of immunosuppressive cytokines by TAM may also indirectly affect the action of cytotoxic T cells. Our study also shows a statistically non significant trend of tumour-associated macrophages in promoting the expression of β-catenin, which is a subunit of the cadherin protein complex