Acute occlusion of descending thoracic aorta

Acute aortic occlusion is a rare but potentially devastating clinical event, which requires a prompt diagnosis and emergency treatment. Only 5 cases of native thoracic aorta acute occlusion have so far been reported with different pathologic causes. The clinical features depend on the level of occlusion. Sometimes the diagnosis could be misinterpreted as a stroke or other diseases of the central nervous system. This could lead to a delay in the diagnosis and revascularization procedure, followed by a morbidity or mortality increase. Open surgery has been considered the first-line approach. This study is of a female patient suffering from acute descending thoracic aorta occlusion undergoing, for the first time to our knowledge, endovascular surgical treatment

Wnt5a Drives an Invasive Phenotype in Human Glioblastoma Stem-like Cells

Brain invasion by glioblastoma determines prognosis, recurrence, and lethality in patients, but no master factor coordinating the invasive properties of glioblastoma has been identified. Here we report evidence favoring such a role for the noncanonical WNT family member Wnt5a. We found the most invasive gliomas to be characterized by Wnt5a overexpression, which correlated with poor prognosis and also discriminated infiltrating mesenchymal glioblastoma from poorly motile proneural and classical glioblastoma. Indeed, Wnt5a overexpression associated with tumor-promoting stem-like characteristics (TPC) in defining the character of highly infiltrating mesenchymal glioblastoma cells (Wnt5aHigh). Inhibiting Wnt5a in mesenchymal glioblastoma TPC suppressed their infiltrating capability. Conversely, enforcing high levels of Wnt5a activated an infiltrative, mesenchymal-like program in classical glioblastoma TPC and Wnt5aLow mesenchymal TPC. In intracranial mouse xenograft models of glioblastoma, inhibiting Wnt5a activity blocked brain invasion and increased host survival. Overall, our results highlight Wnt5a as a master regulator of brain invasion, specifically TPC, and they provide a therapeutic rationale to target it in patients with glioblastoma

Ponte ciclo-pedonale strallato in Cinisello Balsamo

La passerella ciclo-pedonale descritta costituisce parte di un programma più ampio di opere per la realizzazione della connessione tra la strada statale 36 dello Spluga ed il sistema autostradale di Milano. In particolare, il ponte pedonale in esame è finalizzato a realizzare una cucitura dei percorsi ciclopedonali esistenti in prossimità di un complesso svincolo tra strada statale e autostrada, all'interno del comune di CInisello Balsamo

Comparison of the fluorescence kinetics of detergent -solubilized and membrane-reconstituted LH2 complexes from Rps. acidophila and Rb. sphaeroides

Picosecond time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy has been used in order to compare the fluorescence kinetics of detergent-solubilized and membrane-reconstituted light-harvesting 2 (LH2) complexes from the purple bacteria <i>Rhodopseudomonas</i> (<i>Rps.</i>) <i>acidophila</i> and <i>Rhodobacter</i> (<i>Rb.</i>) <i>sphaeroides</i>. LH2 complexes were reconstituted in phospholipid model membranes at different lipid:protein-ratios and all samples were studied exciting with a wide range of excitation densities. While the detergent-solubilized LH2 complexes from <i>Rps. acidophila</i> showed monoexponential decay kinetics (tf = 980 ps) for excitation densities of up to 3ú1013 photons/(pulseúcm2), the membrane-reconstituted LH2 complexes showed multiexponential kinetics even at low excitation densities and high lipid:protein-ratios. The latter finding indicates an efficient clustering of LH2 complexes in the phospholipid membranes. Similar results were obtained for the LH2 complexes from <i>Rb. sphaeroides</i>

Inflammation and immune response in carotid artery stenosis

Atherosclerosis (ATS) is a multifactorial inflammatory disease representing the major cause of cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). Among ASCVD, carotid artery stenosis (CS) represent a serious health problem worldwide causing =10% of strokes. Immune response underlying ATS is complex and is characterized by the activation of both innate and adaptive immune responses. In this review article has been revised the contribution of the main cell populations and mediators involved in ATS. Monocytes play a central role in atherogenesis by their ability to differentiate into macrophages, thus leading to lipid accumulation and foam cells formation. T lymphocytes are present into the atherosclerotic plaque, where, in response to the local milieu of cytokines, differentiate into different subpopulations. The role of B cells in ATS is still under evaluation, due also to B cell heterogeneity. Mast cells, by release of their contents, may actively contribute to atherosclerotic plaque progression and destabilization. Matrix metalloproteinases and cytokines are also involved in atherosclerotic process. Mechanisms underlying CS are complex and are influenced by inflammatory immune response occurring during ATS. Thus, beside information coming from neuroimaging and laboratory data, the knowledge of immunologic mechanisms could contribute to improve treatment decisions for these patients