Non-Symmetrized Hyperspherical Harmonics Method for Non-Equal Mass Three-Body Systems

The non-symmetrized hyperspherical harmonics method for a three-body system, composed by two particles having equal masses, but different from the mass of the third particle, is reviewed and applied to the $^3$H, $^3$He nuclei and $^3_{\Lambda}$H hyper-nucleus, seen respectively as $nnp$, $ppn$ and $NN\Lambda$ three-body systems. The convergence of the method is first tested in order to estimate its accuracy. Then, the difference of binding energy between $^3$H and $^3$He due to the difference of the proton and the neutron masses is studied using several central spin-independent and spin-dependent potentials. Finally, the $^3_{\Lambda}$H hypernucleus binding energy is calculated using different $NN$ and $\Lambda N$ potential models. The results have been compared with those present in the literature, finding a very nice agreement.Comment: 15 pages, 1 figure and 14 tables, version revisited according to referees suggestion

Non-symmetrized Hyperspherical Harmonics Method for Non-equal Mass Three-Body Systems

The non-symmetrized hyperspherical harmonics method for a three-body system, composed by two particles having equal masses, but different from the mass of the third particle, is reviewed and applied to the H-3, He-3 nuclei, and H-3(Lambda) hyper-nucleus, seen respectively as nnp, ppn, and NN Lambda three-body systems. The convergence of the method is first tested in order to estimate its accuracy. Then, the difference of binding energy between H-3 and He-3 due to the difference of the proton and the neutron masses is studied using several central spin-independent and spin-dependent potentials. Finally, the H-3(Lambda) hypernucleus binding energy is calculated using different NN and Lambda N potential models. The results have been compared with those present in the literature, finding a very nice agreement

Non-symmetrized Hyperspherical Harmonics Method for Non-equal Mass Three-Body Systems

The non-symmetrized hyperspherical harmonics method for a three-body system, composed by two particles having equal masses, but different from the mass of the third particle, is reviewed and applied to the 3H, 3He nuclei, and HΛ3 hyper-nucleus, seen respectively as nnp, ppn, and NNΛ three-body systems. The convergence of the method is first tested in order to estimate its accuracy. Then, the difference of binding energy between 3H and 3He due to the difference of the proton and the neutron masses is studied using several central spin-independent and spin-dependent potentials. Finally, the HΛ3 hypernucleus binding energy is calculated using different NN and ΛN potential models. The results have been compared with those present in the literature, finding a very nice agreement

Duration of remission after halving of the etanercept dose in patients with ankylosing spondylitis: a randomized, prospective, long-term, follow-up study

Fabrizio Cantini, Laura Niccoli, Emanuele Cassarà, Olga Kaloudi, Carlotta NanniniDivision of Rheumatology, Misericordia e Dolce Hospital, Prato, ItalyBackground: The aim of this study was to evaluate the proportion of patients with ankylosing spondylitis maintaining clinical remission after reduction of their subcutaneous etanercept dose to 50 mg every other week compared with that in patients receiving etanercept 50 mg weekly.Methods: In the first phase of this randomized, prospective, follow-up study, all biologic-naïve patients identified between January 2005 and December 2009 as satisfying the modified New York clinical criteria for ankylosing spondylitis treated with etanercept 50 mg weekly were evaluated for disease remission in January 2010. In the second phase, patients meeting the criteria for remission were randomized to receive subcutaneous etanercept as either 50 mg weekly or 50 mg every other week. The randomization allocation was 1:1. Remission was defined as Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index < 4, no extra-axial manifestations of peripheral arthritis, dactylitis, tenosynovitis, or iridocyclitis, and normal acute-phase reactants. The patients were assessed at baseline, at weeks 4 and 12, and every 12 weeks thereafter. The last visit constituted the end of the follow-up.Results: During the first phase, 78 patients with ankylosing spondylitis (57 males and 21 females, median age 38 years, median disease duration 12 years) were recruited. In January 2010, after a mean follow-up of 25 ± 11 months, 43 (55.1%) patients achieving clinical remission were randomized to one of the two treatment arms. Twenty-two patients received etanercept 50 mg every other week (group 1) and 21 received etanercept 50 mg weekly (group 2). At the end of follow-up, 19 of 22 (86.3%) subjects in group 1 and 19 of 21 (90.4%) in group 2 were still in remission, with no significant difference between the two groups. The mean follow-up duration in group 1 and group 2 was 22 ± 1 months and 21 ± 1.6 months, respectively.Conclusion: Remission of ankylosing spondylitis is possible in at least 50% of patients treated with etanercept 50 mg weekly. After halving of the etanercept dose, remission is maintained in a high percentage of patients during long-term follow-up, with important economic implications.Keywords: ankylosing spondylitis, anti-tumor necrosis factor, etanercept, remission, dose reductio

Generation of a neutralizing antibody against RD114-pseudotyped viral vectors

The feline endogenous RD114 glycoprotein has proved to be an attractive envelope to pseudotype both retroviral and lentiviral vectors. As a surface protein, its detection on packaging cells as well as viral particles would be useful in different fields of its use. To address this, we generated a monoclonal antibody against RD114 by immunization of rats, termed 22F10. Once seroconversion was confirmed, purified 22F10 was cloned into murine Fc and characterized with a binding affinity of 10nM. The antibody was used to detect RD114 and its variant envelopes on different stable viral packaging cell lines (FLYRD18 and WinPac-RD). 22F10 was also shown to prevent the infections of different strains of RD-pseudotyped vectors but not related envelope glycoproteins by blocking cell surface receptor binding. We are the first to report the neutralization of viral particles by a monoclonal αRD114 antibody

Thoracic myopericytoma in an older adult, rare but possible: A case report

Myopericytoma is a rare tumor generally arising from skin and soft tissues of extremities, trunk, head, and neck regions, rarely from visceral sites. An intrathoracic visceral localization may carry a broad differential diagnosis including primary lung, pleura and chest wall lesions, or metastatic lesions. To date, any radiological features have been recognized and diagnosis of myopericytoma with intrathoracic localization remains still challenging. Here, we describe the case of a subpleural lesion incidentally diagnosed in an older adult affected by gastric cancer. Radiological features did not allow a differential diagnosis between a benign lesion, a primary tumor, or a metastasis. After resection, the histological examination showed histopathological features congruent with the diagnosis of myopericytoma. This unusual presentation reflects the need to share clinical, radiological, and histopathological data about this uncommon but frequently misdiagnosed disease

Isotope analysis in central heavy ion collisions at intermediate energies

Symmetry energy is a key quantity in the study of the equation of state of asymmetric nuclear matter. Heavy ion collisions at low and intermediate energies, performed at Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro and Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, can be used to extract information on the symmetry energy coefficient Csym, which is currently poorly known but relevant both for astrophysics and for structure of exotic nuclei.Comment: 2 pages, 1 figure. Proceedings of 7th International Conference on Radioactive Nuclear Beams (RNB7), to be published in The European Physical Journal

Clinical relevance of gene mutations and rearrangements in advanced differentiated thyroid cancer

Background: Tumor genotyping is becoming crucial to optimize the clinical management of patients with advanced differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC); however, its implementation in clinical practice remains undefined. We herein report our single-center experience on molecular advanced DTC testing by next-generation sequencing approach, to better define how and when tumor genotyping can assist clinical decision making. Materials and methods: We retrospectively collected data on all adult patients with advanced DTC who received molecular profiling at the IRCSS Sant'Orsola-Malpighi Hospital from 2008 to 2022. The genetic alterations were correlated with radioactive iodide refractory (RAI-R), RAI uptake/disease status, and time to RAI resistance (TTRR) development. Results: A significant correlation was found between RAI-R development and genetic alterations (P = 0.0001). About 48.7% of RAI-R cases were positive for TERT/TP53 mutations (as both a single event and comutations with other driver gene alterations, such as BRAF mutations, RAS mutations, or gene fusions), while the great majority of RAI-sensitive cases carried gene fusions (41.9%) or were wild type (WT; 41.9%). RAI uptake/disease status and time to TTRR were significantly associated with genetic alterations (P = 0.0001). In particular, DTC with TERT/TP53 mutations as a single event or as comutations displayed a shorter median TTRR of 35.4 months (range 15.0-55.8 months), in comparison to the other molecular subgroups. TERT/TP53 mutations as a single event or as comutations remained independently associated with RAI-R after Cox multivariate analysis (hazard ratio 4.14, 95% CI 1.51-11.32; P = 0.006). Conclusions: Routine testing for genetic alterations should be included as part of the clinical workup, for identifying both the subset of more aggressive tumors and the subset of tumors harboring actionable gene fusions, thus ensuring the appropriate management for all patients with advanced DTC