Cerebral gray matter volume in patients with chronic migraine: correlations with clinical features

Abstract Background To date, few MRI studies have been performed in patients affected by chronic migraine (CM), especially in those without medication overuse. Here, we performed magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analyses to investigate the gray matter (GM) volume of the whole brain in patients affected by CM. Our aim was to investigate whether fluctuations in the GM volumes were related to the clinical features of CM. Methods Twenty untreated patients with CM without a past medical history of medication overuse underwent 3-Tesla MRI scans and were compared to a group of 20 healthy controls (HCs). We used SPM12 and the CAT12 toolbox to process the MRI data and to perform VBM analyses of the structural T1-weighted MRI scans. The GM volume of patients was compared to that of HCs with various corrected and uncorrected thresholds. To check for possible correlations, patients’ clinical features and GM maps were regressed. Results Initially, we did not find significant differences in the GM volume between patients with CM and HCs (p < 0.05 corrected for multiple comparisons). However, using more-liberal uncorrected statistical thresholds, we noted that compared to HCs, patients with CM exhibited clusters of regions with lower GM volumes including the cerebellum, left middle temporal gyrus, left temporal pole/amygdala/hippocampus/pallidum/orbitofrontal cortex, and left occipital areas (Brodmann areas 17/18). The GM volume of the cerebellar hemispheres was negatively correlated with the disease duration and positively correlated with the number of tablets taken per month. Conclusion No gross morphometric changes were observed in patients with CM when compared with HCs. However, using more-liberal uncorrected statistical thresholds, we observed that CM is associated with subtle GM volume changes in several brain areas known to be involved in nociception/antinociception, multisensory integration, and analgesic dependence. We speculate that these slight morphometric impairments could lead, at least in a subgroup of patients, to the development and continuation of maladaptive acute medication usage

A first look into radiomics application in testicular imaging: A systematic review

The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the state of the art of radiomics in testicular imaging by assessing the quality of radiomic workflow using the Radiomics Quality Score (RQS) and the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 (QUADAS-2). A systematic literature search was performed to find potentially relevant articles on the applications of radiomics in testicular imaging, and 6 final articles were extracted. The mean RQS was 11,33 ± 3,88 resulting in a percentage of 31,48% ± 10,78%. Regarding QUADAS-2 criteria, no relevant biases were found in the included papers in the patient selection, index test, reference standard criteria and flow-and-timing domain. In conclusion, despite the publication of promising studies, radiomic research on testicular imaging is in its very beginning and still hindered by methodological limitations, and the potential applications of radiomics for this field are still largely unexplored

The web-based ASSO-food frequency questionnaire for adolescents: relative and absolute reproducibility assessment

Background: A new food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) has been recently developed within the Italian Adolescents and Surveillance System for the Obesity prevention (ASSO) Project; it was found to be appropriate for ranking adolescents in food and nutrient levels of intake. The aim of this study was to assess the relative and absolute reproducibility of the ASSO-FFQ for 24 food groups, energy and 52 nutrients. Methods: A test-retest study was performed on two ASSO-FFQs administered one month apart of each other to 185 adolescents, aged 14–17 and attending secondary schools in Palermo (Italy). Wilcoxon test assessed differences in median daily intakes between the two FFQs. Agreement was evaluated by quintiles comparison and weighted kappa. Intraclass Correlation Coefficients (ICC) and Bland-Altman method assessed the relative and absolute reliability respectively. Results: Significant difference (p < 0.05) in median intakes was found only for bread substitutes, savoury food, water, soft drinks, carbohydrates and sugar. The subjects classified into the same or adjacent quintiles for food groups ranged from 62% (white bread) to 91% (soft drinks); for energy and nutrients from 64% (polyunsaturated fatty acids) to 90% (ethanol). Mean values of weighted kappa were 0.47 and 0.48, respectively for food groups and nutrients. Fair to good ICC values (>0.40) were assessed for thirteen food groups, energy and forty-three nutrients. Limits of Agreement were narrow for almost all food groups and all nutrients. Conclusions: The ASSO-FFQ is a reliable instrument for estimating food groups, energy and nutrients intake in adolescents

APOLLO 11 Project, Consortium in Advanced Lung Cancer Patients Treated With Innovative Therapies: Integration of Real-World Data and Translational Research

Introduction: Despite several therapeutic efforts, lung cancer remains a highly lethal disease. Novel therapeutic approaches encompass immune-checkpoint inhibitors, targeted therapeutics and antibody-drug conjugates, with different results. Several studies have been aimed at identifying biomarkers able to predict benefit from these therapies and create a prediction model of response, despite this there is a lack of information to help clinicians in the choice of therapy for lung cancer patients with advanced disease. This is primarily due to the complexity of lung cancer biology, where a single or few biomarkers are not sufficient to provide enough predictive capability to explain biologic differences; other reasons include the paucity of data collected by single studies performed in heterogeneous unmatched cohorts and the methodology of analysis. In fact, classical statistical methods are unable to analyze and integrate the magnitude of information from multiple biological and clinical sources (eg, genomics, transcriptomics, and radiomics). Methods and objectives: APOLLO11 is an Italian multicentre, observational study involving patients with a diagnosis of advanced lung cancer (NSCLC and SCLC) treated with innovative therapies. Retrospective and prospective collection of multiomic data, such as tissue- (eg, for genomic, transcriptomic analysis) and blood-based biologic material (eg, ctDNA, PBMC), in addition to clinical and radiological data (eg, for radiomic analysis) will be collected. The overall aim of the project is to build a consortium integrating different datasets and a virtual biobank from participating Italian lung cancer centers. To face with the large amount of data provided, AI and ML techniques will be applied will be applied to manage this large dataset in an effort to build an R-Model, integrating retrospective and prospective population-based data. The ultimate goal is to create a tool able to help physicians and patients to make treatment decisions. Conclusion: APOLLO11 aims to propose a breakthrough approach in lung cancer research, replacing the old, monocentric viewpoint towards a multicomprehensive, multiomic, multicenter model. Multicenter cancer datasets incorporating common virtual biobank and new methodologic approaches including artificial intelligence, machine learning up to deep learning is the road to the future in oncology launched by this project

Use of D140 conditional-knockout cell lines to study chromosomal passenger protein function

The chromosomal passenger complex (CPC-INCENP, Aurora B kinase, Survivin and Borealin) is implicated in many mitotic processes. Here we describe how we generated DT40 conditional knockout cell lines for incenp1 and survivin1 to better understand the role of these CPC subunits in the control of Aurora B kinase activity. These lines enabled us to reassess current knowledge of Survivin function and to show that INCENP acts as a rheostat for Aurora B activity

Innovations in the endoscopic management of bladder cancer: is the era of white light cystoscopy over

Bladder cancer is the most common tumor of the urinary tract, with a worldwide incidence of 8.6 x 100000 in men and 2.6 x 100000 in women (1). The majority of patients (75-85%) present as non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC); within this category the most represented stage is Ta (70%), followed by T1 (20%) and, less frequently, carcinoma in situ (CIS) (10%) (2). The diagnosis of NMIBC and, more generally, of bladder cancer, depends on urine cytology and endoscopic examination with histological evaluation of the resected tissue. Clearly, an optimal cystoscopy with accurate transurethral resection (TUR) is of great importance in order to improve the detection rate and to reduce the probability of recurrence and progression. Today the cystoscopy is routinely performed with the white light technique (WLC), the same of about 80 years ago (3). Several studies have demonstrated that an initial TUR with WLC can miss small papillary lesions and, particularly, flat lesions such as CIS. Moreover, recurrence rates of non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) are directly related to the possibility of achieving a complete resection: residual cancer is present in a large percentage of re-TUR, showing a not so good performance of resection with this method. For these reasons new methodologies have been investigated in order to improve the sensitivity and specificity of WLC, such as photodynamic diagnosis (PDD), narrow band imaging (NBI), optical coherence tomography (OCT) and CT virtual cystoscopy. Some of them have been well established and supported by consistent literature while others are still to be viewed as experimental. The purpose of this review is to investigate the state of the art of these new techniques

Correction: Clock Gene Variation Is Associated with Breeding Phenology and Maybe under Directional Selection in the Migratory Barn Swallow

BACKGROUND: In diverse taxa, photoperiodic responses that cause seasonal physiological and behavioural shifts are controlled by genes, including the vertebrate Clock orthologues, that encode for circadian oscillator mechanisms. While the genetic network behind circadian rhythms is well described, relatively few reports exist of the phenological consequences of and selection on Clock genes in the wild. Here, we investigated variation in breeding phenology in relation to Clock genetic diversity in a long-distance migratory bird, the barn swallow (Hirundo rustica). METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In a sample of 922 adult barn swallows from a single population breeding in Italy we found one very common (Q(7)) and three rare (Q(5), Q(6), Q(8)) length variants of a functionally significant polyglutamine repeat. Rare (2.9%) Q(7)/Q(8) heterozygous females, but not males, bred significantly later than common (91.5%) Q(7)/Q(7) females, consistent with the expectation that ‘long’ alleles cause late breeding, as observed in a resident population of another bird species. Because breeding date depends on arrival date from migration, present results suggest that the association between breeding date and Clock might be mediated by migration phenology. In addition, fecundity selection appears to be operating against Q(7)/Q(8) because late migrating/breeding swallows have fewer clutches per season, and late breeding has additional negative selection effects via reduced offspring longevity. Genotype frequencies varied marginally non-significantly with age, as Q(7)/Q(8) frequency showed a 4-fold reduction in old individuals. This result suggests negative viability selection against Q(7)/Q(8), possibly mediated by costs of late breeding. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: This is the first study of migratory birds showing an association between breeding phenology and Clock genotype and suggesting that negative selection occurs on a phenologically deviant genotype. Low polymorphism at Clock may constrain microevolutionary phenological response to changing climate, and may thus contribute to the decline of barn swallow populations

Innovations in the endoscopic management of bladder cancer: is the era of white light cystoscopy over

Bladder cancer is the most common tumor of the urinary tract, with a worldwide incidence of 8.6 x 100000 in men and 2.6 x 100000 in women (1). The majority of patients (75-85%) present as non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC); within this category the most represented stage is Ta (70%), followed by T1 (20%) and, less frequently, carcinoma in situ (CIS) (10%) (2). The diagnosis of NMIBC and, more generally, of bladder cancer, depends on urine cytology and endoscopic examination with histological evaluation of the resected tissue. Clearly, an optimal cystoscopy with accurate transurethral resection (TUR) is of great importance in order to improve the detection rate and to reduce the probability of recurrence and progression. Today the cystoscopy is routinely performed with the white light technique (WLC), the same of about 80 years ago (3). Several studies have demonstrated that an initial TUR with WLC can miss small papillary lesions and, particularly, flat lesions such as CIS. Moreover, recurrence rates of non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) are directly related to the possibility of achieving a complete resection: residual cancer is present in a large percentage of re-TUR, showing a not so good performance of resection with this method. For these reasons new methodologies have been investigated in order to improve the sensitivity and specificity of WLC, such as photodynamic diagnosis (PDD), narrow band imaging (NBI), optical coherence tomography (OCT) and CT virtual cystoscopy. Some of them have been well established and supported by consistent literature while others are still to be viewed as experimental. The purpose of this review is to investigate the state of the art of these new techniques

Data from: Lifetime reproductive success, selection on lifespan and multiple sexual ornaments in male European barn swallows

Natural and sexual selection arise when individual fitness varies according to focal traits. Extra-pair paternities (EPPs) can affect the intensity of selection by influencing variance in fitness among individuals. Studies of selection require that individual fitness is estimated using proxies of lifetime reproductive success (LRS). However, estimating LRS is difficult in large, open populations where EPPs cause reallocation of biological paternity. Here we used extensive field sampling to estimate LRS in a population of barn swallows (Hirundo rustica) to estimate selection on lifespan and ornamental traits of males. We found selection on lifespan mediated both by within- and extra-pair fertilization success and selection on tail length mediated by within- but not extra-pair fertilization success. In addition, we found selection on tail white spots via extra-pair fertilization success after controlling for selection on other traits. These results were not confounded by factors that hamper studies of LRS, including non-exhaustive sampling of offspring and biased sampling of males. Hence, natural and sexual selection mediated by LRS operates on lifespan, tail length and size of the tail white spots in barn swallows