Oncoplastic conservative surgery for breast cancer: long-term outcomes of our first ten years experience

The main goal of oncoplastic breast surgery (OBS) is to optimize cosmetic outcomes and reduce patient morbidity, while still providing an oncologically-safe surgical outcome and extending the target population of conservative surgery. Although the growing number of reported experiences with oncoplastic surgery, few studies account for the long-term outcomes

Probing the statistical decay and alpha-clustering effects in 12c+12c and 14n+10b reactions

An experimental campaign has been undertaken at INFN Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro, Italy, in order to progress in our understanding of the statistical properties of light nuclei at excitation energies above particle emission threshold, by measuring exclusive data from fusion-evaporation reactions. A first reaction 12C+12C at 7.9 AMeV beam energy has been measured, using the GARFIELD+Ring Counter experimental setup. Fusion-evaporation events have been exclusively selected. The comparison to a dedicated Hauser-Feshbach calculation allows us to give constraints on the nuclear level density at high excitation energy for light systems ranging from C up to Mg. Out-of-equilibrium emission has been evidenced and attributed both to entrance channel effects favoured by the cluster nature of reaction partners and, in more dissipative events, to the persistence of cluster correlations well above the 24Mg threshold for 6 alphas decay. The 24Mg compound nucleus has been studied with a new measurement 14N + 10B at 5.7 AMeV. The comparison between the two datasets would allow us to further constrain the level density of light nuclei. Deviations from a statistical behaviour can be analyzed to get information on nuclear clustering.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, Contribution to conference proceedings of the 25th International Nuclear Physics Conference (INPC 2013

Hematocrit: another important factor in systemic neonatal cardiovascular adaptation

Background: Global cardiovascular adaptation of normal healthy term newborns is rarely studied from a multiorgan and hematological point of view. Aims: To evaluate comprehensive neonatal cardiovascular adaptation during the first days of life with echocardiography and renal-cerebral echo color-Doppler and to correlate it with hematocrit (Ht) changes. Study design: A prospective observational study was conducted on 35 healthy term neonates with a mean ± SD gestational age and birth weight of 39.5 ± 1.1 weeks and 3,400 ± 330 g, respectively. All infants underwent serial echocardiograms at 15 ± 4 hours (day 1) and 72 ± 4 hours (day 3) of age. At the same time, cerebral and renal Doppler parameters were acquired and Ht was sampled. Results: The weight and Ht declined by 220 g (189-251) and 8.1% (6.7-9.5), respectively. Systolic and diastolic diameters of the right ventricle and diastolic left ventricle posterior wall thickness showed a reduction, while the diastolic diameter of the left ventricle showed a small increase. The Doppler cardiac evaluation showed an increase in the mitral E/A ratio and pulmonary acceleration time, a reduction of late transmitral flow peak velocity, aortic peak systolic velocity (PSV), aortic peak systolic pressure gradient, aortic velocity-time integral, aortic mean pressure gradient and pulmonary mean acceleration. We also found a reduction of cerebral resistance parameters and an increase in PSV, end-diastolic velocity, and time-averaged velocity. Other measured parameters remained unchanged. Conclusion: Systemic cardiovascular evaluation about changes in Ht is an essential approach to study newborns, especially during the first days of life when Ht shows a significant decrease. Knowledge of the laws of physics related to the effect of Ht changes on vascular parameters is another important factor in understanding the pathophysiology of neonatal disease states. Further studies are useful to help physicians make evidence-based decisions in the management of newborns in Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs)

GARFIELD + RCo Digital Upgrade: a Modern Set-up for Mass and Charge Identification of Heavy Ion Reaction Products

An upgraded GARFIELD + Ring Counter (RCo) apparatus is presented with improved performances as far as electronics and detectors are concerned. On one side fast sampling digital read out has been extended to all detectors, allowing for an important simplification of the signal processing chain together with an enriched extracted information. On the other side a relevant improvement has been made in the forward part of the setup (RCo): an increased granularity of the CsI(Tl) crystals and a higher homogeneity in the silicon detector resistivity. The renewed performances of the GARFIELD + RCo array make it suitable for nuclear reaction measurements both with stable and with Radioactive Ion Beams (RIB), like the ones foreseen for the SPES facility, where the Physics of Isospin can be studied.Comment: 13 pages, 19 figures - paper submitted to Eur. Phys. J.

First-principles prediction of structure, energetics, formation enthalpy, elastic constants, polarization, and piezoelectric constants of AlN, GaN, and InN: comparison of local and gradient-corrected density-functional theory

A number of diverse bulk properties of the zincblende and wurtzite III-V nitrides AlN, GaN, and InN, are predicted from first principles within density functional theory using the plane-wave ultrasoft pseudopotential method, within both the LDA (local density) and GGA (generalized gradient) approximations to the exchange-correlation functional. Besides structure and cohesion, we study formation enthalpies (a key ingredient in predicting defect solubilities and surface stability), spontaneous polarizations and piezoelectric constants (central parameters for nanostructure modeling), and elastic constants. Our study bears out the relative merits of the two density functional approaches in describing diverse properties of the III-V nitrides (and of the parent species N$_2$, Al, Ga, and In), and leads us to conclude that the GGA approximation, associated with high-accuracy techniques such as multiprojector ultrasoft pseudopotentials or modern all-electron methods, is to be preferred in the study of III-V nitrides.Comment: RevTeX 6 pages, 12 tables, 0 figure

A novel synthetic peptide from a tomato defensin exhibits antibacterial activities against Helicobacter pylori

Defensins are a class of cysteine-rich proteins, which exert broad spectrum antimicrobial activity. In this work, we used a bioinformatic approach to identify putative defensins in the tomato genome. Fifteen proteins had a mature peptide that includes the well-conserved tetradisulfide array. We selected a representative member of the tomato defensin family; we chemically synthesized its gamma-motif and tested its antimicrobial activity. Here, we demonstrate that the synthetic peptide exhibits potent antibacterial activity against Gram-positive bacteria, such as Staphylococcus aureus A170, Staphylococcus epidermidis, and Listeria monocytogenes, and Gram-negative bacteria, including Salmonella enterica serovar Paratyphi, Escherichia coli, and Helicobacter pylori. In addition, the synthetic peptide shows minimal (<5%) hemolytic activity and absence of cytotoxic effects against THP-1 cells. Finally, SolyC exerts an anti-inflammatory activity in vitro, as it downregulates the level of the proinflammatory cytokines TNF-alpha and IFN-gamma

Ultra-sensitive in-beam gamma-ray spectroscopy for nuclear astrophysics at LUNA

Ultra-sensitive in-beam gamma-ray spectroscopy studies for nuclear astrophysics are performed at the LUNA (Laboratory for Underground Nuclear Astrophysics) 400 kV accelerator, deep underground in Italy's Gran Sasso laboratory. By virtue of a specially constructed passive shield, the laboratory gamma-ray background for E_\gamma < 3 MeV at LUNA has been reduced to levels comparable to those experienced in dedicated offline underground gamma-counting setups. The gamma-ray background induced by an incident alpha-beam has been studied. The data are used to evaluate the feasibility of sensitive in-beam experiments at LUNA and, by extension, at similar proposed facilities.Comment: accepted, Eur. Phys. J.

The DarkSide physics program and its recent results

DarkSide (DS) at Gran Sasso underground laboratory is a direct Dark Matter search program based on Time Projection Chambers (TPC) with liquid Argon from underground sources. The DarkSide-50 (DS-50) TPC, with 150kg of Argon is installed inside active neutron and muon detectors. DS-50 has been taking data since November 2013 with Atmospheric Argon (AAr) and since April 2015 with Underground Argon (UAr), depleted in radioactive 39Ar by a factor ∼ 1400. The exposure of 1422kgd of AAr has demonstrated that the operation of DS-50 for three years in a background free condition is a solid reality, thanks to the superb performance of the Pulse Shape Analysis. The first release of results from an exposure of 2616kgd of UAr has shown no candidate Dark Matter events. We have set the best limit for Spin-Independent elastic nuclear scattering of WIMPs obtained by Argon-based detectors, corresponding to a cross-section of 210−44 cm2 at a WIMP mass of 100GeV. We present the detector design and performance, the results from the AAr run and the first results from the UAr run and we briefly introduce the future of the DarkSide program

Analysis of the gene expression profile of mouse male meiotic germ cells

Wide genome analysis of difference in gene expression between spermatogonial populations from 7-day-old mice and pachytene spermatocytes from 18-day-old mice was performed using Affymetrix gene chips representing approximately 12,500 mouse known genes or EST sequences, spanning approximately 1/3rd of the mouse genome. To delineate differences in the profile of gene expression between mitotic and meiotic stages of male germ cell differentiation, expressed genes were grouped in functional clusters. The analysis confirmed the previously described pre-meiotic or meiotic expression for several genes, in particular for those involved in the regulation of the mitotic and meiotic cell cycle, and for those whose transcripts are accumulated during the meiotic stages to be translated later in post-meiotic stages. Differential expression of several additional genes was discovered. In few cases (pro-apoptotic factors Bak, Bad and Bax), data were in conflict with the previously published stage-dependent expression of genes already known to be expressed in male germ cells. Northern blot analysis of selected genes confirmed the results obtained with the microarray chips. Six of these were novel genes specifically expressed in pachytene spermatocytes: a chromatin remodeling factor (chrac1/YCL1), a homeobox gene (hmx1), a novel G-coupled receptor for an unknown ligand (Gpr19), a glycoprotein of the intestinal epithelium (mucin 3), a novel RAS activator (Ranbp9), and the A630056B21Rik gene (predicted to encode a novel zinc finger protein). These studies will help to delineate the global patterns of gene expression characterizing male germ cell differentiation for a better understanding of regulation of spermatogenesis in mammals

Exercise training improves erectile dysfunction (ED) in patients with metabolic syndrome on phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE-5) inhibitors

Introduction. Erectile dysfunction (ED) affects about 50% of males aged 40-70 years old. ED shares with atherosclerotic disease several common risk factors; therefore, it may be considered a surrogate marker of atherosclerosis. Sincephosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors are well known pharmacologic agents capable of significant improvement in ED, we designed this study to evaluate whether exercise training is of added value in patients with ED who are already on PDE-5 inhibitors. Methods. We recruited 20 male patients affected by ED with metabolic syndrome.At baseline, all patients underwent Cardio-Pulmonary Exercise Testing (CPET) and the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) test.After the initial evaluation, patients were subdivided into two groups: tadalafil group (group T, n=10), who were maintained only on tadalafil therapy, and a tadalafil/exercise training group (T/E group, n=10)who continued tadalafil but in addition underwent a2-month structured exercise training program. Results. Basal anthropometric characteristics of study population showed no significant differences. Although bothgroups showed at 2 months an improvement of the IIEF score, thiswas more evident in the T/E group (T group: 11.2 vs 14.2, P=0.02; T/E group: 10.8 vs 20.1, P&lt;0.001). There was an improvement of oxygen consumption at peak exercise (VO2peak) only in the T/E group patients (T group: 13.63±2.03 vs 14.24±2.98 mL/kg/min; P=0.521; T/E group: 13.41±2.97 vs 16.58±3.17 mL/kg/min; P=0.006). A significant correlation was found between the changes in VO2peak and the modifications in IIEF score (r=0.575; P=0.001). Conclusion. Exercise training in ED patients treated with PDE-5 inhibitors is of added valuesincefurther improves ED, as evaluated by IIEF score, and increases functional capacity