Prognostic role of nodal ratio, LODDS, pN in patients with pancreatic cancer with venous involvement

Background: The UICC/AJCC TNM staging system classifies lymph nodes as N0 and N1 in pancreatic cancer. Aim of the study is to determine whether the number of examine nodes, the nodal ratio (NR) and the logarithm odds of positive lymph nodes (LODDS) may better stratify the prognosis of patients undergoing pancreatectomy combined with venous resection for pancreatic cancer with venous involvement. Methods: A multicenter database of 303 patients undergoing pancreatectomy in 9 Italian referral centers was analyzed. The prognostic impact of number of retrieved and examined nodes, NR, LODDS was analyzed and compared with ROC curves analysis, Pearson test, univariate and multivariate analysis. Results: The number of metastatic nodes, pN, the NR and LODDS was significantly correlated with survival at multivariate analyses. The corresponding AUC for the number of metastatic nodes, pN, the NR and LODDS were 0.66, 0.69, 0.63 and 0.65, respectively. The Pearson test showed a significant correlation between the number of retrieved lymph nodes and number of metastatic nodes, pN and the NR. LODDS had the lower coefficient correlation. Concerning N1 patients, the NR, the LODDS and the number of metastatic nodes were able to significantly further stratify survival (p = 0.040; p = 0.046; p = 0.038, respectively). Conclusions: The number of examined lymph nodes, the NR and LODDS are useful for further prognostic stratification of N1 patients in the setting of pancreatectomy combined with PV/SMV resection. No superiority of one over the others methods was detected

IMMU-01. TEM-GBM: AN OPEN-LABEL, PHASE I/IIA DOSE-ESCALATION STUDY EVALUATING THE SAFETY AND EFFICACY OF GENETICALLY MODIFIED TIE-2 EXPRESSING MONOCYTES TO DELIVER IFN-A WITHIN GLIOBLASTOMA TUMOR MICROENVIRONMENT

Abstract Temferon is a macrophage-based treatment relying on ex-vivo transduction of autologous HSPCs to express immune-payloads within the TME. Temferon targets the immune-modulatory molecule IFN-a, to a subset of tumor infiltrating macrophages known as Tie-2 expressing macrophages (TEMs) due to the Tie2 promoter and a post-transcriptional regulation layer represented by miRNA-126 target sequences. As of 31st May 2021, 15-patients received Temferon (D+0) with follow-up of 3 – 693 days. After conditioning neutrophil and platelet engraftment occurred at D+13 and D+13.5, respectively. Temferon-derived differentiated cells, as determined be the number of vector copy per genome, were found within 14 days post treatment and persisted albeit at lower levels up to 18-months. Very low concentrations of IFN-a in the plasma (8.7 pg/ml-D+30) and in the CSF (1.6 pg/ml-D+30) were detected, suggesting tight regulation of transgene expression. Five-deaths occurred at D+322, +340, +402, +478 and +646 due to PD, and one at D+60 due to complications following the conditioning regimen. Eight-patients had progressive disease (range: D-11 to +239) as expected for this tumor type. SAEs include GGT elevation (possibly related to Temferon) and infections, venous thromboembolism, brain abscess, hemiparesis, seizures, anemia and general physical condition deterioration, compatible with ASCT, concomitant medications and PD. Four-patients underwent 2ndsurgery. Recurrent tumors had gene-marked cells and increased expression of ISGs compared to first surgery, indicative of local IFNa release by TEMs. In one patient, a stable lesion had a higher proportion of T cells and TEMs within the myeloid infiltrate and an increased ISGs than in the progressing lesion, detected in the same patient. Tumor-associated clones expanded in the periphery. TME characterization by scRNA and TCR-sequencing is ongoing. To date, Temferon is well tolerated, with no DLTs identified. The results provide initial evidence of Temferon potential to activate the immune system of GBM patients, as predicted by preclinical studies

A MSFD complementary approach for the assessment of pressures, knowledge and data gaps in Southern European Seas : the PERSEUS experience

PERSEUS project aims to identify the most relevant pressures exerted on the ecosystems of the Southern European Seas (SES), highlighting knowledge and data gaps that endanger the achievement of SES Good Environmental Status (GES) as mandated by the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). A complementary approach has been adopted, by a meta-analysis of existing literature on pressure/impact/knowledge gaps summarized in tables related to the MSFD descriptors, discriminating open waters from coastal areas. A comparative assessment of the Initial Assessments (IAs) for five SES countries has been also independently performed. The comparison between meta-analysis results and IAs shows similarities for coastal areas only. Major knowledge gaps have been detected for the biodiversity, marine food web, marine litter and underwater noise descriptors. The meta-analysis also allowed the identification of additional research themes targeting research topics that are requested to the achievement of GES. 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license.peer-reviewe

Desarrollo de una solución sistemática gestora de consultas sobre Información Institucional de la Universidad Piloto de Colombia SAM. (PIP)

La Universidad Piloto de Colombia Seccional Alto Magdalena (SAM) debido al tamaño de su campus y de su comunidad en general utiliza diversas soluciones informáticas para satisfacer la demanda que incurre en cada uno de sus sectores en producción (ejemplo: académico, financiero, administrativo, entre otros.). Todo esto generado por estándares a nivel nacional impartidos por el ministerio de educación y avalados a través de un registro calificado el cual certifica las competencias de la empresa como Institución de Educación Superior (IES). (Ministerio de Educación, 2013, pág. 71) Estas soluciones informáticas son mutuamente excluyentes en algunos procesos netamente propios de un área funcional y se relacionan para otros procesos que involucran dos (2) o más sectores productivos (Ejemplo: proceso de matrícula, cursos virtuales, entre otros), Estos sistemas ya mencionados gestionan y/o administran información de índole personal e institucional, sin embargo en la actualidad el mantenimiento a estos tipos de información son altamente dispersos y particularmente la mayoría de los sistemas en producción operan de manera independiente evidenciando carencia de credibilidad por ambigüedad de la información e incertidumbre con respecto a la disponibilidad a nivel institucional. Este proyecto básicamente busca unificar en un único sistema la mayoría de la información disponible en esta IES y hacerla accesible y oportuna para los estudiantes, docentes, administrativos, egresados y demás individuos que componen la comunidad académica de la Universidad Piloto SAM

Mapping Pinus spp. Forestry and Land Cover Classes Using High-resolution PlanetScope Satellite Data: Experimenting Images from Different Seasons and Machine Learning Methods

The Remote Sensing and machine learning techniques are cost-effective ways of mapping land use and cover, especially forestry areas. This is essential for the management and planning of such resources. The purpose of this study was to identify which classifier (Random Forest or Support Vector Machine) reach the best accuracy in land use and cover classification and determine which is the best season of year for Pinus spp. forest mapping. PlanetScope multispectral image was used with 3.7 m of spatial resolution, collected over the coastal region of Rio Grande do Sul state. The input variables for the classifiers were the four spectral bands: RGB and NIR, and the NDVI vegetation index. In both classifiers, high accuracy values were obtained, as well as for all seasons of the year. The Random Forest classifier obtained better results in the spring and summer seasons, while in the autumn and winter seasons there was no significant difference between the classifiers for the classification of Pinus spp. forests. The results reached an adequate precision to be used for the management and monitoring of the land use and cover in the municipality of São José do Norte, RS

Effects of non-surgical periodontal therapy on the glomerular filtration rate of the kidney: An exploratory trial

Objective: To determine whether non-surgical periodontal treatment (PT) would exert, in subjects with generalized chronic periodontitis (GCP), some beneficial effect on renal function as indicated by surrogate measures of the glomerular filtration rate (GFR). Material and Methods: Twenty GCP systemically healthy subjects were treated with PT. Serum samples were collected at baseline and 1 day, 7, 30, 90 and 180 days after treatment. GFR was evaluated using cystatin C, a serum marker and modification of diet in renal disease (MDRD), an equation involving creatinine, urea and albumin. Serum markers of systemic inflammation such as C-reactive protein (CRP), D-dimer, serum amyloid A (SAA) and fibrinogen were also assessed. Results: The cystatin C level decreased significantly from baseline to the end of the trial (p<0.01). Conversely, MDRD did not vary. A significant inflammatory reaction was produced by PT in the short term. Greater increases were noted for CRP and SAA within 24 h (p<0.001 versus baseline), while d-dimer (p<0.05) and fibrinogen (p<0.01) showed mild variations. The values of inflammatory markers were normalized after 30 days. Conclusions: GFR, as assessed by cystatin C levels, may be positively affected by PT. Because of the exploratory nature of this trial, further research is needed to investigate this preliminary finding. © 2010 John Wiley & Sons A/S.Link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Lack of short-term adjunctive effect of systemic neridronate in non-surgical periodontal therapy of advanced generalized chronic periodontitis: An open label-randomized clinical trial

Graziani F, Cei S, Guerrero A, La Ferla F, Vano M, Tonetti M, Gabriele M. Lack of short-term adjunctive effect of systemic neridronate in non-surgical periodontal therapy of advanced generalized chronic periodontitis: an open label randomized clinical trial. J Clin Periodontol 2009; 36: 419-427. doi: 10.1111j.1600-051X.2009.01388.x. Abstract Aim: To determine if the adjunctive use of intra-muscular neridronate (NE) during non-surgical periodontal treatment (PT) provides, in patients with generalized chronic periodontitis (GCP), adjunctive benefits as compared with PT alone 3 months after the completion of a 3-month NE therapy. Material and Methods: Sixty GCP healthy patients were randomly assigned to control (CG) or test group (TG). CG patients received PT only. Thirty subjects in TG also received adjunctive NE (12.5 mg in an i.m. injectionweek for 3 months). Clinical parameters were evaluated at baseline, at the end of NE treatment (3 months after PT) and 3 months after the completion of NE treatment (6 months after the beginning of PT). Results: Groups were balanced at baseline and all clinical parameters showed improvement between baseline and follow-ups. At 6 months improvements from baseline at sites with deep pocket depth (≥7 mm) were 3.2 mm [95% confidence interval (CI): 2.7-3.9] in CG and 3.0 mm (95% CI: 2.3-3.8) in TG with a non-significant difference of 0.2 mm (95% CI: -1.0-0.5; ancova; p=0.549) between groups. Secondary outcomes did not show significant differences between groups. No major adverse events were reported. Conclusions: The adjunctive use of NE during PT did not result in additional short-term improvements in periodontal conditions of GCP patients when compared with PT. © 2009 John Wiley & Sons AS.Link_to_subscribed_fulltex