Day care cataract surgery in Central and Southern Italy: a multicentric survey

surgical techniques and costs are generally lower than those involved in ordinary hospitalization. Cataract surgery serves as a proxy indicator of the trend towards day surgery hospitalization in Italy and, therefore, of regional variability in health-care delivery and cost. The aim of this study was to update the diffusion of cataract day surgery through various surgical ophthalmological centers in central and southern Italy during 2005. Methods: A two-stage stratified cluster sampling method was used to draw a sample of Cataract Surgery Unit from Ophthalmic Units of central and southern Italy. A questionnaire was sent to 25 cataract surgery centers in nine health districts that represented the range of establishments (public, private, accredited or otherwise) in which cataract surgery is performed. Data were collected on numbers of procedures performed in 2005, hospital admission type, time from the onset of cataract day surgery, surgical procedure, and presence of other surgical centers. Results: The response rate was 42% (10 surveys), resulting in at least one completed questionnaire for each of these 9 districts. There is a positive trend towards day surgery hospitalization in all surgical centers. The percentage of patients treated as outpatients during 2005 varied from 50–60% (Avellino, Naples, Campobasso), to 80–90% (Rome, Bari), up to 90–100% (Catania, Palermo, Siracusa and Trapani), with an increasing trend in all the centers studied. Few differences were found in surgical procedures, and these were statistically insignificant. Conclusion: Our results confirm a positive trend towards day surgery in place of hospital inpatient admission for cataract surgery. This trend is expected to close the existing regional gap in Italy. Increased efficiency is an overriding need for the National Health Service in order to improve the rationalization of resources

New Pre-Main Sequence Candidates in the Taurus-Auriga Star Forming Region

International audienceWe have studied the X-ray source population of the Taurus Molecular Cloud (TMC) to search for new members of the Taurus-Auriga star forming region. Candidate members have been selected among the X-ray sources detected in 24 fields of the XMM-\emph{Newton} Extended Survey of the Taurus Molecular Cloud, having an IR counterpart in the 2MASS catalog, based on color-magnitude and color-color diagrams. Their X-ray spectral properties have been compared with those of known members and other X-ray sources in the same fields but without a NIR counterpart. A search for flare-like variability in the time series of all new candidates and the analysis of the X-ray spectra of the brightest candidates have been used to identify sources with a high probability of membership. We have found that 347 of 1909 detected X-ray sources have an infrared counterpart in the 2MASS catalogue. Among them, we have selected 57 sources that are consistent with being new pre-main sequence star candidates at the distance of the Taurus-Auriga star forming region; the X-ray spectral properties of this sample are, on the whole, similar to the properties of known TMC members and different from those of X-ray sources without an IR counterpart, most of which are likely to be of extragalactic origin. For 12 such candidates, the likelihood of membership is very high, based on the relatively high plasma temperatures derived from their X-ray spectra and/or the observation of powerful flares in their light curves

La vita delle stelle in 3D: ambienti digitali per la ricerca e la didattica dell’astronomia

L'INAF - Osservatorio di Palermo nella seconda metà del 2019 ha attivato il progetto 3DMAP-VR, un acronimo che sta per Three-dimensional Modeling of Astrophysical Phenomena in Virtual Reality, sviluppando modelli 3D di fenomeni e ambienti astrofisici, frutto di simulazioni numeriche magneto-idrodinamiche realizzate dai ricercatori per interpretare i dati raccolti dai telescopi spaziali internazionali, indagare le proprietà fisiche e chimiche degli oggetti astronomici e ricostruire e osservare la loro evoluzione nel tempo. Utilizzando software per la modellazione 3D come Paraview, largamente utilizzato nella ricerca scientifica, sono stati realizzati degli ambienti immersivi e interattivi utilizzando la realtà virtuale (VR) e la realtà aumentata (AR). L’uso della AR e VR nella ricerca e didattica dell’astronomia è stato riconosciuto come uno strumento molto potente ed efficace, sia per ricercatori, proprio perché si presta bene alla rappresentazione dei dati astronomici non sempre facili da analizzare e comprendere, che per gli educatori e gli studenti, perché forniscono uno spazio di apprendimento immersivo e coinvolgente. I modelli 3D, resi artisticamente affascinanti, infatti, sono stati mostrati durante gli eventi per il pubblico e le scuole per presentare i risultati delle recenti ricerche astronomiche condotte dai ricercatori INAF; queste nuove tecnologie potenziano l’esperienza dell’utente consentendo scelte interattive e personali e offrendo opportunità educative uniche, aumentando la motivazione e la comprensione dei contenuti proposti. I modelli realizzati dall’INAF - già pubblicati su riviste scientifiche specializzate – sono stati diffusi attraverso Sketchfab, una delle più grandi piattaforme progettate per la diffusione di modelli 3D, per la realtà virtuale e aumentata, e ideando numerose iniziative di didattica e divulgazione. È possibile interagire con queste simulazioni 3D attraverso smartphone, tablet e PC, ma la visione ottimale avviene con l’utilizzo di visori appositi, come gli Oculus, che consentono una totale immersione negli ambienti virtuali. Inoltre, chiunque abbia accesso a una stampante 3D potrà stampare i modelli – che sono stati ottimizzati anche per essere compatibili con le più comuni stampanti 3D – e potrà così tenere tra le mani una stella che è appena esplosa oppure l’onda d’urto di una supernova. Infine, mostreremo un’attività didattica in VR sviluppata all’interno del progetto 3DMAP-VR: il prototipo di un programma sperimentale rivolto alle scuole, dove i ricercatori dell'INAF possono incontrare gli studenti per guidarli alla scoperta delle meraviglie del cosmo, attraverso modelli 3D di oggetti dell’universo integrati in un ambiente creato all’interno di uno studio verde

New Constraints on the Future Evaporation of the Young Exoplanets in the V1298 Tau System

Transiting planets at young ages are key targets for improving our understanding of the evolution of exo-atmospheres. We present results of a new X-ray observation of V 1298 Tau with XMM-Newton, aimed to determine more accurately the high-energy irradiation of the four planets orbiting this pre-main-sequence star, and the possible variability due to magnetic activity on short and long timescales. Following the first measurements of planetary masses in the V 1298 Tau system, we revise early guesses of the current escape rates from the planetary atmospheres, employing our updated atmospheric evaporation models to predict the future evolution of the system. Contrary to previous expectations, we find that the two outer Jupiter-sized planets will not be affected by any evaporation on Gyr timescales, and the same occurs for the two smaller inner planets, unless their true masses are lower than ~40 Me. These results confirm that relatively massive planets can reach their final position in the mass-radius diagram very early in their evolutionary history

Accretion and outflow-related X-rays in T Tauri stars

We report on accretion- and outflow-related X-rays from T Tauri stars, based on results from the "XMM-Newton Extended Survey of the Taurus Molecular Cloud.” X-rays potentially form in shocks of accretion streams near the stellar surface, although we hypothesize that direct interactions between the streams and magnetic coronae may occur as well. We report on the discovery of a "soft excess” in accreting T Tauri stars supporting these scenarios. We further discuss a new type of X-ray source in jet-driving T Tauri stars. It shows a strongly absorbed coronal component and a very soft, weakly absorbed component probably related to shocks in microjets. The excessive coronal absorption points to dust-depletion in the accretion stream

Effective targeting of breast cancer stem cells by combined inhibition of Sam68 and Rad51

: Breast cancer (BC) is the second cause of cancer-related deceases in the worldwide female population. Despite the successful treatment advances, 25% of BC develops resistance to current therapeutic regimens, thereby remaining a major hurdle for patient management. Current therapies, targeting the molecular events underpinning the adaptive resistance, still require effort to improve BC treatment. Using BC sphere cells (BCSphCs) as a model, here we showed that BC stem-like cells express high levels of Myc, which requires the presence of the multifunctional DNA/RNA binding protein Sam68 for the DNA-damage repair. Analysis of a cohort of BC patients displayed that Sam68 is an independent negative factor correlated with the progression of the disease. Genetic inhibition of Sam68 caused a defect in PARP-induced PAR chain synthesis upon DNA-damaging insults, resulting in cell death of TNBC cells. In contrast, BC stem-like cells were able to survive due to an upregulation of Rad51. Importantly, the inhibition of Rad51 showed synthetic lethal effect with the silencing of Sam68, hampering the cell viability of patient-derived BCSphCs and stabilizing the growth of tumor xenografts, including those TNBC carrying BRCA mutation. Moreover, the analysis of Myc, Sam68 and Rad51 expression demarcated a signature of a poor outcome in a large cohort of BC patients. Thus, our findings suggest the importance of targeting Sam68-PARP1 axis and Rad51 as potential therapeutic candidates to counteract the expansion of BC cells with an aggressive phenotype

Discovery and origin of the radio emission from the multiple stellar system KQ Vel

KQVel is a binary system composed of a slowly rotating magnetic Ap star with a companion of unknown nature. In this paper, we report the detection of its radio emission. We conducted a multi-frequency radio campaign using the ATCA interferometer (band-names: 16cm, 4cm, and 15mm). The target was detected in all bands. The most obvious explanation for the radio emission is that it originates in the magnetosphere of the Ap star, but this is shown unfeasible. The known stellar parameters of the Ap star enable us to exploit the scaling relationship for non-thermal gyro-synchrotron emission from early-type magnetic stars. This is a general relation demonstrating how radio emission from stars with centrifugal magnetospheres is supported by rotation. Using KQVel's parameters the predicted radio luminosity is more than five orders of magnitudes lower than the measured one. The extremely long rotation period rules out the Ap star as the source of the observed radio emission. Other possible explanations for the radio emission from KQVel, involving its unknown companion, have been explored. A scenario that matches the observed features (i.e. radio luminosity and spectrum, correlation to X-rays) is a hierarchical stellar system, where the possible companion of the magnetic star is a close binary (possibly of RSCVn type) with at least one magnetically active late-type star. To be compatible with the total mass of the system, the last scenario places strong constraints on the orbital inclination of the KQVel stellar system

EBF1, MYO6 and CALR expression levels predict therapeutic response in diffuse large B-cell lymphomas

BackgroundDiffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is a hematological malignancy representing one-third of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma cases. Notwithstanding immunotherapy in combination with chemotherapy (R-CHOP) is an effective therapeutic approach for DLBCL, a subset of patients encounters treatment resistance, leading to low survival rates. Thus, there is an urgent need to identify predictive biomarkers for DLBCL including the elderly population, which represents the fastest-growing segment of the population in Western countries.MethodsGene expression profiles of n=414 DLBCL biopsies were retrieved from the public dataset GSE10846. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) (fold change >1.4, p-value <0.05, n=387) have been clustered in responder and non-responder patient cohorts. An enrichment analysis has been performed on the top 30 up-regulated genes of responder and non-responder patients to identify the signatures involved in gene ontology (MSigDB). The more significantly up-regulated DEGs have been validated in our independent collection of formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) biopsy samples of elderly DLBCL patients, treated with R-CHOP as first-line therapy.ResultsFrom the analysis of two independent cohorts of DLBCL patients emerged a gene signature able to predict the response to R-CHOP therapy. In detail, expression levels of EBF1, MYO6, CALR are associated with a significant worse overall survival.ConclusionsThese results pave the way for a novel characterization of DLBCL biomarkers, aiding the stratification of responder versus non-responder patients