Extracellular vesicle-based nucleic acid delivery: Current advances and future perspectives in cancer therapeutic strategies

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are sophisticated and sensitive messengers released by cells to communicate with and influence distant and neighboring cells via selective transfer of bioactive content, including protein lipids and nucleic acids. EVs have therefore attracted broad interest as new and refined potential therapeutic systems in many diseases, including cancer, due to their low immunogenicity, non-toxicity, and elevated bioavailability. They might serve as safe and effective vehicles for the transport of therapeutic molecules to specific tissues and cells. In this review, we focus on EVs as a vehicle for gene therapy in cancer. We describe recent developments in EV engineering to achieve efficient intracellular delivery of cancer therapeutics and avoid off-target effects, to provide an overview of the potential applications of EV-mediated gene therapy and the most promising biomedical advances

DTT - Divertor Tokamak Test facility: A testbed for DEMO

The effective treatment of the heat and power exhaust is a critical issue in the road map to the realization of the fusion energy. In order to provide possible, reliable, well assessed and on-time answers to DEMO, the Divertor Tokamak Test facility (DTT) has been conceived and projected to be carried out and operated within the European strategy in fusion technology. This paper, based on the invited plenary talk at the 31st virtual SOFT Conference 2020, provides an overview of the DTT scientific proposal, which is deeply illustrated in the 2019 DTT Interim Design Report

DTT - Divertor Tokamak Test facility - Interim Design Report

The “Divertor Tokamak Test facility, DTT” is a milestone along the international program aimed at demonstrating – in the second half of this century – the feasibility of obtaining to commercial electricity from controlled thermonuclear fusion. DTT is a Tokamak conceived and designed in Italy with a broad international vision. The construction will be carried out in the ENEA Frascati site, mainly supported by national funds, complemented by EUROfusion and European incentive schemes for innovative investments. The project team includes more than 180 high-standard researchers from ENEA, CREATE, CNR, INFN, RFX and various universities. The volume, entitled DTT Interim Design Report (“Green Book” from the colour of the cover), briefly describes the status of the project, the planning of the design future activities and its organizational structure. The publication of the Green Book also provides an occasion for thorough discussions in the fusion community and a broad international collaboration on the DTT challenge

A CFD Study on a Calibration System for Contact Temperature Probes

Surface-temperature measurements by means of contact probes require a detailed investigation of the probe-surface interaction. For an accurate calibration of such probes, the heat transfer processes involved in contact measurements must be well known and the impact of any influence parameters must be taken into account. At present, contact probes are generally calibrated by means of a temperature-controlled hot plate. A calibration system for contact surface-temperature probes, based on such a hot plate, was developed at INRIM. It covers the temperature range from ambient to 350 °C. The reference temperature is available on the upper surface of a metal block and is determined by linear extrapolation of the readings of three calibrated thermometers embedded into the block at different depths. However, the actual temperature of the reference surface largely depends on the sensor-to-surface interaction. The contact thermal resistance, the thermal conductivity of the block, the geometry of the probe, and the temperature of the surrounding fluid are just some of the parameters that affect a calibration and that may cause measurement errors if they are not properly taken into account and corrected for. Better insight into the interaction between the surface and the probe is therefore required. Since the experimental evaluation of measurement errors is not straightforward, mathematical modeling could represent a crucial tool to better understand the interactions between the probe and the calibration system. In this paper, a finite-element numerical model of the INRIM calibration system was developed in order to investigate the temperature field across the reference block as well as on its surface during a calibration. The thermal load introduced by a commercial contact probe during a calibration was also included in the simulation and its effect on the temperature field was studied. In order to obtain a detailed mathematical model, the surrounding air was also included in the simulation, avoiding the imposition of boundary conditions at the interface between solid parts and fluid. The proposed model was validated by comparing the results obtained with the available experimental data

High Temperature Humidity Sensor Calibration

The request of calibration of humidity sensors at high temperature and high relative humidity is quite common in many industrial sectors (food, pharmaceutical, etc.) and in environmental monitoring applications. However, in spite of a widespread traceability need in such measurement conditions, only few calibrations or industrial laboratories are available to meet this demand. This is probably due to the high costs associated with the calibration facilities and to the technical difficulties for realisation, use and maintenance of such a laboratory for humidity sensor calibration at high temperature. In the work the authors highlight the main issues connected with the realisation and characterisation of such calibration systems. Experimental investigations on the behaviour of the calibration reference standards and the traditional working instruments in the high temperature and high humidity regimes are reported. Specific calibration problems associated with the humidity sensor response curves and their dependence from the temperature are discussed. Finally, the calibration uncertainty of humidity sensors in the above-mentioned conditions is estimated

Seismic Assessment and Structural Retrofitting of the Day-Hospital Building “G. Pascale Foundation”

This work aims to provide an effective structural solution, minimizing the discomfort during the works’ execution, for how to retrofit the Day-Hospital building of the National Cancer Institute “G. Pascale Foundation” in Naples. The structural vulnerability has been preliminarily evaluated for this scope, using linear static and dynamic analyses according to code provisions. The performance index in terms of peak ground acceleration (PGA), both for the life safety (SLV) limit state and the operational (SLO) limit state, has been evaluated. A seismic assessment has been performed by finite element (FE) analyses using the SAP2000 computer program, post-processor VIS15 and plugin SPF. Two main solutions have been proposed to improve the structural performance of the existing building. The first one is based on increasing the thickness of the existing reinforced concrete (RC) cores. The second solution is characterized by strengthening the RC cores using steel plates, steel strips and angles. A comparison of the proposed interventions is provided herein from the technological and financial standpoints

NEW RESULTS IN MODELLING OF A SURFACE TEMPERATURE CALIBRATION SYSTEM

A dedicated calibration system for contact surface thermometers was designed and constructed and a thermal fluid dynamic model of the system for simulating the impact of the different influence parameters on the measurement was developed. The paper describes the new results of the comparison between the numerical predictions of the calibration system theoretical model and the experimental values, as obtained from its calibration