Thoracic myopericytoma in an older adult, rare but possible: A case report

Myopericytoma is a rare tumor generally arising from skin and soft tissues of extremities, trunk, head, and neck regions, rarely from visceral sites. An intrathoracic visceral localization may carry a broad differential diagnosis including primary lung, pleura and chest wall lesions, or metastatic lesions. To date, any radiological features have been recognized and diagnosis of myopericytoma with intrathoracic localization remains still challenging. Here, we describe the case of a subpleural lesion incidentally diagnosed in an older adult affected by gastric cancer. Radiological features did not allow a differential diagnosis between a benign lesion, a primary tumor, or a metastasis. After resection, the histological examination showed histopathological features congruent with the diagnosis of myopericytoma. This unusual presentation reflects the need to share clinical, radiological, and histopathological data about this uncommon but frequently misdiagnosed disease

The impact of psychological distress on weight regain in post-bariatric patients during the COVID-19 pandemic: A latent profile analysis

Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a global health crisis disrupting healthcare delivery for people with severe obesity who have undergone bariatric surgery. This study examined the role of psychological distress during the first Italian COVID-19 lockdown in predicting post-operative outcomes in post-bariatric patients reaching the end of the 12-18 months follow-up during the lockdown. By using a person-centered approach, groups of patients with different psychological distress profiles were identified. We hypothesized that compared to post-bariatric patients with low psychological distress, post-bariatric patients with high psychological distress will be more at risk of weight regain. Methods: A total of 67 patients (71.6% female, Mage = 45.9) participated in this observational retrospective cohort study. Patients' anthropometric data were gathered from medical records while the weight at the end of the lockdown through phone interviews. Psychological distress, operationalized with anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, and sleep disturbances, was assessed by an online self-report questionnaire. Results: Significant differences were highlighted in the high and low psychological distressed group in weight changes, F(1,58) = 5.2, p < 0.001, η2 = 0.3. Specifically, compared to post-bariatric patients in the low psychological distress group, those in the high psychological distressed group reported weight regained (95% CI = 1.0, 2.6). Conclusion: Results highlight the need to target post-bariatric patients with high psychological distress who are at risk for weight regain during the COVID-19 pandemic. Interventions mitigating psychological distress and obesogenic behaviors during future pandemics or in post-COVID times are needed in vulnerable post-bariatric patients reporting high psychological distress

Fibroblasts from patients with Diamond-Blackfan anaemia show abnormal expression of genes involved in protein synthesis, amino acid metabolism and cancer

Background: Diamond-Blackfan anaemia (DBA) is a rare inherited red cell hypoplasia characterised by a defect in the maturation of erythroid progenitors and in some cases associated with malformations. Patients have an increased risk of solid tumors. Mutations have been found in several ribosomal protein (RP) genes, i.e RPS19, RPS24, RPS17, RPL5, RPL11, RPL35A. Studies in haematopoietic progenitors from patients show that haplo-insufficiency of an RP impairs rRNA processing and ribosome biogenesis. DBA lymphocytes show reduced protein synthesis and fibroblasts display abnormal rRNA processing and impaired proliferation. Results: To evaluate the involvement of non-haematopoietic tissues in DBA, we have analysed global gene expression in fibroblasts from DBA patients compared to healthy controls. Microarray expression profiling using Affymetrix GeneChip Human Genome U133A 2.0 Arrays revealed that 421 genes are differentially expressed in DBA patient fibroblasts. These genes include a large cluster of ribosomal proteins and factors involved in protein synthesis and amino acid metabolism, as well as genes associated to cell death, cancer and tissue development. Conclusion: This analysis reports for the first time an abnormal gene expression profile in a non-haematopoietic cell type in DBA. These data support the hypothesis that DBA may be due to a defect in general or specific protein synthesis. \ua9 2009 Avondo et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd

C-KIT IS EXPRESSED IN SOFT TISSUE SARCOMA OF NEUROECTODERMIC ORIGIN AND ITS LIGAND PREVENTS APOPTOSIS OF NEOPLASTIC CELLS

During development, mice with mutations of stem cell factor (SCF) or its receptor c-kit exhibit defects in melanogenesis, as well as hematopoiesis and gonadogenesis. Consequently, accumulating evidence suggests that the c-kit/SCF system plays a crucial role in all of these processes and in tumors which derive from them. Especially in neuroblastoma (infant tumors of neuroectoderm crest derivation such as melano-cytes) it would appear that an autocrine loop exists between c-kit and SCF, and that the functional block of the c-kit receptors with monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs) results in a significant decrease in cellular proliferation. We studied the expression and role of c-kit and SCF in cell lines of soft tissue sarcoma of neuroectodermic origin, such as Ewing’s sar-coma (ES) and peripheral neuro-ectodermal tumors (PNET). Using flow cytometry with MoAb CD117 PE, c-kit expressio

Dosimetric characterization of a large area pixel-segmented ionization chamber.

A pixel-segmented ionization chamber has been designed and built by Torino University and INFN. The detector features a 24 x 24 cm2 active area divided in 1024 independent cylindrical ionization chambers and can be read out in 500 micros without introducing dead time; the digital charge quantum can be adjusted between 100 fC and 800 fC. The sensitive volume of each single ionization chamber is 0.07 cm3. The purpose of the detector is to ease the two-dimensional (2D) verifications of fields with complex shapes and large gradients. The detector was characterized in a PMMA phantom using 60Co and 6 MV x-ray photon beams. It has shown good signal linearity with respect to dose and dose rate to water. The average sensitivity of a single ionization chamber was 2.1 nC/Gy, constant within 0.5% over one month of daily measurements. Charge collection efficiency was 0.985 at the operating polarization voltage of 400 V and 3.5 Gy/min dose rate. Tissue maximum ratio and output factor have been compared with a Farmer ionization chamber and were found in good agreement. The dose profiles have been compared with the ones obtained with an ionization chamber in water phantom for the field sizes supplied by a 3D-Line dynamic multileaf collimator. These results show that this detector can be used for 2D dosimetry of x-ray photon beams, supplying a good spatial resolution and sensibly reducing the time spent in dosimetric verification of complex radiation fields

Análisis de balance de flujos metabólicos aplicado a la producción de lípidos microbianos

Los lípidos microbianos han adquirido relevancia en los últimos años por su creciente empleo en la producción de biodiesel. Este biocombustible constituye una alternativa a la utilización de combustibles fósiles y, de este modo, contribuye a la reducción del impacto ambiental. Estos “biolípidos” son obtenidos mediante procesos biotecnológicos, empleando microrganismos oleaginosos capaces de acumular más del 20% de su peso seco en lípidos, principalmente en forma de triglicéridos (TAG). Rhodosporidium toruloides es una de las especies de levaduras oleaginosas más empleadas debido a su versatilidad nutricional, su elevado rendimiento lipídico y la calidad del perfil de ácidos grasos obtenido. No obstante, uno de los factores limitantes para la utilización de estos procesos en gran escala, es el costo de producción. Es por ello, que resulta indispensable la optimización del proceso incluyendo la composición del medio de cultivo y la estrategia de cultivo empleada. Típicamente, se utiliza una estrategia de producción de TAG en dos etapas. La primera, está dirigida a la producción de elevadas concentraciones de biomasa, generalmente mediante cultivos sumergidos bajo limitación por carbono. En la segunda etapa, por otro lado, se induce la formación de lípidos mediante la limitación de un nutriente esencial para el crecimiento, con la consiguiente asimilación del carbono remanente en el medio de cultivo mediante la acumulación de TAG. Con este modo de operación se han reportado procesos con limitación en nitrógeno, fosfato, azufre, etc. con diferentes relaciones molares entre carbono y el nutriente limitante (C/N, C/P y C/S, respectivamente). La ingeniería metabólica es una disciplina muy útil a la hora de optimizar procesos biológicos. Dentro de esta disciplina, el Análisis de Balance de Flujos Metabólicos (FBA) es una herramienta muy eficaz para predecir, vía simulación, el comportamiento microbiano frente a diferentes perturbaciones externas. A su vez, mediante el desarrollo de mapas metabólicos adecuados, permite la optimización del proceso in silico para luego llevar a cabo la correspondiente validación in vitro. Recientemente, Bommareddy et al. reportaron un modelo metabólico de R. toruloides para la producción de TAG en cultivo sumergido. En dicho trabajo, emplearon Modos Elementales (EM) como herramienta para el cálculo de los rendimientos máximos de TAG con diferentes fuentes de carbono, en sistema de cultivo por lotes (batch). En el presente trabajo, se emplea el modelo metabólico de R. toruloides descrito por Bommareddy et al. para la optimización de la producción de TAG mediante FBA, y se contrasta con los rendimientos máximos obtenidos en el citado trabajo. Adicionalmente, se proponen mejoras al citado modelo, con el objetivo de simular más fehacientemente el comportamiento microbiano y alcanzar rendimientos acordes a los resultados experimentales.Sección: Electrotecnia.Facultad de Ingenierí

RPL5 on 1p22.1 is recurrently deleted in multiple myeloma and its expression is linked to bortezomib response

Chromosomal region 1p22 is deleted in 6520% of multiple myeloma (MM) patients, suggesting the presence of an unidentified tumor suppressor. Using high-resolution genomic profiling, we delimit a 58 kb minimal deleted region (MDR) on 1p22.1 encompassing two genes: ectopic viral integration site 5 (EVI5) and ribosomal protein L5 (RPL5). Low mRNA expression of EVI5 and RPL5 was associated with worse survival in diagnostic cases. Patients with 1p22 deletion had lower mRNA expression of EVI5 and RPL5, however, 1p22 deletion status is a bad predictor of RPL5 expression in some cases, suggesting that other mechanisms downregulate RPL5 expression. Interestingly, RPL5 but not EVI5 mRNA levels were significantly lower in relapsed patients responding to bortezomib and; both in newly diagnosed and relapsed patients, bortezomib treatment could overcome their bad prognosis by raising their progression-free survival to equal that of patients with high RPL5 expression. In conclusion, our genetic data restrict the MDR on 1p22 to EVI5 and RPL5 and although the role of these genes in promoting MM progression remains to be determined, we identify RPL5 mRNA expression as a biomarker for initial response to bortezomib in relapsed patients and subsequent survival benefit after long-term treatment in newly diagnosed and relapsed patients