Un ammiratore di Eschine: citazioni della Ctesifontea in Dione Crisostomo

Dio Chrysostomus appears to know Aeschines’ speeches very well, exploiting and imitating them in a number of ways. His interest in Aeschines goes far beyond Atticism

“SIGNIFICATO PROGNOSTICO DELLE MICROMETASTASI NEL LINFONODO SENTINELLA DA CARCINOMA MAMMARIO INVASIVO: ANALISI RETROSPETTIVA DI 51 CASI”

INTRODUZIONE:Allo stato attuale il carcinoma mammario rappresenta la più diffusa neoplasia epiteliale del sesso femminile. L' introduzione di programmi di screening ha aumentato l' incidenza di lesioni di piccole dimensioni e ridotto la mortalità legata al tumore. Lo stato linfonodale rappresenta un' importante fattore prognostico della malattia.Il linfonodo sentinella, quale primo linfonodo drenante l' area della lesione e pertanto interessato per primo da eventuali metastasi ha rivoluzionato il trattamento chirurgico conservato, riducendo le complicanze legate alla dissezione ascellare, che viene eseguita solo in caso di metastasi del sentinella. E' tuttavia contraddittorio e fonte di dibattito il management di depositi micrometastatici al linfonodo sentinella.Scopo del nostro studio è valutare il significato prognostico delle micrometastasi e la nostra esperienza in relazione ai recenti trials clinici. MATERIALI E METODI:Dal Gennaio 2003 al giugno 2011 sono state effettuate presso il nostro Dipartimento di Chirurgia 724 biopsie del linfonodo sentinella per tumori della mammella T1-T2 fino a 3 cm con linfoscintigrafia o colorante vitale. RISULTATI:203 pazienti presentavano metastasi; di questi 51 avevano micrometastasi.Dopo linfoadenectomia ascellare di salvataggio, delle 51 pazienti con micrometastasi solo 2 avevano metastasi agli altri linfonodi ascellari.Dieci pazienti non sono state sottoposte in base alla valutazione di fattori legati al tumore a dissezione ascellare.Dopo Un follow-up di 5anni, periodo entro il quale possono verificarsi eventuali recidive ascellari, nessuna paziente ha sviluppato eventi. CONCLUSIONI:Dai recenti studi clinici(ACOSOG Z0011) e dalla nostra esperienza, la presenza di depositi metastatici al linfonodo sentinella non necessita di terapia chirurgica ulteriore alla rimozione del sentinella in quanto la successiva dissezione ascellare non altera nè la prognosi, nè il trattamento medico, nè la sopravvivenza

The building information modeling for the retrofitting of existing buildings. A case study in the University of Cagliari.

Italy's very consistent buildings stock has become the major field for real estate investments and for the related projects and actions. The urge of working on built environment is however facing some crucial issues. The first is the lack of documentation on the construction history and on the real constructive layout of existing buildings (in terms of components, installations, plants, etc.). The second is the poor activity in surveying their current status, with reference to use (energy behaviour, real consumptions, etc.) and maintenance (conservation status, previous maintenance works, compliance with current regulations, etc.). These obstacles cause a deep inefficiency in the planning, programming and controlling of requalification and/or refunctionalisation works. Starting from these assumptions, this paper shows the findings of a research shared by the Politecnico of Milan and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Architecture of the University of Cagliari. It is aimed at testing the use of building information modeling (BIM) to structure the necessary knowledge to evaluate intervention scenarios. The research is focused on the Mandolesi Pavilion of the University of Cagliari, designed by Enrico Mandolesi. It is a highly stimulating architectural object because it incorporates values that require a conservative approach, but at the same time, like most contemporary buildings, it was designed and built for innovation and not for “long duration”. The work has actually led to the realization of a BIM model of the case study. It represents the first prefiguration of an approach that develops from construction history and continues with advanced diagnostics on the statical and energy performances of the building. The model formalizes knowledge and information on a significant building, aimed at its management. It allows also the setting of intervention scenarios that can be evaluated with real-time simulations of cost, time and ROI

Phenolic Profiles of Red Wine Relate to Vascular Endothelial Benefits Mediated by SIRT1 and SIRT6

Dietary phenolic compounds possess potent bioactivity against inflammatory pathways of chronic inflammatory conditions, such as type 2 diabetes. Here, the phenolic profile and bioac-tivity of Italian red wines Gaglioppo, Magliocco, and Nerello Mascalese were characterized. NMR, HPLC/UV-Vis and spectrophotometric characterization showed that Magliocco was the richest wine in monomeric anthocyanins (two-fold), catechins, and low molecular weight phenolics (LMWP). A positive correlation was observed between the polyphenolic content and antioxidant capacity (p < 0.05), with Magliocco displaying the highest antioxidant capacity (p < 0.01). In vitro evidence on the endothelial cell models of insulin resistance and hyperglycemia showed the ability of Magliocco to reduce reactive oxygen species (ROS) (p < 0.01) and cytokine release (p < 0.01) and to upregulate SIRT1 and SIRT6 (p < 0.01). On the whole, the results indicated that the quantitative and qualitative phenolic profiles of red wines influence their in vitro beneficial effects on oxidative and proinflammatory milieu in endothelial cells, showing a positive modulation of SIRT1 and SIRT6, both implied in vascular aging

The assessment of emotional competence in neurodevelopmental disorders through TEC I

In the field of neurodevelopmental disorders, the use of a standardized assessment test - TEC I - has proven the complex emotional variability of each individual validating and expanding the theoretical psycho-affective assumptions (drawn from direct observation of subjects with typical development) in children belonging to different nosographic categories. The data obtained through singular and comparative analysis of the subjects not only promote new insights into the influence of the emotional sphere in the construction of personality and learning of typical and atypical growing children, but suggest the emergence of new rehabilitation procedures and therapeutic objectives to be achieved and undertake

RYK promotes the stemness of glioblastoma cells via the WNT/ \u3b2-catenin pathway

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is characterized by a strong self-renewal potential and a poor differentiation state. Since receptor-like tyrosine kinase (RYK) activates the WNT/\u3b2-catenin pathway essential for cancer stem cell maintenance, we evaluated its contribution in conferring stemness to GBM cells. Here, we report that Ryk (related-to-receptor tyrosine kinase), an atypical tyrosine kinase receptor, is upregulated in samples from GBM patients as well as in GSCs. Ryk overexpression confers stemness properties to GBM cells through the modulation of the canonical Wnt signaling and by promoting the activation of pluripotency-related transcription factor circuitry and neurosphere formation ability. In contrast, siRNA-mediated knockdown of Ryk expression suppresses this stem-like phenotype. Rescue experiments reveal that stemness-promoting activity of Ryk is attributable, at least in part, to \u3b2-catenin stabilization. Furthermore, Ryk overexpression improves cell motility and anchorage independent cell growth. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that Ryk promotes stem cell-like and tumorigenic features to glioma cells its essential for the maintenance of GSCs and could be a target of novel therapies

miR-340 predicts glioblastoma survival and modulates key cancer hallmarks through down-regulation of NRAS

Glioblastoma is the most common primary brain tumor in adults; with a survival rate of 12 months from diagnosis. However, a small subgroup of patients, termed long-term survivors (LTS), has a survival rate longer then 12–14 months. There is thus increasing interest in the identification of molecular signatures predicting glioblastoma prognosis and in how to improve the therapeutic approach. Here, we report miR-340 as prognostic tumor-suppressor microRNA for glioblastoma. We analyzed microRNA expression in > 500 glioblastoma patients and found that although miR-340 is strongly down-regulated in glioblastoma overall, it is up-regulated in LTS patients compared to short-term survivors (STS). Indeed, miR-340 expression predicted better prognosis in glioblastoma patients. Coherently, overexpression of miR-340 in glioblastoma cells was found to produce a tumor-suppressive activity. We identified NRAS mRNA as a critical, direct target of miR-340: in fact, miR-340 negatively influenced multiple aspects of glioblastoma tumorigenesis by down-regulating NRAS and downstream AKT and ERK pathways. Thus, we demonstrate that expression of miR-340 in glioblastoma is responsible for a strong tumor-suppressive effect in LTS patients by down-regulating NRAS. miR-340 may thus represent a novel marker for glioblastoma diagnosis and prognosis, and may be developed into a tool to improve treatment of glioblastoma

CD19 Cell Count at Baseline Predicts B Cell Repopulation at 6 and 12 Months in Multiple Sclerosis Patients Treated with Ocrelizumab

Background: The kinetics of B cell repopulation in MS patients treated with Ocrelizumab is highly variable, suggesting that a fixed dosage and time scheduling might be not optimal. We aimed to investigate whether B cell repopulation kinetics influences clinical and radiological outcomes and whether circulating immune asset at baseline affects B cell repopulation kinetics. Methods: 218 MS patients treated with Ocrelizumab were included. Every six months we collected data on clinical and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) activity and lymphocyte subsets at baseline. According to B cell counts at six and twelve months, we identified two groups of patients, those with fast repopulation rate (FR) and those with slow repopulation rate (SR). Results: A significant reduction in clinical and radiological activity was found. One hundred fifty-five patients had complete data and received at least three treatment cycles (twelve-month follow-up). After six months, the FR patients were 41/155 (26.45%) and 10/41 (29.27%) remained non-depleted after twelve months. FR patients showed a significantly higher percentage of active MRI scan at twelve months (17.39% vs. 2.53%; p = 0,008). Furthermore, FR patients had a higher baseline B cell count compared to patients with an SR (p = 0.02 and p = 0.002, at the six- and twelve-month follow-ups, respectively). Conclusion: A considerable proportion of MS patients did not achieve a complete CD19 cell depletion and these patients had a higher baseline CD19 cell count. These findings, together with the higher MRI activity found in FR patients, suggest that the Ocrelizumab dosage could be tailored depending on CD19 cell counts at baseline in order to achieve complete disease control in all patients