Arterial pulse wave modeling and analysis for vascular-age studies: a review from VascAgeNet

Aging; Arteriosclerosis; HemodynamicsEnvelliment; Arteriosclerosi; HemodinàmicaEnvejecimiento; Arteriosclerosis; HemodinámicaArterial pulse waves (PWs) such as blood pressure and photoplethysmogram (PPG) signals contain a wealth of information on the cardiovascular (CV) system that can be exploited to assess vascular age and identify individuals at elevated CV risk. We review the possibilities, limitations, complementarity, and differences of reduced-order, biophysical models of arterial PW propagation, as well as theoretical and empirical methods for analyzing PW signals and extracting clinically relevant information for vascular age assessment. We provide detailed mathematical derivations of these models and theoretical methods, showing how they are related to each other. Finally, we outline directions for future research to realize the potential of modeling and analysis of PW signals for accurate assessment of vascular age in both the clinic and in daily life.This article is based upon work from COST Action “Network for Research in Vascular Ageing” (VascAgeNet, CA18216), supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology, www.cost.eu). This work was supported by British Heart Foundation Grants PG/15/104/31913 (to J.A. and P.H.C.), FS/20/20/34626 (to P.H.C.), and AA/18/6/34223, PG/17/90/33415, SPG 2822621, and SP/F/21/150020 (to A.D.H.); Kaunas University of Technology Grant INP2022/16 (to B.P.); European Research Executive Agency, Marie-Sklodowska Curie Actions Individual Fellowship Grant 101038096 (to S.P.); Istinye University, BAP Project Grant 2019B1 (to S.P.); “la Caixa” Foundation Grant LCF/BQ/PR22/11920008 (to A.G.); and National Institute for Health and Care Research Grant AI AWARD02499 and EU Horizon 2020 Grant H2020 848109 (to A.D.H.)

Social economic costs, health-related quality of life and disability in patients with Cri Du Chat syndrome

Cri du Chat syndrome (CdC) is a rare disease. The aim is to estimate economic costs related to CdC from a societal perspective, to assess the QoL and Disability in patients with CdC along with their caregivers in Italy

Modelo de la Central Nuclear Embalse con RELAP5 : Accidente de pérdida de refrigerante en la tubería de aspiración de una de sus bombas

En el marco de la extensión de vida de la Central Nuclear Embalse, la Autoridad Regulatoria Nuclear con soporte externo del Centro de Investigación de Métodos Computacionales (CIMEC) ha desarrollado un modelo termo-hidráulico de la planta en RELAP5 mod. 3.3 patch4 que incluye la cinética puntual, con el fin de simular accidentes dentro de la base de diseño. Este modelo independiente es utilizado para la revisión del análisis de seguridad de la Central Nuclear Embalse. El presente trabajo tiene por objetivo la simulación de un accidente de pérdida de refrigerante primario (LOCA), debido a la rotura de la cañería de aspiración de una de las bombas principales, con pérdida del suministro eléctrico normal. En el caso de este tipo de reactores, la rotura conduce a una rápida descarga de refrigerante provocando el incremento de la fracción de vacío en el núcleo y una rápida inserción de reactividad que causa un aumento de la potencia que es controlado por los mecanismos de extinción para el apagado del reactor. El aumento de la presión en el edificio de la contención, produce el inicio del sistema de rociado para mitigar ese aumento de presión. Como la presión del circuito primario se reduce considerablemente (debido a la pérdida de inventario) y aumenta la presión en la contención, se dispara la señal de LOCA que habilita al sistema de inyección de refrigeración de emergencia del núcleo (ECCS). El presente análisis consiste en la verificación de la secuencia del accionamiento de los sistemas de seguridad, los tiempos de disparo del correspondiente mapa de cobertura de los sistemas de extinción y la acción del ECCS para reinundar el núcleo con refrigerante líquido. Se verifica el cumplimiento de las funciones de los sistemas de seguridad y que los tiempos de disparo se producen de acuerdo con lo esperado por diseño, demostrándose que el modelo independiente es una herramienta útil con la capacidad para realizar estudios de licenciamiento.Publicado en: Mecánica Computacional vol. XXXV no.31Facultad de Ingenierí

Children and adults affected by Cri du Chat syndrome: Care's recommendations

Our objective is to collect data and information for a better care and follow up in Cri du Chat patients. We conducted a literature review in August 2017 and then discuss the outcomes within the ABC (Associazione Bambini Cri du Chat, Italian CdC families support group). A proposal for clinical, laboratory and imaging work up should be performed at various ages in CdC patients. Follow up and rehabilitation should continue lifelong as some improvements can be obtained also in older ages and not to lose acquired skills

Local thermal variation modulates resilience to warming in a marine foundation species: evidence from seagrass seedlings

Trabajo presentado en ASLO Aquatic Sciences Meeting 2023, celebrado en Palma de Mallorca (España), entre el 4 y el 9 de mayo de 2023.Disturbances associated with climate change may push organisms beyond their resilience limits, and strong ecological consequences are expected when foundation species are affected. When predicting species’ responses to warming, species are typically considered as physiologically homogeneous. Yet, responses to extreme events may vary according to differences in phenotypic plasticity and local adaptation across the range of a species. Using a common-garden mesocosm experiment, we compared the resilience (i.e., response to and recovery from) to two warming events of different intensity on seagrass seedlings germinated from seeds collected at eight regions across the species’ distribution range. We show a positive relationship between resilience to warming and local thermal variability, suggesting seagrass evolutionary adaptation to local thermal conditions. Our results highlight the critical importance of incorporating intra-specific variability when making predictions and when developing conservation and restoration strategies about species vulnerability to climate change. Furthermore, strong negative lag-effects on seedlings performance were observed after the warming phase had already stopped, highlighting the importance of following species’ responses after a disturbance has finished, particularly because most experimental studies have only examined immediate, short-term, responses to stressors. Given the long-term common-garden approach used, we expect that differences in seedling responses will be mainly the result of genetic changes leading to local adaptation

Arterial pulse wave modelling and analysis for vascular age studies: a review from VascAgeNet

Arterial pulse waves (PWs) such as blood pressure and photoplethysmogram (PPG) signals contain a wealth of information on the cardiovascular (CV) system that can be exploited to assess vascular age and identify individuals at elevated CV risk. We review the possibilities, limitations, complementarity, and differences of reduced-order, biophysical models of arterial PW propagation, as well as theoretical and empirical methods for analyzing PW signals and extracting clinically relevant information for vascular age assessment. We provide detailed mathematical derivations of these models and theoretical methods, showing how they are related to each other. Finally, we outline directions for future research to realize the potential of modeling and analysis of PW signals for accurate assessment of vascular age in both the clinic and in daily life

Pediatric admissions to emergency departments of North-Western Italy during COVID-19 pandemic: A retrospective observational study

COVID-19 pandemic caused huge decrease of pediatric admissions to Emergency Department (ED), arising concerns about possible delays in diagnosis and treatment of severe disorders

Quantitative Computed Tomography Angiography for the Evaluation of Valvular Fibrocalcific Volume in Aortic Stenosis

BackgroundAortic stenosis (AS) is characterized by calcification and fibrosis. The ability to quantify these processes simultaneously has been limited with previous imaging methods.ObjectivesThe purpose of this study was to evaluate the aortic valve fibrocalcific volume by computed tomography (CT) angiography in patients with AS, in particular, to assess its reproducibility, association with histology and disease severity, and ability to predict/track progression.MethodsIn 136 patients with AS, fibrocalcific volume was calculated on CT angiograms at baseline and after 1 year. CT attenuation distributions were analyzed using Gaussian-mixture-modeling to derive thresholds for tissue types enabling the quantification of calcific, noncalcific, and fibrocalcific volumes. Scan-rescan reproducibility was assessed and validation provided against histology and in an external cohort.ResultsFibrocalcific volume measurements took 5.8 ± 1.0 min/scan, demonstrating good correlation with ex vivo valve weight (r = 0.51; P < 0.001) and excellent scan-rescan reproducibility (mean difference −1%, limits of agreement −4.5% to 2.8%). Baseline fibrocalcific volumes correlated with mean gradient on echocardiography in both male and female participants (rho = 0.64 and 0.69, respectively; both P < 0.001) and in the external validation cohort (n = 66, rho = 0.58; P < 0.001). The relationship was driven principally by calcific volume in men and fibrotic volume in women. After 1 year, fibrocalcific volume increased by 17% and correlated with progression in mean gradient (rho = 0.32; P = 0.003). Baseline fibrocalcific volume was the strongest predictor of subsequent mean gradient progression, with a particularly strong association in female patients (rho = 0.75; P < 0.001).ConclusionsThe aortic valve fibrocalcific volume provides an anatomic assessment of AS severity that can track disease progression precisely. It correlates with disease severity and hemodynamic progression in both male and female patients

A first-in-class Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein activator with anti-tumor activity in hematologic cancers

Hematological cancers are among the most common cancers in adults and children. Despite significant improvements in therapies, many patients still succumb to the disease. Therefore, novel therapies are needed. The Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein (WASp) family regulates actin assembly in conjunction with the Arp2/3 complex, a ubiquitous nucleation factor. WASp is expressed exclusively in hematopoietic cells and exists in two allosteric conformations: autoinhibited or activated. Here, we describe the development of EG-011, a first-in-class small molecule activator of the WASp auto-inhibited form. EG-011 possesses in vitro and in vivo anti-tumor activity as a single agent in lymphoma, leukemia, and multiple myeloma, including models of secondary resistance to PI3K, BTK, and proteasome inhibitors. The in vitro activity was confirmed in a lymphoma xenograft. Actin polymerization and WASp binding was demonstrated using multiple techniques. Transcriptome analysis highlighted homology with drugs-inducing actin polymerization