Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations spectrum of the strongly correlated quasi-2D organic metal (ET)8[Hg4Cl12(C6H5Br)]2 under pressure

Pressure dependence of the Shubnikov-de Haas (SdH) oscillations spectra of the quasi-two di- mensional organic metal (ET)8[Hg4Cl12(C6H5Br)]2 have been studied up to 1.1 GPa in pulsed magnetic fields of up to 54 T. According to band structure calculations, its Fermi surface can be regarded as a network of compensated orbits. The SdH spectra exhibit many Fourier components typical of such a network, most of them being forbidden in the framework of the semiclassical model. Their amplitude remains large in all the pressure range studied which likely rules out chemical potential oscillation as a dominant contribution to their origin, in agreement with recent calculations relevant to compensated Fermi liquids. In addition to a strong decrease of the magnetic breakdown field and effective masses, the latter being likely due to a reduction of the strength of electron correlations, a sizeable increase of the scattering rate is observed as the applied pressure increases. This latter point, which is at variance with data of most charge transfer salts is discussed in connection with pressure-induced features of the temperature dependence of the zero-field interlayer resistanceComment: Eur. Phys. J. B, in pres

Environmental quality of the operating theaters in Campania Region: long lasting monitoring results

BACKGROUND: The health risk level in the operating theaters is directly correlated to the safety level offered by the healthcare facilities. This is the reason why the national Authorities released several regulations in order to monitor better environmental conditions of the operating theaters, to prevent occupational injuries and disease and to optimize working conditions. For the monitoring of environmental quality of the operating theaters following parameters are considered: quantity of supplied gases, anesthetics concentration, operating theatres volume measurement, air change rate, air conditioning system and air filtration. The objective is to minimize the risks in the operating theaters and to provide the optimal environmental working conditions. This paper reports the environmental conditions of operating rooms performed for several years in the public hospitals of the Campania Region. METHODS: Investigation of environmental conditions of 162 operating theaters in Campania Region from January 2012 till July 2014 was conducted. Monitoring and analysis of physical and chemical parameters was done. The analysis of the results has been made considering specific standards suggested by national and international regulations. RESULTS: The study showed that 75% of the operating theaters presented normal values for microclimatic monitoring, while the 25% of the operating theaters had at least one parameter outside the limits. The monitoring of the anesthetics gases showed that in 9% of measurements of nitrous oxides and 4% of measurements of halogenated was not within the normal values

Treatment responses to antiangiogenetic therapy and chemotherapy in nonsecreting paraganglioma (PGL4) of urinary bladder with SDHB mutation: a case report

Paraganglioma (PGL) is a rare neuroendocrine tumor. Currently, the malignancy is defined as the presence of metastatic spread at presentation or during follow-up. Several gene mutations are listed in the pathogenesis of PGL, among which succinate dehydrogenase (SDHX), particularly the SDHB isoform, is the main gene involved in malignancy. A 55-year-old male without evidence of catecholamine secretion had surgery for PGL of the urinary bladder. After 1 year, he showed a relapse of disease and demonstrated malignant PGL without evidence of catecholamine secretion with a germline heterozygous mutation of succinate dehydrogenase B (SDHB). After failure of a second surgery for relapse, he started medical treatment with sunitinib daily but discontinued due to serious side effects. Cyclophosphamide, vincristine, and dacarbazine (CVD) chemotherapeutic regimen stopped the disease progression for 7 months. Conclusion: Malignant PGL is a very rare tumor, and SDHB mutations must be always considered in molecular diagnosis because they represent a critical event in the progression of the oncological disease. Currently, there are few therapeutic protocols, and it is often difficult, as this case demonstrates, to decide on a treatment option according to a reasoned set of choices. Abbreviations: CVD = cyclophosphamide, vincristine and dacarbazine, HIF-1a = hypoxia inducible factor 1 alpha, PGL = paraganglioma, SDH = succinate dehydrogenase, VEGF = vasoendothelial growth factor

Molecular targets of developmental exposure to bisphenol A in diabesity: a focus on endoderm-derived organs

Several studies associate foetal human exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) to metabolic/endocrine diseases, mainly diabesity. They describe the role of BPA in the disruption of pancreatic beta cell, adipocyte and hepatocyte functions. Indeed, the complexity of the diabesity phenotype is due to the involvement of different endoderm-derived organs, all targets of BPA. Here, we analyse this point delineating a picture of different mechanisms of BPA toxicity in endoderm-derived organs leading to diabesity. Moving from epidemiological data, we summarize the in vivo experimental data of the BPA effects on endoderm-derived organs (thyroid, pancreas, liver, gut, prostate and lung) after prenatal exposure. Mainly, we gather molecular data evidencing harmful effects at low-dose exposure, pointing to the risk to human health. Although the fragmentation of molecular data does not allow a clear conclusion to be drawn, the present work indicates that the developmental exposure to BPA represents a risk for endoderm-derived organs development as it deregulates the gene expression from the earliest developmental stages. A more systematic analysis of BPA impact on the transcriptomes of endoderm-derived organs is still missing. Here, we suggest in vitro toxicogenomics approaches as a tool for the identification of common mechanisms of BPA toxicity leading to the diabesity in organs having the same developmental origin

Molecular targets of developmental exposure to bisphenol A in diabesity: a focus on endoderm-derived organs

Several studies associate foetal human exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) to metabolic/endocrine diseases, mainly diabesity. They describe the role of BPA in the disruption of pancreatic beta cell, adipocyte and hepatocyte functions. Indeed, the complexity of the diabesity phenotype is due to the involvement of different endoderm-derived organs, all targets of BPA. Here, we analyse this point delineating a picture of different mechanisms of BPA toxicity in endoderm-derived organs leading to diabesity. Moving from epidemiological data, we summarize the in vivo experimental data of the BPA effects on endoderm-derived organs (thyroid, pancreas, liver, gut, prostate and lung) after prenatal exposure. Mainly, we gather molecular data evidencing harmful effects at low-dose exposure, pointing to the risk to human health. Although the fragmentation of molecular data does not allow a clear conclusion to be drawn, the present work indicates that the developmental exposure to BPA represents a risk for endoderm-derived organs development as it deregulates the gene expression from the earliest developmental stages. A more systematic analysis of BPA impact on the transcriptomes of endoderm-derived organs is still missing. Here, we suggest in vitro toxicogenomics approaches as a tool for the identification of common mechanisms of BPA toxicity leading to the diabesity in organs having the same developmental origin

Vascular anomalies of the celiac trunk and implications in treatment of HCC with TACE. Description of a case and review of the literature

Knowledge of the vascular anatomy of the upper abdomen is important in the daily practice of surgeons specialized in the hepatobiliary and pancreatic area, and for general surgeons and radiologists, mainly those involved in interventional radiology. Since anatomical variants of the celiac axis and hepatic arteries are common, an accurate description of vascularization is required before procedures to avoid iatrogenic vascular changes. We reported a case of a young male patient with HBV related cirrhosis, who came to our institution for the treatment of 2 HCC nodules. The preprocedural contrast-enhanced CT examination showed combined variations of celiac trunk, hepatic arteries, gastroduodenal artery, and right inferior phrenic artery. The careful pre- and intraprocedural evaluation of vascularization allowed us to perform transarterial chemoembolization of the 2 nodules without complications. The incidence and developmental and clinical significance of this variation is discussed with a detailed review of the literature. Knowledge of such a case has important clinical significance in abdominal operations or invasive arterial procedures

Use of Framingham Risk Score as a Clinical Tool for the Assessment of Fitness for Work: Results From a Cohort Study

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to validate the use of the Framingham Risk Score (FRS) as clinical tool to predict the risk of diagnosis of unsuitability for work in a cohort of Italian workers. METHODS: A cohort of workers has been observed from January 2006 to March 2014. FRS was calculated at each visit. Health surveillance diagnosis of unsuitability for work was selected as outcome. RESULTS: Two thousand eight hundred fifty seven workers were observed, 58.9% were men, mean age was 51.6 (±6.7), the mean FRS was 15.1% (±10.7%). Increased values of FRS at baseline were associated with increased rate of diagnosis of unsuitability for work (Hazard ratio [HR], 11.2, 95%CI, 3.3 to 37.8). CONCLUSIONS: FRS is a strong predictor of diagnosis of unsuitability for work and should be used as a clinical tool for the assessment of fitness for work in health surveillance

Choosing the optimal gated window for defining target volume in lung stereotactic ablative radiotherapy

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