Influence of Vitamin D in Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients Treated with Nivolumab

Nivolumab is one of the most commonly used monoclonal antibodies for advanced non-small cell lung cancer treatment, to the extent that the presence of its anti-antibody is considered a negative prognostic factor. Vitamin D (VD) modulates expression of the genes involved in drug metabolism and elimination. Immune system regulation and immunodeficiency is frequent in non-small cell lung cancer patients. To date, no data have been reported about the relationship between nivolumab and VD. The aim of this study was to quantify plasma 25-hydroxyVD (25-VD) and 1,25-VD, nivolumab, and its anti-antibody before starting treatment (baseline) and at 15, 45 and 60 days of therapy. VD-pathway-associated gene single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were also evaluated. Molecules were quantified through enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and SNPs through real-time PCR. Forty-five patients were enrolled. Median nivolumab concentrations were 12.5 ug/mL, 22.3 ug/mL and 27.1 ug/mL at 15, 45 and 60 days respectively. No anti-nivolumab antibodies were found. Correlations were observed between nivolumab concentrations and 25-VD levels. Nivolumab concentrations were affected by VD-pathway-related gene SNPs. VDBP AC/CC genotype and baseline 25-VD < 10 ng/mL predicted a nivolumab concentration cut-off value of <18.7ug/mL at 15 days, which was associated with tumor progression. This is the first study showing VD marker predictors of nivolumab concentrations in a real-life context of non-small cell lung cancer treatment

Association of kidney disease measures with risk of renal function worsening in patients with type 1 diabetes

Background: Albuminuria has been classically considered a marker of kidney damage progression in diabetic patients and it is routinely assessed to monitor kidney function. However, the role of a mild GFR reduction on the development of stage 653 CKD has been less explored in type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) patients. Aim of the present study was to evaluate the prognostic role of kidney disease measures, namely albuminuria and reduced GFR, on the development of stage 653 CKD in a large cohort of patients affected by T1DM. Methods: A total of 4284 patients affected by T1DM followed-up at 76 diabetes centers participating to the Italian Association of Clinical Diabetologists (Associazione Medici Diabetologi, AMD) initiative constitutes the study population. Urinary albumin excretion (ACR) and estimated GFR (eGFR) were retrieved and analyzed. The incidence of stage 653 CKD (eGFR < 60 mL/min/1.73 m2) or eGFR reduction > 30% from baseline was evaluated. Results: The mean estimated GFR was 98 \ub1 17 mL/min/1.73m2 and the proportion of patients with albuminuria was 15.3% (n = 654) at baseline. About 8% (n = 337) of patients developed one of the two renal endpoints during the 4-year follow-up period. Age, albuminuria (micro or macro) and baseline eGFR < 90 ml/min/m2 were independent risk factors for stage 653 CKD and renal function worsening. When compared to patients with eGFR > 90 ml/min/1.73m2 and normoalbuminuria, those with albuminuria at baseline had a 1.69 greater risk of reaching stage 3 CKD, while patients with mild eGFR reduction (i.e. eGFR between 90 and 60 mL/min/1.73 m2) show a 3.81 greater risk that rose to 8.24 for those patients with albuminuria and mild eGFR reduction at baseline. Conclusions: Albuminuria and eGFR reduction represent independent risk factors for incident stage 653 CKD in T1DM patients. The simultaneous occurrence of reduced eGFR and albuminuria have a synergistic effect on renal function worsening

Design of the Crawler Units: Toward the Development of a Novel Hybrid Platform for Infrastructure Inspection

Inspections of industrial and civil infrastructures are necessary to prevent damages and loss of human life. Although robotic inspection is gaining momentum, most of the operations are still performed by human workers. The main limiting factors of inspection robots are the lack of versatility as well as the low reliability of these devices, since they need to operate in a non-structured environment. In this work, a novel Hybrid Platform for inspection in industrial contexts is proposed, focusing on the design and testing of the Crawler Unit. The goal is to solve versatility related issues exploiting modularity and self-reconfigurability. The Hybrid Platform consists of three main systems: a mobile Main Base and two Crawler Units. Each would operate independently, accomplishing specific tasks. Docking interfaces, on each device, allow the systems to reconfigure into different robots. The Crawler Unit operates in constrained environments and narrow spaces. The Main Base patrols wide areas and deploys the Crawler Units near the inspection site. For dealing with challenging conditions, the two Crawler Units can dock together, reconfiguring into a snake-like robot. Additionally, once docked to the Main Base, the two Crawlers can operate also as robotic arms, providing manipulation abilities to the platform. The first version of the Crawler Unit exhibited an interesting performance over flat and uneven terrains. To extend the mobility of this robot, a second version was developed, introducing some innovations in the system design. These innovations provided the Crawler Unit with advanced mobility in the vertical plane, thus allowing the robot to deal with more complex scenarios such as crossing gaps, overcoming obstacles and lifting the modules

Preliminary Study on the Crawler Unit of a Novel Self-Reconfigurable Hybrid Platform for Inspection

Inspections of either industrial and civil structures are necessary to prevent damages and loss of human life. Although robotic inspection is gaining momentum, most of the operations are still performed by human workers. Many are the factors that slow down the spread of inspection robots, in particular, the lack of versatility as well as the low reliability of these devices constitute a huge limitation. In this work, we propose a design of a hybrid platform in the context of industrial inspection tasks. The aim is to address versatility issues exploiting modularity and self-reconfigurability. The final platform will consist of three main components: a main mobile base and two vehicles. All these systems would operate independently accomplishing specific inspection tasks. However, docking interfaces on each device will allow the systems to reconfigure into different robots extending the application range of each unit. The vehicles will work mainly in constrained environments and narrow spaces. The mobile base will monitor wide areas, carrying around the vehicles and deploying them near the inspection target. For dealing with challenging conditions, the two crawlers will dock together, reconfiguring into a snake-like robot. Docking to the main base, the two vehicle would act also as robotic arms, providing manipulation abilities to the system, thus allowing to perform maintenance operations as well. Still, the project is at an early stage of development. Revisions or adjustments on the prototype may follow the evaluations on the crawler performance

Particle tracing simulation of a vacuum electron gun for THz application

This paper presents the design of an electron gun employable in THz vacuum tubes. A Multiphysics (MP) approach has been used in the electron gun design in order to study the effect of the multiple influencing factors such as mechanical stress or thermal expansion togheter with charged particle in electrostatic and magnetostatic fields

Nano Energy Harvesting with Plasmonic Nano-Antennas: A review of MID-IR Rectenna and Application

Over the past decade, unmanned air vehicles are gaining more and more interest and popularity in particular miniaturized small flight objects named NAVs (Nano Air Vehicles). One of the main considerations when building or buying a drone is the flight time and range. The flight time is nowadays a drawback for miniature unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). It is limited to few minutes before requiring a forced recovery to replace exhausted batteries. Currently the batteries are the dominant technology, which possess limited operation in time and energy. The real viability to extending flight time (FT) of NAVs is possible exploring new and more disruptive alternative solution able either to recharge a battery, or even to directly power the NAVs during the flight. Plasmonic Nano Energy harvester is an attractive technology to extending the FT extracting the energy in mid-infrared radiation emitted from Earth’s surface with Rectenna tuned to mid-infrared wavelengths (7 –14 ) um with a peak wavelength of about10um . In this review the concepts emerging from this work identify and suggest how this novel harvester can constantly supply these flying objects for the whole day

Sub-millimetric vacuum electron gun design and characterization

This paper presents the design of an electron gun that could be employed for vacuum tubes operating in the THz range. In this context, vacuum tubes, such as traveling wave tubes (TWT) or klystrons, represents the only way to obtain high power sources with compact dimensions. One of the main difficulties in the realization of THz vacuum tube is the design and the realization of the electron gun. Since the dimensions are quite small (few millimeters) a Multiphysics (MP) approach is necessary in the electron gun design in order to study the effect of the multiple influencing factors. In order to start the developing of MP models for these devices, a Particle Tracing (PT) simulation, based on a COMSOL Multiphysics, for a vacuum Electron Gun (E-Gun) has been performed. PT simulation in a MP ambient can be extended to a thermal and structural mechanics simulation

The Next Generation: Miniaturized Objects, Self Powered Using Nanostructures to Harvest Ambient Energy

NAVs (Nano Air Vehicles) are stating an emerging sector of the aerospace industry. The flight endurance is the key point challenge in the design of these small objects. Nowadays, traditional power sources are rechargeable batteries; however this solution present some disadvantages in terms of time and energy limitations. In several scenarios, where the human intervention cannot be performed, e.g., in unsafe and toxic environments, the energy source replacement might be impossible. Nano Energy harvesting is an attractive technology for NAV. In this paper, we emphasized the achieved progress in plasmonic’s application: Optical Nano-Antennas employed as Nano-generators. The actual trend today is the usage of broadband antennas tuned at any specific wavelength in order to respond within a wide range of frequencies by using a single structure. These Nano-Antennas allows to harvest or recycle energy from radiation spectrum (ultra-violet, visible and infrared) to constantly supply these flying object during night and day

Sub-millimetric vacuum electron gun design and characterization

This paper presents the design of an electron gun that could be employed for vacuum tubes operating in the THz range. In this context, vacuum tubes, such as traveling wave tubes (TWT) or klystrons, represents the only way to obtain high power sources with compact dimensions. One of the main difficulties in the realization of THz vacuum tube is the design and the realization of the electron gun. Since the dimensions are quite small (few millimeters) a Multiphysics (MP) approach is necessary in the electron gun design in order to study the effect of the multiple influencing factors. In order to start the developing of MP models for these devices, a Particle Tracing (PT) simulation, based on a COMSOL Multiphysics, for a vacuum Electron Gun (E-Gun) has been performed. PT simulation in a MP ambient can be extended to a thermal and structural mechanics simulation