Permanent His-bundle pacing maintains long-term ventricular synchrony and left ventricular performance, unlike conventional right ventricular apical pacing

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Intrathoracic impedance and pulmonary wedge pressure for the detection of heart failure deterioration

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Effect of high pressure on the vibrational modes and the energy gap of ZnP₂

The pressure dependence of the vibrational modes in ZnP2 has been investigated by Raman Spectroscopy using a diamond anvil cell, up to 150 kbar pressure. The intrachain phosphorus modes exhibit a strong pressure dependence whereas the low frequency Zn-P modes soften very slightly under pressure. For a crystal which is treated as a molecular crystal this is an unexpected result. It is suggested that the behaviour may be due to a buckling of the phosphorus chain, or due to a double bond promotion between P atoms, or a charge transfer under pressure. The shift in the energy gap has also been measured to 100 kbar hydrostatic pressure. There is a small initial blue shift which gradually changes over to a red shift. However the whole shift in 100 kbar is quite small. Combining the (dEg/dP) T with the published (dEg/dT) P the thermal expansion contribution and the electron-phonon interaction contribution were evaluated. The latter dominates the total (dEg/dT) P of ZnP2

Impact of covid-19 pandemic on remote monitoring of cardiac implantable electronic devices in italy: Results of a survey promoted by aiac (italian association of arrhythmology and cardiac pacing)

11noopenThe COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on the organisation of health care in Italy, with an acceleration in the development of telemedicine. To assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the spread of remote monitoring (RM) of cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) in Italy, a survey addressed to cardiologists operating in all Italian CIED-implanting centres was launched. A total of 127 cardiologists from 116 Italian arrhythmia centres took part in the survey, 41.0% of all 283 CIED-implanting centres operating in Italy in 2019. All participating centres declared to use RM of CIEDs. COVID-19 pandemic resulted in an increase in the use of RM in 83 (71.6%) participating centres. In a temporal perspective, an increase in the median number of patients per centre followed up by RM was found from 2012 to 2017, followed by an exponential increase from 2017 to 2020. In 36 participating centres (31.0%) a telehealth visits service was activated as a replacement for in-person outpatient visits (in patients with or without CIED) during the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 pandemic has caused an acceleration in the use of RM of CIEDs and in the use of telemedicine in the clinical practice of cardiology.openMaines M.; Palmisano P.; Del Greco M.; Melissano D.; De Bonis S.; Baccillieri S.; Zanotto G.; D'onofrio A.; Ricci R.P.; De Ponti R.; Boriani G.Maines, M.; Palmisano, P.; Del Greco, M.; Melissano, D.; De Bonis, S.; Baccillieri, S.; Zanotto, G.; D'Onofrio, A.; Ricci, R. P.; De Ponti, R.; Boriani, G

Emerging role of tumor-associated macrophages as therapeutic targets in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma.

Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) derived from peripheral blood monocytes recruited into the renal cell carcinoma (RCC) microenvironment. In response to inflammatory stimuli, macrophages undergo M1 (classical) or M2 (alternative) activation. M1 cells produce high levels of inflammatory cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin (IL)-12, IL-23 and IL-6, while M2 cells produce anti-inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-10, thus contributing to RCC-related immune dysfunction. The presence of extensive TAM infiltration in RCC microenvironment contributes to cancer progression and metastasis by stimulating angiogenesis, tumor growth, and cellular migration and invasion. Moreover, TAMs are involved in epithelial-mesenchymal transition of RCC cancer cells and in the development of tumor resistance to targeted agents. Interestingly, macrophage autophagy seems to play an important role in RCC. Based on this scenario, TAMs represent a promising and effective target for cancer therapy in RCC. Several strategies have been proposed to suppress TAM recruitment, to deplete their number, to switch M2 TAMs into antitumor M1 phenotype and to inhibit TAM-associated molecules. In this review, we summarize current data on the essential role of TAMs in RCC angiogenesis, invasion, impaired anti-tumor immune response and development of drug resistance, thus describing the emerging TAM-centered therapies for RCC patients

Children and adolescents treated with neridronate for osteogenesis imperfecta show no evidence of any osteonecrosis of the jaw

Over recent years, several reports have been published on unusual cases of osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ) in adults using second- and third-generation nitrogen-containing bisphosphonates such as pamidronate, alendronate, risedronate and zoledronate, but no case has ever been reported either in children or in adult patients taking neridronate. Children and adolescents affected by osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) could belong to a high-risk group for ONJ because bone fragility in OI is associated with a connective tissue malfunction. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the incidence of ONJ in a pediatric population treated with neridronate for OI. A total of 102 pediatric patients with OI who received neridronate infusions for a mean of 6.81 years (SD \ub1 3.06 years) were clinically assessed for possible ONJ. Eligibility criteria for participation included patients between 1.2 and 24 years old who received cyclical neridronate infusions for at least 1 year. All the patients were reviewed to determine duration, dosage and cumulative dose of their bisphosphonate therapy and were examined clinically to assess their oral health status. We have not demonstrated any occurrence of ONJ in our patients. In conclusion, at the moment insufficient data are available to prove a greater risk of ONJ in children with OI than in children affected by other forms of bone fragility. However, cases may emerge in future because the risk of ONJ seems to be related to the cumulative dose and the duration of therap

Nuclear translocation of haeme oxygenase-1 is associated to prostate cancer

The role of oxidative stress in prostate cancer has been increasingly recognised. Acute and chronic inflammations generate reactive oxygen species that result in damage to cellular structures. Haeme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) has cytoprotective effects against oxidative damage. We hypothesise that modulation of HO-1 expression may be involved in the process of prostate carcinogenesis and prostate cancer progression. We thus studied HO-1 expression and localisation in 85 samples of organ-confined primary prostate cancer obtained via radical prostatectomy (Gleason grades 4–9) and in 39 specimens of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). We assessed HO-1 expression by immunohistochemical staining. No significant difference was observed in the cytoplasmic positive reactivity among tumours (84%), non-neoplastic surrounding parenchyma (89%), or BPH samples (87%) (P=0.53). Haeme oxygenase-1 immunostaining was detected in the nuclei of prostate cancer cells in 55 of 85 (65%) patients but less often in non-neoplastic surrounding parenchyma (30 of 85, 35%) or in BPH (9 of 39, 23%) (P<0.0001). Immunocytochemical and western blot analysis showed HO-1 only in the cytoplasmic compartment of PC3 and LNCaP prostate cancer cell lines. Treatment with hemin, a well-known specific inducer of HO-1, led to clear nuclear localisation of HO-1 in both cell lines and highly induced HO-1 expression in both cellular compartments. These findings have demonstrated, for the first time, that HO-1 expression and nuclear localisation can define a new subgroup of prostate cancer primary tumours and that the modulation of HO-1 expression and its nuclear translocation could represent new avenues for therapy