Imaging follow-up after liver transplantation

Liver transplantation (LT) represents the best treatment for end-stage chronic liver disease, acute liver failure and early stages of hepatocellular carcinoma. Radiologists should be aware of surgical techniques to distinguish a normal appearance from pathological findings. Imaging modalities, such as ultrasound, CT and MR, provide for rapid and reliable detection of vascular and biliary complications after LT. The role of imaging in the evaluation of rejection and primary graft dysfunction is less defined. This article illustrates the main surgical anastomoses during LT, the normal appearance and complications of the liver parenchyma and vascular and biliary structures.Liver transplantation (LT) represents the best treatment for end-stage chronic liver disease, acute liver failure and early stages of hepatocellular carcinoma. Radiologists should be aware of surgical techniques to distinguish a normal appearance from pathological findings. Imaging modalities, such as ultrasound, CT and MR, provide for rapid and reliable detection of vascular and biliary complications after LT. The role of imaging in the evaluation of rejection and primary graft dysfunction is less defined. This article illustrates the main surgical anastomoses during LT, the normal appearance and complications of the liver parenchyma and vascular and biliary structures

SPME-GC-MS analysis of commercial henna samples (Lawsonia inermis L.)

The aim of this work was to provide a characterisation of volatile constituents from different commercial batches of henna (Lawsonia inermis) leaves of different geographic origin. Headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) coupled with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) was used for the purpose. A total of 72 components were identified by GC–MS in the headspace of different henna samples which proved to differ considerably from each other, because they were characterised by different classes of components, mainly aliphatic compounds (9.0–64.7%), terpenoids (5.8–45.5%) and aromatics (7.9–45.2%), with alkanes (0.9–18.5%), aldehydes (2.1–18.8%) and carboxylic acids (3.1–29.3%), monoterpenes (3.4–30.0%) and sesquiterpenes (0.8–23.7%) and phenyl propanoids (0.6–43.1%), being the most abundant, respectively. Major representatives of these groups were nhexadecane (0.5–4.7%), (2E)-hexenal (0.5–11.7%) and acetic acid (2.8–24.5%), limonene (0.8–14.7%), carvol (3.8–7.1%), geranyl acetone (1.4–7.9%) and (E)-caryophyllene (3.3–8.4%), and (E)-anethole (0.6–35.0%), respectively. We assume that factors such as the manufacturing process, the storage conditions and the different geographic origin of the samples may contribute to such variability

The epilepsy phenotype in adult patients with intellectual disability and pathogenic copy number variants

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From single gene analysis to single cell profiling: a new era for precision medicine

Molecular profiling of DNA and RNA has provided valuable new insights into the genetic basis of non-malignant and malignant disorders, as well as an increased understanding of basic mechanisms that regulate human disease. Recent technological advances have enabled the analyses of alterations in gene-based structure or function in a comprehensive, high-throughput fashion showing that each tumor type typically exhibits distinct constellations of genetic alterations targeting one or more key cellular pathways that regulate cell growth and proliferation, evasion of the immune system, and other aspects of cancer behavior. These advances have important implications for future research and clinical practice in areas as molecular diagnostics, the implementation of gene or pathway-directed targeted therapy, and the use of such information to drive drug discovery. The 1st international and 32nd Annual Conference of Italian Association of Cell Cultures (AICC) conference wanted to offer the opportunity to match technological solutions and clinical needs in the era of precision medicine

The AIV quick look and health monitoring system of the AGILE payload

AGILE is an ASI (Italian Space Agency) Small Scientific Mission dedicated to high-energy astrophysics which was launched on April 23 2007 from Satish Dawan Space Centre, India) on a PSLV-C8 rocket. The AGILE Payload is composed of three instruments: a Tungsten-Silicon Tracker designed to detect and image photons in the 30 MeV-50 GeV energy band, an X-ray imager called SuperAGILE that works in the 18-60 keV energy band, and a Minicalorimeter that detects gamma-rays or particle energy deposits between 300~keV and 200~MeV. The instrument is surrounded by an anti-coincidence (AC) system. We have developed a set of Quick Look software tools in the framework of the Test Equipment (TE) and the Electrical Ground Support Equipment (EGSE. This s/w is required in order to support all the assembly, integration and verification (AIV) activities to be carried out for the AGILE mission, from data handling unit level to payload integrated level, calibration campaign, launch campaign and in-orbit commissioning. These software tools have enabled us to test the engineering performance and to perform a health check of the Payload during the various phases. We have used an incremental development approach and a common framework to rapidly adapt our software to the different requirements of the various phases

T-wave axis deviation, metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular risk: results from the MOLI-SANI study

Early recognition of patients at increased cardiovascular risk is a major challenge. The surface electrocardiogram provides a useful platform and it has been used to propose several indexes. T wave axis abnormality is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular mortality, independently of other risk factors and can be associated with the presence of the metabolic syndrome (MetS). We assessed the prevalence of T axis abnormalities and its relationship with MetS and its components in a large population of Italian adults. Data concerning 11,143 women (54±11years) and 9742 men (55±11years) randomly recruited from a general population (Moli-sani cohort) were analyzed. After excluding subjects with incomplete data and with history of cardiac disease or left ventricular hypertrophy, T-wave axis was normal in 74.5% of men and 80.9% of women, borderline in 23.6% and 17.3% and abnormal in 1.9% and 1.8%. In subjects with MetS, the prevalence of borderline or abnormal T-wave axis deviation was higher than in subjects without MetS (in men: 26.6% vs. 22.1% and 2.5% vs. 1.7%; in women: 25% vs. 15% and 2.4% vs. 1.6%, respectively for borderline and abnormal levels, pb0.0001). Each component of MetS increased the odds of having borderline or abnormal T-wave axis deviation by 1.21 in men and 1.31 in women. T wave axis deviation is associated with MetS and its individual components. These findings confirm previous reported results, expanding them to a large and representative sample of European population of Caucasian ethnicity

Agile webmon: monitoring the agile payload through the web

AGILE AGILE is a Scientific Mission dedicated tohigh-energy astrophysics supported by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) with scientific participation of INAF and INFN. The AGILE Payload (PIL) is designed to detect and image photons in the 30MeV-50GeV and 15-45 keV energy bands. It was successfully launched on 23 April 2007. AGILE WebMon is a set of software tools developed by the AGILE team in order to access at any time and worldwide the sensible data related to the PIL instrument health and science monitoring. Moreover, the system is used as test bed for some of the software modules developed and maintained by the AGILE Team for the standard and scientific analysis system running at the ASI Science Data Centre in Frascati, which hosts the AGILE Data Center. ©2008 IEEE

Targeting monocyte chemotactic protein-1 synthesis with bindarit induces tumor regression in prostate and breast cancer animal models

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