Intra-datacenter links exploiting PCI express generation 4 interconnections

We demonstrate few-km reaches for PCIe-based optical fiber interconnections according to latency limitations, characterizing 16-Gb/s per lane Generation4 up to 10 km and confirming the Generation3 compliance of 2-km links employing suitable PCIe cards

Left ventricular concentric remodelling and extracardiac target organ damage in essential hypertension

n/

Metabolic syndrome, left ventricular hypertrophy and carotid atherosclerosis in hypertension: a gender-based study.

Background. The influence of gender on the association between metabolic syndrome (MS) and subclinical organ damage (OD) has been poorly investigated. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the risk of developing left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and carotid atherosclerosis is different in men and women with MS. Methods. A total of 3752 untreated and treated hypertensive patients (mean age 53.3 ± 12.6, 52.7% men) were considered for this analysis. All patients underwent standard ultrasonographic investigations searching for LVH and carotid atherosclerosis. The MS was defined according to ATP III criteria. Results. LVH was more prevalent in women and men with the MS compared with their counterparts (58% vs 34% and 48% vs 33%, respectively, p < 0.001). This was also the case for carotid plaque prevalence (61% vs 42% and 57% vs 44%, p < 0.001). The prevalence of OD was not different between men and women with MS, after adjusting for confounders. In multivariate analysis, abdominal obesity was the most important MS component independently related to LVH in both genders, followed by blood pressure. As for carotid plaques, blood pressure, hyperglycemia and hypertriglyceridemia turned out to be independent correlates regardless of gender. Conclusions. Our data indicate that MS is associated with a higher risk of LVH and carotid atherosclerosis irrespective of gender; these findings do not support a gender influence in the association between MS and subclinical OD. © 2013 Scandinavian Foundation for Cardiovascular Research

Which laboratory technique is used for the blood sodium analysis in clinical research? A systematic review.

Circulating sodium is analyzed by flame spectrometry and indirect or direct potentiometry. The differences between estimates returned by the three techniques are often relevant. It is unknown whether peer-reviewed international publications focusing on this parameter provide information about the technique. Objectives of the study were to ascertain if information about the employed technique is provided. A search in the National Library of Medicine for articles whose title contains "hyponatr[a]emia" was performed. We restricted the search to clinical reports including 10 or more humans published in the 2013-2015 and 2017-2019 periods. Authors of papers not reporting the technique were contacted to obtain this information. The study design and journal quartile ranking of each article were also evaluated. For the final analysis, we included 361 articles (2013-2015, n=169; 2017-2019, n=192). Information about the laboratory technique was given in 61(17%) articles. Thanks to our inquiry, we collected this information for 116(32%) further reports. Indirect potentiometry was the most frequently used technique, followed by direct potentiometry. Spectrometry was used in a small minority of studies. Study design, journal ranking and study period did not modulate the mentioned frequency. Most articles focusing on hyponatremia do not provide information on the laboratory technique. This parameter is nowadays analyzed by indirect or, less frequently, direct potentiometry. The figures are similar for high and low impact factor journals and for the 2013-2015 and the 2017-2019 periods. Many authors, reviewers and editors likely assume that the results of this parameter are not influenced by the technique

Molecular signature of retinoic acid treatment in acute promyelocytic leukemia

Acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) is a distinct subtype of acute myeloid leukemia characterized by a block of differentiation at the promyelocytic stage. APL patients respond to pharmacological concentrations of all-trans retinoic acid ( RA) and disease remission correlates with terminal differentiation of leukemic blasts. The PML/RAR oncogenic transcription factor is responsible for both the pathogenesis of APL and for its sensitivity to RA. In order to identify physiological targets of RA therapy, we analysed gene expression profiles of RA-treated APL blasts and found 1056 common target genes. Comparing these results to those obtained in RA-treated U937 cell lines revealed that transcriptional response to RA is largely dependent on the expression of PML/RAR. Several genes involved in the control of differentiation and stem cell renewal are early targets of RA regulation, and may be important effectors of RA response. Modulation of chromatin modifying genes was also observed, suggesting that specific structural changes in local chromatin domains may be required to promote RA-mediated differentiation. Computational analysis of upstream genomic regions in RA target genes revealed nonrandom distribution of transcription factor binding sites, indicating that specific transcriptional regulatory complexes may be involved in determining RA response

Short-term reproducibility of nocturnal non-dipping pattern in recently diagnosed essential hypertensives.

Objective: To investigate in a selected population of patients with a recently diagnosed essential hypertension the short-term intrasubject variability of diurnal changes in blood pressure (BP). Methods: Two hundred and eight consecutive, recently diagnosed, never treated essential hypertensives (119 men, 89 women, 46 ± 12 years) underwent 24-h ambulatory BP monitoring (ABPM) twice within 3 weeks. Dipping pattern was defined as a reduction in average systolic and diastolic BP at night greater than 10% compared to average daytime values. Results: 177 subjects (85%) showed no change in their diurnal variations in BP. Of the 159 subjects who had a dipping pattern on first ABPM, 134 (90.6%) confirmed this type of profile on the second ABPM, while 15 (9.4%) showed a non-dipping pattern. Of the 59 subjects who had a non-dipping pattern on the first ABPM, 43 (72.2%) confirmed their initial profile on the second ABPM, while 16 (28.8%) did not. Conclusion: These findings indicate that short-term reproducibility of diurnal changes in BP in early phases of untreated essential hypertension, characterized by a large prevalence of dipping pattern, is overall satisfactory. However, our study underlines that also in this particularly selected population of hypertensives the definition of non-dipping status on the basis of a single ABPM remains unreliable in about one-third of patients

Short communication : Circulating extracellular miR-22, miR-155, and miR-365 as candidate biomarkers to assess transport-related stress in turkeys

MicroRNA (miRNA) have been identified in circulating blood and might have the potential to be used as biomarkers for several pathophysiological conditions. To identify miRNA that are altered following stress events, turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) were subjected to 2 h of road transportation. The expression levels of five circulating miRNA, namely miR-22, miR-155-5p, miR-181a-3p, miR-204 and miR-365-3p, were detected and assessed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction using TaqMan\uae probes, as potential biomarkers of stress. The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves were then used to evaluate the diagnostic performance of miRNA. A panel of three stress-responsive miRNA, miR-22, miR-155 and miR-365 were identified; their expression levels were significantly higher after road transportation and the area under the curve (AUC) were 0.763, 0.71 and 0.704, respectively. Combining the three miRNA a specificity similar to the one found for the three miRNA separately was found. The AUC of the weighted average of the three miRNA was 0.763. This preliminary study suggests that the expression levels of circulating miR-22, miR-155 and miR-365 are increased during transport-related stress and that they may have diagnostic value to discriminate between stressed- and unstressed animals

Association of Gray Matter Atrophy Patterns with Clinical Phenotype and Progression in Multiple Sclerosis

OBJECTIVES: Grey matter (GM) involvement is clinically relevant in multiple sclerosis (MS). Using source-based morphometry (SBM), we characterized GM atrophy and its 1-year evolution across different MS phenotypes. METHODS: Clinical and MRI data were obtained at 8 European sites from 170 healthy controls (HCs) and 398 MS patients (34 clinically isolated syndromes [CIS], 226 relapsing-remitting [RR], 95 secondary progressive [SP] and 43 primary progressive [PP] MS). Fifty-seven HC and 144 MS underwent 1-year follow-up. Baseline GM loss, atrophy progression and correlations with disability and 1-year clinical worsening were assessed. RESULTS: SBM identified 26 cerebellar, subcortical, sensory, motor and cognitive GM components. GM atrophy was found in MS vs HC in almost all components (p=range<0.001-0.04). Compared to HCs, CIS patients showed circumscribed subcortical, cerebellar, temporal and salience GM atrophy, while RRMS patients exhibited widespread GM atrophy. Cerebellar, subcortical, sensorimotor, salience and fronto-parietal GM atrophy was found in PPMS patients vs HCs, and SPMS vs RRMS. At 1-year, 21 (15%) patients had clinically worsened. GM atrophy progressed in MS in subcortical, cerebellar, sensorimotor, and fronto-temporo-parietal components. Baseline higher disability was associated (R2=0.65) with baseline lower normalized brain volume (beta=-0.13, p=0.001), greater sensorimotor GM atrophy (beta=-0.12, p=0.002) and longer disease duration (beta=0.09, p=0.04). Baseline normalized GM volume (odds ratio=0.98, p=0.008) and cerebellar GM atrophy (odds ratio=0.40, p=0.01) independently predicted clinical worsening (area-under-the-curve=0.83). CONCLUSION: GM atrophy differed across disease phenotypes and progressed at 1-year in MS. In addition to global atrophy measures, sensorimotor and cerebellar GM atrophy explained baseline disability and clinical worsening

Development of a novel nomogram-based online tool to predict axillary status after neoadjuvant chemotherapy in cN+ breast cancer: A multicentre study on 1,950 patients

Background: Type of axillary surgery in breast cancer (BC) patients who convert from cN + to ycN0 after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) is still debated. The aim of the present study was to develop and validate a preoperative predictive nomogram to select those patients with a low risk of residual axillary disease after NAC, in whom axillary surgery could be minimized. Patients and methods: 1950 clinically node-positive BC patients from 11 Breast Units, treated by NAC and subsequent surgery, were included from 2005 to 2020. Patients were divided in two groups: those who achieved nodal pCR vs. those with residual nodal disease after NAC. The cohort was divided into training and validation set with a geographic separation criterion. The outcome was to identify independent predictors of axillary pathologic complete response (pCR). Results: Independent predictive factors associated to nodal pCR were axillary clinical complete response (cCR) after NAC (OR 3.11, p &lt; 0.0001), ER-/HER2+ (OR 3.26, p &lt; 0.0001) or ER+/HER2+ (OR 2.26, p = 0.0002) or ER-/HER2- (OR 1.89, p = 0.009) BC, breast cCR (OR 2.48, p &lt; 0.0001), Ki67 &gt; 14% (OR 0.52, p = 0.0005), and tumor grading G2 (OR 0.35, p = 0.002) or G3 (OR 0.29, p = 0.0003). The nomogram showed a sensitivity of 71% and a specificity of 73% (AUC 0.77, 95%CI 0.75\u20130.80). After external validation the accuracy of the nomogram was confirmed. Conclusion: The accuracy makes this freely-available, nomogram-based online tool useful to predict nodal pCR after NAC, translating the concept of tailored axillary surgery also in this setting of patients

Performance of the 2017 and 2010 Revised McDonald Criteria in Predicting MS Diagnosis After a Clinically Isolated Syndrome: A MAGNIMS Study

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: To compare the performance of the 2017 revisions to the McDonald criteria with the 2010 McDonald criteria in establishing MS diagnosis and predicting prognosis in patients with clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) suggestive of multiple sclerosis (MS). METHODS: CSF examination, brain and spinal cord MRI obtained ≤5 months from CIS onset, and a follow-up brain MRI acquired within 15 months from CIS onset were evaluated in 785 CIS patients from 9 European centers. Date of second clinical attack and of reaching Expanded Disability Status Score (EDSS) ≥ 3.0, if they occurred, were also collected. Performance of the 2017 and 2010 McDonald criteria for dissemination in space (DIS), time (DIT) (including oligoclonal bands assessment) and DIS + DIT for predicting a second clinical attack (clinically definite [CD] MS) and EDSS ≥ 3.0 at follow-up was evaluated. Time to MS diagnosis for the different criteria was also estimated. RESULTS: At follow-up (median = 69.1 months), 406/785 CIS patients developed CDMS. At 36 months, the 2017 DIS + DIT criteria had higher sensitivity (0.83 vs 0.66), lower specificity (0.39 vs 0.60) and similar area under the curve values (0.61 vs 0.63). Median time to MS diagnosis was shorter with the 2017 vs the 2010 or CDMS criteria (2017 revision = 3.2; 2010 revision = 13.0; CDMS = 58.5 months). The 2 sets of criteria similarly predicted EDSS ≥ 3.0 milestone. Three periventricular lesions improved specificity in patients ≥45 years. DISCUSSION: The 2017 McDonald criteria showed higher sensitivity, lower specificity and similar accuracy in predicting CDMS compared to 2010 McDonald criteria, while shortening time to diagnosis of MS. CLASSIFICATION OF EVIDENCE: This study provides Class II evidence that the 2017 McDonald Criteria more accurately distinguish CDMS in patients early after a CIS when compared to the 2010 McDonald criteria