Ozone and Water Stress: Effects on the Behaviour of Two White Clover Biotypes

ozone pollution, water stress, stomata conductance, ozone uptake, clover, OTC. Ozone is a strong oxidizing pollutant which derives by alteration of the photolytic NOx cycle and it accumulates in the troposphere spreading in rural areas and therefore determining injuries on natural vegetation and crops. Since its penetration occurs mainly through stomata, all factors which alter plant-atmosphere relations could be able to modify plant response to ozone. Interaction between ozone and water stress in Mediterranean environment was studied on ozone resistant and sensitive biotypes of white clover, which were grown in charcoal filtered and notfiltered Open Top Chambers in factorial combination with different levels of water supply. Measurements of biomass, leaf area and stomatal conductance were made during the growth period. Ozone injuries were estimated as not-filtered/filtered OTC yield ratio; the stomatal flux of ozone was estimated multiplying stomata conductance x diffusivity ratio between ozone and water vapour (0.613) x ozone hourly concentrations. The hourly values of ozone uptake were cumulated throughout the cropping periods of the two years. In the sensitive biotype, water stress reduced yield losses due to ozone from 38% to 22%, as well as yield losses due to water stress were reduced by the presence of ozone from 43% to 29%, while no interaction between ozone and water stress was observed in the resistant biotype. Biomass yield losses of the sensitive biotype were strictly correlated to cumulated ozone uptake (R2 = 0.99), while biomass yield losses of the resistant biotype were not affected by the ozone fluxes variations created by the treatments. Flux based models could better estimate yield losses due to ozone in Mediterranean environments in which other stresses could be contemporary present; therefore, the new European directives might replace the actual thresholds based on ozone concentration with others based on ozone flux models

A modified sentinel node and occult lesion localization (SNOLL) technique in non-palpable breast cancer. A pilot study

Background: The spread of mammographic screening programs has allowed an increasing amount of early breast cancer diagnosis. A modern approach to non-palpable breast lesions requires an accurate intraoperative localization, in order to achieve a complete surgical resection. In addiction, the assessment of lymph node status is mandatory as it represents a major prognostic factor in these patients. The aim of this study is to evaluate the reliability of a modified technical approach using a single nanocolloidal radiotracer to localize both sentinel node and breast occult lesion. Methods: Twenty-five patients with a single non-palpable breast lesions and clinically negative axilla were enrolled. In the same day of surgery, patients underwent intratumoral and peritumoral administration of 99mTc-labeled nanocolloid tracer under sonographic guidance. A lymphoscintigraphy was performed to localize the sentinel lymph node and its cutaneous projection was marked on the skin in order to guide the surgeon to an optimal incision. During surgery an hand-held gamma-detection probe was used to select the best surgical access route and to guide localization of both occult breast lesion and sentinel lymph node. After specimen excision, the surgical field was checked with the gamma-probe to verify the absence of residual sources of significant radioactivity, thereby ensuring a radical treatment in a single surgical session and minimizing normal tissue excision. Results: Both targeted breast lesion and sentinel lymph node were localized and removed at the first attempt in every patients and histopathological diagnosis of malignancy was confirmed in 25/26 samples. Non-palpable lesions were included within the surgical margins in all patients and in all samples surgical margins were free from neoplastic infiltration thus avoiding any further reintervention. Only two patients showed metastatic involvement of sentinel lymph node. Conclusions: The modified sentinel node and occult lesion localization (SNOLL) technique performed with a single injection of nanocolloidal radiotracer has shown an excellent intraoperative identification rate of both non-palpable lesion and sentinel lymph node. This procedure offers, as opposed to standard techniques, an accurate, simple and reliable approach to the management of non-palpable breast cancer

Epidermal growth factor receptor gene copy number in 101 advanced colorectal cancer patients treated with chemotherapy plus cetuximab

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Responsiveness to Cetuximab alone can be mediated by an increase of Epidermal Growth factor Receptor (EGFR) Gene Copy Number (GCN). Aim of this study was to assess the role of EGFR-GCN in advanced colorectal cancer (CRC) patients receiving chemotherapy plus Cetuximab.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>One hundred and one advanced CRC patients (43 untreated- and 58 pre-treated) were retrospectively studied by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) to assess EGFR-GCN and by immunohistochemistry (IHC) to determine EGFR expression. Sixty-one out of 101 patients were evaluated also for k-ras status by direct sequencing. Clinical end-points were response rate (RR), progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Increased EGFR-GCN was found in 60/101 (59%) tumor samples. There was no correlation between intensity of EGFR-IHC and EGFR-GCN (p = 0.43). Patients receiving chemotherapy plus Cetuximab as first line treatment had a RR of 70% (30/43) while it was 18% (10/56) in the group with previous lines of therapy (p < 0.0001). RR was observed in 29/60 (48%) of patients with increased EGFR-GCN and in 6/28 (21%) in those without (p = 0.02). At multivariate analyses, number of chemotherapy lines and increased EGFR-GCN were predictive of response; EGFR-IHC score, increased EGFR-GCN and number of chemotherapy lines were significantly associated with a significant better PFS. Response to therapy was the only prognostic predictive factor for OS. In the 60 patients analyzed for k-ras mutations, number of chemotherapy lines, increased EGFR-GCN and k-ras wild type status predicted a better PFS.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In metastatic CRC patients treated with chemotherapy plus Cetuximab number of chemotherapy lines and increased EGFR-GCN were significantly associated with a better clinical outcome, independent of k-ras status.</p

Pan-Cancer Analysis of lncRNA Regulation Supports Their Targeting of Cancer Genes in Each Tumor Context

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are commonly dys-regulated in tumors, but only a handful are known toplay pathophysiological roles in cancer. We inferredlncRNAs that dysregulate cancer pathways, onco-genes, and tumor suppressors (cancer genes) bymodeling their effects on the activity of transcriptionfactors, RNA-binding proteins, and microRNAs in5,185 TCGA tumors and 1,019 ENCODE assays.Our predictions included hundreds of candidateonco- and tumor-suppressor lncRNAs (cancerlncRNAs) whose somatic alterations account for thedysregulation of dozens of cancer genes and path-ways in each of 14 tumor contexts. To demonstrateproof of concept, we showed that perturbations tar-geting OIP5-AS1 (an inferred tumor suppressor) andTUG1 and WT1-AS (inferred onco-lncRNAs) dysre-gulated cancer genes and altered proliferation ofbreast and gynecologic cancer cells. Our analysis in-dicates that, although most lncRNAs are dysregu-lated in a tumor-specific manner, some, includingOIP5-AS1, TUG1, NEAT1, MEG3, and TSIX, synergis-tically dysregulate cancer pathways in multiple tumorcontexts

Pan-cancer Alterations of the MYC Oncogene and Its Proximal Network across the Cancer Genome Atlas

Although theMYConcogene has been implicated incancer, a systematic assessment of alterations ofMYC, related transcription factors, and co-regulatoryproteins, forming the proximal MYC network (PMN),across human cancers is lacking. Using computa-tional approaches, we define genomic and proteo-mic features associated with MYC and the PMNacross the 33 cancers of The Cancer Genome Atlas.Pan-cancer, 28% of all samples had at least one ofthe MYC paralogs amplified. In contrast, the MYCantagonists MGA and MNT were the most frequentlymutated or deleted members, proposing a roleas tumor suppressors.MYCalterations were mutu-ally exclusive withPIK3CA,PTEN,APC,orBRAFalterations, suggesting that MYC is a distinct onco-genic driver. Expression analysis revealed MYC-associated pathways in tumor subtypes, such asimmune response and growth factor signaling; chro-matin, translation, and DNA replication/repair wereconserved pan-cancer. This analysis reveals insightsinto MYC biology and is a reference for biomarkersand therapeutics for cancers with alterations ofMYC or the PMN

Genomic, Pathway Network, and Immunologic Features Distinguishing Squamous Carcinomas

This integrated, multiplatform PanCancer Atlas study co-mapped and identified distinguishing molecular features of squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) from five sites associated with smokin

Spatial Organization and Molecular Correlation of Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes Using Deep Learning on Pathology Images

Beyond sample curation and basic pathologic characterization, the digitized H&E-stained images of TCGA samples remain underutilized. To highlight this resource, we present mappings of tumorinfiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) based on H&E images from 13 TCGA tumor types. These TIL maps are derived through computational staining using a convolutional neural network trained to classify patches of images. Affinity propagation revealed local spatial structure in TIL patterns and correlation with overall survival. TIL map structural patterns were grouped using standard histopathological parameters. These patterns are enriched in particular T cell subpopulations derived from molecular measures. TIL densities and spatial structure were differentially enriched among tumor types, immune subtypes, and tumor molecular subtypes, implying that spatial infiltrate state could reflect particular tumor cell aberration states. Obtaining spatial lymphocytic patterns linked to the rich genomic characterization of TCGA samples demonstrates one use for the TCGA image archives with insights into the tumor-immune microenvironment

Anomalous aortic origin of coronary arteries : Early results on clinical management from an international multicenter study

Background: Anomalous aortic origin of coronary arteries (AAOCA) is a rare abnormality, whose optimal management is still undefined. We describe early outcomes in patients treated with different management strategies. Methods: This is a retrospective clinicalmulticenter study including patients with AAOCA, undergoing or not surgical treatment. Patients with isolated high coronary take off and associated major congenital heart disease were excluded. Preoperative, intraoperative, anatomical and postoperative data were retrieved from a common database. Results: Among 217 patients, 156 underwent Surgical repair (median age 39 years, IQR: 15-53), while 61 were Medical (median age 15 years, IQR: 8-52), inwhomAAOCA was incidentally diagnosed during screening or clinical evaluations. Surgical patients were more often symptomatic when compared to medical ones (87.2% vs 44.3%, p b 0.001). Coronary unroofing was the most frequent procedure (56.4%). Operative mortality was 1.3% (2 patients with preoperative severe heart failure). At a median follow up of 18 months (range 0.1-23 years), 89.9% of survivors are in NYHA Conclusions: Surgery for AAOCA is safe andwith low morbidity. When compared to Medical patients, who remain on exercise restriction and medical therapy, surgical patients have a benefit in terms of symptoms and return to normal life. Since the long term-risk of sudden cardiac death is still unknown, we currently recommend accurate long term surveillance in all patients with AAOCA. (C) 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.Peer reviewe

How future surgery will benefit from SARS-COV-2-related measures: a SPIGC survey conveying the perspective of Italian surgeons

COVID-19 negatively affected surgical activity, but the potential benefits resulting from adopted measures remain unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the change in surgical activity and potential benefit from COVID-19 measures in perspective of Italian surgeons on behalf of SPIGC. A nationwide online survey on surgical practice before, during, and after COVID-19 pandemic was conducted in March-April 2022 (NCT:05323851). Effects of COVID-19 hospital-related measures on surgical patients' management and personal professional development across surgical specialties were explored. Data on demographics, pre-operative/peri-operative/post-operative management, and professional development were collected. Outcomes were matched with the corresponding volume. Four hundred and seventy-three respondents were included in final analysis across 14 surgical specialties. Since SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, application of telematic consultations (4.1% vs. 21.6%; p &lt; 0.0001) and diagnostic evaluations (16.4% vs. 42.2%; p &lt; 0.0001) increased. Elective surgical activities significantly reduced and surgeons opted more frequently for conservative management with a possible indication for elective (26.3% vs. 35.7%; p &lt; 0.0001) or urgent (20.4% vs. 38.5%; p &lt; 0.0001) surgery. All new COVID-related measures are perceived to be maintained in the future. Surgeons' personal education online increased from 12.6% (pre-COVID) to 86.6% (post-COVID; p &lt; 0.0001). Online educational activities are considered a beneficial effect from COVID pandemic (56.4%). COVID-19 had a great impact on surgical specialties, with significant reduction of operation volume. However, some forced changes turned out to be benefits. Isolation measures pushed the use of telemedicine and telemetric devices for outpatient practice and favored communication for educational purposes and surgeon-patient/family communication. From the Italian surgeons' perspective, COVID-related measures will continue to influence future surgical clinical practice