Updated Measurement of the b baryon lifetime

sing about 4 million hadronic Z decays recorded with the Aleph detector, the lifetime of the b baryons has been measured using two independent data samples. From a maximum likelihood fit to the impact parameter distribution of leptons in 1085 Lambda-lepton combinations containing a b baryon sample of 719 decays the measured b baryon lifetime is \tau = 1.18 \pm 0.08(stat) \pm 0.07 (syst) ps The lifetime of the Lambda_b baryon from a maximum likelihood fit to the proper time distribution of 193 Lambda_c-lepton candidates is \tau_{\Lambda_b} = 1.21^{+0.13}_{-0.12}{stat}) \pm 0.04 {syst} ps. The combined result of the two measurements yields an averaged value \tau_{\Lambda_b} = 1.19 \pm{0.0

Clinical report and predictors of sequelae of 319 cases of pediatric bacterial osteomyelitis

Pediatric osteomyelitis is an insidious disease that can lead to permanent sequelae, the management of which still relies on lengthy intravenous antibiotic therapy. The purpose of this study is to report and describe the clinical course and outcome of pediatric bacterial osteomyelitis in our experience. We reported the clinical, diagnostic, and treatment characteristics of all cases of osteomyelitis in children younger than 18 years of age who were hospitalized between January 2010 and December 2021 at the Bambino Gesu Children's Hospital in Rome, Italy, we compared patients with and without complications at follow-up, to identify any predictive factor for sequelae. The study sample included 319 cases of pediatric bacterial osteomyelitis. The median age was 7.77 years. Males (60.8%) were more affected than females. The most affected bones were the femur, tibia, and spine. Etiology was identified in 40.1% of cases, with S.aureus as the most common causative agent. Sequelae were reported in 43 cases (13.5%). The main predictors of sequelae were sepsis on admission and hypergammaglobulinemia. Our results show that a severe presentation with sepsis and hypergammaglobulinemia on admission may be associated with a higher frequency of late sequelae. Early recognition and aggressive treatment of this subgroup of patients may lead to a reduction in complications

BCR-ABL1 doubling-times and halving-times may predict CML response to tyrosine kinase inhibitors

In Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML), successful treatment requires accurate molecular monitoring to evaluate disease response and provide timely interventions for patients failing to achieve the desired outcomes. We wanted to determine whether measuring BCR-ABL1 mRNA doubling-times (DTs) could distinguish inconsequential rises in the oncogene’s expression from resistance to tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). Thus, we retrospectively examined BCR-ABL1 evolution in 305 chronic-phase CML patients receiving imatinib mesylate (IM) as a first line treatment. Patients were subdivided in two groups: those with a confirmed rise in BCR-ABL1 transcripts without MR3.0 loss and those failing IM. We found that the DTs of the former patients were significantly longer than those of patients developing IM resistance (57.80 vs. 41.45 days, p = 0.0114). Interestingly, the DT values of individuals failing second-generation (2G) TKIs after developing IM resistance were considerably shorter than those observed at the time of IM failure (27.20 vs. 41.45 days; p = 0.0035). We next wanted to establish if decreases in BCR-ABL1 transcripts would identify subjects likely to obtain deep molecular responses. We therefore analyzed the BCR-ABL1 halving-times (HTs) of a different cohort comprising 174 individuals receiving IM in first line and observed that, regardless of the time point selected for our analyses (6, 12, or 18 months), HTs were significantly shorter in subjects achieving superior molecular responses (p = 0.002 at 6 months; p < 0.001 at 12 months; p = 0.0099 at 18 months). Moreover, 50 patients receiving 2G TKIs as first line therapy and obtaining an MR3.0 (after 6 months; p = 0.003) or an MR4.0 (after 12 months; p = 0.019) displayed significantly shorter HTs than individuals lacking these molecular responses. Our findings suggest that BCR-ABL1 DTs and HTs are reliable tools to, respectively, identify subjects in MR3.0 that are failing their assigned TKI or to recognize patients likely to achieve deep molecular responses that should be considered for treatment discontinuation

Clinical implications of discordant early molecular responses in CML patients treated with imatinib

A reduction in BCR-ABL1/ABL1IS transcript levels to <10% after 3 months or <1% after 6 months of tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy are associated with superior clinical outcomes in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients. In this study, we investigated the reliability of multiple BCR-ABL1 thresholds in predicting treatment outcomes for 184 subjects diagnosed with CML and treated with standard-dose imatinib mesylate (IM). With a median follow-up of 61 months, patients with concordant BCR-ABL1/ABL1IS transcripts below the defined thresholds (10% at 3 months and 1% at 6 months) displayed significantly superior rates of event-free survival (86.1% vs. 26.6%) and deep molecular response (≥ MR4; 71.5% vs. 16.1%) compared to individuals with BCR-ABL1/ABL1IS levels above these defined thresholds. We then analyzed the outcomes of subjects displaying discordant molecular transcripts at 3-and 6-month time points. Among these patients, those with BCR-ABL1/ABL1IS values >10% at 3 months but <1% at 6 months fared significantly better than individuals with BCR-ABL1/ABL1IS <10% at 3 months but >1% at 6 months (event-free survival 68.2% vs. 32.7%; p < 0.001). Likewise, subjects with BCR-ABL1/ABL1IS at 3 months >10% but <1% at 6 months showed a higher cumulative incidence of MR4 compared to patients with BCR-ABL1/ABL1IS <10% at 3 months but >1% at 6 months (75% vs. 18.2%; p < 0.001). Finally, lower BCR-ABL1/GUSIS transcripts at diagnosis were associated with BCR-ABL1/ABL1IS values <1% at 6 months (p < 0.001). Our data suggest that when assessing early molecular responses to therapy, the 6-month BCR-ABL1/ABL1IS level displays a superior prognostic value compared to the 3-month measurement in patients with discordant oncogenic transcripts at these two pivotal time points

One Year of Lung Ultrasound in Children with SARS-CoV-2 Admitted to a Tertiary Referral Children's Hospital: A Retrospective Study during 2020-2021

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the lung ultrasound (LU) turned out to be a pivotal tool to study the lung involvement in the adult population, but the same was not well evaluated in children. We detected the LU patterns through an integrated approach with clinical-laboratory features in children hospitalized for COVID-19 in relation to the temporal trend of the Italian epidemic. We conducted a retrospective study which took place at a pediatric tertiary hospital from 15 March 2020 to 15 March 2021. We compared the characteristics of the initial phase of the first COVID-19 year-in the spring and summer (15 March-30 September 2020)-and those of the second phase-in the autumn and winter (1 October 2020-15 March 2021). Twenty-eight patients were studied both in the first and in the second phase of the first COVID-19 year. The disease severity score (DSS) was significantly greater in the second phase (p = 0.015). In the second phase of the first COVID-19 year, we detected a more significant occurrence of the following LU features than in the first phase: the irregular pleural line (85.71% vs. 60.71%; p = 0.035), the B-lines (89.29% vs. 60%; p = 0.003) and the several but non-coalescent B-lines (89.29% vs. 60%; p = 0.003). The LU score correlated significantly with the DSS, with a moderate relationship (r = 0.51, p < 0.001). The combined clinical, laboratory and ultrasound approaches might be essential in the evaluation of pulmonary involvement in children affected by COVID-19 during different periods of the pandemic

Investigation of dust grains by optical tweezers for space applications

Cosmic dust plays a dominant role in the universe, especially in the formation of stars and planetary systems. Furthermore, the surface of cosmic dust grains is the bench-work where molecular hydrogen and simple organic compounds are formed. We manipulate individual dust particles in water solution by contactless and non-invasive techniques such as standard and Raman tweezers, to characterize their response to mechanical effects of light (optical forces and torques) and to determine their mineral compositions. Moreover, we show accurate optical force calculations in the T-matrix formalism highlighting the key role of composition and complex morphology in optical trapping of cosmic dust particles.This opens perspectives for future applications of optical tweezers in curation facilities for sample return missions or in extraterrestrial environments