The use of ultrasound in clinical setting for children affected by NAFLD. is it safe and accurate?

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become over the last decade the most common form of chronic liver disease in children and adults. Thus, establishing the diagnosis of NAFLD is of utmost importance and represents a major challenge as the disease is generally silent and the current gold standard for diagnosis is an invasive liver biopsy, a procedure that is not suitable for screening purposes. Many non-invasive diagnostic tools have been evaluated so far. Recently the utility of ultrasonography for non-invasive diagnosis and estimation of hepatic steatosis has been demonstrated in a large prospective pediatric study

Targeting functionalised carbon nanotubes at the interphase of Textile Reinforced Mortar (TRM) composites

Tensile performance of textile reinforced inorganic matrix composites strongly depends on the matrix-to-fabric bond strength, that is the weak chain in the system. In this work, we investigate the role of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) dispersion in an amorphous silica nano-coating for AR-glass and carbon fabric Textile Reinforced Mortar (TRM) composites. Two lime mortars are considered at 56-day curing. Comparative mechanical testing in uni-axial tension show remarkable enhancements in terms of mean ductility, strength and energy dissipation capabilities. Besides, coating successfully hinders telescopic failure and delamination, which significantly narrows data scattering and benefits design limits. Crack pattern analysis reveals that coating promotes diffuse cracking in the specimen, with gradual and progressive damage buildup. Indeed, mean crack width and mean crack spacing are consistently reduced. BET, optical and E-SEM microscopy supports the action mechanism of the coating, that promotes wettability, surface roughening and imparts a remarkable increase in the specific surface area of the reinforcement

A new Rayleigh-like wave in guided propagation of antiplane waves in couple stress materials

Motivated by the unexpected appearance of shear horizontal Rayleigh surface waves, we investigate the mechanics of antiplane wave reflection and propagation in couple stress (CS) elastic materials. Surface waves arise by mode conversion at a free surface, whereby bulk travelling waves trigger inhomogeneous modes. Indeed, Rayleigh waves are perturbations of the travelling mode and stem from its reflection at grazing incidence. As well known, they correspond to the real zeros of the Rayleigh function. Interestingly, we show that the same generating mechanism sustains a new inhomogeneous wave, corresponding to a purely imaginary zero of the Rayleigh function. This wave emerges from "reflection" of a bulk standing mode: This produces a new type of Rayleigh-like wave that travels away from, as opposed to along, the free surface, with a speed lower than that of bulk shear waves. Besides, a third zero of the Rayleigh function may exist, which represents waves attenuating/exploding both along and away from the surface. Since none of these zeros correspond to leaky waves, a new classification of the Rayleigh zeros is proposed. Furthermore, we extend to CS elasticity Mindlin’s boundary conditions, by which partial waves are identified, whose interference lends Rayleigh-Lamb guided waves. Finally, asymptotic analysis in the thin-plate limit provides equivalent 1-D models

Editorial: multidrug resistance in cancer: pharmacological strategies from basic research to clinical issues.

More than 40 years ago, the observation that doxorubicin-resistant tumor cells were cross-resistant to several structurally different anticancer agents was the first step in the discovery of P-glycoprotein (P-gp). P-gp belongs to the superfamily of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters;its overexpression has become a therapeutic target for overcoming multidrug resistance in tumors. However, P-gp is also expressed in cells of normal tissues where it plays a physiological role, by protecting them from the toxic effects of xenobiotics. Also, ABCB1 gene polymorphisms may influence the response to anticancer drugs substrate of P-gp. Several strategies to overcome P-gp tumor drug resistance have been suggested. P-gp 'circumvention’ is the most explored and is based on the coadministration of anticancer agents and pump inhibitors (P-gp modulators). Despite the positive findings obtained in preclinical studies, results of clinical trials are not yet successful and clinical research is still ongoing. Other investigational approaches have been studied (e.g. P-gp targeting antibodies, use of antisense strategies or transcriptional regulators targeting ABCB1 gene expression) but their use is still circumscribed to the preclinical setting. A further approach is represented by the encapsulation of P-gp substrate anticancer drugs into liposomes or nanoparticles. This strategy has shown higher efficacy in tumor previously treated with the free drug. The reasons explaining the increased efficacy of liposomal/nanoparticle-based drugs in Pgp-overexpressing tumors include the coating with specific surfactants, the composition changes in the plasma membrane microdomains where P-gp is embedded, the direct impairment of P-gp catalytic mechanisms exerted by specific component of the liposomal shell, but are not yet fully understood. A second strategy to overcome P-gp tumor drug resistance is represented by exploiting the P-gp presence. Actually, P-gp-overexpressing cells show increased sensitivity (collateral sensitivity) to some drugs (e.g. verapamil, narcotic analgesics) and to some investigational compounds (e.g. NSC73306). P-gp-overexpressing cell are hypersensitive to reactive oxygen species, to agents perturbing the energetic metabolic pathways, changing the membrane compositions, reducing the efflux of endogenous toxic catabolites. However, the mechanisms explaining collateral sensitivity have not been fully elucidated. Another approach to exploit P-gp is represented by ABCB1 gene transfer to transform bone marrow progenitor cells into a drug resistant state which may allow conventional or higher doses of anticancer drug substrates of P-gp to be administered safely after transplantation. More recently the development and introduction in the clinics of anticancer drugs which are not substrates of P-gp (e.g. new microtubule modulators, topoisomerase inhibitors) has provided a new and promising strategy to overcome P-gp tumor drug resistance (P-gp 'evasion'). This ‘research topic’ issue aims at exploding the above mentioned matters, in particular by: -retracing the history of the first researches on P-gp - describing the physiological role of P-gp - describing the molecular basis, structural features and mechanism of action of P-gp - describing diagnostic laboratory methods useful to determine the expression of P-gp and its transporter function - describing strategies to overcome tumor drug resistance due to P-gp and other ABC transporters - indicating novel approaches to overcome P-gp multidrug resistance, ranging from basic research studies to pre-clinical/clinical studies

Antiplane Stoneley waves propagating at the interface between two couple stress elastic materials

We investigate antiplane Stoneley waves, localized at the discontinuity surface between two perfectly bonded half-spaces. Both half-spaces are elastic linear isotropic and possess a microstructure that is described within the theory of couple stress materials with micro-inertia. We show that the microstructure deeply affects wave propagation, which is permitted under broad conditions. This outcome stands in marked contrast to classical elasticity, where antiplane Stoneley waves are not supported and in-plane Stoneley waves exist only under very severe conditions on the material properties of the bonded half-spaces. Besides, Stoneley waves may propagate only beyond a threshold frequency (cuton), for which an explicit expression is provided. For a given frequency above cuton, this expression lends the admissible range of material parameters that allows propagation (passband). In particular, significant contrast between the adjoining materials is possible, provided that Stoneley waves propagate at high enough frequency. Therefore, micro-inertia plays an important role in determining the features of propagation. Considerations concerning existence and uniqueness of antiplane Stoneley waves are given: it is found that evanescent and decaying/exploding modes are also admitted. Results may be especially useful when accounting for the microstructure in non-destructive testing (NDT) and seismic propagation

Elementi intervisuali nei ditirambi 17 e 18 di Bacchilide

This paper aims at analyzing Bacchylides' dithyrambs 17 and 18 on the deeds of Theseus under an intervisual point of view, in order to envisage allusions and references to contemporary artistic production. This is due to the fact that Theseus' saga flourishes in Athenian iconography between the sixth and the fifth century B.C., but does not receive adequate poetical treatment until the half of the fifth century. This kind of investigation also fournishes some useful suggestions concerning the occasion of the performance or re-performance of the dithyrambs, which may be represented by the Athenian festival of the Thargelia

Threnodic elegy in Sparta

The new Simonides elegy for the dead at Plataea fits within an obscure but discoverable tradition, associated especially with Sparta, of public songs of lamentation that celebrated fallen warriors at festivals like the Gymnopaidiai

La sezione pilia del Catalogo delle donne (frr. 30-37 M.-W.). 1: I frammenti

Textual and exegetical notes on the fragments 30-37 of the Hesiodic Catalogue, also in the light of relations with the Homeric tradition, in particular with Od. 11

Il gioco nell’Inno omerico a Ermes

Play occurs in the \uabHomeric Hymn to Hermes\ubb with several forms and meanings. This is not surprising since Hermes is depicted in the whole poem as a newborn baby with the qualities typical of his age. The whole story, which comprises two episodes in the life of the god (the construction of the lyre and the theft of Apollo\u2019s cattle) has a playful tone which assumes an initiatic character since it establishes Hermes\u2019 role in the gods\u2019 pantheon. Hermes\u2019 favourite toy (athyrma) is the lyre, which he makes from a tortoise shell: the ambivalence between the playful and the musical sphere is consistent with the double meaning of the terms athyrma/athyro in the Greek language. Furthermore, Hermes sings with the new lyre a song that talks about the encounter between Zeus and his mother Maia. This licentious song is compared to the sympotic games which included tricks and jokes