Competing symmetries and broken bonds in superconducting vortex-antivortex molecular crystals

Hall probe microscopy has been used to image vortex-antivortex molecules induced in superconducting Pb films by the stray fields from square arrays of magnetic dots. We have directly observed spontaneous vortex-antivortex pairs and studied how they interact with added free (anti)fluxons in an applied magnetic field. We observe a variety of phenomena arising from competing symmetries which either drive added antivortices to join antivortex shells around dots or stabilize the translationally symmetric antivortex lattice between the dots. Added vortices annihilate antivortex shells, leading first to a stable “nulling state” with no free fluxons and then, at high densities, to vortex shells around the dots stabilized by the asymmetric antipinning potential. Our experimental findings are in good agreement with Ginzburg-Landau calculations

Multiple congenital bilateral trigger digits in a 2-year-old child: case report

Trigger finger is a rare condition in children. In this paper, we report on a 2-year-old boy with multiple congenital bilateral trigger digits. The patient had no history of perinatal trauma, viral or bacterial infections, or metabolic disorders. The patient was treated with physiotherapy for one year. At the one-year follow-up, the boy presented with six trigger fingers (3 on the right hand, 3 on the left hand). Neither thumb was involved. The six trigger fingers were treated surgically: first, the right-hand trigger fingers and, six months later, those of the left hand. After each operation, a 4-week brace in extension was applied to the operated hand. The symptoms were completely resolved after surgical treatment. Many authors have recommended surgical release for the treatment of trigger finger in children; empirical treatment with physiotherapy may be an option when symptoms present or appear at an older age

Solid-phase synthesis of peptides containing reverse-turn mimetic bicyclic lactams

The solid-phase synthesis and characterization of a series of peptides (4-15) containing reverse-turn mimetic bicyclic lactams is reported. The bicyclic lactams (1a, 1b) possess high structural similarity to the two central residues of a Pturn. Amino acid conjugates of these bicyclic lactams were synthesized on solid supports following a g-fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl (FMOC) protection strategy on WangMerrifield resin. Coupling between amino acids was accomplished by means of diisopropylcarbodiimide (DIC)/ hydroxyazabenzotriazole (HOAt). Coupling between amino acids and the mimics was performed with the potent Carpino's reagent O-(7-azabenzotriazol-1-yl)-N,N,N',N'-tetramelhyluronium hexafluorophosphate (HATU). The final compounds were cleaved from the resin and obtained as N-acetylated methyl esters or benzyl amides

Use of biological drugs in patients with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis in italy: Results from the PSONG survey

This Italian multicenter retrospective study compared the drug survival and efficacy of differentanti-TNF agents in psoriasis (PsO) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) patients. A database of PsO/PsApatients treated with adalimumab, etanercept, and infliximab from May 2013 to May 2014 wasanalyzed. PASI 75, 90, and 100 was calculated at each time point to evaluate efficacy. Drug sur-vival rate and probability of maintaining PASI response were evaluated. The impact of dependentvariables on probability of PASI 75 loss was evaluated by logistic regression. 1,235 patients wereincluded, 577 with PsO and 658 with PsA. Highest survival rates were observed with adalimumabfollowed by etanercept and infliximab in PsO and PsA patients. The probability of maintainingPASI response was significantly higher for adalimumab followed by infliximab. For PsO patients,the odds of losing PASI 75 was higher in etanercept-treated patients (OR: 8.1; 95% CI: 4.2–15.6,p<.001) or infliximab (OR: 6.6; 95% CI: 2.6–16.3,p<.001) vs. adalimumab. Likewise, for PsApatients the odds of losing PASI 75 was higher in etanercept-treated patients (OR: 2.3; 95% CI:1.4–3.8,p5.01) or infliximab (OR: 2.2; 95% CI: 1.1–4.1,p5.018) vs. adalimumab. Adalimumabcould be the best therapeutic option over other anti-TNF agents for the treatment of PsO and PsApatients

A fragment-based virtual screening approach to identify e-cadherin lingands

Cadherins are calcium-dependent cell-cell adhesion proteins which are overexpressed in several solid tumors [1]. They contain an extracellular region consisting of five immunoglobulin-like domains that extend from the cell surface. Recent crystal structures have shown that classical cadherins dimerize through a \u2018strand-swap\u2019 trans-adhesive interface involving the N-terminal EC1 domains of two cadherins on adjacent cells [2, 3]. Despite a growing interest in the field, the rational design of small ligands targeting cadherins is still in a very early stage. Recently, our group set up a docking protocol (Glide v 5.7) to rationally design peptidomimetic ligands mimicking the N- and E-cadherin adhesive homodimer interface. Accordingly, the first mimics based on the tetrapeptide sequence Asp1-Trp2-Val3-Ile4 (DWVI) of the N-terminal adhesion arm were achieved and proved to inhibit the adhesion of epithelial ovarian cancer cells with millimolar potency [4]. Herein, a fragment-based virtual screening approach was applied to identify novel chemical entries targeting the DWVI binding site. Commercially available Maybridge and Life chemicals collections were used. The most promising fragments identified by the docking calculations were purchased and their binding to E-cadherin was evaluated by means of STD (Saturation Transfer Difference) NMR experiments. Acknowledgements: We thank MIUR (PRIN 2015 project 20157WW5EH) for financial support. ____ [1] G. Berx, F. van Roy, Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology 2009, 1, a003129. [2] D. Leckband, S. Sivasankar, Curr. Opin. Cell Biol. 2012, 24, 620-627. [3] J. Vendome, K. Felsovalyi, H. Song, Z. Yang, X. Jin, J. Brasch, O. J. Harrison, G. Ahlsen, F. Bahna, A. Kaczynska, P. S. Katsamba, D. Edmond, W. L. Hubbell, L. Shapiro, B. Honig, PNAS 2014, 111, E4175-E4184. [4] F. Doro, C. Colombo, C. Alberti, D. Arosio, L. Belvisi, C. Casagrande, R. Fanelli, L. Manzoni, E. Parisini, U. Piarulli, E. Luison, M. Figini, A. Tomassetti, M. Civera, Org. Biomol. Chem. 2015, 13, 2570-2573

Post-traumatic malunion of the proximal phalanx of the finger. Medium-term results in 24 cases treated by "in situ" osteotomy

We report the clinical and radiographic medium-term results obtained for 20 patients (24 fingers) treated surgically for post-traumatic malunion of the proximal phalanx of the finger. In all cases we performed a corrective osteoclasia or osteotomy at the site of malunion, followed by miniplate and screw fixation or by screw fixation only. The corrective osteoclasia was performed when malalignment was addressed within six weeks after injury. Two patients who had two fractures underwent additional surgery (tenolysis and/or capsulolysis) to improve function and ROM. At the final follow-up, at a mean of 24 months after corrective surgery, good or excellent clinical and radiographic results were obtained in all the patients. The pseudoclaw deformity disappeared in all cases in which a volar angulation deformity was present. An average improvement of about 30% in the range of motion of the MP and PIP joints was observed; only 4 patients complained of mild pain at the maximum degrees of articular excursion of the MP and PIP joints. All the patients presented an improvement in grip strength. The mean DASH score in our series was 5 points. In two of the four cases treated by an intra-articular corrective osteotomy, mild radiographic signs of osteoarthritis at the MP joint were present. The data for this study confirm that "in situ" osteotomy stabilized by miniplates and/or screws is an effective procedure to correct post-traumatic malunions of the proximal phalanges of the fingers

New perspectives in the prediction of postoperative complications for high-risk ulcerative colitis patients: machine learning preliminary approach

OBJECTIVE: Patients with acute severe and medical refractory ulcerative colitis have a high risk of postoperative complications after total abdominal colectomy (TAC). The objective of this retrospective study is to use machine learning to analyze and predict short-term outcomes. PATIENTS AND METHODS: 32 patients with ulcerative colitis were treated with total abdominal colectomy between 2011 and 2017. Biographical data, preoperative therapy, blood chemistry, nutritional status, surgical technique, blood transfusion and preoperative length of stay were the features selected for the statistical analyses and were used as input for the machine learning algorithms to predict the rate of complications. RESULTS: Traditional statistical analysis showed an overall postoperative morbidity rate of 34% and a mortality rate of 3%. Preoperative low serum albumin levels (4 days), blood transfusions (≥1 unit) and body temperature (≥37.5°C) demonstrated a major impact on infectious morbidity with statistical significance (p<0.05). Patients treated with steroids and rescue therapy presented a higher risk of minor infectious complications (p<0.05). Evaluating only preoperative features, machine learning algorithms were able to predict minor postoperative complications with a high strike rate (84.3%), high sensitivity (87.5%) and high specificity (83.3%) during the testing phase. CONCLUSIONS: Machine learning is demonstrated to be useful in predicting the rate of minor postoperative complications in high-risk ulcerative colitis patients, despite the small sample size. It represents a major step forward in data analysis by implementing a retrospective study from a prospective point of view

Does “forced abstinence” from gaming lead to pornography use? Insight from the April 2018 crash of Fortnite's servers

In April 2018, the servers of the popular video game "Fortnite" crashed for 24 hr. During this period, Pornhub (a popular pornographic website) analyzed trends in pornography access, finding that: (a) the percentage of gamers accessing Pornhub increased by 10% and (b) the searches of pornographic videos using the key term "Fortnite" increased by 60%. In this letter, we discuss these observations in the context of ongoing debate regarding the validity of "withdrawal" when applied to problematic involvement in video gaming and the potential use of pornography as a "compensation behavior" during the periods of "forced abstinence" from gaming