Nano-Scale Residual Stress Profiling in Thin Multilayer Films with Non-Equibiaxial Stress State

Silver-based low-emissivity (low-E) coatings are applied on architectural glazing to cost-effectively reduce heat losses, as they generally consist of dielectric/Ag/dielectric multilayer stacks, where the thin Ag layer reflects long wavelength infrared (IR), while the dielectric layers both protect the Ag and act as an anti-reflective barrier. The architecture of the multilayer stack influences its mechanical properties and it is strongly dependent on the residual stress distribution in the stack. Residual stress evaluation by combining focused ion beam (FIB) milling and digital image correlation (DIC), using the micro-ring core configuration (FIB-DIC), offers micron-scale lateral resolution and provides information about the residual stress variation with depth, i.e., it allows depth profiling for both equibiaxial and non-equibiaxial stress distributions and hence can be effectively used to characterize low-E coatings. In this work, we propose an innovative approach to improve the depth resolution and surface sensitivity for residual stress depth profiling in the case of ultra-thin as-deposited and post-deposition annealed Si3N4/Ag/ZnO low-E coatings, by considering different fractions of area for DIC strain analysis and accordingly developing a unique influence function to maintain the sensitivity of the technique at is maximum during the calculation. Residual stress measurements performed using this novel FIB-DIC approach revealed that the individual Si3N4/ZnO layers in the multilayer stack are under different amounts of compressive stresses. The magnitude and orientation of these stresses changes significantly after heat treatment and provides a clear explanation for the observed differences in terms of scratch critical load. The results show that the proposed FIB-DIC combined-areas approach is a unique method for accurately probing non-equibiaxial residual stresses with nano-scale resolution in thin films, including multilayer

Un lampo obliquo. Luigi Bernardi, i suoi libri e il suo immaginario

In occasione del decennale della morte di Luigi Bernardi (Ozzano dell’Emilia, 1953 - Bologna, 2013), il volume - a cura di Filippo Milani e Alberto Sebastiani - raccoglie gli atti relativi all’evento di inaugurazione del Fondo “Luigi Bernardi”, che si è svolto il 17 gennaio 2020 presso gli spazi del Dipartimento di Filologia classica e Italianistica dell’Università di Bologna, poche settimane prima che la pandemia sconvolgesse le vite di tutte e tutti noi. Si è trattato della prima iniziativa volta a valorizzare il Fondo archivistico e librario dello scrittore emiliano, che merita di certo ulteriori studi e approfondimenti, volti a indagare sia l’attività creativa di Bernardi sia quella di editore, traduttore, promotore culturale e scopritore di talenti letterari e fumettistici, soprattutto nell’ambito del genere noir. In quell’occasione era stata allestita anche una mostra virtuale - tuttora accessibile - che offre una prima visione panoramica sugli interessi dell’autore e sulla composizione della sua biblioteca

Management of psoriatic arthritis: a consensus opinion by expert rheumatologists

Background: Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is a chronic inflammatory musculoskeletal disease involving several articular and extra-articular structures. Despite the important progresses recently made in all of the aspects of this disease, its management is still burdened by unresolved issues. The aim of this exercise was to provide a set of statements that may be helpful for the management of PsA. Methods: A group of 38 Italian rheumatologists with recognized expertise in PsA selected and addressed the following four topics: "early PsA," "axial-PsA," "extra-articular manifestations and comorbidities," "therapeutic goals." Relevant articles from the literature (2016-2022) were selected by the experts based on a PubMed search. A number of statements for each topic were elaborated. Results: Ninety-four articles were selected and evaluated, 68 out of the 1,114 yielded by the literature search and 26 added by the Authors. Each of the four topic was subdivided in themes as follows: transition from psoriasis to PsA, imaging vs. CASPAR criteria in early diagnosis, early treatment for "early PsA"; axial-PsA vs. axialspondyloarthritis, diagnosis, clinical evaluation, treatment, standard radiography vs. magnetic resonance imaging for "axial PsA"; influence of inflammatory bowel disease on the therapeutic choice, cardiovascular comorbidity, bone damage, risk of infection for "comorbidities and extra-articular manifestations"; target and tools, treat-to-target strategy, role of imaging for "therapeutic goals." The final document consisted of 49 statements. Discussion: The final product of this exercise is a set of statements concerning the main issues of PsA management offering an expert opinion for some unmet needs of this complex disease

Interstitial Lung Disease and Anti-Myeloperoxidase Antibodies: Not a Simple Association

Anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA), mainly anti-myeloperoxidase (MPO) antibodies, have been frequently identified in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). However, their role remains unclear, and only 7-23% of these patients develops clinically overt vasculitis. We aimed to investigate the clinical, serological, and radiological features and prognosis of anti-MPO-positive interstitial lung disease (ILD) patients. Fifty-eight consecutive patients firstly referred for idiopathic interstitial pneumonia and showing serological positivity of anti-MPO antibodies were retrospectively enrolled. For each patient, clinical data, lung function testing, chest high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) pattern, and survival were recorded. Thirteen patients developed a rheumatic disease during a median follow-up of 39 months. Usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP) was the most frequent ILD pattern, significantly influencing the patients' survival. In fact, while the 52-week survival of the overall population was 71.4 ± 7.5%, significantly higher than IPF, survivals of anti-MPO patients with UIP pattern and IPF were similar. Forced vital capacity and diffusion lung capacity for CO significantly declined in 37.7 and 41.5% of cases, respectively, while disease progression at chest HRCT was observed in 45.2%. A careful clinical history and evaluation should always be performed in ILD patients with anti-MPO antibodies to quickly identify patients who are developing a systemic rheumatic disease

Outer Membrane Vesicles From The Gut Microbiome Contribute to Tumor Immunity by Eliciting Cross-Reactive T Cells

A growing body of evidence supports the notion that the gut microbiome plays an important role in cancer immunity. However, the underpinning mechanisms remain to be fully elucidated. One attractive hypothesis envisages that among the T cells elicited by the plethora of microbiome proteins a few exist that incidentally recognize neo-epitopes arising from cancer mutations ("molecular mimicry (MM)" hypothesis). To support MM, the human probiotic Escherichia coli Nissle was engineered with the SIINFEKL epitope (OVA-E.coli Nissle) and orally administered to C57BL/6 mice. The treatment with OVA-E.coli Nissle, but not with wild type E. coli Nissle, induced OVA-specific CD8(+) T cells and inhibited the growth of tumors in mice challenged with B16F10 melanoma cells expressing OVA. The microbiome shotgun sequencing and the sequencing of TCRs from T cells recovered from both lamina propria and tumors provide evidence that the main mechanism of tumor inhibition is mediated by the elicitation at the intestinal site of cross-reacting T cells, which subsequently reach the tumor environment. Importantly, the administration of Outer Membrane Vesicles (OMVs) from engineered E. coli Nissle, as well as from E. coli BL21(DE3)Delta ompA, carrying cancer-specific T cell epitopes also elicited epitope-specific T cells in the intestine and inhibited tumor growth. Overall, our data strengthen the important role of MM in tumor immunity and assign a novel function of OMVs in host-pathogen interaction. Moreover, our results pave the way to the exploitation of probiotics and OMVs engineered with tumor specific-antigens as personalized mucosal cancer vaccines

Morphology of the toe flexor muscles in older people with toe deformities

Objective: Despite suggestions that atrophied, or weak toe flexor muscles are associated with the formation of toe deformities, there has been little evidence to support this theory. This study aimed to determine whether the size of the toe flexor muscles differed in older people with and without toe deformities. Methods: Forty-four older adults (>60 years) were recruited for the study. Each participant had their feet assessed for the presence of hallux valgus or lesser toe deformities. Intrinsic and extrinsic toe flexor muscles were imaged with an ultrasound system using a standardised protocol. Assessor blinded muscle thickness and cross-sectional area was measured using Image J software. Results: Participants with lesser toe deformities (n=20) were found to have significantly smaller quadratus plantae (p=0.003), flexor digitorum brevis (p=0.013), abductor halluces (p=0.004) and flexor halluces brevis (p=0.005) muscles than the participants without any toe deformities (n=19). Female participants with hallux valgus (n=10) were found to have significantly smaller abductor hallucis (p=0.048) and flexor halluces brevis (p=0.013) muscles than the female participants without any toe deformities (n=10; p<0.05). Conclusion: This is the first study to use ultrasound to investigate the size of the toe flexor muscles in older people with hallux valgus and lesser toe deformities compared to otherwise healthy older adults. The size of the abductor hallucis and flexor hallucis brevis muscles were decreased in participants with hallux valgus whereas the quadratus plantae, flexor digitorum brevis, abductor hallucis and flexor halluces brevis muscles were smaller in those participants with lesser toe deformities

Influence of Antisynthetase Antibodies Specificities on Antisynthetase Syndrome Clinical Spectrum TimeCourse

Introduction: Increased cardiovascular (CV) morbidity and mortality is observed in inflammatory joint diseases (IJDs) such as rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, and psoriatic arthritis. However, the management of CV disease in these conditions is far from being well established.Areas covered: This review summarizes the main epidemiologic, pathophysiological, and clinical risk factors of CV disease associated with IJDs. Less common aspects on early diagnosis and risk stratification of the CV disease in these conditions are also discussed. In Europe, the most commonly used risk algorithm in patients with IJDs is the modified SCORE index based on the revised recommendations proposed by the EULAR task force in 2017.Expert opinion: Early identification of IJD patients at high risk of CV disease is essential. It should include the use of complementary noninvasive imaging techniques. A multidisciplinary approach aimed to improve heart-healthy habits, including strict control of classic CV risk factors is crucial. Adequate management of the underlying IJD is also of main importance since the reduction of disease activity decreases the risk of CV events. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs may have a lesser harmful effect in IJD than in the general population, due to their anti-inflammatory effects along with other potential beneficial effects.This research was partially funded by FOREUM—Foundation for Research in Rheumatolog

Covid-19 and the role of smoking: the protocol of the multicentric prospective study COSMO-IT (COvid19 and SMOking in ITaly).

The emergency caused by Covid-19 pandemic raised interest in studying lifestyles and comorbidities as important determinants of poor Covid-19 prognosis. Data on tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption and obesity are still limited, while no data are available on the role of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products (HTP). To clarify the role of tobacco smoking and other lifestyle habits on COVID-19 severity and progression, we designed a longitudinal observational study titled COvid19 and SMOking in ITaly (COSMO-IT). About 30 Italian hospitals in North, Centre and South of Italy joined the study. Its main aims are: 1) to quantify the role of tobacco smoking and smoking cessation on the severity and progression of COVID-19 in hospitalized patients; 2) to compare smoking prevalence and severity of the disease in relation to smoking in hospitalized COVID-19 patients versus patients treated at home; 3) to quantify the association between other lifestyle factors, such as e-cigarette and HTP use, alcohol and obesity and the risk of unfavourable COVID-19 outcomes. Socio-demographic, lifestyle and medical history information will be gathered for around 3000 hospitalized and 700-1000 home-isolated, laboratory-confirmed, COVID-19 patients. Given the current absence of a vaccine against SARS-COV-2 and the lack of a specific treatment for -COVID-19, prevention strategies are of extreme importance. This project, designed to highly contribute to the international scientific debate on the role of avoidable lifestyle habits on COVID-19 severity, will provide valuable epidemiological data in order to support important recommendations to prevent COVID-19 incidence, progression and mortality