Immunotherapy: is a minor god yet in the pantheon of treatments for lung cancer?

Immunotherapy has been studied for many years in lung cancer without significant results, making the majority of oncologists quite skeptical about its possible application for non-small cell lung cancer treatment. However, the recent knowledge about immune escape and subsequent 'cancer immunoediting' has yielded the development of new strategies of cancer immunotherapy, heralding a new era of lung cancer treatment. Cancer vaccines, including both whole-cell and peptide vaccines have been tested both in early and advanced stages of non-small cell lung cancer. New immunomodulatory agents, including anti-CTLA4, anti-PD1/PDL1 monoclonal antibodies, have been investigated as monotherapy in metastatic lung cancer. To date, these treatments have shown impressive results of efficacy and tolerability in early clinical trials, leading to testing in several large, randomized Phase III trials. As these results will be confirmed, these drugs will be available in the near future, offering new exciting therapeutic options for lung cancer treatment

The gut microbiome, mucosal immunity and disease pathogenesis in humans with HIV or idiopathic CD4 lymphocytopenia and in non-human primates with SIV

Chronic activation of the immune system is a hallmark of progressive HIV infection in humans as well as SIV infection in Asian macaque non-human primates. While the etiology of such persistent immune activation is incompletely understood, compromised mucosal barrier function and increased translocation of immunostimulatory microbial products from the gut lumen into the systemic circulation have been implicated in this process. Of note, elements of this pathologic process persist despite viral suppression during antiretroviral therapy (ART). The research described in this thesis is focused on the assessment of the gut microbiota and mucosal immunity to better understand their contribution to disease pathogenesis and progression during SIV infection of non-human primates, HIV infection in humans, and idiopathic CD4+ lymphocytopenia (ICL) in humans, a syndrome defined by low CD4+ T cell count (<300/μL) and an increased susceptibility to opportunistic infections but without evidence of systemic inflammation. Furthermore, the thesis includes the investigation of a number of novel therapeutic approaches, given in addition to ART, in order to enhance gut mucosa reconstitution, reduce microbial translocation and downregulate key pathways of inflammation

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: Insights into the Therapeutic Approach with Inositols

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is characterized by hormonal abnormalities that cause menstrual irregularity and reduce ovulation rate and fertility, associated to insulin resistance. Myo-inositol (cis-1,2,3,5-trans-4,6-cyclohexanehexol, MI) and D-chiro-inositol (cis-1,2,4-trans-3,5,6-cyclohexanehexol, DCI) represent promising treatments for PCOS, having shown some therapeutic benefits without substantial side effects. Because the use of inositols for treating PCOS is widespread, a deep understanding of this treatment option is needed, both in terms of potential mechanisms and efficacy. This review summarizes the current knowledge on the biological effects of MI and DCI and the results obtained from relevant intervention studies with inositols in PCOS. Based on the published results, both MI and DCI represent potential valid therapeutic approaches for the treatment of insulin resistance and its associated metabolic and reproductive disorders, such as those occurring in women affected by PCOS. Furthermore, the combination MI/DCI seems also effective and might be even superior to either inositol species alone. However, based on available data, a particular MI:DCI ratio to be administered to PCOS patients cannot be established. Further studies are then necessary to understand the real contents of MI or DCI uptaken by the ovary following oral administration in order to identify optimal doses and/or combination ratios

IR-Based Temperature Measurement in Rotational Grinding of Sapphire Wafers

Single crystalline sapphire wafers are used as a substrate for semiconductor applications like gallium nitride-based white LEDs. In the optimization of the manufacturing chain, rotational grinding can play a mayor role by substituting the conventional lapping process and reducing cost intensive efforts in downstream polishing steps. Due the material properties and in particular the hardness of sapphire, however, grinding process development is difficult. For this reason, the measurement of in-process variables like contact zone temperatures is of significant interest. In this paper, a concept and experimental setup for IRbased temperature measurement that utilizes the optical properties of sapphire is presented. The system behavior of the realized test setup is examined in calibration tests. The results of successfully performed grinding tests are presented to prove the feasibility of the measurement concept