Organic Light‐Emitting Nanofibers by Solvent‐Resistant Nanofluidics

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A computational platform for the virtual unfolding of Herculaneum Papyri

Ancient Herculaneum papyrus scrolls, hopelessly charred in the 79 A.D. Vesuvius eruption, contain valuable writings of the Greek philosophers of the day, including works of the Epicurean Philodemus. X-ray phase contrast tomography has recently begun unlocking their secrets. However, only small portions of the text hidden inside the scroll have been recover. One of the challenging tasks in Herculaneum papyri investigation is their virtual unfolding because of their highly complicated structure and three-dimensional arrangement. Although this procedure is feasible, problems in segmentation and flattening hinder the unrolling of a large portion of papyrus. We propose a computational platform for the virtual unfolding procedure, and we show the results of its application on two Herculaneum papyrus fragments. This work paves the way to a comprehensive survey and to further interpretation of larger portions of text hidden inside the carbonized Herculaneum papyri

Soft Nanopatterning on Light‐Emitting Inorganic‐Organic Composites

In this work we demonstrate the nanopatterning of nanocomposites made by luminescent zinc oxide nanoparticles and light-emitting conjugated polymers by means of soft molding lithography. Vertical nanofluidics is exploited to overcome the polymer transport difficulties intrinsic in materials incorporating nanocrystals, and the rheology, fluorescence, absolute quantum yield, and emission directionality of the nanostructured composites are investigated. We study the effect of patterned gratings on the directionality of light emitted from the nanocomposites, finding evidence of the enhancement of forward emitted light, due to the printed wavelength-scale periodicity. These results open new possibilities for the realization of nanopatterned devices based on hybrid organic-inorganic systems

Imprinting strategies for 100 nm lithography on polyfluorene and poly(phenylenevinylene) derivatives and their blends

Abstract We report on the use of nanoimprint lithography at room temperature (RT-NIL) for the direct structuring of polyfluorene and poly(phenylenevinylene) derivatives and of their blends without the degradation of the emissive characteristics of the active molecules. We apply RT-NIL for the fabrication of periodic one- and two-dimensional gratings with feature width that varies from 100 to 500 nm. Moreover, we analysed the effects that a superimposed periodic corrugation induces on the emitted light in terms of spectral properties and luminescence efficiency, thus ruling out any degradation of the emission. In particular, the combination of nanopatterning and active blends opens new perspectives for the control of the emitted colour from conjugated polymer films

Collagen-functionalised electrospun polymer fibers for bioengineering applications

Polymer electrospun fibers are gaining increasing importance in nanobiotechnology, due to their intrinsic three-dimensional topography and biochemical flexibility. Here we present an in-depth study of protein functionalisation for polymethylmethacrylate fibers. We compare different coating approaches for type I collagen, including physisorption and covalent binding methods relying on functional linkers. The biofunctionalised fibers are investigated by scanning electron and confocal laser scanning microscopy, wettability measurements, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and protein quantification assays. We demonstrate that the largest amount of proteins adsorbed on fibers does not determine the best performance in terms of cell attachment and proliferation in vitro, which is instead related to the type of linking and the relevant role played by adsorption of serum biomolecules on the three-dimensional nanostructures. This study is relevant for designing and engineering novel biomaterials and scaffold architectures based on electrospun nanofibers

A clinical and health-economic evaluation of pulmonary vein encircling ablation compared with antiarrhythmic drug treatment in patients with persistent atrial fibrillation (Catheter Ablation for the Cure of Atrial Fibrillation-2 study)

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The SW480 cell line as a model of resident and migrating colon cancer stem cells

Intra-tumor heterogeneity, i.e., the presence of diverse cell types and subpopulations within tumors, presents a significant obstacle in cancer treatment due to its negative consequences for resistance to therapy and disease recurrence. However, the mechanisms that underlie intra-tumor heterogeneity and result in the plethora of different cancer cells within a single lesion remain poorly understood. Here, we leverage the SW480 cell line as a model system to investigate the molecular and functional diversity of colon cancer cells. Through a combination of fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) analysis and transcriptomic profiling, we identified three distinct subpopulations, namely resident cancer stem cells (rCSCs), migratory CSCs (mCSCs), and high-relapse cells (HRCs). These subpopulations show varying Wnt signaling levels and gene expression profiles mirroring their stem-like and functional properties. Examination of publicly available spatial transcriptomic data confirms the presence of these subpopulations in patient-derived cancers and reveals their distinct spatial distribution relative to the tumor microenvironment.</p

Structured and shared CT radiological report of gastric cancer: a consensus proposal by the Italian Research Group for Gastric Cancer (GIRCG) and the Italian Society of Medical and Interventional Radiology (SIRM)

Objectives Written radiological report remains the most important means of communication between radiologist and referring medical/surgical doctor, even though CT reports are frequently just descriptive, unclear, and unstructured. The Italian Society of Medical and Interventional Radiology (SIRM) and the Italian Research Group for Gastric Cancer (GIRCG) promoted a critical shared discussion between 10 skilled radiologists and 10 surgical oncologists, by means of multi-round consensus-building Delphi survey, to develop a structured reporting template for CT of GC patients. Methods Twenty-four items were organized according to the broad categories of a structured report as suggested by the European Society of Radiology (clinical referral, technique, findings, conclusion, and advice) and grouped into three "CT report sections" depending on the diagnostic phase of the radiological assessment for the oncologic patient (staging, restaging, and follow-up). Results In the final round, 23 out of 24 items obtained agreement ( >= 8) and consensus ( 0.05). Conclusions The structured report obtained, shared by surgical and medical oncologists and radiologists, allows an appropriate, clearer, and focused CT report essential to high-quality patient care in GC, avoiding the exclusion of key radiological information useful for multidisciplinary decision-making