The role of microRNAs in thyroid carcinomas

Thyroid cancers (TCs) are the most common malignancies of endocrine organs. They originate from cells of different origin within the thyroid gland, which is located at the base of the neck. Several forms of TCs have been classified and great variability is observed in molecular, cellular and clinical features. The most common forms have favorable prognosis but a number of very aggressive TCs, which are characterized by a less differentiated cellular phenotype, have no effective treatment at the moment. While TC causes are not completely understood, many genetic factors involved in their onset have been discovered. In particular, activating mutations of BRAF, RET or RAS genes are known to be specifically associated with TC initiation, progression and outcome. The involvement of microRNAs in thyroid neoplasms has recently changed the paradigm for biomarker discovery in TC, suggesting that these small non-coding RNAs could be used to develop, refine or strengthen strategies for diagnosis and management of TCs. In this review, the importance of microRNA profiling in TC is explored suggesting that these molecules can be included in procedures that can perform better than any known clinical index in the identification of adverse outcomes

Esophageal schwannoma mimicking non-functional parathyroid adenoma on ^99mTc-sestamibi imaging: a case report.

Technetium-99m sestamibi single-photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography ( <sup>99m</sup> Tc-sestamibi SPECT/CT) is a mainstay of the pre-operative localization of parathyroid lesions. We report here the case of a 30 year-old woman with a fortuitously discovered 2 cm cervical mass for which a parathyroid origin was originally suspected due to its retro-thyroidal localization and a personal history of nephrolithiasis. Normal serum calcium and parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels excluded primary hyperparathyroidism, raising suspicion of a non-functional parathyroid adenoma, and SPECT/CT imaging showed that the mass was <sup>99m</sup> Tc-sestamibi-avid. Fine-needle aspiration (FNA) was performed; cytology was non-diagnostic but the needle washout was negative for thyroglobulin, calcitonin and PTH, arguing against a thyroidal or parathyroidal origin of the mass. Core needle biopsy revealed a schwannoma, ostensibly originating from the recurrent laryngeal nerve; upon surgical resection, it was finally found to arise from the esophageal submucosa. This case illustrates the fact that endocrinologists, radiologists, nuclear medicine, head and neck, and other specialists investigating patients with cervical masses should be aware that schwannomas need to be considered in the differential diagnosis of focal <sup>99m</sup> Tc-sestamibi uptake in the neck region

Motivación y desempeño laboral de los colaboradores en el área de campo de la empresa AREMAR SRL, Chimbote – 2023

El estudio tuvo como principal objetivo determinar la relación entre la motivación yel desempeño laboral de los trabajadores de dicha empresa. Se llevó a cabo una investigación de tipo básica, de enfoque transversal. La metodología utilizada fue correlacional, explorando la relación entre la motivación y el desempeño laboral, la población estudiada estuvo compuesta por 52 colaboradores, entre personal operativo y administrativo de la empresa. Se excluyó a trabajadores temporales y aquellos no registrados en planilla. Dada la reducida dimensión de la población, seoptó por un estudio censal, analizando a la totalidad de los trabajadores. Se empleódos instrumentos estructurados por preguntas diseñadas para recabar la percepción de los colaboradores. Se realizó una prueba piloto para asegurar su confiabilidad, obteniendo un coeficiente de 0.9051 y 0.9054 para las variables de motivación y desempeño laboral, respectivamente, se determinó que existe una correlación positiva moderada entre la motivación y eldesempeño laboral (r=0.614), esto indica que el aumento en la motivación de los colaboradores está directamente relacionado con una mejora en su desempeño laboral. En conclusión, el estudio confirmó la relevancia de fomentar la motivación en el ambiente laboral, ya que esta influencia directamente en el rendimiento y eficacia de los trabajadores

c-MYC amplification and c-myc protein expression in pancreatic acinar cell carcinomas. New insights into the molecular signature of these rare cancers.

The molecular alterations of pancreatic acinar cell carcinomas (ACCs) and mixed acinar-neuroendocrine carcinomas (MANECs) are not completely understood, and the possible role of c-MYC amplification in tumor development, progression, and prognosis is not known. We have investigated c-MYC gene amplification in a series of 35 ACCs and 4 MANECs to evaluate its frequency and a possible prognostic role. Gene amplification was investigated using interphasic fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis simultaneously hybridizing c-MYC and the centromere of chromosome 8 probes. Protein expression was immunohistochemically investigated using a specific monoclonal anti-c-myc antibody. Twenty cases had clones with different polysomies of chromosome 8 in absence of c-MYC amplification, and 5 cases had one amplified clone and other clones with chromosome 8 polysomy, while the remaining 14 cases were diploid for chromosome 8 and lacked c-MYC amplification. All MANECs showed c-MYC amplification and/or polysomy which were observed in 54% pure ACCs. Six cases (15.3%) showed nuclear immunoreactivity for c-myc, but only 4/39 cases showed simultaneous c-MYC amplification/polysomy and nuclear protein expression. c-myc immunoreactivity as well as c-MYC amplification and/or chromosome 8 polysomy was not statistically associated with prognosis. Our study demonstrates that a subset of ACCs shows c-MYC alterations including gene amplification and chromosome 8 polysomy. Although they are not associated with a different prognostic signature, the fact that these alterations are present in all MANECs suggests a role in the acinar-neuroendocrine differentiation possibly involved in the pathogenesis of MANECs

Navigated Antral Bone Expansion (NABE): a prospective study on 35 patients with 4 months of follow-up post implant loading

The insertion of dental implants in the atrophic posterior maxilla can be a challenge. One option is to modify the residual native bone in preparation for proper, prosthetically-driven implant placement. The procedure presented in this study is called Navigated Antral Bone Expansion (N.A.B.E). This procedure employs the use of a navigation system to plan and guide the initial pilot drilling, bone expansion, final site preparation, and implant insertion. The aim of this study was to compare the distance between the alveolar ridge and the sinus floor measured before and after the surgery performed using the N.A.B.E.Methods: Thirty-seven partially edentulous patients who were candidates for implant supported restoration in the posterior maxilla, with a bone height ranging from 4 to 7 mm were enrolled. The N.A.B.E procedure was used to increase the bone height. Paired-samples t-test evaluated the distance between the alveolar ridge and the sinus floor measured before and after surgery. The occurrence of post-surgical complications, and the angular deviation between the planned osteotomy and the actual placed implant trajectories were evaluated. Results: Out of the 37 consecutive patients enrolled in the study, 35 were considered in the data analyses. Patients' bone height after surgery compared to the bone height before surgery showed a statistically significant increase (p < .0005) of 3.96 mm (95% CI, 3.62 mm to 4.30 mm). No post-operative complications were observed in the 35 patients. The mean angular deviation between the planned osteotomy trajectory and the placed implant trajectory ranged between 12.700 to 34.900 (mean 25.170 ± 5.100). Conclusions: This study provides evidence that N.A.B.E. technique is able to provide a significant bone increase, and could be considered an alternative method to the management of the atrophic posterior maxilla with a minimally invasive approach

Chemical On/Off Switching of Mechanically Planar Chirality and Chiral Anion Recognition in a [2]Rotaxane Molecular Shuttle

We exploit a reversible acid-base triggered molecular shuttling process to switch an appropriately designed rotaxane between prochiral and mechanically planar chiral forms. The mechanically planar enantiomers and their interconversion, arising from ring shuttling, have been characterized by NMR spectroscopy. We also show that the supramolecular interaction of the positively charged rotaxane with optically active anions causes an imbalance in the population of the two enantiomeric co-conformations. This result represents an unprecedented example of chiral molecular recognition and can disclose innovative approaches to enantioselective sensing and catalysis

Severe Kawasaki disease in a 3-month-old patient: a case report

BACKGROUND: Kawasaki disease is a multi-system vasculitis which usually occurs in children under 5 years of age. In infants under three months of age, it is very rare and usually associated with a high incidence of incomplete or atypical forms, often unresponsive to treatment. This condition increases the risk of cardiovascular complications such as coronary artery aneurysms. CASE PRESENTATION: We describe a 3-month-old infant who developed early and severe aneurysms in three coronary arteries despite a timely administration of intravenous immunoglobulins, followed by three days of intravenous methylprednisolone. CONCLUSION: This case report underlines that the development of coronary artery aneurysm correlates with a delayed diagnosis and treatment, incomplete or atypical forms of the disease, and additionally the severity of clinical presentation, especially in cases of very young infants below 3 months of age. Our case is notable because of the very young age of the patient, the severity of clinical presentation with an early development of coronary artery aneurysms and the unresponsiveness to the therapy

Enhanced antioxidant effect of trans-resveratrol: potential of binary systems with polyethylene glycol and cyclodextrin.

Abstract Trans-resveratrol, a polyphenol extracted from Vitis vinifera, has different beneficial effects following its administration on the skin. Here the potential use of binary systems to enhance in vitro and in vivo activity of trans-resveratrol was investigated. Thus the aqueous solubility of trans-resveratrol was investigated in the presence of growing concentrations of polyethylene glycol (PEG) or β-cyclodextrin (βCD) as solubilizing excipients. Then, the solid dispersion of trans-resveratrol with PEG or inclusion complexes trans-resveratrol/βCD were prepared and characterised by different methods. Cytotoxicity and inhibition of reactive oxygen species (ROS) following H2O2 challenge in the presence of trans-resveratrol, alone or associated to the excipients, was evaluated on human keratinocyte HaCaT cell line. Both the trans-resveratrol-containing binary systems induced significant reduction of H2O2-induced ROS production, especially in the case of βCD that was selected for the following phase of the study. Thus, the effect of a cream containing trans-resveratrol, alone or associated to βCD, on different skin parameters such as corneometry, colorimetry and elastometry, was evaluated on human volunteers. All patients showed a visible improvement of clinical conditions with a remarkable decrease of aging signs, but this effect was higher of the hemi face treated with the βCD-containing formulation versus formulation containing trans-resveratrol alone

Nanocarriers for topical delivery of resveratrol.

Purpose: The aim of the present work was to develop a nanocarrier-based formulation for topical delivery of resveratrol. Methods: Trans-resveratrol (t-res) was encapsulated in liposomes, ethosomes or transferosomes, by a modified hand-shaking method followed by extrusion. All the formulations were characterised in terms of mean diameter, size distribution (I.P.), t-res loading, t-res stability upon encapsulation during storage. The nanocarriers containing t-res were then introduced in cellulose-based gel to allow their final administration on the skin and the viscoelastic properties of the resulting formulation were investigated. Finally, we studied the inhibition of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in human keratinocyte (HaCaT) cell line stimulated with H2O2 for 24 h and then incubated with the t-res containing nanocarriers. Results: All the t-res containing carriers were characterised by a very high (close to 100%) encapsulation efficiency, a negligible t-res release at 4°C and stability of resveratrol in its trans form. The carriers only slightly influenced the viscoelastic characteristics of cellulose-based gels. Nanocarriers encapsulating t-res reduced, in a concentration-dependent manner, ROS production induced by H2O2 and this effect was higher when using t-res-encapsulating nanocarrier, with the higher effect observed in the case of ethosomes. Conclusions: In this work nanocarriers with high encapsulation efficiency, high physical stability and negligible t-res release during storage at 4°C were prepared. To allow their final administration on the skin, the nanocarrier can be easilisy loaded in cellulose-based gels without altering its rheological properties. Moreover, the use of t-res-encapsulating ethosomes led to an efficient antioxidant activity. Further ex vivo and in vivo studies will clarify the role of the different carrier when administered on the skin