Four-fermion production in e+e−e^+e^- collisions at centre-of-mass energies of 130 and 136 GeV

Four-fermion events have been selected in a data sample of 5.8 pb−1 collected with the aleph detector at centre-of-mass energies of 130 and 136 GeV. The final states , ℓ+ℓ−ℓ+ℓ−, , and have been examined. Five events are observed in the data, in agreement with the Standard Model predictions of 6.67±0.38 events from four-fermion processes and 0.14−0.05+0.19 from background processes

SAFE trial: an ongoing randomized clinical study to assess the role of cardiotoxicity prevention in breast cancer patients treated with anthracyclines with or without trastuzumab

Over the years, thanks to the addition of new generation systemic agents, as well as the use of more advanced and precise radiotherapy techniques, it was able to obtain a high curability rate for breast cancer. Anthracyclines play a key role in the treatment of breast disease, with a well-known benefit on disease-free survival of patients with positive nodal status. Trastuzumab have shown a significant outcome advantage after 1-year administration in case of HER2-positive disease. Unfortunately, significant increase in cardiotoxicity has been observed after anthracyclines and trastuzumab therapies. Even though the cardiology and oncology community strongly recommend a cardiotoxicity prevention strategy for this subset of patients, there is still no consensus on the optimal patient\ue2\u80\u99s approach. We aimed to review the published and ongoing researches on cardioprevention strategies and to present the SAFE trial (CT registry ID: NCT2236806; EudraCT number: 2015-000914-23). It is a randomized phase 3, four-arm, single-blind, placebo-controlled study that aims to evaluate the effect of bisoprolol, ramipril or both drugs, compared to placebo, on subclinical heart damage evaluated by speckle tracking cardiac ultrasound in non-metastatic breast cancer patients

Image_1_Mutations matter: An observational study of the prognostic and predictive value of KRAS mutations in metastatic colorectal cancer.jpeg

BackgroundAbout half of metastatic colorectal cancers (CRCs) harbor Rat Sarcoma (RAS) activating mutations as oncogenic driver, but the prognostic role of RAS mutations is not fully elucidated. Interestingly, specific hotspot mutations have been identified as potential candidates for novel targeted therapies in several malignancies as per G12C. This study aims at evaluating the association between KRAS hotspot mutations and patient characteristics, prognosis and response to antiangiogenic drugs.MethodsData from RAS-mutated CRC patients referred to Careggi University Hospital, between January 2017 and April 2022 were retrospectively and prospectively collected. Tumor samples were assessed for RAS mutation status using MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry, Myriapod NGS-56G Onco Panel, or Myriapod NGS Cancer Panel DNA.ResultsAmong 1047 patients with available RAS mutational status, 183 KRAS-mutated patients with advanced CRC had adequate data for clinicopathological and survival analysis. KRAS mutations occurred at codon 12 in 67.2% of cases, codon 13 in 23.5%, codon 61 in 2.2%, and other codons in 8.2%. G12C mutation was identified in 7.1% of patients and exon 4 mutations in 7.1%. KRAS G12D mutation, as compared to other mutations, was significantly associated with liver metastases (1-sided p=0.005) and male sex (1-sided p=0.039), KRAS G12C mutation with peritoneal metastases (1-sided p=0.035), KRAS G12V mutation with female sex (1-sided p=0.025) and no surgery for primary tumor (1-sided p=0.005). No associations were observed between specific KRAS variants and age, ECOG PS, site of primary tumor, pattern of recurrence for resected patients, and lung, distant lymph node, bone, or brain metastases.Overall survival (OS) was significantly longer in patients with KRAS exon 4 mutations than in those with other KRAS mutations (mOS 43.6 months vs 20.6 months; HR 0.45 [0.21-0.99], p=0.04). No difference in survival was observed for mutations at codon 12/13/61 (p=0.1). Treatment with bevacizumab (BV) increased significatively mPFS (p=0.036) and mOS (p=0.019) of the entire population with a substantial benefit in mOS for G12V mutation (p=0.031).ConclusionsPatterns of presentation and prognosis among patients with specific RAS hotspot mutations deserve to be extensively studied in large datasets, with a specific attention to the uncommon isoforms and the role of anti-angiogenic drugs.</p

Ecosistemi da progettare. Esercizi progettuali per la conservazione della biodiversit\ue0, il ripristino funzionale degli ecosistemi e l\u2019accessibilit\ue0 alle risorse naturali.

In un\u2019epoca di grande pressione sugli ecosistemi naturali, l\u2019uso del territorio per la conservazione della biodiversit\ue0, il recupero funzionale degli ecosistemi pi\uf9 degradati e di sistemi produttivi che si coniughino alle esigenze di biodiversit\ue0, hanno un ruolo strategico di primaria importanza per assicurare la sostenibilit\ue0 delle risorse. La biodiversit\ue0 \ue8 tutto ci\uf2 che abbiamo. Biodiversit\ue0 \ue8 ossigeno, cibo, medicine, risorse economiche, resilienza e adattamento ai cambiamenti naturali, cos\uec come a quelli indotti dalle attivit\ue0 umane. Un mondo senza uccelli, insetti, prati, aree umide o boschi non sosterebbe la popolazione umana esistente, e certamente non renderebbe possibile la ripresa economica che tutti ci auspichiamo. Abbiamo chiesto agli studenti del corso di \u201cEcosistemi, habitat protetti e ripristini ambientali\u201d della Laurea Magistrale in \u201cProgettazione e gestione degli ecosistemi agro-territoriali, forestali e del paesaggio\u201d dell\u2019Alma Mater Studiorum, Universit\ue0 degli Studi di Bologna, di fare un esercizio teorico-pratico sulla base di questa prospettiva e cio\ue8 di elaborare progetti di ripristino ambientale, conservazione della natura, e uso sostenibile delle risorse. Gli studenti hanno risposto con grande seriet\ue0 ed entusiasmo a questa proposta formativa. Sono loro gli ideatori, interlocutori e anche i beneficiari dei progetti che vengono presentati in questo booklet. In alcuni casi hanno ritenuto opportuno coinvolgere la cittadinanza e le associazioni di volontariato locali per poter sviluppare i loro progetti sulla base delle esigenze dei fruitori di queste aree. Queste sono vere e proprie azioni di Citizen Science che integrano l\u2019uso sostenibile dell\u2019ambiente con le esigenze economiche e della societ\ue0, e forniscono una prova della professionalit\ue0 acquisita dai ragazzi in questo percorso. Nell\u2019elaborazione dei progetti i ragazzi sono stati affiancati e stimolati da esperti e professionisti di vari settori che hanno permesso di indirizzare l\u2019esercizio teorico necessario per il sostenimento dell\u2019esame alle esigenze specifiche e attuali dei territori studiati. Con questo booklet desideriamo far conoscere agli addetti ai lavori, enti di gestione, aree protette, comuni, regioni, ai proprietari delle aree scelte come modello per l\u2019esercizio progettuale e alla cittadinanza, i progetti sviluppati nei loro territori. Possono servire come spunto per la pianificazione e la gestione dei territori specifici, ma esprimono anche la necessit\ue0 dei nostri ragazzi di un ambiente fatto di natura e biodiversit\ue0

Measurement of isospin mixing in 80Zr* at finite temperature

Isospin mixing induced by Coulomb interaction has been measured in the compound nucleus Z=N=4080Zr at T 3c2MeV produced in a fusion-evaporation reaction. The observable sensitive to the isospin purity of the compound nucleus is the Giant Dipole Resonance \u3b3 decay. The degree of mixing of the compound nucleus has been obtained via Statistical Model analysis of the measured \u3b3 spectrum