Gender matter in isotretinoin therapy for acne vulgaris? A retrospective study

Introduction: Gender differences have been recently highlighted for several aspects of acne vulgaris such as epidemiology, pathogenesis, clinical course, quality of life and treatment outcome. In particular a shorter but more severe clinical course has been reported in males than in females; nevertheless, usually men have their quality of life less affected. Aim: To determine if the response and the adverse events to 1 cycle of oral isotretinoin therapy can be influenced by gender. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on consecutive patients affected by acne vulgaris and treated with oral isotretinoin. Global acne grading system (GAGS), acne-related quality of life (AQoL) and isotretinoin-related adverse events were considered as outcome measures and were evaluated before (T0), every month during administration and 4 weeks after the withdrawal (T1) of oral isotretinoin therapy. Mann-Whitney U test and Wilcoxon signed-rank test were used for quantitative parameters and Fisher exact test for qualitative ones. Results: Forty-nine acneic patients were retrospectively selected (33 males 67.3% and 16 females -32.7%; median age: 19 years). Patients had received a median dosage of isotretinoin of 0.4 mg/kg/die for a median period of 5 months; no differences in outcome measures among genders were reported. Limitations: The study is retrospective and the sample is small and not homogenously distributed among genders, as males are double in number than females. Conclusions: In our study population gender didn't influence neither the clinical and the quality of life outcome measures nor the occurrence of adverse events to oral isotretinoin therapy for acne

Bootstrapping an Italian VerbNet: data-driven analysis of verb alternations

The goal of this paper is to propose a classification of the syntactic alternations admitted by the most frequent Italian verbs. The data-driven two-steps procedure exploited and the structure of the identified classes of alternations are presented in depth and discussed. Even if this classification has been developed with a practical application in mind, namely the semi-automatic building of a VerbNet-like lexicon for Italian verbs, partly following the methodology proposed in the context of the VerbNet project, its availability may have a positive impact on several related research topics and Natural Language Processing tasks

Antibacterial and Chemical Characterization of Silica-Quercetin-PEG Hybrid Materials Synthesized by Sol–Gel Route

This paper aims to synthesize, via the sol–gel method, a biomaterial usable in the medical field. Here, the silica-PEG-quercetin system was evaluated in relation to the different concentrations of PEG (0, 6, 12, 24, 50 wt%) and quercetin (0, 5, 10, 15 wt%), respectively. In addition, Fourier Transform-Infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and Kirby–Bauer analyses were performed. FT-IR was used to evaluate the hybrid formation and the influence of both PEG and Quercetin in the hybrid synthesized materials, SEM was used to evaluate the morphological properties, while the Kirby–Bauer test was used to understand the ability of the materials to inhibit the growth of the assayed bacterial strains (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterococcus faecalis, and Staphylococcus aureus)

LEUKEMIJA I TRUDNOĆA. NIJE DALJE ŠTETNA POVEZANOST?

Purpose. Even though there are no solid data regarding chemotherapy treated leukemia during pregnancy, the results based on short series reports show that the management of such condition can be safely achieved during the second and third trimester. We present three personal cases of pregnant women treated with cytostatic agents, two of them accidentally receiving complete chemotherapy during the entire pregnancy without malformative consequences. First case. A 19 yrs old woman diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia who conceived spontaneously and mistook the pregnancy signs for a relapse of the disease. During the pregnancy she continued the treatment, receiving until the fifth month an association of Hydroxyurea and alfa-interferon and afterwards switched to Imatinib until term. She presented at 38–39 weeks and delivered by cesarean section a little girl of 3510 g in a perfect state of health. The blood count of both mother and child were normal. Second case. A similar situation in a young woman with lymphoblastic acute leukemia under treatment with Vincristin, Methotrexat, Purinethol. She presented in advanced spontaneous labour at 33–34 weeks and delivered a little girl of 1700 g without malformative signs and normal blood count. Third case. A 17 years old girl who was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia at 29 weeks pregnancy. She received induction chemotherapy with Ara-C, due to the significant bone marrow infiltrate and disease induced disseminated intravascular coagulopathy. She presented premature uterine contractions at 32 weeks and delivered by cesarean section a premature boy of 1750g with Apgar score 8. The infant did not present any malformation (by clinical and ultrasound examination) and the blood count was normal. The studies have shown so far that in the case of chronic myeloid leukemia, the treatment with Imatinib was associated with 50% apparently normal live infants and that chemotherapy for acute leukemia during the second or third trimester may not require termination of pregnancy, because both remission and delivery of a normal infant are likely to be obtained.SAŽETAK. Cilj. Uopće nema čvrstih podataka o kemoterapijom liječenim leukemijama tijekom trudnoće. Rezultati na temelju kratkih izvješća pokazuju da liječenje tijekom drugog i trećeg tromjesečja može biti uspješno obavljeno. Prikazujemo tri trudnice liječene citostaticima, dvije od njih su bez posljedičnih malformacija primale kompletnu kemoterapiju tijekom cijele trudnoće. Prvi slučaj. Žena od 19 godina koja je spontano zanijela i krivo shvatila znakove trudnoće kao recidiv bolesti. Tijekom trudnoće je nastavila liječenjem, primivši do petog mjeseca smjesu hidroksiureje i -interferona i zatim do termina imatinib. Javila se s 38–39 tjedana trudnoće te je carskim rezom rodila savršeno zdravu malu djevojčicu težine 3510 grama. Krvna slika majke i djeteta je bila potpuno normalna. Drugi slučaj. Sličan slučaj mlade žene s limfoblastičnom akutnom leukemijom, liječenom vinkristinom, metotreksatom, purinetolom. Javila se u uznapredovalom porodu s 33–34 tjedana te je rodila djevojčicu tešku 1700 grama, bez malformacija i s normalnom krvnom slikom. Treći slučaj. Djevojka od 17 godina kojoj je s 29 tjedana trudnoće dijagnosticirana akutna mijeloična leukemija. Primila je indukcijsku kemoterapiju Ara-C-om, zbog značajne infiltracije koštane srži te bolešću uzrokovane diseminirane intravaskularne koagulopatije. S 32 tjedna počeli su trudovi te je carskim rezom rodila nedonošena dječačića težine 1750 grama s Apgar zbrojem 8. Dijete nije imalo malformacija ni klinički niti ultrazvučnim pregledom. Krvna slika je bila normalna. Do sada su studije pokazale da kronična mijeloična leukemija, liječena imatinibom, u 50% slučajeva rezultira rađanjem zdrava djeteta te da kemoterapija akutne leukemije tijekom drugog i trećeg tromjesečja trudnoće na zahtijeva prekid trudnoće, jer se može postići remisija bolesti i rađanje normalna djeteta

Extracellular Vesicles Secreted by Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Exert Opposite Effects to Their Cells of Origin in Murine Sodium Dextran Sulfate-Induced Colitis

Several reports have described a beneficial effect of Mesenchymal Stromal Cells (MSCs) and of their secreted extracellular vesicles (EVs) in mice with experimental colitis. However, the effects of the two treatments have not been thoroughly compared in this model. Here, we compared the effects of MSCs and of MSC-EV administration in mice with colitis induced by dextran sulfate sodium (DSS). Since cytokine conditioning was reported to enhance the immune modulatory activity of MSCs, the cells were kept either under standard culture conditions (naïve, nMSCs) or primed with a cocktail of pro-inflammatory cytokines, including IL1β, IL6 and TNFα (induced, iMSCs). In our experimental conditions, nMSCs and iMSCs administration resulted in both clinical and histological worsening and was associated with pro-inflammatory polarization of intestinal macrophages. However, mice treated with iEVs showed clinico-pathological improvement, decreased intestinal fibrosis and angiogenesis and a striking increase in intestinal expression of Mucin 5ac, suggesting improved epithelial function. Moreover, treatment with iEVs resulted in the polarization of intestinal macrophages towards and anti-inflammatory phenotype and in an increased Treg/Teff ratio at the level of the intestinal lymph node. Collectively, these data confirm that MSCs can behave either as anti- or as pro-inflammatory agents depending on the host environment. In contrast, EVs showed a beneficial effect, suggesting a more predictable behavior, a safer therapeutic profile and a higher therapeutic efficacy with respect to their cells of origin.Fil: Tolomeo, Anna Maria. Fondazione Istituto di Ricerca Pediatrica Città della Speranza; Italia. Università di Padova; Italia. Consorzio per la Ricerca Sanitaria; ItaliaFil: Castagliuolo, Ignazio. Università di Padova; ItaliaFil: Piccoli, Martina. Fondazione Istituto di Ricerca Pediatrica Città della Speranza; ItaliaFil: Grassi, Michele. Università di Padova; ItaliaFil: Magarotto, Fabio. Fondazione Istituto di Ricerca Pediatrica Città della Speranza; Italia. Università di Padova; ItaliaFil: De Lazzari, Giada. Fondazione Istituto di Ricerca Pediatrica Città della Speranza; Italia. Consorzio per la Ricerca Sanitaria; Italia. Università di Padova; ItaliaFil: Malvicini, Ricardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Medicina Traslacional, Trasplante y Bioingeniería. Fundación Favaloro. Instituto de Medicina Traslacional, Trasplante y Bioingeniería; Argentina. Consorzio per la Ricerca Sanitaria; Italia. Fondazione Istituto di Ricerca Pediatrica Città della Speranza; ItaliaFil: Caicci, Federico. Università di Padova; ItaliaFil: Franzin, Chiara. Fondazione Istituto di Ricerca Pediatrica Città della Speranza; ItaliaFil: Scarpa, Melania. Veneto Institute of Oncology; ItaliaFil: Macchi, Veronica. Università di Padova; ItaliaFil: De Caro, Raffaele. Università di Padova; Italia. Consorzio Per la Ricerca Sanitaria; ItaliaFil: Angriman, Imerio. Università di Padova; ItaliaFil: Viola, Antonella. Università di Padova; ItaliaFil: Porzionato, Andrea. Consorzio Per la Ricerca Sanitaria; Italia. Università di Padova; ItaliaFil: Pozzobon, Michela. Fondazione Istituto Di Ricerca Pediatrica Città Della Speranza; Italia. Università di Padova; ItaliaFil: Muraca, Maurizio. Università di Padova; Italia. Consorzio Per la Ricerca Sanitaria; Italia. Fondazione Istituto Di Ricerca Pediatrica Città Della Speranza; Itali

LEUKEMIJA I TRUDNOĆA. NIJE DALJE ŠTETNA POVEZANOST?

Purpose. Even though there are no solid data regarding chemotherapy treated leukemia during pregnancy, the results based on short series reports show that the management of such condition can be safely achieved during the second and third trimester. We present three personal cases of pregnant women treated with cytostatic agents, two of them accidentally receiving complete chemotherapy during the entire pregnancy without malformative consequences. First case. A 19 yrs old woman diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia who conceived spontaneously and mistook the pregnancy signs for a relapse of the disease. During the pregnancy she continued the treatment, receiving until the fifth month an association of Hydroxyurea and alfa-interferon and afterwards switched to Imatinib until term. She presented at 38–39 weeks and delivered by cesarean section a little girl of 3510 g in a perfect state of health. The blood count of both mother and child were normal. Second case. A similar situation in a young woman with lymphoblastic acute leukemia under treatment with Vincristin, Methotrexat, Purinethol. She presented in advanced spontaneous labour at 33–34 weeks and delivered a little girl of 1700 g without malformative signs and normal blood count. Third case. A 17 years old girl who was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia at 29 weeks pregnancy. She received induction chemotherapy with Ara-C, due to the significant bone marrow infiltrate and disease induced disseminated intravascular coagulopathy. She presented premature uterine contractions at 32 weeks and delivered by cesarean section a premature boy of 1750g with Apgar score 8. The infant did not present any malformation (by clinical and ultrasound examination) and the blood count was normal. The studies have shown so far that in the case of chronic myeloid leukemia, the treatment with Imatinib was associated with 50% apparently normal live infants and that chemotherapy for acute leukemia during the second or third trimester may not require termination of pregnancy, because both remission and delivery of a normal infant are likely to be obtained.SAŽETAK. Cilj. Uopće nema čvrstih podataka o kemoterapijom liječenim leukemijama tijekom trudnoće. Rezultati na temelju kratkih izvješća pokazuju da liječenje tijekom drugog i trećeg tromjesečja može biti uspješno obavljeno. Prikazujemo tri trudnice liječene citostaticima, dvije od njih su bez posljedičnih malformacija primale kompletnu kemoterapiju tijekom cijele trudnoće. Prvi slučaj. Žena od 19 godina koja je spontano zanijela i krivo shvatila znakove trudnoće kao recidiv bolesti. Tijekom trudnoće je nastavila liječenjem, primivši do petog mjeseca smjesu hidroksiureje i -interferona i zatim do termina imatinib. Javila se s 38–39 tjedana trudnoće te je carskim rezom rodila savršeno zdravu malu djevojčicu težine 3510 grama. Krvna slika majke i djeteta je bila potpuno normalna. Drugi slučaj. Sličan slučaj mlade žene s limfoblastičnom akutnom leukemijom, liječenom vinkristinom, metotreksatom, purinetolom. Javila se u uznapredovalom porodu s 33–34 tjedana te je rodila djevojčicu tešku 1700 grama, bez malformacija i s normalnom krvnom slikom. Treći slučaj. Djevojka od 17 godina kojoj je s 29 tjedana trudnoće dijagnosticirana akutna mijeloična leukemija. Primila je indukcijsku kemoterapiju Ara-C-om, zbog značajne infiltracije koštane srži te bolešću uzrokovane diseminirane intravaskularne koagulopatije. S 32 tjedna počeli su trudovi te je carskim rezom rodila nedonošena dječačića težine 1750 grama s Apgar zbrojem 8. Dijete nije imalo malformacija ni klinički niti ultrazvučnim pregledom. Krvna slika je bila normalna. Do sada su studije pokazale da kronična mijeloična leukemija, liječena imatinibom, u 50% slučajeva rezultira rađanjem zdrava djeteta te da kemoterapija akutne leukemije tijekom drugog i trećeg tromjesečja trudnoće na zahtijeva prekid trudnoće, jer se može postići remisija bolesti i rađanje normalna djeteta

The AGILE Mission

AGILE is an Italian Space Agency mission dedicated to observing the gamma-ray Universe. The AGILE's very innovative instrumentation for the first time combines a gamma-ray imager (sensitive in the energy range 30 MeV-50 GeV), a hard X-ray imager (sensitive in the range 18-60 keV), a calorimeter (sensitive in the range 350 keV-100 MeV), and an anticoincidence system. AGILE was successfully launched on 2007 April 23 from the Indian base of Sriharikota and was inserted in an equatorial orbit with very low particle background. Aims. AGILE provides crucial data for the study of active galactic nuclei, gamma-ray bursts, pulsars, unidentified gamma-ray sources, galactic compact objects, supernova remnants, TeV sources, and fundamental physics by microsecond timing. Methods. An optimal sky angular positioning (reaching 0.1 degrees in gamma- rays and 1-2 arcmin in hard X-rays) and very large fields of view (2.5 sr and 1 sr, respectively) are obtained by the use of Silicon detectors integrated in a very compact instrument. Results. AGILE surveyed the gamma- ray sky and detected many Galactic and extragalactic sources during the first months of observations. Particular emphasis is given to multifrequency observation programs of extragalactic and galactic objects. Conclusions. AGILE is a successful high-energy gamma-ray mission that reached its nominal scientific performance. The AGILE Cycle-1 pointing program started on 2007 December 1, and is open to the international community through a Guest Observer Program

Multidifferential study of identified charged hadron distributions in ZZ-tagged jets in proton-proton collisions at s=\sqrt{s}=13 TeV

Jet fragmentation functions are measured for the first time in proton-proton collisions for charged pions, kaons, and protons within jets recoiling against a $Z$ boson. The charged-hadron distributions are studied longitudinally and transversely to the jet direction for jets with transverse momentum 20 $< p_{\textrm{T}} < 100$ GeV and in the pseudorapidity range $2.5 < \eta < 4$. The data sample was collected with the LHCb experiment at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.64 fb$^{-1}$. Triple differential distributions as a function of the hadron longitudinal momentum fraction, hadron transverse momentum, and jet transverse momentum are also measured for the first time. This helps constrain transverse-momentum-dependent fragmentation functions. Differences in the shapes and magnitudes of the measured distributions for the different hadron species provide insights into the hadronization process for jets predominantly initiated by light quarks.Comment: All figures and tables, along with machine-readable versions and any supplementary material and additional information, are available at https://cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/p/LHCb-PAPER-2022-013.html (LHCb public pages

Study of the B−→Λc+Λˉc−K−B^{-} \to \Lambda_{c}^{+} \bar{\Lambda}_{c}^{-} K^{-} decay

The decay $B^{-} \to \Lambda_{c}^{+} \bar{\Lambda}_{c}^{-} K^{-}$ is studied in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5 $\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$ collected by the LHCb experiment. In the $\Lambda_{c}^+ K^{-}$ system, the $\Xi_{c}(2930)^{0}$ state observed at the BaBar and Belle experiments is resolved into two narrower states, $\Xi_{c}(2923)^{0}$ and $\Xi_{c}(2939)^{0}$, whose masses and widths are measured to be $$m(\Xi_{c}(2923)^{0}) = 2924.5 \pm 0.4 \pm 1.1 \,\mathrm{MeV}, \\ m(\Xi_{c}(2939)^{0}) = 2938.5 \pm 0.9 \pm 2.3 \,\mathrm{MeV}, \\ \Gamma(\Xi_{c}(2923)^{0}) = \phantom{000}4.8 \pm 0.9 \pm 1.5 \,\mathrm{MeV},\\ \Gamma(\Xi_{c}(2939)^{0}) = \phantom{00}11.0 \pm 1.9 \pm 7.5 \,\mathrm{MeV},$$ where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second systematic. The results are consistent with a previous LHCb measurement using a prompt $\Lambda_{c}^{+} K^{-}$ sample. Evidence of a new $\Xi_{c}(2880)^{0}$ state is found with a local significance of $3.8\,\sigma$, whose mass and width are measured to be $2881.8 \pm 3.1 \pm 8.5\,\mathrm{MeV}$ and $12.4 \pm 5.3 \pm 5.8 \,\mathrm{MeV}$, respectively. In addition, evidence of a new decay mode $\Xi_{c}(2790)^{0} \to \Lambda_{c}^{+} K^{-}$ is found with a significance of $3.7\,\sigma$. The relative branching fraction of $B^{-} \to \Lambda_{c}^{+} \bar{\Lambda}_{c}^{-} K^{-}$ with respect to the $B^{-} \to D^{+} D^{-} K^{-}$ decay is measured to be $2.36 \pm 0.11 \pm 0.22 \pm 0.25$, where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second systematic and the third originates from the branching fractions of charm hadron decays.Comment: All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and additional information, are available at https://cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/p/LHCb-PAPER-2022-028.html (LHCb public pages

Measurement of the ratios of branching fractions R(D∗)\mathcal{R}(D^{*}) and R(D0)\mathcal{R}(D^{0})

The ratios of branching fractions $\mathcal{R}(D^{*})\equiv\mathcal{B}(\bar{B}\to D^{*}\tau^{-}\bar{\nu}_{\tau})/\mathcal{B}(\bar{B}\to D^{*}\mu^{-}\bar{\nu}_{\mu})$ and $\mathcal{R}(D^{0})\equiv\mathcal{B}(B^{-}\to D^{0}\tau^{-}\bar{\nu}_{\tau})/\mathcal{B}(B^{-}\to D^{0}\mu^{-}\bar{\nu}_{\mu})$ are measured, assuming isospin symmetry, using a sample of proton-proton collision data corresponding to 3.0 fb${ }^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity recorded by the LHCb experiment during 2011 and 2012. The tau lepton is identified in the decay mode $\tau^{-}\to\mu^{-}\nu_{\tau}\bar{\nu}_{\mu}$. The measured values are $\mathcal{R}(D^{*})=0.281\pm0.018\pm0.024$ and $\mathcal{R}(D^{0})=0.441\pm0.060\pm0.066$, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic. The correlation between these measurements is $\rho=-0.43$. Results are consistent with the current average of these quantities and are at a combined 1.9 standard deviations from the predictions based on lepton flavor universality in the Standard Model.Comment: All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and additional information, are available at https://cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/p/LHCb-PAPER-2022-039.html (LHCb public pages