Rectangular-bore, high-gain laser plasma tube

Rectangular-bore tube improves population inversion obtained from upper and terminal laser states, resulting in a significant increase in unsaturated gain factor. Radial field produces efficient pumping of upper laser state. Narrow tube dimensions cause increased diffusion flow of neon is metastable states to tube walls

Experiments on Jet Flows and Jet Noise Far- Field Spectra and Directivity Patterns

Jet flows and jet noise far-field spectral and direction pattern

Integration of Molecular Data in the Prognostic Stratification and Management of Endometrial Carcinoma

In the last years, the TCGA-based molecular classifier have been progressively integrated in the management of endometrial carcinoma. While molecular assays are increasingly available across pathology laboratories, the additional costs will expectedly be compensated by a reduction in overtreatments and a prevention of recurrences. The additional time might be shortened by assessing molecular markers on biopsy specimens. Retrospective data suggest that the molecular classifier will have a major impact of on the risk stratification, with many patients having their risk class down- or upstaged based on POLE mutations or p53 abnormalities, respectively. However, there are still several issues to be resolved, such as the prognostic value of the TCGA classifier in each FIGO stage, or the type of adjuvant treatment most suitable for each molecular group. Other issues regard the prognostic stratification of the mismatch repair-deficient and “no specific molecular profile” groups, which currently follows the same criteria; however, the former seems to be prognostically consistent regardless of FIGO grade and histotype, whereas the latter appears highly heterogeneous. Numerous clinical, histological, immunohistochemical and molecular markers have been proposed to refine the TCGA classification, but their prognostic value is still undefined. Hopefully, prospective data collected in the next years will help resolving these issues

‘Pole Test’ Measurements in Critical Leg Ischaemia

AbstractBackgroundFor the quantification of critical limb ischaemia (CLI) most vascular surgery units use sphygmo-manometric and transcutaneous oxygen pressure (TcPO2) measurements. However, measurements obtained by cuff-manometry can be overestimated especially in diabetic patients because of medial calcification that makes leg arteries less compressible. TcPO2 measurements present a considerable overlap in the values obtained for patients with different degrees of ischaemia and its reproducibility has been questioned. Arterial wall stiffness has less influence on the pole test, based on hydrostatic pressure derived by leg elevation, and this test seems to provide a reliable index of CLI.ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to evaluate the pole pressure test for detection of critical lower limb ischaemia, correlating results with cuff-manometry and transcutaneous oxygen pressure.DesignUniversity hospital-prospective study.Materials and methodsSeventy-four patients (83 legs) with rest pain or gangrene were evaluated by four methods: pole test, cuff-manometry, TcPO2 and arteriography. CLI was present if the following criteria were met: (a) important arteriographic lesions+rest pain with an ankle systolic pressure (ASP) ≤40mmHg and/or a TcPO2 ≤30mmHg, or (b) important arteriographic lesions+tissue loss with an ASP ≤60mmHg and/or a TcPO2 ≤40mmHg. Fifty-seven lower limbs met the criteria for CLI.ResultsMeasurements obtained by cuff-manometry were significantly higher to those obtained by pole test (mean pressure difference: 40mmHg, p<0.001). The difference between the two methods remained statistically significant for both diabetics (50.73, p<0.001) and non-diabetics (31.46, p<0.001). Mean TcPO2 value was 15.51mmHg and there was no important difference between patients with and without diabetes. Overall, there was a correlation between sphygmomanometry and pole test (r=0.481). The correlation persisted for patients without diabetes (r=0.581), but was not evident in patients with diabetes. Correlation between pole test and TcPO2 was observed only for patients with diabetes (r=0.444). There was no correlation between cuff-manometry and TcPO2. The pole test offered an accuracy of 88% for the detection of CLI. The sensitivity of this test was 95% and the specificity 73%

Clinical characteristics of patients with endometrial cancer and adenomyosis

open11noA better endometrial cancer (EC) prognosis in patients with coexistent adenomyosis has been reported. Unfortunately, it is still unclear if this better prognosis is related to a more favorable clinical profile of adenomyosis patients. We aimed to evaluate differences in the clinical profiles of EC patients with and without adenomyosis. A systematic review and meta-analysis was performed by searching seven electronics databases for all studies that allowed extraction of data about clinical characteristics in EC patients with and without adenomyosis. Clinical characteristics assessed were: age, Body Mass Index (BMI), premenopausal status, and nulliparity. Mean difference in mean ± standard deviation (SD) or odds ratio (OR) for clinical characteristics between EC patients with and without adenomyosis were calculated for each included study and as a pooled estimate, and graphically reported on forest plots with a 95% confidence interval (CI). The Z test was used for assessing the overall effect by considering a p value &lt; 0.05 as significant. Overall, eight studies with 5681 patients were included in the qualitative analysis, and seven studies with 4366 patients in the quantitative analysis. Pooled mean difference in mean ± SD between EC women with and without adenomyosis was −1.19 (95% CI: −3.18 to 0.80; p = 0.24) for age, and 0.23 (95% CI: −0.62 to 1.07; p = 0.60) for BMI. When compared to EC women without adenomyosis, EC women with adenomyosis showed a pooled OR of 1.53 (95% CI: 0.92 to 2.54; p = 0.10) for premenopausal status, and of 0.60 (95% CI: 0.41 to 0.87; p = 0.007) for nulliparity. In conclusion, there are not significant differences in clinical characteristics between EC patients with and without adenomyosis, with the exception for nulliparity. Clinical features seem to not underlie the better EC prognosis of patients with adenomyosis compared to patients without adenomyosis.openCasadio P.; Raffone A.; Maletta M.; Travaglino A.; Raimondo D.; Raimondo I.; Santoro A.; Paradisi R.; Zannoni G.F.; Mollo A.; Seracchioli R.Casadio P.; Raffone A.; Maletta M.; Travaglino A.; Raimondo D.; Raimondo I.; Santoro A.; Paradisi R.; Zannoni G.F.; Mollo A.; Seracchioli R

Issues of sustainability on the Brazilian broiler meat production chain.

Abstract. Brazil is the world's largest broiler meat export. The sanitary control, knowledge and technology, as well as the natural aspects of the country are pointed as the key for the success of the product on the market. In this paper, an overview on the ammonia emission of the Brazilian broiler meat production chain from 2005 to 2010 is presented. The emission of ammonia was estimated on 700 thousand tons per year, which may implicate in the decay in the surrounding environment near the production areas. Brazilian broiler production creates jobs and has a significant social rule in Brazilian economy; however in the other hand, the implications of emitting this amount of ammonia to the atmosphere may be undesirable. Advances in developing new fodder technology are needed, in order to mitigate this issue.ID: 175 - APMS 2012

Electron Microscopy for 3D Scaffolds–Cell Biointerface Characterization

Cell fate is largely determined by interactions that occur at the interface between cells and their surrounding microenvironment. For this reason, especially in the field of tissue-engineering, there is a growing interest in developing techniques that allow evaluating cell–material interaction at the nanoscale, particularly focusing on cell adhesion processes. While for 2D culturing systems a consolidated series of tools already satisfy this need, in 3D environments, more closely recapitulating complex in vivo structures, there is still a lack of procedures furthering the comprehension of cell–material interactions. Here, the use of scanning electron microscopy coupled with a focused ion beam (SEM/FIB) for the characterization of cell interactions with 3D scaffolds obtained by different fabrication techniques is reported for the first time. The results clearly show the capability of the developed approach to preserve and finely resolve scaffold–cell interfaces highlighting details such as plasma membrane arrangement, extracellular matrix architecture and composition, and cellular structures playing a role in cell adhesion to the surface. It is anticipated that the developed approach will be relevant for the design of efficient cell-instructive platforms in the study of cellular guidance strategies for tissue-engineering applications as well as for in vitro 3D models

Uterine carcinosarcoma vs endometrial serous and clear cell carcinoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis of survival

Background: It is unclear whether uterine carcinosarcoma (UCS) is more aggressive than endometrial serous carcinoma (SC) and clear cell carcinoma (CCC). Objectives: To compare the prognosis of UCS to that of endometrial SC and CCC, through a systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods: Four electronic databases were searched from January 2000 to October 2020. All studies assessing hazard ratio (HR) for death in UCS vs SC and/or CCC. HRs for death with 95% confidence interval were extracted and pooled by using a random-effect model. A significant P-value &lt;0.05 was adopted. Results: Six studies with 11 029 patients (4995 with UCS, 4634 with SC, 1346 with CCC and 54 with either SC or CCC) were included. UCS showed a significantly worse prognosis than SC/CCC both overall (HR = 1.51; P = 0.008) and at early stage (HR = 1.58; P &lt; 0.001). Similar results were found for UCS vs SC (HR = 1.53; P &lt; 0.001) and UCS vs CCC (HR = 1.60; P &lt; 0.001). Conclusions: Compared to SC and CCC, UCS has a significantly worse prognosis, with a 1.5–1.6-fold increased risk of death. This might justify a more aggressive treatment for UCS compared to SC and CCC. Further studies are necessary to define the prognostic impact of different molecular subgroups

Accuracy of cytological examination of Tao brush endometrial sampling in diagnosing endometrial premalignancy and malignancy

Although Tao brush has become one of the most studied and used endometrial cytological samplers, concerns remain about the adequacy of the cytological sample compared with definitive histology. We aimed to assess accuracy of cytological examination from Tao brush sampling in diagnosing endometrial premalignancy and malignancy through a systematic review and meta-analysis. Seven electronic databases were searched from January 2000 to July 2021 for all studies which allowed assessment of accuracy of Tao brush in diagnosing endometrial premalignancy and malignancy. We calculated sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative likelihood ratios (LR+ and LR−), diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) and area under the curve (AUC) on summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curve. Five studies with 774 patients were included. In diagnosing endometrial premalignancy and malignancy, cytological examination from Tao brush endometrial sampling showed pooled sensitivity of 0.95 (95% CI, 0.90–0.98), specificity of 0.92 (95% CI, 0.90–0.94), LR+ of 12.73 (95% CI, 3.94–41.18), LR− of 0.09 (95% CI, 0.05–0.18), DOR of 184.84 (95% CI, 24.37–1401.79), AUC of 0.9757 (standard error: 0.013). In conclusion, cytological examination from Tao brush seems to have a high diagnostic accuracy and might be proposed as both screening and diagnostic tool. However, further studies are necessary to confirm these findings

Archaeometric approach for studying architectural earthenwares from the archaeological site of s. Omobono (Rome-Italy)

This paper reports the findings of an archaeometric study performed on 14 architectural earthenwares from the archaeological site of S. Omobono, located in the historic center of Rome (Italy). The archaeological site, accidentally discovered in 1937, includes the remains of a sacred area previously occupied by two temples, one of which was converted into the church of S. Omobono, in 1575. The samples, dated between the 7th and the 6th century BC, belong to different sectors of the site. Their petrographic, mineralogical and geochemical characterization was performed by optical microscopy (OM), X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), electron probe micro-analysis (EPMA), and Raman spectroscopy (RS). The compositional data obtained were also subjected to the principal component analysis (PCA) in order to highlight similarities and differences among the samples. By combining geochemical and petrographic data, we were able to identify several different fabrics. Furthermore, the study provided valuable information on the firing temperatures of some samples and the provenance of the raw materials, by analyzing the chemical composition of clinopyroxenes present as non-plastic inclusions. View Full-Tex