Diagnostic Accuracy of CT Texture Analysis in Adrenal Masses: A Systematic Review

Adrenal incidentalomas (AIs) are incidentally discovered adrenal neoplasms. Overt endocrine secretion (glucocorticoids, mineralocorticoids, and catecholamines) and malignancy (primary or metastatic disease) are assessed at baseline evaluation. Size, lipid content, and washout characterise benign AIs (respectively, <4 cm, <10 Hounsfield unit, and rapid release); nonetheless, 30% of adrenal lesions are not correctly indicated. Recently, image-based texture analysis from computed tomography (CT) may be useful to assess the behaviour of indeterminate adrenal lesions. We performed a systematic review to provide the state-of-the-art of texture analysis in patients with AI. We considered 9 papers (from 70 selected), with a median of 125 patients (range 20–356). Histological confirmation was the most used criteria to differentiate benign from the malignant adrenal mass. Unenhanced or contrast-enhanced data were available in all papers; TexRAD and PyRadiomics were the most used software. Four papers analysed the whole volume, and five considered a region of interest. Different texture features were reported, considering first- and second-order statistics. The pooled median area under the ROC curve in all studies was 0.85, depicting a high diagnostic accuracy, up to 93% in differentiating adrenal adenoma from adrenocortical carcinomas. Despite heterogeneous methodology, texture analysis is a promising diagnostic tool in the first assessment of patients with adrenal lesions.     

Novel Therapeutic Opportunities in Neoadjuvant Setting in Urothelial Cancers: A New Horizon Opened by Molecular Classification and Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors

Muscle invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) is a widespread malignancy with a worse prognosis often related to a late diagnosis. For early-stage MIBC pts, a multidisciplinary approach is mandatory to evaluate the timing of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) and surgery. The current standard therapy is platinum-based NAC (MVAC-methotrexate, vinblastine, doxorubicin, and cisplatin or Platinum–Gemcitabine regimens) followed by radical cystectomy (RC) with lymphadenectomy. However, preliminary data from Vesper trial highlighted that dose-dense NAC MVAC is endowed with a good pathological response but shows low tolerability. In the last few years, translational-based research approaches have identified several candidate biomarkers of NAC esponsiveness, such as ERCC2, ERBB2, or DNA damage response (DDR) gene alterations. Moreover, the recent consensus MIBC molecular classification identified six molecular subtypes, characterized by different sensitivity to chemo- or targeted or immunotherapy, that could open a novel procedure for patient selection and also for neoadjuvant therapies. The Italian PURE-01 phase II Trial extended data on efficacy and resistance to Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors (ICIs) in this setting. In this review, we summarize the most relevant literature data supporting NAC use in MIBC, focusing on novel therapeutic strategies such as immunotherapy, considering the better patient stratification and selection emerging from novel molecular classification.     

Cellular and Molecular Signatures of Oxidative Stress in Bronchial Epithelial Cell Models Injured by Cigarette Smoke Extract

Exposure of the airways epithelium to environmental insults, including cigarette smoke, results in increased oxidative stress due to unbalance between oxidants and antioxidants in favor of oxidants. Oxidative stress is a feature of inflammation and promotes the progression of chronic lung diseases, including Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Increased oxidative stress leads to exhaustion of antioxidant defenses, alterations in autophagy/mitophagy and cell survival regulatory mechanisms, thus promoting cell senescence. All these events are amplified by the increase of inflammation driven by oxidative stress. Several models of bronchial epithelial cells are used to study the molecular mechanisms and the cellular functions altered by cigarette smoke extract (CSE) exposure, and to test the efficacy of molecules with antioxidant properties. This review offers a comprehensive synthesis of human in-vitro and ex-vivo studies published from 2011 to 2021 describing the molecular and cellular mechanisms evoked by CSE exposure in bronchial epithelial cells, the most used experimental models and the mechanisms of action of cellular antioxidants systems as well as natural and synthetic antioxidant compounds.     

The Genetic Basis of Primary Myelofibrosis and Its Clinical Relevance

Among classical BCR-ABL-negative myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN), primary myelofibrosis (PMF) is the most aggressive subtype from a clinical standpoint, posing a great challenge to clinicians. Whilst the biological consequences of the three MPN driver gene mutations (JAK2, CALR, and MPL) have been well described, recent data has shed light on the complex and dynamic structure of PMF, that involves competing disease subclones, sequentially acquired genomic events, mostly in genes that are recurrently mutated in several myeloid neoplasms and in clonal hematopoiesis, and biological interactions between clonal hematopoietic stem cells and abnormal bone marrow niches. These observations may contribute to explain the wide heterogeneity in patients’ clinical presentation and prognosis, and support the recent effort to include molecular information in prognostic scoring systems used for therapeutic decision-making, leading to promising clinical translation. In this review, we aim to address the topic of PMF molecular genetics, focusing on four questions: (1) what is the role of mutations on disease pathogenesis? (2) what is their impact on patients’ clinical phenotype? (3) how do we integrate gene mutations in the risk stratification process? (4) how do we take advantage of molecular genetics when it comes to treatment decisions?     

Design and performance evaluation of ContentPlace,a social-aware data dissemination system for opportunistic networks

In this paper we present and evaluate ContentPlace, a data dissemination system for opportunistic networks, i.e., mobile networks in which stable simultaneous multi-hop paths between communication endpoints cannot be provided. We consider a scenario in which users both produce and consume data objects. ContentPlace takes care of moving and replicating data objects in the network such that interested users receive them despite possible long disconnections, partitions, etc. Thanks to ContentPlace, data producers and consumers are completely decoupled, and might be never connected to the network at the same point in time. The key feature of ContentPlace is learning and exploiting information about the social behaviour of the users to drive the data dissemination process. This allows ContentPlace to be more efficient both in terms of data delivery and in terms of resource usage with respect to reference alternative solutions. The performance of ContentPlace is thoroughly investigated both through simulation and analytical models.     

Foam-like scaffolds for bone tissue engineering based on a novel couple of silicate-phosphate specular glasses: synthesis and properties

Glass–ceramic scaffolds mimicking the structure of cancellous bone were produced via sponge replication technique by using a polyurethane foam as template and glass powder below 30 μm as inorganic phase. Specifically, a SiO₂-based glass of complex composition and its corresponding P₂O₅-based “specular” glass were used as materials for scaffolding. The polymeric sponge was thermally removed and the glass powders were sintered to obtain a replica of the template structure. The scaffolds were investigated and compared from a structural, morphological and mechanical viewpoint by assessing their crystalline phases, volumetric shrinkage, pores content and interconnection, mechanical strength. In addition, the scaffolds were soaked in acellular simulated body fluid to investigate their in vitro behaviour. The produced scaffolds have a great potential for bone reconstructive surgery because their features, such as shape, strength, bioactivity and bioresorption, can be easily tailored according to the end use.     

Vinylene-linked pyridine-pyrrole donor–acceptor conjugated polymers

Vinylene-linked donor–acceptor–donor semiconducting polymers have been prepared by electropolymerization of the new monomers 2,6-bis[(E)-2-(1-methylpyrrol-2-yl)vinyl]pyridine and 2,5-bis[(E)-2-(1-methylpyrrol-2-yl)vinyl]pyridine. The monomers, consisting of two pyrrole donor units and a central pyridine acceptor ring spaced by vinylene links, differ by the substitution pattern around the central pyridine core (2,6 vs. 2,5-substitution). The electropolymerization process is more efficient on the 2,5-derivative. The new polymers show reversible electrochemistry dominated by a strong charge trapping effect. Poly(2,5-bis[(E)-2-(1-methylpyrrol-2-yl)vinyl]pyridine) energy levels closely match those of design rules for optimized polymers in combination with fullerene derivatives in bulk heterojunction solar cells.     

Gold nanoparticles induce cytotoxicity in the alveolar type-II cell lines A549 and NCIH441

Background  

During the last years engineered nanoparticles (NPs) have been extensively used in different technologies and consequently many questions have arisen about the risk and the impact on human health following exposure to nanoparticles. Nevertheless, at present knowledge about the cytotoxicity induced by NPs is still largely incomplete. In this context, we have investigated the cytotoxicity induced by gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), which differed in size and purification grade (presence or absence of sodium citrate residues on the particle surface) in vitro, in the human alveolar type-II (ATII)-like cell lines A549 and NCIH441.