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Introduction: Surgical treatment of diastasis recti is still a matter of debate. Open approaches such as abdominoplasty, which offer the possibility to combine reparation of the diastasis with abdominal cosmetic surgery, are challenged by the emerging less-invasive laparoscopic or robotic techniques that offer shorter recovery for patients. However, evidence in favour of one of the two approaches concerning both short- and long-term complications and functional results is still lacking. In this paper, we analysed clinical and functional results of a new endo-laparoscopic technique for midline reconstruction (THT technique) in patients with primary abdominal wall defects associated with diastasis recti. Methods: Prospective observational study on 110 consecutive patients was submitted to endo-laparoscopic reconstruction of the abdominal wall with linear staplers. Morbidity and relapse rates with clinical and radiological follow-up were recorded at 1, 6, 12, and 24 months after the operation. Data regarding the impact of surgery on patients’ quality of life (EuraHSQol) on chronic low back pain (Oswestry Disability Index, ODI) and urinary stress incontinence (Incontinence Severity Index, ISI) were gathered. Results: After a mean follow-up of 14 months, the morbidity rate was 9.1% and no recurrences were recorded. 6-month follow-up ultrasound showed a rectus muscles mean distance of 6.7 mm; EuraHSQol, ODI, and ISI scores significantly improved in 93%, 77%, and 63% of the cases, respectively. Conclusions: The THT technique proved to be a feasible, safe, and effective alternative for corrective surgery of primary midline hernias associated with diastasis recti. Short- and mid-term results are encouraging but need to be confirmed by further studies with longer follow-up. The achieved midline reconstruction offers a significant improvement of patients' perceived quality of life through reduction of abdominal wall pain, bulging, low back pain, and urinary stress incontinence.

In breast cancer (BC) patients, local recurrences often arise in proximity of the surgical scar, suggesting that response to surgery may have a causative role. Radiotherapy (RT) after lumpectomy significantly reduces the risk of recurrence. We investigated the direct effects of surgery and of RT delivered intraoperatively (IORT), by collecting irradiated and non-irradiated breast tissues from BC patients, after tumor removal. These breast tissue specimens have been profiled for their microRNA (miR) expression, in search of differentially expressed miR among patients treated or not with IORT. Our results demonstrate that IORT elicits effects that go beyond the direct killing of residual tumor cells. IORT altered the wound response, inducing the expression of miR-223 in the peri-tumoral breast tissue. miR-223 downregulated the local expression of epidermal growth factor (EGF), leading to decreased activation of EGF receptor (EGFR) on target cells and, eventually, dampening a positive EGF–EGFR autocrine/paracrine stimulation loop induced by the post-surgical wound-healing response. Accordingly, both RT-induced miR-223 and peri-operative inhibition of EGFR efficiently prevented BC cell growth and reduced recurrence formation in mouse models of BC. Our study uncovers unknown effects of RT delivered on a wounded tissue and prompts to the use of anti-EGFR treatments, in a peri-operative treatment schedule, aimed to timely treat BC patients and restrain recurrence formation.

Solid-state thermal neutron detectors are desired to replace 3He tube tube-based technology for the detection of special nuclear materials. 3He tubes have some issues with stability, sensitivity to microphonics and very recently, a shortage of 3He. There are numerous solid-state approaches being investigated that utilize various architectures and material combinations. Our approach is based on the combination of high-aspect-ratio silicon PIN pillars, which are 2 m wide with a 2 m separation, arranged in a square matrix, and surrounded by 10B, the neutron converter material. To date, our highest efficiency is ~ 20 % for a pillar height of 26 m. An efficiency of greater than 50 % is predicted for our device, while maintaining high gamma rejection and low power operation once adequate device scaling is carried out. Estimated required pillar height to meet this goal is ~ 50 m. The fabrication challenges related to 10B deposition and etching as well as planarization of the three-dimensional structure is discussed.

We report on recent accelerator testing of a prototype general antiparticle spectrometer (GAPS). GAPS is a novel approach for indirect dark matter searches that exploits the antideuterons produced in neutralino-neutralino annihilations. Many supersymmetry models, as well as other models based on extra dimensions, predict a primary antideuteron flux from dark matter annihilation that is much greater than the secondary and tertiary background sources at low energies. The GAPS method involves capturing antiparticles in a target material into excited energy states. The X-rays that are emitted as the antiparticle cascades to lower energy states before the exotic atom decays serve as a fingerprint that uniquely identifies the mass of the captured antiparticle. This approach provides large area and field of view in addition to excellent background rejection capability. Analysis of the performance of a prototype GAPS tested in an antiproton beam at the KEK accelerator in Japan in 2004 and 2005 are presented. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]