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This review is devoted to discussing recent progress on the structure, thermodynamic, reactivity, and dynamics of water and aqueous systems confined within different types of nanopores, synthetic and biological. Currently, this is a branch of water science that has attracted enormous attention of researchers from different fields interested to extend the understanding of the anomalous properties of bulk water to the nanoscopic domain. From a fundamental perspective, the interactions of water and solutes with a confining surface dramatically modify the liquid's structure and, consequently, both its thermodynamical and dynamical behaviors, breaking the validity of the classical thermodynamic and phenomenological description of the transport properties of aqueous systems. Additionally, man-made nanopores and porous materials have emerged as promising solutions to challenging problems such as water purification, biosensing, nanofluidic logic and gating, and energy storage and conversion, while aquaporin, ion channels, and nuclear pore complex nanopores regulate many biological functions such as the conduction of water, the generation of action potentials, and the storage of genetic material. In this work, the more recent experimental and molecular simulations advances in this exciting and rapidly evolving field will be reported and critically discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a previous survey of newly diagnosed haematological malignancies (HMs) in Sardinia from 1974 to 1993, we observed a marked increase in the incidence of many HMs that we chiefly attributed to improvements in case ascertainment. To better define the nature of this increase, we extended the survey by an additional decade (1994-2003), applying the same previously used methods. The incidence of HMs further increased from 1994 to 2003. The incidence rate of total HMs (THMs), standardised to the world population, was 30.15 × 10 person-years vs. 21.58 from 1984 to 1993 and 15.26 from 1974 to 1983. The temporal variations in the incidence differed in different HMs and were correlated with the diseases clinical characteristics and the increased availability of diagnostic tools and skills in Sardinia. These observations support the hypothesis that the temporal differences in the incidence rates observed for many HMs in Sardinia over the 30-year survey period were caused by temporal differences in diagnostic efficiency rather than by disease occurrence. An important exception was the increase in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, which represents a true increase in occurrence, similarly to most Western countries. The incidence rates of HMs already having or reaching stable values in the decade 1994-2003 were similar to those of most Western countries. No significant evidence emerged to suggest that Sardinian particularities influenced the occurrence of HMs. This study demonstrates the extent to which diagnostic efficiency can influence incidence evaluations and emphasises the importance of prolonged observation to determine the validity of incidence rates for both temporal and geographic comparisons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The presence of uterine myomas during pregnancy is considered a risk factor for gestation and delivery. In literature, myomas are related to spontaneous abortion, bleeding, PPROM, preterm delivery, placenta previa, placental abruption, fetal malpresentations, mechanical dystocia and high incidence of cesarean section. Laparotomic myomectomy done during pregnancy is indicated when symptoms related to uterine myomas, as acute pelvic pain or gastroenteric or urinary symptoms, persist despite the pharmacological therapy. The purpose of this study is to show a successful surgical management of uterine myomas at 15.5 weeks of pregnancy, which allowed the continuation of gestation and a delivery without major complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Serum concentrations of erythropoietin (EPO) were determined by immunoassay in 45 patients with thalassemia intermedia (TI). The mean serum level of EPO was significantly higher in the thalassemic patients than in the controls, but transfused subjects had lower pretransfusional serum concentrations of EPO than untransfused ones. An inverse relationship between the serum values of EPO and total hemoglobin was observed only in the untransfused thalassemic patients. These data suggest that in TI, even a low transfusional regimen may cause a decrease in serum concentration of EPO, independent of the level of total Hb. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A survey of hemoglobinopathies in northern Sardinia revealed a high frequency (0.3%) of carriers of a hematologic condition characterized by increased expression of fetal hemoglobin during adult life (hereditary persistence of fetal hemoglobin or HPFH). In spite of a normal hematologic phenotype, the heterozygous carriers for this condition display about 12% HbF, almost exclusively of the γ type; compound heterozygotes with β-thalassemia have 20%-26% HbF and run a very mild clinical course. The sequence analysis of the cloned γ gene linked to the HPFH determinant revealed the presence of a G→A substitution at position-117 of the γ- gene promoter; the same mutation occurs also in Greek HPFH, although associated with different restriction polymorphisms. Another hereditary condition characterized by increased HbF (αγ) level and a mild thalassemic phenotype in Sardinia is associated with the-196 C→T substitution in the γ-globin gene promoter (Sardinian δβ-thalassemia). Population studies using oligonucleotides complementary both to the-117 G→A and-196 C→T mutations and the corresponding normal sequences confirm the presence of these mutations only in HPFH and δβ-thalassemia chromosomes and exclude these changes being common DNA polymorphisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A correction to the article discussing the haematological malignancies on the island of Sardinia and temporal changes in incidence and a geographic comparison of incidence rates" by G. Broccia and colleagues that was published in the February 21, 2014 issue of the periodical is presented.