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Morgagni-Larrey hernias represent a subgroup of Congenital diaphragmatic hernias (CDHs), involving the anterior part of the muscle. They are complex developmental defects often representing a diagnostic and treatment challenge for both pediatricians and pediatric surgeons. We report our first case of a robot-assisted laparoscopic repair of a Morgagni hernia in an 8.3 kg 14-month-old girl with the use of the Da Vinci® Surgical System (Intuitive Surgical®, Sunnyvale, CA, USA)

In the last decade, there has been a rapid development of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), which provide for an active involvement by citizens in the care and maintenance of public space. In particular, digital participatory platforms (DPPs) have become increasingly important in fostering dialogue and interaction between citizens and the Public Administration. The contribution focuses on the issue of public space and its governance, critically analyzing some best practices of European DPPs, from the point of view of their impact and degree of success, in order to bring out the objectives, the processes and co-design actions, the technologies they use and the specificities that make them innovative pilot projects at international level.

The interleukin-(IL-)17 family of cytokines is composed of six members named IL-17A, IL-17B, IL-17C, IL-17D, IL-17E, and IL-17F. IL-17A is the prototype of this family, and it was the first to be discovered and targeted in the clinic. IL-17A is essential for modulating the interplay between commensal microbes and epithelial cells at our borders (i.e., skin and mucosae), and yet, for protecting us from microbial invaders, thus preserving mucosal and skin integrity. Interactions between the microbiota and cells producing IL-17A have also been implicated in the pathogenesis of immune mediated inflammatory diseases and cancer. While interactions between microbiota and IL-17B-to-F have only partially been investigated, they are by no means less relevant. The cellular source of IL-17B-to-F, their main targets, and their function in homeostasis and disease distinguish IL-17B-to-F from IL-17A. Here, we intentionally overlook IL-17A, and we focus instead on the role of the other cytokines of the IL-17 family in the interplay between microbiota and epithelial cells that may contribute to cancer pathogenesis and immune surveillance. We also underscore differences and similarities between IL-17A and IL-17B-to-F in the microbiota-immunity-cancer axis, and we highlight therapeutic strategies that directly or indirectly target IL-17 cytokines in diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nell'ultimo decennio si è assistito ad un rapido sviluppo delle Tecnologie dell'Informazione e Comunicazione (ICT) che prevedono un coinvolgimento attivo da parte dei cittadini nella cura dello spazio pubblico. In particolare, hanno acquistato sempre maggiore importanza le piattaforme digitali partecipative (DPPs) che favoriscono il dialogo e l'interazione tra cittadini e Pubblica Amministrazione. Il contributo si concentra sul tema dello spazio pubblico e la sua governance, analizzando in maniera critica alcune best practices di DPPs europee, dal punto di vista del loro impatto e del relativo grado di successo al fine di far emergere gli obiettivi, i processi adottati per avviare azioni di co-design, e le specificità che le rendono progetti pilota innovativi a livello internazionale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives, Purpose, or Aim: This article investigates whether the physical environment in which childbirth occurs impacts the intrapartum intervention rates and how this might happen. The study explores the spatial physical characteristics that can support the design of spaces to promote the health and well-being of women, their supporters, and maternity care professionals. Background: Medical interventions during childbirth have consequences for the health of women and babies in the immediate and long term. The increase in interventions is multifactorial and may be influenced by the model of care adopted, the relationships between caregivers and the organizational culture, which is made up of many factors, including the built environment. In the field of birth architecture research, there is a gap in the description of the physical characteristics of birth environments that impact users' health. Method: A scoping review on the topic was performed to understand the direct and indirect impacts of the physical environment on birth intervention rates. Results and Discussion: The findings are organized into three tables reporting the influence that the physical characteristics of a space might have on people's behaviors, experiences, practices and birth health outcomes. Eight building spaces that require further investigation and research were highlighted: unit layout configuration, midwives' hub/desk, social room, birth philosophy vectors, configuration of the birth room, size and shape of the birth room, filter, and sensory elements. Conclusions: The findings show the importance of considering the physical environment in maternity care and that further interdisciplinary studies focused on architectural design are needed to enrich the knowledge and evidence on this topic and to develop accurate recommendations for designers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Immunotherapy, and in particular immune-checkpoints blockade therapy (ICB), represents a new pillar in cancer therapy. Antibodies targeting Cytotoxic T-Lymphocyte Antigen 4 (CTLA-4) and Programmed Death 1 (PD-1)/Programmed Death Ligand-1 (PD-L1) demonstrated a relevant clinical value in a large number of solid tumors, leading to an improvement of progression free survival and overall survival in comparison to standard chemotherapy. However, across different solid malignancies, the immune-checkpoints inhibitors efficacy is limited to a relative small number of patients and, for this reason, the identification of positive or negative predictive biomarkers represents an urgent need. Despite the expression of PD-L1 was largely investigated in various malignancies, (i.e., melanoma, head and neck malignancies, urothelial and renal carcinoma, metastatic colorectal cancer, and pancreatic cancer) as a biomarker for ICB treatment-patients selection, it showed an important, but still imperfect, role as positive predictor of response only in nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Importantly, other tumor and/or microenvironments related characteristics are currently under clinical evaluation, in combination or in substitution of PD–L1 expression. In particular, tumor-infiltrating immune cells, gene expression analysis, mismatch- repair deficiency, and tumor mutational landscape may play a central role in predicting clinical benefits of CTLA-4 and/or PD-1/PD-L1 checkpoint inhibitors. In this review, we will focus on the clinical evaluation of emerging biomarkers and how these may improve the naïve vision of a single- feature patients-based selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper proposes a reflection and a point of view on the design of the contemporary hospital and the architectures for health according to "vertical" or "horizontal" typologies. The aim is to identify in various configurations, the relationships between the quality of the spaces and specific requirements in relation to the most recent developments in medicine both from the organizational and functional points of view and the social component. The method consists in defining a framework of demanding and performance comparison of different hypotheses, supported by indirect and direct analysis of the outcomes, through an analysis matrix related to case studies, considered as best practices among the architectures for health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Immunotherapy of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), by immune checkpoint inhibitors, has profoundly improved the clinical management of advanced disease. However, only a fraction of patients respond and no effective predictive factors have been defined. Here, we discuss the prospects for identification of such predictors of response to immunotherapy, by fostering an in-depth analysis of the immune landscape of NSCLC. The emerging picture, from several recent studies, is that the immune contexture of NSCLC lesions is a complex and heterogeneous feature, as documented by analysis for frequency, phenotype and spatial distribution of innate and adaptive immune cells, and by characterization of functional status of inhibitory receptor+ T cells. The complexity of the immune landscape of NSCLC stems from the interaction of several factors, including tumor histology, molecular subtype, main oncogenic drivers, nonsynonymous mutational load, tumor aneuploidy, clonal heterogeneity and tumor evolution, as well as the process of epithelial-mesenchymal transition. All these factors contribute to shape NSCLC immune profiles that have clear prognostic significance. An integrated analysis of the immune and molecular profile of the neoplastic lesions may allow to define the potential predictive role of the immune landscape for response to immunotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enteral nutrition (EN) is preferred in order to provide nutrition and reduce catabolism in critically ill patients. Recent studies suggest that the use of EN is successful and complications are rare. However, an underestimated mechanical complication of tube feedings seen in critically ill patients is the coagulation and solidification of the EN causing gastrointestinal obstruction. This report describes two clinical cases (1.23% of all cases seen at our clinic) of obstruction and perforation of the small bowel secondary to the solidification of EN. The understanding and early recognition of this potential complication are essential for the prevention and successful treatment of this condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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• Feast-famine aerobic treatment of starch effluent enriched for PHA-storing organisms. • PHA accumulation kept when treating full-strength effluent with process variations. • Controlled nutrient addition supported selection of PHA-storing and settleable biomass. • Short feast-to-aerobic cycling implementable as feast selector or side-stream reactor. Production of a mixed microbial culture (MMC) biomass for polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) production was integrated into the wastewater treatment (WWT) of a potato-starch factory. A pilot-scale on-site evaluation was conducted over ten months, with inherent water quality variations including organic composition, temperature, and pH. The wastewater was rich in acetate and the organic matter content fluctuated from 50 to 90 % with respect to volatile fatty acids (VFAs). The PHA accumulation potential (PAP) of the surplus biomass, nevertheless, remained from 0.40 to 0.70 gPHA/gVSS. Biomass PAP characteristics were benchmarked at both pilot and laboratory scales using different feedstocks and accumulation methods. The resultant co-polymer type could be readily shifted by changes in feedstock VFA content. Selected polymer batches were recovered at pilot scale as commercial-quality prototype materials for development of PHA-based wood-fibre composites. WWT performance with 98 % organic contaminant removal remained consistent throughout. The good settleability of the pilot-scale biomass was in contrast to the poorly settleable biomass from the factory's full-scale activated sludge. Metered nitrogen and phosphorus addition ensured stable WWT without major nitrification levels. Successful robust outcomes of both feast-famine selection principles and WWT can be translated and integrated into the full-scale WWT by a proposed adaptation to existing infrastructure. Analogous aerobic feast enrichment is proposed to be achievable with continuous or intermittent flow through a process selector/zone. This pilot-scale experience under actual field conditions of industrial WWT provides further evidence for the technical viability to produce biomass for PHA production while maintaining standards in effluent water quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, levels of crime and violence appear to be much higher in large cities in developing countries. This is the result of several factors, such as: the speed of urbanization, the inability of cities to provide sufficient infrastructure and the widening disparities in income and access to housing and services. These levels of inequality can have negative consequences from a social, economic and political point of view, with a destabilizing impact on societies and higher risks for the most disadvantaged people, especially those living in informal settlements. The paper presents the results of a study carried out by the Authors at the Department of Architecture and Design of the Polytechnic of Turin. Urban security is investigated in the context of Kibera slum (Nairobi) through the integration of two different tools, namely Participatory Mapping and Space Syntax. The research analyses the relation between criminal activities and the spatial and configurational features of the street network, with the aim to highlight some key environmental factors to take into consideration while constructing the new road Missing link #12. Specifically, the research identifies and studies seven parameters from the literature review: integration, illumination, vitality and diversity, visibility, active facades, territoriality and maintenance and image. The findings show that urban planning and design strongly impact crime occurrence. The crime hot-spots' distribution in Kibera depends on the simultaneous interrelation of multiple components in the space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Immunotherapy has become the standard-of-care in many solid tumors. Despite the significant recent achievements in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, several issues related to patients' selection for immunotherapy remain unsolved. Multiple lines of evidence suggest that, in this setting, the vision of a single biomarker is somewhat naïve and imprecise, given that immunotherapy does not follow the rules that we have experienced in the past for targeted therapies. On the other hand, additional immune-related biomarkers that are reliable in real-life clinical practice remain to be identified. Recently, the immune-checkpoint blockade has been approved in the US irrespective of the tumor site of origin. Further histology-agnostic approvals, coupled with with tumor-specific companion diagnostics and guidelines, are expected in this field. In addition, immune-related biomarkers can also have a significant prognostic value. In this review, we provide an overview of the role of these biomarkers and their characterization in the management of lung cancer, melanoma, colorectal cancer, gastric cancer, head and neck cancer, renal cell carcinoma, urothelial cancers, and breast cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dry eye syndrome is a common disease associated to eyes inflammation, irritation and tear film instability. The enzymatic complex of xanthine oxidoreductase (XOR) is involved in the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and uric acid that, in the end, can cause reperfusion injuries, irritation and pathological conditions. Furthermore, in the eye, it has been proposed that oxygen free radicals might play a significant role in retinal ischemic damage. A new artificial drop formulation based on arabinogalactan and hyaluronic acid has been proposed in this article. The uric acid and the ROS formation have been monitored. The effect of the arabinogalactan, the hyaluronic acid and their mixture has been studied. The arabinogalactan entails a uric acid and ROS reduction of 27% and 38% respectively; no significant reduction of uric acid or ROS has been observed after the addition of hyaluronic acid alone. Notably the combination of arabinogalactan and hyaluronic acid involves the reduction of uric acid and ROS equal to 38% and 62%, namely. This study demonstrates that this artificial drop formulation can markedly reduce the uric acid and ROS formation in vitro ; thus, the use of this formulation may contribute in the resolution of the dry eye syndrome. • Arabinogalactan (AG) and hyaluronic acid (HA) artificial drops (AD) was studied. • AG entails uric acid (UA) and ROS reduction of 27% and 38%. • HA involves no statically significant reduction of uric acid or ROS. • AG and HA combination involves the reduction of UA and ROS equal to 38% and 62%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]