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ImportanceCorrect diagnosis of ovarian cancer results in better prognosis. Adnexal lesions can be stratified into the Ovarian-Adnexal Reporting and Data System (O-RADS) risk of malignancy categories with either the O-RADS lexicon, proposed by the American College of Radiology, or the International Ovarian Tumor Analysis (IOTA) 2-step strategy.ObjectiveTo investigate the diagnostic performance of the O-RADS lexicon and the IOTA 2-step strategy.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsRetrospective external diagnostic validation study based on interim data of IOTA5, a prospective international multicenter cohort study, in 36 oncology referral centers or other types of centers. A total of 8519 consecutive adult patients presenting with an adnexal mass between January 1, 2012, and March 1, 2015, and treated either with surgery or conservatively were included in this diagnostic study. Twenty-five patients were excluded for withdrawal of consent, 2777 were excluded from 19 centers that did not meet predefined data quality criteria, and 812 were excluded because they were already in follow-up at recruitment. The analysis included 4905 patients with a newly detected adnexal mass in 17 centers that met predefined data quality criteria. Data were analyzed from January 31 to March 1, 2022.ExposuresStratification into O-RADS categories (malignancy risk Main Outcomes and MeasuresObserved prevalence of malignancy in each O-RADS risk category, as well as sensitivity and specificity. The reference standard was the status of the tumor at inclusion, determined by histology or clinical and ultrasonographic follow-up for 1 year. Multiple imputation was used for uncertain outcomes owing to inconclusive follow-up information.ResultsMedian age of the 4905 patients was 48 years (IQR, 36-62 years). Data on race and ethnicity were not collected. A total of 3441 tumors (70%) were benign, 978 (20%) were malignant, and 486 (10%) had uncertain classification. Using the O-RADS lexicon resulted in 1.1% (24 of 2196) observed prevalence of malignancy in O-RADS 2, 4% (34 of 857) in O-RADS 3, 27% (246 of 904) in O-RADS 4, and 78% (732 of 939) in O-RADS 5; the corresponding results for the IOTA 2-step strategy were 0.9% (18 of 1984), 4% (58 of 1304), 30% (206 of 690), and 82% (756 of 927). At the 10% risk threshold (O-RADS 4-5), the O-RADS lexicon had 92% sensitivity (95% CI, 87%-96%) and 80% specificity (95% CI, 74%-85%), and the IOTA 2-step strategy had 91% sensitivity (95% CI, 84%-95%) and 85% specificity (95% CI, 80%-88%).Conclusions and RelevanceThe findings of this external diagnostic validation study suggest that both the O-RADS lexicon and the IOTA 2-step strategy can be used to stratify patients into risk groups. However, the observed malignancy rate in O-RADS 2 was not clearly below 1%.

OBJECTIVE: Previous work has suggested that the ultrasound-based benign simple descriptors (BDs) can reliably exclude malignancy in a large proportion of women presenting with an adnexal mass. This study aimed to validate a modified version of the BDs and to validate a two-step strategy to estimate the risk of malignancy, in which the modified BDs are followed by the Assessment of Different NEoplasias in the adneXa (ADNEX) model if modified BDs do not apply. METHODS: This was a retrospective analysis using data from the 2-year interim analysis of the International Ovarian Tumor Analysis (IOTA) Phase-5 study, in which consecutive patients with at least one adnexal mass were recruited irrespective of subsequent management (conservative or surgery). The main outcome was classification of tumors as benign or malignant, based on histology or on clinical and ultrasound information during 1 year of follow-up. Multiple imputation was used when outcome based on follow-up was uncertain according to predefined criteria. RESULTS: A total of 8519 patients were recruited at 36 centers between 2012 and 2015. We excluded patients who were already in follow-up at recruitment and all patients from 19 centers that did not fulfil our criteria for good-quality surgical and follow-up data, leaving 4905 patients across 17 centers for statistical analysis. Overall, 3441 (70%) tumors were benign, 978 (20%) malignant and 486 (10%) uncertain. The modified BDs were applicable in 1798/4905 (37%) tumors, of which 1786 (99.3%) were benign. The two-step strategy based on ADNEX without CA125 had an area under the receiver-operating-characteristics curve (AUC) of 0.94 (95% CI, 0.92-0.96). The risk of malignancy was slightly underestimated, but calibration varied between centers. A sensitivity analysis in which we expanded the definition of uncertain outcome resulted in 1419 (29%) tumors with uncertain outcome and an AUC of the two-step strategy without CA125 of 0.93 (95% CI, 0.91-0.95). CONCLUSION: A large proportion of adnexal masses can be classified as benign by the modified BDs. For the remaining masses, the ADNEX model can be used to estimate the risk of malignancy. This two-step strategy is convenient for clinical use. © 2022 The Authors. Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology. ispartof: ULTRASOUND IN OBSTETRICS & GYNECOLOGY vol:61 issue:2 pages:231-242 ispartof: location:England status: published

Viene offerta una rilettura del fr. 24 Orazi del PHerc. 986, in cui viene individuata una possibile citazione di Epicuro sulla poesia comica, con un'allusione plausibile a Menandro. Sono presentate alcune ipotesi sul carattere di questo libro incerto, di paternità forse filodemea.

Osservazioni critiche su un contributo relativo alla papirologia ercolanese

The primary aim of this study was to describe the ultrasound features of various endometrial and other intracavitary pathologies in women without abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB) using the International Endometrial Tumor Analysis (IETA) terminology. The secondary aim was to compare our findings with published data on women with AUB.This was a prospective observational study of women presenting at one of seven centers specialized in gynecological ultrasonography, from 2011 until 2018, for indications unrelated to AUB. All patients underwent transvaginal ultrasound using the IETA examination and measurement techniques. Ultrasonography was performed as part of routine gynecological examination or follow-up of non-endometrial pathology, or as part of the work-up before undergoing treatment for infertility, uterine prolapse or ovarian pathology. Ultrasound findings were described using the IETA terminology. Endometrial sampling was performed after the ultrasound scan. The histological endpoints were endometrial atrophy, proliferative or secretory endometrium, endometrial hyperplasia without atypia, endometrial polyp, intracavitary leiomyoma, endometrial intraepithelial neoplasia (EIN), endometrial cancer (EC) and insufficient tissue. The findings in our cohort of women without AUB were compared with those in a published cohort of women with AUB who were examined with transvaginal ultrasound between 2012 and 2015 using the same IETA examination technique and terminology.In this study (IETA3), we included 1745 women without AUB who underwent a standardized transvaginal ultrasound examination followed by either endometrial sampling with histological diagnosis (n = 1537) or at least 1 year of clinical and ultrasound follow-up (n = 208). Of these, 858 (49.2%) women were premenopausal and 887 (50.8%) were postmenopausal. Histology showed the presence of EC and/or EIN in 29 (1.7%) women, endometrial polyps in 1028 (58.9%), intracavitary myomas in 66 (3.8%), proliferative or secretory changes or hyperplasia without atypia in 144 (8.3%), endometrial atrophy in 265 (15.2%) and insufficient tissue in five (0.3%). Most cases of EC or EIN (25/29 (86.2%)) were diagnosed after menopause. The mean endometrial thickness in women with EC or EIN was 11.2 mm (95% CI, 8.9-13.6 mm), being on average 2.4 mm (95% CI, 0.3-4.6 mm) thicker than their benign counterparts. Women with malignant endometrial pathology manifested more frequently non-uniform echogenicity (22/29 (75.9%)) than did those with benign endometrial pathology (929/1716 (54.1%)) (difference, +21.8% (95% CI, +4.2% to +39.2%)). Moderate to abundant vascularization (color score 3-4) was seen in 31.0% (9/29) of cases with EC or EIN compared with 12.8% (220/1716) of those with a benign outcome (difference, +18.2% (95% CI, -0.5% to +36.9%)). Multiple multifocal vessels were recorded in 24.1% (7/29) women with EC or EIN vs 4.0% (68/1716) of those with a benign outcome (difference, +20.2% (95% CI, +4.6% to +35.7%)). A regular endometrial-myometrial junction was seen less frequently in women with EC or EIN (19/29 (65.5%)) vs those with a benign outcome (1412/1716 (82.3%)) (difference, -16.8% (95% CI, -34.2% to +0.6%)). In women with endometrial polyps without AUB, a single dominant vessel was the most frequent vascular pattern (666/1028 (64.8%)). In women with EC, both in those with and those without AUB, the endometrium usually manifested heterogeneous echogenicity, but the endometrium was on average 8.6 mm (95% CI, 5.2-12.0 mm) thinner and less intensely vascularized (color score 3-4: difference, -26.8% (95% CI, -52.2% to -1.3%)) in women without compared to those with AUB. In both pre- and postmenopausal women, asymptomatic endometrial polyps were associated with a thinner endometrium, and they manifested more frequently a bright edge, a regular endometrial-myometrial junction and a single dominant vessel than did polyps in symptomatic women, and they were less intensely vascularized.We describe the typical ultrasound features of EC, polyps and other intracavitary histologies using IETA terminology in women without AUB. Our findings suggest that the presence of asymptomatic polyps or endometrial malignancy may be accompanied by thinner and less intensely vascularized endometria than their symptomatic counterparts. © 2022 International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Si tratta di un volume inserito nella serie di "Lezioni di scienza e tecnologia delle macromolecole. La sintesi di polimeri - Scuola AIM 2022" dedicato appunto alla sintesi di polimeri nell'ambito della Suola AIM Mario Farina-2022; il nostro contributo riguarda la polimerizzazione stereospecifica di dieni coniugati

Modern spark-ignition engines are knock-limited over a significant fraction of their operating map. The efficiency loss induced by knock mitigation depends on both the fuel octane quality and driving conditions. This paper quantifies the relevance of the Research Octane Number (RON) and Motor Octane Number (MON) to the knock-limited fuel efficiency losses (KLFEL) of a mid-size sports utility vehicle operated in several standard drive cycles. The Octane Index model, OI = (1-K)·RON + K·MON, is used with K as the weighting factor to evaluate the relative importance of RON and MON. The K-map recently obtained for a gasoline turbocharged direction-injection engine (Zhou et al., Fuel 290 (2021) 120012) is used to determine the K distribution in these drive cycles. The analysis shows that the engine is not significantly limited by knock in the city and highway cycles. However, knock becomes a major constraint under more aggressive driving conditions such as in the US06 cycle and the hot-weather towing tests, where approximately 70% of fuel consumption occurs under knock-limited conditions and the KLFEL accounts for up to 6.3% of total fuel consumption. Among the drive cycles studied, the KLFEL-weighted K ranges from −0.44 to +0.12, indicating that increasing RON would significantly improve fuel efficiency and decreasing MON would have only a minor effect.

Regulatory networks often converge on very similar cis sequences to drive transcriptional programs due to constraints on what transcription factors are present. To determine the role of constraint loss on cis element evolution, we examined the recent appearance of a thiamine starvation regulated promoter in Candida glabrata. This species lacks the ancestral transcription factor Thi2, but still has the transcription factor Pdc2, which regulates thiamine starvation genes, allowing us to determine the effect of constraint change on a new promoter. We identified two different cis elements in C. glabrata - one present in the evolutionarily recent gene called CgPMU3, and the other element present in the other thiamine (THI) regulated genes. Reciprocal swaps of the cis elements and incorporation of the S. cerevisiae Thi2 transcription factor-binding site into these promoters demonstrate that the two elements are functionally different from one another. Thus, this loss of an imposed constraint on promoter function has generated a novel cis sequence, suggesting that loss of trans constraints can generate a non-convergent pathway with the same output.

Pardo-Oviedo, Juan Mauricio/0000-0003-0084-3449; Lopez-Delgado, Juan Carlos/0000-0003-3324-1129; Corradi, Francesco/0000-0002-5588-2608; De Backer, Daniel/0000-0001-9841-5762; POTA, VINCENZO/0000-0001-9999-3388; Tomescu, Dana/0000-0001-9673-5754; Sabetian, Golnar/0000-0001-8764-2150; Girardis, Massimo/0000-0002-2453-0829; Brazzi, Luca/0000-0001-7059-0622; Leone, Marc/0000-0002-3097-758X; Zabolotskikh, Igor Borisovich/0000-0002-3623-2546; De Lange, Dylan/0000-0002-0191-7270; ALMEKHLAFI, GHALEB A./0000-0002-0323-7025; Elke, Gunnar/0000-0002-4948-1605; Grigoras, Ioana/0000-0001-9412-9574; Czuczwar, Miroslaw/0000-0002-9025-6717; Nora, David/0000-0002-1133-7368; Masjedi, Mansoor/0000-0001-6175-9289; Gunst, Jan/0000-0003-2470-6393; Vidal-Cortes, Pablo/0000-0003-0225-9975; Szakmany, Tamas/0000-0003-3632-8844; Dimopoulos, George/0000-0002-3784-3103; Rello, Jordi/0000-0003-0676-6210; U nal, Necmettin/0000-0002-9440-7893; Tiberio, Iolanda FLC/0000-0002-5662-7895; Cortegiani, Andrea/0000-0003-1416-9993; Morton, Ben/0000-0002-6164-2854; Labeau, Sonia/0000-0003-3863-612X; Velickovic, Dejan/0000-0002-7312-2880; Paul, John/0000-0002-9307-3465; Pereira, Rui/0000-0002-3010-8384; Silversides, Jon/0000-0002-9562-5462; Paiva, Jose-Artur/0000-0003-4323-0220; Smuszkiewicz, Piotr/0000-0003-3067-8229; Paul, Cherish/0000-0001-6133-0036; Santos, Lurdes/0000-0002-0622-6823; PANTAZOPOULOS, IOANNIS/0000-0002-8846-519X; Ostermann, Marlies/0000-0001-9500-9080; Blot, Stijn/0000-0003-2145-0345; Naylor, Amanda/0000-0002-6431-0230; Shyamsundar, Murali/0000-0003-3797-8080; Aldecoa, Cesar/0000-0001-8789-5959; Summers, Charlotte/0000-0002-7269-2873; biskup, ewelina/0000-0002-9871-927X; Cornet, Alexander/0000-0002-9917-5251; Trenado Alvarez, Jose/0000-0002-2930-0766; Volta, Carlo/0000-0003-3533-6121; Gritsan, Alexey/0000-0002-0500-2887; Urkmez, Seval/0000-0002-3412-4226 WOS:000493268200001 PubMed ID: 31664501 PurposeTo describe the epidemiology of intra-abdominal infection in an international cohort of ICU patients according to a new system that classifies cases according to setting of infection acquisition (community-acquired, early onset hospital-acquired, and late-onset hospital-acquired), anatomical disruption (absent or present with localized or diffuse peritonitis), and severity of disease expression (infection, sepsis, and septic shock).MethodsWe performed a multicenter (n=309), observational, epidemiological study including adult ICU patients diagnosed with intra-abdominal infection. Risk factors for mortality were assessed by logistic regression analysis.ResultsThe cohort included 2621 patients. Setting of infection acquisition was community-acquired in 31.6%, early onset hospital-acquired in 25%, and late-onset hospital-acquired in 43.4% of patients. Overall prevalence of antimicrobial resistance was 26.3% and difficult-to-treat resistant Gram-negative bacteria 4.3%, with great variation according to geographic region. No difference in prevalence of antimicrobial resistance was observed according to setting of infection acquisition. Overall mortality was 29.1%. Independent risk factors for mortality included late-onset hospital-acquired infection, diffuse peritonitis, sepsis, septic shock, older age, malnutrition, liver failure, congestive heart failure, antimicrobial resistance (either methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, vancomycin-resistant enterococci, extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Gram-negative bacteria, or carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative bacteria) and source control failure evidenced by either the need for surgical revision or persistent inflammation.ConclusionThis multinational, heterogeneous cohort of ICU patients with intra-abdominal infection revealed that setting of infection acquisition, anatomical disruption, and severity of disease expression are disease-specific phenotypic characteristics associated with outcome, irrespective of the type of infection. Antimicrobial resistance is equally common in community-acquired as in hospital-acquired infection. Pfizer investigator-initiated research grant AbSeS is a Trials Group Study of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine. The study was supported by a Pfizer investigator-initiated research grant.

Drop-weight experiments studied the damages due to repeated low-velocity impacts of hybrid composite laminates. The laminate made by carbon woven fabric and glass woven fabric impregnated by vinyl ester resin was subjected at single impact, at 5 repeated impacts and 10 repeated impacts, for an energetic level of U=20J. The final damage after the single and repeated impact events was analysed by no-destructive methods, Pulse Thermography and Holographic Interferometry to evaluate the influence of the multi-hit events on the damaged area's evolution.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the ultrasound features of different endometrial and other intracavitary pathologies inpre- and postmenopausal women presenting with abnormal uterine bleeding, using the International Endometrial Tumor Analysis (IETA) terminology. METHODS: This was a prospective observational multicenter study of consecutive women presenting with abnormal uterine bleeding. Unenhanced sonography with color Doppler and fluid-instillation sonography were performed. Endometrial sampling was performed according to each center's local protocol. The histological endpoints were cancer, atypical endometrial hyperplasia/endometrioid intraepithelial neoplasia (EIN), endometrial atrophy, proliferative or secretory endometrium, endometrial hyperplasia without atypia, endometrial polyp, intracavitary leiomyoma and other. For fluid-instillation sonography, the histological endpoints were endometrial polyp, intracavitary leiomyoma and cancer. For each histological endpoint, we report typical ultrasound features using the IETA terminology. RESULTS: The database consisted of 2856 consecutive women presenting with abnormal uterine bleeding. Unenhanced sonography with color Doppler was performed in all cases and fluid-instillation sonography in 1857. In 2216 women, endometrial histology was available, and these comprised the study population. Median age was 49 years (range, 19-92 years), median parity was 2 (range, 0-10) and median body mass index was 24.9 kg/m2 (range, 16.0-72.1 kg/m2 ). Of the study population, 843 (38.0%) women were postmenopausal. Endometrial polyps were diagnosed in 751 (33.9%) women, intracavitary leiomyomas in 223 (10.1%) and endometrial cancer in 137 (6.2%). None (0% (95% CI, 0.0-5.5%)) of the 66 women with endometrial thickness

This paper presents a study of the oxidation of iso-octane, ethanol, toluene and their mixtures in a pressurised turbulent flow reactor operating at 900–930 K, 10 bar, and an equivalence ratio of 0.058. A large set of fuels is investigated, including neat iso-octane, ethanol, toluene, their binary mixtures, gasoline reference fuels (PRF91 and TRF91), and their mixtures with ethanol. The resulting species are measured along the length of the reactor and simulated using existing kinetic models from the literature. The existing models are found to reproduce measurements of the major oxidation products of iso-octane, ethanol, their binary mixtures, as well as that of PRF91 and PRF91/ethanol mixtures. However, significant differences are observed between the measurement and simulation of neat toluene. Adjustment is then made to the rate constants of key reactions in the toluene model. The adjusted model, whilst more accurately reproducing neat toluene oxidation, does not significantly improve the modelling of toluene containing mixtures. This suggests that further investigations should focus on the oxidation of neat toluene, as well as the chemical interactions of toluene containing mixtures.

Objective: In the last two decades many reports demonstrated the unreliability of endometrial biopsy pathology showing an AH (Atypical Hyperplasia) to exclude a synchronous EEC (Endometrioid Endometrial Carcinoma), with an underestimation of EEC in up to 50% of women. Hysteroscopy is now considered the standard diagnostic tool for endometrial pathology. However, a recent meta-analysis showed that hysteroscopically-guided biopsy provides a high rate of failure with respect to dilatation and curettage (D&C) and endometrial resection, in underestimating AH instead of concurrent EC. The aim of this study was to assess the sensitivity of hysteroscopy-view and hysteroscopic sampling in diagnosing EEC. Materials and Methods: A multicenter, retrospective, observational trial was conducted between January 2012 and December 2018 in 14 Italian Gynecological Units (University-affiliated or Public Hospitals). Eligible patients were identified as those women in whom either a pathologic report of EEC was found on hysterectomy specimen and a preoperative hysteroscopy assessment with endometrial biopsy targeted under vision had been performed. As primary outcome we calculated the sensitivity of hysteroscopy-view and biopsy pathology on hysteroscopically-driven sampling in the diagnostic work-up of EC. Results: 948 patients (age 65,83±10,43) resulted eligible for analysis. Hysteroscopy-view showed a sensitivity of 54.2%, specificity 47,2% and accuracy 54% in the diagnosis of EC. Moreover, hysteroscopic view was significantly able to distinguish carcinoma from hyperplasia (p

To describe the clinical and ultrasound characteristics of adnexal torsion.This was a retrospective study. From the operative records of the eight participating gynecological ultrasound centers, we identified patients with a surgically confirmed diagnosis of adnexal torsion, defined as surgical evidence of ovarian pedicle, paraovarian cyst and/or Fallopian tube twisted on its own axis, who had undergone preoperative ultrasound examination by an experienced examiner, between 2008 and 2018. Only cases with at least two available ultrasound images and/or videoclips (one grayscale and one with Doppler evaluation) were included. Clinical, ultrasound, surgical and histological information was retrieved from each patient's medical record and entered into an Excel file by the principal investigator at each center. In addition, two authors reviewed all available ultrasound images and videoclips of the twisted adnexa, with regard to the presence of four predefined ultrasound features reported to be characteristic of adnexal torsion: (1) ovarian stromal edema with or without peripherally displaced antral follicles, (2) the follicular ring sign, (3) the whirlpool sign and (4) absence of vascularization in the twisted organ.A total of 315 cases of adnexal torsion were identified. The median age of the patients was 30 (range, 1-88) years. Most patients were premenopausal (284/314; 90.4%) and presented with acute or subacute pelvic pain (305/315; 96.8%). The surgical approach was laparoscopic in 239/312 (76.6%) patients and conservative surgery (untwisting with or without excision of a lesion) was performed in 149/315 (47.3%) cases. According to the original ultrasound reports, the median largest diameter of the twisted organ was 83 (range, 30-349) mm. Free fluid in the pouch of Douglas was detected in 196/275 (71.3%) patients. Ovarian stromal edema with or without peripherally displaced antral follicles was reported in the original ultrasound report in 167/241 (69.3%) patients, the whirlpool sign in 178/226 (78.8%) patients, absent color Doppler signals in the twisted organ in 119/269 (44.2%) patients and the follicular ring sign in 51/134 (38.1%) patients. On retrospective review of images and videoclips, ovarian stromal edema with or without peripherally displaced antral follicles (201/254; 79.1%) and the whirlpool sign (139/153; 90.8%) were the most commonly detected features of adnexal torsion.Most patients with surgically confirmed adnexal torsion are of reproductive age and present with acute or subacute pain. Common ultrasound signs are an enlarged adnexa, the whirlpool sign, ovarian stromal edema with or without peripherally displaced antral follicles and free fluid in the pelvis. The follicular ring sign and absence of Doppler signals in the twisted organ are slightly less common signs. Recognizing ultrasound signs of adnexal torsion is important so that the correct treatment, i.e. surgery without delay, can be offered. Copyright © 2020 ISUOG. Published by John WileySons Ltd.

Regulatory networks often converge on very similar cis sequences to drive transcriptional programs due to constraints on what transcription factors are present. To determine the role of constraint loss on cis element evolution, we examined the recent appearance of a thiamine starvation regulated promoter in Candida glabrata. This species lacks the ancestral transcription factor Thi2, but still has the transcription factor Pdc2, which regulates thiamine starvation genes, allowing us to determine the effect of constraint change on a new promoter. We identified two different cis elements in C. glabrata - one present in the evolutionarily recent gene called CgPMU3, and the other element present in the other thiamine (THI) regulated genes. Reciprocal swaps of the cis elements and incorporation of the S. cerevisiae Thi2 transcription factor-binding site into these promoters demonstrate that the two elements are functionally different from one another. Thus, this loss of an imposed constraint on promoter function has generated a novel cis sequence, suggesting that loss of trans constraints can generate a non-convergent pathway with the same output.

Background:Uveitis is the main extraarticular complication of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) with still a significant impact on JIA morbidity, despite continuous improvement in systemic treatment. Although antinuclear antibody positivity and early onset of JIA have been associated with a high risk of uveitis onset, so far no clinical features have been widely recognized as predictive factors for JIA-associated uveitis (JIA-U) response to treatment.Objectives:To investigate clinical features associated with response to systemic treatment in a long-term cohort of patients with JIA-UMethods:Clinical records of patients with JIA-U were retrospectively reviewed with regard to clinical features, therapeutic choices and outcome. Clinical and laboratory variables were compared by means of Mann-Whitney U test or chi-square/Fisher exact test, as appropriate.Results:Data from 164 JIA-U patients were analysed (81.7% female), with a median follow up of 12.1 years (7.1-17.3). Median age at JIA and uveitis onset was 2.6 (1.6-4.8) and 4.8 (2.9 – 7.0) years, respectively. Monotherapy with a conventional disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) was used in 25.0% of patients, while 111 patients (67.7%) received at least one biologic DMARD (bDMARDs). Compared to patients responsive to DMARDs, children requiring a bDMARDs for uveitis had a lower median age at both JIA (2.4 vs 4.3 years, p 0.0234) and uveitis onset (4.1 vs 6.2 years, p 0.0023). Despite no differences in ocular damage at onset and median disease duration, patients not responsive to conventional DMARDs showed a higher frequency of ocular damage at the last visit (66.2% vs 33.3%, p 0.011). Children requiring more than one bDMARD for uveitis presented a more frequent polyarticular course (87.0% vs 20.2%, p 0.0022), a longer disease duration (median follow-up: 14.2 vs 10.4 years, p 0.0397) and a higher frequency of visual loss (best corrected visual acuity < 4/10: 23.3% vs 6.3%, p 0.0069).Conclusion:JIA-U patients with a lack of response to conventional DMARDs were significantly younger both at JIA and uveitis onset. Severe JIA-U requiring more than one bDMARDs was associated with polyarticular JIA course and longer disease duration. Children resistant to conventional treatment need prompt recognition and additional strategies to improve long-term outcome.References:[1]Heiligenhaus et al. Predictive factors and biomarkers for the 2-year outcome of uveitis in juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Rheumatology 2019.Disclosure of Interests:None declared

The Research Octane Number (RON) and the Motor Octane Number (MON) are primary fuel properties that characterize gasoline’s knock resistance in spark ignition engines. The utility of these two metrics, however, has been questioned with advancements in engine technologies that significantly change the thermochemical environment inside the cylinder. The Octane Index, OI = (1-K)·RON + K·MON, has therefore been proposed to characterize the knock resistance in modern engines where K weights the relative contribution of the RON and MON and is primarily determined by engine design and operating conditions. Quantifying the K factor is central to understanding a fuel’s anti-knock performance in a modern spark-ignition (SI) engine. This work therefore determines the map of K over engine operating conditions for a 2-litre, 4-cylinder turbocharged, gasoline direct-injection engine. To achieve this, a novel blending system for primary reference fuels (PRFs) was developed to determine K by matching the knock resistance of a 91.6-RON certification gasoline with a PRF at each operating condition. The K values are determined over the engine map with normal and high intake air and coolant temperatures. At normal operating temperature, K is negative at most knock-limited conditions, consistent with previous findings, whereas at high operating temperatures, K is mostly positive and, indeed, exceeds 1 near 8 bar BMEP and 3000 RPM, demonstrating the relevance of the MON at some conditions of practical significance. Further analysis is conducted via engine simulations to examine the relationship between K and end gas conditions, and a strong correlation is observed between K and the unburned gas temperature at the later stages of combustion. This correlation is argued to have a sound physical basis in the engine’s thermochemistry, supporting the utility of this K factor method.

Attraverso un rapido esame delle testimonianze, di scuola (spesso trasmesse dai papiri ercolanesi) e non, si cerca di dimostrare come il culto della memoria si inserisca coerentemente nel quadro del pensiero epicureo e come abbia svolto una funzione essenziale per la vita del Giardino

Purpose: To describe the epidemiology of intra-abdominal infection in an international cohort of ICU patients according to a new system that classifies cases according to setting of infection acquisition (community-acquired, early onset hospital-acquired, and late-onset hospital-acquired), anatomical disruption (absent or present with localized or diffuse peritonitis), and severity of disease expression (infection, sepsis, and septic shock). Methods: We performed a multicenter (n = 309), observational, epidemiological study including adult ICU patients diagnosed with intra-abdominal infection. Risk factors for mortality were assessed by logistic regression analysis. Results: The cohort included 2621 patients. Setting of infection acquisition was community-acquired in 31.6%, early onset hospital-acquired in 25%, and late-onset hospital-acquired in 43.4% of patients. Overall prevalence of antimicrobial resistance was 26.3% and difficult-to-treat resistant Gram-negative bacteria 4.3%, with great variation according to geographic region. No difference in prevalence of antimicrobial resistance was observed according to setting of infection acquisition. Overall mortality was 29.1%. Independent risk factors for mortality included late-onset hospital-acquired infection, diffuse peritonitis, sepsis, septic shock, older age, malnutrition, liver failure, congestive heart failure, antimicrobial resistance (either methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, vancomycin-resistant enterococci, extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Gram-negative bacteria, or carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative bacteria) and source control failure evidenced by either the need for surgical revision or persistent inflammation. Conclusion: This multinational, heterogeneous cohort of ICU patients with intra-abdominal infection revealed that setting of infection acquisition, anatomical disruption, and severity of disease expression are disease-specific phenotypic characteristics associated with outcome, irrespective of the type of infection. Antimicrobial resistance is equally common in community-acquired as in hospital-acquired infection. © 2019, The Author(s).

Inorganic phosphate is required for a range of cellular processes, such as DNA/RNA synthesis and intracellular signalling. The phosphate starvation-inducible phosphatase activity of Candida glabrata is encoded by the gene CgPMU2 (C. glabrata phosphomutase-like protein). CgPMU2 is part of a three-gene family (∼75% identical) created through gene duplication in the C. glabrata clade; only CgPmu2 is a PHO-regulated broad range acid phosphatase. We identified amino acids that confer broad range phosphatase activity on CgPmu2 by creating fusions of sections of CgPMU2 with CgPMU1, a paralogue with little broad range phosphatase activity. We used site-directed mutagenesis on various fusions to sequentially convert CgPmu1 to CgPmu2. Based on molecular modelling of the Pmu proteins on to a histidine phosphatase crystal structure, clusters of amino acids were found in two distinct regions that were able to confer phosphatase activity. Substitutions in these two regions together conferred broad phosphatase activity on CgPmu1. Interestingly, one change is a histidine adjacent to the active site histidine of CgPmu2 and it exhibits a novel ability to partially replace the conserved active site histidine in CgPmu2. Additionally, a second amino acid change was able to confer nt phosphatase activity to CgPmu1, suggesting single amino acid changes neofunctionalize CgPmu2.

Objectives To assess interobserver reproducibility among ultrasound experts and gynecologists in the prediction by transvaginal ultrasound of deep myometrial and cervical stromal invasion in women with endometrial cancer. Methods Sonographic videoclips of the uterine corpus and cervix of 53 women with endometrial cancer, examined preoperatively by the same ultrasound expert, were integrated into a digitalized survey. Nine ultrasound experts and nine gynecologists evaluated presence or absence of deep myometrial and cervical stromal invasion. Histopathology from hysterectomy specimens was used as the gold standard. Results Compared with gynecologists, ultrasound experts showed higher sensitivity, specificity and agreement with histopathology in the assessment of cervical stromal invasion (42% (95% CI, 31-53%) vs 57% (95% CI, 45-68%), P < 0.01; 83% (95% CI, 78-86%) vs 87% (95% CI, 83-90%), P = 0.02; and kappa, 0.45 (95% CI, 0.40-0.49) vs 0.58 (95% CI, 0.53-0.62), P< 0.001, respectively) but not of deep myometrial invasion (73% (95% CI, 66-79%) vs 73% (95% CI, 66-79%), P = 1.0; 70% (95% CI, 65-75%) vs 69% (95% CI, 63-74%), P = 0.68; and kappa, 0.48 (95% CI, 0.44-0.53) vs 0.52 (95% CI, 0.48-0.57), P = 0.11, respectively). Though interobserver reproducibility (in the context of test proportions 'good' and 'very good', according to kappa) regarding deep myometrial invasion did not differ between the groups (experts, 34% vs gynecologists, 22%, P = 0.13), ultrasound experts assessed cervical stromal invasion with significantly greater interobserver reproducibility than did gynecologists (53% vs 14%, P< 0.001). Conclusion Preoperative ultrasound assessment of deep myometrial and cervical stromal invasion in endometrial cancer is best performed by ultrasound experts, as, compared with gynecologists, they showed a greater degree of agreement with histopathology and greater interobserver reproducibility in the assessment of cervical stromal invasion. Copyright (C) 2014 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. (Less)

Thermoplastic elastomers (TPE) are attractive materials because they combine the processing advantages and recycling potential of thermoplastics with the flexibility and low modulus of elastomers. This paper reports the synthesis and characterization of polyolefin TPE from ?-olefin chain-walking polymerization. The polymers were characterized by 13C NMR for quantification of the total branching level and branch-type distribution. The numerous combinations of monomer insertions and chain-walking paths afford polymers with unique microstructure and properties, depending on the monomer length. The thermal properties and crystallinity of the polymers are strongly controlled by their microstructure: the presence of long branches interferes on the crystallization and melting behavior. A comprehensive investigation of the mechanical behaviour of the polymers by means of uniaxial stretching until failure, step-cycle and creep tensile tests was carried out. Overall, the polymers exhibit a broad spectrum of tensile properties, depending on their microstructure and crystallinity. 1-Octene and 1-decene polymers behave as elastomers with excellent mechanical properties, i.e., high elongation at break (up to 1500%) and good strain recovery, while the 1-octadecene polymer behaves as plastomers.

Thermoplastic elastomers (TPE) are attractive materials because they combine the processing advantages and recycling potential of thermoplastics with the flexibility and low modulus of elastomers. This paper reports the synthesis and characterization of polyolefin TPE from ?-olefin chain-walking polymerization. The polymers were characterized by 13C NMR for quantification of the total branching level and branch-type distribution. The numerous combinations of monomer insertions and chain-walking paths afford polymers with unique microstructure and properties, depending on the monomer length. The thermal properties and crystallinity of the polymers are strongly controlled by their microstructure: the presence of long branches interferes on the crystallization and melting behavior. A comprehensive investigation of the mechanical behaviour of the polymers by means of uniaxial stretching until failure, step-cycle and creep tensile tests was carried out. Overall, the polymers exhibit a broad spectrum of tensile properties, depending on their microstructure and crystallinity. 1-Octene and 1-decene polymers behave as elastomers with excellent mechanical properties, i.e., high elongation at break (up to 1500%) and good strain recovery, while the 1-octadecene polymer behaves as plastomers.

ObjectivesTo describe the sonographic features of endometrial cancer in relation to stage, grade, and histological type using the International Endometrial Tumor Analysis (IETA) terminology. MethodsProspective multicenter study on 1714 women with endometrial cancer undergoing a standardized transvaginal grayscale and Doppler ultrasound examination by an experienced ultrasound examiner using a high-end ultrasound system. Clinical and sonographic data were entered into a web-based protocol. We assessed how strongly sonographic characteristics, according to IETA, were associated to outcome at hysterectomy, i.e. tumor stage, grade, and histological type. ResultsAfter excluding 176 women (no or delayed hysterectomy, final diagnosis other than endometrial cancer, or incomplete data), 1538 women were included in our statistical analysis. Median age was 65 years (range 27–98), and median BMI 28.4 (range 16–67), 1378 (89.7%) women were postmenopausal, and 1296 (84.2%) reported abnormal vaginal bleeding. Grayscale and color Doppler features varied according to grade and stage. High-risk tumors (stage 1A, grade 3 or non-endometrioid or ≥ stage 1B) were less likely to have regular endometrial myometrial border (difference of −23%, 95% CI −27 to −18%), whilst they were larger (mean endometrial thickness; difference of +9 mm, 95% CI +8 to +11 mm), more frequently had non-uniform echogenicity (difference of +10%, 95% CI +5 to +15%), a multiple, multifocal vessel pattern (difference of +21%, 95% CI +16 to +26%), and a moderate or high color score (difference of +22%, 95% CI +18 to +27%), than low-risk tumors. ConclusionGrayscale and color Doppler ultrasound features are associated with grade and stage, and differ between high and low risk endometrial cancer.

Combustion in modern spark-ignition (SI) engines is increasingly knock-limited with the wide adoption of downsizing and turbocharging technologies. Fuel autoignition conditions are different in these engines compared to the standard Research Octane Number (RON) and Motor Octane Numbers (MON) tests. The Octane Index, OI = RON - K(RON-MON), has been proposed as a means to characterize the actual fuel anti-knock performance in modern engines. The K-factor, by definition equal to 0 and 1 for the RON and MON tests respectively, is intended to characterize the deviation of modern engine operation from these standard octane tests. Accurate knowledge of K is of central importance to the OI model; however, a single method for determining K has not been well accepted in the literature. This paper first examines four different methods for determining K, using literature results from a modern SI engine operating with direct injection (DI), port fuel injection (PFI) and homogeneous, upstream fuel injection (UFI). The test fuels were ethanol-gasoline blends spanning a wide range of RON and MON, together with isooctane as a reference. The quality of the K results from some of these methods is particularly dependent on the design of the test fuel matrix, with unreliable K values resulting in some cases. One of the more reliable methods is then used to examine how K varies with the intake pressure, fueling strategy, engine speed and compression ratio, with throttled conditions considered in detail. Several of the observed trends are consistent with prior studies, including K being consistently negative at higher loads for DI. In contrast to other studies, however, K is also observed to approach 0.5 at part load, throttled conditions, irrespective of whether the engine is fuelled by DI, PFI or UFI. Preliminary analysis of the autoignition chemistry for different fuelling methods then suggests plausible reasons for these results.