The impact of the photon PDF and electroweak corrections on [Formula: see text] distributions.

We discuss the impact of EW corrections on differential distributions in top-quark pair production at the LHC and future hadron colliders, focussing on the effects of initial-state photons. Performing a calculation at Next-to-Leading Order QCD+EW accuracy, we investigate in detail the impact of photon-initiated channels on central values as well as PDF and scale uncertainties, both at order [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]. We present predictions at 13 and 100 TeV, and provide results for the 8 TeV differential measurements performed by ATLAS and CMS. A thorough comparison of results obtained with the NNPDF2.3QED and CT14QED PDF sets is performed. While contributions due to the photon PDF are negligible with CT14QED, this is not the case for NNPDF2.3QED, where such contributions are sizeable and show large PDF uncertainties. On the one hand, we show that differential observables in top-pair production, in particular top-quark and [Formula: see text] rapidities, can be used to improve the determination of the photon PDF within the NNPDF approach. On the other hand, with current PDF sets, we demonstrate the necessity of including EW corrections and photon-induced contributions for a correct determination of both the central value and the uncertainties of theoretical predictions.

Trapeziometacarpal narrow pseudarthrosis: a new surgical technique to treat thumb carpometacarpal joint arthritis.

We describe a technique that arose from the observation of the clinical outcome of failed arthrodeses of the thumb carpometacarpal joint. In these cases a pseudoarthrosis developed which, surprisingly, rarely lead to a poor clinical outcome. Thus we developed a simple technique which deliberately caused the formation of a narrow pseudoarthrosis in the carpometacarpal joint. We present a retrospective review of 248 consecutive patients treated for Eaton stages II and III osteoarthritis. We observed a statistically significant improvement in mean appositional and oppositional pinch strength, mean DASH score (63.8 pre-operatively to 10.5 at final follow-up), and the mean pain score (8.3 to 0.2). We conclude that trapeziometacarpal limited excision arthroplasty is a simple and reliable alternative to existing surgical techniques for treating Stage II or III thumb carpometacarpal joint arthritis.

Protein biochip array of adhesion molecule expression in peripheral blood of patients with nasal polyposis.

Nasal polyposis is a chronic non-infectious inflammatory disease of the nasal and paranasal cavity mucosa of unknown multifactorial origin in which inflammatory cells, and in particular eosinophils, seem to play a pivotal role. Eosinophil migration from the bloodstream to nasal polyps is considered to be specific and is a complex process involving several different molecules such as ICAM-1, VCAM-1, and L-, P- and E-selectins. The aim of this study was to investigate, using a protein biochip array technology, the concentrations of these molecules in the peripheral blood of a group of patients affected by nasal polyposis. Patients exhibited a significantly higher expression of VCAM-1, E-selectin, and L-selectin compared to healthy controls, and Spearman's rank correlation test limited to the molecules with significant betweengroup differences demonstrated a significant correlation between VCAM-1 and E-selectin, VCAM-1 and L-selectin, and Eselectin and L-selectin. The results of this investigation are in line with those coming from various imunohistochemical analyses, and seem to confirm the role of inflammation in the pathogenesis of nasal polyposis. These molecules may also represent novel therapeutic targets in the treatment of nasal polyps, and may allow the selection of pharmacological prophylactics that would allow effective inhibition of the inflammation induced by a given allergen.

Clinico-prognostic value of D-type cyclins and p27 in laryngeal cancer patients: a review.

Despite recent improvements in surgical and radiation therapy, failures still occur in patients with laryngeal squamous cell carcinomas, which may have a very different clinical outcome even when their clinical and histopathological characteristics are similar. The apparent inadequacy of "traditional" prognostic factors in predicting the clinical evolution of laryngeal squamous cell carcinomas has led to attempts to develop additional markers capable of distinguishing patients with a good prognosis from those who are more likely to relapse. A number of studies have demonstrated a relationship between tumourigenesis and alterations in the expression of cyclins, cyclin-dependent kinases and cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors, but the data regarding laryngeal squamous cell carcinomas are somewhat conflicting. Herein a review is made of the published literature concerning the clinico-prognostic role of cyclin D1, D3 and p27, and personal data are described concerning laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma patients who underwent surgical resection at the ENT Department of the University of Milan. The results of our multivariate analyses demonstrated that cyclin D1, p27 and cyclin D3 overexpression are statistically significant predictors of disease-free survival (p = 0.0238, p = 0.0001 and p = 0.0217, respectively); the statistical correlation with overall survival was significant in the case of p27 (p = 0.0009) and cyclin D3 (p = 0.0189), and borderline in the case of cyclin D1 (p = 0.0622). In relation to cyclin D1/p27 coexpression, the patients with a cyclin D1-/p27+ phenotype showed the best prognosis, those with a cyclin D1/p27+ or cyclin D1-/p27- phenotype, an intermediate prognosis, and those with a cyclin D1+/p27- phenotype, the poorest prognosis (p = 0.0001 and p = 0.0001 for trend for disease-free survival; p = 0.0015 and p = 0.0008 for trend for overall survival). In the case of cyclin D1/cyclin D3 coexpression, the patients with cyclin D1+/cyclin D3+ tumours had the poorest overall survival, those with cyclin D1/cyclin D3+or cyclin D1+/cyclin D3- tumours showed intermediate course, and those with cyclin D1 /cyclin D3- tumours had the most favourable outcome (p = 0.0002). The findings of this review indicate that both types of cyclin D and p27 are involved in the genesis of laryngeal squamous cell carcinomas, and that immunohistochemical evaluations of biopsy samples may provide useful additional markers capable of identifying subgroups of patients with a poor prognosis who can be treated by means of more aggressive surgery, adjuvant radiotherapy and chemotherapy, as well as those requiring a closer and more prolonged follow-up. Finally, preliminary results suggest that the administration of new molecular therapies that exert their antitumoural activities by functionally subverting the pathways regulated by D-type cyclins and their cyclin-dependent kinase counterparts may represent a further therapeutic modality for patients with refractory head and neck squamous cell carcinomas [corrected]

Pulmonary blastoma: report of two cases.

Pulmonary blastomas are a group of rare malignant neoplasms subdivided into three categories: classic biphasic pulmonary blastoma (CBPB), well-differentiated fetal adenocarcinoma (WDFA), and pleuropulmonary blastoma (PPB). We report herein the cases of two men with CBPB. Both were heavy smokers and presented with a history of hemoptysis. Physical examination revealed slightly significant findings, chest radiographs showed a large pulmonary mass, confirmed by computed tomography, and bronchoscopic biopsies were not diagnostic. A left and right inferior lobectomy was performed and a diagnosis of CPBP was confirmed by histological examination. In the first patient, local recurrence with multiple bilateral lung metastases was found 6 months later and despite chemotherapy, he died of respiratory failure 1 year after his operation. In the second patient, a subcutaneous metastasis was found in the right subscapular region 2 months later, and a cerebral metastasis in the right posterior parietal lobe 4 months later. Partial remission was achieved by cerebral irradiation, but 6 months later the patient died of cardiac failure while in a coma. We conclude that more aggressive and multidisciplinary treatment should be adopted for CBPB, and because of its low incidence, it is important to unify individual experiences in a central registry to gather as much information as possible regarding the biological and clinical features of this unusual disease.

A pitfall with the use of 111In-pentetreotide scintigraphy in the resected bronchopulmonary carcinoids follow-up: a case report.

AIM: To re-evaluate the use of 111In-pentetreotide scintigraphy (Octreoscan) in the follow-up of patients operated for carcinoids, as second-step investigation, after chest X-ray, CT-scan and serological marker' levels. METHODS AND RESULTS: We describe the case of a female patient, 58-year-old, operated on for a non-secretory lung carcinoid. Five years after surgery, the CT-scan showed the enlargement of the bilateral hylo-mediastinal lymph nodes, suggestive for carcinoid recurrences. In order to confirm that, the patient was submitted to an Octreoscan that showed the presence of enlarged hylo-mediastinal adenopathies matching with the lesions observed at the CT-scan. Because the serological examination of NSE, chromogranin and serotonin, and the 5-HIIA were in the normal range, the patient was submitted to a lymph node biopsy through a mediastinoscopy. The histological examination of the specimens revealed a sarcoidosis and the patient was started on steroid therapy with good outcome. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that: 1. the octreoscan scintigraphy in the follow-up of resected carcinoids can give false-positive results and 2. in consequence, the mediastinoscopy is a discriminating investigation in case of mediastinal lymph nodes disease.

Difficulties with CT-guided needle biopsy and VATS, as combined approach for the diagnosis and treatment of peripheral pulmonary nodules: a case report.

AIM: To re-evaluate the use of CT-guided needle biopsy and VATS, as our combined approach protocol for the diagnosis and treatment of peripheral pulmonary nodules. METHODS AND RESULTS: We describe the case of a male smoking patient, 50-year-old, who came to our service for the histological diagnosis of a right pulmonary lesion incidentally revealed. He was submitted to our diagnostic and therapeutic protocol for peripheral pulmonary nodules, that is a combined approach of CT-guided needle biopsy, anchorage of the lesion and VATS resection. Difficulties with this technique can raise when: 1. the cytological CT-guided needle biopsy is not diagnostic, 2. the anchorage is not successful, 3. the malignancy of the lesion cannot be surely determined by the extemporary histological examination. In this patient all these difficulties were encountered. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that our diagnostic and therapeutic protocol for peripheral pulmonary nodules is not invalidated by this experience, even in consideration of the fact that we applied successfully the protocol in several previous cases.

Radioimmunoguided surgery and intraoperative lung cancer staging.

Radioimmunoguided surgery (RIGS) has proven its worth, especially when used in primary, recurrent, and metastatic colon-rectum adenocarcinomas, and in liver metastases from other intestinal adenocarcinomas. Until now, RIGS has not been investigated for lung cancer surgery, chiefly because of problems related to the blood pool radioactivity background which is at its highest in the thoracic area. The positive RIGS experience with other tumors encouraged us to investigate its effectiveness in lung adenocarcinomas. In six cases, RIGS gave excellent results in the detection of primary pulmonary lesions; no false negatives or false positives were shown. Data on lymph nodes revealed one false negative. Immunohistochemical staining was always performed in association with traditional pathology of the resected specimens. In one case, a noncancerous lesion, as defined by traditional hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) staining, confirmed RIGS intraoperative finding of nonmalignant tissue.

Role of GABA and opioids in the regulation of the vasopressin response to physical exercise in normal men.

The present study was undertaken in order to establish the possible involvement of GABAergic and/or opioid pathways in the mechanism underlying the arginine-vasopressin (AVP) response to physical exercise. After fasting overnight, seven subjects were tested on four mornings at least 1 week apart. Exercise was performed on a bicycle ergometer. The workload was gradually increased at 3 min intervals until exhaustion and lasted about 15 min in all subjects. Tests were carried out under administration of placebo, the opioid antagonist naloxone (10 mg as an i.v. bolus injection), the GABAergic agonist sodium valproate (600 mg in three divided doses orally) or naloxone plus sodium valproate. Plasma AVP levels rose 4-fold during exercise. The administration of naloxone did not modify, whereas sodium valproate completely abolished the plasma AVP rise during exercise. When naloxone was given together with sodium valproate, AVP rose 3-fold in response to exercise. These data suggest the involvement of a GABAergic mechanism in regulation of the AVP response to physical exercise in men. Furthermore, the data argue against a role of naloxone sensitive endogenous opioids in the control of AVP during exercise, whereas they suggest a partial opioid mediation of the GABAergic inhibitory action.

Solubilization of immune complexes and inhibition of immune precipitation in SLE sera.

The ability of serum to in vitro process immune complexes both preformed (ICSC) and during their formation (ICPIC) has been evaluated in 37 patients affected by systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). ICSC was found to be significantly lower in these patients than in normal controls (p less than 0.001), and strictly related to the phase of the disease. Correlations were evidenced between ICSC and haemolytic activity of the classical and alternative pathways of complement, levels of the complement components C3 and C4, and incidence of circulating immune complexes. Low values of ICPIC were demonstrated almost only in sera of patients with active SLE; in fact, ICPIC was impaired in 6 sera only, and five of them were collected in the acute phase. All sera with decreased ICPIC also displayed a very low level of the C4 complement component.