| 1. |
- Niemi, MEK, et al.
(author)
-
- 2021
-
swepub:Mat__t
|
|
| 2. |
- Kanai, M, et al.
(author)
-
- 2023
-
swepub:Mat__t
|
|
| 3. |
|
|
| 4. |
|
|
| 5. |
|
|
| 6. |
- Volpe, Giovanni, 1979, et al.
(author)
-
Roadmap for optical tweezers
- 2023
-
In: Journal of Physics-Photonics. - : IOP Publishing. - 2515-7647. ; 5:2
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Optical tweezers are tools made of light that enable contactless pushing, trapping, and manipulation of objects, ranging from atoms to space light sails. Since the pioneering work by Arthur Ashkin in the 1970s, optical tweezers have evolved into sophisticated instruments and have been employed in a broad range of applications in the life sciences, physics, and engineering. These include accurate force and torque measurement at the femtonewton level, microrheology of complex fluids, single micro- and nano-particle spectroscopy, single-cell analysis, and statistical-physics experiments. This roadmap provides insights into current investigations involving optical forces and optical tweezers from their theoretical foundations to designs and setups. It also offers perspectives for applications to a wide range of research fields, from biophysics to space exploration.
|
|
| 7. |
- Elhai, M, et al.
(author)
-
Outcomes of patients with systemic sclerosis treated with rituximab in contemporary practice: a prospective cohort study
- 2019
-
In: Annals of the rheumatic diseases. - : BMJ. - 1468-2060 .- 0003-4967. ; 78:7, s. 979-987
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- To assess the safety and efficacy of rituximab in systemic sclerosis (SSc) in clinical practice.MethodsWe performed a prospective study including patients with SSc from the European Scleroderma Trials and Research (EUSTAR) network treated with rituximab and matched with untreated patients with SSc. The main outcomes measures were adverse events, skin fibrosis improvement, lung fibrosis worsening and steroids use among propensity score-matched patients treated or not with rituximab.Results254 patients were treated with rituximab, in 58% for lung and in 32% for skin involvement. After a median follow-up of 2 years, about 70% of the patients had no side effect. Comparison of treated patients with 9575 propensity-score matched patients showed that patients treated with rituximab were more likely to have skin fibrosis improvement (22.7 vs 14.03 events per 100 person-years; OR: 2.79 [1.47–5.32]; p=0.002). Treated patients did not have significantly different rates of decrease in forced vital capacity (FVC)>10% (OR: 1.03 [0.55–1.94]; p=0.93) nor in carbon monoxide diffusing capacity (DLCO) decrease. Patients having received rituximab were more prone to stop or decrease steroids (OR: 2.34 [1.56–3.53], p<0.0001). Patients treated concomitantly with mycophenolate mofetil had a trend for better outcomes as compared with patients receiving rituximab alone (delta FVC: 5.22 [0.83–9.62]; p=0.019 as compared with controls vs 3 [0.66–5.35]; p=0.012).ConclusionRituximab use was associated with a good safety profile in this large SSc-cohort. Significant change was observed on skin fibrosis, but not on lung. However, the limitation is the observational design. The potential stabilisation of lung fibrosis by rituximab has to be addressed by a randomised trial.
|
|
| 8. |
|
|
| 9. |
- Becker, M, et al.
(author)
-
Predictors of disease worsening defined by progression of organ damage in diffuse systemic sclerosis: a European Scleroderma Trials and Research (EUSTAR) analysis
- 2019
-
In: Annals of the rheumatic diseases. - : BMJ. - 1468-2060 .- 0003-4967. ; 78:9, s. 1242-1248
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Mortality and worsening of organ function are desirable endpoints for clinical trials in systemic sclerosis (SSc). The aim of this study was to identify factors that allow enrichment of patients with these endpoints, in a population of patients from the European Scleroderma Trials and Research group database.MethodsInclusion criteria were diagnosis of diffuse SSc and follow-up over 12±3 months. Disease worsening/organ progression was fulfilled if any of the following events occurred: new renal crisis; decrease of lung or heart function; new echocardiography-suspected pulmonary hypertension or death. In total, 42 clinical parameters were chosen as predictors for the analysis by using (1) imputation of missing data on the basis of multivariate imputation and (2) least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression.ResultsOf 1451 patients meeting the inclusion criteria, 706 had complete data on outcome parameters and were included in the analysis. Of the 42 outcome predictors, eight remained in the final regression model. There was substantial evidence for a strong association between disease progression and age, active digital ulcer (DU), lung fibrosis, muscle weakness and elevated C-reactive protein (CRP) level. Active DU, CRP elevation, lung fibrosis and muscle weakness were also associated with a significantly shorter time to disease progression. A bootstrap validation step with 10 000 repetitions successfully validated the model.ConclusionsThe use of the predictive factors presented here could enable cohort enrichment with patients at risk for overall disease worsening in SSc clinical trials.
|
|
| 10. |
|
|
| 11. |
|
|
| 12. |
|
|
| 13. |
|
|
| 14. |
- Cristiani, CM, et al.
(author)
-
Altered Frequencies and Functions of Innate Lymphoid Cells in Melanoma Patients Are Modulated by Immune Checkpoints Inhibitors
- 2022
-
In: Frontiers in immunology. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 1664-3224. ; 13, s. 811131-
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Monoclonal antibodies targeting immune checkpoints improved clinical outcome of patients with malignant melanoma. However, the mechanisms are not fully elucidated. Since immune check-point receptors are also expressed by helper innate lymphoid cells (ILCs), we investigated the capability of immune checkpoints inhibitors to modulate ILCs in metastatic melanoma patients as well as melanoma cells effects on ILC functions. Here, we demonstrated that, compared to healthy donors, patients showed a higher frequency of total peripheral ILCs, lower percentages of CD117+ ILC2s and CD117+ ILCs as well as higher frequencies of CD117- ILCs. Functionally, melanoma patients also displayed an impaired TNFα secretion by CD117- ILCs and CD117+ ILCs. Nivolumab therapy reduced the frequency of total peripheral ILCs but increased the percentage of CD117- ILC2s and enhanced the capability of ILC2s and CD117+ ILCs to secrete IL-13 and TNFα, respectively. Before Nivolumab therapy, high CCL2 serum levels were associated with longer Overall Survival and Progression Free Survival. After two months of treatment, CD117- ILC2s frequency as well as serum concentrations of IL-6, CXCL8 and VEGF negatively correlated with both the parameters. Moreover, melanoma cells boosted TNFα production in all ILC subsets and increased the number of IL-13 producing ILC2s in vitro. Our work shows for the first time that PD-1 blockade is able to affect ILCs proportions and functions in melanoma patients and that a specific subpopulation is associated with the therapy response.
|
|
| 15. |
- Gillibert, R., et al.
(author)
-
Raman tweezers for tire and road wear micro- and nanoparticles analysis
- 2022
-
In: Environmental Science-Nano. - : Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). - 2051-8153 .- 2051-8161. ; 9:1, s. 145-161
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Tire and road wear particles (TRWP) are non-exhaust particulate matter generated by road transport means during the mechanical abrasion of tires, brakes and roads. TRWP accumulate on the roadsides and are transported into the aquatic ecosystem during stormwater runoffs. Due to their size (sub-millimetric) and rubber content (elastomers), TRWP are considered microplastics (MPs). While the amount of the MPs polluting the water ecosystem with sizes from similar to 5 mu m to more than 100 mu m is known, the fraction of smaller particles is unknown due to the technological gap in the detection and analysis of <5 mu m MPs. Here we show that Raman tweezers, a combination of optical tweezers and Raman spectroscopy, can be used to trap and chemically analyze individual TRWPs in a liquid environment, down to the sub-micrometric scale. Using tire particles mechanically grinded from aged car tires in water solutions, we show that it is possible to optically trap individual sub-micron particles, in a so-called 2D trapping configuration, and acquire their Raman spectrum in few tens of seconds. The analysis is then extended to samples collected from a brake test platform, where we highlight the presence of sub-micrometric agglomerates of rubber and brake debris, thanks to the presence of additional spectral features other than carbon. Our results show the potential of Raman tweezers in environmental pollution analysis and highlight the formation of nanosized TRWP during wear.
|
|
| 16. |
- Jakic, B, et al.
(author)
-
The Effects of Endurance Exercise and Diet on Atherosclerosis in Young and Aged ApoE-/- and Wild-Type Mice
- 2019
-
In: Gerontology. - : S. Karger AG. - 1423-0003 .- 0304-324X. ; 65:1, s. 45-56
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- <b><i>Background:</i></b> Atherosclerosis is the leading cause of death worldwide. The disease development is by and large driven by old age and lifestyle factors, such as diet, physical activity, and smoking. In the present study, we have investigated the effect of exercise and diet on the development of atherosclerosis in young and aged mice. <b><i>Objective:</i></b> This study aimed at comparing multiple age-dependent factors that may influence atherosclerosis in a transgenic mouse model. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> Young (14 weeks) and aged (49–52 weeks) C57BL/6 wild-type (WT) and atherosclerosis-prone ApoE<sup>–/–</sup> mice were subjected to physical endurance exercise on a treadmill, with or without a high-fat diet. Five weeks later, the frequencies of regulatory T cells (T<sub>REGs</sub>) in lymph nodes were assessed by flow cytometry, plasmatic cytokines (interleukin [IL]-1β, IL-6, IL-10, IL-17, interferon-γ, tumor necrosis factor-α, and transforming growth factor [TGF]-β<sub>1</sub>) levels were determined by Luminex assay. Lipids (cholesterol and triglycerides) and anti-heat shock protein 60 (HSP60) autoantibodies were measured by ELISA. Aortic lesion sizes were assessed by <i>en face</i> imaging. Microarray analysis and qPCR of skeletal muscle gene expression were also performed. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Exercise leads to a reduction of aortic lesions in young ApoE<sup>–/–</sup> and aged WT mice independent of diet. In most groups, this reduction was followed by an increased proportion of T<sub>REGs</sub> and TGF-β<sub>1</sub> levels. Moreover, gene expression analysis showed that exercise seems to affect the AMPK signaling pathway. In particular, PGC-1α<sub>1</sub> mRNA was induced in aged WT mice, whereas it was reduced in young ApoE<sup>–/–</sup> mice. In addition, GSEA analysis showed a marked reduction in the insulin signaling pathway in aged ApoE<sup>–/–</sup> mice. <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> Practicing endurance exercise seems to be enough for reducing early aortic lesion formation, independent of diet. However, this was only true in mice with smaller aortic lesions, since mice with large, advanced, complicated atherosclerotic plaques did not show any reduction in lesion size with exercise training.
|
|
| 17. |
- Russotto, Vincenzo, et al.
(author)
-
Efficacy and adverse events profile of videolaryngoscopy in critically ill patients : subanalysis of the INTUBE study
- 2023
-
In: British Journal of Anaesthesia. - 0007-0912. ; 131:3, s. 607-616
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Tracheal intubation is a high-risk procedure in the critically ill, with increased intubation failure rates and a high risk of other adverse events. Videolaryngoscopy might improve intubation outcomes in this population, but evidence remains conflicting, and its impact on adverse event rates is debated. Methods: This is a subanalysis of a large international prospective cohort of critically ill patients (INTUBE Study) performed from 1 October 2018 to 31 July 2019 and involving 197 sites from 29 countries across five continents. Our primary aim was to determine the first-pass intubation success rates of videolaryngoscopy. Secondary aims were characterising (a) videolaryngoscopy use in the critically ill patient population and (b) the incidence of severe adverse effects compared with direct laryngoscopy. Results: Of 2916 patients, videolaryngoscopy was used in 500 patients (17.2%) and direct laryngoscopy in 2416 (82.8%). First-pass intubation success was higher with videolaryngoscopy compared with direct laryngoscopy (84% vs 79%, P=0.02). Patients undergoing videolaryngoscopy had a higher frequency of difficult airway predictors (60% vs 40%, P<0.001). In adjusted analyses, videolaryngoscopy increased the probability of first-pass intubation success, with an OR of 1.40 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.05–1.87). Videolaryngoscopy was not significantly associated with risk of major adverse events (odds ratio 1.24, 95% CI 0.95–1.62) or cardiovascular events (odds ratio 0.78, 95% CI 0.60–1.02). Conclusions: In critically ill patients, videolaryngoscopy was associated with higher first-pass intubation success rates, despite being used in a population at higher risk of difficult airway management. Videolaryngoscopy was not associated with overall risk of major adverse events. Clinical trial registration: NCT03616054.
|
|
| 18. |
|
|
| 19. |
- Bertuccio, Giuseppe, et al.
(author)
-
Ultra Low Noise Epitaxial 4H-SiC X-Ray Detectors
- 2009
-
In: Materials Science Forum. - : Trans Tech Publications Inc.. - 0255-5476 .- 1662-9752. ; 615-617, s. 845-848
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The design and the experimental results of some prototypes of SiC X-ray detectors are presented. The devices have been manufactured on top of 2 inch 4H-SiC wafer with 115 μm thick undoped high purity epitaxial layer, which constitutes the detection’s active volume. Pad and pixel detectors based on Ni-Schottky junctions have been tested. The residual doping of the epi-layer was found tobe extremely low, 3.7 x 1013 cm-3, allowing to achieve the highest detection efficiency and the lower specific capacitance of the detectors. At 22 °C and in operating bias condition, the reverse current densities of the detector’s Schottky junctions have been measured to be between J = 0.3 pA/cm2 and J = 4 pA/cm2; these values are more than two orders of magnitude lower than those of state of the art silicon detectors. With such low leakage currents, the equivalent electronic noise of SiC pixel detectors is as low as 0.5 electrons r.m.s at room temperature, which represents a new state of the art in the scenario of semiconductor radiation detectors.
|
|
| 20. |
- Bronte Ciriza, David, et al.
(author)
-
Optically Driven Janus Microengine with Full Orbital Motion Control
- 2023
-
In: ACS PHOTONICS. - 2330-4022. ; 10:9, s. 3223-3232
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Microengines have shown promise for a variety of applications in nanotechnology, microfluidics, and nanomedicine, including targeted drug delivery, microscale pumping, and environmental remediation. However, achieving precise control over their dynamics remains a significant challenge. In this study, we introduce a microengine that exploits both optical and thermal effects to achieve a high degree of controllability. We find that in the presence of a strongly focused light beam, a gold-silica Janus particle becomes confined at the stationary point where the optical and thermal forces balance. By using circularly polarized light, we can transfer angular momentum to the particle, breaking the symmetry between the two forces and resulting in a tangential force that drives directed orbital motion. We can simultaneously control the velocity and direction of rotation of the particle changing the ellipticity of the incoming light beam while tuning the radius of the orbit with laser power. Our experimental results are validated using a geometrical optics phenomenological model that considers the optical force, the absorption of optical power, and the resulting heating of the particle. The demonstrated enhanced flexibility in the control of microengines opens up new possibilities for their utilization in a wide range of applications, including microscale transport, sensing, and actuation.
|
|
| 21. |
- Hellamand, Pasoon, et al.
(author)
-
Sex differences in the effectiveness of first-line tumour necrosis factor inhibitors in axial spondyloarthritis: Results from the EuroSpA Research Collaboration Network
- 2023
-
In: RMD Open. - 2056-5933. ; 9:4
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objective Evidence indicates reduced treatment effectiveness of TNFi in women with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) compared with men. We aimed to investigate sex differences in treatment response and retention rates over 24 months of follow-up in axSpA patients initiating their first TNFi. Methods Data from axSpA patients initiating a TNFi in 1 of 15 registries within EuroSpA collaboration were pooled. We investigated the association of sex with treatment response using logistic regression. The primary outcome was clinically important improvement (CII) at 6 months according to Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score with C-reactive protein (CRP) (≥1.1 decrease). We adjusted for age, country and TNFi start year. A secondary outcome was retention rates over 24 months of follow-up assessed by Kaplan-Meier estimator. Results In total, 6451 axSpA patients with data on CII were assessed for treatment response; 2538 (39%) were women and 3913 (61%) were men. Women presented at baseline with lower CRP levels but had higher scores on patient-reported outcome measures. At 6 months, 53% of the women and 66% of the men had CII. Women had a lower relative risk of CII compared with men (0.81; 95% CI 0.77 to 0.84). This sex difference was similar in adjusted analysis (0.85; 95% CI 0.82 to 0.88). Retention rates were evaluated in 27 702 patients. The TNFi 6/12/24 months retention rates were significantly lower among women (79%/66%/53%) than men (88%/79%/69%). Conclusion Treatment response and retention rates are lower among women with axSpA initiating their first TNFi. Sex differences in treatment effectiveness were present regardless of the outcome measure used for treatment response, and differences in retention rates transpired early and increased as time progressed.
|
|
| 22. |
- Kowal-Bielecka, Otylia, et al.
(author)
-
Update of EULAR recommendations for the treatment of systemic sclerosis
- 2017
-
In: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. - : BMJ. - 0003-4967 .- 1468-2060. ; 76, s. 1327-1339
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The aim was to update the 2009 European League against Rheumatism (EULAR) recommendations for the treatment of systemic sclerosis (SSc), with attention to new therapeutic questions. Update of the previous treatment recommendations was performed according to EULAR standard operating procedures. The task force consisted of 32 SSc clinical experts from Europe and the USA, 2 patients nominated by the pan-European patient association for SSc (Federation of European Scleroderma Associations (FESCA)), a clinical epidemiologist and 2 research fellows. All centres from the EULAR Scleroderma Trials and Research group were invited to submit and select clinical questions concerning SSc treatment using a Delphi approach. Accordingly, 46 clinical questions addressing 26 different interventions were selected for systematic literature review. The new recommendations were based on the available evidence and developed in a consensus meeting with clinical experts and patients. The procedure resulted in 16 recommendations being developed (instead of 14 in 2009) that address treatment of several SSc-related organ complications: Raynaud's phenomenon (RP), digital ulcers (DUs), pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), skin and lung disease, scleroderma renal crisis and gastrointestinal involvement. Compared with the 2009 recommendations, the 2016 recommendations include phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE-5) inhibitors for the treatment of SSc-related RP and DUs, riociguat, new aspects for endothelin receptor antagonists, prostacyclin analogues and PDE-5 inhibitors for SSc-related PAH. New recommendations regarding the use of fluoxetine for SSc-related RP and haematopoietic stem cell transplantation for selected patients with rapidly progressive SSc were also added. In addition, several comments regarding other treatments addressed in clinical questions and suggestions for the SSc research agenda were formulated. These updated data-derived and consensus-derived recommendations will help rheumatologists to manage patients with SSc in an evidence-based way. These recommendations also give directions for future clinical research in SSc.
|
|
