Impact of Peels Extracts from an Italian Ancient Tomato Variety Grown under Drought Stress Conditions on Vascular Related Dysfunction.

BACKGROUND: Tomato by-products contain a great variety of biologically active substances and represent a significant source of natural antioxidant supplements of the human diet. The aim of the work was to compare the antioxidant properties of a by-product from an ancient Tuscan tomato variety, Rosso di Pitigliano (RED), obtained by growing plants in normal conditions (-Ctr) or in drought stress conditions (-Ds) for their beneficial effects on vascular related dysfunction. METHODS: The antioxidant activity and total polyphenol content (TPC) were measured. The identification of bioactive compounds of tomato peel was performed by HPLC. HUVEC were pre-treated with different TPC of RED-Ctr or RED-Ds, then stressed with H2O2. Cell viability, ROS production and CAT, SOD and GPx activities were evaluated. Permeation of antioxidant molecules contained in RED across excised rat intestine was also studied. RESULTS: RED-Ds tomato peel extract possessed higher TPC than compared to RED-Ctr (361.32 ± 7.204 mg vs. 152.46 ± 1.568 mg GAE/100 g fresh weight). All extracts were non-cytotoxic. Two hour pre-treatment with 5 µg GAE/mL from RED-Ctr or RED-Ds showed protection from H2O2-induced oxidative stress and significantly reduced ROS production raising SOD and CAT activity (* p < 0.05 and ** p < 0.005 vs. H2O2, respectively). The permeation of antioxidant molecules contained in RED-Ctr or RED-Ds across excised rat intestine was high with non-significant difference between the two RED types (41.9 ± 9.6% vs. 26.6 ± 7.8%). CONCLUSIONS: RED-Ds tomato peel extract represents a good source of bioactive molecules, which protects HUVECs from oxidative stress at low concentration.

Real-World Use of Off-Label MVASI in the Treatment of Patients With Neovascular AMD and DME.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of bevacizumab-awwb in the off-label treatment of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (n-AMD) and diabetic macular edema (DME). Methods: All patients with n-AMD and DME treated in the maintenance phase according to the "treat and extend" strategy, who underwent forced drug substitution from bevacizumab to bevacizumab-awwb from October 2022 to April 2023 at the Tor Vergata Polyclinic in Rome, were evaluated in a retrospective study. The primary outcome was changes in central retinal thickness (CRT) over time following drug substitution. The secondary outcomes were variations in drug durability, best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and retinal fluid, and the incidence of drug-related local and systemic serious adverse events. Results: Of 80 eyes of 76 patients with n-AMD and 55 eyes of 44 patients with DME included, before and after drug substitution, the average CRT did not statistically differ; the proportion of patients within time intervals of q8, q12, and q16 was not different; and the mean BCVA remained constant. Of a cumulative 3496 bevacizumab-awwb treatments (2154 for patients with n-AMD and 1342 for patients with DME), no local severe complications were detected. Out of a total of 544 patients (342 affected by n-AMD and 202 affected by DME), no serious adverse events were reported. Conclusions: In our cohort of patients with n-AMD and DME in the maintenance phase, bevacizumab-awwb seems to represent a viable and cost-effective intravitreal therapy with comparable efficacy and safety to the originator. Translational Relevance: This study provides a preliminary assessment of the efficacy and safety of intravitreal bevacizumab-awwb, which is widely used off-label in retinal vascular diseases.

Olive Leaf Extracts from Three Italian Olive Cultivars Exposed to Drought Stress Differentially Protect Cells against Oxidative Stress.

Olive leaves are an abundant by-product of olive oil production. Olive leaf extracts (OLEs) are rich in polyphenols, which can be used for health benefits. As polyphenols are the main antioxidant molecules in plants, plants typically increase their polyphenol content when exposed to drought stress. However, the phenolic profile of OLEs can vary in relation to the origin and variety of the plant material. In this work, olive leaf extracts from three different Italian olive cultivars (Giarraffa, Leccino, and Maurino) both exposed and not exposed to drought stress were studied in terms of antioxidant properties and profile, intestinal permeation, and protection against oxidative stress of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs), since HUVECs are considered a model to study a wide range of diseases. OLEs from stressed Maurino and Giarraffa plants showed the highest increase in antioxidant capacity compared to controls. The phenolic profile of Maurino' was mainly increased by water deficit, with a large increase in the compounds oleuropein and luteolin-7-O-rutinoside. All tested extracts exposed to a water deficit protected HUVECs against oxidative stress by reducing ROS production, and this effect was more pronounced in OLEs from Giarraffa and Maurino exposed to drought stress compared to all other extracts. Finally, OLE from the stressed Giarraffa group showed a higher apparent permeability of antioxidant molecules than that of Maurino.

Development of machine learning models for the prediction of long-term feeding tube dependence after oral and oropharyngeal cancer surgery.

PURPOSE: To predict the necessity of enteral nutrition at 28 days after surgery in patients undergoing major head and neck oncologic procedures for oral and oropharyngeal cancers. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Data from 193 patients with oral cavity and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma were retrospectively collected at two tertiary referral centers to train (n = 135) and validate (n = 58) six supervised machine learning (ML) models for binary prediction employing 29 clinical variables available pre-operatively. RESULTS: The accuracy of the six ML models ranged between 0.74 and 0.88, while the measured area under the curve (AUC) between 0.75 and 0.87. The ML algorithms showed high specificity (range 0.87-0.96) and moderate sensitivity (range: 0.31-0.77) in detecting patients with ≥28 days feeding tube dependence. Negative predictive value was higher (range: 0.81-0.93) compared to positive predictive value (range: 0.40-0.71). Finally, the F1 score ranged between 0.35 and 0.74. CONCLUSIONS: Classification performance of the ML algorithms showed optimistic accuracy in the prediction of enteral nutrition at 28 days after surgery. Prospective studies are mandatory to define the clinical benefit of a ML-based pre-operative prediction of a personalized nutrition protocol.

CT-based radiogenomics of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) is an aggressive disease with increasing incidence and its genetic alterations could be the target of systemic therapies. AIMS: To elucidate if radiomics extracted from computed tomography (CT) may non-invasively predict ICC genetic alterations. METHODS: All consecutive patients with a diagnosis of a mass-forming ICC (01/2016-06/2022) were considered. Inclusion criteria were availability of a high-quality contrast-enhanced CT and molecular profiling by NGS or FISH for FGFR2 fusion/rearrangement. The CT scan at diagnosis was considered. Genetic analyses were performed on surgical specimens (resectable patients) or biopsies (unresectable ones). The radiomic features were extracted using the LifeX software. Multivariate predictive models of the commonest genetic alterations were built. RESULTS: In the 90 enrolled patients (58 NGS/32 FISH, median age 65 years), the most common genetic alterations were FGFR2 (20/90), IDH1 (10/58), and KRAS (9/58). At internal validation, the combined clinical-radiomic models achieved the best performance for the prediction of FGFR2 (AUC = 0.892) and IDH1 status (AUC = 0.819), outperforming the pure clinical and radiomic models. The radiomic model for predicting KRAS mutations achieved an AUC = 0.767 (vs. 0.660 of the clinical model) without further improvements with the addition of clinical features. CONCLUSIONS: CT-based radiomics provides a reliable non-invasive prediction of ICC genetic status with a major impact on therapeutic strategies.

Radiomics-based machine learning for the diagnosis of lymph node metastases in patients with head and neck cancer: Systematic review.

Machine learning (ML) is increasingly used to detect lymph node (LN) metastases in head and neck (H&N) carcinoma. We systematically reviewed the literature on radiomic-based ML for the detection of pathological LNs in H&N cancer. A systematic review was conducted in PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library. Baseline study characteristics and methodological quality items (modeling, performance evaluation, clinical utility, and transparency items) were extracted and evaluated. The qualitative synthesis is presented using descriptive statistics. Seven studies were included in this study. Overall, the methodological quality items were generally favorable for modeling (57% of studies). The studies were mostly unsuccessful in terms of transparency (85.7%), evaluation of clinical utility (71.3%), and assessment of generalizability employing independent or external validation (72.5%). ML may be able to predict LN metastases in H&N cancer. Further studies are warranted to improve the generalizability assessment, clinical utility evaluation, and transparency items.

Comparative treatments of a green tattoo ink with Ruby, Nd:YAG nano- and picosecond lasers in normal and array mode.

The tattoos removal has become an issue upon spread of the tattooing practice worldwide and hindsight regrets. Lasers are typically used for the purpose, though some colours such as green are considered "recalcitrant" to the treatment. In the current investigation, we aim at determining the efficacy of removal of a green ink water dispersion, using 5 laser treatments: Nd:YAG nano- and picosecond lasers in normal and array mode and Ruby nanosecond laser, keeping the total irradiated energy constant. The UV-Vis spectroscopy of the treated samples indicate that Nd:YAG picosecond laser is most effective, and the Ruby nanosecond laser is the least efficient. Fragment compounds generated from the pigment and siloxanes are common to all treatments, whereas hydrocarbon emerge by a larger amount upon Nd:YAG nanosecond treatment. Fibres are formed upon picosecond treatments and when operating in array mode, and lamellae are achieved by Ruby nanosecond laser treatment. Residual particles suspensions are very heterogeneous upon nanosecond treatments.

Combination of Two Kinds of Medicated Microparticles Based on Hyaluronic Acid or Chitosan for a Wound Healing Spray Patch.

Olive leaves extract (OLE) has been extensively studied as antioxidant and antibiotic and these characteristics make it particularly interesting for use on wounds. For this reason, the aim of this study was to introduce OLE in microparticles (MP) of hyaluronic acid (MPHA-OLE) or chitosan (MPCs-OLE) to obtain a spray patch for the treatment of wounds in anatomical areas that are difficult to protect with traditional patches. The MP were characterized for particle size and ability to protect OLE from degradation, to absorb water from wound exudate, to control OLE release from MP. The MPHA and MPCs medicated or not and mixtures of the two types in different proportions were studied in vitro on fibroblasts by the scratch wound healing assay. The MP size was always less than 5 µm, and therefore, suitable for a spray patch. The MPCs-OLE could slow down the release of OLE therefore only about 60% of the polyphenols contained in it were released after 4 h. Both MPHA and MPCs could accelerate wound healing. A 50% MPHA-OLE-50% MPCs-OLE blend was the most suitable for accelerating wound healing. The MPHA-OLE-MPCs-OLE blends studied in this work were shown to have the characteristics suitable for a spray patch, thus giving a second life to the waste products of olive growers.

Video calls during the COVID-19 pandemic: A bridge for patients, families, and respiratory therapists.

BACKGROUND: In response to COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, healthcare procedures and modalities have changed considerably. Video calls may supply valid support for health care professionals, contributing to maintaining the communication between hospitalized patients and their families. The present study aimed to observe the experience of a group of respiratory therapists who conducted video calls between patients and their families in a COVID-19 unit. METHOD: Semistructured interviews (20-30 minutes duration) with the respiratory therapists who conducted the video calls in a COVID-19 unit in the North of Italy were performed. Participants joined the study voluntarily and, after receiving the informed consent, the interviews were audio-recorded. To better understand healthcare professionals' experience, the Interpretive Description methodology was adopted. RESULTS: Seven respiratory therapists (three males, four females; mean age 45.1 ± 14.4) were recruited. Sixteen codes emerged from the analysis, constituting five primary themes: Contact, Impact, Challenges, Centering, and Future. CONCLUSIONS: The findings shed light on the usability of video calls during this emergency period and their potential for future implementation. Specifically, this type of call may bridge the distances in such periods of care and help professionals to emotionally support patients and caregivers. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).