Marche Polytechnic University

About: Marche Polytechnic University is a education organization based out in Ancona, Italy. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Cancer. The organization has 5905 authors who have published 15769 publications receiving 382286 citations. The organization is also known as: Universitá Politecnica delle Marche & Universita Politecnica delle Marche.

Is there a role for surgical resection in patients with pancreatic cancer with liver metastases responding to chemotherapy

Abstract: Background New chemotherapeutic regimens have improved survival for stage IV pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and occasionally major response of liver metastases can be observed. Aim of this work is to analyze the outcomes of patients undergoing primary chemotherapy for liver metastases from pancreatic cancer and to evaluate the results of surgical resection. Methods Retrospective analysis. Exclusion criteria: patients with extra-hepatic metastases, patients with Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status ≥3, patients undergoing supportive care alone. Results 127 patients were identified. Liver metastases were unilobar in 28.5% of patients. Chemotherapy regimens included gemcitabine alone or in association with other agents (44%), oxaliplatin, irinotecan, fluorouracil and leucovorin (FOLFIRINOX 8%), and cisplatin, gemcitabine plus capecitabine and epirubicin (PEXG) or capecitabine and docetaxel (PDXG) or epirubicin and fluorouracil (PEFG) (48%). 56 patients (44%) had a complete (7%) or partial response (37%). surgical resection was carried out in 11 patients (8.5%). Median overall survival was 11 months for the entire cohort and 15 months for those with partial/complete response. In this sub-group median survival was significantly longer (46 versus 11 months) for patients undergoing resection (P 5 liver metastases at diagnosis (HR: 3.515), and CA 19.9 reduction Conclusions Surgical resection of primary pancreatic tumor with or without residual liver disease can be considered in selected cases after primary chemotherapy and it is associated with improved survival.

Ecological and evolutionary implications of carbon allocation in marine phytoplankton as a function of nitrogen availability: a fourier transform infrared spectroscopy approach(1).

Abstract: An imbalance in the cellular C:N ratio may appreciably affect C allocation in algal cells. The consequences of these rearrangements of cellular pools on cell energetics, ecological fitness, and evolutionary trajectories are little known, although they are expected to be substantial. We investigated the fate of C in 11 microalgae cultured semicontinuously at three [NO3 (-) ] and constant pCO2 . We developed a new computational method for the semiquantitative use of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy data for the determination of macromolecular composition. No obvious relationship was observed between the taxonomy and the allocation strategies adopted by the 11 species considered in this study. Not all species responded to a lower N availability by accumulating lipids or carbohydrates: Dunaliella parva W. Lerche and Thalassiosira pseudonana Hasle et Heimdal were homeostatic with respect to organic cell composition. A hyperbolic dependence of the lipid concentration from cell volume was observed. The level of reduction of organic constituents of green algae was parabolically related to size and was modulated in response to changes in N availability; the same was not true for the species bearing a "red" chloroplast. The above observations are discussed with respect to phytoplankton species composition and palatability for grazers, oleogenesis, and overall cell energetics.

Spray-induced gene silencing for disease control is dependent on the efficiency of pathogen RNA uptake

Abstract: Recent discoveries show that fungi can take up environmental RNA, which can then silence fungal genes through environmental RNA interference. This discovery prompted the development of Spray-Induced Gene Silencing (SIGS) for plant disease management. In this study, we aimed to determine the efficacy of SIGS across a variety of eukaryotic microbes. We first examined the efficiency of RNA uptake in multiple pathogenic and non-pathogenic fungi, and an oomycete pathogen. We observed efficient double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) uptake in the fungal plant pathogens Botrytis cinerea, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, Rhizoctonia solani, Aspergillus niger and Verticillium dahliae, but no uptake in Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, and weak uptake in a beneficial fungus, Trichoderma virens. For the oomycete plant pathogen, Phytophthora infestans, RNA uptake was limited and varied across different cell types and developmental stages. Topical application of dsRNA targeting virulence-related genes in pathogens with high RNA uptake efficiency significantly inhibited plant disease symptoms, whereas the application of dsRNA in pathogens with low RNA uptake efficiency did not suppress infection. Our results have revealed that dsRNA uptake efficiencies vary across eukaryotic microbe species and cell types. The success of SIGS for plant disease management can largely be determined by the pathogen's RNA uptake efficiency.