Migration of dendritic cells across blood and lymphatic endothelial barriers.

7openopenDel Prete A; Locati M; Otero K; Riboldi E; Mantovani A; Vecchi A; Sozzani S.DEL PRETE, Annalisa; Locati, M; Otero, K; Riboldi, E; Mantovani, A; Vecchi, A; Sozzani, Silvan

External Prolonged Electrocardiogram Monitoring in Unexplained Syncope and Palpitations: Results of the SYNARR-Flash Study

AIMS: SYNARR-Flash study (Monitoring of SYNcopes and/or sustained palpitations of suspected ARRhythmic origin) is an international, multicentre, observational, prospective trial designed to evaluate the role of external 4-week electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring in clinical work-up of unexplained syncope and/or sustained palpitations of suspected arrhythmic origin. METHODS AND RESULTS: Consecutive patients were enrolled within 1 month after unexplained syncope or palpitations (index event) after being discharged from emergency room or hospitalization without a conclusive diagnosis. A 4-week ECG monitoring was obtained by external high-capacity loop recorder (SpiderFlash-T(®), Sorin) storing patient-activated and auto-triggered tracings. Diagnostic monitorings included (i) conclusive events with reoccurrence of syncope or palpitation with concomitant ECG recording (with/without arrhythmias) and (ii) events with asymptomatic predefined significant arrhythmias (sustained supraventricular or ventricular tachycardia, advanced atrio-ventricular block, sinus bradycardia 6 s). SYNARR-Flash study enrolled 395 patients (57.7% females, 56.9 ± 18.7 years, 28.1% with syncope, and 71.9% with palpitations) from 10 European centres. For syncope, the 4-week diagnostic yield was 24.5%, and predictors of diagnostic events were early start of recording (0-15 vs. >15 days after index event) (OR 6.2, 95% CI 1.3-29.6, P = 0.021) and previous history of supraventricular arrhythmias (OR 3.6, 95% CI 1.4-9.7, P = 0.018). For palpitations, the 4-week diagnostic yield was 71.6% and predictors of diagnostic events were history of recurrent palpitations (P < 0.001) and early start of recording (P = 0.001). CONCLUSION: The 4-week external ECG monitoring can be considered as first-line tool in the diagnostic work-up of syncope and palpitation. Early recorder use, history of supraventricular arrhythmia, and frequent previous events increased the likelihood of diagnostic events during the 4-week external ECG monitoring.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A WebGIS tool for the dissemination of earthquake data

In 2004 a new seismic hazard map of Italy (MPS Working Group, 2004) has been released by a task force that produced an amount of new or updated data, such as a new version of the earthquake catalogue (CPTI04; CPTI Working Group, 2004) and an updated seismogenic zonation. A set of WebGIS tools has been designed for the data dissemination to the scientific community and the general public. The design of the WebGIS tools focused first on the consultation of the DBM04 macroseismic database (DBM Working Group, 2005), which contains the macroseismic intensity data-points (IDP) of the earthquakes listed in the CPTI04 catalogue. The WebGIS tool design and development process had to fulfill: 1) simplicity, 2) responsiveness and 3) readiness for future extensions. The specific requirements for the macroseismic database consultation interface were: - data access by place and by earthquake; - IDP maps with queryable points; - data download in both tabular and map format; - easily upgradable content; - quick and user friendly interface

Serum micrornas as novel biomarkers for primary sclerosing cholangitis and cholangiocarcinoma

The diagnosis of primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is difficult due to the lack of sensitive and specific biomarkers, as is the early diagnosis of cholangiocarcinoma (CC), a complication of PSC. The aim of this study was to identify specific serum miRNAs as diagnostic biomarkers for PSC and CC

Characterization of whole blood gene expression profiles as a sequel to globin mRNA reduction in patients with sickle cell disease

Global transcriptome analysis of whole blood RNA using microarrays has been proven to be challenging due to the high abundance of globin transcripts that constitute 70% of whole blood mRNA. This is a particular problem in patients with sickle cell disease, secondary to the high abundance of globin-expressing nucleated red blood cells and reticulocytes in the circulation. In order to accurately measure the steady state blood transcriptome in sickle cell patients we evaluated the efficacy of reducing globin transcripts in PAXgene stabilized RNA for genome-wide transcriptome analyses using microarrays. We demonstrate here by both microarrays and Q-PCR that the globin mRNA depletion method resulted in 55-65 fold reduction in globin transcripts in whole blood collected from healthy volunteers and sickle cell disease patients. This led to an improvement in microarray data quality by reducing data variability, with increased detection rate of expressed genes and improved overlap with the expression signatures of isolated peripheral blood mononuclear (PBMC) preparations. Analysis of differences between the whole blood transcriptome and PBMC transcriptome revealed important erythrocyte genes that participate in sickle cell pathogenesis and compensation. The combination of globin mRNA reduction after whole-blood RNA stabilization represents a robust clinical research methodology for the discovery of biomarkers for hematologic diseases