Malignant gliomas, the most frequent primary brain tumors, are characterized by a dismal prognosis. Reliable biomarkers complementary to neuroradiology in the differential diagnosis of gliomas and monitoring for post-surgical progression are unmet needs. Altered expression of several microRNAs in tumour tissues from patients with gliomas compared to normal brain tissue have been described, thus supporting the rationale of using microRNA-based biomarkers. Although different circulating microRNAs were proposed in association with gliomas, they have not been introduced into clinical practice so far. Blood samples were collected from patients with high and low grade gliomas, both before and after surgical resection, and the expression of miR-21, miR-222 and miR-124-3p was measured in exosomes isolated from serum. The expression levels of miR-21, miR-222 and miR-124-3p in serum exosomes of patients with high grade gliomas were significantly higher than those of low grade gliomas and healthy controls and were sharply decreased in samples obtained after surgery. The analysis of miR-21, miR-222 and miR-124-3p in serum exosomes of patients affected by gliomas can provide a minimally invasive and innovative tool to help the differential diagnosis of gliomas at their onset in the brain and predict glioma grading and non glial metastases before surgery.

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The ongoing diffusion of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies is opening new possibilities, and one of the most remarkable applications is associated with the smart city paradigm, which is continuously evolving. In general, it can be defined as the integration of IoT and Information Communication Technologies (ICT) into city management, with the aim of addressing the exponential growth of urbanization and population, thus significantly increasing people’s quality of life. The smart city paradigm is also strictly connected to sustainability aspects, taking into account, for example, the reduction of environmental impact of urban activities, the optimized management of energy resources, and the design of innovative services and solution for citizens. Abiding by this new paradigm, several cities started a process of strong innovation in different fields (such as mobility and transportation, industry, health, tourism, and education), thanks to significant investments provided by stakeholders and the European Commission (EC). In this paper, we analyze key aspects of an IoT infrastructure for smart cities, outlining the innovations implemented in the city of Parma (Emilia Romagna region, Italy) as a successful example. Special attention is dedicated to the theme of smart urban mobility.

The Internet of Things (IoT), being a “network of networks”, promises to allow billions of humans and machines to interact with each other. Owing to this rapid growth, the deployment of IoT-oriented networks based on mesh topologies is very attractive, thanks to their scalability and reliability (in the presence of failures). In this paper, we provide a comprehensive survey of the following relevant wireless technologies: IEEE 802.11, Bluetooth, IEEE 802.15.4-oriented, and Sub-GHz-based LoRa. Our goal is to highlight how various communication technologies may be suitable for mesh networking, either providing a native support or being adapted subsequently. Hence, we discuss how these wireless technologies, being either standard or proprietary, can adapt to IoT scenarios (e.g., smart cities and smart agriculture) in which the heterogeneity of the involved devices is a key feature. Finally, we provide reference use cases involving all the analyzed mesh-oriented technologies.

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Research advances in the last decades have allowed the introduction of Internet of Things (IoT) concepts in several industrial application scenarios, leading to the so-called Industry 4.0 or Industrial IoT (IIoT). The Industry 4.0 has the ambition to revolutionize industry management and business processes, enhancing the productivity of manufacturing technologies through field data collection and analysis, thus creating real-time digital twins of industrial scenarios. Moreover, it is vital for companies to be as "smart" as possible and to adapt to the varying nature of the digital supply chains. This is possible by leveraging IoT in Industry 4.0 scenarios. In this paper, we describe the renovation process, guided by things2i s.r.l., a cross-disciplinary engineering-economic spin-off company of the University of Parma, which a real manufacturing industry is undergoing over consecutive phases spanning a few years. The first phase concerns the digitalization of the control quality process, specifically related to the company's production lines. The use of paper sheets containing different quality checks has been made smarter through the introduction of a digital, smart, and Web-based application, which is currently supporting operators and quality inspectors working on the supply chain through the use of smart devices. The second phase of the IIoT evolution-currently ongoing concerns both digitalization and optimization of the production planning activity, through an innovative Web-based planning tool. The changes introduced have led to significant advantages and improvement for the manufacturing company, in terms of: (i) impressive cost reduction; (ii) better products quality control; (iii) real-time detection and reaction to supply chain issues; (iv) significant reduction of the time spent in planning activity; and (v) resources employment optimization, thanks to the minimization of unproductive setup times on production lines. These two renovation phases represent a basis for possible future developments, such us the integration of sensor-based data on the operational status of production machines and the currently available warehouse supplies. In conclusion, the Industry 4.0-based ongoing digitization process guided by things2i allows to continuously collect heterogeneous Human-to-Things (H2T) data, which can be used to optimize the partner manufacturing company as a whole entity.

Forma de citar Belli LF. Recomendaciones para la comunicación de malas noticias por teléfono durante la pandemia por SARS-CoV-2. Rev Panam Salud Publica. 2020;44:e69.

In patients undergoing MHS, increased echo-Doppler ultrasound-derived RRI at end-surgery is significantly associated with the risk of AKI, but has limited practical utility for identifying the patients who will develop AKI.