Engineered skeletal muscle tissues have been proposed as potential solutions for volumetric muscle losses, and biologic scaffolds have been obtained by decellularization of animal skeletal muscles. The aim of the present work was to analyse the characteristics of a biologic scaffold obtained by decellularization of human skeletal muscles (also through comparison with rats and rabbits) and to evaluate its integration capability in a rabbit model with an abdominal wall defect. Rat, rabbit and human muscle samples were alternatively decellularized with two protocols: n.1, involving sodium deoxycholate and DNase I; n.2, trypsin-EDTA and Triton X-NH₄OH. Protocol 2 proved more effective, removing all cellular material and maintaining the three-dimensional networks of collagen and elastic fibers. Ultrastructural analyses with transmission and scanning electron microscopy confirmed the preservation of collagen, elastic fibres, glycosaminoglycans and proteoglycans. Implantation of human scaffolds in rabbits gave good results in terms of integration, although recellularization by muscle cells was not completely achieved. In conclusion, human skeletal muscles may be effectively decellularized to obtain scaffolds preserving the architecture of the extracellular matrix and showing mechanical properties suitable for implantation/integration. Further analyses will be necessary to verify the suitability of these scaffolds for in vitro recolonization by autologous cells before in vivo implantation.

Background. Xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder of UV radiation‐induced damage repair that is characterized by photosensitivity and a propensity for developing, among many others, skin cancers at an early age. This systematic review focused on the correlation between the clinical, pathological, and genetic aspects of XP and skin cancer. Methods. A systematic review was conducted through a literature search of online databases PubMed, Cochrane Library, SciELO, and Google Scholar. Search terms were “Xeroderma pigmentosum”, “XP”, “XPC”, “Nucleotide excision repair”, “NER”, “POLH”, “Dry pigmented skin”, and “UV sensitive syndrome” meshed with the terms “Skin cancer”, “Melanoma”, and “NMSC”. Results. After 504 abstracts screening, 13 full‐text articles were assessed for eligibility, and 3 of them were excluded. Ten articles were selected for qualitative assessment. Conclusions. Patients with XP usually suffer shorter lives due to skin cancer and neurodegenerative disease. Deletion/alteration of a distinct gene allele can produce different types of cancer. The XPC and XP‐E variants are more likely to have skin cancer than patients in other complement groups, and the most common cause of death for these patients is skin cancer (metastatic melanoma or invasive SCC). Still, aggressive preventative measures to minimize UV radiation exposure can retard the course of the disease and improve the quality of life.

Body contouring surgery after the massive weight loss due to bariatric surgery deals with different kinds of complications. The aim of this review is to analyze the role that some nutrients may play in tissue healing after surgery, thus helping plastic surgeons to improve the aesthetic and health outcomes in massive weight loss patients under a multidisciplinary approach. As a matter of fact, preoperative nutritional deficiencies have been shown for vitamins and minerals in a large percentage of post-bariatric patients. Preoperative deficiencies mainly concern iron, zinc, selenium, and vitamins (both fat-soluble and water-soluble), but also total protein. During the postoperative period, these problems may increase because of the patients’ very low intake of vitamins and minerals after bariatric surgery (below 50% of the recommended dietary allowance) and the patients’ low compliance with the suggested multivitamin supplementation (approximately 60%). In the postoperative period, more attention should be given to nutritional aspects in regard to the length of absorptive area and the percentage of weight loss.

Notwithstanding their wide exploitation, biological prosthetic heart valves are characterized by limited durability (10–15 years). The treatment of biological tissues with chemical crosslinking agents such as glutaraldehyde accounts for the enhanced risk of structural deterioration associated with the early failure of bioprosthetic valves. To overcome the shortcomings of the currently available solutions, adoption of decellularized biological tissues of animal origin has emerged as a promising approach. The present study aims to assess in vitro cardiovascular scaffolds composed of bovine pericardium decellularized with the novel TRITDOC (TRIton-X100 and TauroDeOxyCholic acid) procedure. The effects of the treatment have been assessed by means of histological, biomolecular, cellular, biochemical and biomechanical analyses. The TRITDOC procedure grants the complete decellularization of bovine pericardial scaffolds while preserving the extracellular matrix architecture and the biomechanical properties. With a dedicated ELISA test, the TRITDOC procedure has been proven to ensure the complete removal of the alphaGal antigen, responsible for hyperacute rejection and for long-term deterioration of xenogenic biomaterials. Static seeding of the acellular pericardial patches with human adipose-derived stem cells resulted in an evenly repopulated scaffold without signs of calcification. The in vitro cyto-/immuno-compatibility response of the TRITDOC-bovine pericardium was compared with glutaraldehyde-treated xenogenic pericardium collected from two bioprosthetic devices currently used in clinical practice: PERIMOUNT MAGNA and TRIFECTA ^TM . TRITDOC-bovine pericardium exhibited lower complement activation, lower cytotoxicity and a lower tendency to secrete pro-inflammatory cytokines compared to the tested commercial bioprostheses. Therefore, TRITDOC-decellularized pericardium could be considered as possible candidate material for the production of prosthetic heart valves.

Cutaneous squamous cell carcinomas (CSCC) account for about 20% of all keratinocyte carcinomas, which are the most common form of cancer. Heterogeneity of treatments and low mortality are a challenge in obtaining accurate incidence data and consistent registration in cancer registries. Indeed, CSCC mostly presents as an indolent, low-risk lesion, with five-year cure rates greater than 90% after surgical excision, and only few tumors are associated with a high-risk of local or distant relapse; therefore, it is particularly relevant to identify high-risk lesions among all other low-risk CSCCs for the proper diagnostic and therapeutic management. Chemotherapy achieves mostly short-lived responses that do not lead to a curative effect and are associated with severe toxicities. Due to an etiopathogenesis largely relying on chronic UV radiation exposure, CSCC is among the tumors with the highest rate of somatic mutations, which are associated with increased response rates to immunotherapy. Thanks to such strong pre-clinical rationale, clinical trials led to the approval of anti-PD-1 cemiplimab by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) and EMA (European Medicines Agency), and anti-PD-1 pembrolizumab by the FDA only. Here, we provide a literature review and clinical recommendations by a panel of experts regarding the diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up of CSCC.

Advancements in neural network approaches have enhanced the effectiveness of surface Electromyography (sEMG)-based hand gesture recognition when measuring muscle activity. However, current deep learning architectures struggle to achieve good generalization and robustness, often demanding significant computational resources. The goal of this paper was to develop a robust model that can quickly adapt to new users using Transfer Learning. We propose a Multi-Scale Convolutional Neural Network (MSCNN), pre-trained with various strategies to improve inter-subject generalization. These strategies include domain adaptation with a gradient-reversal layer and self-supervision using triplet margin loss. We evaluated these approaches on several benchmark datasets, specifically the NinaPro databases. This study also compared two different Transfer Learning frameworks designed for user-dependent fine-tuning. The second Transfer Learning framework achieved a 97% F1 Score across 14 classes with an average of 1.40 epochs, suggesting potential for on-site model retraining in cases of performance degradation over time. The findings highlight the effectiveness of Transfer Learning in creating adaptive, user-specific models for sEMG-based prosthetic hands. Moreover, the study examined the impacts of rectification and window length, with a focus on real-time accessible normalizing techniques, suggesting significant improvements in usability and performance.