Single-particle tracking techniques enable investigation of the complex functions and interactions of individual particles in biological environments. Many such techniques exist, each demonstrating trade-offs between spatiotemporal resolution, spatial and temporal range, technical complexity, and information content. To mitigate these trade-offs, we enhanced a confocal laser scanning microscope with an asynchronous read-out single-photon avalanche diode array detector.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe study aims to investigate the last 20-year (2000-2019) of hospital length of stay (LOS) trends and their association with different healthcare systems (HS) among 25 European countries. A panel dataset was created using secondary data from Eurostat and Global Burden of Disease study databases, with dependent and control variables aggregated at the national level over a period of 20 years. A time trend analysis was conducted using a weighted least squares model for panel data to investigate the association between LOS, HS models [National Health Service (NHS), National Health Insurance, Social Health Insurance (SHI), and Etatist Social Health Insurance], healthcare reimbursement schemes [Prospective Global Budget (PGB), Diagnosis Related Groups (DRG), and Procedure Service Payment (PSP)], and control variables.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Environ Res Public Health
January 2023
Accurately estimating and predicting chronological age from some anthropometric characteristics of an individual without an identity document can be crucial in the context of a growing number of forced migrants. In the related literature, the prediction of chronological age mostly relies upon the use of a single predictor, which is usually represented by a dental/skeletal maturity index, or multiple independent ordinal predictor (stage of maturation). This paper is the first attempt to combine a robust method to predict chronological age, such as Bayesian calibration, and the use of multiple continuous indices as predictors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study aims to investigate the association between gross domestic product (GDP), mortality rate (MR) and current healthcare expenditure (CHE) in 31 high-income countries. We used panel data from 2000 to 2017 collected from WHO and OECD databases. The association between CHE, GDP and MR was investigated through a random-effects model.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStimulated emission depletion (STED) nanoscopy is a widely used nanoscopy technique. Two-colour STED imaging in fixed and living cells is standardised today utilising both fluorescent dyes and fluorescent proteins. Solutions to image additional colours have been demonstrated using spectral unmixing, photobleaching steps, or long-Stokes-shift dyes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground & Aims: Long-term parenteral nutrition (PN) is the mainstay of the therapeutic strategy in intestinal failure (IF) due to neonatal short bowel syndrome (SBS). Our aim was to identify prognostic factors for PN weaning and to assess if measuring plasma citrulline concentrations over time could account for the intestinal adaptation in progress.
Methods: This retrospective study included children with neonatal SBS with surgical measurement of the residual bowel length and repeated plasma citrulline assessments during a 4-year follow-up.
We present a novel configuration for high spectral resolution multiplexing acquisition based on the Hadamard transform in stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) microscopy. The broadband tunable output of a dual-beam femtosecond laser is filtered by a fast, narrowband, and multi-channel acousto-optic tunable filter (AOTF). By turning on and off different subsets of its 8 independent channels, the AOTF generates the spectral masks given by the Hadamard matrix.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAppl Health Econ Health Policy
October 2020
Dental root calcification has proven to be a reliable biological evidence to estimate chronological age of children. The development of structures usually examined in the age estimation forensic practice (e.g.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The clinical benefit of extending prophylaxis for venous thromboembolism (VTE) beyond hospital discharge after laparoscopic surgery for cancer is undefined. Extended prophylaxis with rivaroxaban is effective in reducing post-operative VTE after major orthopedic surgery without safety concern.
Methods: PROLAPS II is an investigator-initiated, randomized, double-blind study aimed at assessing the efficacy and safety of extended antithrombotic prophylaxis with rivaroxaban compared with placebo after laparoscopic surgery for colorectal cancer in patients who had received antithrombotic prophylaxis with low molecular-weight heparin for 7 ± 2 days (NCT03055026).
Forensic age estimation is receiving growing attention from researchers in the last few years. Accurate estimates of age are needed both for identifying real age in individuals without any identity document and assessing it for human remains. The methods applied in such context are mostly based on radiological analysis of some anatomical districts and entail the use of a regression model.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn a number of experimental studies carried out in Italy in the early 1990s, it was observed that a set of neurons from the macaque monkey premotor cortex is activated both when a specific action is performed and when the same action is simply observed. These neurons were given the evocative name of "mirror neurons". In this article, the conclusions from these studies and subsequent elaborations are reviewed in order to examine their soundness in theoretical terms.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe main objective of this article is to describe the legal principles governing the selection by European public authorities, such as National Health Services (NHS) of third parties, when entering into agreements for the transfer of health data. According to Directive 2003/98/EC, and in light of the provisions of the Treaties of the European Union, the choice as to how a public authority makes its data available to third parties needs to be transparent, non-discriminatory and may not in any case benefit a specific company at the expense of others. For this reason, we maintain that a hypothetical agreement by which a public authority grants exclusive access to a large amount of health data to a private company selected with non-transparent criteria appears highly questionable.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: After 2008 global economic crisis, Italian governments progressively reduced public healthcare financing. Describing the time trend of health outcomes and health expenditure may be helpful for policy makers during the resources' allocation decision making process. The aim of this paper is to analyze the trend of mortality and health spending in Italy and to investigate their correlation in consideration of the funding constraints experienced by the Italian national health system (SSN).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The sustainability of healthcare systems is a topic of major interest. During periods of economic instability, policy makers typically reallocate resources and execute linear cuts in different areas of public spending, including healthcare.
Objectives: The aim of this paper was to examine whether and how per capita public healthcare expenditure (PHE) in the Italian regions was related to the all-cause mortality rate (MR) between 1999 and 2013 and to determine which expenditure item most affected mortality in the short and very short term.