Diagnostic role of CD64 expression on neutrophils as biomarker for blood stream infection in liver cirrhosis: some preliminary findings.

Background: The expression of CD64 on neutrophils (nCD64), measured using flow cytometry, has been proposed as a biomarker for bloodstream infections (BSI). However, data regarding its use in the setting of liver cirrhosis are lacking.

Methods: We compared nCD64 levels in 15 cirrhotic patients with BSI to those in 19 controls, including outpatients with stable decompensated cirrhosis without infection.

The Impact of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases on Patients' Quality of Life and Work Functionality: An Observational Study.

Background: This study aimed to assess the employment status, quality of life, and work functionality in patients affected by inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs).

Methods: Patients (N = 216) were enrolled between June 2020 and October 2021. Personal, clinical, and occupational features were investigated.

Risk assessment of national railway infrastructure due to sea-level rise: an application of a methodological framework in Italian coastal railways.

Nowadays, within the built environment, railway infrastructures play a key role to sustain national policies oriented toward promoting sustainable mobility. For this reason, national institutions and infrastructure managers need to increase their awareness in relation to the current and future climate risks on their representative systems. Among climate change impacts, preventing the effects of sea-level rise (SLR) on coastal railway infrastructures is a priority.

Central venous catheter-related thrombosis in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Background: Central venous catheterization may be required in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) for parenteral nutrition, antibiotic treatment, or blood sampling. Different venous access devices can be taken into consideration-centrally inserted central catheters (CICC), peripherally inserted central catheters (PICC), and femorally inserted central catheters (FICCs)-depending on the clinical conditions of the patients. Regardless of the type of access, the presence of paraplegia or tetraplegia is commonly considered a risk factor for catheter-related thrombosis (CRT).

[Conduction disorders after transcatheter aortic valve implantation: incidence, characteristics, and clinical management].

Transcatheter aortic valve implantation may be complicated by the development of conduction disturbances, including left bundle branch block and high-grade atrioventricular blocks, especially in patients with predisposing risk factors, such as pre-existing right bundle branch block. Permanent pacemaker implantation is a procedure with potential short- and long-term complications, and it should be reserved to patients with appropriate indications. Electrophysiological testing and/or prolonged ambulatory ECG monitoring are valuable tools for stratifying the risk of pacemaker implantation.

Interlobar pulmonary sequestration with celiac aberrant artery in an elderly patient treated with combined endovascular and video-assisted thoracoscopic approach.

Pulmonary sequestration is a rare congenital pulmonary anomaly where a portion of the lung parenchyma is supplied by an anomalous systemic artery, usually originating from the thoracic or abdominal aorta. Traditionally surgical resection and ligation of the aberrant feeding vessel are the gold standard treatments of this disease. Hybrid operations consisting in endovascular arterial embolization and surgical resection is a promising treatment option.

Wearable Cardioverter Defibrillator Shortens the Lengths of Stay in Patients with Left Ventricular Dysfunction after Myocardial Infarction: A Single-Centre Real-World Experience.

The wearable cardioverter defibrillator (WCD) has been proven to be effective in preventing sudden cardiac death (SCD) in patients soon after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) ≤35%. The aim of this study was to assess whether a WCD may shorten the length of an initial hospital stay (total length, days in the intensive care unit (ICU) and in the acute cardiac care unit (ACCU)) among these patients. This was a single-centre, retrospective observational study of patients referred for the management of SCD risk post-AMI and LVEF ≤35%, in a tertiary care hospital.

Comparing cardiovascular adverse events in cancer patients: A meta-analysis of combination therapy with angiogenesis inhibitors and immune checkpoint inhibitors versus angiogenesis inhibitors alone.

Anti-VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor) agents were associated with increased risk of several cardiovascular events, while one meta-analysis did not show any significantly increased risk of cardiotoxicity associated with the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). This meta-analysis of randomized-controlled trials (RCTs) was designed to compare cardiovascular toxicity of anti-VEGF agents plus ICI vs anti-VEGF agents without ICIs. A systematic search of the literature was conducted to include all full papers reporting about phase II and III randomized controlled trials (RCTs) conducted in patients with solid malignancies randomized to an anti-VEGF agent plus an ICI vs.

Effects of the learning curve on operative time and lymph node harvesting during robotic gastrectomy.

Background: Gastric cancer is the fifth most frequent cancer globally. The introduction of minimally invasive surgery for gastric cancer aimed at reducing post-operative morbidity and hospital length of stay. Although the role of laparoscopic gastrectomy has been established, robotic gastric surgery has only recently gained popularity.

Is REM Density a Measure of Arousal during Sleep?

Rapid eye movements (REMs), an expression of REM sleep phasic activity, occur against a stable background of cortical desynchronization and the absence of axial tone. The significance of REMs during the sleep period was initially attributed to the mental content of dreams, linking the REMs to the dream scenario. Although fascinating, the so-called "scanning hypothesis" has not been supported by consistent evidence, and thus an alternative hypothesis is necessary to understand REMs significance during sleep.

[Atrial tachycardia degenerating into atrial fibrillation during recurrence of ischemic stroke: prolonged ECG monitoring in appropriately selected patients with embolic stroke of undetermined source].

The search for silent atrial tachyarrhythmias remains one of the cornerstones in patients suffering from embolic stroke of undetermined source. We report the case of a 76-year-old female patient suffering from recurrence of ischemic stroke, adequately selected based on the presence of predictors of atrial fibrillation (AF), to perform prolonged ECG monitoring. This recording allowed to document long-lasting AF triggered by atrial tachycardia.

Catheter Ablation of Well Tolerated Ventricular Tachycardia in Patients With Structural Heart Disease and Without Automatic Defibrillator Implantation: Long Term Follow-up.

The occurrence of a sustained monomorphic ventricular tachycardias (SMVT) in patients with underlying structural heart disease (SHD) is considered related to poor prognosis. The purpose of our work was to evaluate if these patients could benefit from radiofrequency (RF) ablation, and the defibrillator (ICD) implantation could be deferred during follow-up. We reviewed consecutive patients with well-tolerated SMVT, SHD and left ventricular ejection fraction over 30%.

Exploiting Focused Ultrasound to Aid Intranasal Drug Delivery for Brain Therapy.

Novel effective therapeutic strategies are needed to treat brain neurodegenerative diseases and to improve the quality of life of patients affected by Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), Huntington's disease (HD), Amyotrophic Lateral sclerosis (ALS) as well as other brain conditions. At present no effective treatment options are available; current therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases (NDs) improve cognitive symptoms only transiently and in a minor number of patients. Further, most of the amyloid-based phase III clinical trials recently failed in AD, in spite of promising preclinical and phase I-II clinical trials, further pinpointing the need for a better knowledge of the early mechanisms of disease as well as of more effective routes of drug administration.

Fluorescent lymphography for thoracic duct identification: Initial experience of a simplified and feasible ICG administration.

Introduction: Indocyanine green (ICG) lymphography can be performed to obtain realtime fluorescent images of the thoracic duct (TD). The injection of ICG into the inguinal nodes usually is ultrasound-guided. Our hypothesis was to simplify the ICG administration until making it executable by unqualified personnel without ultrasound guidance.

Learning Monologues at Bedtime Improves Sleep Quality in Actors and Non-Actors.

Several studies show that pre-sleep learning determines changes in subsequent sleep, including improvements of sleep quality. Our aims were to confirm this finding using a more ecological task (learning a theatrical monologue) and to investigate whether the effect is modulated by expertise. Using a mixed design, we compared polysomnographic recordings of baseline sleep (BL, 9-h TIB) to those of post-training sleep (TR, with the same TIB but preceded by the training session), in one group of actors ( = 11) and one of non-actors ( = 11).

Can People Sleep Too Much? Effects of Extended Sleep Opportunity on Sleep Duration and Timing.

Many people are concerned about whether they are getting "enough" sleep, and if they can "sleep too much." These concerns can be approached scientifically using experiments probing long-term (i.e.

REM Sleep: An Unknown Indicator of Sleep Quality.

Standard polysomnographic analysis of sleep has not provided evidence of an objective measure of sleep quality; however, factors such as sleep duration and sleep efficiency are those more consistently associated with the subjective perception of sleep quality. Sleep reduction as currently occurs in our 24/7 society has had a profound impact on sleep quality; the habitual sleep period should fit within what is a limited nighttime window and may not be sufficient to satisfy the whole sleep process; moreover, the use of artificial light during the evening and early night hours can delay and disturb the circadian rhythms, especially affecting REM sleep. The correct phase relationship of the sleep period with the circadian pacemaker is an important factor to guarantee adequate restorative sleep duration and sleep continuity, thus providing the necessary background for a good night's sleep.

Ultrasound-Based Method for the Identification of Novel MicroRNA Biomarkers in Prostate Cancer.

The detection of circulating microRNA (miRNA)-based biomarkers represents an innovative, non-invasive method for the early detection of cancer. However, the low concentration of miRNAs released in body fluids and the difficult identification of the tumor site have limited their clinical use as effective cancer biomarkers. To evaluate if ultrasound treatment could amplify the release of extracellular cancer biomarkers, we treated a panel of prostate cancer (PCa) cell lines with an ultrasound-based prototype and profiled the release of miRNAs in the extracellular space, with the aim of identifying novel miRNA-based biomarkers that could be used for PCa diagnosis and the monitoring of tumor evolution.

High sleep fragmentation parallels poor subjective sleep quality during the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic: An actigraphic study.

Studies on sleep during the Covid-19 pandemic have mostly been conducted during the first wave of contagion (spring 2020). To follow up on two Italian studies addressing subjective sleep features during the second wave (autumn 2020), here we assess sleep during the third wave (spring 2021) in a sample of healthy adults from Campania (Southern Italy). Actigraphic data (on 2 nights) and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index were collected from 82 participants (40 F, mean age: 32.

Case Report: Management of Malignancy-Exacerbated Pemphigus Vulgaris During COVID-19 Pandemic.

Pemphigus vulgaris is an intraepidermal autoimmune mucocutaneous blistering disease whose etiopathogenesis includes various trigger factors, i.e., drugs and malignancies.

Enhanced Vasculogenic Capacity Induced by 5-Fluorouracil Chemoresistance in a Gastric Cancer Cell Line.

Chemotherapy is still widely used as a coadjutant in gastric cancer when surgery is not possible or in presence of metastasis. During tumor evolution, gatekeeper mutations provide a selective growth advantage to a subpopulation of cancer cells that become resistant to chemotherapy. When this phenomenon happens, patients experience tumor recurrence and treatment failure.

Robotic gastric surgery: a monocentric case series and review of the literature.

Introduction: The technical complexity of D2 lymphadenectomy and esophago-jejunal anastomosis are the main factors that limit the application of laparoscopic surgery in the treatment of gastric cancer. Robotic assisted gastric surgery provides potential technical advantages over conventional laparoscopy but an improvement in clinical outcomes after robotic surgery has not been demonstrated yet.

Evidence Acquisition: Data from 128 consecutive patients who had undergone robotic gastrectomy for gastric cancer at our center institution from April 2017 to June 2020 where retrospectively reviewed from a prospectively updated database.