Immunonutrition in Acute Geriatric Care: Clinical Outcomes, Inflammatory Profiles, and Immune Responses.

Background And Aims: Malnutrition is common in acutely ill geriatric patients, worsening immune function and clinical outcomes. Immunonutrition, containing nutrients like omega-3 fatty acids, arginin and glutamine, may improve recovery in this population. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of immunonutrition on clinical outcomes, inflammatory markers, and immune responses in frail, hospitalized older adults.

Dysglycemia, gender, and cognitive performance in older persons living with mild cognitive impairment: findings from a cross-sectional, population-based study.

Objective: This study aims to examine the relationship between dysglycemia - also known as pre-diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance- and cognitive abilities in an older population living Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and stratified by gender.

Study Design: This is a retrospective study with data gathered from a large Italian clinical-based database.

Main Outcome Measures: The evaluation of cognitive performances by the Mini-Mental State Examination and the Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination Revised rating scale as tests of screening and a comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation of several cognitive areas.

Aberrant telomeric structures and serum markers of telomere dysfunction in healthy aging: a preliminary study.

Telomeres undergo a progressive shortening process as individuals age, and it has been proposed that severely shortened and dysfunctional telomeres play a role in the aging process and the onset of age-related diseases in human beings. An emerging body of evidence indicates that the shortening of telomeres in cultured human cells is also influenced by other replication defects occurring within telomeric repeats. These abnormalities can be detected on metaphase chromosomes.

Tai chi, irisin and cognitive performance: a clinical and biological investigation in older adults.

Background: Skeletal muscle is the main source of circulating irisin, both at rest and during physical activity. Previous studies have suggested that irisin can improve cognitive abilities.

Aims: We explored whether six months of Tai Chi (TC) practice can modulate such a relationship in healthy older persons.

miRNAs and Alzheimer's Disease: Exploring the Role of Inflammation and Vitamin E in an Old-Age Population.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most frequent cause of dementia worldwide and represents one of the leading factors for severe disability in older persons. Although its etiology is not fully known yet, AD may develop due to multiple factors, including inflammation and oxidative stress, conditions where microRNAs (miRNAs) seem to play a pivotal role as a molecular switch. All these aspects may be modulated by nutritional factors.

Metabolic Score for Insulin Resistance (METS-IR) and Circulating Cytokines in Older Persons: The Role of Gender and Body Mass Index.

Background: Inflammation, along with aging processes, contributes to the development of insulin resistance (IR), but the roles of different inflammatory and other cytokines in this process remain unclear. Thus, we aimed to analyze the association between several plasma cytokines with IR as evaluated by the metabolic score for insulin resistance, METS-IR.

Methods: We measured the plasma concentrations of thirty cytokines from a cohort of older persons and analyzed their role as independent factors for IR.

Special stereotactic radiotherapy techniques: procedures and equipment for treatment simulation and dose delivery.

Stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT ) is a multi-step procedure with each step requiring extreme accuracy. Physician-dependent accuracy includes appropriate disease staging, multi-disciplinary discussion with shared decision-making, choice of morphological and functional imaging methods to identify and delineate the tumor target and organs at risk, an image-guided patient set-up, active or passive management of intra-fraction movement, clinical and instrumental follow-up. Medical physicist-dependent accuracy includes use of advanced software for treatment planning and more advanced Quality Assurance procedures than required for conventional radiotherapy.

Clinical implementation of 3D in vivo dosimetry for abdominal and pelvic stereotactic treatments.

Purpose: To analyze results from three years of in vivo transit EPID dosimetry of abdominal and pelvic stereotactic radiotherapy and to establish tolerance levels for routine clinical use.

Material: 80 stereotactic VMAT treatments (152 fractions) targeting the abdomen or pelvis were analyzed. In vivo 3D doses were reconstructed with an EPID commercial algorithm.

Serum alkaline phosphatase is elevated and inversely correlated with cognitive functions in subjective cognitive decline: results from the ReGAl 2.0 project.

Background: Alkaline phosphatase has been found on neuronal membranes and plasma alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity increases during brain injury and cerebrovascular diseases, suggesting that its levels may reflect the neuronal loss. It is known that ALP is higher in subjects affected by Alzheimer's dementia and inversely correlated with cognitive functions. No study has investigated the relationship between ALP and cognitive functions in old-age subject with pre-clinical cognitive impairment.

E-health. Patterns of use and perceived benefits and barriers among people living with HIV (PLHIV) and their physicians - Part 3: Telemedicine and collection of computerized personal information.

Objectives: To evaluate the patterns of use and perceived benefits and barriers among people living with HIV and their physicians concerning telemedicine and the collection of computerized personal information.

Methods: Multicenter online observational survey from October 15 to 19, 2018.

Results: Study participation was accepted by 229 physicians and 838/1,377 PLHIV followed in 46 centers, of which 325 (39%) responded online.

E-health. Patterns of use and perceived benefits and barriers among people living with HIV and their physicians. Part 2: Health apps and smart devices.

Objectives: To evaluate patterns of use and perceived benefits and barriers to health/wellness applications (apps) and smart devices among people living with HIV (PLHIV) and their physicians.

Methods: Online multicenter observational survey (October 15-19, 2018).

Results: Study participation was accepted by 229 physicians and 838/1377 PLHIV followed in 46 centers, of which 325 (39%) responded online.

Adoption and Attitudes of eHealth Among People Living With HIV and Their Physicians: Online Multicenter Questionnaire Study.

Background: The development of electronic health (eHealth) has offered the opportunity for remote care provision. eHealth addresses issues for patients and professionals favoring autonomy and compliance, respectively, while fostering closer links both between patients and health care professionals and among health care professionals themselves.

Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze the patterns of use, benefits, and perceived obstacles in eHealth among people living with HIV (PLHIV) and their caring physicians at hospitals.

E-health. Patterns of use and perceived benefits and barriers among people living with HIV and their physicians. Part 1: Information retrieval on the Internet and social networks.

Objectives: To identify patterns of use, perceived benefits, and barriers among people living with HIV (PLHIV) of online searches for health information and via social media.

Methods: Online multicentre observational survey (October 15th-19th, 2018).

Results: Study participation was accepted by 838/1377 PLHIV followed in 46 centres, of which 325 (39%) responded online: 181 (56%) had already used the Internet to search for health information; 88/181 (49%) on HIV infection and 78 (43%) on nutrition.

Vitamin E and Alzheimer's disease: the mediating role of cellular aging.

Background: Vitamin E represents a potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory system, playing a role in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Different plasma concentrations of the forms of vitamin E are observed in AD compared to cognitively healthy subjects.

Aim: Since these modifications may modulate the markers of oxidative stress and cellular aging, we aim to explore the relationship between vitamin E forms and leukocyte telomere length (LTL) in AD.

Does deep inspiration breath hold reduce plan complexity? Multicentric experience of left breast cancer radiotherapy with volumetric modulated arc therapy.

Purpose: Volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) for left breast treatments allows heart sparing without compromising PTV coverage. However, this technique may require highly complex plans. Deep Inspiration Breath Hold (DIBH) procedure increases the heart-to-breast distance, facilitating the dose sparing of the heart.

Presentation of hemolytic and hemorrhagic rangeliosis in Cerdocyon thous.

Rangeliosis, caused by protozoan Rangelia vitalii, is transmitted by the tick Amblyomma aureolatum. The disease is characterized by hemolytic and hemorrhagic disorder and has been described in dogs and other wild canids. The aim of this study was to compare clinicopathological findings and laboratory results of a Rangelia infection in a crab-eating fox (Cerdocyon thous) with those of canine rangeliosis.

Beta-carotene, telomerase activity and Alzheimer's disease in old age subjects.

Purpose: Advancing age represents the strongest risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD), and the identification of biomarkers able to define what characterizes physiological aging from AD may represent a potential starting point for novel preventive strategies. Among these biomarkers, telomeres seem to be a promising target. Interestingly, high intake of carotenoid-rich food may play a role in protecting telomeres by oxidative stress reduction.

Characterization of EPID software for VMAT transit dosimetry.

Dosimetry check (DC) is a commercial software that allows reconstruction of 3D dose distributions using transit electronic portal imaging device (EPID) images. In this work, we evaluated the suitability of DC software for volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) transit dosimetry. The volumetric gamma agreement index 3%/3 mm between twenty VMAT dose distributions reconstructed by DC and calculated with treatment planning system (TPS) were compared to those obtained using PTW OCTAVIUS®4D to assess DC accuracy in VMAT quality assurance (QA).

A national multicenter study on 1072 DCIS patients treated with breast-conserving surgery and whole breast radiotherapy (COBCG-01 study).

Background And Purpose: Breast-conserving surgery (BCS) and whole breast radiation (RT) with or without endocrine therapy (ET) represent the standard of care for ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). The use of adjuvant treatments after surgery is still controversial in this setting. We performed a retrospective multicenter analysis on a series of DCIS patients treated with BCS and adjuvant RT.

A Long Journey into Aging, Brain Aging, and Alzheimer's Disease Following the Oxidative Stress Tracks.

The Editors of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease invited Professor Patrizia Mecocci to contribute a review article focused on the importance and implications of her research on aging, brain aging, and senile dementias over the last years. This invitation was based on an assessment that she was one of the journal's top authors and a strong supporter of the concept that oxidative stress is a major contributor to several alterations observed in age-related conditions (sarcopenia, osteoporosis) and, more significantly, in brain aging suggesting a pivotal role in the pathogenesis and progression of one of the most dramatic age-related diseases, Alzheimer's disease (AD). Her first pioneering research was on the discovery of high level of 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (OH8dG), a marker of oxidation in nucleic acids, in mitochondrial DNA isolated from cerebral cortex.

Impact of hormonal status on outcome of ductal carcinoma in situ treated with breast-conserving surgery plus radiotherapy: Long-term experience from two large-institutional series.

Background: Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is a heterogeneous disease, for which the best adjuvant treatment is still uncertain. Many attempts of risk-groups stratification have been made over time, developing prognostic scores to predict risk of local recurrence (LR) on the basis of features such as age, final surgical margins (FSM) status, grade, and tumor size. The aim of our analysis was to evaluate the patterns of recurrence from a two large-institutional retrospective series.

Accelerated partial breast irradiation using intensity-modulated radiotherapy versus whole breast irradiation: 5-year survival analysis of a phase 3 randomised controlled trial.

Background: Accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) has been introduced as an alternative treatment method for selected patients with early stage breast cancer (BC). Intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) has the theoretical advantage of a further increase in dose conformity compared with three-dimensional techniques, with more normal tissue sparing. The aim of this randomised trial is to compare the local recurrence and survival of APBI using the IMRT technique after breast-conserving surgery to conventional whole-breast irradiation (WBI) in early stage BC.

Radiotherapy timing in the treatment of limited-stage small cell lung cancer: the impact of thoracic and brain irradiation on survival.

Aims And Background: Small cell lung cancer is an aggressive histologic subtype of lung cancer in which the role of chemotherapy and radiotherapy has been well established in limited-stage disease. We retrospectively reviewed a series of limited-stage small cell lung cancers treated with chemotherapy and thoracic and brain radiotherapy.

Methods And Study Design: A total of 124 patients affected by limited-stage small cell lung cancer has been treated over 10 years in our Institute.

Plasma antioxidants and brain glucose metabolism in elderly subjects with cognitive complaints.

Purpose: The role of oxidative stress is increasingly recognized in cognitive disorders of the elderly, notably Alzheimer's disease (AD). In these subjects brain(18)F-FDG PET is regarded as a reliable biomarker of neurodegeneration. We hypothesized that oxidative stress could play a role in impairing brain glucose utilization in elderly subjects with increasing severity of cognitive disturbance.

Lymphocyte mitochondria: toward identification of peripheral biomarkers in the progression of Alzheimer disease.

Alzheimer disease (AD) is an age-related neurodegenerative condition. AD is histopathologically characterized by the presence of three main hallmarks: senile plaques (rich in amyloid-β peptide), neuronal fibrillary tangles (rich in phosphorylated tau protein), and synapse loss. However, definitive biomarkers for this devastating disease in living people are still lacking.