An explorative study regarding the effect of l-deprenyl on cognitive and functional recovery in patients after stroke.

Introduction: Selegiline (l-deprenyl) is a selective monoamine oxidase type B inhibitor that has been shown to have neurotrophic and anti-apoptotic properties and to protect neurons in different experimental models of cerebral ischaemia. The aim of this explorative study was to investigate whether selegiline could enhance cognitive and functional recovery in stroke survivors.

Methods: This was a randomized controlled study in which patients enrolled within two weeks of stroke underwent a clinical and functional evaluation and a neuropsychological assessment.

Telemedicine for evaluation of retinopathy of prematurity.

Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) remains a significant threat to vision for extremely premature infants despite the availability of therapeutic modalities capable, in most cases, of managing this disorder. It has been shown in many controlled trials that application of therapies at the appropriate time is essential to successful outcomes in premature infants affected by ROP. Bedside binocular indirect ophthalmoscopy has been the standard technique for diagnosis and monitoring of ROP in these patients.

Endoilluminator phototoxic maculopathy associated with combined ICG-assisted epiretinal membrane and internal limiting membrane peeling.

Phototoxic maculopathy caused by endoillumination during macular surgery is uncommon. Previously identified risk factors have included intensity of the light source, proximity to the retinal surface, and length of exposure. In the era of indocyanine green (ICG)-assisted internal limiting membrane (ILM) peeling, the use of ICG, and the technique of ILM peeling may both contribute to subsequent phototoxic maculopathy.

Health utilities lost and risk factors associated with HPV-induced diseases in men and women: the HPV Italian collaborative study group.

Purpose: A complete economic evaluation requires accurate data concerning the resources used, outcomes, and utilities (patient's preferences) to properly value the cost utility of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination strategies. This study was designed to measure the utility loss in health states affected by a broad range of HPV-induced pathologies in both sexes in Italy. As a secondary objective, risk factors influencing the viral transmission and development of HPV infections were also investigated.

Identification of a novel, alpha2-fucosylation-dependent uptake system in highly proliferative cells.

In this paper we describe a new structure present in highly proliferative cells and absent in cells with normal growth potential. We used cultured bovine venular endothelial cells (CVEC) as examples of high proliferation, and dermal fibroblasts of a primary culture as examples of normal proliferation. The structure, consisting of tubules radiating from the nuclear region to the tips of cell protrusions, was revealed by its strong positivity to the fucose-binding lectin from Lotus (LTL) that prefers glycans with alpha-1,2-linked fucose.

Staphylococcus lugdunensis endophthalmitis after intravitreal injection: a case series.

Purpose: To report the clinical features and visual and anatomical outcomes in three patients with Staphylococcus lugdunensis endophthalmitis after intravitreal injection.

Methods: This study was a retrospective, interventional case series conducted at a single, tertiary care retina referral practice under the approval of Western Institutional Review Board. Records of three eyes with culture-positive S.

Orthopaedic surgeons' strategies in pharmacological treatment of fragility fractures.

Fragility fractures are the most severe complications of osteoporosis and the poor mechanical properties of bone can make fixation and healing of these fracture extremely difficult. The role of orthopaedic surgeons does not end in skillful fixation of the fractures, but they have the unique opportunity to prevent complications which can negatively affect the patient's quality of life. The best practice for preventing the risk of further fractures in patients presenting fragility fractures includes fall prevention, investigation of possible causes underlying osteoporosis, attention to exercise, calcium and vitamin D supplementation as well as prescription of drugs.

Diversity of retinal vascular anomalies in patients with familial exudative vitreoretinopathy.

Purpose: To describe the diversity of clinical findings associated with familial exudative vitreoretinopathy (FEVR) using wide-field angiography and to update the current classification system.

Design: Retrospective case series at a single tertiary referral vitreoretinal practice.

Participants: A total of 174 eyes of 87 subjects were studied.

Invasive Candidiasis due to Candida Norvegensis in a Liver Transplant Patient: Case Report and Literature Review.

Candida norvegensis is an emerging fluconazole-resistant pathogen isolated in most cases from skin and mucous membranes of immunocompromized patients. Documented invasive candidiasis (IC) due to C. norvegensis has been rarely reported, thus the clinical features of patients at risk for this pathogen are poorly defined.

Retinopathy of prematurity and brain damage in the very preterm newborn.

Purpose: To explain why very preterm newborns who develop retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) appear to be at increased risk of abnormalities of both brain structure and function.

Methods: A total of 1,085 children born at <28 weeks' gestation had clinically indicated retinal examinations and had a developmental assessment at 2 years corrected age. Relationships between ROP categories and brain abnormalities were explored using logistic regression models with adjustment for potential confounders.

Beta-actin deficiency with oxidative posttranslational modifications in Rett syndrome erythrocytes: insights into an altered cytoskeletal organization.

Beta-actin, a critical player in cellular functions ranging from cell motility and the maintenance of cell shape to transcription regulation, was evaluated in the erythrocyte membranes from patients with typical Rett syndrome (RTT) and methyl CpG binding protein 2 (MECP2) gene mutations. RTT, affecting almost exclusively females with an average frequency of 1∶10,000 female live births, is considered the second commonest cause of severe cognitive impairment in the female gender. Evaluation of beta-actin was carried out in a comparative cohort study on red blood cells (RBCs), drawn from healthy control subjects and RTT patients using mass spectrometry-based quantitative analysis.

Extra-cerebral severe infections associated with haemorrhagic hereditary telangiectasia (Rendu-Osler-Weber Disease): five cases and a review of the literature.

Hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) is one of the most common autosomal dominant disorders and is characterized by genetically determined abnormalities of vascular structure. People affected by HHT are predisposed to severe infections such as cerebral abscesses, typical of patients with pulmonary arteriovenous malformations, and extra-cerebral infections such as bacteraemia, septic arthritis, osteomyelitis, hepatic abscesses, skin infections and infective endocarditis. We present a retrospective series of severe bacterial extra-cerebral infections in five patients affected by HHT, admitted to our Institute from January 2007 to June 2013.

Isolation of NDM-1-producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa sequence type ST235 from a stem cell transplant patient in Italy, May 2013.

We describe the first isolation of an NDM-1-producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa in Italy. In May 2013, a patient with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and history of prior hospitalisation in Belgrad, Serbia, underwent stem cell transplantation at a tertiary care hospital in Rome, Italy. After transplantion, sepsis by NDM-1-producing P.

Correction: Economic Burden of Human Papillomavirus-Related Diseases in Italy.

[This corrects the article on p. e49699 in vol. 7.

High prevalence of peripheral retinal vascular anomalies in family members of patients with familial exudative vitreoretinopathy.

Objective: To describe the prevalence and severity of familial exudative vitreoretinopathy (FEVR) in asymptomatic relatives of known symptomatic FEVR patients.

Design: Uncontrolled and retrospective case series at a single tertiary referral vitreoretinal practice.

Participants: A total of 148 eyes of 74 subjects were studied.

Improved photoresponse with enhanced photoelectric contribution in fully suspended graphene photodetectors.

Graphene's unique optoelectronic properties are promising to realize photodetectors with ultrafast photoresponse over a wide spectral range from far-infrared to ultraviolet radiation. The underlying mechanism of the photoresponse has been a particular focus of recent work and was found to be either photoelectric or photo-thermoelectric in nature and enhanced by hot carrier effects. Graphene supported by a substrate was found to be dominated by the photo-thermoelectric effect, which is known to be an order of magnitude slower than the photoelectric effect.

Current options to surgical treatment in osteoporotic fractures.

Treatment of osteoporotic fractures leads to significant challenges for the surgeon, including poor implant fixation related to low bone quality and compromised capacity of fracture healing. This article reviews the osteosynthesis and arthroplasty results in the surgical treatment of proximal femur, proximal humerus and wrist fractures to define the current options to decrease failure in fragility fracture management.

Efficacy and safety of two or more dexamethasone intravitreal implant injections for treatment of macular edema related to retinal vein occlusion (Shasta study).

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy, safety, and reinjection interval of dexamethasone intravitreal implant (DEX implant) in branch retinal vein occlusion and central retinal vein occlusion patients receiving ≥ 2 DEX implant treatments.

Methods: Multicenter (26-site), retrospective chart review study. Data were collected from baseline (at first DEX implant) through 3 months to 6 months after last DEX implant.

A novel method to value real options in health care: the case of a multicohort human papillomavirus vaccination strategy.

Background: A large number of economic evaluations have already confirmed the cost-effectiveness of different human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination strategies. Standard analyses might not capture the full economic value of novel vaccination programs because the cost-effectiveness paradigm fails to take into account the value of active management. Management decisions can be seen as real options, a term used to refer to the application of option pricing theory to the valuation of investments in nonfinancial assets in which much of the value is attributable to flexibility and learning over time.

Reversion to susceptibility of a carbapenem-resistant clinical isolate of Klebsiella pneumoniae producing KPC-3.

Objectives: We report the case of a kidney-transplant patient, suffering an intra-abdominal abscess at the surgical site caused by a carbapenem-resistant ST258 Klebsiella pneumoniae clone, producing the KPC-3 carbapenemase. Under tigecycline treatment, the patient developed a sepsis caused by a carbapenem-susceptible ST258 K. pneumoniae strain.

Acute retinal necrosis in a neonate.

Purpose: To report an unusual case of dizygotic twins, in whom one neonate developed acute retinal necrosis from herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 2.

Methods: Retrospective chart review.

Results: A 29-week-old premature infant from in vitro fertilization donor egg with negative maternal and fetal history for HSV-1 and HSV-2 developed vesiculopapular rash upon birth.

Interactions between Asaia, Plasmodium and Anopheles: new insights into mosquito symbiosis and implications in malaria symbiotic control.

Background: Malaria represents one of the most devastating infectious diseases. The lack of an effective vaccine and the emergence of drug resistance make necessary the development of new effective control methods. The recent identification of bacteria of the genus Asaia, associated with larvae and adults of malaria vectors, designates them as suitable candidates for malaria paratransgenic control.