Morphoscanner2.0: A new python module for analysis of molecular dynamics simulations.

Molecular dynamics simulations, at different scales, have been exploited for investigating complex mechanisms ruling biologically inspired systems. Nonetheless, with recent advances and unprecedented achievements, the analysis of molecular dynamics simulations requires customized workflows. In 2018, we developed Morphoscanner to retrieve structural relations within self-assembling peptide systems.

Lag screws for reduction of bilateral lateral mass fractures due to spinal trauma.

Introduction: Bilateral fracture of the C1 lateral mass is a relatively uncommon type of traumatic lesion. Treatment of this kind of fractures is usually conservative, with either external immobilization or traction.

Research Question: Whether surgical management, with placement of lag screws in lateral mass of C1, could represent a first-line treatment.

Latin American registry of renal involvement in COVID-19 disease. The relevance of assessing proteinuria throughout the clinical course.

The Latin American Society of Nephrology and Hypertension conducted a prospective cohort, multinational registry of Latin American patients with kidney impairment associated to COVID-19 infection with the objective to describe the characteristics of acute kidney disease under these circumstances. The study was carried out through open invitation in order to describe the characteristics of the disease in the region. Eight-hundred and seventy patients from 12 countries were included.

Comparative feasibility of dobutamine stress echocardiography performed with and without intravenous contrast in patients with class III obesity.

Background: Concern exists regarding adequacy of visualization of stress echocardiograms performed without intravenous contrast in persons with Class III obesity (body mass index ≥ 40 kg/m ).

Methods: Dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE) was performed on 128 candidates for bariatric surgery with class III obesity without chest pain or pre-existent coronary artery disease (CAD). DSE without intravenous contrast was initially performed on 62 patients with class III obesity, then was subsequently was performed with intravenous contrast on 66 patients with class III obesity.

Sodium fluorescein application in brain tumor biopsy.

Background: Needle biopsy is a routinely, relatively safe, and effective tool for patients with brain tumors not suitable for surgical resection. Despite technical advancements, missed diagnosis is still reported in up to 24% of cases. The aim of this study is to investigate the role of sodium fluorescein (NaFL), a cheap and safe fluorophore, in the biopsy setting mainly with the perspective of an enhancement of the sampling accuracy.

Automated Morphological Measurements of Brain Structures and Identification of Optimal Surgical Intervention for Chiari I Malformation.

The herniation of cerebellum through the foramen magnum may block the normal flow of cerebrospinal fluid determining a severe disorder called Chiari I Malformation (CM-I). Different surgical options are available to help patients, but there is no standard to select the optimal treatment. This paper proposes a fully automated method to select the optimal intervention.

EPILAT-IRA Study: A contribution to the understanding of the epidemiology of acute kidney injury in Latin America.

Introduction: Epidemiology of acute kidney injury (AKI) is highly dependent on patient characteristics, context and geography. Considering the limited information in Latin America and the Caribbean, we performed a study with the aim to contribute to improve its better understanding.

Methods: Observational, prospective, longitudinal, multinational cohort study addressed to determine risk factors, clinical profile, process of care and outcomes of AKI in the region.

Differential microRNA expression between decidual and peripheral blood natural killer cells in early pregnancy.

Study Question: Have decidual natural killer (dNK) cells a different microRNA (miRNA or miR) expression pattern compared to NK cells circulating in the peripheral blood (pb) of healthy pregnant women in the first trimester of gestation?

Summary Answer: dNK cells have a unique miRNA profile, showing exclusive expression of a set of miRNAs and significant up- or down-regulation of most of the miRNAs shared with pbNK cells.

What Is Known Already: dNK cells differ from pbNK cells both phenotypically and functionally, and their origin is still debated. Many studies have indicated that miRNAs regulate several important aspects of NK cell biology, such as development, activation and effector functions.

HaCaT Cells as a Reliable In Vitro Differentiation Model to Dissect the Inflammatory/Repair Response of Human Keratinocytes.

Cultured primary human keratinocytes are frequently employed for studies of immunological and inflammatory responses; however, interpretation of experimental data may be complicated by donor to donor variability, the relatively short culture lifetime, and variations between passages. To standardize the studies on keratinocytes, we investigated the use of HaCaT cells, a long-lived, spontaneously immortalized human keratinocyte line which is able to differentiate , as a suitable model to follow the release of inflammatory and repair mediators in response to TNF or IL-1. Different treatment conditions (presence or absence of serum) and differentiation stimuli (increase in cell density as a function of time in culture and elevation of extracellular calcium) were considered.

Outpatient parents' views on shared-decision-making at an Italian children's hospital.

Information is lacking on what parents in southern European countries know and how they view clinical shared-decision-making (SDM) for their children. This survey assesses general parental views on SDM and patient-physician SDM relationships in an Italian paediatric outpatients' clinic. In a 3-month cross-sectional survey, we enrolled 458 consecutive native and foreign Italian-speaking parents bringing their children to our public hospital for various reasons.

Major discrepancies between what clinical trial registries record and paediatric randomised controlled trials publish.

Background: Whether information from clinical trial registries (CTRs) and published randomised controlled trial (RCTs) differs remains unknown. Knowing more about discrepancies should alert those who rely on RCTs for medical decision-making to possible dissemination or reporting bias. To provide help in critically appraising research relevant for clinical practice we sought possible discrepancies between what CTRs record and paediatric RCTs actually publish.

Measuring and benchmarking the quality of two different organizational ways in delivering infant vaccination.

The aim of this study was the quality of service evaluation of two different organizational ways in delivering infant vaccination according to a Regional Vaccination Plan. Eleven vaccination centres were selected in two Local Health Units (ASLs) belonging to the Regional Health Service of the Lazio Region, Italy. The services offering paediatric vaccinations for children under three years of age, delivered without an appointment (VACP) or with the need for an appointment (VACL), were investigated.

[Communicating the benefits and risks of vaccination: a focus on the PFCC (Patient and Family Centered Care) approach].

In recent years an important reduction in the access to vaccination was noticed in Italy. Health care workers involved in health promotion must necessarily find new strategies to overcome the mistrust of the population. The application of some instruments of counselling in the vaccination field can improve the therapeutic alliance, making users to take the best decisions for their own wellness.

Peritonectomy and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy: cost analysis and sustainability.

Background: Malignancies of the peritoneum remain a challenge in any hospital that accepts to manage them, due not only to difficulties associated with the complexity of the procedures involved but also the costs, which - in Italy and other countries that use a diagnosis-related group (DRG) system - are not adequately reimbursed.

Material And Methods: We analyzed data relative to 24 patients operated on between September 2010 and May 2013 with special regard to operating room expenditure, ICU stay, duration of hospitalization, and DRG reimbursement. The total costs per patient included clinical, operating room, procedure, pathology, imaging, ward care, allied healthcare, pharmaceutical, and ICU costs.

Are parents of children hospitalized with severe community-acquired pneumonia more satisfied with care when physicians allow them to share decisions on the antibiotic route?

Context And Objective: Despite convincing evidence that oral and injected amoxicillin have equal efficacy in children with severe community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), hospitalized children often receive injected antibiotics. To investigate whether shared decision-making (choosing the antibiotic route) influences parental satisfaction.

Design, Setting And Participants: In a one-year questionnaire-based study, we enrolled consecutive children hospitalized for CAP.

[Contraindications to vaccinations: no news is good news].

Contraindications to vaccinations represent an extremely debated topic. In this paper the literature revision is presented, taking into account different vaccines and aspects related to allergies. There were no significant differences compared to the Guide to contraindications to vaccinations, edited in 2009.

[Vaccines and autism: a myth to debunk?].

Thanks to vaccinations the incidence of many seriously debilitating or life threatening diseases and the resulting infant mortality or disability have been drastically reduced. In populations, who are no more aware of the risk of these infections, the attitude of suspicion and fear towards the vaccinations is expanding and in some cases reaches a worldwide media coverage as was the case for the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine (MMR). In 1998, a British doctor, Andrew Wakefield, and co-authors, published in "Lancet" a study in which he suggested the existence of "a new variant of autism" associated with intestinal inflammation.

[Old problems and new strategies in the fight against pertussis].

Pertussis is still a major Public Health problem. In fact, despite high vaccination coverage, several outbreaks have occurred in the last years all over the world, with thousands of cases and several deaths. Waning immunity seems to be the origin of this phenomenon, causing the shift of the peak incidence of the disease from school-age children, typical of the pre-vaccination era, to adolescents and adults.

Quality measurement and benchmarking of HPV vaccination services: a new approach.

Background: A new measurement process based upon a well-defined mathematical model was applied to evaluate the quality of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination centers in 3 of 12 Local Health Units (ASLs) within the Lazio Region of Italy. The quality aspects considered for evaluation were communicational efficiency, organizational efficiency and comfort.

Results: The overall maximum achievable value was 86.

[Meningococcus B vaccine: a new tool against invasive bacteric diseases].

After the introduction of the conjugate vaccine against meningococcus C, serogroup B became the main agent of meningococcal disease in Europe. A new approach called "reverse vaccinology" was applied to identify new antigenic proteins able to induce the production of bactericidal antibodies. The final formulation of the vaccine against serogroup B contains three antigens and the outer membrane vesicles derived from MenZB vaccine used in New Zealand.

[National Vaccine Prevention Plan (PNPV) 2012-2014 in the Italian Regions].

Seven years after the previous National Vaccines Plan (PNV) 2005-2007 the new PNPV 2012-2014 was ratified with the approval of both National and Regional Authorities in February 22, 2012. The implementation state of the new Plan at 31/12/2012 was evaluated in all Italian Regions. The regional situations of the new strategies introduced by the Plan regarding Human Papillomavirus, pneumococcal, meningococcal and varicella vaccines are described.

[Acceptability of vaccinations in adults].

Vaccines represent the most effective and economical tools available in the field of Public Health. The use of vaccines led to profound changes in the epidemiology of many infectious diseases, reducing their morbidity and mortality. Adults became specific target of immunization strategies in the last decades.

[Reactogenicity and immunogenicity of intradermal flu vaccine among the medical students of the University of Rome Tor Vergata].

Healthcare workers and medical students are a preferencial category for the administration of the seasonal influenza vaccination both for the protection of the patient and the continuity of care. Despite this the coverage remains low throughout the world. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the acceptability of the influenza vaccination among the students of the school of Medicine and Health Professions.

Chemerin regulates NK cell accumulation and endothelial cell morphogenesis in the decidua during early pregnancy.

Context: Although decidual natural killer (NK) cell accumulation and vascular remodeling are critical steps to ensure successful pregnancy, the molecular mechanisms controlling these events are poorly defined.

Objective: Herein we analyzed whether chemerin, a recently identified chemoattractant involved in many pathophysiological processes, could be expressed in the uterine compartment and could regulate events relevant for the good outcome of pregnancy.

Design: Chemerin expression in human primary culture of stromal (ST) cells, extravillous trophoblast cells, and decidual endothelial cells (DEC) was analyzed by RT-PCR, ELISA, and Western blot.

Subarachnoid hemorrhage and negative angiography: clinical course and long-term follow-up.

The aim of this study was to investigate the long-term natural history of nontraumatic angiogram-negative subarachnoid hemorrhage with typical pretruncal (P-SAH) and diffuse (D-SAH) pattern of hemorrhage. A retrospective review of 102 patients who experienced angiographically negative SAH at our institution was undertaken (11.6% of 882 spontaneous SAH).