Containment of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales colonisations and infections: Results from an integrated infection control intervention in a large hospital trust of northern Italy.

Purpose: We describe the results of an infection control intervention, implemented in 4 tertiary hospitals in Romagna, Italy, aiming at containing the spread of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE).

Methods: The intervention consisted of rectal screening in patients at risk for CRE; pre-emptive contact precaution waiting for screening results; timely notification of CRE identification and concomitant computerized alert; contact precaution for confirmed CRE-positive patients. We performed an interrupted time series analysis to compare the incidence of CRE bacteraemia, of other CRE infections, and CRE-positive rectal swabs in the pre and postintervention period (January 2015-July 2017 and August 2017-June 2020, respectively).

Efficacy of bezlotoxumab in preventing the recurrence of Clostridioides difficile infection: an Italian multicenter cohort study.

Objectives: Bezlotoxumab (BEZ) is a promising tool for preventing the recurrence of Clostridioides difficile infection (rCDI). The aim of the study was to emulate, in a real-world setting, the MODIFY trials in a cohort of participants with multiple risk factors for rCDI treated with BEZ in addition to the standard of care (SoC) versus SoC alone.

Methods: A multicenter cohort study was conducted including 442 patients with Clostridioides difficile infection from 2018 to 2022, collected from 18 Italian centers.

The Design of Experiment as a Tool to Model Plant Trace-Metal Bioindication Abilities.

Bioindicator plants are species that have the capacity to linearly uptake some elements (metal and metalloids) from the growing substrate, thus reflecting their concentration in the soil. Many factors can influence the uptake of these elements by plants, among which is the simultaneous presence of several metals, a common situation in contaminated or natural soils. A novel approach that can be used to validate the bioindication ability of a species growing on a polymetallic substrate is the design of experiment (DoE) approach.

Synthesis Monitoring, Characterization and Cleanup of Ag-Polydopamine Nanoparticles Used as Antibacterial Agents with Field-Flow Fractionation.

Advances in nanotechnology have opened up new horizons in nanomedicine through the synthesis of new composite nanomaterials able to tackle the growing drug resistance in bacterial strains. Among these, nanosilver antimicrobials sow promise for use in the treatment of bacterial infections. The use of polydopamine (PDA) as a biocompatible carrier for nanosilver is appealing; however, the synthesis and functionalization steps used to obtain Ag-PDA nanoparticles (NPs) are complex and require time-consuming cleanup processes.

New polluting metals. Quantification in herbal medicines by voltammetric and spectroscopic analytical methods.

A new application of voltammetric techniques in stripping mode to the quantitative determination of metals belonging to the platinum group (PGM) in herbal medicines, at the ultra-trace level, is reported. Pd (II), Pt (II) and Rh (III) are determined by means of square-wave adsorption voltammetry (SWAdSV); Os (VIII) and Ru (III) are determined through square-wave voltammetry in catalytic mode (SWCV); Ir (III) is determined through the application of square-wave catalytic voltammetry in adsorption mode (SWAdCSV). In all the applied methods, the voltammetric cell has the conventional setting with three-electrodes, which sees the presence of a suspended mercury-drop electrode (HMDE) or a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) as working electrodes for the determination of Ir (III).

Production of Antioxidant Molecules in (L.) and (L.) under Metal Stress: A Possible Tool in the Evaluation of Plant Metal Tolerance.

Plants growing on heavy metal (HM)-polluted soils show toxicity symptoms, such as chlorosis and growth reduction, and undergo oxidative stress due to the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Plants overcome oxidative stress by producing a wide range of antioxidant molecules, such as polyphenols and flavonoids. The aim of the present work was to study the accumulation of these molecules in response to increasing concentrations of Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn and to assess whether they can be used as a tool in assessing metal-related stress in and .

Heavy Metals Bioindication Potential of the Common Weeds L., L. and L.

In recent years, heavy metals (HMs) levels in soil and vegetation have increased considerably due to traffic pollution. These pollutants can be taken up from the soil through the root system. The ability of plants to accumulate HMs into their tissues can therefore be used to monitor soil pollution.

Cylindrical Layered Bone Scaffolds with Anisotropic Mechanical Properties as Potential Drug Delivery Systems.

3D cylindrical layered scaffolds with anisotropic mechanical properties were prepared according to a new and simple method, which involves gelatin foaming, deposition of foamed strips, in situ crosslinking, strip rolling and lyophilization. Different genipin concentrations were tested in order to obtain strips with different crosslinking degrees and a tunable stability in biological environment. Before lyophilization, the strips were curled in a concentric structure to generate anisotropic spiral-cylindrical scaffolds.

Strontium-Substituted Hydroxyapatite-Gelatin Biomimetic Scaffolds Modulate Bone Cell Response.

Strontium has a beneficial role on bone remodeling and is proposed for the treatment of pathologies associated to excessive bone resorption, such as osteoporosis. Herein, the possibility to utilize a biomimetic scaffold as strontium delivery system is explored. Porous 3D gelatin scaffolds containing about 30% of strontium substituted hydroxyapatite (SrHA) or pure hydroxyapatite (HA) are prepared by freeze-drying.

Gelatin Porous Scaffolds as Delivery Systems of Calcium Alendronate.

The systemic administration of bisphosphonates (BPs) for the treatment of metabolic diseases characterized by abnormal bone loss suffers from several adverse side effects, which can be reduced by implementation of alternative modes of administration. In this work, glutaraldehyde cross-linked gelatin scaffolds are proposed as delivery systems of calcium alendronate monohydrate (CaAL•H O). The 3D highly porous scaffolds display a relevant interconnected porosity (>94%), independently from CaAL•H O content (0, 3, and 6 wt%).

Hollow-fiber flow field-flow fractionation and multi-angle light scattering investigation of the size, shape and metal-release of silver nanoparticles in aqueous medium for nano-risk assessment.

Due to the increased use of silver nanoparticles in industrial scale manufacturing, consumer products and nanomedicine reliable measurements of properties such as the size, shape and distribution of these nano particles in aqueous medium is critical. These properties indeed affect both functional properties and biological impacts especially in quantifying associated risks and identifying suitable risk-mediation strategies. The feasibility of on-line coupling of a fractionation technique such as hollow-fiber flow field flow fractionation (HF5) with a light scattering technique such as MALS (multi-angle light scattering) is investigated here for this purpose.

Gravitational field-flow fractionation integrated with chemiluminescence detection for a self-standing point-of-care compact device in bioanalysis.

A "Point-Of-Care-Testing" (POCT) system relies on portable and simply operated self-standing analytical devices. To fulfill diagnostic requirements, the POCT system should provide highly sensitive simultaneous detection of several biomarkers of the pathology of interest (multiplexing) in a short assay time. One of the main unsolved issues in POCT device development is the integration of pre-analytical sample preparation procedures in the miniaturized device.

Imported rickettsioses in Italy.

Background: In Italy few cases of rickettsioses have been reported in travellers and autochthonous cases are attributed predominantly to Rickettsia conorii, the agent of Mediterranean spotted fever.

Method: The purpose of this study was to investigate some epidemiological and clinical features of tick-borne spotted fever group rickettsiosis acquired abroad or in Italy. Serum specimens collected prospectively from patients with suspected rickettsioses were tested by immunofluorescence assay.

Tandem hollow-fiber flow field-flow fractionation.

Reinjection of one ore more collected fractions of eluted samples is recognized as a useful procedure in analytical separation techniques, among which field-flow fractionation (FFF), to improve the actual separation of complex samples. Hollow-fiber flow FFF (HF5) is a micro-channel subset of flow FFF (F4), which has recently reached a performance comparable to that of standard, flat-channel F4. To further improve HF5 of complex protein samples, we present a new device and method for in-line, reinjection HF5 that we call tandem HF5 (HF5/HF5).

A case of aseptic pleuropericarditis in a patient with chronic plaque psoriasis under methotrexate therapy.

Methotrexate may rarely provoke serositis, even with low doses and after just a few weeks of therapy. We report here a rare case of pleuropericarditis due to methotrexate. The effusion resolved after the withdrawal of the drug and the beginning of anti-inflammatory therapy; there was no relapse during a 10-month follow-up.

Hybrid gravitational field-flow fractionation using immunofunctionalized walls for integrated bioanalytical devices.

In this work, the biospecific recognition antigen-antibody reaction was implemented in gravitational field-flow fractionation (GrFFF), a flow-assisted separation technique for micron-sized particles, in order to realize a hybrid immunomodulated GrFFF system in which two different principles are combined to achieve highly versatile fractionation. Micron-sized polystyrene beads coated with horseradish peroxidase (HRP) were used as a model sample, and anti-HRP antibodies were immobilized on the accumulation wall of the GrFFF channel. Ultrasensitive chemiluminescence imaging was employed to visualize the beads during elution and to optimize experimental conditions.

A fatal case of encephalitis associated with Chikungunya virus infection.

An outbreak of Chikungunya fever occurred in north-east Italy in the summer of 2007. Only 1 fatal case was observed, in an 83-y-old male hospitalized with encephalitis. Viral genome was detected at high level (1.

Parameters of oxidative stress are present in the circulation of PXE patients.

Pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE) is an inherited disorder characterized by calcification of elastic fibres leading to dermatological and vascular alterations associated to premature aged features and to life threatening clinical manifestations. The severity of the disease is independent from the type of mutation in the ABCC6 gene, and it has been suggested that local and/or systemic factors may contribute to the occurrence of clinical phenotype. The redox balance in the circulation of 27 PXE patients and of 50 healthy subjects of comparable age was evaluated by measuring the advanced oxidation protein products (AOPP), the lipid peroxidation derivatives (LOOH), the circulating total antioxidant status (TAS), the thiol content and the extracellular superoxide dismutase activity (EC-SOD).

Legionnaires' disease associated with macular rash: two cases.

Legionnaires' disease is an acute bacterial infection, generally sustained by Legionella pneumophila, which involves primarily the lower respiratory tract, although it is often associated with multi-systemic extrapulmonary manifestations. Afflicted patients may sometimes have gastrointestinal symptoms, liver function abnormalities, renal failure or central nervous system complications, while cutaneous manifestations are very uncommon and may include erythematous, maculopapular or petechial skin lesions. Pathogenesis of skin involvement in the setting of Legionnaires' disease is still uncertain, but may involve toxic or immunological mechanisms.

Biocompatible channels for field-flow fractionation of biological samples: correlation between surface composition and operating performance.

Biocompatible methods capable of rapid purification and fractionation of analytes from complex natural matrices are increasingly in demand, particularly at the forefront of biotechnological applications. Field-flow fractionation is a separation technique suitable for nano-sized and micro-sized analytes among which bioanalytes are an important family. The objective of this preliminary study is to start a more general approach to field-flow fractionation for bio-samples by investigation of the correlation between channel surface composition and biosample adhesion.

Field-flow fractionation of cells with chemiluminescence detection.

Field-flow fractionation is a separation technique characterized by a retention mechanism which makes it suitable for sorting cells over a short analysis time, with low sample carry-over and preserving cell viability. Thanks to its high sensitivity, chemiluminescence detection is suitable for the quantification of just a few cells expressing chemiluminescence or bioluminescence. In this work, different formats for coupling gravitational field-flow fractionation and chemiluminescence detection are explored to achieve ultra-sensitive cell detection in the framework of cell sorting.

Working without accumulation membrane in flow field-flow fractionation. Effect of sample loading on retention.

Membraneless hyperlayer flow field-flow fractionation (Hyp FIFFF) has shown improved performance with respect to Hyp FIFFF with membrane. The conditions for high recovery and recovery independent of sample loading in membraneless Hyp FIFFF have been previously determined. The effect of sample loading should be also investigated in order to optimize the form of the peaks for real samples.