Publications by authors named "Claudia Pozzi"
Biofilm formation and antimicrobial resistance of Staphylococcus aureus are important virulence factors in cases of mastitis in dairy cows. However, few studies have investigated mastitis strains isolated from heifers. Within this context, the objective of the present study was to investigate biofilm formation on Congo red agar, the presence of the icaA and icaD genes by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and the percentage of in vitro antimicrobial resistance of 110 S.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStaphylococcus aureus is among the main etiologic agents of bovine mastitis. A total of 83 isolates of S. aureus from mammary glands of primiparous heifers were collected in the prepartum, calving and during lactation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The aim of this study was to characterise the mycoflora and the presence of fumonisin in sorghum grains, correlating the results with the environment and abiotic factors.
Results: Fifty samples (five collections of ten samples each) of sorghum were analysed. All samples were found to be contaminated with fungi, with higher frequencies of Cladosporium spp.
Background: Because of co-morbidity, older persons are often exposed to use of an excessive number of drugs, which per se implies also use of inappropriate drugs or of potentially interacting drugs ('suboptimal prescribing'). Time trends of suboptimal prescribing in older, community dwellers have been poorly investigated, particularly in Italy.
Objective: To evaluate the time-course modification of suboptimal prescribing in older, community dwellers.
Article Synopsis
- - Atrial fibrillation (AF) is common among elderly patients and is linked to severe complications like stroke and heart failure, particularly affecting hospitalized individuals in the GIFA Study with over 23,000 participants.
- - Patients were categorized based on AF presence: those with normal rhythm, those whose main diagnosis was AF, and those with AF as a comorbidity, while considering different age groups.
- - Results showed that patients with AF as a comorbidity were generally older, had poorer health indicators, longer hospital stays, and a higher mortality rate (7.1%) compared to those without AF, indicating that AF may be a sign of frailty in hospitalized elderly patients.
Background: Subtle, but clinically detectable, neurological abnormalities (SNAs) are associated with impaired physical performance in elderly persons without overt neurological diseases. We investigated whether SNAs were prospectively associated with cognitive and functional status, death, and cerebrovascular events (CVEs) in older community-dwelling individuals.
Methods: In participants without history of stroke, parkinsonism and dementia, or cognitive impairment, a score (N(SNA)) was obtained by summing SNAs detected with a simple neurological examination.
Brain microangiopathy, whose neuroimaging expression is represented by age-related white matter changes (ARWMC), is largely due to hypertension and it is, in turn, responsible for geriatric syndromes, including decline in cognitive, functional and motor/gait abilities. This review analyzes the link between hypertension and ARWMC, as well as the complex relationships between ARWMC and cognitive impairment, executive dysfunction, and movement/gait abnormalities. The available evidence supports the hypothesis that these functional consequences of ARWMC are responsible for substantial disability in the elderly.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: To compare the ability of five measures of comorbidity to predict mortality and incident disability in basic activities of daily living (BADLs) in unselected older persons.
Design: An assessment of the data obtained from the Insufficienza Cardiaca negli Anziani Residenti a Dicomano (ICARe Dicomano) Study, a longitudinal epidemiological survey on heart failure in older people.
Setting: Dicomano, a small, rural town near Florence, Italy.
The present study aimed to analyze the mycoflora and the occurrence of alternariol (AOH) and alternariol monomethyl ether (AME) in grain samples of sunflower during different stages of plant development in Nova Odessa, State of São Paulo, Brazil. The data obtained were correlated with the presence of fungi in soil, wind-dispersed fungi, and the predominant climatic conditions of the region where the experiment was carried out. Analysis of the mycoflora revealed the presence of Fusarium verticillioides and Alternaria alternata in 70% and 46% of the samples, respectively.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: We sought to compare construct and predictive validity of four sets of heart failure (HF) diagnostic criteria in an epidemiologic setting.
Background: The prevalence estimates of HF vary broadly depending on the diagnostic criteria.
Methods: Data were collected in a survey of community dwellers who were > or =65 years of age living in Dicomano, Italy.
Objectives: To assess whether kyphosis is associated with ventilatory dysfunction in older community dwellers.
Design: Cross-sectional study.
Setting: The unselected population of Dicomano, Italy aged>or=65 years.