Tailoring the Use of 8-Hydroxyquinolines for the Facile Separation of Iron, Dysprosium and Neodymium.

Permanent magnets (PMs) containing rare earth elements (REEs) can generate energy in a sustainable manner. With an anticipated tenfold increase in REEs demand by 2050, one of the crucial strategies to meet the demand is developing of efficient recycling methods. NdFeB PMs are the most widely employed, however, the similar chemical properties of Nd (20-30 % wt.

Metal-organic framework-based magnetic dispersive micro-solid-phase extraction for the gas chromatography-mass spectrometry determination of polycyclic aromatic compounds in water samples.

A magnetic hybrid material based on the use of the mixed-ligand Metal-Organic Framework (MOF) PUM198 is proposed for the magnetic dispersive micro solid-phase extraction (MD-μSPE) of the 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) included in the US-EPA priority pollutants list. PUM198 is a thermally robust MOF characterized by a doubly interpenetrated microporous framework in which Zn ions and carboxylate groups define 2D planes that are pillared by a bis-pyridine-bis amide ligand containing a biphenyl scaffold. PUM198 revealed to be ideal to adsorb PAHs efficiently through non-covalent interactions.

Deciphering the Supramolecular Organization of Multiple Guests Inside a Microporous MOF to Understand their Release Profile.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) give the opportunity of confining guest molecules into their pores even by a post-synthetic protocol. PUM168 is a Zn-based MOF characterized by microporous cavities that allows the encapsulation of a significant number of guest molecules. The pores engineered with different binding sites show a remarkable guest affinity towards a series of natural essential oils components, such as eugenol, thymol and carvacrol, relevant for environmental applications.

Restaging Patients With Hepatocellular Carcinoma Before Additional Treatment Decisions: A Multicenter Cohort Study.

Unlabelled: Prognostic assessment of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) at the time of diagnosis remains controversial and becomes even more complex at the time of restaging when new variables need to be considered. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the prognostic utility of restaging patients before proceeding with additional therapies for HCC. Two independent Italian prospective databases were used to identify 1,196 (training cohort) and 648 (validation cohort) consecutive patients with HCC treated over the same study period (2008-2015) who had complete restaging before decisions about additional therapies.

External validation of the ITA.LI.CA prognostic system for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma: A multicenter cohort study.

Unlabelled: Several staging systems for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have been developed. The Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer staging system is considered the best in predicting survival, although limitations have emerged. Recently, the Italian Liver Cancer (ITA.

Management and prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma in the elderly: Results of an in-field multicenter cohort study.

Aims: This multicentre cohort study evaluated the role of ageing on clinical characteristics, treatment allocation and outcome of new hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs), in clinical practice.

Material & Methods: From September 2008, 541 patients >70 years old (elderly group), and 527 ≤70 years old (non-elderly group) with newly diagnosed HCC were consecutively enrolled in 30 Italian centres. Differences in clinical characteristics and treatment allocation between groups were described by a multivariable logistic regression model measuring the inverse probability weight to meet the elderly group.

Distance as a Barrier to Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment: Review of the Literature.

The burden of travel from a patient's residence to health care providers is an important issue that can influence access to diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Although several studies have shown that the travel burden can result in delays in diagnosis and treatment of many common cancers, its role appears underestimated in the treatment of patients in clinical practice. Therefore, we performed a review of the published data on the role of travel burden influencing four items: delay of diagnosis, adequate treatment of cancer, outcome, and quality of life of cancer patients.

Single hepatocellular carcinoma smaller than 2 cm: are ethanol injection and radiofrequency ablation equally effective?

Background/aim: The impact of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and percutaneous ethanol injection (PEI) on survival in patients with small hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is unclear. We compared their efficacy in cirrhotics with single HCC ≤2 cm.

Patients And Methods: Two hundred forty-four cirrhotics with single HCC ≤2 cm treated with PEI (108 cases) or RFA (136 cases) were enrolled in the study.

Trend of improving prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma in clinical practice: an Italian in-field experience.

Background: Recent data suggest that outcome of hepatocarcinoma is improving.

Aims: In order to explore whether survival is also increasing in clinical practice, we compared two multicenter independent in-field cohorts of cirrhotics with newly diagnosed HCCs.

Methods: Cohort 1 (C1) consisted of 327 patients enrolled between January and December 1998, and cohort 2 (C2) included 826 patients enrolled between September 2008 and November 2012.

Clinical and economical impact of 2010 AASLD guidelines for the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background & Aims: Although contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT), dynamic magnetic resonance (MRI) and fine needle biopsy (FNB) are the standard of care to diagnose hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the clinical and economic benefits of the updated AASLD diagnostic algorithm, including the drop of contrast enhanced ultrasound (CEUS), have not been previously evaluated.

Methods: 119 de novo liver nodules detected during ultrasound (US) surveillance in 98 cirrhotics, 7 <1cm, 67 1-2cm, 45 >2cm in size, were sequentially examined by CEUS and CT, using MRI as a rescue approach in patients lacking a typical vascular pattern for HCC by one or both contrast techniques in the 1-2cm nodules and by CT in the >2cm nodules. A FNB was performed when required to meet both 2005 and 2010 AASLD criteria.

Occurrence of Bifidobacteriaceae in human hypochlorhydria stomach.

Background: The human stomach, when healthy, is not a suitable host for microorganisms, but in pathological conditions such as gastritis, when gastric acid secretion is impaired, microbial overgrowth can be observed. Apart from Helicobacter pylori, the composition of microbiota, resident or exogenously introduced during neutral/high pH conditions, has not been investigated thoroughly. Thus, it is possible that Bifidobacteriaceae, important autochthonous and beneficial bacteria of human gastrointestinal microbiota, could over-colonize the stomach of hypochlorhydria patients suffering from autoimmune atrophic gastritis (AAG) or omeprazole-treated (OME) gastritis.

Colonoscopic surveillance of first-degree relatives of colorectal cancer patients in a faecal occult blood screening programme.

Background: In some Italian areas, colonoscopic surveillance of first-degree relatives (FDRs) of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients is provided as a part of local population-based faecal occult blood test (FOBT) screening programmes. The objective of the present study was to assess the feasibility and early results of this surveillance model.

Methods: Data from district screening centres were used to evaluate the process of identification and selection of eligible FDRs (residence in the Emilia-Romagna Region, age 40-75 years, no recent colonoscopy) of screen-detected CRC patients and the detected prevalence of disease.

Long-term effectiveness of resection and radiofrequency ablation for single hepatocellular carcinoma ≤3 cm. Results of a multicenter Italian survey.

Background & Aims: The aim of this study was to compare liver resection and radiofrequency ablation in patients with single hepatocellular carcinoma ≤3 cm and compensated cirrhosis.

Methods: The study involved 544 Child-Pugh A cirrhotic patients (246 in the resection group and 298 in the radiofrequency group) observed in 15 Italian centers. Overall survival and tumor recurrence rates were analyzed using the Kaplan Meier method before and after propensity score matching.

Adherence to American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases guidelines for the management of hepatocellular carcinoma: results of an Italian field practice multicenter study.

Aim: Adherence to and the applicability of practice guidelines for the management of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in field practice have not been fully addressed. We designed a multicenter field practice prospective study to evaluate the adherence to the 2005 American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases guidelines in Italy.

Materials & Methods: The study began in September 2008 and consecutively enrolled cirrhotic patients with newly diagnosed HCC from 30 local, nonreference centers in Italy.

Long-term effectiveness of radiofrequency ablation for solitary small hepatocellular carcinoma: a retrospective analysis of 363 patients.

Background: Radiofrequency Ablation is the most widely performed percutaneous treatment for Hepatocellular Carcinoma. This multicentre study was aimed at assessing the complication, overall survival and disease-free survival rates in cirrhotic patients with single Hepatocellular Carcinoma nodule ≤3 cm undergoing Radiofrequency Ablation.

Methods: Data of 365 patients (59% males; mean age 67 ± 8 years), Child-Pugh A/B, with single Hepatocellular Carcinoma nodule ≤3 cm (tumours >2-3 cm = 127/236), showing complete necrosis after Radiofrequency Ablation between 1998 and 2010 in 7 Italian Centers were retrospectively reviewed.

Predicting mortality in non-variceal upper gastrointestinal bleeders: validation of the Italian PNED Score and Prospective Comparison with the Rockall Score.

Objectives: We sought (i) to validate a new prediction rule of mortality (Progetto Nazionale Emorragia Digestiva (PNED) score) on an independent population with non-variceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) and (ii) to compare the accuracy of the Italian PNED score vs. the Rockall score in predicting the risk of death.

Methods: We conducted prospective validation of analysis of consecutive patients with UGIB at 21 hospitals from 2007 to 2008.

High- versus low-dose proton pump inhibitors after endoscopic hemostasis in patients with peptic ulcer bleeding: a multicentre, randomized study.

Background: The most effective schedule of proton pump inhibitor (PPI) administration following endoscopic hemostasis of bleeding ulcers remains uncertain.

Methods: Patients with actively bleeding ulcers and those with nonbleeding visible vessel or adherent clot were treated with epinephrine injection and/or thermal coagulation, and randomized to receive intravenous PPIs according to an intensive regimen (80 mg bolus followed by 8 mg/h as continuous infusion for 72 h) or a standard regimen (40 mg bolus daily followed by saline infusion for 72 h). After the infusion, all patients were given 20 mg PPI twice daily orally.

Real time contrast enhanced ultrasonography in detection of liver metastases from gastrointestinal cancer.

Background: Contrast enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) is an imaging technique which appeared on the market around the year 2000 and proposed for the detection of liver metastases in gastrointestinal cancer patients, a setting in which accurate staging plays a significant role in the choice of treatment.

Methods: A total of 109 patients with colorectal (n = 92) or gastric cancer prospectively underwent computed tomography (CT) scan and conventional US evaluation followed by real time CEUS. A diagnosis of metastases was made by CT or, for lesions not visible at CT, the diagnosis was achieved by histopathology or by a malignant behavior during follow-up.

Ultrasound assessment of vascularization of the thickened terminal ileum wall in Crohn's disease patients using a low-mechanical index real-time scanning technique with a second generation ultrasound contrast agent.

Objective: To prospectively evaluate the vascularization of the thickened terminal ileum in Crohn's disease patients using contrast enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) and to compare the clinical activity measured by the Crohn's disease activity index (CDAI) with the CEUS findings.

Patients And Methods: Forty-eight of 104 consecutive patients (17 females and 31 males, aged 42.4+/-13.

Usefulness of contrast-enhanced perfusional sonography in the assessment of hepatocellular carcinoma hypervascular at spiral computed tomography.

Background/aims: Diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) relies strongly on the detection of hypervascularity in the arterial phase and, in this setting, spiral computed tomography (CT) is the most widely used method. This prospective study aimed to investigate the usefulness of low mechanical index harmonic ultrasound (US), using a second generation contrast-enhanced technique, in the assessment of vascular pattern of HCC shown to be hypervascular at spiral CT.

Methods: A total of 79 cirrhotic patients with 103 nodules (mean+/-SD 28+/-13 mm) with arterial hypervascularity at spiral CT were studied.