Implementation of team-based learning (TBL) in a second year medical school course: does prior experience with TBL improve the impact of this pedagogy?

Background: We have shown that use of Team-based learning (TBL) in a first-year Infectious Diseases (ID) course improved final examination and course performance. Therefore, we implemented TBL in the second-year Women's Health (WH) course to improve acquisition of course content. We hypothesized that prior experience with TBL in the first-year of medical school would lead to a strong correlation between TBL performance in the first and second years.

Monoclonal gammopathy of renal significance (MGRS): Real-world data on outcomes and prognostic factors.

Monoclonal gammopathy of renal significance (MGRS) is a recognized clinical entity. Literature regarding treatment and its outcomes in MGRS is sparse due to the rarity and misdiagnosis of MGRS. We retrospectively analyzed 280 adults with an MGRS diagnosis from 2003 to 2020 across 19 clinical centers from 12 countries.

Prevalence and factors associated with bullying phenomenon among pre-adolescents attending first-grade secondary schools of Palermo, Italy, and a comparative systematic literature review.

Background: Bullying is recognized as one of the most significant social and health problems in the school environment for children and adolescents. In Italy, bullying involved 2 in 10 kids between 11-17 years that referred to have been bullied two or more times in a month. In Sicily, the estimated prevalence of children aged 11 to 15 that suffered at least one act of bullying in the last two months was 14% in 2011.

An Epidemic Zika Virus Isolate Drives Enhanced T Follicular Helper Cell and B Cell-Mediated Immunity.

Zika virus (ZIKV) is a mosquito-borne pathogen that recently caused a series of increasingly severe outbreaks. We previously demonstrated that, compared with a pre-epidemic isolate (ZIKV), a Brazilian ZIKV isolate (ZIKV) possesses a novel capacity to suppress host immunity, resulting in delayed viral clearance. However, whether ZIKV modulates CD4 T cell responses remains unknown.

Unmutated IGHV1-69 CLL Clone Displays a Distinct Gene Expression Profile by a Comparative qRT-PCR Assay.

Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) is a heterogeneous disease characterized by variable clinical courses among different patients. This notion was supported by the possible coexistence of two or more independent CLL clones within the same patients, identified by the characterization of the B cell receptor immunoglobulin (BcR IG) idiotypic sequence. By using the antigen-binding site of the BcR IG as bait, the identification and isolation of aggressive and drug-resistance leukemic B-cell clones could allow a deeper biological and molecular investigation.

Mitochondrial Determinants of Anti-Cancer Drug-Induced Cardiotoxicity.

Mitochondria are key organelles for the maintenance of myocardial tissue homeostasis, playing a pivotal role in adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production, calcium signaling, redox homeostasis, and thermogenesis, as well as in the regulation of crucial pathways involved in cell survival. On this basis, it is not surprising that structural and functional impairments of mitochondria can lead to contractile dysfunction, and have been widely implicated in the onset of diverse cardiovascular diseases, including ischemic cardiomyopathy, heart failure, and stroke. Several studies support mitochondrial targets as major determinants of the cardiotoxic effects triggered by an increasing number of chemotherapeutic agents used for both solid and hematological tumors.

PARP Inhibitors Resistance: Mechanisms and Perspectives.

PolyADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitors (PARPis) represent the first clinically approved drugs able to provoke "synthetic lethality" in patients with homologous recombination-deficient (HRD) tumors. Four PARPis have just received approval for the treatment of several types of cancer. Besides, another three additional PARPis underlying the same mechanism of action are currently under investigation.

RFC1 repeat expansions: A recurrent cause of sensory and autonomic neuropathy with cough and ataxia.

Background And Purpose: Ataxia and cough are rare features in hereditary sensory and autonomic neuropathies (HSAN), a group of diseases of mostly unknown genetic cause. Biallelic repeat expansions in RFC1 are associated with cerebellar ataxia, neuropathy, and vestibular areflexia syndrome (CANVAS). This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of RFC1 repeat expansions in a cohort of HSAN patients.

Use of BTK inhibitors with focus on ibrutinib in mantle cell lymphoma: An expert panel opinion statement.

The introduction of Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitors transformed the management of patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). Ibrutinib, the first-in-class BTK inhibitor is now approved in more than 80 countries and there are over 20 new BTK inhibitors in development. In addition, novel agents show potential clinical activity (alone and in combination) and are in the approval phase and/or being studied in ongoing clinical trials.

A Parent-Mediated Telehealth Program for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder : Promoting Parents' Ability to Stimulate the Children's Learning, Reduce Parenting Stress, and Boost Their Sense of Parenting Empowerment.

This study investigates the effectiveness of a 6-month parent-mediated early intervention telehealth program for children with an autism spectrum disorder. The participants comprised a total of 27 parents. The findings showed that participation in the program promotes parents' empowerment and reduce parental stress and a general improvement in the parents' ability to stimulate children's learning.

Predictive value of Tmax perfusion maps on final core in acute ischemic stroke: an observational single-center study.

Purpose: To assess utility of computed tomography perfusion (CTP) protocols for selection of patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) for reperfusive treatments and compare the diagnostic accuracy (ACC) in predicting follow-up infarction, using time-to-maximum (Tmax) maps.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed consecutive AIS patients evaluated for reperfusive treatments at comprehensive stroke center, employing a multimodal computed tomography. To assess prognostic accuracy of CTP summary maps in predicting final infarct area (FIA) in AIS patients, we assumed the best correlation between non-viable tissue (NVT) and FIA in early and fully recanalized patients and/or in patients with favorable clinical response (FCR).

Use of BTK inhibitors with special focus on ibrutinib in Waldenström macroglobulinemia: An expert panel opinion statement.

The pivotal role that ibrutinib plays in the management of Waldenström macroglobulinemia (WM) is undisputed but there are ongoing questions regarding its positioning in the therapeutic algorithm of WM as well as in some peculiar clinical situations. A panel of experts from Italy was convened to provide real world recommendations on the use of BTK inhibitors in lymphoproliferative diseases in general, and in patients with WM in particular. This position paper represents the panel's collective analysis, evaluation, and opinions and is made up of a series of questions frequently asked by practicing clinicians and answers based on currently available evidence.

Groin Surgical Site Infection in Vascular Surgery: Systemic Review on Peri-Operative Antibiotic Prophylaxis.

Objectives: Surgical site infections (SSIs) in lower extremity vascular surgeries, post-groin incision, are not only common complications and significant contributors to patient mortality and morbidity, but also major financial burdens on healthcare systems and patients. In spite of recent advances in pre- and post-operative care, SSI rates in the vascular surgery field remain significant. However, compliant antibiotic therapy can successfully reduce the SSI incidence pre- and post-surgery.

A novel phage display based platform for exosome diversity characterization.

We present an innovative approach allowing the identification, isolation, and molecular characterization of disease-related exosomes based on their different antigenic reactivities. The designed strategy could be immediately translated into any disease in which exosomes are involved. The identification of specific markers and their subsequent association with exosome subtypes, together with the possibility to engineer target-guided exosome-like particles, could represent the key for the effective adoption of exosomes in clinical practice.

Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome after Ad26.COV2.S vaccination.

Background: The multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS) is a rare and sometime life-threatening post-infectious complication of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) in children and adults. To date, only a very few reports have associated such systemic reaction with SARS-CoV-2 vaccination.

Case Report: we describe a case that resembled MIS, in a 46-year-old White man, 12 days after vaccination with Ad26.

COVID-19-related acute respiratory distress syndrome treated with veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and programmed multi-level ventilation: a case report.

We report a patient with severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) treated with veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV ECMO) and programmed multi-level ventilation (PMLV). VV ECMO as a treatment modality for severe ARDS has been described multiple times as a rescue therapy for refractory hypoxemia. It is well known that conventional ventilation can cause ventilator-induced lung injury.

Safety of Multiple Vaccinations and Durability of Vaccine-Induced Antibodies in an Italian Military Cohort 5 Years after Immunization.

We previously examined the safety and immunogenicity of multiple vaccines administered to a military cohort, divided into two groups, the first composed of students at military schools, thus operating inside the national borders for at least 3 years, and the other formed of soldiers periodically engaged in a 9-month-long mission abroad (Lebanon). In the current study, we analyzed 112 individuals of this cohort, 50 pertaining to the first group and 62 to the second group, in order to examine the possible late appearance of side effects and to calculate the half-life of the induced antibodies. Moreover, the possible involvement of B-cell polyclonal activation as a pathogenetic mechanism for long term antibody persistence has even been explored.

Preneoplastic somatic mutations including in lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma.

Normal cell counterparts of solid and myeloid tumors accumulate mutations years before disease onset; whether this occurs in B lymphocytes before lymphoma remains uncertain. We sequenced multiple stages of the B lineage in elderly individuals and patients with lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma, a singular disease for studying lymphomagenesis because of the high prevalence of mutated . We observed similar accumulation of random mutations in B lineages from both cohorts and unexpectedly found in normal precursor and mature B lymphocytes from patients with lymphoma.