Impact of Platelet Transfusion at Different Doses in Oncohematology Pediatric Inpatients and Outpatients: A Retrospective Study.

Background: Platelet (PLT) transfusion is an essential strategy to prevent bleeding in children with thrombocytopenia associated to cancer treatment. However, data on optimal pediatric dosing and transfusion thresholds are limited.

Methods: This retrospective study analyzed data from 607 pediatric patients with hematologic malignancies, nonmalignant disorders, and solid tumors who developed hypoproliferative thrombocytopenia during therapy.

Leaders at Italian Alzheimer's Cafés addressing ethical issues: from advocacy response against human trafficking to approach with persons living with dementia.

Objectives: This article features results of a qualitative research conducted with twenty-nine men and women responsible for Alzheimer's cafés in Italy, on the topic of ethical issues in dementia care. The goal was to identify the sources of moral distress for caregivers, exploring some bottom-up solutions that have been implemented shared with others in informal settings.

Method: During the in-depth interviews participants shared about challenges and opportunities related to dementia care and ethics, informed by the symbolic interactionist approach to the theory of social representations.

Radiation Recall Pneumonitis COVID-19 Infection Induced After Adjuvant Breast Cancer Radiotherapy. A Known Phenomenon in an Unknown Pandemic Disease: A Case Report.

The COVID-19 pandemic has opened several new disease scenarios, yielding novel syndromes that have never been seen before and resurrecting old inflammatory phenomena that are no longer recorded, such as radiation recall (RR) syndromes. Radiation recall syndrome is a limited field inflammatory reaction that occurs in a volume that was irradiated several months or years previously before being induced by a triggering factor. The most frequently reported phenomena are skin reactions; however, other organs could be involved, such as the lungs in radiation recall pneumonitis (RRP).

Estimation of Pleural Effusion Volume through Chest Ultrasound: Validation of Two Multiplanar Models.

Computed tomography (CT) scanning is the gold standard when estimating pleural effusion volume; however, the procedure exposes patients to ionizing radiation. Our study was aimed at developing ultrasound-based calculation models that can quantify the volume of pleural effusion in seated patients and validating each model using volumetric chest CT analyses as reference. Our study enrolled 36 hospitalized patients who underwent a chest CT scan and ultrasound, in the seated position, with the aid of a convex probe.

[The Integrated Environmental Health Impact of emissions from a steel plant in Taranto and from a power plant in Brindisi, (Apulia Region, Southern Italy)].

Objectives: to estimate the environmental and health impact attributable to PM2.5 emissions from the ex-ILVA steel plant in Taranto and the ENEL power plant in Brindisi (Apulia Region, Southern Italy).

Design: a SPRAY Lagrangian dispersion model was used to estimate PM2.

Industrial air pollution and mortality in the Taranto area, Southern Italy: A difference-in-differences approach.

Background: A large steel plant close to the urban area of Taranto (Italy) has been operating since the sixties. Several studies conducted in the past reported an excess of mortality and morbidity from various diseases at the town level, possibly due to air pollution from the plant. However, the relationship between air pollutants emitted from the industry and adverse health outcomes has been controversial.

In-line filtration reduced phlebitis associated with peripheral venous cannulation: Focus on cost-effectiveness and patients' perspectives.

Background: In a previous trial, in-line filtration significantly prevented postoperative phlebitis associated with short peripheral venous cannulation. This study aims to describe the cost-effectiveness of in-line filtration in reducing phlebitis and examine patients' perception of in-hospital vascular access management with and without in-line filtration.

Methods: We analysed costs associated with in-line filtration: these data were prospectively recorded during the previous trial.

Long-term emission sampling validation for PCDD/Fs control of compliance to permitted Emission Limit Values at a large sinter plant.

Continuous sampling of emission into air of dioxins has been one of the targets of Directive 2010/75/EU Of The European Parliament And Of The Council on industrial emissions (Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control, IED Directive) since year 2010. The present research was aimed at verifying the applicability of a long-term sampling system at the sinter plant of a large steel works in Taranto, Southern Italy, and to perform its validation compared to the standard reference method. Automated long-term samplings of 15 and 30 d were performed in parallel with manual short-term sampling, the latter with a frequency of two per week.

Resolution of inflammation is altered in chronic heart failure and entails a dysfunctional responsiveness of T lymphocytes.

Chronic heart failure (CHF) is characterized by an ongoing nonresolving inflammatory status, where T lymphocytes seem critical. It has been recently recognized that transition from acute to chronic inflammation could be caused by defects in resolving inflammation, the resolution of which is mediated by a novel family of ω-3-derived specialized proresolving lipid mediators such as resolvins. We analyzed 27 elderly patients with CHF and 23 healthy age-matched control subjects, and we reported significantly lower levels of D-series resolvin (RvD)1 in plasma of patients with CHF that were associated with a reduced ability of their leukocytes to produce this lipid via its biosynthetic enzyme 15-lipoxygenase and that correlated with gas exchange dysfunction.

In-Line Filtration Reduces Postoperative Venous Peripheral Phlebitis Associated With Cannulation: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Background: Peripheral venous cannulation is an everyday practice of care for patients undergoing anesthesia and surgery. Particles infused with intravenous fluids (eg, plastic/glass/drugs particulate) contribute to the pathogenesis of peripheral phlebitis. The aim of this study is to demonstrate the efficacy of in-line filtration in reducing the incidence of postoperative phlebitis associated with peripheral short-term vascular access.

Occurrence of nocturia is not mediated by nocturnal hypoxia length and severity in patients with sleep-disordered breathing.

Background: Nocturia is highly prevalent in subjects with respiratory sleep disturbances (ie obstructive sleep apnea). The aim of our study is to evaluate whether nocturia is associated with intermittent desaturations or hypoxia length and severity in people undergoing polysomnography.

Methods: We recruited 275 consecutive subjects attending the outpatient clinic for respiratory diseases at Campus Bio-Medico Teaching Hospital.

The Valsalva manoeuvre versus tourniquet for venipuncture.

Background: During ultrasound-guided cannulation, venous filling is required for venipuncture. Tourniquet with an elastic tube at the axilla is the most common method to induce venous stasis for cannulation of the deep veins of the arm. Although effective, this method might be associated with short- and long-term complications.

GOLD Staging System is Appropriate to Predict Mortality in Older People With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Introduction: In the new GOLD classification the reduction of FEV1, expressed as percentage of predicted value (FEV1PP), is considered an important prognostic factor. However, the use of FEV1PP may introduce bias, especially if based on equations derived from populations different from the one under study. We evaluated how well the GOLD classification stratifies the mortality risk when FEV1PP is based on an equation developed in the same population that gave rise to cases, externally developed equations, or as FEV1 divided by cubed height (FEV1/Ht).

Infection of totally implantable venous access devices: A review of the literature.

Totally implantable venous access devices, or ports, are essential in the therapeutic management of patients who require long-term intermittent intravenous therapy. Totally implantable venous access devices guarantee safe infusion of chemotherapy, blood transfusion, parenteral nutrition, as well as repeated blood samples. Minimizing the need for frequent vascular access, totally implantable venous access devices also improve the patient's quality of life.

Spatial distribution of kidney disease in the contaminated site of Taranto (Italy).

Background: Exposure to heavy metals has been associated with kidney disease. We investigated the spatial distribution of kidney disease in the industrially contaminated site of Taranto.

Methods: Cases were subjects with a first hospital discharge diagnosis of kidney disease.

Difference in Mortality Risk in Elderly People with Bronchial Obstruction Diagnosed Using a Fixed Cutoff or the Lower Limit of Normal of the FEV1/FVC Ratio.

Background: Whether a fixed cutoff or the lower limit of normal of the FEV1/FVC ratio should be used to diagnose bronchial obstruction is still a matter of debate. This issue is particularly important for elderly people.

Objectives: We used equations applicable up to 90 years of age to evaluate the mortality of elderly people diagnosed with bronchial obstruction using either a fixed cutoff of 0.

Angiogenic activity in vivo of the particulate matter (PM10).

Background: Particulate matter (PM) is the most efficient vehicle for the inhalation and absorption of toxic substances into the body.

Method: The present study was aimed at testing the hypothesis that PM10 samples collected on quartz filters exert an angiogenic activity in vivo in the chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) assay.

Results: When the low, medium, and high PM10 concentrations filters were tested in the CAM assay, an increasing number of microvessels was detectable after 4 days of applications of the filters.

An intensive monitoring campaign of PAHs for assessing the impact of a steel plant.

This study provided a useful approach for assessing the impact of industrial sources on surrounding, especially in a sensitive industrial area as Taranto (South of Italy). Taranto is one of the most industrialized Italian towns, where several emission sources operate simultaneously in proximity to the urban settlement. An intensive monitoring campaign of PAHs was carried out from January 28th to July 30th, 2011, in seven sites located in residential settlement around the industrial area and in the city center.

Impact of statin therapy on plasma leptin concentrations: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized placebo-controlled trials.

Objectives: The effects of statins on insulin sensitivity, metabolic homeostasis and adipokines in humans are controversial. Several studies have investigated the impact of statin therapy on plasma leptin concentrations but the results have been inconsistent. The aim of the present study was to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of available evidence to calculate the effect size of statin therapy in changing serum leptin concentrations.

Fibrate therapy and flow-mediated dilation: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized placebo-controlled trials.

Flow-mediated dilation (FMD) of the brachial artery reflects endothelium-dependent vasodilator function; since it correlates with coronary endothelial function, its reduction could predict cardiovascular events. Several studies have investigated the potential impact of fibrates therapy on endothelial function, but clinical findings have not been fully consistent. We aimed to conduct a meta-analysis of randomized placebo-controlled trials in order to clarify whether fibrate therapy could improve endothelial function.

Automated Collection of Real-Time Alerts of Citizens as a Useful Tool to Continuously Monitor Malodorous Emissions.

The evaluation of odor emissions and dispersion is a very arduous topic to face; the real-time monitoring of odor emissions, the identification of chemical components and, with proper certainty, the source of annoyance represent a challenge for stakeholders such as local authorities. The complaints of people, often not systematic and variously distributed, in general do not allow us to quantify the perceived annoyance. Experimental research has been performed to detect and evaluate olfactory annoyance, based on field testing of an innovative monitoring methodology grounded in automatic recording of citizen alerts.

Contribution of harbour activities and ship traffic to PM2.5, particle number concentrations and PAHs in a port city of the Mediterranean Sea (Italy).

In this work, an assessment of the impact of ship traffic and related harbour activities (loading/unloading of ships and hotelling in harbour) on PM 2.5 and particle number concentrations (PNC) separating the contribution associated to ship traffic from that of harbour-related activities is reported. Further, an assessment of the impact and environmental risks associated to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) concentrations was performed.