Relationship of long-term air pollution exposure with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: an Italian multicentre observational study.

Background: Recent evidence showed that 50% of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) may be attributable to air pollution. We aimed to investigate the association between long-term air pollution exposure and COPD symptoms/diagnosis in an Italian epidemiological study.

Methods: A total of 14 420 adults living in Ancona, Pavia, Pisa, Sassari, Turin and Verona were investigated in 2005-2011.

Predicting paediatric asthma exacerbations with machine learning: a systematic review with meta-analysis.

Background: Asthma exacerbations in children pose a significant burden on healthcare systems and families. While traditional risk assessment tools exist, artificial intelligence (AI) offers the potential for enhanced prediction models.

Objective: This study aims to systematically evaluate and quantify the performance of machine learning (ML) algorithms in predicting the risk of hospitalisation and emergency department (ED) admission for acute asthma exacerbations in children.

Associations between the prevalence of asthma and dietary exposure to food contaminants in children: CHASER study.

Background: Asthma is a common, multifactorial chronic disease with a major impact on children and adolescents. Exposure to food contaminants is one of the contributing factors to asthma. This study aims to evaluate the intake and exposure of different contaminants and explore their association with childhood asthma.

Assessing external exposome by implementing an Environmental Data Management System using Open Data.

Due to the increasing importance of exposome in environmental epidemiology, feasibility and usefulness of an Environmental Data Management System (EDMS) using Open Data was evaluated. The EDMS includes data from 10 European cities (Celje (Slovenia), Łódź (Poland), Manchester (UK), Palermo (Italy), Paris (France), Porto (Portugal), Regensburg (Germany), Reus (Spain), Rijeka (Croatia), Thessaloniki (Greece)) about external non-specific and specific exposome factors at the city or country level (2017-2020). Findings showed that the highest values of life expectancy were in Reus females (86 years) and Palermo males (81 years).

Machine learning-enhanced HRCT analysis for diagnosis and severity assessment in pediatric asthma.

Objectives: Chest high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) is conditionally recommended to rule out conditions that mimic or coexist with severe asthma in children. However, it may provide valuable insights into identifying structural airway changes in pediatric patients. This study aims to develop a machine learning-based chest HRCT image analysis model to aid pediatric pulmonologists in identifying features of severe asthma.

Reference Equations for Within-Breath Respiratory Oscillometry in White Adults.

Background: Within-breath analysis of oscillometry parameters is a growing research area since it increases sensitivity and specificity to respiratory pathologies and conditions. However, reference equations for these parameters in White adults are lacking and devices using multiple sinusoids or pseudorandom forcing stimuli have been underrepresented in previous studies deriving reference equations. The current study aimed to establish reference ranges for oscillometry parameters, including also the within-breath ones in White adults using multi-sinusoidal oscillations.

Pediatric asthma and altitude: a complex interplay between different environmental factors.

Asthma is one of the most common non-communicable diseases, and its prevalence and morbidity are influenced by a wide array of factors that are only partially understood. In addition to individual predisposition linked to genetic background and early life infections, environmental factors are crucial in determining the impact of asthma both on an individual patient and on a population level.Several studies have examined the role of the environment where asthmatic subjects live in the pathogenesis of asthma.

Vitulia questionnaire: a new instrument to evaluate quality of life in children aged 4-7 years with food allergy.

Food allergy (FA) negatively affects health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) of children and caregivers. To date, no questionnaire self-compiling assessing the HR-QoL in pre-school children with FA is available. The aim of this study is to develop and validate a self-administered, rapid and easy questionnaire to evaluate the HR-QoL in children ≥ 7 years with IgE-mediated FA.

Different greenness exposure in Europe and respiratory outcomes in youths. A systematic review and meta-analysis.

The existing evidence on the association between greenness and respiratory outcomes remains inconclusive. We aimed at systematically summarizing existing literature on greenness exposure and respiratory outcomes in European children and adolescents, with a preliminary attempt to qualify the distribution of dominant tree species across different geographical areas and bioclimatic regions. Overall, 4049 studies were firstly identified by searching PubMed/MEDLINE, EMBASE, Scopus, Web of Science, GreenFile and CAB direct, up to 29 August 2023.

Asthma incidence can be influenced by climate change in Italy: findings from the GEIRD study-a climatological and epidemiological assessment.

An association between climatic conditions and asthma incidence has been widely assumed. However, it is unclear whether climatic variations have a fingerprint on asthma dynamics over long time intervals. The aim of this study is to detect a possible correlation of the Summer North Atlantic Oscillation (S-NAO) index and the self-calibrated palmer drought severity index (scPDSI) with asthma incidence over the period from 1957 to 2006 in Italy.

Hopelessness and burnout in Italian healthcare workers during COVID-19 pandemic: the mediating role of trait emotional intelligence.

Objective: The study aims to assess the impact of COVID-19 on healthcare workers' work-related stress during the first wave of the pandemic in Italy. The main objective is to investigate the existence of a positive correlation between hopelessness and burnout, assuming that burnout may be a risk factor for the development of hopelessness, and to analyze the role that trait Emotional Intelligence (TEI) and changes in workload could have in this relationship. Furthermore, evaluate any significant differences in burnout and hopelessness levels in the function of some demographic variables, such as gender, professional profiles, and different working zones of Italy, to better understand how the diverse diffusion of pandemic had affected Italian healthcare workers.

The Relationship between Knowing Sign Language and Quality of Life among Italian People Who Are Deaf: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Deafness is a medical condition with important relational implications. This condition could affect well-being and self-esteem and cause social anxiety. Sign language is not only a simple mimic but can be considered as a different kind of communication that could be protective for those who have learned it.

Serious Games in the new era of digital-health interventions: A narrative review of their therapeutic applications to manage neurobehavior in neurodevelopmental disorders.

Children and adolescents with neurodevelopmental disorders generally show adaptive, cognitive and motor skills impairments associated with behavioral problems, i.e., alterations in attention, anxiety and stress regulation, emotional and social relationships, which strongly limit their quality of life.

Symptom control and health-related quality of life in allergic rhinitis with and without comorbid asthma: A multicentre European study.

Background: Allergic rhinitis (AR) is a major non-communicable disease that affects the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of patients. However, data on HRQoL and symptom control in AR patients with comorbid asthma (AR + asthma) are lacking.

Methods: In this multicentre, cross-sectional study, patients with AR were screened and administered questionnaires of demographic characteristics and health conditions (symptoms/diagnosis of AR and asthma, disease severity level, and allergic conditions).

Rhinitis associated with asthma is distinct from rhinitis alone: The ARIA-MeDALL hypothesis.

Asthma, rhinitis, and atopic dermatitis (AD) are interrelated clinical phenotypes that partly overlap in the human interactome. The concept of "one-airway-one-disease," coined over 20 years ago, is a simplistic approach of the links between upper- and lower-airway allergic diseases. With new data, it is time to reassess the concept.

Relationship of long-term air pollution exposure with asthma and rhinitis in Italy: an innovative multipollutant approach.

Background: air pollution is a complex mixture; novel multipollutant approaches could help understanding the health effects of multiple concomitant exposures to air pollutants.

Aim: to assess the relationship of long-term air pollution exposure with the prevalence of respiratory/allergic symptoms and diseases in an Italian multicenter study using single and multipollutant approaches.

Methods: 14420 adults living in 6 Italian cities (Ancona, Pavia, Pisa, Sassari, Turin, Verona) were investigated in 2005-2011 within 11 different study cohorts.

Sexual Satisfaction and Quality of Life in Cardiovascular Patients: The Mediating Role of Anxiety.

Background: Cardiovascular diseases represent one of the most important problems for public health. Research indicates that elderly patients consider sexual satisfaction as a fundamental aspect of their quality of life and a better sexual function is related to higher general wellbeing.

Objective: The main objective of this study was to investigate the mediating role of anxiety and depression in the relationship between quality of life and sexual satisfaction in cardiovascular (CVD) patients.

Drawing techniques as tools for the evaluation of scholastic integration and emotional components in primary and secondary school: A cross-sectional study.

Introduction: In the last decades, many studies have emphasized emotion's role in psycho-educational processes during childhood, such as scholastic integration. Emotional variables in childhood can be assessed through projective graphic techniques, as they allow children to use kinetic components of the draws to communicate emotions.

Method: 1.

Oxidative Stress, Environmental Pollution, and Lifestyle as Determinants of Asthma in Children.

Exposure to cigarette smoke, allergens, viruses, and other environmental contaminants, as well as a detrimental lifestyle, are the main factors supporting elevated levels of airway oxidative stress. Elevated oxidative stress results from an imbalance in reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and efficiency in antioxidant defense systems. Uncontrolled increased oxidative stress amplifies inflammatory processes and tissue damage and alters innate and adaptive immunity, thus compromising airway homeostasis.

Vitamin D and Healthcare Service Utilization in Children: Insights from a Machine Learning Approach.

Vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency is a global health issue: an association has been demonstrated between vitamin D deficiency and a myriad of acute and chronic illnesses. Data regarding vitamin D status among children hospitalized with non-critical illnesses are scanty. We aimed to: (1) identify profiles of children hospitalized due to non-critical illnesses, using vitamin D levels as the driving outcome; (2) assess the association between patient profiles and length of stay.