Diagnosing non-tuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease (NTM-PD) in patients unable to produce sputum spontaneously requires invasive procedures to obtain valid respiratory specimens. In this retrospective study, we evaluated the results of microbiological tests performed on respiratory samples of 132 patients affected by NTM-PD. In the diagnostic workout, 98 patients performed both induced sputum (IS) and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and were enrolled in our study.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: The abscopal effect is a systemic immune response characterized by metastases regression at sites distant from the irradiated lesion. This systematic review aims to explore the immunological mechanisms of action underlying the abscopal effect and to investigate how hyperthermia (HT) can increase the chances of radiotherapy (RT) triggering systemic anti-tumor immune responses.
Methods: This review is created in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines.
Two phages belonging to phage cluster AK were isolated from soil samples collected in Newburgh, NY in 2021. Both are lytic with a genome organization typical of siphoviruses except for two genes encoding minor tail proteins with pyocin-knob domains found early in the genome, before the terminase gene.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Antenatal clinical guidelines recommend antenatal care providers routinely assess the smoking status of all pregnant women at the first antenatal visit and, for women who are current smokers, provide cessation support at the first and all subsequent visits. This study aimed to assess women's receipt of comprehensive guideline-recommended care for smoking during pregnancy and the maternal and service characteristics associated with such care.
Aims And Methods: A telephone survey was conducted with women who were recently pregnant and received antenatal care from public maternity services in one Australian local health district.
Sage ( L.) is a medicinal and aromatic plant (MAP) belonging to the family. Its morphological, productive and chemical characteristics are affected by abiotic and biotic factors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: E-cigarette use has rapidly increased amongst young people in Australia, however the prevalence of use amongst pregnant people is not known. The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence of e-cigarette use and dual use of e-cigarettes and tobacco cigarettes, characteristics associated with use and reasons for use amongst a sample of pregnant Australian people attending public antenatal clinics.
Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 4024 pregnant people attending antenatal appointments, between July 2021 and December 2022, in one local health district in New South Wales, Australia.
Developing an effective mRNA therapeutic often requires maximizing protein output per delivered mRNA molecule. We previously found that coding sequence (CDS) design can substantially affect protein output, with mRNA variants containing more optimal codons and higher secondary structure yielding the highest protein outputs due to their slow rates of mRNA decay. Here, we demonstrate that CDS-dependent differences in translation initiation and elongation rates lead to differences in translation- and deadenylation-dependent mRNA decay rates, thus explaining the effect of CDS on mRNA half-life.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Globally, guideline-recommended antenatal care for smoking cessation is not routinely delivered by antenatal care providers. Implementation strategies have been shown to improve the delivery of clinical practices across a variety of clinical services but there is an absence of evidence in applying such strategies to support improvements to antenatal care for smoking cessation in pregnancy. This study aims to determine the effectiveness and cost effectiveness of implementation strategies in increasing the routine provision of recommended antenatal care for smoking cessation in public maternity services.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To develop a differential diagnosis of a mass retrieved alongside skeletal remains in the crypt of the church of Santissima Annunziata of Valenza (Province of Alessandria, Northern Italy).
Material: A calcified mass measuring 40 × 39 mm and 17.62 × 16.
In Italy, tuberculosis (TB) incidence in the last decade has remained constant at under 10 cases/100,000 inhabitants. In the Philippines, TB annual incidence is greater than 500 cases/100,000 inhabitants. Omalizumab is a humanized anti-IgE monoclonal antibody approved for the treatment of chronic spontaneous urticaria.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Smoking, alcohol consumption and weight gain outside recommendations during pregnancy are preventable health risk factors associated with poorer health outcomes for mother and infant. Clustering of these risk factors further increases the risk and severity of outcomes. Limited research has explored the characteristics of pregnant women that are associated with clustering of these risks and women's preferences for receiving support.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe discuss the coexistence of a postmortem cut and a pathological alteration, recorded on a skeleton belonging to an adult man that was discovered during the archaeological investigations of the cemetery of the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Vercelli (northern Italy, 18-19 century). The skull presents an oblique cleft, which from the top of the frontal bone bends towards the occipital, and the left styloid process is elongated compared to normal values (48 mm). The elongated styloid process is due to the ossification of the styloid ligament which has several possible causes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSafflower ( L.) is a promising oilseed crop for cultivation in central Southern Italy due to its high tolerance to drought and salinity stress and appreciable seed and oil yields. The genetic diversity of cultivars and climate factors can affect fatty acid composition and yield traits.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: This paper aims to present one of the first osteoarchaeological cases of orbital osteomyelitis and provides the best diagnostic criteria to identify its pathophysiological changes.
Materials: A well-preserved skeleton of an adult male from the medieval cemetery of Sant' Agostino in Caravate, Italy.
Methods: Macroscopic, tomographic, and histological analyses were performed using standard methods.
Introduction: Autonomic nervous system activity in cirrhotic portal hypertension is linked to hyperdynamic circulation. Heart rate variability (HRV) is a validated noninvasive method to assess the sympathovagal balance. To investigate the correlation between HRV parameters and degree of portal hypertension, we studied a cohort of patients with cirrhosis accounting for etiology and treatments.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAmyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is an incurable motor neuron disease whose etiology remains unresolved; nonetheless, mutations of superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) have been associated with several variants of ALS. Currently available pharmacologic interventions are only symptomatic and palliative in effect; therefore, there is a pressing demand for more effective drugs. This study examined potential therapeutic effects of growth hormone secretagogues (GHSs), a large family of synthetic compounds, as possible candidates for the treatment of ALS.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Exclusive breastfeeding to six months of age is a major global public health priority. Several characteristics are known to be associated with early cessation of breastfeeding, however, limited evidence exists regarding whether women's reported reasons for cessation are associated with maternal, pregnancy and infant characteristics. The aims of this study were to: i) describe women's reported intention to breastfeed and their subsequent breastfeeding practices; ii) describe women's reported reasons for breastfeeding cessation prior to the infant being five months of age; and iii) examine associations between these factors and maternal, pregnancy and infant characteristics.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Clinical guideline recommendations for addressing modifiable risk factors are not routinely implemented into preconception and antenatal care. This review assessed the effectiveness of implementation strategies in improving health professional provision of preconception and antenatal care addressing tobacco smoking, weight management and alcohol consumption.
Methods: A systematic review of randomised and non-randomised studies with a parallel comparison group was conducted.
This work presents the neoplastic bone changes found in the lower limb of a medieval skeleton from the church of Sant' Agostino in Caravate (Northern Italy). After briefly assessing the individual's overall pathological picture, a differential diagnosis for the neoplastic changes is now proposed. These changes were analysed macroscopically and radiographically and subsequently evaluated considering the paleopathological and clinical literature available.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFControversies and skepticism about vaccination have existed as long as vaccination itself. Today and yesterday, the authority of religious leaders has a fundamental role to convince members of their congregations to accept or reject vaccination. Our contribution tells of the stratagem used by the Italian doctor Luigi Sacco to make the faithful lean towards the vaccination using their faith as a means.
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