Prevention and management of radiotherapy-related toxicities in gynecological malignancies. Position paper on behalf of AIRO (Italian Association of Radiotherapy and Clinical Oncology).

Multi-modal therapies for gynecological cancers management may determine a wide range of side effects which depend on therapy-related factors and patient characteristics and comorbidities. Curative or adjuvant pelvic radiotherapy is linked with acute and late toxicity due to irradiation of organs at risk, as small and large bowel, rectum, bladder, pelvic bone, vagina and bone marrow. Successful toxicity management varies with its severity, Radiation Centre practice and experience and skills of radiation oncologists.

The association between attitude towards facemasks, quality of donation experience and relationship with healthcare providers: A cross-sectional exploratory study.

Background And Objectives: Facemasks represent an essential measure of prevention against the spread of infectious diseases; however, they lessen the ability to convey and understand emotions through facial expressions. In blood donation settings, facemask wearing could interfere with professionals' tasks, reduce the satisfaction of blood donors and affect their future blood donation behaviour. This preliminary cross-sectional study explored the association of mandatory facemask wearing with the quality of the blood donation process at the end of the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Qualitative Analysis of Women's Experiences of Education About POST-BIRTH Warning Signs.

Objective: To explore the experiences of women in the postpartum period who received the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses' "POST-BIRTH Warning Signs Save Your Life" (PBWS-SYL) educational handout at discharge.

Design: Qualitative content analysis.

Setting: Virtual or in-person interviews in Connecticut, New York, and Florida.

Gastric (gastrointestinal)-type endometrial adenocarcinoma presenting as a solitary endometrial polyp: a case report and literature review on a novel and potentially aggressive endometrial cancer histotype.

Gastric-type carcinoma of the endometrium is a rare endometrial cancer histotype, recently introduced in the 2020 WHO classification of the female genital tract tumors. Clinico-pathological features, as well as treatment strategies for this rare histotype, are not fully defined. We herein present an unusual case of endometrial carcinoma with mucinous features arising in a 58-year-old menopausal woman.

Accumulation Capacity of Nickel and Zinc in Yerba Mate Cultivated in Soils with Contrasting Parent Materials.

Yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis St. Hill.) has shown a relatively high capacity for micronutrient absorption and could be a candidate for biofortification and combating a lack of micronutrients.

Postoperative treatment of intermediate-risk early stage cervical cancer: results of a survey from the Gynecology Study Group in the AIRO Gyn and MITO Groups.

This survey investigated prognostic factors, treatment modalities, references followed and radiation oncologists' opinions to prescribe adjuvant therapy in early intermediate-risk cervical cancer. All but one recommended pelvic radiotherapy ± vaginal boost (45%) with or without chemotherapy (20%). 88% believed other prognostic factors could integrate classic risk criteria.

Implementing an Evidence-Based Feeding Protocol: Impact on Nurses' Knowledge, Perceptions, and Feeding Culture in the NICU.

Background: Evidence-based feeding practices are often variable among neonatal providers due to lack of knowledge and neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) feeding culture norms.

Purpose: To evaluate changes in NICU nurses' knowledge, perceptions, feeding practices and culture following education about, and implementation of, an evidence-based Infant-Driven Feeding (IDF) protocol.

Methods: A pre-/postprospective comparative design was used to survey 120 registered nurses employed in a level 3 NICU about feeding practices, knowledge, and culture prior to IDF education and 1 to 2 months after IDF implementation.

Multi-elemental Analysis and Health Risk Assessment of Commercial Yerba Mate from Brazil.

Consumption of yerba mate occurs mostly in the form of hot infusion (chimarrão). Water solubility of elements found in commercialized yerba mate is needed to establish nutritional value and risks associated with potentially toxic elements. In this study, yerba mate products marketed in three Brazilian states (Paraná, Santa Catarina, and Rio Grande do Sul) for chimarrão were analyzed.

Manganese hyperaccumulation capacity of Ilex paraguariensis A. St. Hil. and occurrence of interveinal chlorosis induced by transient toxicity.

Manganese (Mn) toxicity is common in plants grown on very acid soils. However, some plants species that grow in this condition can take up high amounts of Mn and are referred to as hyperaccumulating species. In this study, we evaluated the capacity of Ilex paraguariensis to accumulate Mn and the effect of excessive concentrations on plant growth and nutrition.

Impact of Maternal Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Detection on Breastfeeding Due to Infant Separation at Birth.

Objective: To assess the impact of separation of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-positive mother-newborn dyads on breastfeeding outcomes.

Study Design: This observational longitudinal cohort study of mothers with SARS-CoV-2 PCR-and their infants at 3 NYU Langone Health hospitals was conducted between March 25, 2020, and May 30, 2020. Mothers were surveyed by telephone regarding predelivery feeding plans, in-hospital feeding, and home feeding of their neonates.

Elemental composition of yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis A.St.-Hil.) under low input systems of southern Brazil.

Elemental composition of food can be used to determine nutritional potential as well as guiding legislation for establishing maximum acceptable limits (MAL) of metals in consumption products. This study aimed to determine the elemental background levels of yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis A.St.

Chemistry, pharmacology and new trends in traditional functional and medicinal beverages.

Functional and medicinal beverages consumption plays an important role in human health, considering that metabolites, with a wide range of pharmacological effects, are inserted in the human diet. Nowadays, the most consumed beverages are obtained from Camellia sinensis leaves and coffee grain processing, and contain different classes of polyphenols and phenolic acids in their phytochemical composition. Besides C.

Psychometric Validation of the Family Nurse Caring Belief Scale in a Neonatal Nursing Population.

Purpose: To psychometrically validate and strengthen the construct validity of the Family Nurse Caring Belief Scale (FNCBS) with a sample of neonatal nurses.

Design And Methods: Confirmatory factor analysis of the 25-item FNCBS, using the factor structure based on the original exploratory principal components analysis, was performed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the FNCBS with the neonatal nurse population.

Results: Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) examined the factor structure of the FNCBS using the sample of neonatal nurses.

PML at Mitochondria-Associated Membranes Is Critical for the Repression of Autophagy and Cancer Development.

The precise molecular mechanisms that coordinate apoptosis and autophagy in cancer remain to be determined. Here, we provide evidence that the tumor suppressor promyelocytic leukemia protein (PML) controls autophagosome formation at mitochondria-associated membranes (MAMs) and, thus, autophagy induction. Our in vitro and in vivo results demonstrate how PML functions as a repressor of autophagy.

Healing of a soft tissue wound of the neck and jaw osteoradionecrosis using platelet gel.

Aim: Bone osteoradionecrosis is a serious complication of radiation treatment. Current treatment approaches are not curative and treatment response is often poor leading to high social and healthcare costs.

Case Report: We report on the first case of osteoradionecrosis with successful restitutio ab integro by repeated administration of platelet gel (PLT-gel) and surgery in a critically ill patient.

Hypermethylation-Induced Inactivation of the IRF6 Gene as a Possible Early Event in Progression of Vulvar Squamous Cell Carcinoma Associated With Lichen Sclerosus.

Importance: The molecular mechanism leading to the development of vulvar squamous cell carcinoma (VSCC) from vulvar lichen sclerosus (VLS) is unknown.

Objective: To assess the possible involvement of the IRF6 tumor-suppressor gene in the development of VSCC from VLS.

Design: In laboratories at the University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy, IRF6 gene expression and promoter methylation were investigated in paraffin-embedded VSCC and adjacent vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia (VIN) and VLS specimens, in cancer-free VLS (cfVLS) specimens, and in healthy skin specimens by reverse transcriptase-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) analysis and by sequencing of PCR-amplified bisulfite-treated DNA.

Effectiveness of selective neck dissection in head and neck cancer: the experience of two Italian centers.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the oncologic outcomes after a selective neck dissection (SND), both in elective and therapeutic settings, with particular regard to regional recurrence rate.

Methods: Retrospective analysis of 827 patients with head and neck primary tumors submitted to SND from 1999 to 2011 in two large hospital centers of northern Italy.

Results: A total of 40 neck recurrences were found in the whole series, with the same incidence after primary or salvage surgery (4.

Serologic investigation of undifferentiated nasopharyngeal carcinoma and simian virus 40 infection.

Background: The association between undifferentiated nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is well established. Nevertheless, available evidence suggests that other cofactors are required for the development of undifferentiated NPC. Several investigations reported simian virus 40 (SV40) footprints in human tumors of different histotypes.

Gene expression changes in progression of cervical neoplasia revealed by microarray analysis of cervical neoplastic keratinocytes.

To evaluate the gene expression changes involved in neoplastic progression of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. Using microarray analysis, large-scale gene expression profile was carried out on HPV16-CIN2, HPV16-CIN3, and normal cervical keratinocytes derived from two HPV16-CIN2, two HPV-CIN3 lesions, and two corresponding normal cervical tissues, respectively. Differentially expressed genes were analyzed in normal cervical keratinocytes compared with HPV16-CIN2 keratinocytes and in HPV16-CIN2 keratinocytes compared with HPV16-CIN3 keratinocytes; 37 candidate genes with continuously increasing or decreasing expression during CIN progression were identified.

Impairment of GABA release in the hippocampus at the time of the first spontaneous seizure in the pilocarpine model of temporal lobe epilepsy.

The alterations in GABA release have not yet been systematically measured along the natural course of temporal lobe epilepsy. In this work, we analyzed GABA extracellular concentrations (using in vivo microdialysis under basal and high K(+)-evoked conditions) and loss of two GABA interneuron populations (parvalbumin and somatostatin neurons) in the ventral hippocampus at different time-points after pilocarpine-induced status epilepticus in the rat, i.e.

Transforming a care delivery model to increase breastfeeding.

This article describes the process of changing the care delivery model for maternity practice in a New York State Regional Perinatal Center to support exclusive breastfeeding, defined as providing nothing other than human milk feedings. Barriers exist in hospitals that inhibit exclusive breastfeeding of newborns at the time of discharge and fail to meet the recommendations outlined by the World Health Organization and New York State Department of Health. All aspects of mother/baby care were evaluated to meet the recommendations and increase exclusive breastfeeding.

Polycystin-1 regulates amphiregulin expression through CREB and AP1 signalling: implications in ADPKD cell proliferation.

In autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD), renal cyst development and enlargement, as well as cell growth, are associated with alterations in several pathways, including cAMP and activator protein 1 (AP1) signalling. However, the precise mechanism by which these molecules stimulate cell proliferation is not yet fully understood. We now show by microarray analysis, luciferase assay, mutagenesis, and chromatin immunoprecipitation that CREB and AP1 contribute to increased expression of the amphiregulin gene, which codifies for an epidermal growth factor-like peptide, in ADPKD cystic cells, thereby promoting their cell growth.