Decrement of choroid vascularization during spontaneous migraine attacks: An optical coherence tomography angiography study.

Objective: This study aimed to analyze the microcirculation of the macula, the optic nerve, and the choroid in patients with migraine by optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) during spontaneous migraine attacks, comparing the findings with scans performed in the interictal period in the same subjects and healthy controls (HCs).

Methods: In this case-crossover design study, patients diagnosed with migraine who underwent an OCTA during a migraine attack were enrolled. A cohort of HCs was recruited for comparison.

Impact of Immuno-Nutrition on the Nutritional Status, Inflammatory Response and Clinical Outcome of Clinic-Admitted Mild-Intensity-COVID-19 Patients: A Pilot, Perspective-Concluding Study.

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has impacted our lives since early 2020. Both malnutrition and an overweight status significantly correlate with worse patient outcomes and mortality. Immuno-nutrition (IN) has shown promising results in the inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) clinical course and the extubation time and mortality of patients admitted to intensive care units (ICUs).

Microvascular involvement in migraine: an optical coherence tomography angiography study.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the microvasculature of the macula and the optic nerve in patients affected by migraine with aura (MA) and without aura (MO) by optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA), comparing the findings with healthy controls (HC).

Methods: We collected data from ocular and orthotic examinations, including eye motility, intraocular pressure measurement, best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) measurement, objective refraction measurement, fundus examination, macular and optic disk OCTA examination. All subjects were imaged with solix fullrange OCT.

Evaluation of antibody response anti SARS-Cov-2: A retrospective observational study (Marche-Italy).

Background: COVID-19 has hit every country in the world. Almost a quarter of a billion cases and nearly 5 million deaths reported globally as of late September 2021. Compared to over 6 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccine administered, the pandemic does not seem to disappear.

Pre-registration nursing students' anxiety and academic concerns after the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic in Italy: A cross-sectional study.

Background: The pandemic and its related social restrictions have led to many uncertainties in nurse education, including the fear of infection in clinical learning settings and the challenge of remote learning. The modification of clinical and academic environments generated anxiety and academic concerns among nursing students.

Objectives: To explore the main determinants of anxiety related to the clinical and classroom environments in nurse education after the second wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Effectiveness of virtual reality in the management of paediatric anxiety during the peri‑operative period: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Children undergoing surgery generally experience anxiety during the perioperative period, which could impact the surgical outcome, cause long-term psychological consequences and result in later healthcare avoidance. Preoperative anxiety in children is managed using both pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies. The latter include distraction, a tour of the operating room and parental presence until the induction of anaesthesia.

Intraoperative near-infrared spectroscopy for pedicled perforator flaps: a possible tool for the early detection of vascular issues.

Background: Pedicled perforator flaps can present postoperative complications similar to those encountered in free flap surgery. Beyond a clinical evaluation, there is still no reliable technical aid for the early prediction of vascular issues. The aim of this study was to assess the support of near-infrared spectroscopy technology as an intraoperative tool to anticipate postsurgical flap ischemia.

Stress, Burnout, and Resilience among Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Emergency: The Role of Defense Mechanisms.

The experience of working on the frontlines of the COVID-19 healthcare crisis has presented a cumulative traumatic experience that affects healthcare professionals' well-being. Psychological resources such as resilience and adaptive defense mechanisms are essential in protecting individuals from severe stress and burnout. During September 2020, 233 healthcare workers responded to an online survey to test the impact of demographic variables, COVID-19 exposure, and psychological resources in determining stress and burnout during the COVID-19 emergency.

Morality traits for an ideal nurse manager: A multicentre cross-sectional study.

Aims: To investigate which morality traits are more important for nurses to determine positive opinions of their nurse manager.

Background: People selected morality more often than sociability and competence when forming a positive opinion towards an ideal or a newcomer manager.

Methods: A multicentre, cross-sectional study was carried out by administering two questionnaires to 775 nurses on the influence of morality, sociability and competence traits on their impression formation processes.

Preliminary outcomes and comparison of polytech POLYtxt and MESMOsensitive breast implants with focus on late seroma: Single-surgeon, retrospective cohort study on 621 consecutive aesthetic breast surgery cases.

Background: Recent history shows incomplete understanding of the long-term interaction between breast implants and biological tissues. Although complications of silicone-textured implants have been previously reported, conclusive data are still controversial due to the lack of reduced bias, long-term, comparative studies. We present our preliminary outcomes of 3 years aesthetic use of POLYTECH silicone POLYtxt and MESMO Sensitive implants.

The selective disruption of presynaptic JNK2/STX1a interaction reduces NMDA receptor-dependent glutamate release.

The neuronal loss caused by excessive glutamate release, or 'excitotoxicity', leads to several pathological conditions, including cerebral ischemia, epilepsy, and neurodegenerative diseases. Over-stimulation of presynaptic N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors is known to trigger and support glutamate spillover, while postsynaptic NMDA receptors are responsible for the subsequent apoptotic cascade. Almost all molecules developed so far are unable to selectively block presynaptic or postsynaptic NMDA receptors, therefore a deeper knowledge about intracellular NMDA pathways is required to design more specific inhibitors.

Hyperhomocysteinemia as a Risk Factor and Potential Nutraceutical Target for Certain Pathologies.

Hyperhomocysteinemia is recognized as a risk factor for several diseases, including cardiovascular and neurological conditions. Homocysteine (HCys) is a key metabolite involved in the biosynthesis and metabolism of methionine (Met), which plays a pivotal role in the physiological cell's life cycle. The biochemistry of Met is finely regulated by several enzymes that control HCys concentration.

Free d-aspartate triggers NMDA receptor-dependent cell death in primary cortical neurons and perturbs JNK activation, Tau phosphorylation, and protein SUMOylation in the cerebral cortex of mice lacking d-aspartate oxidase activity.

In mammals, free d-aspartate (D-Asp) is abundant in the embryonic brain, while levels remain very low during adulthood as a result of the postnatal expression and activity of the catabolizing enzyme d-aspartate oxidase (DDO). Previous studies have shown that long-lasting exposure to nonphysiological, higher D-Asp concentrations in Ddo knockout (Ddo) mice elicits a precocious decay of synaptic plasticity and cognitive functions, along with a dramatic age-dependent expression of active caspase 3, associated with increased cell death in different brain regions, including hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, and substantia nigra pars compacta. Here, we investigate the yet unclear molecular and cellular events associated with the exposure of abnormally high D-Asp concentrations in cortical primary neurons and in the brain of Ddo mice.

Pedicled Thoracodorsal Artery Perforator and Muscle-Sparing Latissimus Dorsi Flaps in the Axillary Reconstruction After Hidradenitis Suppurativa Excision: Functional and Aesthetic Issues.

Background: Wide axillary reconstruction after hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) excision still represents a great challenge. Thoracodorsal artery perforator flap is one of the most reliable local reconstructive techniques. Although its anatomy and harvesting technique have been well described, specific reconstructive criteria still lack.

Oncoplastic breast surgery for the management of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS): is it oncologically safe? A retrospective cohort analysis.

Background: Few data exist in literature regarding oncoplastic surgery (ONC) and ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). The role of ONC in the treatment of DCIS has not been elucidated yet: no case-control study has yet been published on the issue and no long-term oncologic results are reported.

Methods: Using the European Institute of Oncology (IEO) institutional breast cancer data base we investigated the oncologic safety of ONC for DCIS comparing a consecutive series of 44 patients who have underwent ONC followed by external irradiation for DCIS (Group A-study group) with 375 patients who received conservation alone followed by external irradiation for DCIS (Group B control group) in the same period.

An overview of the possible therapeutic role of SUMOylation in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

Nowadays, Alzheimer's disease (AD) is recognized as a multifactorial neurological pathology whose complexity is the cause of our still low achievements in the understanding of the associated mechanisms as well the discovery of a possible definitive cure. Clinicians are aware of the few possibilities offered by medicine to cure Alzheimer's patients, restore their memory and take them back to normal life. Unfortunately, the therapeutic tools available today are not able to contrast the pathology.

The use of innervated radial artery superficial palmar branch perforator free flap for complex digital injuries reconstruction.

Loco-regional flaps have been widely used for the reconstruction of digital injuries without requiring microvascular anastomosis, however, they result in scarring and compromised functional outcomes. This study demonstrates our experience utilizing the innervated radial artery superficial palmar branch (RASPB) perforator free flap for complex digital injury reconstruction. From May 2007 to March 2014, the innervated RASPB perforator free flap was used to reconstruct 79 distal complex hand and digital soft tissue defects of which 14 were used to re-vascularise the distal digit in a flow-through fashion.

Immediate Breast Reconstruction with Abdominal Free Flap and Adjuvant Radiotherapy: Evaluation of Quality of Life and Outcomes.

Background: The effects of postoperative radiotherapy on free flap-based breast reconstruction are still controversial. Poor outcomes, breast distortion, and fat necrosis have been traditionally documented. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether adjuvant radiotherapy affects the quality of life, satisfaction, and cosmetic result in patients undergoing immediate breast reconstruction with autologous free flap.

The Involvement of Post-Translational Modifications in Alzheimer's Disease.

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder recognized as the most common cause of chronic dementia among the ageing population. AD is histopathologically characterized by progressive loss of neurons and deposits of insoluble proteins, primarily composed of amyloid-β pelaques and neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs).

Methods: Several molecular processes contribute to the formation of AD cellular hallmarks.

Acid-sensing ion channel 1a is required for mGlu receptor dependent long-term depression in the hippocampus.

Acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs), members of the degenerin/epithelial Na channel superfamily, are widely distributed in the mammalian nervous system. ASIC1a is highly permeable to Ca and are thought to be important in a variety of physiological processes, including synaptic plasticity, learning and memory. To further understand the role of ASIC1a in synaptic transmission and plasticity, we investigated metabotropic glutamate (mGlu) receptor-dependent long-term depression (LTD) in the hippocampus.

Necrotizing Fasciitis in Aesthetic Surgery: A Review of the Literature.

Introduction: Necrotizing fasciitis (NF) is a rare, potentially fatal, infective complication that can occur after surgery. Diagnosis is still difficult and mainly based on clinical data. Only a prompt pharmacological and surgical therapy can avoid dramatic consequences.

Targeting SUMO-1ylation Contrasts Synaptic Dysfunction in a Mouse Model of Alzheimer's Disease.

Synaptic dysfunction has been recognized as an early feature occurring at the onset of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Compromised neurotransmission leads over time to synaptic loss and these events correlate with the cognitive decline that progressively affects AD patients.Protein SUMOylation (Small Ubiquitin-like MOdifier) is a post-translational modification (PTM) involved in several cellular processes including synaptic transmission.

Hieronymi Fracastorii: the Italian scientist who described the "French disease".

Girolamo Fracastoro was a true Italian Renaissance man: he excelled in literature, poetry, music, geography, geology, philosophy, astronomy and, of course, medicine to the point that made Charles-Edward Armory Winslow define him as "a peak unequaled by anyone between Hippocrates and Pasteur". In 1521 Fracastoro wrote the poem "Syphilis Sive de Morbo Gallico" in which was established the use of the term "syphilis" for this terrible and inexplicably transmitted disease, often referred to as "French disease" by the people of the time and by Fracastoro himself.

Surgical excision of Infantile Haemangiomas: a technical refinement to prevent bleeding complications.

Purpose: The aim of the study is to improve operative speed and precision of haemangiomas excision.

Case-report: haemangioma is a common affection of the 8% of the population during the neonatal period. In complicated cases and involution sequelae surgical treatment is the first choice.