Radiomic and Clinical Model in the Prognostic Evaluation of Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma of the Head and Neck.

Background/objectives: Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma (AdCC) is a rare malignant salivary gland tumor, with high rates of recurrence and distant metastasis. This study aims to stratify patients Relapse-Free Survival (RFS) using a combined model of clinical and radiomic features from preoperative MRI.

Methods: This retrospective study included patients with primary AdCC who underwent surgery and adjuvant radiotherapy.

The oculomotor cistern and pituitary adenomas: anatomical and clinical study.

Objective: The oculomotor cistern (OMC) is a meningeal cuff filled with CSF that contains the oculomotor nerve (cranial nerve [CN] III) at the level of the lateral wall of the cavernous sinus. Only a few studies have investigated the involvement of the OMC by pituitary adenomas (pituitary neuroendocrine tumors [PitNETs]), mainly with relatively small case series. The aim of this study was to perform a histomorphological description of the OMC and systematically analyze its involvement by PitNETs from radiological, clinical, and surgical perspectives.

Venetoclax plus decitabine as a bridge to allogeneic haematopoietic stem-cell transplantation in older patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (VEN-DEC GITMO): final report of a multicentre, single-arm, phase 2 trial.

Background: Access to allogeneic haematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT) remains challenging for older patients (aged >60 years) with acute myeloid leukaemia. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of venetoclax plus decitabine as first-line therapy and bridge to transplantation in this patient population.

Methods: This multicentre, single-arm, phase 2 trial was conducted in 20 Gruppo Italiano Trapianto Midollo Osseo (GITMO) centres in Italy.

Fat Fraction Extracted from Whole-Body Magnetic Resonance (WB-MR) in Bone Metastatic Prostate Cancer: Intra- and Inter-Reader Agreement of Single-Slice and Volumetric Measurements.

Background: This study evaluates the repeatability and reproducibility of fat-fraction percentage (FF%) in whole-body magnetic resonance imaging (WB-MRI) of prostate cancer patients with bone metastatic hormone naive disease.

Methods: Patients were selected from the database of a prospective phase-II trial. The treatment response was assessed using the METastasis Reporting and Data System for Prostate (MET-RADS-P).

Everything changes but nothing changes: gender stereotypes in the Italian population.

Purpose: Gender stereotypes refer to consensual or cultural shared beliefs about the attributes of men and women, influencing society behaviors, interpersonal relationships, education, and workplace. The literature has shown the existence of gender stereotypes on career choices, internalization of roles, and school and social experiences and demonstrates the impact of demographic factors on stereotypes. However, all the studies conducted in Italy available in scientific literature analyzed small sample sizes within specific schools of university settings, with a limited age range.

Academic skills in children with cerebral palsy and specific learning disorders.

Aim: To investigate the prevalence and clinical manifestations of reading, writing, and mathematics disorders in children with cerebral palsy (CP). We explored how the clinical profile of these children differed from those with specific learning disorders (SLDs), taking into account several factors, particularly IQ scores, neuropsychological aspects, and the presence of a visual impairment.

Method: A prospective cross-sectional study was conducted in 42 children with CP (mean age 9 years 8 months; SD = 2 years 2 months) and 60 children with SLDs (mean age 10 years; SD = 1 year 7 months).

Looking back and beyond the 2017 diagnostic criteria for hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome: A retrospective cross-sectional study from an Italian reference center.

The most common conditions with symptomatic joint hypermobility are hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS) and hypermobility spectrum disorders (HSD). Diagnosing these overlapping connective tissue disorders remains challenging due to the lack of established causes and reliable diagnostic tests. hEDS is diagnosed applying the 2017 diagnostic criteria, and patients with symptomatic joint hypermobility but not fulfilling these criteria are labeled as HSD, which is not officially recognized by all healthcare systems.

Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells as Novel Diagnostic Tools for Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: Visualizing Relationships with Known and Potential Disease Biomarkers.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a health emergency worldwide due to its high prevalence and the lack of specific therapies. Noninvasive biomarkers supporting NAFLD diagnosis are urgently needed. Liver mitochondrial dysfunction is a central NAFLD pathomechanism that changes throughout disease progression.

NF-κB/c-Rel DNA-binding is reduced in substantia nigra and peripheral blood mononuclear cells of Parkinson's disease patients.

Although Parkinson's disease (PD) key neuropathological hallmarks are well known, the underlying pathogenic mechanisms of the disease still need to be elucidated to identify innovative disease-modifying drugs and specific biomarkers. NF-κB transcription factors are involved in regulating several processes associated with neurodegeneration, such as neuroinflammation and cell death, that could be related to PD pathology. NF-κB/c-Rel deficient (c-rel) mice develop a progressive PD-like phenotype.

Magnetic resonance imaging to assess cartilage invasion in recurrent laryngeal carcinoma after transoral laser microsurgery.

Objective: To evaluate the diagnostic performance of magnetic resonance (MR) with surface coils in assessing cartilage invasion in recurrent laryngeal carcinoma after carbon dioxide transoral laser microsurgery (CO TOLMS).

Methods: Two expert head and neck radiologists assessed cartilage invasion (infiltrated or non-infiltrated) in submucosal recurrences of laryngeal carcinoma after CO TOLMS: results were compared with histopathological report after salvage laryngectomy.

Results: Thirty patients met the inclusion criteria and 90 cartilages were assessed.

Hyperactive Akt1 Signaling Increases Tumor Progression and DNA Repair in Embryonal Rhabdomyosarcoma RD Line and Confers Susceptibility to Glycolysis and Mevalonate Pathway Inhibitors.

In pediatric rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS), elevated Akt signaling is associated with increased malignancy. Here, we report that expression of a constitutively active, myristoylated form of Akt1 (myrAkt1) in human RMS RD cells led to hyperactivation of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR)/70-kDa ribosomal protein S6 kinase (p70S6K) pathway, resulting in the loss of both MyoD and myogenic capacity, and an increase of Ki67 expression due to high cell mitosis. MyrAkt1 signaling increased migratory and invasive cell traits, as detected by wound healing, zymography, and xenograft zebrafish assays, and promoted repair of DNA damage after radiotherapy and doxorubicin treatments, as revealed by nuclear detection of phosphorylated H2A histone family member X (γH2AX) through activation of DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK).

Machine learning for prediction of in-hospital mortality in coronavirus disease 2019 patients: results from an Italian multicenter study.

Background: Several risk factors have been identified to predict worse outcomes in patients affected by SARS-CoV-2 infection. Machine learning algorithms represent a novel approach to identifying a prediction model with a good discriminatory capacity to be easily used in clinical practice. The aim of this study was to obtain a risk score for in-hospital mortality in patients with coronavirus disease infection (COVID-19) based on a limited number of features collected at hospital admission.

The Elephant in the Room: A Cross-Sectional Study on the Stressful Psychological Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Mental Healthcare Workers.

Despite extensive research on COVID-19's impact on healthcare workers, few studies have targeted mental health workers (MHWs) and none have investigated previous traumatic events. We investigated psychological distress in MHWs after the first lockdown in Italy to understand which COVID-19, sociodemographic, and professional variables represented greater effects, and the role of previous trauma. The survey included sociodemographic and professional questions, COVID-19 variables, and the questionnaires Life Events Checklist for DSM-5 (LEC-5), Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R), and Depression Anxiety Stress Scales 21 (DASS-21).

Psychiatric emergencies in migrant adolescents.

Background: Stress factors associated with migration may expose minor immigrants to mental health problems. The aim of the study was to describe acute psychiatric problems, in terms of reasons for hospitalization and diagnosis at discharge, in a sample of Italian and Migrant adolescents (both first and second generation).

Methods: We collected data on socio-demographic and clinical-diagnostic characteristics of 423 Italian and Migrant adolescents (mean age: 15 years ± 1.

Synapsin III gene silencing redeems alpha-synuclein transgenic mice from Parkinson's disease-like phenotype.

Fibrillary aggregated α-synuclein (α-syn) deposition in Lewy bodies (LB) characterizes Parkinson's disease (PD) and is believed to trigger dopaminergic synaptic failure and a retrograde terminal-to-cell body neuronal degeneration. We described that the neuronal phosphoprotein synapsin III (Syn III) cooperates with α-syn to regulate dopamine (DA) release and can be found in the insoluble α-syn fibrils composing LB. Moreover, we showed that α-syn aggregates deposition, and the associated onset of synaptic deficits and neuronal degeneration occurring following adeno-associated viral vectors-mediated overexpression of human α-syn in the nigrostriatal system are hindered in Syn III knock out mice.

Aneurismal subarachnoid hemorrhage during the COVID-19 outbreak in a Hub and Spoke system: observational multicenter cohort study in Lombardy, Italy.

Background: Lombardy was the most affected Italian region by the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic and underwent urgent reorganization for the management of emergencies, including subarachnoid hemorrhage from a ruptured cerebral aneurysm (aSAH). The aim of the study was to define demographics, clinical, and therapeutic features of aSAH during the COVID-19 outbreak and compare these with a historical cohort.

Methods: In this observational multicenter cohort study, patients aged 18 years or older, who were diagnosed with aSAH at the participating centers in Lombardy from March 9 to May 10, 2020, were included (COVID-19 group).

Early prediction of in-hospital death of COVID-19 patients: a machine-learning model based on age, blood analyses, and chest x-ray score.

An early-warning model to predict in-hospital mortality on admission of COVID-19 patients at an emergency department (ED) was developed and validated using a machine-learning model. In total, 2782 patients were enrolled between March 2020 and December 2020, including 2106 patients (first wave) and 676 patients (second wave) in the COVID-19 outbreak in Italy. The first-wave patients were divided into two groups with 1474 patients used to train the model, and 632 to validate it.

The relationship between air pollution and diabetes: A study on the municipalities of the Metropolitan City of Milan.

Aims: Urbanisation has been linked with an increased risk of developing diabetes mellitus, dramatically worsening the healthcare system's financial burden. Environmental influences are emerging among the causing factors of the urban diabetes epidemic. We evaluated the relationship between air pollution and the prevalence of diabetes in the Municipalities of the Metropolitan City of Milan, comprising more than 3,4 million citizens.

A Conformation Variant of p53 Combined with Machine Learning Identifies Alzheimer Disease in Preclinical and Prodromal Stages.

Early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a crucial starting point in disease management. Blood-based biomarkers could represent a considerable advantage in providing AD-risk information in primary care settings. Here, we report new data for a relatively unknown blood-based biomarker that holds promise for AD diagnosis.

Anxiety in neurosurgical patients undergoing nonurgent surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many countries into lockdown and has led to the postponement of nonurgent neurosurgical procedures. Although stress has been investigated during this pandemic, there are no reports on anxiety in neurosurgical patients undergoing nonurgent surgical procedures.

Methods: Neurosurgical patients admitted to hospitals in eastern Lombardy for nonurgent surgery after the lockdown prospectively completed a pre- and postoperative structured questionnaire.

Factors Associated With Surgical Mortality and Complications Among Patients With and Without Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Italy.

Importance: There are limited data on mortality and complications rates in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) who undergo surgery.

Objective: To evaluate early surgical outcomes of patients with COVID-19 in different subspecialties.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This matched cohort study conducted in the general, vascular and thoracic surgery, orthopedic, and neurosurgery units of Spedali Civili Hospital (Brescia, Italy) included patients who underwent surgical treatment from February 23 to April 1, 2020, and had positive test results for COVID-19 either before or within 1 week after surgery.

The impact of integrase inhibitor-based regimens on markers of inflammation among HIV naïve patients.

The use of combination anti-retroviral therapy (cART) correlates with longer and healthier life and with nearly normal life expectancy in people living with HIV. However, cART does not completely restore health. Chronic immune activation and inflammation persist in treated patients and have been described as predictors for clinical events and mortality in HIV-infected patients.