Survival rates and extra-regional migration patterns of children and adolescents with cancer in Italy: The 30-year experience of the Italian Association of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology (AIEOP) with the Italian hospital-based registry of pediatric cancer (Mod. 1.01).

Since the 1970s, Italian pediatric oncologists have collaborated through the Italian Association for Pediatric Hematology Oncology (AIEOP) network using a common centralized system for the registration of childhood cancer, known as Model 1.01 (Mod. 1.

The 'Survivorship Passport' for childhood cancer survivors.

Background: Currently, there are between 300,000 and 500,000 childhood cancer survivors (CCSs) in Europe. A significant proportion is at high risk, and at least 60% of them develop adverse health-related outcomes that can appear several years after treatment completion. Many survivors are unaware of their personal risk, and there seems to be a general lack of information among healthcare providers about pathophysiology and natural history of treatment-related complications.

Risk-adapted treatment of acute promyelocytic leukemia: results from the International Consortium for Childhood APL.

Pediatric acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) can be cured with all- retinoic acid (ATRA) and anthracycline. However, most published trials have employed high cumulative doses of anthracyclines. Here, we report the outcome of newly diagnosed APL patients enrolled in the International Consortium for Childhood APL (ICC-APL-01) trial, which reduced anthracycline exposure but extended that of ATRA.

The Maize MID-COMPLEMENTING ACTIVITY Homolog CELL NUMBER REGULATOR13/NARROW ODD DWARF Coordinates Organ Growth and Tissue Patterning.

Organogenesis occurs through cell division, expansion, and differentiation. How these cellular processes are coordinated remains elusive. The maize () leaf provides a robust system to study cellular differentiation due to its distinct tissues and cell types.

[Best practices on peritoneal dialysis: the audit of Lazio Region].

The diffusion of peritoneal methodology can not be something out of the real organizational context and the regional directive can not be the only means to encourage the diffusion. There is the need to provide effective and sustainable levels of assistance through a clinical scientific support and sharing of best-practises. On one side, the aim is to provide an aid by the centers with great expertise in the methodology, recognized as reference points; on the other side, to establish the shared K.

[The contribution of the Italian Association of paediatric haematology and oncology (AIEOP)].

Since 1972, children affected by cancer took advantage from multi-centric diagnostic and therapeutic protocols produced by the Italian Association of paediatric haematology and oncology (AIEOP). At the beginning, these protocols were used in few well-trained centres, later in almost all Italian haemato-oncological centres. The need of a careful monitoring of his own activity induced AIEOP to achieve, in 1989, an Italian hospital- based registry (database Mod.

Overt hepatic encephalopathy in Italy: clinical outcomes and healthcare costs.

Purpose: Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is a recurrent severe complication of progressive hepatic cirrhosis. The aim of this study is to evaluate the average annual direct healthcare costs for the treatment of patients with overt HE in Italy.

Patients And Methods: This retrospective, observational study analyzed information from the database of ARNO Observatory.

Measuring Homologous Recombination Frequency in Seedlings.

Somatic homologous recombination (SHR) is a major pathway of DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair, in which intact homologous regions are used as a template for the removal of lesions. Its frequency in plants is generally low, as most DSB are removed by non-homologous mechanisms in higher eukaryotes. Nevertheless, SHR frequency has been shown to increase in response to various chemical and physical agents that cause DNA damage and/or alter genome stability (reviewed in March-Díaz and Reyes, 2009).

DNA Damage Sensitivity Assays with Seedlings.

We describe fast and reproducible sensitivity assays to quantify the response of seedlings of different genotypes to a wide range of DNA damaging agents. We apply γ-irradiation, which produces DNA breaks, (2) bleocin, a radiomimetic drug, (3) mitomycin C, a DNA intrastrand cross-linker, (4) hydroxyurea, an inhibitor of DNA synthesis and (5) UV-C, which causes mainly photoproducts. The "true leaf assay" and the "UV resistance assay" are based on easily determined phenotypes as readouts.

The Arabidopsis SWR1 chromatin-remodeling complex is important for DNA repair, somatic recombination, and meiosis.

All processes requiring interaction with DNA are attuned to occur within the context of the complex chromatin structure. As it does for programmed transcription and replication, this also holds true for unscheduled events, such as repair of DNA damage. Lesions such as double-strand breaks occur randomly; their repair requires that enzyme complexes access DNA at potentially any genomic site.

Use and misuse of statins after ACS: analysis of a prescription database of a community setting of 2,042,968 subjects.

Aims: To assess in a community setting how patients discharged alive after an acute coronary syndrome (ACS) are treated with statins. Specifically, the rate of prescription, the dosages, and 1-year adherence have been evaluated.

Methods And Results: From the ARNO Observatory, we carried out a record linkage analysis of discharge records for ACS and prescription databases, which included 2,042,968 subjects of seven local health authorities from northern to southern Italy.

Outcomes, health costs and use of antiplatelet agents in 7,082 patients admitted for an acute coronary syndrome occurring in a large community setting.

Purpose: To assess the outcomes of patients admitted for ACS and the prescription pattern of antiplatelets of patients discharged alive.

Methods: From the ARNO Observatory database, we performed a record linkage analysis of hospital discharge and prescription databases, which included 2,758,872 subjects of 7 Italian Local Health Authorities. The accrual period lasted from January 1 to December 31, 2008.

Direct healthcare costs and resource consumption after acute coronary syndrome: a real-life analysis of an Italian subpopulation.

Background: Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is the most common cause of morbidity and mortality in Italy and worldwide. Aim of this study was to evaluate the average annual direct healthcare costs for the treatment of patients with a recent hospitalization for ACS.

Design And Methods: The direct medical costs of patients with a first ACS hospitalization (index event) in the period from 1 January 2008 to 31 December 2008 were estimated for a 1-year follow-up period.

Antidiabetic therapy in real practice: indicators for adherence and treatment cost.

Background: Type 2 diabetes has become a disease with a high economic and social impact. The ARNO Observatory is a clinical data warehouse consisting of a network of local health care units (ASL) scattered throughout the Italian territory which collects data on health care consumption for about 10.5 million people.

Use of aliskiren in a 'real-life' model of hypertension management: analysis of national Web-based drug-monitoring system in Italy.

Introduction: In Italy, prescriptions of the direct renin inhibitor aliskiren (aliskiren) to high-risk hypertensive patients must be electronically filled by specialized physicians only when at least two antihypertensive drug classes (independently of the dosages), fails to normalize blood pressure (BP) levels.

Aim: To analyze the effects of the addition of aliskiren 150-300 mg daily to antihypertensive therapy in a population of high cardiovascular risk hypertensive patients with uncontrolled BP levels.

Methods: Clinical data were derived from patients included in the national Web-based drug-monitoring system.

Foreign children with cancer in Italy.

Background: There has been a noticeable annual increase in the number of children coming to Italy for medical treatment, just like it has happened in the rest of the European Union. In Italy, the assistance to children suffering from cancer is assured by the current network of 54 centres members of the Italian Association of Paediatric Haematology and Oncology (AIEOP), which has kept records of all demographic and clinical data in the database of Mod.1.

Epigenetic regulation of repetitive elements is attenuated by prolonged heat stress in Arabidopsis.

Epigenetic factors determine responses to internal and external stimuli in eukaryotic organisms. Whether and how environmental conditions feed back to the epigenetic landscape is more a matter of suggestion than of substantiation. Plants are suitable organisms with which to address this question due to their sessile lifestyle and diversification of epigenetic regulators.

[Cardiovascular Risk Assessment: preliminary results].

Background: The Italian National Prevention plan includes 10-year cardiovascular risk (CR) assessment of the Italian general population aged 35-69 years using the CUORE Project risk score. A national training program for general practitioners (GPs) was launched by the Ministry of Health in 2003. GPs were encouraged to collect data on risk factors and risk assessment and to contribute to the CUORE Project Cardiovascular Risk Observatory (CRO).

Appearance of HbeAg in an occult persistent hepatitis B virus infection.

Occult hepatitis B virus infection (OBI) is characterized by the presence of ongoing viral replication with very low levels of viremia (<200 IU/ml), and negativity for HBsAg, while the so-called 'false' OBI with higher levels of HBV-DNA that are negative for HBsAg are usually due to the occurrence of mutations of the HBsAg sequence that may alter the recognition by some immunoassays. We describe here a case of occult HBV infection that combines both aspects. A male patient with severe systemic diseases, positive for anti-HBc and anti-HBs and negative for all other HBV markers, including HBsAg, since at least 4 years, showed a positivity for HBeAg at a follow-up control in November 2008; HBV-DNA testing by real-time PCR evidenced very low levels of viremia (<40 IU/ml), direct sequencing of the surface antigen-coding and Pol/RT coding regions allowed the identification of genotype D, serotype adw2, one immune escape mutation (G145R) and no drug resistance mutations.

Imprinting of the polycomb group gene MEDEA serves as a ploidy sensor in Arabidopsis.

Balanced maternal and paternal genome contributions are a requirement for successful seed development. Unbalanced contributions often cause seed abortion, a phenomenon that has been termed "triploid block." Misregulation of imprinted regulatory genes has been proposed to be the underlying cause for abnormalities in growth and structure of the endosperm in seeds with deviating parental contributions.

Transgenerational stress memory is not a general response in Arabidopsis.

Adverse conditions can trigger DNA damage as well as DNA repair responses in plants. A variety of stress factors are known to stimulate homologous recombination, the most accurate repair pathway, by increasing the concentration of necessary enzymatic components and the frequency of events. This effect has been reported to last into subsequent generations not exposed to the stress.

Antidepressant drug prescription and risk of abnormal bleeding: a case-control study.

This study assessed the risk of any bleeding abnormalities, including the risk of gastrointestinal bleeding, associated with antidepressant exposure. We used a case-control methodology. Case patients were individuals admitted with a diagnosis of abnormal bleeding.

Natalizumab: a country-based surveillance program.

Natalizumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody with a selective adhesion-molecule inhibitor effect, and a demonstrated efficacy in decreasing the frequency of relapses and progression of disability in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RR MS). After the approval of FDA and EMEA in MS cases unresponsive to immunomodulating therapy or in severe MS patients also not previously treated with interferons, and considering the concern on the possible side effects, an accurate program of surveillance was organized in our country by a combined effort of AIFA, Cineca, Department of Pharmacology of University of Bologna, and a group of neurologists appointed by the National Society of Neurology (SIN). After 15 months from the authorization of natalizumab therapy in MS, as of 31 March 2008, 908 cases have been treated with natalizumab and enrolled in this pharmaco-vigilance study.

Patterns of domestic migrations and access to childhood cancer care centres in Italy: a report from the hospital based registry of the Italian Association of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology (AIEOP).

Tertiary care centres, grouped in the Italian Association of Paediatric Haematology and Oncology (AIEOP) are unevenly distributed across the country. In an attempt to describe their perceived efficacy, we matched the residence and the location of the treatment centre in 18,441 patients aged View Article and Find Full Text PDF