Publications by authors named "Morelli C"

Background: This study aimed to determine whether educational attainment-a common proxy of cognitive reserve (CR)-influences the association between motor and cognitive/behavioural outcomes in a large cohort of ALS patients without dementia.

Methods: N = 726 ALS patients without FTD were assessed for motor (ALSFRS-R), cognitive (Edinburgh Cognitive and Behavioural ALS Screen, ECAS) and behavioural outcomes (ECAS-Carer Interview, ECAS-CI). CR was operationalized via educational attainment (in years).

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Background: There is ongoing discussion around the optimal course of treatment for metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) following the second line. Trifluridine/tipiracil (T) and regorafenib (R) have been the mainstay of therapy in this situation, as they both increased overall survival (OS) in comparison to a placebo. Despite the paucity of evidence, therapy rechallenge is also recognized as an option for practical use.

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Background: High expression of programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) has been recognized as a marker of improved efficacy of immunotherapy in gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma (GEA); however, the optimal PD-L1 cut-off is still debated. The aim of the present review was to analyze available phase III trials and to identify the appropriate PD-L1 expression cut-off for GEA.

Methods: Phase III trials investigating the efficacy of anti-programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) therapies in addition to standard chemotherapy versus standard chemotherapy in the first-line setting were selected.

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Background: . The present study aimed at deriving regression-based reliable change indices (RCIs) for the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) in an Italian cohort of non-demented Parkinson's disease (PD) patients.

Methods: N = 33 consecutive, non-demented PD patients were followed-up at a 5-to-8-month interval (M = 6.

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: The aim of this paper is to describe our experience in the embolization of hypervascular giant thoracic tumors before surgical excision. : A single-center retrospective review of five trans-arterial preoperative embolization procedures executed between October 2020 and July 2024. Patients' demographics, anatomical aspects, feasibility, technique, and outcomes were reviewed.

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Background: This study aimed at assessing the clinical utility of the Verbal Fluency Index (VFI) over a classical phonemic verbal fluency test in Italian-speaking amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients.

Methods: N = 343 non-demented ALS patients and N = 226 healthy controls (HCs) were administered the Verbal fluency - S task from the Edinburgh Cognitive and Behavioural ALS Screen (ECAS). The associations between the number of words produced (NoW), the time to read words aloud (TRW) and the VFI (computed as [(60"-TRW)/NoW]) on one hand and both bulbar/respiratory scores from the ALS Functional Rating Scale - Revised (ALSFRS-R) and the ECAS-Executive on the other were tested.

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Background: This study aimed to assess whether quantitative susceptibility imaging (QSM)-based measures of iron accumulation in the cerebellum predict cognitive and behavioral features in non-demented amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients.

Methods: A total of ALS patients underwent 3-T MRI and a clinical assessment using the ALS Functional Rating Scale-Revised (ALSFRS-R) and the Edinburgh Cognitive and Behavioural ALS Screen (ECAS). Regression models were applied to each subscale of the cognitive section of the ECAS and the ECAS-Carer Interview to examine the effect of QSM-based measures in white and gray matter (WM; GM) of the cerebellum, separately for right, left, and bilateral cerebellar regions of interest (ROIs).

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Carotid body tumors (CBTs) are rare, hypervascular neuroendocrine neoplasms that can lead to significant complications during surgical resection due to the high risk of bleeding. We present the case of a 64-year-old male with a palpable neck mass on the left side, diagnosed as a CBT through imaging studies. Given the tumor's increasing size and rich vascularization, percutaneous preoperative embolization with Onyx under ultrasound and angiographic guide, was performed to minimize intraoperative complications.

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Cavernous malformations are rare vascular anomalies of the central nervous system, occurring in the spinal cord in just 5% of cases. Despite being documented in the literature, intramedullary cavernous malformations are exceedingly rare and often challenging to distinguish from other intramedullary lesions. We report a case of a 42-year-old patient with back pain, right-sided dysesthesias, and impaired proprioception in the distal limbs for approximately 3 months.

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Background: Anti-IgLON5 disease is an autoimmune encephalitis overlapping with neurodegenerative disorders due to pathological accumulation of hyperphosphorylated tau. It is characterized by several clinical manifestations determined by involvement of different brain areas, and mild response to first-line immunotherapies. We report a case of anti-IgLON5 disease with a multifaceted semiology and an unusually good response to glucocorticoid monotherapy.

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Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative condition affecting upper and/or lower motor neurons and characterized neuropathologically by TDP-43 proteinopathy. Given its role in ALS pathobiology, it is currently under debate whether TDP-43 might represent a suitable ALS biomarker to be measured in patients' biofluids. The rs12608932 A > C single nucleotide polymorphism in the UNC13A gene is a risk factor for ALS and patients homozygous for the high-risk C allele display a higher burden of TDP-43 neuropathology than homozygotes for the low-risk A allele, although the association with TDP-43 levels in biofluids has never been evaluated.

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Background: This study aimed at (1) delivering generalizable estimates of the prevalence of frontotemporal-spectrum disorders (FTSDs) in non-demented ALS patients and (2) exploring their motor-functional correlates.

Methods: N = 808 ALS patients without FTD were assessed for motor-functional outcomes-i.e.

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Objective: The prognosis of colorectal cancer has continuously improved in recent years thanks to continuous progress in both the therapeutic and diagnostic fields. The specific objective of this study is to contribute to the diagnostic field through the evaluation of the correlation between superior hemorrhoidal vein (SHV) ectasia detected on computed tomography (CT) and Tumor (T), Node (N), and distant metastasis (M) examination and mesorectal fascia (MRF) invasion in the preoperative staging of rectal cancer.

Methods: Between January 2018 and April 2022, 46 patients with histopathological diagnosis of rectal cancer were retrospectively enrolled, and the diameter of the SHV was evaluated by CT examination.

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Mesoporous silica-based nanomaterials have emerged as multifunctional platforms with applications spanning catalysis, medicine, and nanotechnology. Since their synthesis in the early 1990s, these materials have attracted considerable interest due to their unique properties, including high surface area, tunable pore size, and customizable surface chemistry. This article explores the surface properties of a series of MSU-type mesoporous silica nanoparticles, elucidating the impact of different functionalization strategies on surface characteristics.

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Background: This study aimed at preliminarily assessing, in a cohort of non-demented amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients, the ecological validity, and more specifically the veridicality, of the Edinburgh Cognitive and Behavioural ALS Screen (ECAS) and the ALS Cognitive Behavioral Screen (ALS-CBS™), by relating their scores to caregiver-report ratings of cognitive changes.

Methods: N = 147 patient-caregiver dyads were recruited. Patients were administered the ECAS and ALS-CBS™, whilst caregiver the Caregiver Behavioral Questionnaire (CBQ) and Beaumont Behavioural Inventory (BBI).

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Marine natural products constitute a great source of potential new antidiabetic drugs. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of phosphoeleganin (PE), a polyketide purified from the Mediterranean ascidian , and its derivatives PE/2 and PE/3 on insulin sensitivity in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2) cells. In our experiments, insulin stimulates the phosphorylation of its receptor (INSR) and AKT by 1.

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Objective: Little is known about amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)-nonspecific cognitive deficits - most notably memory disturbance - and their biological underpinnings. We investigated the associations of the Alzheimer's disease (AD) genetic risk factor APOE and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers Aβ and tau proteins with cognitive and motor phenotype in ALS.

Methods: APOE haplotype was determined in 281 ALS patients; for 105 of these, CSF levels of Aβ42, Aβ40, total tau (T-tau), and phosphorylated tau (P-tau181) were quantified by chemiluminescence enzyme immunoassay (CLEIA).

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Biocatalysis has emerged in the last decade as a valuable and eco-friendly tool in chemical synthesis, allowing in several instances to reduce or eliminate the use of hazardous reagents, environmentally dangerous solvents and harsh reaction conditions. Enzymes are indeed able to catalyse chemical transformations on non-natural substrates under mild reaction conditions, still maintaining their high chemo-, regio-, and stereoselectivity. Enzyme immobilization, i.

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Background: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) improve overall survival (OS) in advanced/metastatic urothelial cancer (a/mUC) patients. Preliminary evidence suggests a prognostic role of inflammatory biomarkers in this setting. We aimed to develop a disease-specific prognostic inflammatory index for a/mUC patients on ICIs.

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Introduction: The present study aimed at testing the longitudinal feasibility of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) in an Italian cohort of non-demented amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients.

Methods: N = 39 non-demented ALS patients were followed-up at a 5-to-10-month interval (M = 6.8; SD = 1.

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The mechanisms that underlie the regulation of enzymatic reactions by biomolecular condensates and how they scale with compartment size remain poorly understood. Here we use intrinsically disordered domains as building blocks to generate programmable enzymatic condensates of NADH-oxidase (NOX) with different sizes spanning from nanometers to microns. These disordered domains, derived from three distinct RNA-binding proteins, each possessing different net charge, result in the formation of condensates characterized by a comparable high local concentration of the enzyme yet within distinct environments.

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The interplay between the immune system and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is complex and multifaceted. In COPD, chronic inflammation and oxidative stress can lead to immune dysfunction that can exacerbate lung damage, further worsening the respiratory symptoms. In NSCLC, immune cells can recognise and attack the cancer cells, which, however, can evade or suppress the immune response by various mechanisms, such as expressing immune checkpoint proteins or secreting immunosuppressive cytokines, thus creating an immunosuppressive tumour microenvironment that promotes cancer progression and metastasis.

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Background: Incidence of infective endocarditis (IE) is progressively raising because of the increasing number of cardiovascular invasive procedures, support treatment and devices, awareness in the medical community, and improved diagnostic modalities. IE pathophysiology is a unique model of immunothrombosis, and the clinical course is often complicated by either embolic or hemorrhagic events. Managing antithrombotic treatment is challenging and the level of supporting evidence scant.

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Article Synopsis
  • * The study focuses on hnRNPA1A, a protein connected to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and investigates how RNA affects its aggregation behavior.
  • * Results reveal that RNA can both promote and inhibit hnRNPA1A's transition from liquid to amyloid forms, depending on RNA concentration, highlighting the complex role of protein-RNA interactions in this process.
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