Evolution of Hospitalisation Due to Stroke in Italy Before and After the Outbreak of the COVID-19 Epidemic: A Population-Based Study Using Administrative Data.

: Stroke is a leading cause of mortality and disability worldwide, ranking as the second most common cause of death and the third in disability-adjusted life-years lost. Ischaemic stroke, which constitutes the majority of cases, poses significant public health and economic challenges. This study evaluates trends in ischaemic stroke hospitalisations in Italy from 2008 to 2022, focusing on differences before and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The relationship between maternal-fetus attachment and perceived parental bonds in pregnant women: Considering a possible mediating role of psychological distress.

Unlabelled: Maternal-Fetal Attachment (MFA) delineates the emotional, cognitive, and behavioral aspects that mothers develop toward the unborn baby during pregnancy. The literature indicates that optimal attachment in pregnancy represents a protective factor for the mother-child attachment bond after birth and child development outcomes. To date, there are few studies that have investigated associated factors of MFA.

Assessment of Cardiovascular Function in Childhood Leukemia Survivors: The Role of the Right Heart.

Childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) survivors who underwent chemotherapy with anthracyclines have an increased cardiovascular risk. The aim of the study was to evaluate left and right cardiac chamber performances and vascular endothelial function in childhood ALL survivors. Fifty-four ALL survivors and 37 healthy controls were enrolled.

Effects of maternal psychological distress and perception of COVID-19 on prenatal attachment in a large sample of Italian pregnant women.

Background: Evidence concerning the impact of COVID-19-related stress exposure on prenatal attachment in pregnant women is unknown. In this study we sought to assess the effect of psychological distress and risk perception of COVID-19 on prenatal attachment in a Italian sample of pregnant women.

Methods: 1179 pregnant women completed an anonymous online survey and self-report questionnaires measuring socio-demographic and obstetric characteristics, psychological distress (STAI Form Y-1-2 and BDI-II), prenatal attachment (PAI) and risk perception of COVID-19.

Influential Periods in Longitudinal Clinical Cardiovascular Health Scores.

The prevalence of ideal cardiovascular health (CVH) among adults in the United States is low and decreases with age. Our objective was to identify specific age windows when the loss of CVH accelerates, to ascertain preventive opportunities for intervention. Data were pooled from 5 longitudinal cohorts (Project Heartbeat!, Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study, The Bogalusa Heart Study, Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults, Special Turku Coronary Risk Factor Intervention Project) from the United States and Finland from 1973 to 2012.

Longitudinal Asthma Patterns in Italian Adult General Population Samples: Host and Environmental Risk Factors.

Background: Asthma patterns are not well established in epidemiological studies.

Aim: To assess asthma patterns and risk factors in an adult general population sample.

Methods: In total, 452 individuals reporting asthma symptoms/diagnosis in previous surveys participated in the AGAVE survey (2011-2014).

18-yr cumulative incidence of respiratory/allergic symptoms/diseases and risk factors in the Pisa epidemiological study.

Background: Few population-based studies on the effects of environmental exposure variation exist.

Aim: Assessing respiratory symptom/disease incidence related to risk factor exposure changes.

Methods: A longitudinal general population sample from two surveys (PISA2:1991-1993; PISA3:2009-2011; no.

Cardiovascular dysfunction and vitamin D status in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia survivors.

Background: Vitamin D (25-OHD) has a role in bone health after treatment for cancer. 25-OHD deficiency has been associated with risk factors for cardiovascular disease, but no data focusing on this topic in childhood cancer survivors have been published. We investigated the 25-OHD status in children treated for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), and evaluated its influence on vascular function.

The Induced Smoothed lasso: A practical framework for hypothesis testing in high dimensional regression.

This paper focuses on hypothesis testing in lasso regression, when one is interested in judging statistical significance for the regression coefficients in the regression equation involving a lot of covariates. To get reliable -values, we propose a new lasso-type estimator relying on the idea of induced smoothing which allows to obtain appropriate covariance matrix and Wald statistic relatively easily. Some simulation experiments reveal that our approach exhibits good performance when contrasted with the recent inferential tools in the lasso framework.

The complex alteration in the network of IL-17-type cytokines in patients with hereditary angioedema.

Hereditary angioedema (HAE) is a rare autosomic-dominant disorder characterized by a deficiency of C1 esterase inhibitor which causes episodic swellings of subcutaneous tissues, bowel walls and upper airways that are disabling and potentially life-threatening. We evaluated n = 17 patients with confirmed HAE diagnosis during attack and remission state and n = 19 healthy subjects. The samples were tested for a panel of IL (Interleukin)-17-type cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6, IL-10, granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF), IL-17, IL-21, IL-22, IL-23) and transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) subtypes.

Trajectories of Blood Pressure Elevation Preceding Hypertension Onset: An Analysis of the Framingham Heart Study Original Cohort.

Importance: Given that hypertension remains a leading risk factor for chronic disease globally, there are substantial ongoing efforts to define the optimal range of blood pressure (BP).

Objective: To identify a common threshold level above which BP rise tends to accelerate in progression toward hypertension.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This longitudinal, community-based epidemiological cohort study of adults enrolled in Framingham, Massachusetts, included 1252 participants (mean [SD] age, 35.

Evidence of bias in randomized clinical trials of hepatitis C interferon therapies.

Introduction: Bias may occur in randomized clinical trials in favor of the new experimental treatment because of unblinded assessment of subjective endpoints or wish bias. Using results from published trials, we analyzed and compared the treatment effect of hepatitis C antiviral interferon therapies experimental or control.

Methods: Meta-regression of trials enrolling naïve hepatitis C virus patients that underwent four therapies including interferon alone or plus ribavirin during past years.

Inferential tools in penalized logistic regression for small and sparse data: A comparative study.

This paper focuses on inferential tools in the logistic regression model fitted by the Firth penalized likelihood. In this context, the Likelihood Ratio statistic is often reported to be the preferred choice as compared to the 'traditional' Wald statistic. In this work, we consider and discuss a wider range of test statistics, including the robust Wald, the Score, and the recently proposed Gradient statistic.

Growth factors and IL-17 in hereditary angioedema.

Hereditary angioedema (HAE) is a rare autosomal dominant disorder, due to C1-inhibitor deficiency, which causes episodic swellings of subcutaneous tissues, bowel walls and upper airways which are disabling and potentially life-threatening. We evaluated n = 17 patients with confirmed HAE diagnosis in basal and crisis state and n = 19 healthy subjects. The samples were tested for IL-17, FGFb, G-CSF and GM-CSF, using Bio-plex kit.

Animal perception of seasonal thresholds: changes in elephant movement in relation to rainfall patterns.

Background: The identification of temporal thresholds or shifts in animal movement informs ecologists of changes in an animal's behaviour, which contributes to an understanding of species' responses in different environments. In African savannas, rainfall, temperature and primary productivity influence the movements of large herbivores and drive changes at different scales. Here, we developed a novel approach to define seasonal shifts in movement behaviour by examining the movements of a highly mobile herbivore (elephant; Loxodonta africana), in relation to local and regional rainfall patterns.

Frequent alteration of the Yin Yang 1/Raf-1 kinase inhibitory protein ratio in hepatocellular carcinoma.

The transcription factor Yin Yang 1 (YY1) can favor several aspects of tumorigenesis. In turn, Raf-1 Kinase Inhibitor Protein (RKIP) inhibits the oncogenic activities of MAPK and NF-κB pathways and promotes drug-induced apoptosis. Mutual influences between YY1 and RKIP may exist, and there are already separate evidences that relevant increases in YY1 and reductions in RKIP occur in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Efficient change point detection for genomic sequences of continuous measurements.

Motivation: Knowing the exact locations of multiple change points in genomic sequences serves several biological needs, for instance when data represent aCGH profiles and it is of interest to identify possibly damaged genes involved in cancer and other diseases. Only a few of the currently available methods deal explicitly with estimation of the number and location of change points, and moreover these methods may be somewhat vulnerable to deviations of model assumptions usually employed.

Results: We present a computationally efficient method to obtain estimates of the number and location of the change points.

Comment on 'Estimating average annual per cent change in trend analysis' by Clegg LX, Hankey BF, Tiwari R, Feuer EJ, Edwards BK, Statistics in Medicine 2009; 28:3670-3682.

We discuss some issues relevant to paper of Clegg and co-authors published in Statistics in Medicine; 28, 3670-3682. Emphasis is on computation of the variance of the sum of products of two estimates, slopes and breakpoints.

A flexible approach to the crossing hazards problem.

We propose a simple and flexible framework for the crossing hazards problem. The method is not confined to two-sample problems, but may also work with continuous exposure variables whose effect changes its sign at some time-point of the observed follow-up time. Penalized partial likelihood estimation relies upon the assumption of a smooth hazard ratio via low-rank basis splines with a conventional difference penalty to ensure smoothness, and additional ad hoc penalties to obtain restricted estimates useful in the context of crossing hazards.

Segmented relationships to model erosion of regression effect in Cox regression.

In this article we propose a parsimonious parameterisation to model the so-called erosion of the covariate effect in the Cox model, namely a covariate effect approaching to zero as the follow-up time increases. The proposed parameterisation is based on the segmented relationship where proper constraints are set to accomodate for the erosion. Relevant hypothesis testing is discussed.

Modelling the non-linear multiple-lag effects of ambient temperature on mortality in Santiago and Palermo: a constrained segmented distributed lag approach.

Objectives: Exposure to ambient temperature can affect mortality levels for days or weeks following exposure, making modelling such effects in regression analysis of daily time-series data complex.

Methods: We propose a new approach involving a multi-lag segmented approximation to account for the non-linear effect of temperature and the use of two different penalized spline bases to model the distributed lag of both heat and cold exposure. Compared with standard splines, the novel penalized framework is more flexible at short lags where change in coefficients is greatest, and selection of the maximum lag appears substantially less important in determining the overall pattern of the effect.

Modeling temperature effects on mortality: multiple segmented relationships with common break points.

We present a model for estimation of temperature effects on mortality that is able to capture jointly the typical features of every temperature-death relationship, that is, nonlinearity and delayed effect of cold and heat over a few days. Using a segmented approximation along with a doubly penalized spline-based distributed lag parameterization, estimates and relevant standard errors of the cold- and heat-related risks and the heat tolerance are provided. The model is applied to data from Milano, Italy.

The effect of birthplace on heat tolerance and mortality in Milan, Italy, 1980-1989.

The temperature-mortality relationship follows a well-known J-V shaped pattern with mortality excesses recorded at cold and hot temperatures, and minimum at some optimal value, referred as Minimum Mortality Temperature (MMT). As the MMT, which is used to measure the population heat-tolerance, is higher for people living in warmer places, it has been argued that populations will adapt to temperature changes. We tested this notion by taking advantage of a huge migratory flow that occurred in Italy during the 1950s, when a large number of unemployed people moved from the southern to the industrializing north-western regions.