Evaluation of Psychometric Proprieties of Mann Assessment of Swallowing Ability (MASA) in Italian Language: A Cross-Sectional Study.

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to translate, culturally adapt, and evaluate the psychometric properties of the Italian version of the Mann Assessment of Swallowing Ability (MASA) in post-stroke individuals. The original MASA scale was translated and culturally adapted from English to Italian following the international guidelines. The internal consistency and test-retest reliability of the MASA-IT were assessed, and its concurrent validity was examined through Pearson correlation coefficients with the Italian versions of two established gold standard scales for dysphagia assessment: the Dysphagia Outcome Severity Scale (DOSS) and the De Pippo Test-Three Oz Water Swallow.

Evaluation of adequacy of levo-thyroxine dosage in patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma: correlation between morning and afternoon TSH determination.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to judge the reliability of evaluating thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and free thyroxine (f-T4) in the morning and afternoon in differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) patients.

Methods: We evaluated 153 DTC patients, aged 61 ± 13 years, in active follow-up in our center after primary treatments and under stabilized levo-thyroxine (L-T4) posology. In each patient, morning and afternoon examinations were performed 1-3 months apart.

Detection of Polyethylene Glycol Thyrotropin (TSH) Precipitable Percentage (Macro-TSH) in Patients with a History of Thyroid Cancer.

Background: Owing to its large molecular size, polyethylene glycol (PEG)-precipitable thyrotropin (TSH) can accumulate in the circulation, elevating TSH levels. PEG-precipitable TSH can be used to detect macro-TSH (mTSH) in serum. Our aim was to evaluate the prevalence of mTSH in patients who had undergone thyroidectomy for thyroid cancer.

Differential diagnosis of pleural mesothelioma using Logic Learning Machine.

Background: Tumour markers are standard tools for the differential diagnosis of cancer. However, the occurrence of nonspecific symptoms and different malignancies involving the same cancer site may lead to a high proportion of misclassifications. Classification accuracy can be improved by combining information from different markers using standard data mining techniques, like Decision Tree (DT), Artificial Neural Network (ANN), and k-Nearest Neighbour (KNN) classifier.

Is soluble mesothelin-related protein an upfront predictive marker of pleural mesothelioma? A prospective study on Italian workers exposed to asbestos.

Objective: Soluble mesothelin-related peptide (SMRP) may be useful in the diagnosis and detection of early stage mesothelioma. We investigated the SMRP upfront predictive role for mesothelioma in asbestos-exposed workers.

Methods: A total of 1,715 subjects underwent a first visit and were invited for a follow-up after 1 and 2 years, with a clinical examination and blood sampling.