Publications by authors named "PIEGARI G"

This randomized-controlled study evaluates the effectiveness of a newly developed social cognition rehabilitation intervention, the modified Social Cognition Individualized Activity Lab (mSoCIAL), in improving social cognition and clinical and functional outcomes of persons with schizophrenia recruited in two Italian sites: University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli" in Naples and ASST Fatebenefratelli-Sacco in Milan. mSoCIAL consists of a social cognitive training module focusing on different domains of social cognition and of a narrative enhancement module. We assessed changes in social cognition, clinical characteristics and functional variables in patients with schizophrenia who participated in 10 weekly sessions of mSoCIAL or received treatment as usual (TAU).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) is overexpressed in many human and animal cancers. Selective COX-2 inhibitors have shown antitumoral effects in tumors with a high expression of COX-2. This study evaluates (1) the expression of COX-2 in rabbit uterine adenocarcinomas, (2) the correlation between immunophenotypic expression and histopathological changes, and (3) the post-surgery response to therapy with COX-2 inhibitors.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Canine mast cell tumors (MCTs) have a mutated form of the KIT tyrosine kinase receptor, which is linked to abnormal growth of mast cells.
  • The study aimed to evaluate how different KIT immunohistochemical expression patterns affect the survival of dogs treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors after surgery.
  • Results suggest that KIT's abnormal distribution might indicate reduced effectiveness of these inhibitors, offering valuable insight into treatment outcomes for canine MCTs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Gunshot wound morphology and gunshot residues (GSRs) evaluation have been poorly investigated in veterinary forensic pathology. The aims of the present study were to assess the gunshot wound morphology in animals and evaluate the detectability of lead deriving from GSRs using colorimetric techniques. To these aims, cadavers were divided into four different groups.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Fire-related deaths are usually a consequence of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning or shock from thermal injuries. In humans, high levels of carboxyhemoglobin (COHb) concentrations in the blood can support a diagnosis of CO poisoning. In veterinary medicine, few studies investigated the pathological changes and blood COHb% in fire victims, and no data are available on post-mortem changes in blood gas composition due to fire.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • * The study analyzed CE prevalence data from 2017-2023 and surveyed shepherds in Algeria, Greece, Italy, and Tunisia to identify risky practices and levels of awareness regarding the disease.
  • * Findings revealed concerning practices among farmers, like irregular dog deworming and feeding uncooked animal parts to dogs, and highlighted a lower awareness of CE among North African farmers compared to their European counterparts, emphasizing the need for increased awareness and policy efforts to combat CE.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background And Aim: A combined microbial and cytological examination of uterine samples is the main diagnostic method for endometritis in mares. This study aimed to describe a procedure for using the same uterine cytobrush (CB) for both bacteriological and cytological evaluation.

Material And Methods: The procedure consists of rolling the CB onto a sterilized glass slide immediately after collection and before the transfer into a sterile saline solution.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Cystic echinococcosis (CE), caused by the larval stage of the cestode is one of the most widespread zoonoses in Mediterranean countries. Baiting not-owned dogs with praziquantel (PZQ), due to their key role in the maintaining the transmission of CE, currently appears to be the most effective way to limit the transmission of CE, as well as an important aspect to introduce for the control of this parasitic disease. Therefore, this study aims to test 3 types of PZQ-based baits by evaluating different parameters (integrity over time, attractiveness and palatability for dogs, and mechanical resistance after release to different altitudes) and the bait acceptance in field by target animals, i.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) development after acute kidney injury (AKI) involves multiple mechanisms, including inflammation, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), and extracellular matrix deposition, leading to progressive tubulointerstitial fibrosis. Recently, a central role for peroxisome-proliferator activated receptor (PPAR)-α has been addressed in preserving kidney function during AKI. Among endogenous lipid mediators, oleoylethanolamide (OEA), a PPAR-α agonist, has been studied for its metabolic and anti-inflammatory effects.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Estimation of age represents a central focus in the veterinary forensic pathology field. Currently, the visual examination of the dentition and the skeletal age are the main methods to estimate the age of puppies. Nevertheless, these methods are affected by a broad range of variables.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

In order to characterize the inflammatory phenotype of livers of sheep naturally infected by cystic echinococcosis, 100 sheep livers have been macroscopically assessed for the presence of hydatid cysts and sampled for histopathological and molecular analysis. According to gross and microscopic examination, livers were subsequently classified into three groups: normal liver (Group A), liver with the presence of fertile hydatid cysts (Group B), and liver with the presence of sterile hydatid cysts (Group C). Immunohistochemical analyses were accomplished using primary antibodies anti-Iba1, anti-CD3, anti-CD20, anti-TGF-β, and anti-MMP9.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Bioresorbable vascular scaffolds (BVS) were compared to cobalt chromium everolimus-eluting stents (CoCr-EES) in the ABSORB IV trial, which aimed to evaluate their long-term outcomes after using improved implantation techniques.
  • Results showed that after 5 years, BVS had a 17.5% rate of target lesion failure compared to 14.5% for CoCr-EES, indicating BVS had slightly worse outcomes overall, especially within the first 3 years.
  • Despite these differences, the recurrence of angina was similar between the two devices, suggesting that while BVS might not perform as well in terms of target lesion failure, overall patient experience with angina was comparable.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A new therapeutic approach for enophthalmos may be retrobulbar lipofilling. This study aims to standardize the intraconal filling technique and to evaluate the degree of eyeball displacement by computed tomography (CT). Skull CT was performed on six dog cadavers before and after intraconal injection of two 5% iodinated, viscoelastic solutions, one per eye, using an ultrasound-guided supratemporal approach.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Postmortem cadaveric changes are commonly used to estimate the postmortem interval (PMI) in humans and animals. However, these modifications have been poorly investigated in animals of interest to veterinary forensic pathology. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential use of muscle proteins (desmin and dystrophin) as biomarkers for estimating the PMI in dogs.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • A detailed pathological study is crucial for understanding specific diseases in inbred mouse strains, distinguishing between spontaneous lesions and experimental effects.
  • This research identifies a new condition in male C57BL/6NCrl mice, characterized by large vacuoles in muscle fibers without signs of weakness or other organ involvement.
  • The investigation showed fiber size changes and indicated a disruption in autophagy, differentiating it from another condition related to tubular aggregates.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency of neoplasms in captive wild felids in Southern Italy zoos over a 13-year period (2008-2021) and to investigate macroscopic and histologic tumor findings in these animals. A total of 24 cases were necropsied, 9 males and 15 females, with age ranging from 6 to 19 years, including 12 tigers (), 7 leopards (), 4 lions (), and 1 black jaguar (). Diagnosis of neoplasm was made in 14/24 cases (58.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • * Social cognition training (SCT) has shown effectiveness in improving these cognitive deficits, but it doesn't always translate to better real-life functioning.
  • * A new program, SoCIAL, combines SCT with narrative enhancement to potentially boost social cognitive skills and real-life functioning, and a multi-center study will assess its effectiveness compared to standard treatment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The ICD-11 chapter on mental disorders has now been finalized. The most important changes in this chapter with respect to the ICD-10, and the most significant differences from the DSM-5, have been described comprehensively.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Bisphenol A (BPA) is largely used as a monomer in some types of plastics. It accumulates in tissues and fluids and is able to bypass the placental barrier, affecting various organs and systems. Due to huge developmental processes, children, foetuses, and neonates could be more sensitive to BPA-induced toxicity.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

White striping (WS) is an emerging myopathy of broiler chickens characterized by white striation of muscle. Despite the recent advances, the pathomechanism underlying the WS remains elusive. The aim of this study was to characterize morphological and molecular features of WS in broiler chickens.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

spp. infection is associated with an inflammatory myopathy (IM) in dogs. The pathomechanism underlying this disorder is still elusive, however, the pattern of cellular infiltration and MHC I and II upregulation indicate an immune-mediated myositis.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Perosomus elumbis (PE) is a rare congenital condition in pigs, causing the absence of certain vertebrae, and has been sparsely documented, with this paper being the first to report on multiple cases.
  • An investigation into eight piglets from the Casertana breed revealed that all but one died shortly after birth due to various malformations; one survived for 23 days.
  • The study included multiple examinations showing spinal and organ abnormalities, confirmed that chromosome structure was normal, and indicated a low prevalence of malformations on the farm, suggesting a genetic cause for PE that requires further investigation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Accelerated endothelial healing after targeted antiproliferative drug delivery may limit the long-term inflammatory response of drug-eluting stents (DESs). The novel Supreme DES is designed to synchronize early drug delivery within 4 to 6 weeks of implantation, leaving behind a prohealing permanent base layer. Whether the Supreme DES is safe and effective in the short term and can improve long-term clinical outcomes is not known.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Sarcopenia is defined as the age-related loss of skeletal muscle mass, quality, and strength. The pathophysiological mechanisms underlying sarcopenia are still not completely understood. The aim of this work was to evaluate, for the first time, the expression of NLRP3 inflammasome in bovine skeletal muscle in order to investigate the hypothesis that inflammasome activation may trigger and sustain a pro-inflammatory environment leading to sarcopenia.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF