Publications by authors named "Pecoraro N"

Background: Vaccination is the most effective strategy for preventing infectious diseases and related complications, and proving its efficacy is crucial for its success and adherence, especially for newly introduced vaccines, such as adjuvanted recombinant herpes zoster virus vaccination (RZV). In this observational real-life study, we recorded adverse effects following immunization (AEFIs) after RZV administration in frail populations.

Methods: A total of 271 subjects underwent RZV at Vaccination Center, University Hospital "San Giovanni di Dio e Ruggi d'Aragona", Salerno, Italy.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study is a retrospective chart review focusing on the influence of clinical and radiographic factors in patients who had posterior cervical surgery, specifically how these factors relate to the severity and recovery time of C5 palsy.
  • C5 palsy, a complication affecting 1%-30% of these patients, showed a notable recovery rate, with 69% of those affected fully recovering within an average of 8 months.
  • Key findings indicate that greater changes in cervical lordosis post-surgery are linked to slower recovery, while a non-smoking status is associated with better recovery outcomes, suggesting these factors should be considered in preoperative planning.
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Demonstration of competency is an essential component of nursing orientation in the practice environment. Standardization of the assessment with a validated instrument supports high-quality care and patient safety. This study engaged six nurse experts to establish content validation for a newly developed competency-based assessment framed by the domains of the national standard for nursing education.

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Objective: Advancements in microsurgical technique and technology continue to improve outcomes in patients with skull base tumor. The primary cranial nerve eight monitoring systems used in hearing preservation surgery for vestibular schwannomas (VSs) are direct cranial nerve eight monitoring (DCNEM) and auditory brainstem response (ABR), although current guidelines are unable to definitively recommend one over the other due to limited literature on the topic. Thus, further research is needed to determine the utility of DCNEM and ABR.

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Background: A nudge intervention against Herpes Zoster, created and implemented in Italy, is presented in order to administer the Shingrix vaccine on a sample of frail patients, as required by the National Prevention Plan. Individual and contextual factors associated with vaccine adherence were investigated.

Method: 300 frail adult subjects underwent a full vaccine cycle with recombinant-Shingrix vaccine (RZV vaccine).

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Background: The optimal stenting approach for traumatic pseudoaneurysms (PSA) of the extracranial internal carotid artery (ICA) remains underinvestigated. We present a case of a traumatic pseudoaneurysm of the extracranial ICA managed with stenting and review of prior published similar cases.

Methods: The systematic review followed PRISMA-S guidelines and included studies that investigated traumatic pseudoaneurysms of the extracranial ICA managed by stent placement.

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Background: Cerebral arterial vasospasm is a rare complication after supratentorial meningioma resection. The pathophysiology of this condition may be similar to vasospasm after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage, and treatment options may be similar.

Observations: The authors present two cases of cerebral vasospasm after supratentorial meningioma resection and perform a systematic literature review of similar cases.

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 Research productivity impacts an individual's academic credentials and serves to advance the field of neurosurgery at large. Poster presentations allow researchers to share preliminary results with respected colleagues; however, more critical is the ability to publish peer-reviewed articles. Key factors that lead posters to journal publication are not well understood and difficult to quantify.

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Introduction: The University of Salerno has implemented a nudge intervention with the aim of promoting vaccine adherence among employees of academia and identifying individual and contextual determinants that influence adherence.

Method: A purpose-built questionnaire was used during the reference period of October-December 2022 in order to assess levels of state anxiety (STAI-Y1), perceived stress (PSS-10), and public sentiments, which influence vaccination behavior, with consequences for the whole population (VCI).

Results: Analysis of the results revealed a difference in mean scores on the PSS: those who have always adhered to the vaccination campaign compared to those who have never been vaccinated perceived higher levels of stress (12.

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This study analyses the digital marketing tools that companies producing Pecorino Siciliano with a protected designation of origin (PDO) are implementing on the web through their corporate website and their brand page on Facebook. It aims to verify whether companies are adapting (or not) to new trends in web marketing and e-commerce. The quality of corporate websites was assessed during the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of usability and amount of activity on Facebook brand pages by Pecorino Siciliano PDO-producing companies.

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Background: The use of stents with various porosities for treating cerebral aneurysms requires dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) without clear guidelines on the utility of platelet function tests (PFTs) and the duration of DAPT. We sought to determine the effects of stent porosity, PFT usage, and DAPT duration on the radiographic and clinical outcomes after stenting of cerebral aneurysms.

Methods: PubMed was searched on March 29, 2021 for studies of cerebral aneurysm stenting that had specified the stent type and DAPT duration.

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Background: Cases of isolated intramedullary spinal neurocysticercosis are extremely rare. Only 25 cases have been reported before 2022. Due to its rarity, the diagnosis of spinal neurocysticercosis may be missed.

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Rathke's cleft cysts (RCCs) are sellar or suprasellar cystic lesions arising from the remnants of the embryological Rathke's pouch. When symptomatic, RCCs are usually treated surgically via marsupialization. Free mucosal graft (FMG) repair has shown promise in decreasing recurrence versus marsupialization alone.

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With the advent of Covid-19, Italian university students were overwhelmed by fear of the pandemic and the social restrictions of the lockdown phase, with all didactic activity provided online. These stress factors caused people to experience psychological problems and/or the aggravation of pre-existing mental symptomatology. Psychological support is, therefore, important for the university-student population.

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Background And Purpose: The modified TICI score is the benchmark for quantifying reperfusion after mechanical thrombectomy. There has been limited investigation into the reliability of this score. We aim to identify intra-rater and inter-rater reliability of the mTICI score among endovascular neurosurgeons.

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Background: Perioperative steroid management for pituitary adenoma resections is multifaceted due to possible hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis disruption. Although many different strategies have been proposed, there is no standard protocol for prophylaxis of potential hypocortisolemia.

Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of consecutive endoscopic endonasal pituitary adenoma resections.

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Circadian rhythms organize behavior and physiological processes to be appropriate to the predictable cycle of daily events. These rhythms are entrained by stimuli that provide time of day cues (zeitgebers), such as light, which regulates the sleep-wake cycle and associated rhythms. But other events, including meals, social cues, and bouts of locomotor activity, can act as zeitgebers.

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Background: Atlantoaxial instability (AAI) is a common cause of neurologic dysfunction and pain in patients with Down syndrome (DS), frequently requiring instrumented fusion of the upper cervical spine. Despite this, optimal treatment strategy is controversial.

Methods: A systematic review of the literature was performed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systemic Reviews and Meta-Analysis statement to identify patients with AAI and DS were treated with upper cervical spine fusion.

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Background: Intra-arterial alteplase (IA tPA) is commonly used during mechanical thrombectomy for acute ischemic stroke in patients with large-vessel occlusion, but specific indications and applications for its use remain undefined.

Methods: We analyzed 40 patients who underwent stent-retriever mechanical thrombectomy, 28 of whom received adjunctive IA tPA. To our knowledge, this is the largest cohort with this concomitant treatment reported in the literature in the post-mechanical thrombectomy trial era.

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The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis self-regulates through a glucocorticoid negative feedback mechanism that is stereotypically slow and long lasting. Rapid (seconds to minutes) glucocorticoid feedback, however, inhibits stress-induced adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) secretion too quickly to result from classic transcriptional effects of the occupied glucocorticoid receptor. Cannabinoids may act as rapid intermediary messengers between glucocorticoids and HPA activation via retroactive inhibition of afferent glutamate stimulation of the corticotropin-releasing factor neurons in the paraventricular nucleus.

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Corticosterone and insulin play complex roles in the amount and composition of calories ingested, and the utilization and deposition of this energy. Understanding the interplay of these two hormones is complicated because increasing concentrations of corticosterone dose-dependently increase circulating insulin levels. We addressed individual contributions of each hormone by controlling, at steady-state levels, corticosterone (by adrenalectomy and exogenous replacement) and insulin (by streptozotocin-induced destruction of pancreatic beta-cells and exogenous replacement) across a spectrum of concentrations in rats, creating 8 hormonal combinations.

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Objective: We sought to examine insulin-sensitive food intake behavior and neuroendocrine and metabolic variables of rats that had undergone a duodenal-jejunal bypass (DJB).

Summary Of Background Data: A DJB that circumvents the duodenum and proximal jejunum while leaving the stomach unperturbed rapidly improves insulin sensitivity in type 2 diabetic rats. This segment of proximal small intestine is innervated by the gastroduodenal branch of the vagus nerve, the transection of which influences food intake choices in streptozotocin-diabetic rats.

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Previous studies have shown that the successive negative contrast procedure, in which food-restricted rats entrained to once daily, brief presentations of 32% sucrose are unexpectedly shifted to a 4% solution, results in an adrenocortical response on the second, but not the first postshift day. We attempted to generalize that finding in our own procedure. In Experiment 1, two groups of rats were given a 32% sucrose solution once daily in their home cages for 14 days before being shifted to a 4% solution.

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Previous studies have shown reduced hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal responses to both acute and chronic restraint stressors in rats allowed to ingest highly palatable foods (32% sucrose +/- lard) prior to restraint. In this study we tested the effects of prior access (7 d) to chow-only, sucrose/chow, lard/chow, or sucrose/lard/chow diets on central corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) expression in rats studied in two experiments, 15 and 240 min after onset of restraint. Fat depot, particularly intraabdominal fat, weights were increased by prior access to palatable food, and circulating leptin concentrations were elevated in all groups.

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Two groups of rats, one bearing bilateral excitotoxic lesions of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and one sham-lesioned group, were run in a successive negative contrast paradigm. Both groups had telemeters implanted to monitor core temperature and activity. After ad libitum baseline and food restriction to 85% body weights, rats received a sucrose solution once daily for 5 min and 30 s at 10:30 h.

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