Publications by authors named "Pipitone R"

Objective: Recent scientific attention has focused on the therapeutic effectiveness of cannabis use on a variety of physical and mental ailments. The present study uses smartphone technology to assess self-reported experiences of Florida cannabis users to understand how cannabis may impact anxiety and depression symptomatology.

Method: Several hundred Releaf App™ users from the state of Florida provided anonymous, real-time reports of their symptoms of anxiety and/or depression immediately before and after cannabis use sessions.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study explores the application of Enlow's vertical track analysis in orthodontics using cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) images, aiming to enhance the understanding of craniofacial structures in three dimensions.
  • Eighteen subjects with skeletal Class I characteristics underwent both 2D and 3D analyses to validate the effectiveness of CBCT for this specific analysis.
  • Results showed no significant differences between the measurements obtained through 2D and 3D analyses, indicating that CBCT could effectively provide similar insights as traditional methods.
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Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver (MASL), previously named nonalcoholic fatty liver (NAFL), is a multifactorial disease in which metabolic, genetic, and environmental risk factors play a predominant role. Obesity and type 2 diabetes act as triggers of the inflammatory response, which contributes to the progression of MASL to Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatohepatitis and the development of hepatocellular carcinoma. In the liver, several parenchymal, nonparenchymal, and immune cells maintain immunological homeostasis, and different regulatory pathways balance the activation of the innate and adaptative immune system.

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In the last decade, the behavioral sciences have described the phenomenon of trypophobia, which is the discomfort felt by some individuals when viewing images containing clusters of bumps or holes. One evolutionary hypothesis for this phenomenon is that this visual discomfort represents an adaptation which helps organisms avoid skin disease and/or ectoparasites. Even though trypophobic imagery and disease imagery are both examples of visual textures, to date there has been no comparison of the visual discomfort elicited by these two specific kinds of textures within the larger context of the visual comfort elicited by natural texture imagery more generally.

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Background & Aims: Sirtuin 5, encoded by the SIRT5 gene, is a NAD-dependent deacylase that modulates mitochondrial metabolic processes through post-translational modifications. In this study, we aimed to examine the impact of the SIRT5 rs12216101 T>G non-coding single nucleotide polymorphism on disease severity in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

Methods: The rs12216101 variant was genotyped in 2,606 consecutive European patients with biopsy-proven NAFLD.

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Introduction: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), characterized by lipid accumulation within hepatocytes exceeding 5% of liver weight, is strongly related to metabolic disorders, obesity, and diabetes and represents a health emergency worldwide. There is no standard therapy available for NAFLD. Lifestyle intervention, including phytonutrient intake, is key in preventing NAFLD development and progression.

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The aim of this study is to provide a novel method to perform Enlow's neutral track analysis on cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) images. Eighteen CBCT images of skeletal Class I (ANB = 2° ± 2°) subjects (12 males and 6 females, aged from 9 to 19 years) with no history of previous orthodontic treatment were selected. For each subject, 2D Enlow's neutral track analysis was performed on lateral cephalograms extracted from CBCT images and 3D neutral track analysis was performed on CBCT images.

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Background: Diabetic foot is a significant cause of morbidity in diabetic patients, with a rate that is approximately twice that of patients without foot ulcers. "Metabolic memory" represents the epigenetic changes induced by chronic hyperglycaemia, despite the correction of the glucose levels themselves. These epigenetic modifications appear to perpetuate the damage caused by persistently elevated glucose levels even in their absence, acting at various levels, mostly affecting the molecular processes of diabetic ulcer healing.

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Background And Aims: Programmed cell death 1/programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-1/PDL-1) axis has been reported to modulate liver inflammation and progression to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Here, we examined whether the PDCD1 variation is associated with NAFLD severity in individuals with liver biopsy.

Methods: We examined the impact of PDCD1 gene variants on HCC, as robust severe liver disease phenotype in UK Biobank participants.

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Article Synopsis
  • * The study tested these compounds, both separately and together, on liver cells (HepG2) to evaluate their effects on triglyceride accumulation and oxidative stress, revealing their potential to reduce liver fat and protect against cell damage.
  • * Results indicate that the combination of curcumin and andrographolide effectively lowers fatty liver symptoms by decreasing harmful lipid levels and promoting protective gene expression, making it a promising therapeutic strategy against NAFLD.
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Article Synopsis
  • Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), now proposed to be called Metabolic dysfunction-Associated Fatty Liver Disease (MAFLD), affects about 25% of the general population and over 50% of people with metabolic issues, highlighting its significance as a chronic liver disease.
  • This rebranding aims to emphasize the complex relationship between fatty liver and metabolic problems, stressing the importance of evaluating fatty liver regardless of alcohol intake or other liver disease causes.
  • NAFLD/MAFLD is linked not only to liver-related issues but also to serious extrahepatic events like cardiovascular diseases and cancers, suggesting it may act as an independent risk factor for these conditions due to its influence on systemic inflammation and other metabolic
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Volume electron microscopy (EM) is a time-consuming process - often requiring weeks or months of continuous acquisition for large samples. In order to compare the ultrastructure of a number of individuals or conditions, acquisition times must therefore be reduced. For resin-embedded samples, one solution is to selectively target smaller regions of interest by trimming with an ultramicrotome.

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The aim of this study was to propose a novel 3D Enlow's counterpart analysis traced on cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) images. Eighteen CBCT images of skeletal Class I (ANB = 2° ± 2°) subjects (12 males and 6 females, aged from 9 to 19 years) with no history of previous orthodontic treatment were selected. For each subject, a 2D Enlow's counterpart analysis was performed on lateral cephalograms extracted from the CBCT images.

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Unlabelled: MerTK is a tyrosine kinase receptor that belongs to the TAM (Tyro3/Axl/Mer) receptor family. It is involved in different processes including cellular proliferation/survival, cellular adhesion/migration, and release of the inflammatory/anti-inflammatory cytokines. Although it is reported that MERTK polymorphisms affect the severity of viral and metabolic liver diseases, being able to influence fibrosis progression and hepatocellular carcinoma development, the mechanisms remain unknown.

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Trypophobia refers to the extreme negative reaction when viewing clusters of circular objects. Two major evolutionary frameworks have been proposed to account for trypophobic visual discomfort. The (SD) framework proposes that trypophobia is an over-generalised response to stimuli resembling pathogen-related skin diseases.

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Background & Aims: NAFLD patients usually have an increase in AST/ALT levels, but cholestasis can also be observed. We aimed to assess in subjects with NAFLD the impact of the (cholestatic) C pattern on the likelihood of developing major liver-related outcomes (MALO).

Methods: Five hundred and eighty-two consecutive patients with biopsy-proven NAFLD or a clinical diagnosis of NAFLD-related compensated cirrhosis were classified as hepatocellular (H), C and mixed (M) patterns, by using the formula (ALT/ALT Upper Limit of Normal-ULN)/(ALP/ALP ULN).

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Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is an emerging cause of liver-related events (LREs). Here, we have assessed the ability of a composite score based on clinical features, metabolic comorbidities, and genetic variants to predict LREs. A total of 546 consecutive patients with NAFLD were recruited and stratified according to the fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) index.

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Medical marijuana (MMJ) is currently legal in 35 US states, with an estimated 3.6 million state-legal medical cannabis patients. Although there are currently over 440,000 MMJ patients in the state of Florida, there are limited data on their demographics, reasons and patterns of use, and successes or failures of treatment.

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Background And Aim: Coffee intake exerts protective effects against non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), although without fully cleared mechanisms. In this study we aimed to assess whether coffee consumption may influence the expression of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in the liver.

Methods: C57BL/6J mice were fed a 12-week standard diet (SD), high-fat diet (HFD) or HFD plus decaffeinated coffee solution (HFD + coffee).

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Previous work shows that males are more likely to pursue casual sex if given the opportunity, compared to females, on average. One component of this strategy is risk-taking, and males have been shown to take more risks than females in a variety of contexts. Here, we investigate the extent to which sex differences exist considering casual sexual encounters involving sexually transmitted infections (STIs) using a hypothetical sexual scenario which attempts to circumvent several factors that may contribute to a female's hesitancy to engage in casual sex encounters.

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Background: Little is known about the clinical training or practice experiences among physicians who certify patients for medical marijuana. The objective of this study was to determine information sources, factors influencing recommendations, clinical practices in patient assessment, communications, and recommendations, and priority areas for additional training among physicians who certify patients for medical marijuana.

Methods: A cross-sectional state-wide anonymous survey of registered medical marijuana physicians in Florida between June and October 2020 was administered.

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Background And Aims: Farnesoid X receptor (FXR) plays a key role in bile acid and lipid homeostasis. Experimental evidence suggests that it can modulate liver damage related to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). We examined the impact of the NR1H4 rs35724 G>C, encoding for FXR, on liver damage in a large cohort of patients at risk of steatohepatitis.

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Albeit the pathogenesis of COVID-19 remains unclear, host's genetic polymorphisms in genes involved in infection and reinfection, inflammation, or immune stimulation could play a role in determining the course and outcome. We studied in the early phase of pandemic consecutive patients ( = 383) with SARS-CoV-2 infection, whose subsequent clinical course was classified as mild or severe, the latter being characterized by admission to intensive therapy unit or death. Five host gene polymorphisms (MERTK rs4374383, PNPLA3 rs738409, TLL-1 rs17047200, IFNL3 rs1297860, and INFL4 rs368234815) were assessed by using whole nucleic acids extracted from nasopharyngeal swabs.

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