Publications by authors named "R. Farina"

The mentally and physically challenging 19-20 day, multi-stressor US Army Special Forces Assessment and Selection (SFAS) course selects soldiers for Army Special Forces (SF) training. If selected, candidates enroll for advanced training in the 2-year Special Forces Qualification Course (SFQC) to qualify for the SF. This longitudinal study examined physiological, psychological, and nutritional status of soldiers before (pre-SFAS) and after SFAS (post-SFAS), and post-SFQC, to identify predictors of graduation from SFQC.

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Background: A proposed new global definition of ARDS seeks to update the Berlin definition and account for nonintubated ARDS and ARDS diagnoses in resource-variable settings.

Research Question: How do ARDS epidemiologic characteristics change with operationalizing the new global definition of ARDS in a resource-limited setting?

Study Design And Methods: We performed a real-use retrospective cohort study among adult patients meeting criteria for the Berlin definition of ARDS or the global definition of ARDS at ICU admission in two public hospitals in the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health, South Africa, from January 2017 through June 2022.

Results: Among 5,760 adults (aged ≥ 18 years) admitted to the ICU, 2,027 patients (35.

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Purpose To determine the prevalence of mitral annular disjunction (MAD) in patients undergoing cardiac MRI for various clinical indications and to assess the association of MAD with arrhythmia, mitral valve prolapse (MVP), and myocardial alteration. Materials and Methods This study analyzed data from a retrospective observational registry of consecutive patients undergoing cardiac MRI for different clinical indications. Cardiac MRI examinations were performed from January 2019 to June 2019 at 13 Italian hospitals.

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  • The study assesses the effectiveness of new antibiotic combinations against KPC-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae (KPC-Kp) in Italy, focusing on clinical isolates from 2022-2023.
  • Both meropenem/vaborbactam and imipenem/relebactam exhibited high susceptibility rates, indicating their potential as effective treatments.
  • Resistance to these antibiotics is associated with specific genetic factors, including the presence of KPC gene variants and changes in porin proteins, which affect drug uptake.
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The tumor suppressor is frequently mutated in hormone receptor-negative, HER2-positive breast cancer (BC), contributing to tumor aggressiveness. Traditional ancillary methods like immunohistochemistry (IHC) to assess functionality face pre- and post-analytical challenges. This proof-of-concept study employed a deep learning (DL) algorithm to predict mutational status from H&E-stained whole slide images (WSIs) of BC tissue.

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Ex vivo activation is a prerequisite to reaching adequate levels of gene editing by homology-directed repair (HDR) for hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell (HSPC)-based clinical applications. Here, we show that shortening culture time mitigates the p53-mediated DNA damage response to CRISPR-Cas9-induced DNA double-strand breaks, enhancing the reconstitution capacity of edited HSPCs. However, this results in lower HDR efficiency, rendering ex vivo culture necessary yet detrimental.

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  • Brain radiation helps control tumors in the brain but can cause cognitive impairments due to indirect damage from free radicals.
  • This damage leads to long-term cognitive issues, known as late neurotoxicity, which is a direct result of radiation therapy.
  • The review discusses how certain drugs and antioxidants, like ascorbate, may protect against these side effects, with existing research suggesting these methods are effective and cost-efficient.
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ETx-22, a novel ADC combining a tumor nectin-4-specific antibody and an innovative linker to exatecan, demonstrates significant and durable responses in low-target-expressing tumor models that are resistant to MMAE-based EV and has a better toxicity profile. This new ADC has the potential to benefit additional patient populations beyond its current indication.

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Studying ionic liquids (ILs) through computational methods is one of the ways to accelerate progress in the design of novel and potentially green materials optimized for task-specific applications. Therefore, it is essential to develop simple and cost-effective computational procedures that are able to replicate and predict experimental data. Among these, spectroscopic measurements are of particular relevance since they are often implicated in structure-property relationships, especially in the infrared spectral region, where characteristic absorption and scattering processes due to molecular vibrations are ultimately influenced by the surrounding environment in the condensed phase.

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  • The study focuses on understanding the clinical and immunologic characteristics of patients with paraneoplastic neurologic syndromes (PNSs) linked to Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC).
  • A total of 47 patients were analyzed, revealing common neurological disorders such as Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome (LEMS) and encephalomyelitis, along with significant associations with specific neural antibodies.
  • The findings indicate that many patients initially presented without identifiable skin tumors but had lymph node metastases, and those without a primary tumor had a lower mortality rate compared to those with identified tumors.
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  • Intestinal volvulus is a serious condition that can cause bowel obstruction and reduced blood flow to the intestines, potentially leading to death if not treated.
  • Symptoms of volvulus are often unclear but usually include sudden abdominal pain, distension, nausea, and vomiting.
  • A highlighted case in the article involves a patient who showed respiratory symptoms rather than typical gastrointestinal signs, making diagnosis challenging, with contrast-enhanced CT scans being the preferred diagnostic tool.
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  • This study investigates the clinical characteristics of neurologic immune-related adverse events (n-irAEs) linked to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) and their potential to become chronic.
  • A total of 66 patients were analyzed, with findings showing that a significant portion experienced chronic n-irAEs, particularly affecting the peripheral nervous system and leading to various neurological impairments.
  • The study highlights that patients with concurrent myocarditis had a higher risk of fatal outcomes, and chronic n-irAEs often required ongoing treatment or resulted in persistent neurological issues like ataxia and cognitive impairment.
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Ataxia with anti-regulator of G-protein signaling 8 autoantibodies (RGS8-Abs) is an autoimmune disease recently described in four patients. The present study aimed to identify other patients with RGS8-Abs, describe their clinical features, including the link between RGS8-related autoimmune cerebellar ataxia (ACA) and cancer. Patients with RGS8-Abs were identified retrospectively in the biological collections of the French Reference Center for Paraneoplastic Neurological Syndrome and the University of California San Francisco Center for Encephalitis and Meningitis.

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Brain clocks, which quantify discrepancies between brain age and chronological age, hold promise for understanding brain health and disease. However, the impact of diversity (including geographical, socioeconomic, sociodemographic, sex and neurodegeneration) on the brain-age gap is unknown. We analyzed datasets from 5,306 participants across 15 countries (7 Latin American and Caribbean countries (LAC) and 8 non-LAC countries).

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Purpose: Pathogenic LZTR1 variants cause schwannomatosis and dominant/recessive Noonan syndrome (NS). We aim to establish an association between heterozygous loss-of-function LZTR1 alleles and isolated multiple café-au-lait macules (CaLMs).

Methods: A total of 849 unrelated participants with multiple CaLMs, lacking pathogenic/likely pathogenic NF1 and SPRED1 variants, underwent RASopathy gene panel sequencing.

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Introduction: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic neurodegenerative disease that leads to impaired cognitive function and accumulation of disability, with significant socioeconomic burden. Serious unmet need in the context of managing MS has given rise to ongoing research efforts, leading to the launch of new drugs planned for the near future, and subsequent concerns about the sustainability of healthcare systems. This study assessed the changes in the Italian MS market and their impact on the expenditures of the Italian National Healthcare Service between 2023 and 2028.

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Background: Bone health management in premenopausal women with breast cancer (BC) under hormone-deprivation therapies (HDTs) is often challenging, and the effectiveness of bone-active drugs is still unknown.

Methods: This retrospective multicenter study included 306 premenopausal women with early BC undergoing HDTs. Bone mineral density (BMD) and morphometric vertebral fractures (VFs) were assessed 12 months after HDT initiation and then after at least 24 months.

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Brain clocks, which quantify discrepancies between brain age and chronological age, hold promise for understanding brain health and disease. However, the impact of multimodal diversity (geographical, socioeconomic, sociodemographic, sex, neurodegeneration) on the brain age gap (BAG) is unknown. Here, we analyzed datasets from 5,306 participants across 15 countries (7 Latin American countries -LAC, 8 non-LAC).

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  • Left renal vein variants are rare but important to recognize due to their potential clinical impacts, particularly during surgeries.
  • Standard anatomy involves the renal vein running in front of the aorta to the inferior vena cava, whereas common variants include circumaortic or retroaortic veins.
  • A unique case is presented in which the left renal vein is compressed by the left iliac artery and vertebral bodies, also linked to superior mesenteric artery syndrome, where the duodenum gets compressed between major blood vessels.
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This study evaluated bond strength of glass fiber posts to root dentin using push-out (PO) and diametral compression (DC), testing glycolic acid as a conditioner and varying dentin moisture. An additional aim was to test whether DC can be an alternative test to PO for bond strength assessment. Eighty bovine teeth were divided into eight groups (n = 10) defined by the use of either 37% glycolic acid or 37% phosphoric acid (PA) on moist or wet dentin before bonding with either Adapter SingleBond/RelyX ARC or One Step Plus/Duo-Link Bisco.

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Background: Management of PICC dressing can be performed at home by the patient through adequate training and telenursing. This trial verifies that the incidence of catheter-related complications in home patients, assisted by telenursing, is not greater than that observed in outpatients.

Methods: This clinical trial is composed of 72 patients with malignant tumors who underwent long-term chemotherapy with PICC insertion.

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  • Hepatic artery complications (HACs) after pediatric liver transplantation can lead to significant health issues, and this study aims to understand how common they are, how they are managed, and what outcomes arise from these complications.
  • The research utilizes the international HEPATIC Registry, collecting data on pediatric patients under 18 who experienced HAC within the last 20 years, focusing on survival rates and treatment success.
  • Ethical approval will be obtained from all participating sites, and findings will be shared at conferences and in academic journals, with the study registered on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT05818644).
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Background And Objectives: Patients with ongoing seizures are usually not allowed to drive. The prognosis for seizure freedom is favorable in patients with autoimmune encephalitis (AIE) with antibodies against NMDA receptor (NMDAR), leucine-rich glioma-inactivated 1 (LGI1), contactin-associated protein-like 2 (CASPR2), and the gamma-aminobutyric-acid B receptor (GABAR). We hypothesized that after a seizure-free period of 3 months, patients with AIE have a seizure recurrence risk of <20% during the subsequent 12 months.

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