Association of maternal Body Mass Index and parity on induced labor stages.

Background: Obesity is a widespread pandemic and obstetric care must adapt to meet the needs of obese pregnant women. Little is known about the impact of Body Mass Index (BMI) on the induction of labor (IOL). Therefore, our objective was to evaluate if the duration of the first and second stages of IOL is affected by maternal BMI in nulliparous and multiparous women.

The appropriate counseling on prenatal screening test for foreign women in Emilia-Romagna.

Objective: The increase in the migratory phenomenon entails the need to adapt obstetric care to the population which includes foreign pregnant women. In this context, it emerged a little adherence to the prenatal screening test among foreign women compared to Italian women, which is assumed to be attributable to an inadequate counseling. This study aims to evaluate midwife's perception of the  counseling effectiveness in foreign women for the combined test and subsequently assess its adequacy through an external evaluation.

Breastfeeding promotion and support: a quality improvement study.

Background: Breastfeeding success is determined by early skin to skin contact, early initiation of breastfeeding, rooming-in, baby-led breastfeeding, creation of a favorable environment, specific training of health professionals, and continuity of care.

Objective: To investigate the women's satisfaction regarding the care and support received in the first days after childbirth.

Material And Methods: A questionnaire of 24 items was administered to mothers before discharge, from May to September 2019 at the University Hospital of Modena.

Cancer screenings among sexual and gender minorities by midwives' point of view.

Introduction: Although women belonging to sexual and gender minorities are more at risk of gynecological and breast cancer, pieces of evidence have been provided that this population finds hardships getting involved in cancer screening programs. This happens because they tend to avoid clinical settings because of fear of discrimination, heteronormative assumptions, heterosexism, classism, and homophobic slurs by healthcare professionals. On the other hand, medical programs that allow healthcare providers to have experience with LGBTQ people are scarce and there are no specific tools to assess sexual cancer risks in this population.

Simulation of a flash-flood event over the Adriatic Sea with a high-resolution atmosphere-ocean-wave coupled system.

On the morning of September 26, 2007, a heavy precipitation event (HPE) affected the Venice lagoon and the neighbouring coastal zone of the Adriatic Sea, with 6-h accumulated rainfall summing up to about 360 mm in the area between the Venetian mainland, Padua and Chioggia. The event was triggered and maintained by the uplift over a convergence line between northeasterly flow from the Alps and southeasterly winds from the Adriatic Sea. Hindcast modelling experiments, using standalone atmospheric models, failed to capture the spatial distribution, maximum intensity and timing of the HPE.

Advanced midwifery practice: intrapartum ultrasonography to assess fetal head station and comparison with vaginal digital examination.

Background: Vaginal digital examination is considered the gold standard to evaluate patients during labor and delivery. However, transperineal ultrasound has been suggested as an effective tool in determining fetal head station during labor. Angle of progression (AOP), head-perineal distance (HPD) and head-symphysis distance (HSD) are reliable parameters to assess fetal head station during labor.

Fetal head malposition and epidural analgesia in labor: a case-control study.

Background: The fetal head malposition in labor leads to prolonged labor, cesarean delivery and increased perinatal morbidity. Epidural analgesia has been associated with fetal head malposition, but it remains unknown if this relation is causal.

Objective: To compare the incidence of fetal malposition during labor and maternal/fetal outcomes, between women who received epidural analgesia with those who did not use the analgesic method.

Physical activity in low risk pregnant women: a cross-sectional study.

Objectives: The aim of this study is to analyze the quality and quantity of physical activity (PA) practiced by low-risk pregnant women before and during pregnancy.

Design: This cross-sectional study assesses the dietary habits, exercise habits and body mass index. We used an ad hoc health lifestyle multiple choice questionnaire.

Evaluation of midwifery students' satisfaction with regards to clinical internship.

Background And Aim Of The Work: The clinical internship is fundamental for the training of the future socio-health professional. Through the practical activity, the student develops professional skills, critical thinking and decision-making ability, internalizing the complexity of the professional role. While in the nursing field there are several tools for assessing the clinical experience of students, in the obstetric field there is a lack of validated tools.

Self-efficacy in breastfeeding support: a research on Italian midwifery students.

Background And Aim Of The Study: Maternal breastmilk represents the best nourishment for the newborn baby during its first six months, as it offers several benefits for the health and well-being of babies and mothers. In order to promote, protect and support effectively mother and child during breastfeeding, it is essential for midwives to be properly educated and to acquire highly professionalizing skills. This study aimed to evaluate the level of self-efficacy of the students attending the Degree Course of Midwifery, regarding the support of mother and child in breastfeeding.

Study of childbirth education classes and evaluation of their effectiveness.

Background: Childbirth education classes are antenatal support services offered to pregnant women or to the couple, aimed at increasing their knowledge regarding pregnancy, labour, delivery, breastfeeding, parenthood and newborn care.

Objective: The aim was to evaluate the effectiveness of Birthing Classes through the analysis of the occurrence of C-section, epidural analgesia, behavior during labor and delivery of the women who participated to the course as compared to those who did not attend it. Moreover, the level of satisfaction of pregnant women who attended the course was measured with a questionnaire of 20 items handed out after the delivery.

The midwifery-led care model: a continuity of care model in the birth path.

Background And Aim Of The Study: The birth path is affected by a fragmentation in the patient care process, creating a discontinuity of this last one. The pregnant woman has to interface with many professionals, both during the pregnancy, the childbirth and the puerperium. However, during the last ten years, there has been an increasing of the pregnancy care operated by the midwife, who is considered to be the operator with the right competences, who can take care of every pregnancy and may avail herself of other professionals' contributions in order to improve the outcomes of maternal and neonatal health.

Estimation of fetal weight near term: comparison between ultrasound and symphysis-fundus evaluation by Johnson's rule.

Introduction: The fetal weight estimation is commonly performed by ultrasound but the manual method is also applied in developing countries due to the lack of scan availability and in western countries for the management of low-risk pregnancy managed autonomously by the midwives. The most applied method to estimate fetal weight measures the longitudinal diameter of the symphysis-fundus according to Johnson's rule. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the reliability of the symphysis-fundus method with respect to the ultrasound to estimate fetal weight in low risk pregnancies according to the classification of adequate, small and large for gestational age.

Breastfeeding pathologies: analysis of prevalence, risk and protective factors.

Background And Aim Of The Study: Breastfeeding is essential for the health of mothers and newborns, and it is recommended by WHO-UNICEF as the sole source of nutrition and protection for the first 6 months of life and beyond. In order to fully promote this practice, it is important to recognize early conditions that can lead to pathological breastfeeding.

Aim: The study aims to analyze the prevalence and the possible risk or protective factors concerning the pathology of breastfeeding.

Survey of students of the degree course in obstetrics, on learning using case based learning (cbl) method in the area of professional teachings.

Background: Case Based Learning (CBL) is a teaching methodology that, starting from a case associated with real life situations, is able to stimulate students to investigate, reflect and discuss to find the solution to the case.

Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate the satisfaction and the educational impact on the students of the Obstetrics Degree Course on Learning Case Based Learning CBL (on real clinical cases).

Methods: The observational study was carried out through the presentation of real clinical cases to a sample of 43 students of a degree course in Obstetrics and giving them questionnaires of evaluation regarding satisfaction and educational impact, using measurement scales which ranged from 1 (very bad) to 5 (excellent).

Congenital fibrosarcoma in complete remission with Somatostatin, Bromocriptine, Retinoids, Vitamin D3, Vitamin E, Vitamin C, Melatonin, Calcium, Chondroitin sulfate associated with low doses of Cyclophosphamide in a 14-year Follow up.

At birth, a male child presented a 6 cm tumour in the right leg. The tumour was partially removed after just 12 days. Histology showed a congenital fibrosarcoma associated with reactive lymphadenitis.

Recurrent Glioblastoma Multiforme (grade IV - WHO 2007): a case of complete objective response - concomitant administration of Somatostatin / Octreotide, Retinoids, Vit E, Vit D3, Vit C, Melatonin, D2 R agonists (Di Bella Method.

In a 41 year old man, with Glioblastoma Multiforme (Grade IV - WHO 2007) and loco-regional recurrence, treated conventionally with surgery, radio-therapy and Temolozomide, a complete objective response was subsequently achieved by means of the well-tolerated concomitant administration of Somatostatin + slow-release Octreotide, Melatonin, Retinoids solubilized in Vitamin E, Vit D3, Vit C, D2 R agonists, and Temolozomide. In addition to the positive and previously unreported therapeutic finding, this result allowed the patient to avoid further surgical trauma and the correlated risks, achieving an excellent quality of life and working capacity.

Evaluation of the safety and efficacy of the first-line treatment with somatostatin combined with melatonin, retinoids, vitamin D3, and low doses of cyclophosphamide in 20 cases of breast cancer: a preliminary report.

Objective: The current strategies for the treatment of breast cancer are essentially based on surgery, preceded and/or followed by chemotherapy often supplemented by radiotherapy and/or the administration of hormonal therapy and monoclonal antibodies. Their combined use has made it possible to increase an overall survival but they are still penalized by adverse effects and toxicity. The marked anti-cancer effects of biological molecule such as somatostatin, melatonin, retinoid, vitamin D3 and prolactin inhibitors have been studied and documented for several decades.

Work climate, work values and professional commitment as predictors of job satisfaction in nurses.

Aim: To investigate the effect of some psychosocial variables on nurses' job satisfaction.

Background: Nurses' job satisfaction is one of the most important factors in determining individuals' intention to stay or leave a health-care organisation. Literature shows a predictive role of work climate, professional commitment and work values on job satisfaction, but their conjoint effect has rarely been considered.

Ambient monitoring of asbestos in selected Italian living areas.

This paper presents the results of an intensive monitoring activity of the particulate, fall-out and soil of selected living areas in Italy with the aim to detect the asbestos concentration in air and subsequent risk of exposure for the population in ambient living environments, and to assess the nature of the other mineral phases composing the particulate matrix. Some areas were sorted out because of the presence of asbestos containing materials on site whereas others were used as blank spots in the attempt to detect the background environmental concentration of asbestos in air. Because the concentration of asbestos in ambient environments is presumably very low, and it is well known that conventional low-medium flow sampling systems with filters of small diameter (25mm) may collect only a very small fraction of particulate over a short period, for the first time here, an intense monitoring activity was conducted with a high flow sampling system.

Polyethylene glycol electrolyte solution (Isocolan) for constipation during pregnancy: an observational open-label study.

To evaluate the efficacy of a polyethylene glycol electrolyte solution (PEG-4000) in pregnant women affected by constipation, 40 consecutive pregnant women from 6 to 38 weeks' gestation were enrolled in this preliminary study. Constipation was defined as spontaneous evacuation less than four times a week or the presence of symptoms such as defecation pain, rectal urgency, tenesmus, anal injury, or abdominal pain. A PEG-4000 solution (Isocolan, also marketed in the United States as Golitely/Nulitely) was administered for 15 days at a dose of 250 mL by mouth once or twice a day.

Asymptomatic cardiac lymphoma in a hepatitis C virus-positive thalassemic patient.

Primary cardiac non-Hodgkin lymphomas are fast-growing intracavitary and/or intramyocardial nodular masses, while secondary lymphomas most commonly infiltrate the cardiac tissue. By any definition, cardiac non-Hodgkin lymphomas usually manifest through arrhythmias, refractory heart failure, pericardial effusion, and embolic stroke. We here describe a case of a cardiac non-Hodgkin lymphoma in which the following, previously undescribed features manifest simultaneously.

Transient and reversible deoxyribonucleic acid damage in human left ventricle under controlled ischemia and reperfusion.

Objectives: We sought to describe the sequence of molecular events during ischemia and reperfusion of the human heart and to determine the activation of stress kinases and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) damage response elements on apoptosis in ischemia or reperfusion of the human heart.

Background: Brief ischemia is tolerated by cardiac myocytes, but it determines immediate metabolic changes and block of contraction. Prompt restoration of coronary blood flow is inexorably associated with a slow recovery of myocardial contractile function.

Signal transduction mechanisms and nitric oxide in hypoxic and ischemic human cardiac ventricular cell.

Background: Nitric oxide (NO) plays a well-known role in regulating endocellular adaptive changes to acute hypoxia and ischemia. The reversible inhibition of complex IV of the mitochondrial respiratory chain fulfils a cytoprotective function, whereas the progressive inhibition of complex I and II reveals the onset of irreversible oxidative damage due to persistent NO production in response to prolonged hypoxia and/or ischemia. In hypoxic or ischemic human myocardial cells, death may be caused by apoptosis or necrosis following the activation of the biomolecular signal transduction mechanisms.