This study presents probabilistic analysis of dam accidents worldwide in the period 1911-2016. The accidents are classified by the dam purpose and by the country cluster, where they occurred, distinguishing between the countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and nonmember countries (non-OECD without China). A Bayesian hierarchical approach is used to model distributions of frequency and severity for accidents.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: This descriptive, unplanned investigation has been undertaken to report reactions, attitudes and countermeasures which have been put in place and implemented by medical oncology units facing the COVID-19 outbreak in Southern Italy.
Materials And Methods: Data have been retrospectively obtained from the time-related analysis of conversations via a WhatsApp messenger-based group chat between the medical directors belonging to the Italian College of Medical Oncology Directors. Overall number, intensity and time trend of conversations related to reactions during the 4 weeks of observation related to the crucial events which occurred between 24 February and 28 March, 2020 2020 are included.
To contain COVID-19 spread, Italy is under a global lockdown since February 21, 2020, except for health services and food supply. In this scenario, growing apprehension concerning legal consequences is rising among health professionals due to several ethical and legal questions. Even if medical ethicists may approve patients' prioritization protocols, hospitals and health professionals remain highly exposed to liability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Disordered thyroid hormone transport, due to mutations in the SLC16A2 gene encoding monocarboxylate transporter 8 (MCT8), is characterised by intellectual and motor disability resulting from cerebral hypothyroidism and chronic peripheral thyrotoxicosis. We sought to systematically assess the phenotypic characteristics and natural history of patients with MCT8 deficiency.
Methods: We did an international, multicentre, cohort study, analysing retrospective data from Jan 1, 2003, to Dec 31, 2019, from patients with MCT8 deficiency followed up in 47 hospitals in 22 countries globally.
Third wave cognitive and behavioral therapies have garnered significant attention in the study and treatment of addiction. Such treatments employ a process-oriented, transdiagnostic approach to mitigate problematic thought and behavioral patterns and consequences associated with substance use. Although initial evidence is promising, much remains unknown regarding the impact of third wave processes on substance use behavior and treatment outcomes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMetacognitions, the beliefs held about internal mental processes and the strategies aimed at controlling such processes, are known to play a significant role in the development and maintenance of addictive behaviours. Specifically, lack of cognitive confidence and beliefs about the need to control thoughts have been implicated across addictive behaviours. No research to date, though, has explored the role of metacognitions in cannabis use.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Being constantly connected on social media is a "way of being" among adolescents. However, social media use can become "problematic" for some users and only a few studies have explored the concurrent contribution of social context and emotion regulation to problematic social media use. The current study aimed to test: (i) the influence of friends (i.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are the most common gastrointestinal inflammatory pathologies. Previous work evidenced a lower content of nicotinic acid (NA) in feces of IBD patients compared to healthy subjects. In the present study, we aimed to understand the effects of NA on intestinal inflammation, as several studies reported its possible beneficial effect, and investigate its influence on inflammation-driven metabolism.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEukaryotic RNA interference (RNAi) results in gene silencing upon the sequence-specific degradation of target transcripts by complementary small RNAs (sRNAs). In plants, RNAi-based tools have been optimized for high efficacy and high specificity, and are extensively used in gene function studies and for crop improvement. However, efficient methods for finely adjusting the degree of induced silencing are missing.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: To evaluate the fracture risk and survival outcomes in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) who received sequentially abiraterone acetate (AA) and radium 223 [223Ra]RaCl in the daily clinical practice.
Materials: We retrospectively reviewed the records of mCRPC patients who received [223Ra]RaCl immediately after progressing during an AA treatment line in everyday clinical practice.
Results: We reviewed data of a consecutive series of 94 mCRPC patients.
Cyberchondria refers to the tendency to excessively and compulsively search for online medical information despite the distress experienced, with consequent impairment of daily-life activities. The current two studies sought to explore (i) the factor structure of the Italian version of the Cyberchondria Severity Scale (CSS) and (ii) a metacognitive model of cyberchondria. Participants were Italian community adults who reported using the Internet to search for health-related information (Study 1: N = 374, Study 2: N = 717).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe inclusion of gaming disorder (GD) as an official diagnosis in the ICD-11 was a significant milestone for the field. However, the optimal measurement approaches for GD are currently unclear. This comprehensive systematic review aimed to identify and evaluate all available English-language GD tools and their corresponding evidence.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTelomeres length and telomerase activity are currently considered aging molecular stigmata. Water is a major requirement for our body and water should be alkaline. Recent reports have shown that aging is related to a reduced water intake.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn recent decades much attention has been paid to how dietary antioxidants may positively affect the human health, including the beneficial effects of fermented foods and beverages. Fermented Papaya Preparation (FPP) has been shown to represent a valuable approach to obtain systemic antioxidants effect. In this study, we wanted to verify whether FPP had a clear and scientifically supported in vivo anti-aging effect together with the induction of a systemic antioxidant reaction.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAim of this study was to investigate the activation of the IFNγ pathway in the affected liver and in the blood of patients with secondary hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (sHLH). To this purpose, the mRNA expression levels of IFNG and IFNγ-inducible genes as well as Tyrosine (701)-phosphorylated signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT1) protein levels were evaluated in the liver and in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of three patients with sHLH with predominant liver involvement. The mRNA expression levels of IFNG and IFNγ-inducible genes were markedly higher in patient livers compared to control livers and to one disease control liver.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPrevious studies have shown that human liver stem-like cells (HLSCs) may undergo differentiation in vitro into urea producing hepatocytes and in vivo may sustain liver function in models of experimentally induced acute liver injury. The aim of this study was to assess the safety of HLSCs intrahepatic administration in inherited neonatal-onset hyperammonemia. The study was approved by the Agenzia Italiana del Farmaco on favorable opinion of the Italian Institute of Health as an open-label, prospective, uncontrolled, monocentric Phase I study (HLSC 01-11, EudraCT-No.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSequential liver-kidney transplantation (SeqLKT) from the same living donor has shown excellent results in children with primary hyperoxaluria type 1 (PH1), yet its experience is limited due to the invasiveness of two major procedures for liver-kidney procurement in a single donor. Despite laparoscopic nephrectomy and hepatic left lateral sectionectomy (LLS) being considered standard procedures in living donation, the sequential use of the two laparoscopic approaches in the same living donor has never been reported. Herein, we present the first two case series of laparoscopic liver-kidney procurement in the same living donor for SeqLKT in children with PH1 and review of the current literature on this topic.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFApproximately 20% of children with hepatoblastoma (HB) have metastatic disease at diagnosis, most frequently in the lungs. In children with HB, lung metastatic disease is associated with poorer prognosis. Its treatment has been approached with a variety of methods that integrate chemotherapy and surgical resection.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe perspective of combining cancer vaccines with immunomodulatory drugs is currently regarded as a highly promising approach for boosting tumor-specific T cell immunity and eradicating residual malignant cells. The efficacy of dendritic cell (DC) vaccination in combination with lenalidomide, an anticancer drug effective in several hematologic malignancies, was investigated in a follicular lymphoma (FL) model. First, we evaluated the in vitro activity of lenalidomide in modulating the immune responses of lymphocytes co-cultured with a new DC subset differentiated with IFN-α (IFN-DC) and loaded with apoptotic lymphoma cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Several studies on 18F-FDG-PET/CT have investigated the prognostic role of this imaging modality in different tumors after treatment. Nevertheless, its role in restaging patients with recurrent CM still needs to be defined.
Objective: The aim of this retrospective multicenter study was to evaluate the clinical and prognostic impact of 18F-FDG-PET/CT on the restaging process of cutaneous melanoma (CM) after surgery in patients with suspected distant recurrent disease or suspected metastatic progression disease.
Psychological mechanisms that may explain the link between peer victimization and its adverse outcomes are still understudied. The current study aimed to apply the Self-Regulatory Executive Function (S-REF) model of psychopathology (Wells & Matthews, 1994, 1996) to help explain this link in a sample of adolescents. A total of 1,169 Italian adolescents (47.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Immunosuppression has undoubtedly raised the overall positive outcomes in the post-operative management of solid organ transplantation. However, long-term exposure to immunosuppression is associated with critical systemic morbidities. malignancies following orthotopic liver transplants (OLTs) are a serious threat in pediatric and adult transplant individuals.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOpioid use greatly increases the risk of overdose death, as well as contracting human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis. Opioid agonist treatment is recommended for pregnant women who are dependent on opioids. However, there is a dearth of studies on the use of opioid agonist treatment in pregnant teenagers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF