Prevalence of functional defecation disorders in European children: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objectives: Functional defecation disorders (FDDs) are common among children worldwide. The prevalence of these disorders has not been clearly described in Europe. This study performed a systematic review and meta-analysis on the prevalence of FDD in European children and assessed geographical, age, and sex distribution and associated factors.

Virtual reality for multiple sclerosis rehabilitation.

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most common neurological disease in young adults. Virtual reality (VR) offers a promising rehabilitation tool by providing controllable, personalised environments for safe, adaptable and engaging training. Virtual reality can be tailored to patients' motor and cognitive skills, enhancing motivation through exciting scenarios and feedback.

Prognostic Value of Advanced Echocardiographic Analysis for Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement: A Systematic Review.

Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is the main treatment option for patients with severe aortic stenosis (AS) and older age. Improved imaging techniques have enabled better patient selection, and the main role is played by echocardiography. Methods more sensitive than LVEF in assessing cardiac function, such as global longitudinal strain (GLS) and myocardial work (MW), have become widespread, and other methods, like hemodynamic forces (HDFs), might be promising.

Drug survival, effectiveness, and safety of guselkumab for moderate-to-severe psoriasis for up to 4 years.

Background: Guselkumab has been shown to be safe and effective for the treatment of psoriasis in numerous randomized clinical trials and real-life studies. Real life data on treatment up to 4 years are lacking.

Objectives: The present study aims to estimate the drug survival DS, effectiveness, and safety of guselkumab over a period of 208 weeks (w).

Spatiotemporal dynamics of fetal liver hematopoietic niches.

Embryonic hematopoietic cells develop in the fetal liver (FL), surrounded by diverse non-hematopoietic stromal cells. However, the spatial organization and cytokine production patterns of the stroma during FL development remain poorly understood. Here, we characterized and mapped the hematopoietic and stromal cell populations at early (E12.

EEG Microstates in the Study of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Review of Preliminary Evidence.

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurobiological condition that affects both children and adults. Microstate (MS) analyses, a data-driven approach that identifies stable patterns in EEG signals, offer valuable insights into the neurophysiological characteristics of ADHD. This review summarizes findings from 13 studies that applied MS analyses to resting-state and task-based brain activity in individuals with ADHD.

A Multimodal Approach to Symptomatic Endometriosis: A Proposed Algorithm for Clinical Management.

Recent research has proven that peripheral (PS) and central sensitization (CS), mental health, and myofascial dysfunction all play a role, alongside nociception, in the genesis and in the perpetuation of endometriosis' symptoms. However, such components of pain are still largely ignored in clinical practice, although not considering such contributors may entail serious consequences on women's health, including the choice of unnecessary surgery and leaving the real causes of pain untreated. At the present time, we are facing a paradox by which 25-40% of women who undergo laparoscopic surgery for pelvic pain do not have an obvious diagnosis, while the percentage of women with endometriosis who have signs of CS, of depressive or anxiety disorders, or who have an increased pelvic muscle tone ammounts to 41-55%, 15-88% and 28-73%, respectively.

Osteoporosis in Older Men: Informing Patient Management and Improving Health-Related Outcomes.

Osteoporosis has been usually considered a female disease, generally causing more fracture risk and complications in adult and older women compared to older men. While vertebral fractures occur in a small proportion of men during middle age, men generally fracture about 10 years later than women, with significant increases in fracture risk after about age 75. Independent of age, men experiencing fragility fractures have a higher risk of life-threatening events compared to women, but the risk of secondary fragility fracture overlaps between men and women.

Clinical implications of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in cancers which potentially spread to peritoneum.

Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a biological process by which epithelial cells increase their motility and acquire invasive capacity. It represents a crucial driver of cancer metastasis and peritoneal dissemination. EMT plasticity, with cells exhibiting hybrid epithelial/mesenchymal states, and its reverse process, mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition (MET), allows them to adapt to different microenvironments and evade therapeutic intervention.

Comparative Clinical Outcomes of Two Different Zygomatic Implant Protocols for the Rehabilitation of Severely Atrophic Maxillae: A Retrospective Analysis.

Purpose: This retrospective study aimed to compare extended sinus lift and extramaxilla surgical protocols for restoring severely atrophic maxillae with zygomatic implants (ZIs) and evaluate their clinical effectiveness.

Materials And Methods: The study includes patients who were treated at a dental clinic in Italy from 2012 to 2022. These patients received fixed screw-retained complete dentures supported by either two or four zygomatic implants (ZIs).

Extended clinical phenotypes and treatment modalities in 32 JAGN1-deficient patients. A multicenter study by EBMT IEWP.

JAGN1 (Jagunal-homolog1) is a ER-resident transmembrane protein which is part of the early secretory pathway and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor receptor mediated signaling. Autosomal recessively inherited variants in the JAGN1 gene lead to congenital neutropenia, early-onset bacterial infections, aphthosis and skin abscesses due to aberrant differentiation and maturation of neutrophils. In addition, bone metabolism disorders and a syndromic phenotype, including facial features, short stature and neurodevelopmental delay, have been reported in affected patients.

Isolated distal fibula fractures can be treated with locking screw plates with an immediate postoperative weight-bearing.

Background: Isolated distal fibula fractures (DFF) are usually treated with open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) and non-weight-bearing protocols. The study assessed the outcomes of immediate weight-bearing on DFF healing and stability after lateral locking plating.

Materials And Methods: For this study, 49 patients affected by isolated DFF were enrolled.

Label-free determination of diffusion coefficients at the nanoscale through modelling of the Surface Plasmon Resonance signal.

Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) is normally used to measure the kinetic parameters of biomolecular interactions between a molecule immobilized on a gold surface and another one flowing in a microfluidic channel above the surface. During the SPR measurements, convection-diffusion phenomena occur inside the microfluidic channels, but they are generally minimized by appropriate experimental setup in order to obtain diffusion free kinetic parameters of the molecular interactions. In this work, for the first time, a commercial SPR apparatus has been used to obtain non canonical scientific parameters.

Gastroesophageal reflux disease is associated with a more severe interstitial lung disease in systemic sclerosis in the EUSTAR cohort.

Objectives: Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is frequent in systemic sclerosis (SSc) and could predict progression of interstitial lung disease (ILD). We aimed to analyse (1) the prevalence of GERD among SSc-ILD patients, (2) its association with disease characteristics and (3) predictive factors for ILD progression in SSc-ILD patients with GERD.

Methods: SSc patients from the EUSTAR database with ILD were included.

SEMdag: Fast learning of Directed Acyclic Graphs via node or layer ordering.

A Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) offers an easy approach to define causal structures among gathered nodes: causal linkages are represented by arrows between the variables, leading from cause to effect. Recently, industry and academics have paid close attention to DAG structure learning from observable data, and many techniques have been put out to address the problem. We provide a two-step approach, named SEMdag(), that can be used to quickly learn high-dimensional linear SEMs.

Screening properties of the updated normative framework for the Italian MMSE in MCI and dementia.

Background: This study aimed to assess the screening properties of Foderaro et al.s' updated normative framework for the Italian MMSE in detecting mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia due to neurodegenerative, chronic cerebrovascular, and mixed etiologies, as well as in differentiating between these two syndromes.

Methods: Data on 234 patients with either MCI (N = 83) or dementia (N = 151) due to Alzheimer's disease (N = 112), Lewy body disease (N = 11), frontotemporal lobar degeneration (N = 20), chronic cerebrovascular disease (N = 39), or mixed (N = 47) etiologies having been administered Foderaro et al.

Immunogenicity and safety of the MF59-adjuvanted seasonal influenza vaccine in non-elderly adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: In Europe, the age indication for the MF59-adjuvanted quadrivalent influenza vaccine (aQIV) has recently been extended from ≥65 to ≥50 years. Considering that the earliest approval of its trivalent formulation (aTIV) in Italy was for people aged ≥12 years, we aimed to systematically appraise data on the immunogenicity, efficacy, and safety of aTIV/aQIV in non-elderly adults.

Methods: A systematic literature review was conducted according to the available guidelines and studies were searched in MEDLINE, Biological Abstracts, Web of Science, Cochrane Library and clinical trial registries.

The public mental representations of deepfake technology: An in-depth qualitative exploration through Quora text data analysis.

The advent of deepfake technology has raised significant concerns regarding its impact on individuals' cognitive processes and beliefs, considering the pervasive relationships between technology and human cognition. This study delves into the psychological literature surrounding deepfakes, focusing on people's public representation of this emerging technology and highlighting prevailing themes, opinions, and emotions. Under the media framing, the theoretical framework is crucial in shaping individuals' cognitive schemas regarding technology.

Inflammatory Heart Disease in Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome.

Purposeof The Review: In this review article, we aim to provide an overview of the pathophysiology, the clinical features, the therapeutic management and prognosis of patients affected by Multisystemic inflammatory syndrome (MIS) with cardiac involvement, focusing on myocarditis and pericarditis.

Recent Findings: MIS is a multiorgan hyperinflammatory condition due to a cytokine storm following (within 4-12 weeks) SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2) infection. First described in children, it also affects young adults without comorbidities, predominantly males with highly heterogeneous clinical manifestations, including cardiac involvement.

Sport practice and hemorrhoidal disease: results from a self-assessment questionnaire among athletes.

Background: Hemorrhoidal disease (HD) is a common proctologic disease. Dietary and lifestyle play a role in the genesis of the disease or in its progression to more severe forms, although the exact mechanism is still not fully understood. We performed a pilot observational cross-sectional analytical association study to evaluate the possible association between sport activities and HD.

Leveraging machine learning algorithms to forecast delayed cerebral ischemia following subarachnoid hemorrhage: a systematic review and meta-analysis of 5,115 participants.

It is feasible to predict delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI) after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) using Artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms, which may offer significant improvements in early diagnosis and patient management. This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluate the efficacy of machine learning (ML) in predicting DCI, aiming to integrate complex clinical data to enhance diagnostic accuracy. We searched PubMed, Scopus, Web of science, and Embase databases without restrictions until June 2024, applying PRISMA guidelines.

Implementing proximity care for people with multiple sclerosis in Italy: the bottom-up approach of the StayHome project.

Objective: In Italy, around 137,000 people live with multiple sclerosis, facing organizational complexities due to the current model's limited focus on proximity care. This project aims to define a proximity model, in accordance with recent developments in the Italian healthcare landscape, engaging over 150 healthcare stakeholders and potentially impacting approximately 14,000 patients.

Methods: An analysis was pursued to map the multiple sclerosis pathway, followed by interviews to capture the actual implementation in Italian Multiple Sclerosis Centers.