47,940 results match your criteria: "University of Florence; and IRCCS Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi M.P.A.[Affiliation]"

Objective: Size at birth is a key indicator of in utero growth. Our objective was to generate sex-specific percentiles for birth weight and head circumference in neonates born between 22 and 29 weeks gestation from pregnancies without hypertension or diabetes and assess differences between vaginal and caesarean births and between singletons and twins.

Methods: We used data from 12 countries participating in the International Network for Evaluating Outcomes in Neonates database from 2007 to 2021.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Earth-abundant kesterite Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 (CZTSSe) solar cells face efficiency challenges due to deep-level defects, which result in short carrier diffusion lengths, band tailing, and significant open-circuit voltage deficits.
  • A proposed solution involves a post-fabrication treatment where the CZTSSe film is dip-coated in dimethylformamide (DMF), a polar solvent that helps neutralize defects and improve film quality, leading to larger grain sizes.
  • As a result of this treatment, carrier diffusion length increased from 93 nm to 142 nm, reducing the VOC deficit by up to 289 mV and boosting the solar cell efficiency to 11.4%, showcasing the promise of DMF
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

An ecological and stochastic perspective on persisters resuscitation.

Comput Struct Biotechnol J

December 2024

Department of Biology, University of Florence, Via Madonna del Piano 6, Sesto Fiorentino, 50019, Italy.

Article Synopsis
  • Recent research shows that microbial interactions, rather than just individual isolates, significantly influence how well antibiotics work, especially in terms of persistence and tolerance.
  • The ability of microbes to bounce back after antibiotic exposure and get cleared is closely tied to the size of the surviving population and fluctuations in cell counts.
  • Our study emphasizes that the interactions among microbes in a community affect their recovery post-treatment, which we modeled through simulations of a three-member microbial community to illustrate these dynamics.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Hurricanes, industrial animal operations, and acute gastrointestinal illness in North Carolina, USA.

Environ Res Health

March 2025

Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, United States of America.

North Carolina (NC) ranks third among US states in both hog production and hurricanes. NC's hogs are housed in concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) in the eastern, hurricane-prone part of the state. Hurricanes can inundate hog waste lagoons, transporting fecal bacteria that may cause acute gastrointestinal illness (AGI).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: This study aimed to assess hydration status before and after training using the bioelectrical impedance vector analysis (BIVA) method.

Design: Pre-post quasi-experimental designs.

Method: Twenty-four young water polo players (mean age: 13.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Abnormal visual experience during development resulting from an imbalance in the activity of the two eyes can lead to permanent severe visual deficits, a pathology called amblyopia (lazy eye). While this condition is extremely difficult to treat in adults, current interventions can elicit significant amounts of visual recovery when performed in juveniles before the end of the critical period, even if the achievable results can be unsatisfactory due to the progressive decline in visual cortical plasticity. Similarly to human subjects, rodents becoming amblyopic due to early visual deprivation can display spontaneous functional recovery if the deprivation ends within the critical period time window.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Physical inactivity due to shortness of breath is common among patients with uncontrolled asthma. We evaluated the body mass composition and exercise capacity of patients with poorly controlled asthma, despite maximal inhalation therapy.

Methods:  We recruited 56 patients from the Asthma Clinic of the University Hospital of Liège between September 2020 and December 2023, and 14 healthy subjects.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A combination of pathway enrichment and metabolite clustering analysis is used to interpret untargeted H NMR metabolomics data, enabling a biochemically informative comparison of the effects induced by a panel of known cytotoxic gold(I) and gold(III) compounds in A2780 ovarian cancer cells. The identification of the most dysregulated pathways for the major classes of compounds highlights specific chemical features that lead to common biological effects. The proposed approach may have broader applicability to the screening of metal-based drug candidate libraries, which is always complicated by their multitarget nature, and support the comprehensive interpretation of their metabolic actions.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Accurate methods for detecting volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are essential for noninvasive disease diagnosis, with breath analysis providing a simpler, user-friendly alternative to traditional diagnostic tools. However, challenges remain in low-temperature VOC solid-state sensors, especially concerning their selectivity and functionality at room temperature. Herein, we present key insights into optimizing multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs)/polyaniline (PANI) and ZnO nanocomposites for efficient, light-free selective acetone sensing.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the effects of menstrual cycle phases and time of day on various stress and immune biomarkers, including salivary α-amylase (sAA) and secretory immunoglobulin A (SIgA), in a group of 17 participants.
  • No significant interactions were found between menstrual cycle phases and time of day for the biomarkers, resting blood pressure, heart rate, or body composition.
  • However, results indicate that resting heart rate and sAA levels were higher in the afternoon, while SIgA levels were higher in the morning, highlighting the influence of time of day on these markers, rather than the menstrual cycle phases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The issue of retreatment with surfactant of infants with respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) has been poorly investigated. Our aim was to identify possible clinical predictors of the need for multiple doses of surfactant in a large cohort of very preterm infants.

Methods: Data were analyzed from three previous studies on infants born between 25 and 31 weeks of gestation with RDS who were treated with surfactant.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

In this study, we report the synthesis and photocatalytic performance of Co₃O₄-decorated hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) composites for degrading methylene blue (MB) and ibuprofen (IBF) under sunlight irradiation. Using a dry impregnation method, the composites were prepared with varying Co₃O₄ loadings (0.5%, 1%, 2%).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Optimizing Biochar-Based Column Filtration Systems for Enhanced Pollutant Removal in Wastewater Treatment: A Preliminary Study.

Chemosphere

January 2025

Laboratory of Water, Biodiversity and Climate Change (EauBiodiCc), Faculty of Sciences Semlalia, University Cadi Ayyad, Marrakech Morocco; National Centre for Studies and Research on Water and Energy (CNEREE), University Cadi Ayyad, Marrakech Morocco. Electronic address:

Article Synopsis
  • The study tests biochar-based substrates for their effectiveness in removing pollutants from wastewater, focusing on determining the best biochar concentration for large-scale filters like constructed wetlands.
  • Preliminary lab tests using different concentrations of biochar (0%, 10%, 25%, and 50%) showed significant improvements in removing nitrogen, phosphorus, chemical oxygen demand, and total suspended solids in comparison to control filters.
  • The best results for pollutant removal were achieved with 10% biochar, indicating that a lower concentration is both economically and environmentally beneficial for wastewater treatment systems.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Microcystoid macular edema in epiretinal membrane: not a retrograde maculopathy.

Am J Ophthalmol

January 2025

Department of biomedical sciences, Humanitas University, Pieve Emanuele, Milan, Italy.; Ophthalmology Department, Humanitas Gavazzeni, Bergamo, Italy.

Purpose: To investigate the incidence, clinical spectrum and pathophysiology of microcystoid macular edema (MME) in two cohorts of patients with epiretinal membrane (ERM) and idiopathic full thickness macular hole (FTMH).

Design: Single-center, Retrospective, interventional, cohort study.

Methods: Review of clinical charts, structural and en-face optical coherence tomographty (OCT) and fluorescein angiography (FA) imaging of ERM and FTMH eyes which underwent surgery with pars plana vitrectomy and internal limiting membrane (ILM) peel, with a minimum follow-up of 6 months.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: This study aimed to translate the Maternal Health Literacy Inventory in Pregnancy (MHELIP) scale into Turkish and evaluate its validity and reliability for use in the Turkish population.

Methods: The participants in this methodological study included 250 pregnant women who presented to the antenatal clinic of the Florence Nightingale Hospital in Istanbul, Turkiye. Content validity was assessed using expert approval.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The Bahçeşehir population-based mammography screening program (BMSP) is an example of Türkiye's first population-based screening program. This study aims to reveal the successful implementation of population-based secreening program in one of the low- and middle-income countries, Türkiye and long-term results of patients diagnosed with breast cancer during BMSP.

Methods: This study was conducted between 2009 and 2019, in the Bahçeşehir county of Istanbul.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Machine learning to predict the decision to perform surgery in hepatic echinococcosis.

HPB (Oxford)

December 2024

Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, SC Chirurgia Generale 1, Pavia, Italy. Electronic address:

Background: Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is a significant public health issue, primarily affecting the liver. While several management strategies exist, there is a lack of predictive tools to guide surgical decisions for hepatic CE. This study aimed to develop predictive models to support surgical decision-making in hepatic CE, enhancing the precision of patient allocation to surgical or non-surgical management pathways.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: To study the timing of the effect of linzagolix, an oral GnRH antagonist, on significant reduction in heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB) in women with uterine fibroids.

Design: The study used pooled data from PRIMROSE1 and PRIMROSE2, two double-blind, similar placebo-controlled trials of linzagolix in US and Europe, respectively. Eligible participants were randomized equally across four treatment arms (linzagolix 100mg and 200mg, with and without concomitant hormonal add-back therapy [ABT] consisting of 1 mg estradiol and 0.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Non-metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) presents a challenging scenario: the rarity of the disease, the limited number of completed prospective trials, and the shortcomings of comparability across series produce several controversial topics and unanswered questions. Guideline recommendations usually include all the different therapeutic options, de facto transferring to the multidisciplinary team the responsibility on the final decision. This secondary analysis of the GARIBALDI study was aimed to explore the correlation of center type, self-declared volume, and commitment with the overall survival (OS) in patients with non-metastatic PDAC.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Drugs generally used in major depressive disorder are considered inappropriate for the more common milder forms. The efficacy of saffron extracts has been demonstrated in mild to moderate depression and in preclinical models of depression. However, evidence of saffron activity on reduced hedonic responsiveness and motivational anhedonia is limited.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Behind the scenes of EQA-characteristics, capabilities, benefits and assets of external quality assessment (EQA).

Clin Chem Lab Med

January 2025

Canadian Microbiology Proficiency Testing Program (CMPT), Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.

The main stakeholders in external quality assessment (EQA) programs are the participants, in whose interests these challenges are ultimately organised. EQA schemes in the medical field contribute to improving the quality of patient care by evaluating the analytical and diagnostic quality of laboratory and point-of-care tests (POCT) by independent third parties and, if necessary, pointing out erroneous measurement results and analytical or diagnostic improvement potential. Other benefits include the option of using EQA samples for other important laboratory procedures, such as the verification or validation of diagnostic medical devices (IVD-MDs), a contribution to the estimation of measurement uncertainty, a means of training and educating laboratory staff through educational EQA programmes or samples, or even for independent and documented monitoring of staff competence, such as on samples with unusual or even exceptional characteristics.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Our objective is to determine the protein and complements constituents of Cord blood Platelet-rich plasma (CB-PRP), based on the hypothesis that it contains beneficial components capable of arresting or potentially decelerating the advancement of atrophic age-related macular degeneration (dry-AMD), with the support of radiomics. Two distinct pools of CB-PRP were assessed, each pool obtained from a total of 15 umbilical cord-blood donors. One aliquot of each pool respectively was subjected to proteomic analysis in order to enhance the significance of our findings, by identifying proteins that are shared between the two sample pools and gaining insights into the pathways they are associated with.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Dapagliflozin ameliorates Lafora disease phenotype in a zebrafish model.

Biomed Pharmacother

January 2025

IRCCS Stella Maris Foundation, Calambrone, via dei Giacinti 2, Pisa 56128, Italy.

Lafora disease (LD) is an ultra-rare and still incurable neurodegenerative condition. Although several therapeutic strategies are being explored, including gene therapy, there are currently no treatments that can alleviate the course of the disease and slow its progression. Recently, gliflozins, a series of SGLT2 transporter inhibitors approved for use in type 2 diabetes mellitus, heart failure and chronic kidney disease, have been proposed as possible repositioning drugs for the treatment of LD.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF