Citizen science in eDNA monitoring for mediterranean monk seal conservation.

Background: Citizen Science (CS) offers a promising approach to enhance data collection and engage communities in conservation efforts. This study evaluates the use of CS in environmental DNA (eDNA) monitoring for Mediterranean monk seal conservation. We validated CS by assessing the effectiveness of a newly developed CS-friendly filtration system called "WET" (Water eDNA Trap) in eDNA detection, addressing technical challenges, and analysing volunteer faults.

Guiding Competitive Binding Assays Using Protein-Protein Interaction Prediction: The HER2-Affitin Use Case.

Affitins are a class of small artificial proteins, designed as alternatives to antibodies for therapeutic, diagnostic, and biotechnological applications. Recent patents by Bracco Imaging S.p.

Coffee and tea consumption and the risk of head and neck cancer: An updated pooled analysis in the International Head and Neck Cancer Epidemiology Consortium.

Introduction: The relations between coffee and tea consumption and head and neck cancer (HNC) incidence are unclear. With increasing global HNC burden, this study aims to examine the association between coffee, tea, and HNC.

Methods: A pooled analysis of 9548 HNC cases and 15,783 controls from 14 individual-level case-control studies was conducted from the International Head and Neck Cancer Epidemiology consortium.

The interplay of NAD and hypoxic stress and its relevance for ageing.

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) is an essential regulator of cellular metabolism and redox processes. NAD levels and the dynamics of NAD metabolism change with increasing age but can be modulated via the diet or medication. Because NAD metabolism is complex and its regulation still insufficiently understood, achieving specific outcomes without perturbing delicate balances through targeted pharmacological interventions remains challenging.

Modeling functional loss in Alzheimer's Disease through cognitive reserve and cognitive state: A panel data longitudinal study.

Cognitive Reserve (CR) refers to the brain's ability, supported by active and modifiable forms of lifestyle compensation, to cope with neural changes due to age or disease, delaying the onset of cognitive deficits. In CR studies, neuropsychological performances and functional autonomy are considered alternative outcomes. While decreased functional independence gains importance in dementia diagnosis and monitoring, cognitive functioning may play a role in staging its severity.

SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 outcomes across mental disorders and the role of sex: A register-based study from Catalonia.

Introduction: This study investigated the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and severe COVID-19 outcomes among different mental health diagnoses and the role of sex in these associations.

Methods: Using electronic records from Catalonia, we identified adults receiving mental health care from 2017-2019 with diagnoses of non-affective psychosis (NAP), bipolar disorder (BD), depressive disorder (DEP), stress-related disorders, neurotic/somatoform disorders (NSD), and substance misuse (SUB) (exposed). The outcomes assessed were SARS-CoV-2 infection, COVID-19 hospitalization, and COVID-19-related death, compared to matched individuals without these mental disorders (unexposed).

Gamma oscillations and auditory perception: A cluster-based statistic investigation in infants at higher likelihood of autism and developmental language disorder.

The ability to process auditory information is one of the foundations of the ability to appropriately acquire language. Moreover, early difficulties in basic auditory abilities have cascading effects on the appropriate wiring of brain networks underlying higher-order linguistic processes. Language impairments represent core difficulties in two different but partially overlapping disorders: developmental language disorder (DLD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

When the Others Are Dangerous: Paranoid Presentations in Subclinical Forms of Personality Disorders.

The discriminant validity of paranoid personality disorder has been recently questioned, and paranoid presentations are now conceived of as transdiagnostic features of personality disorders (PDs). However, empirical results are inconsistent. This study investigated the link between subclinical personality disorders (except paranoid PD) and paranoid presentations, exploring how the severity of personality functioning affects this relationship.

State of the art of CT myocardial perfusion.

Coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) is a powerful tool to rule out coronary artery disease (CAD). In the last decade, myocardial perfusion CT (CTP) technique has been developed for the evaluation of myocardial ischemia, thereby increasing positive predictive value for diagnosis of obstructive CAD. A diagnostic strategy combining CCTA and perfusion acquisitions provides both anatomical coronary evaluation and functional evaluation of the stenosis, increasing the specificity and the positive predictive value of cardiac CT.

Determinants of the economic burden of ART on the Italian NHS: insights from the Lombardy region.

With the rising spread of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART), it becomes imperative to understand the determinants of resource utilization in ART versus spontaneous pregnancies to enhance policies directed to pregnancy care. The focus of our study is to examine the costs associated with ART from the perspective of the Italian NHS and to investigate in depth the contributing social and clinical factors.Using the healthcare informative system of Lombardy, a Region of Northern Italy, we gathered individual-level information for a cohort of women who experienced either spontaneous pregnancies or pregnancies following ART from 2007 until 2020.

Operative and non-operative management of acute appendicitis during pregnancy: a population-based study.

Purpose: Acute appendicitis during pregnancy poses unique challenges due to altered anatomical and physiological dynamics and concern about foetal well-being. This study aimed to assess management strategies and outcomes of acute appendicitis during pregnancy, focusing on non-operative management versus surgical intervention.

Methods: The study is based on the computerized healthcare utilization database of Lombardy.

Rehabilitation of post-stroke aphasia by a single protocol targeting phonological, lexical, and semantic deficits with speech output tasks: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: The defective spoken output of persons with aphasia has anomia as a main clinical manifestation. Improving anomia is therefore a main goal of any language treatment.

Aim: This study assessed the effectiveness of a novel, 2-week, rehabilitation protocol (PHOLEXSEM), focused on PHonological, SEmantic, and LExical deficits, aiming at improving lexical retrieval, and, generally, spoken output.

Groundwater electro-bioremediation via diffuse electro-conductive zones: A critical review.

Microbial electrochemical technologies (MET) can remove a variety of organic and inorganic pollutants from contaminated groundwater. However, despite significant laboratory-scale successes over the past decade, field-scale applications remain limited. We hypothesize that enhancing the electrochemical conductivity of the soil surrounding electrodes could be a groundbreaking and cost-effective alternative to deploying numerous high-surface-area electrodes in short distances.

Hb Monza: A novel extensive HBB duplication with preserved α-β subunit interaction and unstable hemoglobin phenotype.

Background: Unstable hemoglobins are caused by single amino acid substitutions in the HBB gene, often affecting key histidine residues, leading to protein destabilization and hemolytic crises. In contrast, long HBB variants, exceeding 20 bp, are rare and associated with a β-thalassemia phenotype due to disrupted α-β chain interactions. We describe a family wherein four of six members carry a novel 23-amino-acid in-frame duplication of HBB (c.

Enabling amidation in water: micellar catalysis approach for sustainable synthesis of iopamidol.

Micellar catalysis is becoming an increasingly versatile tool to carry out a wide range of organic transformations using water as the reaction medium. The approach was recently found to be effective also in the case of water sensitive organics such as acyl chlorides. This finding is of great relevance for the manufacturing of challenging substrates such as the known iodinated contrast agent iopamidol, requiring the use of aprotic dipolar solvents (DMF, NMP, DMAc) in the key amidation step of an acyl dichloride intermediate with serinol.

Use of ICD-9-CM coding for identifying antibiotic prescriptions during hospitalization: a Delphi consensus model.

A Delphi consensus-seeking procedure was conducted to validate a list of ICD-9-CM codes that could help identify hospital admissions in which antimicrobials are more likely to be prescribed. The panel agreed to include 2967 codes out of 16229 (18.28%).

Effects of red blood cell transfusion on cerebral hemodynamics of preterm neonates.

Significance: Anemia is a common problem in preterm neonates, and red blood cell transfusion (RBCT) is used to improve oxygen delivery. However, RBCT is associated with complications, although an increase in cerebral oxygenation has been documented, and no universally accepted biomarker for the need for transfusion (i.e.

How Italian radiation oncologists use ChatGPT: a survey by the young group of the Italian association of radiotherapy and clinical oncology (yAIRO).

Purpose: To investigate the awareness and the spread of ChatGPT and its possible role in both scientific research and clinical practice among the young radiation oncologists (RO).

Material And Methods: An anonymous, online survey via Google Forms (including 24 questions) was distributed among young (< 40 years old) ROs in Italy through the yAIRO network, from March 15, 2024, to 31, 2024. These ROs were officially registered with yAIRO in 2023.