An experimental methodological approach aimed to preventive conservation and sustainable adaptive use of the cultural heritage

Abstract Microclimatic conditions play a key role in the conservation of art collections and architecture, results obtained by monitoring campaign are essential to define preventive conservation strategies. An experimental methodological approach was identified to analyze the microclimatic conditions, to evaluate environmental damage and decay phenomena and support the conservation of artworks. Results obtained from experimental measurements performed inside a historical Dominican convent, which is now the San Marco museum in Florence (Italy), were compared and discussed. The detailed investigation of thermo-physical and thermo-hygrometric behavior of building in response to internal and external stress, allows to define preventive conservation strategies and plant solutions in a perspective of its acclimatization and adaptive reuse of internal ambient

When is a multidisciplinary approach required in management of intracranial complications of sinonasal inflammatory disorders?

Intracranial complications of sinonasal inflammatory disorders are relatively unusual but can cause significant morbidity and mortality. They often occur in patients with comorbid disorders and immunocompromised but also people without risk factors can be affected. Intracranial complications of acute rhinosinusitis are rare, probably due to oral antibiotics availability, but are less predictable as they often occur in immunocompetent patients without comorbidity. Their management requires a multidisciplinary approach to plan and customize the therapeutic treatment. Intracranial complications of chronic rhinosinusitis are more predictable as they occur often in immunocompromised patient with particularly risk factors. For this reason, a multidisciplinary approach it’s important for treatment and mostly for prevention. The aim of this paper is to present an overview of different multidisciplinary management of intracranial complications of sinonasal inflammatory disorders according to their etiology and severity

Psychometric Properties and Validation of the Italian Version of Ages & Stages Questionnaires Third Edition

: Objectives: The Ages & Stages Questionnaires Third Version (ASQ-3) identifies the risk of developmental delay in children aged 1 to 66 months. The aim of this study was to determine a reliable and valid instrument for the Italian population to enable the screening of children's development. Methods: Data from 2278 Italian children (age range: 1-66 months) were used to evaluate item discrimination power using the corrected item-total correlation. Internal consistency was analyzed by Cronbach's alpha scores and a Confirmative Factor Analysis was conducted to test the factor structure of the test. Data were also collected to examine the ASQ-3 test-retest reliability and concurrent validity, which was investigated using the Griffiths Scales of Child Development, Third Edition, the Peabody Developmental Motor Scale, Second Edition, and the Developmental Profile, Third Edition tools. In order to evaluate discriminant validity, differences between typical development children and several clinical groups have been performed. Finally, two different cut-off scores have been proposed. Results: The results showed that the questionnaires are composed of high-quality items; the original factor structure has been confirmed and strong Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients between the overall and the total for each domain (ranging from 0.73 to 0.88). The Italian version of the ASQ-3 had adequate internal consistency and a strong agreement between observations with two weeks' intervals. Moreover, the test showed a high discriminant validity due to the possibility of fully discriminating between typical development children and several clinical groups. Finally, two different cut-off scores have been identified using ROC curves in order to have a screening and a diagnostic cut-off value. Conclusion: This study evaluated the psychometric properties of the Italian adaptation of ASQ-3 questionnaires. We demonstrated the validity of the ASQ-3 and determined new cut-off scores for Italian children. Early identification and accurate assessment are important starting points to better understand and anticipate the needs of children and their link to services

The frequency of polidrug use in a driving population in Rome

In Italy the illicit substances routinely tested are cannabinoids, cocaine, opiates, amphetamines / methamphetamine, MDMA and similar but these substances are not the most use in our country. In particular, the consumption of ketamine represents an emerging problem. Ketamine is a anesthetic with hallucinogenic and dissociative effects and these are the ones sought for the voluptuary pur-pose, while the amnesic effect are exploited for drug facilitated sexual assault. Our study was car-ried out to assess the positivity for the illicit substances routinely tested and also for ketamine in a population of 182 patients arrived at the emergency room of the Hospital “San Camillo Forlanini” of Rome, for which have been required toxicological tests on the basis of Articles 186 and 187 of the New Highway Code. The choice of this kind of population allows to have an accurate and reliable epidemiological data about the real diffusion of voluptuary use of drugs. The study examines 182 samples subjected to routine toxicological investigations in the period be-tween October 2011 and August 2012. The Authors have researched the presence of ethanol, cannabinoids, cocaine, opiates, amphetamines and benzodiazepines with the use of “ADVIA Chemistry Systems ”, while the ketamine is tested by a single-phase tests on urine [Sure Screen Diagnostic (Di. Ra.Lab)] with a cut-off level of this method is 1000ng/ml. During this period we have considered 182 patients (males 78%, females 22%). The mean age was 34 years (standard deviation 13, minimum 15, maximum 80). Most of the admission were during the last days of the week (Thursday 17%, Friday 15%, Saturday 15% and Sunday 17%). With re-spect to the clinical needs of subjects admitted, 42% were admitted with a red code. Considering a single substance analysis, 46 subjects resulted positive to alcohol (25%), 38 to can-nabinoids (21%), 24 to opioids (13%), 20 to cocaine (11%), 19 to benzodiapezine (10%) and 7 to ketamine (4%). Among those who resulted positive to at least one substance (95, 52% of the sample) 55 subjects re-sulted positive to one substance (58%), 27 to two substances (28%) and 13 to three or more substances (13%). Poly-use was evaluated with an indicator previously proposed by Fabi et al in 2013. This resulted in a polydrug-use score equal to 2.93 (standard deviation 1.7, minimum 1.5, maximum 9.25)

Cytogenetic mapping of a major locus for resistance to Fusarium head blight and crown rot of wheat on Thinopyrum elongatum 7EL and its pyramiding with valuable genes from a Th. ponticum homoeologous arm onto bread wheat 7DL

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Radiofrequency echographic multispectrometry (REMS): an innovative technique for the assessment of bone status in young women with anorexia nervosa

Purpose Reduced bone mineral density (BMD) and increase risk of fragility fracture are common complication of anorexia nervosa (AN). BMD by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) present several limits in subjects with AN. This study aimed to evaluate the usefulness of the new Radiofrequency echographic multispectrometry (REMS) technique in the assessment of bone status in young women with AN. Methods In a cohort of 50 subjects with restrictive AN and in 30 healthy controls, we measured BMD at the lumbar spine (LS-BMD), at femoral neck (FN-BMD) and total hip (TH-BMD) using both DXA and REMS technique. Results BMD evaluated by DXA and REMS technique at all measurement sites were all significantly (p < 0.01) lower in subjects suffering from AN subjects than in controls. Good correlations were detected between BMD by DXA and BMD by REMS measurements at LS (r = 0.64, p < 0.01) at FN (r = 0.86, p < 0.01) and at TH (r = 0.84, p < 0.01) in subjects suffering from AN. Moreover, Bland-Altman analysis confirmed the good agreement between the two techniques. The subjects suffering from AN with previous vertebral fragility fractures presented lower values of both BMD-LS and BMD-TH by DXA and by REMS with respect to those without fractures; however, the difference was significant only for BMD-TH by REMS (p < 0.05). Conclusions Our data suggest that REMS technique due to its characteristic of precision and reproducibility may represent an important tool for the evaluation of the changes in bone status in AN young women, especially during the fertile age and in case of pregnancy and breastfeeding. © 2022, The Author(s)

A major qtl for resistance to fusarium head blight and Crown rot of wheat on Thinopyrum elongatum chromosome 7e: cytogenetic mapping and assembling into bread wheat with valuable genes from Th. Ponticum

Among wheat relatives, the Thinopyrum genus represents one of the richest sources of valuable genes/QTL for wheat improvement. One notable and still unexploited trait is the exceptionally effective resistance to Fusarium Head Blight (FHB) originating from a diploid member of the genus, Thinopyrum elongatum. Up to date, the resistance was only associated to the long arm of Th. elongatum chromosome 7E (7EL), while detailed genetic mapping of the responsible gene/QTL was still lacking. We targeted the transfer of the temporarily designated Fhb- 7EL locus into bread wheat, by pyramiding it with other valuable genes/QTL (Lr19 for leaf rust resistance, yield-related traits) and included in a Th. ponticum 7el1L segment, stably inserted into the wheat 7DL arm of line T4. Mapping of the Fhb-7EL QTL was here based on a bioassay with Fusarium graminearum, the main causal agent of FHB, of different 7EL-7el1L bread wheat recombinant lines. Nine such recombinant types were successfully obtained without resorting to any genetic pairing promotion, but relying on the 7EL-7el1L close homoeology. Pairing between the two critical arms was in fact observed by Genomic In Situ Hybridization (GISH) at meiotic metaphase I of F1 plants between the 7E(7D) substitution line and the translocation line T4 (70% distal 7el1L on 7DL), which resulted in 14% 7EL-7el1L recombination frequency. The Fhb-7EL locus was mapped to the telomeric portion of 7EL, associated with marker loci XBE405003 Xsdauk66 and Xcfa2240. FHB resistant recombinants, with useful combinations of more proximally located 7el1L genes/QTL, could be selected. The transferred Fhb-7EL locus was shown to reduce disease severity at the spike level and fungal biomass in the grains of infected recombinants by over 95%. The same Fhb-7EL QTL was, for the first time, proved to be effective also against F. culmorum and F. pseudograminearum, predominant agents of Fusarium Crown Rot (FCR). Yield performance in preliminary field tests of the pre-breeding lines possessing a suitable 7EL-7el1L gene/QTL assembly showed to be very promising. Given the expected inheritance as a unit of the composite Thinopyrum segment in cross progeny with wheat, either of the several co-dominant PCR-based markers identified in the course of the work will enable easy tracking of the novel gene/QTL assembly in transfer programs into adapted cultivars

The microRNA-Processing Enzyme Dicer Is Essential for Thyroid Function

Dicer is a type III ribonuclease required for the biogenesis of microRNAs (miRNAs), a class of small non-coding RNAs regulating gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. To explore the functional role of miRNAs in thyroid gland function, we generated a thyrocyte-specific Dicer conditional knockout mouse. Here we show that development and early differentiation of the thyroid gland are not affected by the absence of Dicer, while severe hypothyroidism gradually develops after birth, leading to reduced body weight and shortened life span. Histological and molecular characterization of knockout mice reveals a dramatic loss of the thyroid gland follicular architecture associated with functional aberrations and down-regulation of several differentiation markers. The data presented in this study show for the first time that an intact miRNAs processing machinery is essential for thyroid physiology, suggesting that deregulation of specific miRNAs could be also involved in human thyroid dysfunctions

Uso da toxina botulínica tipo A no tratamento da espasticidade em crianças com paralisia cerebral: revisão sistemática

Há pouco mais de duas décadas, a toxina botulínica tipo A (TBA) vem sendo utilizada como parte do tratamento multimodal para a redução do tônus muscular em crianças com paralisia cerebral (PC) espástica. Objetivos: determinar a eficácia e segurança, avaliar as doses utilizadas em cada faixa etária e comparar os custos entre as TBA’s para tratamento da espasticidade em crianças portadoras de PC. Métodos: foi realizada uma revisão sistemática de estudos publicados nos últimos 6 anos, de 2017 a abril de 2022, através das bases de dados do PubMed, SciELO, Science Direct, Google Acadêmico e Periódicos CAPES, de acordo com os seguintes critérios de inclusão: (1) termos de busca: toxina botulínica, espasticidade e paralisia cerebral; (2) idioma: português, inglês e espanhol; (3) desenho: ensaios clínicos randomizados e duplo-cego, revisões sistemáticas e metanálises; (4) população: crianças e adolescentes com PC espástica; (5) intervenção: TBA; (6) grupo controle com outro tratamento para PC ou sem intervenção; (7) desfecho: alteração na Escala de Ashworth Modificada, efeitos adversos e qualidade de vida. Resultados: foram incluídos 10 artigos nesta revisão, que apresentaram dose mínima terapêutica, o impacto de injeções únicas e repetidas, seleção de músculos e pontos a serem aplicados. Conclusão: a TBA proporcionou uma melhora significativa sobre a espasticidade e funcionalidade da criança com PC espástica, em um período de até 3 meses após sua aplicação. Pode ser considerada uma opção de tratamento segura e eficaz, e a análise econômica da saúde demonstra que essa intervenção possui excelente relação custo-benefício

Antileukotrienes Improve Naso-Ocular Symptoms and Biomarkers inPatients With NARES and Asthma

Objective: The aim of our study was to analyze the montelukast effectiveness in improving oculonasal symptoms, patient-reported outcomes (PROs), and eosinophilic biomarkers in patients with nonallergic rhinitis eosinophilic syndrome (NARES).Methods: We enrolled prospectively 80 symptomatic patients treated with 10 mg once a day of montelukast in mono-therapy for 2 months. All patients were investigated before and after treatment. Nasal symptoms (nasal obstruction, rhinor-rhoea, sneezing, nasal itching), ocular symptoms (redness/puffiness, watery eyes), and other PROs (olfactory dysfunction,difficulty going to sleep, nighttime awakenings, and nasal congestion on awakening) were scored by visual analogic scale. Thefollowing clinical scores were assessed: Total Nasal Symptom Score (T4NSS), Total Ocular Symptom Score (T2OSS), TotalSymptom Score of Patient-Reported Outcomes (TSS-PROs), and a Composite Symptoms Score (CSS). Patients were classified asresponders when a reduction of at least 50% of the CSS was observed. Before and after treatment, the eosinophilic biomarkersin nasal lavage were analyzed: nasal eosinophilia (number of eosinophils per high power field), eotaxin-1 and eotaxin-2.Results: Aft er tre atment, s ig nificant reductions were observed for all the symptom scores. Forty-two of 78 patients were con-sidered responders. A significant reduction of eosinophils in nasal mucosa and of levels of eotaxin-1 and eotaxin-2 in nasal lavagewere observed after treatment in responder patients. Patients with asthma had an increased probability to be responders.Conclusion: NARES patients may benefit from treatment with montelukast. In particular, the presence of concomitantasthma may be predictive of a greater efficacy