24 research outputs found
Can healthcare utilization data reliably capture cases of chronic respiratory diseases? a cross-sectional investigation in Italy
Adorare caelestia, gubernare terrena
Il volume raccoglie i saggi di venticinque studiosi che hanno inteso rendere omaggio a Paolo Lucentini
Adorare caelestia, gubernare terrena
Il volume raccoglie i saggi di venticinque studiosi che hanno inteso rendere omaggio a Paolo Lucentini
Additional file 1: of Can healthcare utilization data reliably capture cases of chronic respiratory diseases? a cross-sectional investigation in Italy
Table S1. ICD-9 CM, ATC and exemption codes used in the reference algorithm and comparison algorithms applied to capture COPD and asthma cases among the beneficiaries of the Regional Health Service. Lombardy, Italy. (DOCX 15 kb
Are generic and brand-name statins clinically equivalent? Evidence from a real data-base
Background: Use of generic drugs can help contain drug spending. However, there is concern among patients and physicians that generic drugs may be clinically inferior to brand-name ones. This study aimed to compare patients treated with generic and brand-name statins in terms of therapeutic interruption and cardiovascular (CV) outcomes. Methods: 13,799 beneficiaries of the health care system of Lombardy, Italy, aged 40 years or older who were newly treated with generic or brand-name simvastatin during 2008, were followed until 2011 for the occurrence of two outcomes: 1) therapeutic discontinuation and 2) hospitalization for CV events. Hazard ratios (HR) associated with use of generic or brand-name at starting therapy (intention-to-treat analysis) and during follow-up (as-treated analysis) were estimated by fitting proportional hazard Cox models. A Monte-Carlo sensitivity analysis was performed to account for unmeasured confounders. Results: Patients who started on generic did not experience a different risk of discontinuation (HR: 0.98; 95% CI 0.94 to 1.02) nor of CV outcomes (HR: 0.98; 95% CI 0.79 to 1.22) from those starting on brand-name. Patients who spent > 75% of time of follow-up with statin available on generics did not experience a different risk of discontinuation (HR: 0.94; 95% CI 0.87 to 1.01), nor of CV outcomes (HR: 1.06; 95% CI 0.83 to 1.34), compared with those who mainly or only used brand-name statin. Conclusions: Our findings do not support the notion that in the real world clinical practice brand-name statins are superior to generics for keeping therapy and preventing CV outcomes
The Cristal Zinc prospect (Amazonas region, northern Peru). Part I: New insights on the sulfide mineralization in the Bongará province
The Cristal Zn prospect consists of a mixed sulfide and nonsulfide mineralization located in the Bongará province (Amazonas region, northern Peru). The mineralization is hosted by carbonate rocks of the Pucará Group, deposited in a Mesozoic extensional basin on the western margin of the Brazilian-Guyana shield. Zinc sulfides at Cristal occur in the roots of the nonsulfide concentrations, and are locally present also nearer to surface. The sulfide mineralization postdates two hydrothermal dolomitization phases (Dol1 and Dol2) and the sulfides occur mainly in veins, cavity fillings or as disseminated mineralization, within sparry to saddle dolomite. They mostly consist of dark-brown sphalerite, intergrown with smaller amounts of pyrite. Sphalerite shows a distinct Fe-zonation, with average ca. 7 wt% Fe (max. ca. 12 wt% Fe), and is Ge-rich (mean concentration of 142 ppm). Galena is rare. The Cristal sphalerite has sulfur isotopic compositions of δ34S = 14 to 15 ‰ VCDT. Oxygen isotopic compositions of dolomites are: δ18O = 24.4 to 24.7 ‰ VSMOW for Dol1 and 18.4 to 22 ‰ for Dol2. δ34S and δ18O values of Cristal sulfides and dolomites are similar to those observed in two Mississippi Valley-type (MVT) deposits located ca. 20–30 km south of the Cristal prospect, namely the Florida Canyon and Florcita deposits. This could be consistent with one or more events within a same MVT mineralizing system, acting at the district scale. The Pb isotope compositions of sphalerite from two different areas of the prospect (named Cristal s.s. and Charlita North) define two distinct data-point clusters (centered around averages of 206Pb/204Pb = 18.850 ± 0.002, 207Pb/204Pb = 15.685 ± 0.002, 208Pb/204Pb = 38.752 ± 0.004, and 206Pb/204Pb = 19.042 ± 0.002, 207Pb/204Pb = 15.712 ± 0.002, 208Pb/204Pb = 39.080 ± 0.004, respectively). This difference requires distinct metal-bearing hydrothermal pulses in the mineralized area and/or distinct Pb sources. The Pb isotopic compositions of the Cristal s.s. and Charlita North sulfides are intermediate between the compositions of galena from the San Vicente and Shalipayco MVT deposits, and record a contribution from an old crustal component. The Paleozoic basement, which has Pb isotopic ratios roughly matching those of dolomites and sulfides from Cristal and Charlita North areas, represents the most reliable candidate to be an end-member source of the metals of the Cristal sulfide mineralization. The second end-member could be an igneous source, isotopically identical to the Late Paleozoic to Early Mesozoic intrusives of the Peruvian Eastern Cordillera, or the Triassic volcanic rocks occurring within the Mitu Group
The Cristal Zn prospect (Amazonas region, Northern Peru). Part II: An example of supergene enrichments in tropical areas
The Cristal Zn prospect is located in the northernmost part of a wide mining district corresponding to the "Charlotte Bongará Zinc Project", which covers an area of approximately 110 km2 in the Amazonas region in northern Peru. The mineralized area consists of many Zn occurrences that contain mixed sulfide and nonsulfide mineralizations. The nonsulfide ores are interpreted to be the product of weathering of primary MVT sulfide bodies. The Zn concentrations of the Cristal prospect are hosted by platform carbonates of the Condorsinga Formation (Early Jurassic), which belongs to the Pucará Group. The prospect extends over an area of approximately 2 × 1 km, with nearly continuous zones of Zn enrichment that has been detected in soil and rock samples. The nonsulfide mineralization consists mainly of semi-amorphous orange to brown zinc "oxides" that include hemimorphite, smithsonite and Fe-(hydr)oxides. The most important mineralized areas are the Esperanza and Yolanda occurrences, which were also most intensively explored. In both occurrences, the supergene Zn-carbonates and silicates infill solution cavities, or replace the carbonate host rocks and/or the primary sulfides, forming smithsonite- and hemimorphite-rich mineralizations. The analyzed drill core samples have on average 20 wt% Zn and maximum Ge concentrations of 200 ppm.The Bongará area experienced a prolonged phase of weathering from Miocene to Recent under tropical climatic conditions. In these conditions, the weathering processes affected many pre-existing sulfide deposits (e.g. Cristal, Florida Canyon, Mina Grande), where supergene profiles were developed under locally different settings that are defined primarily on the basis of mineralogical and geochemical data. Contrary to the Mina Grande deposit, at Cristal, the development of a karst network was minor due to limited uplift, and supergene alteration did not completely obliterate the roots of the original sulfide orebody. The mineralogy and geochemistry of Bongará nonsulfides is dependent on two main factors at the local scale: (1) uplift rates, and (2) host rock composition. The latter may have favored the development of more (e.g. Mina Grande) or less (e.g. Cristal) alkaline supergene environments. Uplift was controlled by the activity of local faults, which allowed the exposure of sulfide protores at variable elevations in different periods of time and hydrological settings. Such different settings resulted in the precipitation of isotopically different supergene carbonates (e.g. smithsonites and calcites at Mina Grande and Cristal)
A validation study of a new classification algorithm to identify rheumatoid arthritis using administrative health databases: Case-control and cohort diagnostic accuracy studies. Results from the RECord linkage on Rheumatic Diseases study of the Italian Society for Rheumatology
none13noCarrara, Greta; Scirè, Carlo A.; Zambon, Antonella; Cimmino, Marco A.; Cerra, Carlo; Caprioli, Marta; Cagnotto, Giovanni; Nicotra, Federica; Arfè, Andrea; Migliazza, Simona; Corrao, Giovanni; Minisola, Giovanni; Montecucco, CarlomaurizioCarrara, Greta; Scire', CARLO ALBERTO; Zambon, Antonella; Cimmino, Marco A.; Cerra, Carlo; Caprioli, Marta; Cagnotto, Giovanni; Nicotra, Federica; Arfè, Andrea; Migliazza, Simona; Corrao, Giovanni; Minisola, Giovanni; Montecucco, Carlomaurizi