NEW ADDITIONS TO THE EXOTIC VASCULAR FLORA OF CAMPANIA (SOUTHERN ITALY)

New data concerning the distribution of 41 non-native species for Campania are presented. Acer saccharinum subsp. saccharinum and Jacaranda mimosifolia are reported for the first time in the Italian peninsula and in continental Italy, respectively. Euphorbia pulcherrima is excluded from Italian exotic flora. Using data from field surveys in Campania the naturalization status of Cenchrus longispinus was also updated. Finally, new sites are given for 37 other alien species previously reported for Campania

Croce, Gentile, Padre Gemelli e la condanna del Sant'Uffizio. In margine ad una recente opera di Guido Verucci

L’articolo prende spunto dal lavoro di Verucci sui nuovi fondi dell’Archivio Vaticano sul tema della condanna dell’opera del filosofo Giovanni Gentile da parte del Sant’Uffizio negli anni Trenta per approfondire, sulla base di altri contributi – recenti e meno recenti -, il rapporto della cultura cattolica, come si espresse nell’attivismo del rettore dell’Università Cattolica Padre Gemelli, con l’idealismo e il fascismo

Clinical risk and patient safety: a multicenter cross-sectional study to explore knowledge, attitudes and practice of hospital nurses

Objectives: To investigate knowledge, attitudes, and behavior of nurses working in acute care hospitals regarding clinical risk and patient safety, and to identify predisposing factors. Design: Cross-sectional multicenter study. Methods: The study was conducted in thirteen non-teaching acute public and private hospitals of a region of southern Italy from September through December 2015. A structured self-report questionnaire was administered to clinical nurses working in the hospitals involved. Three multivariate linear and logistic regression models have been constructed: knowledge of the definition of an adverse event; attitude towards risk of making an error while working and nurses who reported at least one error in the past 12 months. Results: The sample consisted of 484 respondents out of 670 (72.2%) nurses approached. The final multivariable model showed that educational courses about patient safety play a significant role in nurses gaining knowledge of adverse events. In the absence of organization-wide patient safety programs, nurses with low knowledge levels showed a significantly higher perceived risk. Nurses (n=96) who made errors over the past 12 months had discussed them with head nurses (75%) and colleagues (41.7%). Anonymous reporting to the organization was very low, with only 8.3% of nurses who had made an error submitting an anonymous report. Conclusions: Managers should implement multimodal improvement strategies aimed at enabling nurses’ to recognize the critical issues of the system and to increase their reporting, in order to make the organizations safer

Do BRAF inhibitors select for populations with different disease progression kinetics?

Ipilimumab, an anti-CTLA-4 monoclonal antibody, has been shown to improve overall survival in patients with metastatic melanoma. Preliminary data suggest that patients who fail BRAF inhibitor treatment experience a very rapid progression of disease. Such selectivity for more rapid disease progression may mean these patients do not receive the same benefit from subsequent treatment with ipilimumab as patients without prior BRAF inhibitor treatment. The current challenge is focused on how to identify and approach the two populations of fast and slow progressors and recent hypothesis suggest that treatment choice could be guided by baseline risk factors. However, no data have yet defined which the best sequence is and more research is needed to identify predictors of response in patients with metastatic melanoma to help guide whether a BRAF inhibitor or ipilimumab should be used first in sequential therapy

Nurses in Public Health: A profession in continuous evolution

Today, nurses play a fundamental role in Public Health. In the last few decades the health profession has seen strong professional growth, in the areas of Clinical practice, Management and Education. In particular, this growth has been also informed by the progress being made in nursing research. In fact, nursing research has contributed to the establishment of support tools to facilitate and evaluate the daily work done by nurses, contributing significantly to the improvement of their professional performance

Formulative Study and Intracellular Fate Evaluation of Ethosomes and Transethosomes for Vitamin D3 Delivery

In this pilot study, ethosomes and transethosomes were investigated as potential delivery systems for cholecalciferol (vitamin D3), whose deficiency has been correlated to many disorders such as dermatological diseases, systemic infections, cancer and sarcopenia. A formulative study on the influence of pharmaceutically acceptable ionic and non-ionic surfactants allowed the preparation of different transethosomes. In vitro cytotoxicity was evaluated in different cell types representative of epithelial, connective and muscle tissue. Then, the selected nanocarriers were further investigated at light and transmission electron microscopy to evaluate their uptake and intracellular fate. Both ethosomes and transethosomes proven to have physicochemical properties optimal for transdermal penetration and efficient vitamin D3 loading; moreover, nanocarriers were easily internalized by all cell types, although they followed distinct intracellular fates: ethosomes persisted for long times inside the cytoplasm, without inducing subcellular alteration, while transethosomes underwent rapid degradation giving rise to an intracellular accumulation of lipids. These basic results provide a solid scientific background to in vivo investigations aimed at exploring the efficacy of vitamin D3 transdermal administration in different experimental and pathological conditions

Correlation between FLACC scale score and analgesic requirement in children undergoing Minimally Invasive Surgery

Postoperative pain presents several challenges in pediatric Minimally Invasive Surgery. The Faces, Legs, Activity, Cry, and Consolability (FLACC) scale is a valid scale for pediatric postoperative pain. The aim of our study was to assess postoperative pain using FLACC scale and to analyze the correlation between FLACC scale score and analgesic requirement in children underwent Minimally Invasive Surgery. We retrospectively analyzed data of 153 children aged 2 months-3 years who underwent Minimally Invasive Surgery in our unit from January 2019 and December 2019. Postoperative pain assessment was established using FLACC scale. In each patient were analyzed the correlation between FLACC score and analgesic requirement. Pain evaluation was assigned immediately after surgery and at 15 and 60 minutes. 36.6% of patients (56 children) were asleep so considered pain free; 21.6% of patients (33 children) had a FLACC score more than 7 so they required analgesics and the pain assessment 15 and 60 minutes after was significantly lower. 41.8% of patients (64 children) had a postoperative FLACC score less than 3, so they didn’t require any analgesic treatment. On the basis of our results, we recommend FLACC scale for postoperative pain assessment in children underwent MIS aged 2 months-3 years. FLACC scale is an effective and precise scale in detection of postoperative analgesic requirement in children and it could be extended in different age groups with further research

Italian Vascular Flora: New Findings, Updates and Exploration of Floristic Similarities between Regions

The tradition of floristic studies in Italy has made it possible to obtain a good knowledge of plant diversity both on a national and regional scale. However, the lack of knowledge for some areas, advances in plant systematics and human activities related to globalization, highlight the need for further studies aimed at improving floristic knowledge. In this paper, based on fieldwork and herbaria and literature surveys, we update the knowledge on the Italian vascular flora and analyze the floristic similarities between the administrative regions. Four taxa, all exotic, were recorded for the first time in Italy and Europe. In detail, Elaeodendron croceum, Kalanchoe blossfeldiana, and Sedum spathulifolium var. spathulifolium were found as casual aliens, while Oxalis brasiliensis was reported as historical record based on some herbarium specimens. Furthermore, Kalanchoe laxiflora was confirmed as a casual alien species for Italy and Europe. Status changes for some taxa were proposed at both national and regional levels, as well as many taxa were reported as new or confirmed at the regional level. Currently the Italian vascular flora comprises 9150 taxa of which 7547 are native (of which 1598 are Italian endemics) and 1603 are exotic at the national level. The multivariate analysis of updated floristic data on a regional scale showed a clear distribution along the latitudinal gradient, in accordance with the natural geographical location of the regions in Italy. This pattern of plants distribution was not affected by the introduction of alien species. Despite some taxonomic and methodological issues which are still open, the data obtained confirm the important role of floristic investigations in the field and in herbaria, as well as the collaborative approach among botanists, in order to improve the knowledge of the Italian and European vascular flora

New national and regional Annex I Habitat records: from #60 to #82

New Italian data on the distribution of the Annex I Habitats are reported in this contribution. Specifically, 8 new occurrences in Natura 2000 sites are presented and 49 new cells are added in the EEA 10 km × 10 km reference grid. The new data refer to the Italian administrative regions of Campania, Calabria, Marche, Piedmont, Sardinia, Sicily, Tuscany and Umbria. Relevés and figures are provided as Supplementary material respectively 1 and 2