Affinity Capillary Electrochromatography of Molecularly Imprinted Thin Layers Grafted onto Silica Capillaries Using a Surface-Bound Azo-Initiator and Living Polymerization

Molecularly imprinted thin layers were prepared in silica capillaries by using two different surface polymerization strategies, the first using 4,4′-azobis(4-cyanovaleric acid) as a surface-coupled radical initiator, and the second, S-carboxypropyl-S’-benzyltrithiocarbonate as a reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) agent in combination with 2,2′-azobisisobutyronitrile as a free radical initiator. The ability to generate imprinted thin layers was tested on two different polymerization systems: (i) a 4-vinylpyridine/ethylene dimethacrylate (4VP-EDMA) in methanol-water solution with 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4,5-T) as a template; and (ii) methacrylic acid/ethylene dimethacrylate (MAA-EDMA) in a chloroform solution with warfarin as the template molecule. The binding properties of the imprinted capillaries were studied and compared with those of the corresponding non-imprinted polymer coated capillaries by injecting the template molecule and by measuring its migration times relative to a neutral and non-retained marker. The role of running buffer hydrophobicity on recognition was investigated by studying the influence of varying buffer acetonitrile concentration. The 2,4,5-T-imprinted capillary showed molecular recognition based on a reversed phase mechanism, with a decrease of the template recognition in the presence of higher acetonitrile content; whereas warfarin-imprinted capillaries showed a bell-shaped trend upon varying the acetonitrile percentage, illustrating different mechanisms underlying imprinted polymer-ligand recognition. Importantly, the results demonstrated the validity of affinity capillary electrochromatography (CEC) to screen the binding properties of imprinted layers

COVID-19 and schools: what is the risk of contagion? Results of a rapid-antigen-test-based screening campaign in Florence, Italy

INTRODUCTION: in the COVID-19 era, the debate around the risk of contagion at school, is intense in Italy. The Department of Welfare and Wealth of Florence promoted a screening campaign with antigen rapid tests for all the students and school personnel. The aim of this study is to assess the SARS-Cov2 circulation in the school setting by means of a mass screening conducted in every primary and middle school of Florence. METHODS: All the students attending primary and middle schools of Florence and the school personnel were asked to take part. The campaign started on 16(th) November 2020 and was completed on 12(th) February 2021. If the antigen rapid test resulted positive, a molecular test was provided to confirm the result. RESULTS: 18,414 subjects were tested with 15,233 students (82.7%) and 3,181 members of the school personnel (17.3%). Only in 27 cases (0.15%) the rapid test gave a positive result. Moreover, only 14 of the 27 positive rapid tests were confirmed as positive by the molecular test. These results show a very low number of SARS-CoV-2 cases among the people tested (0.08% of the total). CONCLUSIONS: These results show that the spread of SARS-CoV-2 infection at school, during the months of the screening and with the respect of strict preventive measures was low

Nella mente dei padri : uno studio per indagare le emozioni di un gruppo di padri partecipanti al Percorso Nascita di un Consultorio familiare

Obiettivo Questo articolo presenta i pi\uf9 recenti dati della letteratura scientifica relativi all\u2019importanza del sostegno del ruolo paterno nel periodo pre, peri e post-natale e i dati di una ricerca effettuata con i padri frequentanti le attivit\ue0 di prevenzione offerte da un consultorio famigliare della ASL di Varese. Materiali e metodi Un questionario con 30 domande a scelta multipla \ue8 stato proposto ai padri di tutte le coppie di neogenitori che hanno richiesto o frequentato i servizi preventivi del Percorso Nascita offerti dal consultorio famigliare di Somma Lombardo. Campione: 62 futuri padri, che rappresentano il 56% del campione totale di utenti del Consultorio nell\u2019anno 2007, con et\ue0 media di 34 anni. Il 75% del campione possiede un diploma superiore o di laurea e il 95% del campione risulta costituito da padri in attesa del proprio primo figlio. Risultati I risultati analizzati vengono presentati in relazione a cinque aree semantiche: a) conoscenze, b) comportamenti, c) autoefficacia, d) emozioni, e) solidariet\ue0 e aiuto da parte di altri uomini. I dati mostrano come i padri siano concretamente coinvolti e desiderosi di giocare un ruolo attivo con il proprio bambino, ma allo stesso tempo rivelano alcuni disagi emotivi che non riescono a condividere n\ue9 con la compagna n\ue9 con i propri amici. Conclusioni \uc8 necessario sostenere il ruolo genitoriale paterno con azioni ad hoc, al momento molto rare all\u2019interno dei servizi sociosanitari a disposizione dei neo-genitori

Systematic review of the literature on the clinical effectiveness of the cochlear implant procedure in adult patients

The aim of this systematic review was to summarize the results of scientific publications on the clinical effectiveness of the cochlear implant (CI) procedure in adults. The members of the Working Group first examined existing research evidence from the national and international literature and main international guidelines. They considered as universally accepted the usefulness/effectiveness of unilateral cochlear implantation in severelyprofoundly adult patients. Accordingly, they focused their attention on the systematic reviews addressing clinical effectiveness and cost/efficacy of CI procedures, with particular regard to the most controversial issues for which international consensus is still lacking. The following aspects were evaluated: monolateral CI in advanced-age adult patients; bilateral (simultaneous/sequential) CI vs. unilateral CI and vs. bimodal stimulation; benefits derived from the monolateral CI procedure in adult patients with prelingual deafness. With regard to CI in elderly patients, the selected studies document an improvement of the quality of life and perceptive abilities after CI, even if the benefits were found to be inferior in patients over 70 years at the time of surgery. Thus, from the results of the studies included in the review, advanced age is not a contraindication for the CI procedure. With respect to unilateral CI, bilateral CI offers advantages in hearing in noise, in sound localization and less during hearing in a silent environment. However, high interindividual variability is reported in terms of benefits from the second implant. With regard to CI in prelingually deaf adults, the selected studies document benefits deriving from the CI procedure in terms of improvement of perceptive abilities and in the quality of life after CI, as well as subjectively perceived benefits. However, there is high interindividual variability and the study sample is limited

Smartphone biosensor for point-of-need chemiluminescence detection of ochratoxin A in wine and coffee

Exposure to mycotoxins, which may contaminate food and feed commodities, represents a serious health risk for consumers. Ochratoxin A (OTA) is one of the most abundant and toxic mycotoxins, thus specific regulations for fixing its maximum admissible levels in foodstuff have been established. Lateral Flow ImmunoAssay (LFIA)-based devices have been proposed as screening tools to avoid OTA contamination along the whole food chain. We report a portable, user-friendly smartphone-based biosensor for the detection and quantification of OTA in wine and instant coffee, which combines the LFIA approach with chemiluminescence (CL) detection. The device employs the smartphone camera as a light detector and uses low-cost, disposable analytical cartridges containing the LFIA strip and all the necessary reagents. The analysis can be carried out at the point of need by non-specialized operators through simple manual operations. The biosensor allows OTA quantitative detection in wine and coffee samples up to 25 μg L−1 and with limits of detection of 0.3 and 0.1 μg L−1, respectively, which are below the European law-fixed limits. These results demonstrate that the developed device can be used for routine monitoring of OTA contamination, enabling rapid and reliable identification of positive samples requiring confirmatory analysis

Serum gamma-glutamyltransferase fractions in Myotonic Dystrophy type I: Differences with healthy subjects and patients with liver disease.

Objectives: Elevation of serum gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT), in absence of a clinically significant liver damage, is often found in Myotonic Dystrophy type-1 (DM1). In this study we investigated if a specific GGT fraction pattern is present in DM1. Designs and methods: We compared total and fractional GGT values (b-, m-, s-, f-GGT) among patients with DM1 or liver disease (LD) and healthy subjects (HS). Results: The increase of GGT in DM1 and LD, vs HS, was mainly due to s-GGT (median: 32.7; 66.7; and 7.9 U/L, respectively), and b-GGT (8.5; 18.9; and 2.1 U/L). The subset of DM1 patients matched with HS with corresponding serum GGT showed higher b-GGT (6.0 vs 4.2 U/L). Conclusions: DM1 patients with normal total GGT values showed an alteration of the production and release in the blood of GGT fractions. Since increased s-GGT is also found in LD, a sub-clinical liver damage likely occurs in DM1 subjects apparently free of liver disease