Uporaba ultrazvuka u procjeni rizika od profesionalnog oboljenja donjeg dijela kralježnice

The aim of the study was to evaluate ultrasound tehnique in preemployment medical assessment of the risk for low-back pain. Volunteers for the study were recruited among agricultural workers employed in the »Agraria Department« of the University of Bologna, Italy. The group consisted of 90 subjects, 52 male and 38 female, aged 25 to 58 years. The subjects filled in a questionnaire on medical history of low-back pain and were examined using an ultrasonograph equipped with a high linear frequency probe (3.5 MHz). The oblique parasagittal diameter of the lumbar spinal canal was measured by transabdominal ultrasonic imaging in the lumbar (L4–L5) and lumbosacral (L5–S1) region. Individuals with significantly narrower canals (<14 mm) had an increased risk of low-back pain. The paper concludes that ultrasound imaging could become a valuable screening tool in industry, permitting selective job placement for workers at high risk for disorders of the back.Cilj je ovoga istraživanja bio ocijeniti vrijednost ultrazvuka kao sredstva za ocjenjivanje rizika od oboljenja donjeg dijela kralježnice prilikom pregleda za zaposlenje. Ispitano je 90 dobrovoljaca s Agrarnog odjela Sveučilišta u Bologni, od kojih 52 žene i 38 muškaraca u dobi između 25 i 58 godina. Ispitanici su popunili upitnik o anamnezi oboljenja donjeg dijela kralježnice te su pregledani s pomoću ultrazvuka s visokofrekventnom linearnom sondom (3,5 MHz). Promjer kanala leđne moždine mjeren je s pomoću transabdominalne primjene ultrazvuka u lumbalnom (L4–L5) i lumbosakralnom (L5–S1) području. Osobe sa značajnim suženjem kanala leđne moždine (<14 mm) pokazivale su povećani rizik od oboljenja donjeg dijela kralježnice. Autori zaključuju da ultrazvučna dijagnostika može biti vrlo korisna za provjeru radne sposobnosti u proizvodnji, omogućujući selektivan pristup raspoređivanju radne snage s visokim rizikom od smetnji u leđima

Could molecular assessment of calcium metabolism be a useful tool to early screen patients at risk for pre-eclampsia complicated pregnancy? Proposal and rationale.

Abstract One of the most frequent causes of maternal and perinatal morbidity is represented by hypertensive disorders during pregnancy. Women at high risk must be subjected to a more intensive antenatal surveillance and prophylactic treatments. Many genetic risk factors, clinical features and biomarkers have been proposed but none of these seems able to prevent pre-eclampsia onset. English literature review of manuscripts focused on calcium intake and hypertensive disorders during pregnancy was performed. We performed a critical analysis of evidences about maternal calcium metabolism pattern in pregnancy analyzing all possible bias affecting studies. Calcium supplementation seems to give beneficial effects on women with low calcium intake. Some evidence reported that calcium supplementation may drastically reduce the percentage of pre-eclampsia onset consequently improving the neonatal outcome. Starting from this evidence, it is intuitive that investigations on maternal calcium metabolism pattern in first trimester of pregnancy could represent a low cost, large scale tool to screen pregnant women and to identify those at increased risk of pre-eclampsia onset. We propose a biochemical screening of maternal calcium metabolism pattern in first trimester of pregnancy to discriminate patients who potentially may benefit from calcium supplementation. In a second step we propose to randomly allocate the sub-cohort of patients with calcium metabolism disorders in a treatment group (calcium supplementation) or in a control group (placebo) to define if calcium supplementation may represent a dietary mean to reduce pre-eclampsia onset and to improve pregnancy outcome

Orientamenti per l'irrigazione del mirto

Preliminary observations on ecophysiology of Myrtus communis L. in cultural conditions are reported. Responses of plants to different moisture soil conditions were observed using the stem water potential methodology. Plants showed optimal ecophysiological behaviour under moderate stress condition. Stress symptoms appear only with very low soil moisture content. These first results show that this species requires only few water applications or regulated deficit irrigation

Prognostic Value of Mid-Regional Proadrenomedullin Sampled at Presentation and after 72 Hours in Septic Patients Presenting to the Emergency Department: An Observational Two-Center Study

The prognostic value of mid-regional proADM (MR-proADM) in septic patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) is not well established. In this prospective observational study enrolling septic patients evaluated in two EDs, MR-proADM was measured at arrival (t0) and after 72 h (t72). MR-proADM(%change) was calculated as follows: (MR-proADM(t72h) − MR-proADM(t0))/MR-proADM(t0). In total, 147 patients were included in the study, including 109 with a final diagnosis of sepsis and 38 with septic shock, according to the Sepsis-3 criteria. The overall 28-day mortality (outcome) rate was 12.9%. The AUC for outcome prognostication was 0.66 (95% CI 0.51–0.80) for MR-proADM(t0), 0.77 (95% CI 0.63–0.92) for MR-proADM(t72) and 0.74 (95% CI 0.64–0.84) for MR-proADM(%change). MR-proADM(t0) ≥ 2.78 nmol/L, MR-proADM(t72) ≥ 2.7 nmol/L and MR-proADM(%change) ≥ −15.2% showed statistically significant log-rank test results and sensitivity/specificity of 81/65%, 69/80% and 75/70% respectively. In regression analysis, MR-proADM(%change) was a significant outcome predictor both in univariate and multivariate analysis, after adjustment for age, SOFA and APACHEII scores, providing up to 80% of added prognostic value. In conclusion, time trends of MR-proADM may provide additional insights for patient risk stratification over single sampling. MR-proADM levels sampled both at presentation and after 72 h predicted 28-day survival in septic patients presenting to the ED

Characterization of the ear canal bacterial flora present in hearing Aids (HA) wearing subjects

The use of hearing aids (HA) is considered a predisposing factor for ear microbial infections. We undertook this study to compare the presence and nature of the microbial flora inhabiting of ears of HA and non-HA (nHA) users. Swab samples of the ears of HA and nHA users were collected from the Institute of Otolaryngology, “Cattolica del Sacro Cuore” University “Agostino Gemelli”, Rome, Italy. Swab samples were taken from the ear canal of 57 HA and 33 nHA users. The components of the microbial flora present on each swab sample were identified and characterized at the level of species. A total of 41 different bacterial species were identified. A statistically significant prevalence of polymicrobial communities was found in ears presenting signs of inflammation (2.5 ± 1.7 vs 2.1 ± 1.3; P = 0.02) and in HA users (2.3 ± 1.2 vs 1.7 ± 1.0; P = 0.002). Few putative pathogens were detected. Candida albicans spp. was not isolated in our study. A small number of swab samples presented no microbial growth. Bacterial species isolated from HA users with and without inflammation were assayed for the ability to form a biofilm. Among gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, S. aureus, CoNS, P. aeruginosa, and K. pneumoniae were found to be strong biofilm producers. S. aureus and P. aeruginosa, isolated only from the ears of HA and nHA users presenting signs of inflammation, were further analyzed for their antibiotic-resistance profile and characterized by the Multilocus Sequence Typing (MLST) assay. The highest rates of antibacterial resistance were in S. aureus to a penicillin (75.5%) and in P. aeruginosa, to amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, cefotaxime, ertapenem, tigecycline and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (100%). Moreover, three S. aureus strains (37.5%) were methicillin-resistant (MRSA). Of the eight S. aureus isolates, we identified six sequence types (ST) indicating that 75% are likely independent clones. For what it concerned P. aeruginosa, six different STs were assigned. Interestingly, two out of the six strains presented newly identified ST values. This study sheds new light on the combined effect of the presence of HA devices and signs of external ear inflammation on the composition of the ear bacterial flora. Our results reinforce the need to practice careful hygiene of HA devices to prevent serious ear canal infections

Variabilit? genetica in popolazioni di Tortrix viridana L. (Lepidoptera, Tortricidae) associate alle diverse querce della Sardegna

A preliminary analysis of COI and COII gene variability was carried out in Sardinian populations of Tortrix viridana. The aim of the study was to investigate the genetic structure and mitochondrial haplotype variation in populations associated with deciduous (Quercus pubescens) and evergreen (Q. suber and Q ilex) oaks. Forty-four haplotypes out of 87 individuals were found: three haplotypes showed a high frequency (23%, 16% and 10%) and were largely shared among populations. Hierarchical AMOVA showed no significant differentiation grouping populations for geographic areas or oak species, in spite of significant divergences structuring populations for different duration in egg development (early- vs late-hatching). However a high haplotype diversity and a low nucleotide diversity have been observed

Alcohol Pattern Consumption Differently Affects the Efficiency of Macrophage Reverse Cholesterol Transport in Vivo

It has been well established that moderate alcohol consumption inversely correlates with cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, whereas binge alcohol drinking increases cardiovascular disease risk. The aim of this study was to assess in vivo the impact of different drinking patterns on reverse cholesterol transport (RCT); the atheroprotective process leading to the removal of excess cholesterol from the body. RCT was measured with a standardized, radioisotope-based technique in three groups of atherosclerosis-prone apolipoprotein E knock out mice: Placebo group, receiving water, which would mimic the abstainers; moderate group, receiving 0.8 g/kg alcohol/day for 28 days, which would mimic a moderate intake; binge group, receiving 0.8 g/kg alcohol/day for 5 days/week, followed by the administration of 2.8 g/kg alcohol/day for 2 days/week, which would mimic a heavy intake in a short period. Mice in the binge drinking group displayed an increase in total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c) and non-HDL-c (all p < 0.0001 vs. placebo), and a significantly reduced elimination of fecal cholesterol. The moderate consumption did not lead to any changes in circulating lipids, but slightly improved cholesterol mobilization along the RCT pathway. Overall, our data confirm the importance of considering not only the total amount, but also the different consumption patterns to define the impact of alcohol on cardiovascular risk