The management of acute venous thromboembolism in clinical practice. Results from the European PREFER in VTE Registry

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in Europe. Data from real-world registries are necessary, as clinical trials do not represent the full spectrum of VTE patients seen in clinical practice. We aimed to document the epidemiology, management and outcomes of VTE using data from a large, observational database. PREFER in VTE was an international, non-interventional disease registry conducted between January 2013 and July 2015 in primary and secondary care across seven European countries. Consecutive patients with acute VTE were documented and followed up over 12 months. PREFER in VTE included 3,455 patients with a mean age of 60.8 ± 17.0 years. Overall, 53.0 % were male. The majority of patients were assessed in the hospital setting as inpatients or outpatients (78.5 %). The diagnosis was deep-vein thrombosis (DVT) in 59.5 % and pulmonary embolism (PE) in 40.5 %. The most common comorbidities were the various types of cardiovascular disease (excluding hypertension; 45.5 %), hypertension (42.3 %) and dyslipidaemia (21.1 %). Following the index VTE, a large proportion of patients received initial therapy with heparin (73.2 %), almost half received a vitamin K antagonist (48.7 %) and nearly a quarter received a DOAC (24.5 %). Almost a quarter of all presentations were for recurrent VTE, with >80 % of previous episodes having occurred more than 12 months prior to baseline. In conclusion, PREFER in VTE has provided contemporary insights into VTE patients and their real-world management, including their baseline characteristics, risk factors, disease history, symptoms and signs, initial therapy and outcomes

MicroRNA expression profiling and DNA methylation signature for deregulated microRNA in cutaneous T-cell lymphoma

MicroRNAs usually regulate gene expression negatively, and aberrant expression has been involved in the development of several types of cancers. Microarray profiling of microRNA expression was performed to define a microRNA signature in a series of mycosis fungoides tumor stage (MFt, n=21) and CD30+ primary cutaneous anaplastic large cell lymphoma (CD30+ cALCL, n=11) samples in comparison with inflammatory dermatoses (ID, n=5). Supervised clustering confirmed a distinctive microRNA profile for cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) with respect to ID. A 40 microRNA signature was found in MFt including upregulated onco-microRNAs (miR-146a, miR-142-3p/5p, miR-21, miR-181a/b, and miR-155) and downregulated tumor-suppressor microRNAs (miR-200ab/429 cluster, miR-10b, miR-193b, miR-141/200c, and miR-23b/27b). Regarding CD30+ cALCL, 39 differentially expressed microRNAs were identified. Particularly, overexpression of miR-155, miR-21, or miR-142-3p/5p and downregulation of the miR-141/200c clusters were observed. DNA methylation in microRNA gene promoters, as expression regulatory mechanism for deregulated microRNAs, was analyzed using Infinium 450K array and approximately one-third of the differentially expressed microRNAs showed significant DNA methylation differences. Two different microRNA methylation signatures for MFt and CD30+ cALCL were found. Correlation analysis showed an inverse relationship for microRNA promoter methylation and microRNA expression. These results reveal a subgroup-specific epigenetically regulated microRNA signatures for MFt and CD30+ cALCL patients

MicroRNA expression profiling and DNA methylation signature for deregulated microRNA in cutaneous T-cell lymphoma

MicroRNAs usually regulate gene expression negatively, and aberrant expression has been involved in the development of several types of cancers. Microarray profiling of microRNA expression was performed to define a microRNA signature in a series of mycosis fungoides tumor stage (MFt, n=21) and CD30+ primary cutaneous anaplastic large cell lymphoma (CD30+ cALCL, n=11) samples in comparison with inflammatory dermatoses (ID, n=5). Supervised clustering confirmed a distinctive microRNA profile for cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) with respect to ID. A 40 microRNA signature was found in MFt including upregulated onco-microRNAs (miR-146a, miR-142-3p/5p, miR-21, miR-181a/b, and miR-155) and downregulated tumor-suppressor microRNAs (miR-200ab/429 cluster, miR-10b, miR-193b, miR-141/200c, and miR-23b/27b). Regarding CD30+ cALCL, 39 differentially expressed microRNAs were identified. Particularly, overexpression of miR-155, miR-21, or miR-142-3p/5p and downregulation of the miR-141/200c clusters were observed. DNA methylation in microRNA gene promoters, as expression regulatory mechanism for deregulated microRNAs, was analyzed using Infinium 450K array and approximately one-third of the differentially expressed microRNAs showed significant DNA methylation differences. Two different microRNA methylation signatures for MFt and CD30+ cALCL were found. Correlation analysis showed an inverse relationship for microRNA promoter methylation and microRNA expression. These results reveal a subgroup-specific epigenetically regulated microRNA signatures for MFt and CD30+ cALCL patients

MicroRNA expression profiling and DNA methylation signature for deregulated microRNA in cutaneous T-cell lymphoma

MicroRNAs usually regulate gene expression negatively, and aberrant expression has been involved in the development of several types of cancers. Microarray profiling of microRNA expression was performed to define a microRNA signature in a series of mycosis fungoides tumor stage (MFt, n=21) and CD30+ primary cutaneous anaplastic large cell lymphoma (CD30+ cALCL, n=11) samples in comparison with inflammatory dermatoses (ID, n=5). Supervised clustering confirmed a distinctive microRNA profile for cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) with respect to ID. A 40 microRNA signature was found in MFt including upregulated onco-microRNAs (miR-146a, miR-142-3p/5p, miR-21, miR-181a/b, and miR-155) and downregulated tumor-suppressor microRNAs (miR-200ab/429 cluster, miR-10b, miR-193b, miR-141/200c, and miR-23b/27b). Regarding CD30+ cALCL, 39 differentially expressed microRNAs were identified. Particularly, overexpression of miR-155, miR-21, or miR-142-3p/5p and downregulation of the miR-141/200c clusters were observed. DNA methylation in microRNA gene promoters, as expression regulatory mechanism for deregulated microRNAs, was analyzed using Infinium 450K array and approximately one-third of the differentially expressed microRNAs showed significant DNA methylation differences. Two different microRNA methylation signatures for MFt and CD30+ cALCL were found. Correlation analysis showed an inverse relationship for microRNA promoter methylation and microRNA expression. These results reveal a subgroup-specific epigenetically regulated microRNA signatures for MFt and CD30+ cALCL patients

Valuing universities’ heritage assets in light of the third mission of universities

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020. The chapter contributes to the current debate on universities’ heritage assets (UHA) value measurement by shedding light on the potential role that accounting, and reporting can play in this context. This study provides an in-depth discussion on the existing taxonomies of values for heritage assets and focuses on economic and monetary values. An original vision is used to critically observe the accounting for UHA in light of the third mission of universities. The chapter explores the measurement of such values, under an accrual accounting mandatory transition, recently adopted by Italian universities, demonstrating how values have been distorted to match the accounting practice. Several accounting behaviours are discussed in the light of Shapiro’s (Objectivity, relativism, and truth in external financial reporting: What’s really at stake in the disputes? Accounting, Organizations and Society, 22(2), 165-185, 1997) theory of social constructivism in financial reporting to offer a critique that can be useful to financial statement preparers to reflect on their decision

The management of patients with venous thromboembolism in Italy: insights from the PREFER in VTE registry

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is the third most common cardiovascular disease. Real-life data on the clinical presentation, risk factors, diagnosis, and treatment of VTE in Italy and Europe are required to optimize the management of this disease. The PREFER in VTE registry, a prospective non-interventional real-life study, was designed to assess clinical characteristics and management of patients with VTE, use of health care resources, and on-treatment patient quality of life. Eligible consecutive patients with objectively diagnosed VTE were enrolled in the registry and followed up for 12 months. Between January and December 2013, 816 Italian and 1027 patients from 6 European countries other than Italy (European patients) were enrolled in the registry, and followed up until December 2014. Italian patients were the oldest (mean age 65.7 years) among the European patients. The Italian patients with a history of cancer were 24.6 % of whom 63.2 % had an active cancer (18.2 and 57.0 %, respectively, in Europe). Parenteral heparin was given, as initial treatment, in 73.8 % of Italian patients (66.4 % in Europe); VKA in combination with other treatments in 45.8 % (34.7 % in Europe); and VKA as the only anticoagulant treatment in 24.4 % (17.2 % in Europe). Of the Italian patients, 43.2 and 90.6 % of patients were hospitalized for deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, respectively; 65.4 % were admitted to the hospital through the emergency department. Following a real world approach, PREFER in VTE shows that the Italian patients, among and compared to the European patients, are the oldest, have a history of cancer more commonly, receive an initial treatment with heparin more commonly, and are more commonly hospitalized, particularly if affected by PE