Passaggi di corso degli studenti e orientamento all’università: uno studio sull’Università Sapienza di Roma

Nell’università italiana l’introduzione del sistema dei crediti (DM 509/99) e la possibilità di cambiare percorso con il riconoscimento di parte o della totalità dei crediti potrebbero consentire agli studenti di raggiungere con minor tempo gli obiettivi educativi. In questa ricerca si analizzano le caratteristiche della mobilità studentesca (passaggi di corso e/o trasferimenti di ateneo), il suo impatto sulla carriera accademica dello studente e le condizioni che favoriscono i “passaggi di successo”, attraverso un’analisi longitudinale delle carriere dei 407.239 immatricolati alla Sapienza dall’a.a. 1991/1992 all’a.a. 2006-2007. I risultati mostrano la mobilità, concentrata soprattutto nei primi due anni di corso, è legata all’inattività dopo il primo anno e rappresenta un ri-orientamento: si laurea il 21% degli inattivi che effettuano un passaggio, rispetto al 9% degli inattivi che rimangononello stesso corso

Violacein, an indole-derived purple-colored natural pigment produced by Janthinobacterium lividum, inhibits the growth of head and neck carcinoma cell lines both in vitro and in vivo

Violacein (VIO; 3-[1,2-dihydro-5-(5-hydroxy-1H-indol-3-yl)-2-oxo-3H-pyrrol-3-ylidene]-1,3-dihydro-2H-indol-2-one), an indole-derived purple-colored pigment, produced by a limited number of Gram-negative bacteria species, including Chromobacterium violaceum and Janthinobacterium lividum, has been demonstrated to have anti-cancer activity, as it interferes with survival transduction signaling pathways in different cancer models. Head and neck carcinoma (HNC) represents the sixth most common and one of the most fatal cancers worldwide. We determined whether VIO was able to inhibit head and neck cancer cell growth both in vitro and in vivo. We provide evidence that VIO treatment of human and mouse head and neck cancer cell lines inhibits cell growth and induces autophagy and apoptosis. In fact, VIO treatment increased PARP-1 cleavage, the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio, the inhibition of ERK1 and ERK2 phosphorylation, and the expression of light chain 3-II (LC3-II). Moreover, VIO was able to induce p53 degradation, cytoplasmic nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) accumulation, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. VIO induced a significant increase in ROS production. VIO administration was safe in BALB/c mice and reduced the growth of transplanted salivary gland cancer cells (SALTO) in vivo and prolonged median survival. Taken together, our results indicate that the treatment of head and neck cancer cells with VIO can be useful in inhibiting in vivo and in vitro cancer cell growth. VIO may represent a suitable tool for the local treatment of HNC in combination with standard therapies

Relation of epicardial fat and alanine aminotransferase in subjects with increased visceral fat

Background: Increased visceral adipose tissue (VAT) is a risk factor for an unfavorable cardio-metabolic profile and fatty liver. Individuals with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) can be associated with metabolic syndrome (MS) and higher visceral fat. However, the potential link between cardiac adiposity, emerging index of visceral adiposity, and fatty liver is still unexplored. Objective: To evaluate whether echocardiographic epicardial adipose tissue, index of cardiac adiposity, could be related to serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) activity, surrogate markers of fatty liver, in HIV-infected patients with (HIV+MS+) and without HAART-associated MS (HIV+MS-). Methods and Procedures: This was a cross-sectional observational study on 57 HIV+MS+ patients, 52 HIV+MS- and 57 HIV-negative subjects with MS (HIV-MS+), as control group. Epicardial fat thickness and intra-abdominal VAT were obtained by echocardiography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), respectively. Serum ALT and AST activity, plasma adiponectin levels, and MS biochemical parameters were measured. Results: Echocardiographic epicardial fat thickness was correlated with MRI-VAT (r = 0.83, P < 0.01), AST/ALT ratio (r = 0.77, P < 0.01), ALT (r = 0.58, P < 0.01), AST (r = 0.56, P < 0.01), and adiponectin (r = -0.45, P < 0.01) in HIV+MS+. MRI-VAT and AST/ALT ratio were the best correlates of epicardial fat thickness (r(2) = 0.45, P < 0.01). Discussion: This study shows for the first time a clear relationship of epicardial fat, index of cardiac and visceral adiposity, and serum ALT and AST activity, markers of fatty liver, in subjects with increased visceral adiposity and cardio-metabolic risk. This correlation seems to be independent of overall adiposity and rather function of excess visceral adiposity

Metabolic syndrome and nephrolithiasis: can we hypotize a common background?

Metabolic syndrome and nephrolithiasis are quite common disorders presenting similar epidemiological characteristics. Belonging to genetic, environmental and hormonal interaction, they have high incidence and prevalence in the adult population of industrialised countries and are characterised by a high level of morbidity and mortality if not adequately identified and treated. Despite metabolic syndrome is considered a fundamental risk factor for chronic kidney diseases, is not actually known whether it is associated with nephrolithiasis beyond the effect of its individual components, in particular obesity, glucose intolerance, and hypertension. In this paper, the possible pathogenetic links between metabolic syndrome and nephrolithiasis will be presented and discussed

Women with type 1 diabetes gain more weight during pregnancy compared to age-matched healthy women despite a healthier diet. a prospective case-control observational study

Purpose: Women with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1D), especially those with suboptimal glucose control, have 3-4 greater chances of having babies with birth defects compared to healthy women. We aimed to evaluate glucose control and insulin regimen modifications during the pregnancy of women with T1D, comparing the offspring's weight and the mother's weight change and diet with those of non-diabetic, normal-weight pregnant women. Methods: Women with T1D and age-matched healthy women controls (CTR) were consecutively enrolled among pregnant women with normal weight visiting our center. All patients underwent physical examination and diabetes and nutritional counseling, and completed lifestyle and food intake questionnaires. Results: A total of 44 women with T1D and 34 healthy controls were enrolled. Women with T1D increased their insulin regimen during pregnancy, going from baseline 0.9 ± 0.3&nbsp;IU/kg to 1.1 ± 0.4&nbsp;IU/kg (p = 0.009), with a concomitant significant reduction in HbA1c (p = 0.009). Over 50% of T1D women were on a diet compared to &lt; 20% of healthy women (p &lt; 0.001). Women with T1D reported higher consumption of complex carbohydrates, milk, dairy foods, eggs, fruits, and vegetables, while 20% of healthy women never or rarely consumed them. Despite a better diet, women with T1D gained more weight (p = 0.044) and gave birth to babies with higher mean birth weight (p = 0.043), likely due to the daily increase in insulin regimen. Conclusion: A balance between achieving metabolic control and avoiding weight gain is crucial in the management of pregnant women with T1D, who should be encouraged to further improve lifestyle and eating habits with the aim of limiting upward insulin titration adjustments to a minimum

CAESAR: Space Weather archive prototype for ASPIS

The project CAESAR (Comprehensive spAce wEather Studies for the ASPIS prototype Realization) is aimed to tackle all the relevant aspects of Space Weather (SWE) and realize the prototype of the scientific data centre for Space Weather of the Italian Space Agency (ASI) called ASPIS (ASI SPace Weather InfraStructure). This contribution is meant to bring attention upon the first steps in the development of the CAESAR prototype for ASPIS and will focus on the activities of the Node 2000 of CAESAR, the set of Work Packages dedicated to the technical design and implementation of the CAESAR ASPIS archive prototype. The product specifications of the intended resources that will form the archive, functional and system requirements gathered as first steps to seed the design of the prototype infrastructure, and evaluation of existing frameworks, tools and standards, will be presented as well as the status of the project in its initial stage.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, ADASS XXXII (2022) Proceeding

Effectiveness and Safety After a Switch to Tildrakizumab: A Real World Multicenter Italian Study in Psoriasis

Introduction: Tildrakizumab is a humanized IgG1κ monoclonal antibody targeting the p19 subunit of interleukin (IL)-23, approved in 2018 for the treatment of patients with moderate-to-severe chronic plaque psoriasis. Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness, safety and survival of tildrakizumab in the medium term (48 weeks) in psoriatic patients failure to previous biologic treatment in a real world setting. Methods: This was a retrospective, multicenter observational study that included adult patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis, failure to previous biologic therapy, consecutively treated with tildrakizumab. PASI and BSA values were recorded at baseline, at 12 and 48 weeks of treatment. Safety and tolerability of tildrakizumab were investigated by examining the presence of any adverse events. Results: Overall 51 patients were enrolled. Baseline disease severity was moderate to severe with a mean PASI score of 19.2 ± 8.5, mean BSA of 16 ± 10.4, and mean DLQI of 18.2 ± 6.8. A significant reduction in the mean PASI score was detected at 12 weeks of tildrakizumab therapy (3.5 ± 2.7, p < 0.001), with a further improvement at week 48 (0.6 ± 1.5, p < 0.001). At week 12, there was a great improvement in BSA score for all groups (p <0.001) with further increase at week 48. The effectiveness was confirmed also by DLQI assessment, with a significant decrease at week 12 and even more at week 48 (p <0.001). Conclusions: This study confirms the effectiveness of tildrakizumab in daily clinical practice in patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis

Association of CSF and PET markers of neurodegeneration with electroclinical progression in Lafora disease

PurposeTo evaluate the electro-clinical features in association with laboratory and instrumental correlates of neurodegeneration to detect the progression of Lafora disease (LD).MethodsWe investigated the electro-clinical longitudinal data and CSF Aβ42, p-tau181 and t-tauAg, amyloid, and 18F-FDG PET of five unrelated LD families.ResultsThree progressive electro-clinical stages were identified. The early phase was characterized by rare, generalized tonic-clonic and focal visual seizures, followed by the occurrence of myoclonus after a period ranging from 2 to 12 months. The intermediate stage, usually occurring 2 years after the onset of epilepsy, is characterized by a worsening of epilepsy and myoclonus associated with progressive dementia and cerebellar signs. Finally, the late stage, evolving after a mean period of 7 ± 1.41 years from the onset of the disease, was characterized by gait ataxia resulting in bedriddenness, severe dementia, daily/pluri-daily myoclonus, drug-resistant epilepsy, clusters of seizures or status epilepticus, and medical complications. Amyloid (CSF Aβ42, amyloid PET) and neurodegenerative (CSF p-tau181 and t-tauAg, FDG-PET) biomarkers indicate a pattern of cognitive impairment of the non-Alzheimer's disease type. A total of 80% of the LD patients showed more severe hypometabolism in the second FDG-PET scan compared to the first scan performed in a lower phase; the lateral temporal lobe and the thalamus hypometabolism were associated with the presence of intermediate or late phase.ConclusionsThree electroclinical and 18F-FDG PET evolutive stages are useful biomarkers for the progression of LD and could help to evaluate the efficacy of new disease-modifying treatments. The combination of traditional CSF biomarkers improves the diagnostic accuracy of cognitive decline in LD patients, indicating a cognitive impairment of the non-Alzheimer's disease type

A bioinformatic approach to define transcriptome alterations in platinum resistance ovarian cancers

Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is the most lethal gynecological malignancy due to its diagnosis at advanced stages, when the disease has already spread beyond the ovaries. EOC is generally sensitive to first line chemotherapy, and the vast majority of patients respond to platinum (Pt)-based therapy after debulking surgery. Unfortunately, more than 80% of Pt-responsive patients relapse with a disease that progressively becomes Pt-resistant. Based mainly on clinical evidence, the process by which disease relapses is still poorly understood. The aim is to identify biomarkers of sensitivity to chemotherapy and therapeutic targets in HGS-EOC by integrating transcriptomic data, coding and non-coding RNAs. The bioinformatic analysis was applied on microarray data and RNA-seq data, embracing different classes of patients (resistant, sensitive, partially sensitive and normal). Two complementary approaches have been adopted to identify biomarkers of therapy response in microarray data: i) a classic approach and ii) a network-based approach using micrographite. The results obtained with both procedures have then been used to reconstruct a regulatory circuit involved in therapy response. The final outcome is a regulatory cell signal pathway composed of genes and miRNAs mainly involved in the therapy response. Circuit has been validated using two external and independent cohorts by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). However, in order to complete the characterization of network as prognostic factor we decided to consider in survival analysis defect of the Homologous Recombination (HR). Approaching in survival analysis, a signature of three genes (SDF2L1, PPP1R12A and PRKG1) found to be independent prognostic biomarkers, was able to predict, at the time of diagnosis, resistance to Pt-based chemotherapy. Also, a new approach has been evaluated in order to characterize new mechanisms of chemotherapy resistance in ovarian cancers. On microarray data, we tried to stratify patients for the immunotherapy, with recent improved understanding of the immune recognition and regulation of cancer cells. In addition, using RNA-seq data and somatic DNA mutations, we went deeper in immunogenicity of ovarian cancer trying to find new elements as therapy targets, neoantigens, not associated to this tumor till now. At last, in addition, the small amount of molecular differences between Pt-r and Pt-s patients suggested the presence of potential new transcripts involved in therapy response maybe due to aberrant splicing events. To investigate this hypothesis, we used a set of RNA-seq experiments, to identify new aberrant splicing such as circular RNAs. We reported 5 circRNAs differentially expressed between tumour resistance types, and a large number of class-specific circRNAs. In particular, circ_BARD1 showed a character as prognostic factor significative in OS and PFS, in multivariate analysis with residual tumour and age as covariates. The consistency of circular RNA expression, in conjunction with the regulatory circuit, may offer new candidates for cancer treatment and prognosis, revealing that the integration of coding and non-coding RNAs data may shed light on chemotherapy resistance mechanisms in ovarian cancer

La dispersione universitaria: indicatori nazionali e modelli di analisi longitudinale nell’Ateneo “La Sapienza” di Roma

I diversi ordinamenti universitari di questo ultimo decennio hanno puntato a rilanciare l’offerta formativa, per contrastare i vecchi mali di scarsa produttività dell’università italiana: dispersione studentesca, basso tasso di laureati, scarso collegamento con il mondo del lavoro. In questo contributo si presenta un quadro di sintesi degli indicatori di dispersione universitaria, elaborati a livello nazionale dal Comitato Nazionale per la Valutazione del Sistema Universitario (CNVSU), illustrando i valori raggiunti dal fenomeno nei corsi di vecchio e di nuovo ordinamento a livello nazionale e per la Sapienza, Università di Roma. Si discutono poi le metodologie di analisi della dispersione, confrontando modelli basati su dati aggregati e modelli longitudinali. Solo questi ultimi, utilizzati finora solo in alcuni studi di singoli atenei, garantendo maggiore affidabilità, consentono di distinguere la mobilità studentesca dalla fuoriuscita dagli studi universitari. Il sistema dei CFU permette e facilita oggi una maggiore mobilità tra i corsi di laurea, le facoltà e gli atenei, determinando percorsi meno lineari, da studiare sia nell’ottica della dispersione sia in quella del riorientamento positivo