Impact of blood sampling technique on reproducibility of viscoelastic coagulation monitor (VCM™) system test results in the neonate.

Purpose: To evaluate the reproducibility of the results of the viscoelastic coagulation test (VCT) performed with a new viscoelastic coagulation monitor (VCM™ – Entegrion) on native blood obtained ..

Pharmacoeconomy in ART: The importance of the gonadotrophin choice

Abstract Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) have created a number of relevant economic implications. Results deriving from cost-effectiveness studies have had some important medical and social consequences. The costs of ART are specific to the healthcare system in each of the countries were the procedure is performed, reflecting the varying degrees of public and private responsibility for purchasing healthcare and total healthcare expenditure. The analysis of different cost components per treatment cycle demonstrates that the hormonal stimulation stage is the most expensive part of IVF/ICSI cycles. The use of a more costly preparation could be justified only in case of a significantly higher live birth rate. Currently, human gonadotrophins seem to be more cost-effective than recombinant preparations

AdaptMC: A Control-Theoretic Approach for Achieving Resilience in Mixed-Criticality Systems (Artifact)

A system is said to be resilient if slight deviations from expected behavior during run-time does not lead to catastrophic degradation of performance: minor deviations should result in no more than minor performance degradation. In mixed-criticality systems, such degradation should additionally be criticality-cognizant. The applicability of control theory is explored for the design of resilient run-time scheduling algorithms for mixed-criticality systems. Recent results in control theory have shown how appropriately designed controllers can provide guaranteed service to hard-real-time servers; this prior work is extended to allow for such guarantees to be made concurrently to multiple criticality-cognizant servers. The applicability of this approach is explored via several experimental simulations in a dual-criticality setting. These experiments demonstrate that our control-based run-time schedulers can be synthesized in such a manner that bounded deviations from expected behavior result in the high-criticality server suffering no performance degradation and the lower-criticality one, bounded performance degradation

Levels of physical activity, nutrition and body composition in the workplace: reports from a distribution company

AbstractIntroduction. Lifestyle factors, as eating habits and physical activity, are associated withhealth and productivity of workers. The aim of this study is an assessment of lifestyle ofthe employees of an international company of household items.Methods. 291 (170 female, 121 male) employees underwent body composition assessmentand completed two questionnaires (International Physical Activity Questionnaireand National Institute for Research of the Food and Nutrition).Results. The weight status of the sample is at the upper limits of normal weight. Productsbased on cereals are consumed about once a day, fresh meat 3.0 (0.0-12.0) perweek, fresh fruit (5.0, 0.0-25.0) and vegetables (6.0, 0.0-14.0) less than one serving aday. No vigorous physical activity is performed (0.0, 0.0-240.0 min/week), moderate isperformed 30.0 (0.0-450.0) min/week and only 106 subjects were aware of the numberof daily steps.Conclusions. Job duties can have an influence on the daily habits. Workplaces havegreat potential to change personal lifestyle choices and a preliminary assessment shouldbe performed in order to propose a tailored intervention

Managing female urinary incontinence: A regional prospective analysis of cost-utility ratios (curs) and effectiveness

Introduction: To evaluate the cost-utility of incontinence treatments, particularly anticholinergic therapy, by examining costs and quality-adjusted life years. Materials and methods: A prospective cohort study of women who were consecutively referred by general practitioners (GPs) to the Urology Department because of urinary incontinence. The primary outcome was evaluation of the cost-utility of incontinence treatments (surgery, medical therapy and physiotherapy) for stress and/or urgency incontinence by examining costs and quality-adjusted life years. Results: 137 consecutive female patients (mean age 60.6 ± 11.6; range 36-81) were enrolled and stratified according to pathologies: SUI and UUI. Group A: SUI grade II-III: 43 patients who underwent mid-urethral sling (MUS); Group B: SUI grade I-II 57 patients who underwent pelvic floor muscle exercise and Group C: UUI: 37 patients who underwent antimuscarinic treatment with 5 mg solifenacin daily. The cost utility ratio (CUR) was estimated as saving more than €1200 per QALY for surgery and physiotherapy and as costing under € 100 per QALY for drug therapy. Conclusions: This study shows that appropriate diagnosis and treatment of a patient with incontinence lowers National Health Service costs and improves the benefits of treatment and quality of life

Pelvic Organ Prolapse Repair with and without Concomitant Burch Colposuspension in Incontinent Women: A Randomised Controlled Trial with at Least 5-Year Followup

The aim of this study was to reevaluate and update the followup of a previously published randomized controlled trial (RCT) on the impact of Burch Colposuspension (BC), as an anti-incontinence procedure, in patients with UI and POP, who underwent POP repair. Forty-seven women were randomly assigned to abdominal POP repair and concomitant BC (24 patients; group A) or POP repair alone without any anti-incontinence procedure (23 patients; group B). Median followup was 82 months (range 60–107); from over 47 patients, 30 reached 6-year followup. Two patients were lost at followup. In group A, 2 patients showed a stage I rectocele. In group B, 2 patients had a stage I rectocele and 1 a stage II rectocele. In group A, 13/23 (56.5%) were still incontinent after surgery compared with 9/22 patients (40.9%) in group B (P = 0.298). No significant changes were observed between the first and the current followup. The update of long-term followup confirmed that BC did not improve outcome significantly in incontinent women when they undergo POP repair

The Impact of the Weight Status on Cardiovascular Parameters Related to Physical Effort in Young Athletes

Excess weight leads to an impaired cardiovascular response to physical exertion even at a young age. Sports training during youth promotes cardiovascular adaptations. The aim of the study is to verify the impact of weight status on cardiovascular parameters related to physical effort in young people who engage in competitive sports. A retrospective study was conducted on 8307 young athletes (5578 males and 2729 females) aged 6–18 years (mean age 13.9 ± 2.2 years). The data concerning graded exercise tests of young athletes in normal weight and overweight were compared. Approximately, 13.4% of the sample had excess weight. Young overweight athletes show a higher resting heart rate as well as systolic and diastolic pressure than young normal weight athletes. Excess weight condition leads to a reduction in the duration of the graded exercise test, reaching higher blood pressure values at the end of the test compared to those with normal weight. After four min from the end of the test, heart rate and systolic/diastolic blood pressure remained higher in the young overweight athletes. Excess weight affects cardiovascular parameters both at rest and in response to physical exertion during youth; however, competitive sport seems to be able to keep these parameters within the normal range even in young overweight athletes

Thyroid nodule morphology affects the efficacy of ultrasound-guided interstitial laser ablation: a nested case-control study.

AbstractPurpose: The literature reports a wide range of percentages of ablation in the treatment of thyroid nodules. The aim of this nested case-control study was to evaluate whether the different morphological (well-defined vs. agglomerate) characteristics of nodules affect the success rate. Materials and methods: We selected 20 patients with a single and /or dominant well-defined nodule (group 1) and 20 with a nodular formation resulting from the fusion of multiple nodules (group 2). All the nodules were treated by the laser method receiving the same energy. Results: At 6 months, patients in group 1 showed a greater decrease in volume than those in group 2. These differences were more evident after 12 months. Conclusions: Our study demonstrates that the efficacy of laser treatment can be predicted by nodule morphology and contributes to explaining the wide differences in the percentages of ablation reported in literature

Italian National Health Service immunized by Covid-19?

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