Periodontitis Stage III–IV, Grade C and Correlated Factors: A Histomorphometric Study

Background: Periodontitis is a disease that leads to serious functional and esthetic dysfunctions. Periodontitis exists in different forms, and its etiology is related to multiple component causes. Two key processes involved in the evolution of this pathology are angiogenesis and inflammatory infiltrate. The aim of this study was to understand if important factors such as smoking, gender, age, plaque, pus, and probing pocket depth could influence the histomorphological pattern of generalized stage III-IV, grade C periodontitis (GPIII-IVC), which is a particular form of periodontitis. Methods: Eighteen subjects with GPIII-IVC were enrolled in this study. The percentage of inflammatory cells and the vascular area were measured and evaluated in relation to each periodontal disease-associated factor. Results: Females showed a significant increase in the percentage of inflammatory cells compared to males (6.29% vs. 2.28%, p-value = 0.020) and it was higher in non-smokers than in smokers (4.56% vs. 3.14%, p-value = 0.048). Young patients showed a significant increase in vascular area percentage compared to older patients (0.60% vs. 0.46%, p-value = 0.0006) and this percentage was also higher in non-smokers compared to smokers (0.41% vs. 0.55%, p-value = 0.0008). The vascular area was also more than halved in subjects with residual plaque on tooth surfaces (0.74% vs. 0.36%, p-value = 0.0005). Conclusions: These results suggested that even if these factors are commonly related to the worsening of periodontal status, some of them (pus and periodontal probing depth (PPD)) do not affect the inflammatory and vascular patterns

La conservación de los bosques nativos y su biodiversidad asociada: el caso del Parque Provincial Ischigualasto (San Juan, Argentina)

En el marco de la Ley Nacional de Presupuesto Mínimos de Protección Ambiental de Bosques Nativos (2009), se llevan a cabo en Argentina proyectos que apuntan al enriquecimiento, restauración, conservación, aprovechamiento y manejo sostenible de los bosques nativos. El presente trabajo se enmarca en el proyecto "La chica, el retamo y el algarrobo: especies paraguas para la conservación del Bosque Nativo del Parque Provincial Ischigualasto. Interacciones biológicas, efectos de actividades humanas y su mitigación". Entre los objetivos de proyecto se pretende aportar a la conservación de los bosques nativos a través del estudio de las interacciones planta-animal (como la dispersión y depredación de semillas) que contribuyen a la regeneración y el mantenimiento del bosque. Se realizaron experimentos a campo de remoción de propágulos de algarrobo (Prosopis flexuosa), utilizando cámaras trampa para determinar las tasas de remoción y visita de las diferentes especies de animales. Los resultados permitieron identificar y evaluar el papel de los animales que dispersan semillas por endozoocoria (especies nativas: zorro, mara, ñandú, guanaco, etc.; especies exóticas: burro, liebre europea, vaca). El estudio de las interacciones planta-animal pone en relieve que la conservación del bosque no sólo implica conservar los árboles sino también a las especies asociadas, las cuales participan activamente en la regeneración y mantenimiento del sistema.Fil: Campos, Claudia Monica. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de Zonas Aridas; ArgentinaFil: Borghi, Carlos Eduardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico San Juan. Centro de Investigaciones de la Geosfera y Biosfera; ArgentinaFil: Campos, Valeria Evelin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico San Juan. Centro de Investigaciones de la Geosfera y Biosfera; ArgentinaFil: Cappa, Flavio Martín. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico San Juan. Centro de Investigaciones de la Geosfera y Biosfera; ArgentinaFil: Fernandez, Viviana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico San Juan. Centro de Investigaciones de la Geosfera y Biosfera; ArgentinaFil: Beninato Bustamante, Veronica Alejandra. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico San Juan. Centro de Investigaciones de la Geosfera y Biosfera; ArgentinaFil: Giannoni, Stella Maris. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico San Juan. Centro de Investigaciones de la Geosfera y Biosfera; Argentin

Trends in the prevalence of asthma and allergic rhinitis in Italy between 1991 and 2010

The prevalence of asthma increased worldwide until the 1990s, but since then there has been no clear temporal pattern. The present study aimed to assess time trends in the prevalence of current asthma, asthma-like symptoms and allergic rhinitis in Italian adults from 1990 to 2010. The same screening questionnaire was administered by mail or phone to random samples of the general population (age 20–44 yrs) in Italy, in the frame of three multicentre studies: the European Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECRHS) (1991–1993; n56,031); the Italian Study on Asthma in Young Adults (ISAYA) (1998–2000; n518,873); and the Gene Environment Interactions in Respiratory Diseases (GEIRD) study (2007–2010; n510,494). Time trends in prevalence were estimated using Poisson regression models in the centres that repeated the survey at different points in time. From 1991 to 2010, the median prevalence of current asthma, wheezing and allergic rhinitis increased from 4.1% to 6.6%, from 10.1% to 13.9% and from 16.8% to 25.8%, respectively. The prevalence of current asthma was stable during the 1990s and increased (relative risk 1.38, 95% CI 1.19–1.59) from 1998–2000 to 2007–2010, mainly in subjects who did not report allergic rhinitis. The prevalence of allergic rhinitis has increased continuously since 1991. The asthma epidemic is not over in Italy. During the past 20 yrs, asthma prevalence has increased by 38%, in parallel with a similar increase in asthma-like symptoms and allergic rhiniti

Semi-quantitative risk assessment of African swine fever virus introduction in pig farms

A semi-quantitative risk assessment was developed to classify pig farms in terms of the probability of introduction of African swine fever virus (ASFV). Following on-farm data collection via a specific checklist, we applied a modified failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) to calculate the risk priority codes (RPC's), indicating increasing risk levels ranging from 1 to 5. The importance of biosecurity measures was attributed by experts. To consider geographic risk factors, we classified pig farms based on local density of farmed pigs, and on the estimated wild boar population density. The combination of RPC's with geographical risk factors resulted into a final ranking of pig farms in terms of the risk of ASFV introduction. Furthermore, the estimation of frequency and levels of non-compliance with biosecurity measures was used to identify weak points in risk prevention at farm level. The outcome of the risk assessment was affected by choices in assigning non-compliance scores and importance to specific components of biosecurity. The method was applied in 60 commercial farms in major pig production areas in Italy. Furthermore, we applied a reduced version of our checklist in 12 non-commercial/small commercial (≤20 pigs) farms in the northern Apennines. In commercial farms, highest RPC's were obtained for biosecurity measures associated with personnel practices and farm buildings/planimetry. Intervention should be addressed to training of personnel on biosecurity and ASF, to avoid contacts with other pig herds, and to improve practices in the entrance into the farm. Sharing trucks with other farms, and loading/unloading of pigs were other weak points. Fencing was classified as insufficient in 70% of the commercial farms. Among these farms, breeding units were characterised by the lowest risk of ASFV introduction (although differences among median ranks were not statistically significant: P-value = 0.07; Kruskal–Wallis test), and increasing herd size was not significantly correlated with a higher risk (Kendall's τ = −0.13; P-value = 0.14). Density of farmed pig was greatest in the main pig production area in northern Italy. Conversely, exposure to wild boars was greatest for non-commercial/small commercial farms on the Apennines, which were also characterised by non-compliance with critical biosecurity measures

Years of life that could be saved from prevention of hepatocellular carcinoma

BACKGROUND: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) causes premature death and loss of life expectancy worldwide. Its primary and secondary prevention can result in a significant number of years of life saved. AIM: To assess how many years of life are lost after HCC diagnosis. METHODS: Data from 5346 patients with first HCC diagnosis were used to estimate lifespan and number of years of life lost after tumour onset, using a semi-parametric extrapolation having as reference an age-, sex- and year-of-onset-matched population derived from national life tables. RESULTS: Between 1986 and 2014, HCC lead to an average of 11.5 years-of-life lost for each patient. The youngest age-quartile group (18-61 years) had the highest number of years-of-life lost, representing approximately 41% of the overall benefit obtainable from prevention. Advancements in HCC management have progressively reduced the number of years-of-life lost from 12.6 years in 1986-1999, to 10.7 in 2000-2006 and 7.4 years in 2007-2014. Currently, an HCC diagnosis when a single tumour <2 cm results in 3.7 years-of-life lost while the diagnosis when a single tumour 65 2 cm or 2/3 nodules still within the Milan criteria, results in 5.0 years-of-life lost, representing the loss of only approximately 5.5% and 7.2%, respectively, of the entire lifespan from birth. CONCLUSIONS: Hepatocellular carcinoma occurrence results in the loss of a considerable number of years-of-life, especially for younger patients. In recent years, the increased possibility of effectively treating this tumour has improved life expectancy, thus reducing years-of-life lost

The inner fluctuations of the brain in presymptomatic frontotemporal dementia: the chronnectome fingerprint

© 2019 Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) is preceded by a long period of subtle brain changes, occurring in the absence of overt cognitive symptoms, that need to be still fully characterized. Dynamic network analysis based on resting-state magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) is a potentially powerful tool for the study of preclinical FTD. In the present study, we employed a "chronnectome" approach (recurring, time-varying patterns of connectivity) to evaluate measures of dynamic connectivity in 472 at-risk FTD subjects from the Genetic Frontotemporal dementia research Initiative (GENFI) cohort. We considered 249 subjects with FTD-related pathogenetic mutations and 223 mutation non-carriers (HC). Dynamic connectivity was evaluated using independent component analysis and sliding-time window correlation to rs-fMRI data, and meta-state measures of global brain flexibility were extracted. Results show that presymptomatic FTD exhibits diminished dynamic fluidity, visiting less meta-states, shifting less often across them, and travelling through a narrowed meta-state distance, as compared to HC. Dynamic connectivity changes characterize preclinical FTD, arguing for the desynchronization of the inner fluctuations of the brain. These changes antedate clinical symptoms, and might represent an early signature of FTD to be used as a biomarker in clinical trials.This work was supported in part by grants from the NIH (R01REB020407, P20GM103472), NSF grant 1539067 and the Well- come Trust grant (JBR 103838).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Health-related quality of life in subjects with respiratory diseases: the GEIRD study

Introduzione: Secondo l\u2019Organizzazione Mondiale della Sanit\ue0, nel mondo, 300 milioni di persone sono affette da asma, 210 milioni da Broncopneumopatia cronica ostruttiva (COPD), 400 da rinite allergica e 50 milioni da altre patologie respiratorie. \uc8 noto che la presenza di patologie croniche, determina affaticamento, sbalzi d\u2019umore, depressione e ansia. La qualit\ue0 della vita legata allo stato di salute (HRQL), misurata attraverso questionari standard, \ue8 diventata uno strumento fondamentale, sia negli studi osservazionali sia nei trial clinici, per la misura dello stato psico-fisico dei soggetti affetti da patologie croniche. Obiettivi: l\u2019obiettivo principale di questa tesi, \ue8 quello di valutare la relazione tra HRQL e le patologie respiratorie (COPD, asma, rinite, altre patologie respiratorie (ORC)); verranno inoltre valutati i fattori associati sia all\u2019HRQL sia alle patologie respiratorie, quali il sesso, l\u2019et\ue0, il BMI, le abitudini al fumo, l\u2019educazione scolastica, le comorbidit\ue0 non respiratorie e cardiache. Metodi: nell\u2019ambito del progetto GEIRD, uno studio ancora in corso, multicentrico, nested, multicaso-controllo, con l\u2019obiettivo di valutare quale ruolo giochino fattori genetici e ambientali nell\u2019insorgenza delle patologie respiratorie, sono stati arruolati 328 controlli, 78 casi di rinite non allergica e 131 casi di rinite allergica, 145 soggetti affetti da ORC, 224 asmatici correnti, 126 soggetti affetti da asma nel passato e 28 casi di COPD. L\u2019HRQL \ue8 stato misurato attraverso il questionario SF-36 (versione 1.6), parte integrante del protocollo di studio ed \ue8 stato chiesto ad ogni soggetto partecipante all\u2019indagine di compilarlo autonomamente. La relazione tra HRQL e le patologie respiratorie, \ue8 stata valutata tramite modelli di regressione quantilica. I punteggi della componente fisica (PCS) e mentale (MCS) sono stati considerati come outcomes (variabili dipendenti) mentre sesso, et\ue0, BMI, livello d\u2019istruzione, abitudini al fumo, comorbidit\ue0 non respiratorie e/o cardiache e le variabili di disegno sono state considerate come covariate (variabili indipendenti). Risultati: In generale, tutti i soggetti affetti da patologie respiratorie, hanno ottenuto un punteggio PCS inferiore rispetto ai controlli, in particolare, i soggetti con ORC hanno totalizzato un punteggio mediano inferiore di 1.5 punti rispetto ai controlli (p=0.002), gli asmatici correnti di 1.6 punti (p<0.001) e i soggetti affetti da COPD di 5.5 punti inferiore (p<0.001). Come per la componente fisica, anche quella mentale \ue8 stata inferiore nei soggetti con asma corrente (-2.1, p<0.001), con ORC ((-3.5, p<0.001) e con COPD (-4.8, p<0.001). Conclusioni: lo studio GEIRD \ue8 il primo ad aver analizzato l\u2019HRQL effettuando un confronto diretto e simultaneo della qualit\ue0 della vita in diverse patologie respiratorie. Molte indagini hanno valutato l\u2019effetto dell\u2019asma, la COPD, la rinite (allergica e non) e delle ORC, ma nessuno ha considerato tutte queste patologie simultaneamente. Per questa ragione, siamo stati in grado di valutare e misurare l\u2019effetto di ogni singola patologia e le sue comorbidit\ue0 respiratorie. Da questo lavoro emerge inoltre che i soggetti affetti da COPD, asma corrente e ORC hanno ottenuto il pi\uf9 basso punteggio PCS e MCS rispetto ai controlli. In particolare, i soggetti con COPD hanno totalizzato lo score peggiore, sia mentalmente che fisicamente. Gli asmatici correnti e i soggetti con ORC hanno punteggi mediani di salute psico-fisica simili.Background: According to World Health Organization (WHO 2007), worldwide 300 millions of people suffered from asthma, 210 millions from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), 400 from allergic rhinitis and more than 50 millions from other respiratory conditions. It has well been known that having chronic diseases causes significant fatigue and mood changes, depression and anxiety. Health-related quality of life (HRQL) measured by standard questionnaires has become an important measure of the well-being of those affected and it is used to evaluate the magnitude of the impact of disease both in the observational studies and clinical trials. Aim: the main aim of this thesis is to study in depth the relationship between HRQL and respiratory diseases. We also explore association between HRQL and subjects\u2019 characteristics like sex, age, BMI, smoking habits, education status, non-respiratory and cardiac comorbidities. Methods: Controls (n=328) and cases of Non-Allergic Rhinitis (NAR, n=78), Allergic Rhinitis (AR, n=131), Other Respiratory Conditions (ORC, n=145), Current Asthma (CA, n=224), Past Asthma (PA, n=126) and COPD (n= 28) were recruited in the frame of the nested multi-case control GEIRD study, an ongoing Italian multicentre multicase-control survey aimed at investigating the role that genetic and environmental factors play on respiratory diseases. HRQL was measured using the generic version 1.6 of the SF-36 questionnaire, which was part of the GEIRD core protocol and was self-administered by all subjects. The Relationship between HRQL and respiratory diseases, was examined through quantile regression model with Physical Component Score (PCS) and Mental Component Score (MCS) as outcomes (dependent variables) and gender, age, BMI, education level, smoking habits, presence of at least one non-respiratory comorbidities, presence of at least one heart disease, study cohort and calendar period as covariates (independent variables). Results: In general, all subjects suffering from respiratory diseases had PCS scores lower than controls, in particular in subjects who suffered from ORC, the median score was 1.5 points lower (p=0.002), in current asthmatics 1.6 (p<0.001) and COPD cases 5.5 lower (p<0.001). As for PCS, mental score was lower in current asthmatics (-2.1, p<0.001), ORC (-3.5, p<0.001), and COPD cases (-4.8, p<0.001). Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first study that analysed HRQL performing a direct and simultaneous comparison of quality of life in several respiratory disorders. Several surveys studied the effect of asthma, COPD, NAR, AR and ORC on HRQL, but none considered all these pathologies together. For this reason, we are able to measure and directly compare the effect of each single disorder and its respiratory comorbidities. We found that subjects who suffered from COPD, current asthma and ORC had poorer HRQL than controls. In particular, people with COPD had the worst scores for both PCS and MCS. Asthmatics patients had similar PCS but higher MCS scores compared to ORC group

Learning science by doing: a quali-quantitative research

AbstractEducational interventions in school represent a primary way to introduce children to public health issues. In particular, as foodborne diseases are considered a worldwide significant problem, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), an educational program has been implemented to improve children knowledge about microorganisms’ characteristics and food contamination, and their everyday behaviors concerning personal hygiene. Twelve public schools in Padua province were enrolled, for a total of 249 children attending the fifth grade of primary school. Health programs are usually targeted to adults and teenagers; a method that take into account children's peculiar learning and communicative skills was adopted. Aim of the study is to determine whether interventions based on practical activities that dynamically involve children with experiments and scientific observations are more efficient that purely theoretical programs. To assess the different effectiveness of the interventions, a between subjects experimental design has been set up, with random assignment of classes to theoretical (N=120) and practical (N=123) groups. The evaluation of children knowledge was assessed in two ways: 1) the analysis of a questionnaire collected before and after the intervention; 2) the analysis of a creative drawing about the microorganisms collected before and after the intervention that has been related to a semi-structured interview, to comprehend the meanings of the picture. Results show that although both the programs (theoretical and practical) were effective, the practical work stimulated a qualitatively deeper comprehension of the given information, especially in relation to the causal linkage between protective behaviors and control of contagion risk