La Geografía y las TIC en la educación

En el marco del Programa Pasem (Programa de Apoyo al Sector Educativo del MERCOSUR) desarrollado en el año 2015 en los IINN de Montevideo, desde el Departamento de Geografía se trabajó de acuerdo con el planteo que se realiza en sus objetivos: “se propone generar un espacio de aprendizaje compartido, indagación y análisis de políticas y prácticas vinculadas a la formación y desarrollo profesional docente en Argentina, Brasil, Paraguay y Uruguay” siendo el eje de la temática Las TIC en la educación de Formación Docente

First line avelumab in PD-L1+ve metastatic or locally advanced urothelial cancer (aUC) patients unfit for cisplatin (cis): The ARIES trial

Background: Avelumab (ave) was approved as maintenance therapy after platinum-based first line (1L) therapy for patients (pts) with aUC based on ph. 3 Javelin Bladder 100 study (NCT02603432), showing significant overall survival (OS) improvement. Here we tested the activity of ave as 1L of therapy in cis-unfit pts with aUC and PD-L1+ve expression. Methods: ARIES is a single-arm, multi-site, open-label phase II trial. Enrolled pts had aUC, were cis-unfit (at least one of: ECOG-PS = 2, CrCl < 60 mL/min, grade ≥2 peripheral neuropathy/hearing loss, progression within 6-mos before the end of neo/adj chemo), had not previously received chemo for aUC and PD-L1≥5% (SP263) centrally assessed. Pts received ave 10 mg/Kg IV Q2W until progression, unacceptable toxicity and withdrawal, whichever occurred first. The primary endpoint was the 1-year OS. Key secondary endpoints were median-OS, -PFS, ORR and safety. Results: A total of 198 eligible cis-unfit pts have been tested for PD-L1 and 71 (35.6%) have been found positive. Among enrolled patients (N = 71), median age was 75 y, 35 (49.3%) had visceral disease, and 22 (31.0%) had ECOG-PS = 2; 50 (70.4%) had CrCl < 60 mL/min and 9 (12.7%) progressed within 6-mos from the end of neo/adj chemo. At the cut-off data (Oct 7, 2021), median follow up was 9.0 mo and 13 patients are still on treatment. The median OS was 10.0 mos (95% CI, 5.7-14.3), and 40.8% of patients were alive at 1-year. The ORR for all patients was 22.5%; complete response, 1.4% (n = 1); partial response, 21.1% (n = 15). Clinical benefit was 43.6% (n = 31). Median PFS was 2.0 mos (95% CI, 1.4-2.6). Among the 56 pts who received at least 3 cycles (29 days) of therapy the median OS was 16.0 vs 1.0 mos. Five (7.0%) grade 3 ave-related adverse events, and no treatment-related death were reported. Conclusions: Ave is active and safe in pts with cis-unfit, PD-L1+ve aUC and poor baseline characteristics

Predictors of long-term response to abiraterone in patients with metastastic castration-resistant prostate cancer: a retrospective cohort study

We aimed to identify clinical predictors of long-term response to abiraterone (defined as >12 months drug exposure) in a retrospective cohort of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer patients treated in post-docetaxel setting at 24 Italian centers. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to analyze the association between clinical features and the duration of drug exposure. Results were expressed as hazard ratios (HR) with associated 95% confidence intervals (CI). A total of 143 patients met the inclusion criteria. Their median age was 73 years, median Gleason score 8 and median abiraterone exposure 20 months. At the univariate analysis, a significant correlation with the duration of abiraterone exposure was found for Gleason score (HR 0.82, 95% CI 0.71-0.96; p=0.012), PSA (HR 1.10, 95% CI 1.03-1.18; p=0.08) and lactic dehydrogenase levels (HR 1.22, 95% CI 1.02-1.46; p=0.027), while the association between lower alkaline phosphatase levels and treatment duration was marginally significant (HR 1.07, 95% CI 0.99-1.16; p=0.074). Only PSA and Gleason score were predictive of long-term treatment duration in the multivariate analysis. No other clinical factors resulted to be predictive of sustained response to abiraterone, including metastatic disease at diagnosis and visceral disease, suggesting that all subgroups of patients may derive a substantial clinical benefit from abiraterone treatment. These findings need to be validated in prospective, larger studies

Site effect studies following the 2016 Mw 6.0 Amatrice Earthquake (Italy): the Emersito Task Force activities

On August 24, 2016, at 01:36 UTC a MW 6.0 earthquake struck an extensive area of the Central Apennines (Italy) be-tween the towns of Norcia and Amatrice. Due to the mainshock magnitude and the widespread damaging level of build-ings in the epicentral area, the Emersito task force has been mobilized by the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV). The aim of Emersito is to carry out and coordinate the monitoring of local site effects, caused by geological and geomorphological settings. During the first days of the seismic emergency, Emersito installed a tempo-rary seismic network for site effect studies at 4 municipalities close to the epicentral area (Amandola, Civitella del Tronto, Montereale and Capitignano), using 22 stations equipped with both velocimetric and accelerometric sensors. The selection of the sites where stations have been installed was mainly driven by the proximity to the epicentral area (without interfere with the rescue operations) and by peculiar geologic and geomorphologic settings (topographic irregu-larities, fault zones, alluvial plains). Preliminary analyses performed on ambient noise and aftershocks signals show that directional amplification effects may have occurred at stations installed on the top of topographic irregularities. We also observed the lengthening and amplification of the seismograms and a variability of the peaked frequency across the sedi-mentary basin between Montereale and Capitignano, probably related to a different thickness of the deposits. Further analyses are necessary to assess the correlation with surface geology.Published4T. Sismologia, geofisica e geologia per l'ingegneria sismica1SR. TERREMOTI - Servizi e ricerca per la Società1IT. Reti di monitoraggioJCR Journa

Occupational exposure to chemicals and fetal growth: the Generation R Study

Background Developmental diseases, such as birth defects, growth restriction and preterm delivery, account for >25 of infant mortality and morbidity. Several studies have shown that exposure to chemicals during pregnancy is associated with adverse birth outcomes. The aim of this study was to identify whether occupational exposure to various chemicals might adversely influence intrauterine growth patterns and placental weight.Methods Associations between mat

Defining Kawasaki disease and pediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome-temporally associated to SARS-CoV-2 infection during SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Italy: results from a national, multicenter survey

Background: There is mounting evidence on the existence of a Pediatric Inflammatory Multisystem Syndrome-temporally associated to SARS-CoV-2 infection (PIMS-TS), sharing similarities with Kawasaki Disease (KD). The main outcome of the study were to better characterize the clinical features and the treatment response of PIMS-TS and to explore its relationship with KD determining whether KD and PIMS are two distinct entities. Methods: The Rheumatology Study Group of the Italian Pediatric Society launched a survey to enroll patients diagnosed with KD (Kawasaki Disease Group - KDG) or KD-like (Kawacovid Group - KCG) disease between February 1st 2020, and May 31st 2020. Demographic, clinical, laboratory data, treatment information, and patients' outcome were collected in an online anonymized database (RedCAP®). Relationship between clinical presentation and SARS-CoV-2 infection was also taken into account. Moreover, clinical characteristics of KDG during SARS-CoV-2 epidemic (KDG-CoV2) were compared to Kawasaki Disease patients (KDG-Historical) seen in three different Italian tertiary pediatric hospitals (Institute for Maternal and Child Health, IRCCS "Burlo Garofolo", Trieste; AOU Meyer, Florence; IRCCS Istituto Giannina Gaslini, Genoa) from January 1st 2000 to December 31st 2019. Chi square test or exact Fisher test and non-parametric Wilcoxon Mann-Whitney test were used to study differences between two groups. Results: One-hundred-forty-nine cases were enrolled, (96 KDG and 53 KCG). KCG children were significantly older and presented more frequently from gastrointestinal and respiratory involvement. Cardiac involvement was more common in KCG, with 60,4% of patients with myocarditis. 37,8% of patients among KCG presented hypotension/non-cardiogenic shock. Coronary artery abnormalities (CAA) were more common in the KDG. The risk of ICU admission were higher in KCG. Lymphopenia, higher CRP levels, elevated ferritin and troponin-T characterized KCG. KDG received more frequently immunoglobulins (IVIG) and acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) (81,3% vs 66%; p = 0.04 and 71,9% vs 43,4%; p = 0.001 respectively) as KCG more often received glucocorticoids (56,6% vs 14,6%; p < 0.0001). SARS-CoV-2 assay more often resulted positive in KCG than in KDG (75,5% vs 20%; p < 0.0001). Short-term follow data showed minor complications. Comparing KDG with a KD-Historical Italian cohort (598 patients), no statistical difference was found in terms of clinical manifestations and laboratory data. Conclusion: Our study suggests that SARS-CoV-2 infection might determine two distinct inflammatory diseases in children: KD and PIMS-TS. Older age at onset and clinical peculiarities like the occurrence of myocarditis characterize this multi-inflammatory syndrome. Our patients had an optimal response to treatments and a good outcome, with few complications and no deaths

Rising rural body-mass index is the main driver of the global obesity epidemic in adults

Body-mass index (BMI) has increased steadily in most countries in parallel with a rise in the proportion of the population who live in cities(.)(1,2) This has led to a widely reported view that urbanization is one of the most important drivers of the global rise in obesity(3-6). Here we use 2,009 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in more than 112 million adults, to report national, regional and global trends in mean BMI segregated by place of residence (a rural or urban area) from 1985 to 2017. We show that, contrary to the dominant paradigm, more than 55% of the global rise in mean BMI from 1985 to 2017-and more than 80% in some low- and middle-income regions-was due to increases in BMI in rural areas. This large contribution stems from the fact that, with the exception of women in sub-Saharan Africa, BMI is increasing at the same rate or faster in rural areas than in cities in low- and middle-income regions. These trends have in turn resulted in a closing-and in some countries reversal-of the gap in BMI between urban and rural areas in low- and middle-income countries, especially for women. In high-income and industrialized countries, we noted a persistently higher rural BMI, especially for women. There is an urgent need for an integrated approach to rural nutrition that enhances financial and physical access to healthy foods, to avoid replacing the rural undernutrition disadvantage in poor countries with a more general malnutrition disadvantage that entails excessive consumption of low-quality calories.Peer reviewe