Prevalence and clinical characteristics of phenobarbitone-associated adverse effects in epileptic cats

Objectives: The study objective was to investigate the prevalence and clinical characteristics of phenobarbitone-associated adverse effects in epileptic cats. Methods: The medical records of two veterinary referral clinics from 2007 to 2017 were searched for cats fulfilling the inclusion criteria of a diagnosis of epilepsy, treatment with phenobarbitone and available follow-up information on the occurrence of adverse effects. Follow-up information was obtained from the medical records of the primary veterinarian and referral institutions and a questionnaire completed by the cats’ owners. Results: Seventy-seven cats met the inclusion criteria. Fifty-eight were affected by idiopathic epilepsy and 19 by structural epilepsy. One or more of the following adverse effects were reported in 47% of the cats: sedation (89%); ataxia (53%); polyphagia (22%); polydipsia (6%); polyuria (6%); and anorexia (6%). Logistic regression analyses revealed significant associations between adverse effect occurrence and both phenobarbitone starting dosage and administration of a second antiepileptic drug (AED). For each 1 mg/kg q12h increment of phenobarbitone, the likelihood of adverse effects increased 3.1 times. When a second AED was used, the likelihood of adverse effects increased 3.2 times. No association was identified between epilepsy aetiology and adverse effect occurrence. An idiosyncratic adverse effect, characterised by severe neutropenia and granulocytic hypoplasia, was diagnosed in one cat. This resolved following phenobarbitone discontinuation. Conclusions and relevance: The prevalence of phenobarbitone-associated adverse effects was 47%. Sedation and ataxia were most common. These are type A adverse effects and are predictable from phenobarbitone’s known pharmacological properties. In the majority of cases, adverse effects occurred within the first month of treatment and were transient. Idiosyncratic (type B) adverse effects, which were not anticipated given the known properties of the drug, occurred in one cat. Increased phenobarbitone starting dosage and the addition of a second AED were significantly associated with the occurrence of adverse effects

Electron beam test facilities for novel applications

Delivering and tailoring high brightness electron beams for a wide range of novel applications is a challenging task in single pass accelerator test facilities. This paper will review beam dynamics challenges at single pass accelerator test facilities in Europe to generate, transport and tailor low- to medium-energy high brightness electron beams for a range of novel applications

Characterisation of Herschel-selected strong lens candidates through HST and sub-mm/mm observations

We have carried out HST snapshot observations at 1.1 $\mu$m of 281 candidate strongly lensed galaxies identified in the wide-area extragalactic surveys conducted with the Herschel space observatory. Our candidates comprise systems with flux densities at $500\,\mu$m$S_{500}\geq 80$ mJy. We model and subtract the surface brightness distribution for 130 systems, where we identify a candidate for the foreground lens candidate. After combining visual inspection, archival high-resolution observations, and lens subtraction, we divide the systems into different classes according to their lensing likelihood. We confirm 65 systems to be lensed. Of these, 30 are new discoveries. We successfully perform lens modelling and source reconstruction on 23 systems, where the foreground lenses are isolated galaxies and the background sources are detected in the HST images. All the systems are successfully modelled as a singular isothermal ellipsoid. The Einstein radii of the lenses and the magnifications of the background sources are consistent with previous studies. However, the background source circularised radii (between 0.34 kpc and 1.30 kpc) are $\sim$3 times smaller than the ones measured in the sub-mm/mm for a similarly selected and partially overlapping sample. We compare our lenses with those in the SLACS survey, confirming that our lens-independent selection is more effective at picking up fainter and diffuse galaxies and group lenses. This sample represents the first step towards characterising the near-IR properties and stellar masses of the gravitationally lensed dusty star-forming galaxies.Comment: 57 pages, 18 figures, 11 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRA

“New records of rare species in the Mediterranean Sea” (October 2021)

“New records of rare species in the Mediterranean Sea” (October 2021

Intravenous methylprednisolone pulses in hospitalised patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia, A double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial

Rationale: Pulse glucocorticoid therapy is used in hyperinflammation related to coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19). We evaluated the efficacy and safety of pulse intravenous methylprednisolone in addition to standard treatment in COVID-19 pneumonia. Methods: In this multicenter, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, 304 hospitalised patients with Covid-19 pneumonia were randomised to receive 1 g of methylprednisolone intravenously for 3 consecutive days or placebo in addition to standard dexamethasone. The primary outcome was the duration of the patient hospitalisation, calculated as the time interval between randomisation and hospital discharge without the need of supplementary oxygen. The key secondary outcomes were survival free from invasive ventilation with orotracheal intubation and overall survival. Results: Overall, 112 of 151 (75.4%) patients in the pulse methylprednisolone arm and 111 of 150 (75.2%) in the placebo arm were discharged from hospital without oxygen within 30 days from randomisation. Median time to discharge was similar in both groups [15 days (95% confidence interval (CI), 13.0 to 17.0) and 16 days (95%CI, 13.8 to 18.2); hazard ratio (HR), 0.92; 95% CI 0.71-1.20; p=0.528]. No significant differences between pulse methylprednisolone and placebo arms were observed in terms of admission to Intensive Care Unit with orotracheal intubation or death (20.0% versus 16.1%; HR, 1.26; 95%CI, 0.74-2.16; p=0.176), or overall mortality (10.0% versus 12.2%; HR, 0.83; 95%CI, 0.42-1.64; p=0.584). Serious adverse events occurred with similar frequency in the two groups. Conclusions: Methylprenisolone pulse therapy added to dexamethasone was not of benefit in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia. Message of the study: Pulse glucocorticoid therapy is used for severe and/or life threatening immuno-inflammatory diseases. The addition of pulse glucocorticoid therapy to the standard low dose of dexamethasone scheme was not of benefit in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia

Investigating Attitudes towards Water Savings, Price Increases, and Willingness to Pay among Italian University Students

Knowledge of attitudes towards water conservation, potential reactions to incorporating supplementary costs into water prices, and the willingness to pay for water services is vitally important to decision makers wishing to implement policies that effectively promote more conscious water consumption and mitigate increasingly important water scarcity issues. This study aims to examine the relationships among these dimensions and their potential explanatory factors—such as family values, knowledge about problems related to water scarcity, attitude and propensity to pro-environmental behavior, and social pressure that individuals receive to behave in a certain manner—through a sample survey on 429 students enrolled at the University of Pisa (Italy). A set of hypotheses were formulated among eight latent variables that reflect the previous constructs and were tested through a structural equation model. As for key findings, we highlight the importance of family values as the main determinant of pro-environmental behaviors, which result in more responsible water use, greater support for price increases to encourage water saving practices, and a greater willingness to pay more for improved water and water service quality. Policymakers should consider these findings when developing policies and strategies to incentivize effective water saving practices among younger generations

Evaluation of pump-over thermal effect during red grapes fermentation: preliminary results

In oenology, pump-over is a mechanical technique used to enhance the fermentative maceration. Pump-overs are conducted, with or without air contact, by taking the must from the bottom of the fermentation tank, and using it to spray the cap. The aim of this practice is the enhancing the phenolic and volatile compounds extraction from grape skins. Consequently, wine quality is improved in this way. During some temperature monitoring tests a \u201csecondary\u201d effect of pump-over has been highlighted. Temperature affects volatile and phenolic compounds concentration too. Particularly, low temperatures may be used to improve volatile production by yeasts during fermentation, and regulate the extraction of polyphenols compounds from the solid to the liquid phase. The aim of the work is to describe the thermal effect of pump-overs with and without air contact during a red fermentation. Tests have been performed during the September 2014 Tenuta Argentiera (Bolgheri (LI), Italy) in a tank of 20 m3 capacity. Six probes were placed into the fermentation tank, for temperature monitoring in different zones during pump-overs. Both kinds of pump-overs produce two main effects during fermentation: a temperature homogenization, reducing the differences among the zones of the tank, and a cooling effect, reducing the average temperature of the must. Hence, in addition to their effect on compounds extraction, pump-overs could be useful to reduce and control the temperature during red fermentatio