Using Online Role-playing Games for Entrepreneurship Training

This edited collection of chapters explores the application, potential and challenges of game-based learning and gamification across multiple disciplines and sectors, including psychology, education, business, history, languages and the ..

Resident lactic acid bacteria in raw milk Canestrato Pugliese cheese

Aims: Investigation of the autochthonous lactic acid bacteria (LAB) population of the raw milk Protected Designation of Origin Canestrato Pugliese cheese using phenotypic and genotypic methodologies. Methods and Results: Thirty phenotypic assays and three molecular techniques (restriction fragment length polymorphism, partial sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene and recA multiplex PCR assay) were applied to the identification of 304 isolates from raw milk Canestrato Pugliese cheese. As a result, 168 of 207 isolates identified were ascribed to genus Enterococcus, 25 to Lactobacillus, 13 to Lactococcus and one to Leuconostoc. More in details, among the lactobacilli, the species Lactobacillus brevis and Lactobacillus plantarum were predominant, including 13 and 10 isolates respectively, whereas among the lactococci, Lactococcus cremoris subsp. cremoris was the species more frequently detected (seven isolates). Conclusions: Except for the enterococci, phenotypic tests were not reliable enough for the identification of the isolates, if not combined to the genotype-based molecular techniques. The polyphasic approach utilized allowed 10 different LAB species to be detected; thus suggesting the appreciable LAB diversity of the autochthonous microbial population of the Canestrato Pugliese cheese. Significance and Impact of the Study: A comprehensive study of the resident raw milk Canestrato Pugliese cheese microbial population has been undertaken

A simple prognostic score based on troponin and presepsin for covid-19 patients admitted to the emergency department: A single-center pilot study

Background: The need to determine prognostic factors that can predict a particularly severe or, con-versely, the benign course of COVID-19 is particularly perceived in the Emergency Department (ED), con-sidering the scarcity of resources for a conspicuous mass of patients. The aim of our study was to identify some predictors for 30-day mortality among some clinical, laboratory, and ultrasound variables in a COVID-19 patients population. Methods: Prospective single-center pilot study conducted in an ED of an University Hospital. A consecutive sample of confirmed COVID-19 patients with acute respiratory failure was enrolled from March 8th, to April 15th, 2020. Results: 143 patients were enrolled. Deceased patients (n = 65) were older (81 vs. 61 years, p <0.001), and they had more frequently a history of heart disease, neurological disease, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (p-values = 0.026, 0.025, and 0.034, respectively) than survived patients. Troponin I and presepsin had a significant correlation with a worse outcome. Troponin achieved a sensitivity of 77% and a specificity of 82% for a cut-off value of 27.6 ng/L. The presepsin achieved a sensitivity of 54% and a specificity of 92% for a cut-off value of 871 pg/mL. Conclusion: In a population of COVID-19 patients with acute respiratory failure in an ED, presepsin and troponin I are accurate predictors of 30-day mortality. Presepsin is highly specific and could permit the early identification of patients who could benefit from more intensive care as soon as they enter the ED. Further validation studies are needed to confirm this result. (www.actabiomedica.it)

Adherence to a standardized protocol for measuring grip strength and appropriate cut-off values in adults over 65 years with sarcopenia: a systematic review protocol

The objective of this review is to examine the use of grip strength analysis in well and unwell populations in adults 65 years and over as a tool to establish muscle strength in sarcopenia.More specifically, the main review question is:What protocol, if any, is most commonly used among older adults with sarcopenia and does this match the standardized protocol suggested in 2011 by Roberts et al.?Secondary review questions are:What are the reported cut-off values being used to determine sarcopenia in older adults, with consideration for ethnic and gender variability?Is grip strength, as a tool to measure muscle strength, suitable for people with common comorbidities and geriatric syndromes, such as osteoarthritis, often associated with sarcopenia

The Dohner fluorescence in situ hybridization prognostic classification of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL): the CLL Research Consortium experience.

This study revisited the Dohner prognostic hierarchy in a cohort of 1585 well-documented patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. The duration of both time to first treatment (TTFT) and overall survival (OS) were significantly longer than observed previously, and this is at least partly due to improved therapeutic options. Deletion 13q remains the most favourable prognostic group with median TTFT and OS from fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) testing of 72 months and &gt;12 years, respectively. Deletion 11q had the poorest median TTFT (22 months) and 17p deletion the poorest median OS (5 years). The percentages of abnormal nuclei were significantly associated with differential TTFT for the trisomy 12, 13q and 17p deletion cohorts but not for the 11q deletion cohort. From the date of the first FISH study, patients with &gt;85% 13q deletion nuclei had a notably shorter TTFT (24 months). Patients with ≤20% 17p deletion nuclei had longer median TTFT and OS from the date of the first FISH study (44 months and 11 years), and were more likely to be IGHV mutated

P-198 Circulating microRNAs in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients (pts) treated with regorafenib

Abstract not availabl

The Dohner fluorescence in situ hybridization prognostic classification of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL): the CLL Research Consortium experience

Summary This study revisited the Dohner prognostic hierarchy in a cohort of 1585 well-documented patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. The duration of both time to first treatment (TTFT) and overall survival (OS) were significantly longer than observed previously, and this is at least partly due to improved therapeutic options. Deletion 13q remains the most favourable prognostic group with median TTFT and OS from fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) testing of 72 months and >12 years, respectively. Deletion 11q had the poorest median TTFT (22 months) and 17p deletion the poorest median OS (5 years). The percentages of abnormal nuclei were significantly associated with differential TTFT for the trisomy 12, 13q and 17p deletion cohorts but not for the 11q deletion cohort. From the date of the first FISH study, patients with >85% 13q deletion nuclei had a notably shorter TTFT (24 months). Patients with ≤20% 17p deletion nuclei had longer median TTFT and OS from the date of the first FISH study (44 months and 11 years), and were more likely to be IGHV mutated