Is first-line antimicrobial therapy still adequate to treat MRSA in the ICU? A report from a highly endemic country

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Comparison of Content in Phenolic Compounds and Antioxidant Capacity in Grains of White, Red, and Black Sorghum Varieties Grown in the Mediterranean Area

orghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) is a gluten-free cereal with many varieties containing greater amounts of bioactive compounds than other grains. In this work, the phenolic composition and antioxidant capacity were compared in three sorghum varieties grown in the Mediterranean, consisting of different pericarp colors: white, red, and black. The qualitative and quantitative profiles of acidified aqueous methanol extracts of whole grain sorghum flours were elucidated through ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) coupled to photodiode array (PDA) and ion trap time-of-flight (IT-TOF) mass spectrometry. The investigated sorghum varieties contained polyamines, such as spermidines, and polyphenolic compounds belonging to different classes: hydroxycinnamic acids, flavanols, flavones, and flavanones. Pyrano-flavanone-flavanols were detected only in the black sorghum. Precolumn and postcolumn 2,2′-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH)· radical scavenging assays to determine the main antioxidant compounds isolated from sorghum were developed. These results will further help develop sorghum varieties containing polyphenols relevant to the potential prevention of human diseases

Multicenter research into the quality of life of patients with advanced oropharyngeal carcinoma with long-term survival associated with human papilloma virus

The treatment of advanced-stage oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma may utilize various modes, including combining surgery with chemoradiotherapy (CTRT), or primary CTRT followed by rescue surgery. In previous literature it has been revealed how patients treated with combined modes report a low quality of life (QoL) and severe consequences following surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, in the short and in the long-term. The decrease in the QoL of patients treated with high-intensity multi-modal strategies highlights the necessity of modifying treatments, particularly for young HPV-positive patients, where an increased survival rate has already been reported. The modified treatment for HPV-positive tumors in the tonsils and at the base of the tongue is based on the deintensification of therapies aiming to reduce toxicity and thereby improve QoL in the long term, whilst still maintaining therapeutic effectiveness. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the QoL in patients with a long-term survival, who were treated with combined therapy for squamous cell tumors in the tonsils and at the base of the tongue, and to compare the results observed in HPV-positive and HPV-negative patients. According to statistical analysis, differences in the general QoL and in the single scales of the European Organization for the Research and Treatment of Cancer questionnaires were not correlated with the type of therapy selected for the particular patient. QoL considered the presence of HPV, the type of treatment, the subregion of the tonsils vs. the base of the tongue and the disease stage at the time of diagnosis, and was determined to be non-influential with regard to these specific variables

Cap de Forma (Minorca): la navigazione nel Mediterraneo occidentale dall'età del Bronzo all'età del Ferro: nota preliminare

Nel II Congresso Internazionale di Studi Fenici e Punici, venne presentata una comunicazione sui problemi degli insediamenti litoranei nell'Isola di Minorca, nel loro contesto insulare ed in relazione ad altri simili impianti costieri di Maiorca e delle Pitius. Da quel momento è stato avviato un progetto di studio dei siti archeologici dei siti archeologici delle Isole Baleari, in particolare degli insediamenti costieri, e l'attività sul campo si è concentrata nella ripulitura e nell'inizio del rilevamento grafico delle strutture di Cap de Forma, Maó (2-9 settembre 1991)

A Geological Itinerary Through the Southern Apennine Thrust-Belt (Basilicata—Southern Italy)

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Adjuvant Therapy of Nivolumab Combined With Ipilimumab Versus Nivolumab Alone in Patients With Resected Stage IIIB-D or Stage IV Melanoma (CheckMate 915)

PURPOSE Ipilimumab and nivolumab have each shown treatment benefit for high-risk resected melanoma. The phase III CheckMate 915 trial evaluated adjuvant nivolumab plus ipilimumab versus nivolumab alone in patients with resected stage IIIB-D or IV melanoma. PATIENTS AND METHODS In this randomized, double-blind, phase III trial, 1,833 patients received nivolumab 240 mg once every 2 weeks plus ipilimumab 1 mg/kg once every 6 weeks (916 patients) or nivolumab 480 mg once every 4 weeks (917 patients) for <= 1 year. After random assignment, patients were stratified by tumor programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression and stage. Dual primary end points were recurrence-free survival (RFS) in randomly assigned patients and in the tumor PD-L1 expression-level < 1% subgroup. RESULTS At a minimum follow-up of approximately 23.7 months, there was no significant difference between treatment groups for RFS in the all-randomly assigned patient population (hazard ratio, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.77 to 1.09; P = .269) or in patients with PD-L1 expression < 1% (hazard ratio, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.73 to 1.14). In all patients, 24-month RFS rates were 64.6% (combination) and 63.2% (nivolumab). Treatment-related grade 3 or 4 adverse events were reported in 32.6% of patients in the combination group and 12.8% in the nivolumab group. Treatment-related deaths were reported in 0.4% of patients in the combination group and in no nivolumab-treated patients. CONCLUSION Nivolumab 240 mg once every 2 weeks plus ipilimumab 1 mg/kg once every 6 weeks did not improve RFS versus nivolumab 480 mg once every 4 weeks in patients with stage IIIB-D or stage IV melanoma. Nivolumab showed efficacy consistent with previous adjuvant studies in a population resembling current practice using American Joint Committee on Cancer eighth edition, reaffirming nivolumab as a standard of care for melanoma adjuvant treatment

Insight in cognitive impairment assessed with the Cognitive Assessment Interview in a large sample of patients with schizophrenia

The Cognitive Assessment Interview (CAI) is an interview-based scale measuring cognitive impairment and its impact on functioning in subjects with schizophrenia (SCZ). The present study aimed at assessing, in a large sample of SCZ (n = 601), the agreement between patients and their informants on CAI ratings, to explore patients' insight in their cognitive deficits and its relationships with clinical and functional indices. Agreement between patient- and informant-based ratings was assessed by the Gwet's agreement coefficient. Predictors of insight in cognitive deficits were explored by stepwise multiple regression analyses. Patients reported lower severity of cognitive impairment vs. informants. A substantial to almost perfect agreement was observed between patients' and informants' ratings. Lower insight in cognitive deficits was associated to greater severity of neurocognitive impairment and positive symptoms, lower severity of depressive symptoms, and older age. Worse real-life functioning was associated to lower insight in cognitive deficit, worse neurocognitive performance, and worse functional capacity. Our findings indicate that the CAI is a valid co-primary measure with the interview to patients providing a reliable assessment of their cognitive deficits. In the absence of informants with good knowledge of the subject, the interview to the patient may represent a valid alternative