Clinical Features, Cardiovascular Risk Profile, and Therapeutic Trajectories of Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Candidate for Oral Semaglutide Therapy in the Italian Specialist Care

Introduction: This study aimed to address therapeutic inertia in the management of type 2 diabetes (T2D) by investigating the potential of early treatment with oral semaglutide. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted between October 2021 and April 2022 among specialists treating individuals with T2D. A scientific committee designed a data collection form covering demographics, cardiovascular risk, glucose control metrics, ongoing therapies, and physician judgments on treatment appropriateness. Participants completed anonymous patient questionnaires reflecting routine clinical encounters. The preferred therapeutic regimen for each patient was also identified. Results: The analysis was conducted on 4449 patients initiating oral semaglutide. The population had a relatively short disease duration (42%  60% of patients, and more often than sitagliptin or empagliflozin. Conclusion: The study supports the potential of early implementation of oral semaglutide as a strategy to overcome therapeutic inertia and enhance T2D management

Gender Differences in the Psychopathology of Obesity: How Relevant Is the Role of Binge Eating Behaviors?

© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Background: Obesity is a condition that affects humans both physically and mentally. Moreover, many psychopathological conditions can be observed in obese patients that may threaten the positive outcomes of bariatric surgery. Purpose: The aim of this study was to identify the main psychopathological correlates of obese candidates for bariatric surgery, with particular attention on the relationship between psychopathology and gender. Methods: In total, 273 candidates for bariatric surgery for obesity underwent a psychiatric evaluation using a compilation of psychometric scales: the Revised Symptom Checklist 90-R (SCL-90-R), the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q), the Binge Eating Scale (BES), the Body Uneasiness Test (BUT) and the Obesity-Related Well-Being (ORWELL 97). The sample was divided on the basis of gender and binge eating disorder (BED) severity. Comparisons between the groups were performed using an analysis of variance model (ANOVA) or a Pearson’s chi-squared test. Further, we also divided our sample into a severe binge eating group (score > 27), a mild to moderate group (18 score 26) and a low/no symptoms group (score 17). Results: Male and female subjects showed different results for the BES, with higher scores reported among women (17.50 ± 9.59) compared to men (14.08 ± 8.64). Women also showed higher scores across most of the SCL-90-R domains and worse outcomes in terms of quality of life. Both women and men in the severe binge eating group reported higher scores for the SCL-90-R. Conclusion: The symptoms of BED, along with body image dissatisfaction (BID), are among the most important to investigate for candidates for bariatric surgery in order to improve the surgery outcomes. Level of evidence: Level III as the evidence came from a cohort analytic study.Peer reviewe

Beneficial effects of Rocchetta® oligomineral water in HaCaT keratinocytes after ultraviolet-B irradiation

Background: Several reports have previously suggested that oligomineral water may have a beneficial immunomodulatory role in skin physiology. However, molecular, and cellular mechanisms through which oligo-elements act in cutaneous trophism have not yet been fully clarified. Among the external stimuli that affect the skin, ultraviolet (UV) radiation, which is frequently encountered in everyday life, is a major environmental factor of skin damage. Keratinocytes are the major target of UV, and they play a key role in a first line of body defenses. Accumulating evidence suggests that UVB irradiation induces nuclear DNA damage, membrane destruction, resulting in apoptosis and skin inflammation. The aim of this study was to investigate the anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antiapoptotic effects of Rocchetta® oligomineral (Co.Ge.Di. International SpA, Rome, Italy) water in UVB-irradiated immortalized human keratinocytes. Methods: HaCaT UVB-irradiated was cultured with increasing concentrations of Rocchetta® oligomineral water. To evaluate the anti-inflammatory properties gene expression of TNF, IL1β, IL6, COX2 and Caspase1 was performed. Moreover, the antiapoptotic effects were evaluated through gene expression of GADD45, Caspase3 and RIPK3. Finally, we evaluated the antioxidant activity of Rocchetta® oligomineral water by measuring total ROS/RNS and superoxide production as markers of oxidative stress after UVB irradiation. Results: Our findings have shown that Rocchetta® oligomineral water is well tolerated by the cells and displays anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antiapoptotic proprieties when used prior keratinocyte UVB irradiation. Conclusions: Our results highlight a possible protective role of Rocchetta oligomineral water in modulating the cutaneous inflammatory response to external triggers and injuries

Misure critiche. Nuova Serie. A. 12, n. 1 (2013)

N.S. A. 12, n. 1 (2013) : Porcaro M., Vivere la felicità. Psicologia epicurea, P. 5 ; Colucci D., “La Terre Australe connue” di Gabriel de Foigny: tracce dell’evoluzione del genere utopico nel “Grand Siècle”, P. 18 ; Tavazzi V. G. A., Per un’interpretazione del ruolo di Chiari nelle gare teatrali: nuovi apporti documentari, P. 54 ; De Caprio V., Nel Lazio si scoprono le mura dei Pelasgi. I “Viaggi” di Marianna Dionigi (1757-1826), P. 69 ; Pellegrino R., Raymond Roussel: dilatazione semantica di segni e parole, P. 97 ; Conti C., Una lettura intertestuale della “Voce nella tempesta” di Beppe Fenoglio, P. 109 ; Milone A. M., “Ti voglio bene I love you”: il ‘code switching’ come rappresentazione dell’esperienza del viaggiatore, P. 126 ; Palmieri G., Libri e “organizzazione della cultura” nell’Abruzzo della Restaurazione, P. 139 ; Moliterni F., Su “Michele Saponaro cinquant’anni dopo”, P. 147 ; Tuscano P., Un antropologo-scrittore: “Pietre di pane” di Vito Teti, P. 153 ; Iannaco D., “Giovanna d’Arco” di Maria Luisa Spaziani, P. 166 ; Di Lorenzo L., recensione a, Paolo Di Somma, Attualità di Dante. Rileggendo la Divina Commedia nell’anno del Giubileo del 2000, Napoli, Ferraro 2012, P. 173 ; Di Lorenzo E., recensione a, Aniello Montano, Sermo civilis. Note di etica pubblica tra storia e vita, Avellino, Delta3 Edizioni 2012, P. 176 ; Laudiero S., recensione a, Cristiana Anna Addesso, Teatro e festività nella Napoli aragonese, Firenze, Olschki 2012, P. 179 ; Carpanè L., recensione a, Laudio Achillini, Poesie (1632), edizione anastatica, a cura di Angelo Colombo, Roma, Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura, Roma 2010, P.182 ; Ferrauto E., recensione a, Oltre la Serenissima. Goldoni, Napoli e la cultura meridionale, a cura di Antonia Lezza e Anna Scannapieco, Napoli, Liguori 2012, P. 184 ; Savorgnan di Brazzà F., recensione a, Antonio Vallisneri, Che ogni italiano debba scrivere in lingua purgata italiana, a cura di Dario Generali, Firenze, Olschki 2013, P. 187 ; Grasso I., recensione a, Ramon Miquel I Planas, La leggenda del libraio assassino di Barcellona, a cura di Valentina Ripa, Napoli, Libreria Dante & Descartes 2012, P. 189 ; Laudiero S., recensione a, Cristiana Anna Addesso, Emilio Mastriani, Rosario Mastriani, Che somma sventura è nascere a Napoli! Bio-bibliografia di Francesco Mastriani, Roma, Aracne 2012, P. 191 ; Di Gennaro P., recensione a, Time and the Short Story, a cura di Maria Teresa Chialant e Marina Lops, Bern, Peter Lang 2012, P. 193 ; Sabbatino M., recensione a, Giovanni Alessi, Linda Barcaioli, Toni Marino, Scrittori e pubblicità. Storia e teorie, a cura di Giovanna Zaganelli, Bologna, Logo Fausto Lupetti 2011, P. 196 ; Moliterni F., recensione a, Giuseppe Lupo, Vittorini politecnico, Milano, Franco Angeli 2011, P. 198 ; Sabbatino M., recensione a, Giovanna Bemporad, Esercizi vecchi e nuovi, a cura di Valentina Russi, Bologna, Luca Sossella Editore 2011, P. 200 ; Lucia C., recensione a, Giancarlo Dotto, Elogio di Carmelo Bene. A dieci anni dalla scomparsa, Napoli, Tullio Pironti 2012, P. 202 ; Sabbatino M., recensione a, Dario Fo, Il Boccaccio riveduto e scorretto, con disegni e dipinti dell’autore, a cura di Franca Rame, Parma, Guanda 2011, P. 203 ; Leone G., recensione a, Aleria Giannantonio, Il canto del silenzio, Lanciano, Carabba 2012, P. 205 ; Di Lorenzo E., recensione a, Salvatore De Stefano, Pecilodia vesevina, Napoli, Massa 2012, P. 207 ; Sabbatino M., recensione a, Ugo Piscopo, Idilli napoletani. Il possibile che diventa impossibile, Napoli, Guida, 2012, P. 210 ; Sabbatino M., recensione a, Stefano Piedimonte, Nel nome dello Zio, Parma, Guanda 2012, P. 211 ; de Santis M.I., recensione a, Domenico Di Palo, Le relazioni, Foggia, Bastogi 2012, P. 213 ; Napoli, A., recensione a, Alessandro Moscè, Il talento della malattia, Roma, Avagliano 2012, P. 214 ; Di Lorenzo E., recensione a, Ianfranco Ravasi, Guida ai naviganti. Le risposte della fede, Milano, Arnoldo Mondadori Editore 2012, P. 215 ; Comparini A., recensione a, Stefano Carrai, Il tempo che non muore, Novara, Interlinea 2012, P. 217

Timing of Symptoms of Early-Onset Sepsis after Intrapartum Antibiotic Prophylaxis: Can It Inform the Neonatal Management?

The effectiveness of “inadequate” intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis (IAP administered E. coli culture-confirmed EOS cases. IAP was defined “active” when the pathogen yielded in cultures was susceptible. We identified 263 EOS cases (GBS = 191; E. coli = 72). Among GBS EOS, 25% had received IAP (always active when beta-lactams were administered). Most IAP-exposed neonates with GBS were symptomatic at birth (67%) or remained asymptomatic (25%), regardless of IAP duration. Among E. coli EOS, 60% were IAP-exposed. However, IAP was active in only 8% of cases, and these newborns remained asymptomatic or presented with symptoms prior to 6 h of life. In contrast, most newborns exposed to an “inactive” IAP (52%) developed symptoms from 1 to >48 h of life. The key element to define IAP “adequate” seems the pathogen’s antimicrobial susceptibility rather than its duration. Newborns exposed to an active antimicrobial (as frequently occurs with GBS infections), who remain asymptomatic in the first 6 h of life, are likely uninfected. Because E. coli isolates are often unsusceptible to beta-lactam antibiotics, IAP-exposed neonates frequently develop symptoms of EOS after birth, up to 48 h of life and beyond

Energy content and carbon emission audit of building materials

The main thesis examined in this research is that "the embedded energy of construction is much more significant than the operational energy for buildings in a tropical country such as Sri Lanka". All building elements (e.g. brickwall), materials (e.g. bricks) and "primitive" raw materials (e.g. clay) are placed in an aggregation-decomposition hierarchy. The process analysis carried out here basically captures most of the energy inputs associated with levels 1 and 2 in the IFIAS (1974) scheme, and accounts for around 90% of the embedded energy in a product. These calculations are based on Tonnes of Oil Equivalent (TOE). The data required to estimate these embedded energies were collected from building materials manufacturers. A computerised database was implemented using a relational database management system. This can be used to represent and calculate the embedded energies and carbon coefficients of building materials and elements that are hierarchically arranged. It can also handle multiple sources of data and perform calculations to give the average, maximum and minimum embedded energies, which are also classified according to fuel type and process stage. Though the analysis was done assuming that the final building is located in the City of Colombo, these database values can be used, with some caution, for buildings even outside the Colombo City or District. The embedded energy requirements were also calculated on the basis of the lowest quality energy (bio-equivalent energy), in addition to the more conventional basis of TOE. According to energy quality calculations carried out (based on efficiency considerations), 1GJ of energy from electricity is equivalent to 5 GJ of biomass energy, 1 GJ of fossil fuel energy is equivalent to 1.8 GJ of biomass energy and 1 GJ of electrical energy is equivalent to 2.78 GJ of fossil fuel energy. It is seen that the price per unit of biomass energy based on the actual prices of products is around one third of the actual price per unit of biomass energy. For fossil fuel and electricity on the other hand, the actual prices of products are much higher than the actual prices of the energy sources used for their production. In order to minimise adverse energy effects and to give a beneficial effect to halting global warming, policy measures to promote timber products are desirable. It is also seen that though materials which use timber fuels (e.g. bricks and tiles) consume more energy, the use of timber fuels is more competitive when compared on a bio-equivalent unit basis. Furthermore, with respect to carbon emissions, wood fuels are considered to be self sustaining. The use of timber, whether as a construction material or a fuel, will require properly planned re-forestation strategies. The energy contribution from walls for a typical two storey house is from 10 - 44%; for a single storey house it is from 29 - 49%. The contribution from roofs for the two storey house is from 4 - 7%, whereas it is 8 - 16% for the single storey house. The contribution from windows is 0.6 - 3% for the single storey house and 0.2 - 4.5% for the two storey. house. The contribution from the floor slab for the two storey house is 6 - 7%. The above ranges are a result of the difference of the between the use of low and high energy materials. The ratio between total embedded energy and annual operational energy for the buildings selected lies between 14 to 35 for the houses while for an office building with air conditioning loading it is 5. Though air conditioning has a large contribution towards the annual operational energy of a building, the total number of air conditioned buildings are small for a developing country such as Sri Lanka. Nevertheless, the results of the analysis show that the focus of energy efficient designs for buildings with air conditioning has to be on the operational energy. On the other hand, for houses, which are largely not air conditioned, the way to promote efficiency is by reducing the embedded energy through the appropriate choice of building materials. This is borne out not only by the high ratio of construction to operational energy ratio obtained, but also by the fact that the ratios for houses with low energy materials is almost half those for the houses with high energy materials. Key Words : Embedded Energy, Process Analysis, Building Materials, Carbon Emissions, Energy Databas

Infections in liver and lung transplant recipients: a national prospective cohort

Infections are a major complication of solid organ transplants (SOTs). This study aimed to describe recipients\ue2\u80\u99 characteristics, and the frequency and etiology of infections and transplant outcome in liver and lung SOTs, and to investigate exposures associated to infection and death in liver transplant recipients. The study population included recipients of SOTs performed in Italy during a 1-year period in ten Italian lung transplant units and eight liver transplant units. Data on comorbidities, infections, retransplantation, and death were prospectively collected using a web-based system, with a 6-month follow-up. The cumulative incidence of infection was 31.7% and 47.8% in liver and lung transplants, respectively, with most infections occurring within the first month after transplantation. Gram-negatives, which were primarily multidrug-resistant, were the most frequent cause of infection. Death rates were 0.42 per 1000 recipient-days in liver transplants and 1.41 per 1000 recipient-days in lung transplants. Infection after SOT in adult liver recipients is associated to an increased risk of death (OR = 13.25; p-value < 0.001). Given the frequency of infection caused by multidrug-resistant microorganisms in SOT recipients in Italy and the heavy impact of infections on the transplant outcome, the reinforcement of surveillance and control activities to prevent the transmission of multidrug-resistant microorganisms in SOT recipients represents a priority. The implementation of the study protocol in liver and lung transplant units and the sharing of results have increased the awareness about the threat due to antimicrobial resistance in the country