Serum Biomarkers of Renal Fibrosis: A Systematic Review

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a widely diffuse pathological condition which deeply impacts upon an affected patient’s quality of life and its worldwide rate is predicted to further rise. The main biological mechanism underlying CKD is renal fibrosis, a non-reversible process representing, for the affected system, a point of no return of tissue damage and dysfunction, deeply reducing the possible therapeutic strategies at the disposal of physicians. The best tool clinicians can use to address the extent of renal fibrosis at any level (glomeruli, tubule-interstitium, vasculature) is kidney biopsy that, despite its overall safety, remains an invasive procedure showing some shortcomings. Thus, the identification of novel non-invasive renal fibrosis biomarkers would be of fundamental importance. Here, when systematically reviewing the available evidence on serological biomarkers associated with renal fibrosis evaluated in patients suffering from CKD in the last five years, we found that despite the presence of several promising biomarkers, the level of observed evidence is still very scattered. Probably, the use of multiple measures capable of addressing different aspects involved in this condition would be the most suitable way to capture the high complexity characterizing the renal fibrotic process, having consequently a great impact on clinical practice by maximizing prevention, diagnosis, and management

Well-being among Italian medical oncologists: An exploratory study

Background: Recently, attention has been focused on physicians' stress and quality-of-life improvement. Due to their relationship with patients, oncologists in particular are overloaded physically, emotionally and psychologically. Previous studies showed that training of communication skills improves the satisfaction and well-being of physicians and patients. Aims: Our research investigates the relationship between work stress and engagement and personal well-being in physicians working in Italian hospitals. Materials and Methods: 176 physicians were included. Doctors filled out self-report questionnaires to evaluate work stress and coping strategies, personal well-being, work engagement and two purpose-built scales to measure the degree of perceived organizational support and the level of specific training of social and relational skills. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze data, as well as correlation analysis (Pearson's r), hierarchical regression analysis (enter step) and analysis of variance (one-way ANOVA). Result: Positive and significant correlations were found between variables. Moreover, physicians who obtained higher levels of specific training on social and relational skills reported lower levels of stress. Oncologists experienced greater stress than other physicians in terms of maladaptive coping and lack of additional training. Conclusions: The study suggests that physicians' well-being is mediated by professional aspects, such as social skills in relationships with patients.M

The Potential Health Benefits of Polyphenol-Rich Extracts from Cichorium intybus

Phytochemicals can exert their bioactivity without reaching the systemic circulation; scarcely absorbed antioxidants might reach the large bowel contributing to protection from oxidative damage-induced gastrointestinal diseases. In the present work, we aimed to study the relationship between potential activity of polyphenol-rich extracts from Cichorium intybus L. and changes in morphological characteristics on Caco-2 cells. Phytochemicals content (carotenoids and flavonoids) and total antioxidant activity of Red Chicory of Treviso and Variegated Chicory of Castelfranco were evaluated. The bioactivity of polyphenol-rich extracts from chicories was studied in in vitro Caco-2 cell monolayers model. Morphological characteristics changes to test the antioxidant and/or prooxidant effect were verified by histological analysis and observed by Electronic Scansion Microscopy (SEM). On Caco-2 cell model, the polyphenols fractions from chicories have indicated a moderate antioxidant behavior until 17 μM concentration, while 70 μM and 34 μM exert cytotoxic effects for Treviso’s and Castelfranco’s Chicory, respectively, highlighted by TEER decreasing, increased permeability, and alteration of epithelium. Our findings support the beneficial effects of these products in counteracting the oxidative stress and cellular damage, induced in vitro on Caco-2 cell model, through interaction with the mucopolysaccharide complexes in the glycocalyx, maintaining in vivo a healthy and effective intestinal barrier

Alari fittili nell’Etruria centro-meridionale tra contesti abitativi, santuariali e di tipo rituale

A differenza degli alari metallici, che provengono quasi esclusivamente da contesti funerari, gli alari fittili in territorio etrusco sono attestati soprattutto dal Bronzo finale fino al V sec. a.C. e sono restituiti esclusivamente da contesti di abitato, votivi, e da santuari. Il presente contributo tenta di individuare una classificazione tipologica dei manufatti rinvenuti nell’Etruria tirrenica, prendendo in esame anche reperti inediti. In particolare, si individuano alcune fogge che sembrano giunte in Etruria in seguito a contatti tra l’area medio-danubiana dei Campi di Urne attraverso il tramite dell’Italia nord-occidentale.   In contrast to metallic firedogs, found almost entirely in funerary contexts, ceramic firedogs are attested in the Etruscan territory especially from the Late Bronze Age until the V century B.C. These are found in settlements, votive contexts and sanctuaries. This paper tries to set up a typological classification of ceramic firedogs manufactured in Southern Etruria, both published as well as some unpublished finds. Certain types of firedogs, in particular, seem to proceed from cultural contacts with the Middle-Danube Urnfield culture, through the North-Western italic area.A differenza degli alari metallici, che provengono quasi esclusivamente da contesti funerari, gli alari fittili in territorio etrusco sono attestati soprattutto dal Bronzo finale fino al V sec. a.C. e sono restituiti esclusivamente da contesti di abitato, votivi, e da santuari. Il presente contributo tenta di individuare una classificazione tipologica dei manufatti rinvenuti nell’Etruria tirrenica, prendendo in esame anche reperti inediti. In particolare, si individuano alcune fogge che sembrano giunte in Etruria in seguito a contatti tra l’area medio-danubiana dei Campi di Urne attraverso il tramite dell’Italia nord-occidentale.   In contrast to metallic firedogs, found almost entirely in funerary contexts, ceramic firedogs are attested in the Etruscan territory especially from the Late Bronze Age until the V century B.C. These are found in settlements, votive contexts and sanctuaries. This paper tries to set up a typological classification of ceramic firedogs manufactured in Southern Etruria, both published as well as some unpublished finds. Certain types of firedogs, in particular, seem to proceed from cultural contacts with the Middle-Danube Urnfield culture, through the North-Western italic area

Academic Workload: quando il prof va in sovraccarico

La valutazione dello stress lavoro-correlato consiste probabilmente in una delle migliori occasioni per favorire lo sviluppo delle organizzazioni in direzione di un migliore riequilibrio tra gli obiettivi delle stesse e i bisogni di benessere dei lavoratori che le abitano. In Italia questa occasione di sviluppo, dalla attuazione del D.lgs. 81 del 2008, in effetti stenta un po' a prendere forma, soprattutto a causa di una certa ritrosia, da parte delle organizzazioni lavorative, a voler affrontare i cosiddetti rischi psicosociali che una valutazione approfondita consentirebbe di far emergere con chiarezza. Sono molti gli accademici che negli ultimi anni hanno prestato il loro contributo scientifico e professionale alla comprensione dei metodi attraverso i quali prevenire questi rischi nelle organizzazioni: da buoni dottori che non curano se stessi, però, poco è stato fatto per comprendere a quali rischi psicosociali siano esposti i docenti universitari. Il presente contributo vuole affrontare il tema del cosiddetto Academic Workload (Houston, Meyer & Paewai, 2006), inteso come complesso carico di lavoro e responsabilità individuali che negli ultimi anni le ricerche segnalano essere notevolmente incrementato nella nostra professione (Tight, 2010). Nella procedura di valutazione messa a punto presso l'Ateneo di Palermo si è infatti deciso di procedere, senza attendere l'esito della valutazione preliminare, alla valutazione approfondita, coinvolgendo attraverso metodologie qualitative una quota di lavoratori e, attraverso la somministrazione di un questionario, tutta la popolazione. Alla rilevazione hanno risposto circa 2/3 dei soggetti intervistati, tra i quali 417 tra docenti e ricercatori dell'Ateneo. Tra le scale utilizzate è stata inserita una misura dell'Academic Workload (Boyd & Wylie, 1994), insieme ad alcune scale del Questionnaire On The Experience And Evaluation Of Work (vanVeldhoven & Meijman, 1994) e del General Health Questionnaire (Goldberg, 1978). I risultati mostrano una chiara incidenza dello stato di sovraccarico manifestato dai docenti sul livello di coinvolgimento lavorativo e sul benessere generale

Emotional Dissonance in workplaces: differences between jobs and perceived well-being

Purpose. According with a recent EU-OSHA research, among the sources of major stress on workplaces there is some connected to emotional regulation, such as "having to deal with difficult customers, patients, pupils, etc. (58%). Hochschild (1983) called emotional labour the process by which employees manage their emotions to meet organizationally mandated emotional display rules or norms concerning. When an employee must express an emotion he or she does not feel, is lead to emotional dissonance, that affect well-being (Sheldon et al., 1997). The aim of this work is to explore how the emotional dissonance affect the personal well-being in a sample of italian workers differentiated by sector, and the mediating role of the perceived organizational resources. Methodology. To assess work demands, resources, and outcomes we used the italian version of Questionnaire on Experience and Assessment of Work (QEEW, van Veldhoven & Broersen, 1999; Pace et. al., 2010); to assess the emotional dissonance we used a scale originally developed by Brotheridge and Lee (2003); to assess psychological strain we used the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12, Goldberg and Williams, 1988). We collected 371 subjects from many different companies (public/state-owned companies and private companies, representing different economic sectors and productive). We conducted multiple regression and mediation analyses. Results and conclusions. We found that scales connected with emotional labour and emotional dissonance were connected with psycological strain measures in different ways, depending on the level of contact with customers, patients, or pupils. The mediation of personal and organizational resources has a different role, depending on how workers have to deal with "difficult" people. Limitations. The cross-sectional nature of this research. Research/Practical Implications. Future research directions are discussed in order to advance our understanding about solutions that minimize the connection between emotional dissonance and strain