Short-Term Survival and Postoperative Complications Ratesin Horses Undergoing Colic Surgery: A Multicentre Study

The occurrence of colic could be influenced by the characteristics of a population, geograph-ical area, and feeding management. The aim of this study was to report the short-term postoperativecomplications and survival rates and to identify factors that might affect the outcome of horses thatunderwent colic surgery in three Italian surgical referral centres. Data of horses subjected to colicsurgery in three referral centres (2018–2021) were analysed. Comparisons of the outcomes wereperformed using a Mann–Whitney or a Chi square test. Areas under the receiver operating character-istic (ROC) curve and multivariable logistic regression analysis were used for parameters that weresignificant in the previous univariate analysis. The goodness-of-fit of the model was assessed usingthe Akike information criterion (AIC). Significance was defined asp< 0.05, and odds ratios and 95%confidence intervals were calculated as percentages. A total of 451 horses were included. The survivalrate was 68.5% of all of the horses that underwent colic surgery and 80% of the horses survivinganaesthesia. Age, BCS, PCV and TPP before and after surgery, amount of reflux, type of disease, typeof lesion, duration of surgery, surgeon’s experience, and amount of intra- and postoperative fluidsadministered influenced the probability of short-term survival. The multivariate analysis revealedthat PCV at arrival, TPP after surgery, and BCS had the highest predictive power. This is the firstmulticentre study in Italy. The results of this study may help surgeons to inform owners regardingthe prognosis of colic surgery

Risk adjusted mortality after hip replacement surgery: A retrospective study

Introduction. Hip replacement (HR) operations are increasing. Short term mortality is an indicator of quality; few studies include risk adjustment models to predict HR outcomes. We evaluated in-hospital and 30-day mortality in hospitalized patients for HR and compared the performance of two risk adjustment algorithms. Materials and methods. A retrospective cohort study on hospital discharge records of patients undergoing HR from 2000 to 2005 in Tuscany Region, Italy, applied All-Patient Refined Diagnosis Related Groups (APR-DRG) and Elixhauser Index (EI) risk adjustment models to predict outcomes. Logistic regression was used to analyse the performance of the two models; C statistic (C) was used to define their discriminating ability. Results. 25 850 hospital discharge records were studied. In-hospital and 30-day crude mortality were 1.3% and 3%, respectively. Female gender was a significant (p < 0.001) protective factor under both models and had the following Odds Ratios (OR): 0.64 for in-hospital and 0.51 for 30-day mortality using APR-DRG and 0.55 and 0.48, respectively, with EI. Among EI comorbidities, heart failure and liver disease were associated with in-hospital (OR 9.29 and 5.60; p < 0.001) and 30-day (OR 6.36 and 3.26; p < 0.001) mortality. Increasing age and APR-DRG risk class were predictive of all the outcomes. Discriminating ability for in-hospital and 30-day mortality was reasonable with EI (C 0.79 and 0.68) and good with APR-DRG (C 0.86 and 0.82). Conclusions. Our study found that gender, age, EI comorbidities and APR-DRG risk of death are predictive factors of in-hospital and 30-day mortality outcomes in patients undergoing HR. At least one risk adjustment algorithm should always be implemented in patient management

De novo mutations in SMCHD1 cause Bosma arhinia microphthalmia syndrome and abrogate nasal development

Bosma arhinia microphthalmia syndrome (BAMS) is an extremely rare and striking condition characterized by complete absence of the nose with or without ocular defects. We report here that missense mutations in the epigenetic regulator SMCHD1 mapping to the extended ATPase domain of the encoded protein cause BAMS in all 14 cases studied. All mutations were de novo where parental DNA was available. Biochemical tests and in vivo assays in Xenopus laevis embryos suggest that these mutations may behave as gain-of-function alleles. This finding is in contrast to the loss-of-function mutations in SMCHD1 that have been associated with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) type 2. Our results establish SMCHD1 as a key player in nasal development and provide biochemical insight into its enzymatic function that may be exploited for development of therapeutics for FSHD

A multiscale model of virus pandemic: Heterogeneous interactive entities in a globally connected world

This paper is devoted to the multidisciplinary modelling of a pandemic initiated by an aggressive virus, specifically the so-called SARS–CoV–2 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, corona virus n.2. The study is developed within a multiscale framework accounting for the interaction of different spatial scales, from the small scale of the virus itself and cells, to the large scale of individuals and further up to the collective behaviour of populations. An interdisciplinary vision is developed thanks to the contributions of epidemiologists, immunologists and economists as well as those of mathematical modellers. The first part of the contents is devoted to understanding the complex features of the system and to the design of a modelling rationale. The modelling approach is treated in the second part of the paper by showing both how the virus propagates into infected individuals, successfully and not successfully recovered, and also the spatial patterns, which are subsequently studied by kinetic and lattice models. The third part reports the contribution of research in the fields of virology, epidemiology, immune competition, and economy focussed also on social behaviours. Finally, a critical analysis is proposed looking ahead to research perspectives.publishedVersionFil: Bellomo, Nicola. Universidad de Granada. Departamento de Matemática Aplicada; España.Fil: Bingham, Richard. University of York. Departments of Mathematics and Biology. Cross-disciplinary Centre for Systems Analysis; United Kingdom.Fil: Chaplain, Mark A. J. University of St Andrews. School of Mathematics and Statistics; Scotland.Fil: Dosi, Giovanni. Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna. Institute of Economics and EMbeDS; Italia.Fil: Forni, Guido. Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei; Italia.Fil: Knopoff, Damian A. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Matemática, Astronomía, Física y Computación; Argentina.Fil: Knopoff, Damian A. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas de Argentina. Centro de Investigacion y Estudios de Matematica; Argentina.Fil: Lowengrub, John. University California Irvine. Department of Mathematics; United States.Fil: Twarock, Reidun. University of York. Departments of Mathematics and Biology. Cross-disciplinary Centre for Systems Analysis; United Kingdom.Fil: Virgillito, Maria Enrica.Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna. Institute of Economics and EMbeDS; Italia

Hepatocyte Growth Factor-mediated satellite cells niche perturbation promotes development of distinct sarcoma subtypes

Embryonal Rhabdomyosarcoma (ERMS) and Undifferentiated Pleomorphic Sarcoma (UPS) are distinct sarcoma subtypes. Here we investigate the relevance of the satellite cell (SC) niche in sarcoma development by using Hepatocyte Growth Factor (HGF) to perturb the niche microenvironment. In a Pax7 wild type background, HGF stimulation mainly causes ERMS that originate from satellite cells following a process of multistep progression. Conversely, in a Pax7 null genotype ERMS incidence drops, while UPS becomes the most frequent subtype. Murine EfRMS display genetic heterogeneity similar to their human counterpart. Altogether, our data demonstrate that selective perturbation of the SC niche results in distinct sarcoma subtypes in a Pax7 lineage-dependent manner, and define a critical role for the Met axis in sarcoma initiation. Finally, our results provide a rationale for the use of combination therapy, tailored on specific amplifications and activated signaling pathways, to minimize resistance emerging from sarcomas heterogeneity. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.12116.00

Looking for new paradigms towards a biological-mathematical theory of complex multicellular systems

This paper deals with the development of new paradigms based on the methods of the mathematical kinetic theory for active particles to model the dynamics of large systems of interacting cells. Interactions are ruled, not only by laws of classical mechanics, but also by a few biological functions which are able to modify the above laws. The paper technically shows, also by reasoning on specific examples, how the theory can be applied to model large complex systems in biology. The last part of the paper deals with a critical analysis and with the indication of research perspectives concerning the challenging target of developing a biological-mathematical theory for the living matte

What is the in-host dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 virus? A challenge within a multiscale vision of living systems

This paper deals with the modeling and simulation of the in-host dynamics of a virus. The modeling approach is developed according to the idea that mathematical models should go beyond deterministic single-scale population dynamics by taking into account the multiscale, heterogeneous features of the complex system under consideration. Here we consider modeling the competition between the virus, the epithelial cells it infects, and the heterogeneous immune system with evolving activation states that induce a range of different effects on virus particles and infected cells. The subsequent numerical simulations show different types of model outcomes: from virus elimination, to virus persistance and periodic relapse, and virus uncontrolled growth that triggers a blow-up in the fully-activated immune response. The simulations also show the existence of a threshold in the immune response that separates the regimes of higher re-infections from lower re-infections (compared to the magnitude of the first viral infection)

Analisi ambientale per un progetto di sviluppo turistico

Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche - Biblioteca Centrale - P.le Aldo Moro, 7 Rome / CNR - Consiglio Nazionale delle RichercheSIGLEITItal