Validity and reliability of the Questionnaire of Olfactory Disorders for Italian-speaking patients with olfactory dysfunction

Objective: To translate and validate an Italian version of the Questionnaire of Olfactory Disorders (IT-QOD). Materials and methods: This is a prospective, multicentre study that involved patients with olfactory dysfunction (OD). Both cases and controls underwent administration of the IT-QOD, Sino-Nasal Outcome Test-22 (SNOT-22) and psychophysical evaluation of orthonasal and retronasal olfactory function. Results: The IT-QOD was administered to 96 patients and 38 controls. The Cronbach's alpha exceeded 0.90, indicating satisfactory internal consistency. The test-retest reliability was found to be high for both parosmia (rs = 0.944) and life quality (rs = 0.969). Patients with OD had significantly higher IT-QOD scores compared to healthy individuals (p < 0.001), indicating strong internal validity. The external validity was also satisfactory, as shown by the significant correlation with SNOT-22 (rs = -0.54) and the threshold, discrimination, and identification score (rs = -0.63). Conclusions: The IT-QOD was demonstrated to be reliable and valid to assess the impact of OD on the quality of life of Italian-speaking patients

Medical-surgical management and clinical outcome in cervical abscesses.

Introduction: This study aims at defining through a retrospective evaluation, the clinical parameters affecting the clinical course and consequently the management of patients presenting with cervicofacial abscesses. Methodology: A total of 394 patients diagnosed with abscess at the University of Sassari Otorhinolaryngology Division between 2009 and 2017 were included; among these, eleven patients were diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis. Personal and clinical parameters including the LRINEC score and the medical and/or surgical treatment used were analyzed for each patient. The most frequently affected site was the peritonsillar space (76.9%), followed by the parapharyngeal space. Results: Mean age was 41(±17) years, the male population was slightly overrepresented (68%). An average of 6 (±7) days of hospitalization duration was recorded. The mortality rate was confirmed to be relatively low (1/349 patients) and was reported only in one patient diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis (1/11). Conclusion: Diagnosis, correct clinical definition and early medical-surgical treatment of neck abscesses were crucial to reduce complications; LRNEC score, C-reactive protein, glycemia and creatininemia proved to be reliable prognostic indicators of difficult patient management and risk of complications

Have There Been any Changes in the Epidemiology and Etiology of Maxillofacial Trauma During the COVID-19 Pandemic? An Italian Multicenter Study

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has had a significant impact on people's behavior. The aim of this study has been to evaluate how the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has impacted the incidence and the features of maxillofacial fractures presented at 6 Italian tertiary centers. Clinical records of all the patients diagnosed for facial fractures between February 23 and May 23, 2019 and 2020 were retrospectively reviewed. Any differences in patient number and characteristics and fracture etiology and site between the 2 groups were then statistically analyzed.There has been a 69.1% decrease in the number of incoming patients during the pandemic. The number of foreign patients has decreased significantly (23.3% versus 9.6%, P\u200a=\u200a0.011) while the average age has increased (38.6 versus 45.6 years old, P\u200a=\u200a0.01). Specific statistical significant differences for accidental falls (31.8% versus 50.1%, P\u200a=\u200a0.005) and sports injuries (16.9% versus 1.4%, P\u200a&lt;\u200a0.001) were found. Concerning fracture sites, significant differences have been found in relation to nasal (22.5% versus 11.4%, P\u200a=\u200a0.009) and frontal sinus (0.9% versus 4.4%, P\u200a=\u200a0.037) fractures. In conclusion, SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has significantly changed the epidemiology and the etiology of facial traumas

BioHackathon series in 2011 and 2012: penetration of ontology and linked data in life science domains

The application of semantic technologies to the integration of biological data and the interoperability of bioinformatics analysis and visualization tools has been the common theme of a series of annual BioHackathons hosted in Japan for the past five years. Here we provide a review of the activities and outcomes from the BioHackathons held in 2011 in Kyoto and 2012 in Toyama. In order to efficiently implement semantic technologies in the life sciences, participants formed various sub-groups and worked on the following topics: Resource Description Framework (RDF) models for specific domains, text mining of the literature, ontology development, essential metadata for biological databases, platforms to enable efficient Semantic Web technology development and interoperability, and the development of applications for Semantic Web data. In this review, we briefly introduce the themes covered by these sub-groups. The observations made, conclusions drawn, and software development projects that emerged from these activities are discussed

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements

Search for massive, long-lived particles using multitrack displaced vertices or displaced lepton pairs in pp collisions at √s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Many extensions of the Standard Model posit the existence of heavy particles with long lifetimes. This article presents the results of a search for events containing at least one long-lived particle that decays at a significant distance from its production point into two leptons or into five or more charged particles. This analysis uses a data sample of proton-proton collisions at √s=8  TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.3  fb−1 collected in 2012 by the ATLAS detector operating at the Large Hadron Collider. No events are observed in any of the signal regions, and limits are set on model parameters within supersymmetric scenarios involving R-parity violation, split supersymmetry, and gauge mediation. In some of the search channels, the trigger and search strategy are based only on the decay products of individual long-lived particles, irrespective of the rest of the event. In these cases, the provided limits can easily be reinterpreted in different scenarios