117 research outputs found
Undecidability and the Evolution of Ideas in an Emergency Event: An Example of How to Systemically Test Organizational Effectiveness (OE) in University Groups
The location of this research is the university, through which we are progressively channeled into a seemingly insoluble Gordian knot. What is our participation in the university and what cultural and human commitments inform this participation? More trivially, what rights and duties does the individual acquire or lose within his or her academic identities? Our main target was finding an ideal organizational practice to examine, such as an emergency event. What strategy can the university adopt? Can it realign its distortions and retain its resources? How and in what ways? What information is needed for this purpose? Which actors are relevant in this process? A systemic survey model is, therefore, presented to analyze data obtained from a sample of 200 respondents from various academic groups, including students, professors, administrative staff, and other stakeholders. Quotas were used for the primary challenge posed by the pictures representing dimensions according to a systemic schema of organizational effectiveness (OE). Respondents were then asked to judge the dimensions and pictures against their personal capacity for intellectual identity, functionalism, and materialism. During the test, the participants were expected to develop their capacity to approach phenomenal consciousness and the search for its neural correlates, thereby becoming familiar with the high-order demands and challenges posed by the current information available to them. A nine-item interval behaviorally anchored rating scale (BARS) was used to develop a systemic matrix that could show the participants' collective OE when an emergency event occurs at the university. This study aims to stimulate a broader investigation into the preparation of programs and plans that should be a priority today in the context of sustainability in educational institutions, thereby setting useful thresholds on decision-making paths. To develop the collective model, a matrix generated by each respondents' dimensional modal values (DMVs) in the test and the overall samples' modal values (OMMVs) were used. Borrowing from Luce's theory of probability, we analyzed the similarity of the OE university matrix from the results in descending order, restricting our attention to modal values which were chosen for the test and demonstrate how the learning model was formulated to assume that each group with evolved behavior could respond adaptively to a conditional function thanks to its permanence in a university environment
The Role of a Condominium’s Association in Adapting, Complying, and Self-Reducing Anxiety in Response to COVID-19 Precautionary Measures
Our article is part of a micro-inquiry into the small reality of co-ownership to formulate hypotheses on the evaluation of behaviors (non-pharmaceutical precautionary measures) in addition to pharmaceutical actions put in place by the authorities against future pandemics. Our article takes its first steps in the fact that one of the most common ways to fight the COVID-19 virus is to avoid close contact between people. Indeed, our condominium meetings have been canceled at the first COVID-19 vague (in late February 2020), and social distancing as well as the use of masks and hand sanitizer in the concierge are measures still adopted at the end of 2022. External people (parents, visitors in general, and patients from the three health offices housed in the condominium) have been reduced, and certain businesses, such as bed and breakfasts, which were operating until 2019, had been closed following the first vague of COVID-19 pandemics. The general condominium association has been centralized under the conscious direction of the doorman led by the administrator of the condominium and a support lawyer. Stray animals at the foot of the condominium and fed by a couple of residents have been reduced to the strict minimum. On a sample of 39 people questioned and from an age range between 17 and 93 years, actually residing in the condominium and excluding those members of families who do not actually reside there, we inquired how the risk of COVID-19 infection has decreased over the past year (December 2021-December 2022). The useful variables to determine the correlations between the precautionary behaviors adopted by the co-owners and a possible reduction in the risk of infection are: 1) size of the family (self-observed); 2) level of education (self-observed); 3) professional status (self-observed); 4) salary (self-observed); 5) travel history (self-observed); 6) annual charity (self-observed estimate); 7) confidence in sustainability (interviews via mobile chat); 8) doses of vaccines already taken to the time of the survey (interviews via mobile chat); and 9) depressive symptoms (interviews via mobile chat). Our survey targets to highlight how residents’ safety in the case of one of the most recent periods of COVID-19 pandemics—i. e. the starting winter season 2022‒2023—is somehow safeguarded by cooperative games because of condominiums rules’ fulfillment as well as by socio-juridical precautionary measures taken by the ruling association
Oral necrotizing microvasculitis in a patient affected by Kawasaki disease
Kawasaki disease (KD) was first described in 1967 by Kawasaki, who defined it as ?mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome?. KD is an acute systemic vasculitis, which mainly involves medium calibre arteries; its origin is unknown, and it is observed in children under the age of 5, especially in their third year. The principal presentations of KD include fever, bilateral nonexudative conjunctivitis, erythema of the lips and oral mucosa, changes in the extremities, rash, and cervical lymphadenopathy. Within KD, oral mucositis ? represented by diffuse mucous membrane erythema, lip and tongue reddening and lingual papillae hypertrophy with subsequent development of strawberry tongue ? can occur both in the acute stage of the disease (0-9 days), and in the convalescence stage (>25 days) as a consequence of the pharmacological treatment. KD vascular lesions are defined as systemic vasculitis instead of systemic arteritis. This study analyzed the anatomical-pathological substrata of oral mucositis in a baby affected by Kawasaki disease and suddenly deceased for cardiac tamponade caused by coronary aneurysm rupture (sudden cardiac death of a mechanical type)
Ascites and resistance to immune checkpoint inhibition in dMMR/MSI-H metastatic colorectal and gastric cancers
Gastrointestinal neoplasms; Immunotherapy; Tumor biomarkersNeoplasias gastrointestinales; Inmunoterapia; Biomarcadores tumoralesNeoplĂ sies gastrointestinals; ImmunoterĂ pia; Biomarcadors tumoralsBackground Despite unprecedented benefit from immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in patients with mismatch repair deficient (dMMR)/microsatellite instability high (MSI-H) advanced gastrointestinal cancers, a relevant proportion of patients shows primary resistance or short-term disease control. Since malignant effusions represent an immune-suppressed niche, we investigated whether peritoneal involvement with or without ascites is a poor prognostic factor in patients with dMMR/MSI-H metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) and gastric cancer (mGC) receiving ICIs.
Methods We conducted a global multicohort study at Tertiary Cancer Centers and collected clinic-pathological data from a cohort of patients with dMMR/MSI-H mCRC treated with anti-PD-(L)1 ±anti-CTLA-4 agents at 12 institutions (developing set). A cohort of patients with dMMR/MSI-high mGC treated with anti-PD-1 agents±chemotherapy at five institutions was used as validating dataset.
Results The mCRC cohort included 502 patients. After a median follow-up of 31.2 months, patients without peritoneal metastases and those with peritoneal metastases and no ascites had similar outcomes (adjusted HR (aHR) 1.15, 95% CI 0.85 to 1.56 for progression-free survival (PFS); aHR 0.96, 95% CI 0.65 to 1.42 for overall survival (OS)), whereas inferior outcomes were observed in patients with peritoneal metastases and ascites (aHR 2.90, 95% CI 1.70 to 4.94; aHR 3.33, 95% CI 1.88 to 5.91) compared with patients without peritoneal involvement. The mGC cohort included 59 patients. After a median follow-up of 17.4 months, inferior PFS and OS were reported in patients with peritoneal metastases and ascites (aHR 3.83, 95% CI 1.68 to 8.72; aHR 3.44, 95% CI 1.39 to 8.53, respectively), but not in patients with only peritoneal metastases (aHR 1.87, 95% CI 0.64 to 5.46; aHR 2.15, 95% CI 0.64 to 7.27) when compared with patients without peritoneal involvement.
Conclusions Patients with dMMR/MSI-H gastrointestinal cancers with peritoneal metastases and ascites should be considered as a peculiar subgroup with highly unfavorable outcomes to current ICI-based therapies. Novel strategies to target the immune-suppressive niche in malignant effusions should be investigated, as well as next-generation ICIs or intraperitoneal approaches
Analisi statistica dei casi di intossicazione rilevati al Pronto Soccorso dell'Ospedale dei Bambini G. di Cristina di Palermo nel periodo 2011-2015
Lo Studio affronta l'incidenza dei casi di intossicazione riscontrati, nel periodo 2011- 2015 , presso l'Ospedale dei Bambini G. di Cristina di Palermo. Lo scopo è di identificare gli agenti eziologici più frequenti e la relativa incidenza nel periodo preso in esame
Epidemiological assessment of Respiratory Syncytial Virus infection in hospitalized infants, during the season 2005–2006 in Palermo, Italy
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Objectives</p> <p>Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is the leading cause of hospitalization for lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI) in young children worldwide.</p> <p>We evaluate the epidemiological and clinical patterns of RSV infection in infants hospitalized for LRTI in in Palermo, South Italy, Sicily.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We collected the demographic details of infants hospitalized to G. Di Cristina Children's Hospital in Palermo for LRTI between November 2005 and May 2006. We also included all cases occurred in newborns hospitalized in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) Of Palermo.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>During the studied period, 335/705 hospitalized infants for LRTI were enrolled in the study. The trend of hospitalization started in late winter and lasting until May 2006 with an epidemic peak in spring. 178/335 infants tested for viral infection showed RSV disease. Three cases occurred in preterm newborns hospitalized from birth in NICU. The likelihood to be RSV+, rather than RSV negative (RSV-) was higher for infants < 6 months and lower for infants with history of breast feeding (P < 0.05). RSV infection was associated with a higher likelihood to be admitted to intensive care unit and to a longer hospitalization and oxygen therapy.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The study shows that, in Sicily, RSV is an important cause of LRTI in infants. The seasonal distribution shows that both LRTI and RSV infections peak in late spring, in contrast to Northern Italy. Our data could help to define the regional appropriate start of prophylactic interventions.</p
Sensory Processing Disorders in Children and Adolescents: Taking Stock of Assessment and Novel Therapeutic Tools
Pharmacogenomic evaluation of single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with oxaliplatin-induced peripheral neuropathy: a preliminary study
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Assessment of oppositional defiant disorder and oppositional behavior in children and adolescents with Down syndrome
IntroductionChildren and adolescents with intellectual disability (ID) exhibit higher rates of oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) than typically developing (TD) peers. However, studies focusing on the investigation of ODD prevalence in youth with Down syndrome (DS) are still limited.MethodsThe current study aimed to investigate the prevalence of ODD clinical and subclinical symptoms in a group of 101 youth with DS (63 boys, 38 girls) ranging in age from 6 to 18 years. Moreover, the prevalence of ODD symptoms, as detected by means of three parent-report questionnaires, was compared with that detected by a semi-structured psychopathological interview, namely, the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School Aged Children Present and Lifetime (K-SADS) Version Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5 (DSM-5).ResultsWe found that 17% of participants met diagnostic criteria for ODD on the K-SADS, whereas 24% exhibited subclinical symptoms. Results also suggest good specificity of Swanson, Nolan, and Pelham-IV Rating Scale (SNAP-IV), Conners’ Parent Rating Scales Long Version (CPRS) and Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) in detecting ODD symptoms. The investigation of the agreement in the prevalence rates of clinical and subclinical symptoms of ODD between K-SADS and the parent-report questionnaires indicated CPRS as the parent-report questionnaire with the best agreement with K-SADS.DiscussionThis study provides support for the use of parent-report questionnaires to assess ODD symptoms in children and adolescents with DS by evaluating their levels of agreement with a semi-structured psychopathological interview. In particular, our results suggest that CPRS could be considered a suitable screening tool for ODD clinical and subclinical symptoms in youth with DS
The impact of multidisciplinary team management on outcome of hepatic resection in liver-limited colorectal metastases
Hepatic resection is the gold standard treatment for patients affected by liver-limited colorectal metastases. Reports addressing the impact of multidisciplinary team (MDT) evaluation on survival are controversial. The aim of this study was to evaluate the benefit of MDT management in these patients in our Institution experience. The objective of the analysis was to compare survivals of patients managed within our MDT (MDT cohort) to those of patients referred to surgery from other hospitals without MDT discussion (non-MDT cohort). Of the 523 patients, 229 were included in the MDT cohort and 294 in the non-MDT cohort. No difference between the two groups was found in terms of median overall survival (52.5 vs 53.6 months; HR 1.13; 95% CI, 0.88–1.45; p = 0.344). In the MDT cohort there was a higher number of metastases (4.5 vs 2.7; p < 0.0001). The median duration of chemotherapy was lower in MDT patients (8 vs 10 cycles; p < 0.001). Post-operative morbidity was lower in the MDT cohort (6.2 vs 21.5%; p < 0.001). One hundred and ninety-seven patients in each group were matched by propensity score and no significant difference was observed between the two groups in terms of OS and DFS. Our study does not demonstrate a survival benefit from MDT management, but it allows surgery to patients with a more advanced disease. MDT assessment reduces the median duration of chemotherapy and post-operative morbidities
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