Acceleration-induced nonlocality: kinetic memory versus dynamic memory

The characteristics of the memory of accelerated motion in Minkowski spacetime are discussed within the framework of the nonlocal theory of accelerated observers. Two types of memory are distinguished: kinetic and dynamic. We show that only kinetic memory is acceptable, since dynamic memory leads to divergences for nonuniform accelerated motion.Comment: LaTeX file, 6 PS figures, 34 page

Knowledge, attitudes, and behavior concerning dental trauma among parents of children attending primary school

BACKGROUND: Traumatic dental injuries occur frequently in children and adolescents. The purpose of the present study is to examine the levels of knowledge and behaviors regarding dental trauma among parents of children attending primary schools in the Apulia region of Italy. METHODS: The study was carried out using an anonymous questionnaire with closed answers distributed to 2,775 parents who were enrolled based on the entire regional school population. Analyses were conducted using the PROC CORRESP (procedure to perform multiple correspondence analysis) and PROC FASTCLUS (procedure to perform cluster analysis). Statistical significance was set at p-value <0.05. RESULTS: A total 15.5% of the sample reported that their children had experienced dental trauma. Overall, 53.8% of respondents stated that they knew what to do in cases of dental injury. Regarding the time limit within which it is possible to usefully intervene for dental trauma, 56.8% of respondents indicated "within 30 minutes". Of the total sample, 56.5% knew how to preserve a displaced tooth. A total 62.9% of parents felt it was appropriate for their children to use dental guards during sports activities. The multivariate analysis showed that wrong knowledge are distributed among all kinds of subject. Parents with previous experience of dental trauma referred right behaviours, instead weak knowledge and wrong behaviours are associated with parents that easily worried for dental events. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that most parents reported no experience of dental trauma in their children, and half of them did not know what to do in case of traumatic dental injury and they would intervene within 30 minutes, suggesting that dental trauma may trigger panic. However, they did not have the information needed to best assist the affected child. Motivating parents to assume a preventive approach towards dental trauma may produce positive changes that would result an increase of long-term health benefits among both parents and children

The Routes of Administration for Acute Postoperative Pain Medication

Effective treatment of postoperative acute pain, together with early mobilization and nutrition, is one of the perioperative strategies advocated to improve surgical outcome and reduce the costs of hospitalization. Moreover, adequate pain control reduces perioperative morbidity related to surgical stress and can also prevent the incidence of chronic postoperative pain syndromes, whose treatment is still a challenge. The choice of the most appropriate analgesics depends not only on the drug class, but also on the most suitable route of administration, the best dosage for that route, and unique limitations and contraindications for every patient. In the present review, a comprehensive analysis was performed on the different routes of administration of acute postoperative pain medications and their indications and limitations, focusing on recent evidence and international recommendations

MicroRNA-551b expression profile in low and high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the expression of microRNA (miR)-551b in patients with low and high grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and to find an association with high-risk Human Papillomavirus (HR-HPV) infection-related prognostic biomarkers. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The expression level of miR-551b was determined in 50 paraffin-embedded cervical specimens (10 normal squamous epithelium, 18 condylomas, 8 CIN1, and 14 CIN2-3) using quantitative Real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). χ2-test compared miR-551b expression in different diagnosis groups. An Ordered Logistic Regression and a Probit correlation were made to correlate miR-551b expression levels with the cervical tissue histological findings. The immunohistochemical distribution of p16 and Ki-67 according to histopathological findings was also assessed. RESULTS: The distribution of the miR-551b expression profile was significantly lower in CIN1-3 samples compared to other histological diagnosis groups (condyloma and negative). The expression levels were inversely correlated to the cervical pathological grade, from negative to CIN2-3. A 1% increase in miR-551b expression level produced an increase of 19% to the probability of a minor histological grade diagnosis in a range from negative to CIN2-3 and an increase of 13% to the probability of a negative histological grade diagnosis. Among the cases with miR-551b expression < 0.02 (considered as cut-off value) a significant statistical correlation was found between p16 and Ki-67 expression and the diagnosis of CIN2-3. CONCLUSIONS: O ur d ata s howed a s ignificant inverse correlation between miR-551b expression and the histological grading of the lesions, suggesting a tumor suppressive function in the different stages of cervical dysplasia

Distal renal tubular acidosis: a systematic approach from diagnosis to treatment

Renal tubular acidosis (RTA) comprises a group of disorders in which excretion of hydrogen ions or reabsorption of filtered HCO3 is impaired, leading to chronic metabolic acidosis with normal anion gap. In the current review, the focus is placed on the most common type of RTA, Type 1 RTA or Distal RTA (dRTA), which is a rare chronic genetic disorder characterized by an inability of the distal nephron to secrete hydrogen ions in the presence of metabolic acidosis. Over the years, knowledge of the molecular mechanisms behind acid secretion has improved, thereby greatly helping the diagnosis of dRTA. The primary or inherited form of dRTA is mostly diagnosed in infancy, childhood, or young adulthood, while the acquired secondary form, as a consequence of other disorders or medications, can happen at any age, although it is more commonly seen in adults. dRTA is not as “benign” as previously assumed, and can have several, highly variable long-term consequences. The present review indeed reports and summarizes both clinical symptoms and diagnosis, long-term outcomes, genetic inheritance, epidemiology and current treatment options, with the aim of shedding more light onto this rare disorder. Being a chronic condition, dRTA also deserves attention in the transition between pediatric and adult nephrology care, and as a rare disease it has a place in the European and Italian rare nephrological diseases network

Carboplatin, nab-paclitaxel plus atezolizumab in Impower 130 trial: New weapons beyond controversies

Letter to edito

Micro-Scale Analysis and Simulation on the behavior of a component in Al-6061during ballistic impact: 3D acquisition and FE model

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Pilot study on the antibacterial activity of hydrogen peroxide and silver ions in the hospital environment

BACKGROUND: Nosocomial environmental contamination plays an important role in the transmission of several health care-associated pathogens. Control of surfaces contamination can reduce the risk of cross-infection in hospitals. The aim of our study is to evaluate the disinfectant effectiveness of hydrogen peroxide and silver ions, against nosocomial multidrug-resistant strains, when it's used directly on surfaces. METHODS: Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 15442 and the same multidrug-resistant clinical isolates were selected to study the effectiveness of the disinfectant used in suspension or on the clean and dirty surface. RESULTS: Regarding the suspension activity test, the hydrogen peroxide and silver ions resulted effective after 5 min for ATCC strains and after 10 min for multidrug-resistant isolates; about the surface activity test, its action resulted after 10 min for ATCC strains and after 15 min for multidrug-resistant isolates. Moreover, it was more effective when used in the absence or in presence of a low concentration of biological materials. CONCLUSIONS: In a complex environment such as hospital wards, to have a disinfectant notoriously effective but more easy and quick to use would be an useful solution to treat small surfaces occasionally contaminated by biological materials

Genetic counseling during COVID-19 pandemic: Tuscany experience

Background: COVID-19 outbreak prompted health centres to reorganize their clinical and surgical activity. In this paper, we show how medical genetics department's activity, in our tertiary pediatric hospital, has changed due to pandemic. Methods: We stratified all our scheduled visits, from March 9th through April 30th, and assessed case-by-case which genetic consultations should be maintained as face-to-face visit, or postponed/switched to telemedicine. Results: Out of 288 scheduled appointments, 60 were prenatal consultations and 228 were postnatal visits. We performed most of prenatal consultations as face-to-face visits, as women would have been present in the hospital to perform other procedures in addition to our consult. As for postnatal care, we suspended all outpatient first visits and opted for telemedicine for selected follow-up consultations: interestingly, 75% of our patients’ parents revealed that they would have cancelled the appointment themselves for the fear to contract an infection. Conclusions: Spread of COVID-19 in Italy forced us to change our working habits. Given the necessity to optimize healthcare resources and minimize the risk of in-hospital infections, we experienced the benefits of telegenetics. Current pandemic made us familiar with telemedicine, laying the foundations for its application to deal with the increasing number of requests in clinical genetics