30 research outputs found

    Health Pedagogy and Narrative-based Strategies to Promote Healthy Eating Behaviours and Prevent Obesity in Schoolchildren: an Experimental Protocol Designed in Salento

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    Overweight and obesity in paediatric population are becoming serious public health problems, reaching epidemic proportions in the world and being recognized as the "new pandemic of the twenty first century". Food choices and nutritional habits are strictly linked to the cultural dimension of communities and symbolic representations of food. Even in Italy, young generations are moving away from the culture of Mediterranean Diet (MD) – recognized as Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO – being at risk of losing both their identity and the health benefits associated with MD. In this frame, health pedagogy (i.e. nutritional education) can play a fundamental role in promoting the adoption of healthy eating behaviours since childhood, addressing at the same time such crucial binomials as food-health and environment-sustainability. In the last decades, a huge variety of school-based obesity prevention programs have been introduced. Among those, according to scientific evidence, narrative-based strategies may be helpful in promoting healthy nutritional habits among schoolchildren. Actually, narration is a useful tool in didactic practice, impacting on the emotional and motivational dimension of learning, thus represent-ing a valuable vehicle of health contents. On these bases, as DREAM Laboratory of Health Pedagogy, we have proposed to the Department of Prevention of the Local Health Authority ASL Lecce – specifically involving the Food Hygiene and Nutrition Service (SIAN) – to implement a research protocol aimed at assessing if narrative-based strategies could be more effective than other educational approaches in promoting the adoption of healthy eating behaviours among schoolchildren

    Different Treatments of Symptomatic Angiomyolipomas of the Kidney: Two Case Reports

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    Development of more sensitive imaging techniques has caused an increase in the number of diagnosed small renal tumors. Approximately 2–3% of these lesions are proved to be angiomyolipomas (AML), a rare benign tumor of the kidney sometimes causing pain and hematuria. The most required approach is observation, but in the case of recurrent symptoms or larger tumors, which may cause bleeding, a more active treatment is required. We present two cases of symptomatic AML tumors of different sizes in the kidney: one treated with transarterial embolization (TAE), and the other with percutaneous cryoablation (CRA). The lesions were diagnosed on the basis of contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) scan and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Both treatments proved to be effective and safe for treating renal AMLs. A follow-up carried out, based on contrast-enhanced CT scan, confirmed complete treatment of AML and decreased lesion size. There are myriad minimally invasive approaches for the treatment of renal AMLs, and the preservation of renal function remains a priority. The most popular treatment option is the selective renal artery embolization. Owing to its limited invasiveness, CRA could be an attractive option for the preventive treatment of AML

    Subcellular localization and phosphorylation of phosphoinositide-phospholipase C γ1 correlate with breast cancer invasiveness

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    Activation of the enzyme phosphoinositide-phospholipase C γ1 (PLCγ1) is thought to play a critical role in both cytoskeletal changes and migration associated with the metastatic process. Activation of PLCγ1 by phosphorylation can occur downstream of many tyrosine kinase receptors including epidermal growth factor receptor, vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2, c-MET, platelet-derived growth factor receptor, and also certain integrins. Activation induces hydrolysis of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-biphosphate to form the second messengers diacylglycerol and inositol-1,4,5-triphosphate, which in turn activate a number of signalling pathways. PLCγ1 is highly expressed in several tumours, including breast carcinomas in which the enzyme has been shown to be required for epidermal growth factor induced migration of breast cancer cells. In order to establish the significance of PLCγ1 subcellular localization and phosphorylation (PLCγ1-pY783 and PLCγ1-pY1253) in breast cancer, we compared, through the use of different methods, two different breast cancer models: the low-tumorigenic BT-474 cell line and MDA-MB-231 cell line which represents a more aggressiveness de-differentiated cell type, obtained from a pleural effusion from a patient
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