What factors influence training opportunities for older workers? Three factorial surveys exploring the attitudes of HR professionals

The core research questions addressed in this paper are: what factors influence HR professionals in deciding whether to approve training proposals for older workers? What kind of training are they more likely to recommend for older employees and in which organizational contexts? We administered three factorial surveys to 66 HR professionals in Italy. Participants made specific training decisions based on profiles of hypothetical older workers. Multilevel analyses indicated that access to training decreases strongly with age, while highly-skilled older employees with low absenteeism rates are more likely to enjoy training opportunities. In addition, older workers displaying positive performance are more likely to receive training than older workers who perform poorly, suggesting that training late in working life may serve as a reward for good performance rather than as a means of enhancing productivity. The older the HR professional evaluating training proposals, the higher the probability that older workers will be recommended for training. keywords: training; older workers; HR professionals; factorial survey; multilevel model

Clinical phenotype and mortality in patients with idiopathic small bowel villous atrophy: a dual-centre international study

Objective Causes of small-bowel villous atrophy (VA) include coeliac disease (CD), its complications and other rare non-coeliac enteropathies. However, forms of VA of unknown aetiology may also exist. We defined them as idiopathic VA (IVA). To retrospectively classify the largest cohort of IVA patients and compare their natural history with CD. Methods Notes of 76 IVA patients attending two tertiary centres between January 2000 and March 2019 were retrospectively reviewed. CD, its complications and all the known causes of VA were excluded in all of them. Persistence of VA during follow-up and lymphoproliferative features were used to retrospectively classify IVA, as follows. Group 1: IVA with spontaneous histological recovery (50 patients). Group 2: persistent IVA without lymphoproliferative features (14 patients). Group 3: persistent IVA with lymphoproliferative features (12 patients). Survival was compared between IVA groups and 1114 coeliac patients. HLA was compared between IVA patients, coeliac patients and appropriate controls. Results Five-year survival was 96% in IVA group 1, 100% in IVA group 2, 27% in IVA group 3 and 97% in CD. On a multivariate analysis hypoalbuminemia (P = 0.002) and age at diagnosis (P = 0.04) predicted mortality in IVA. Group 2 showed association with HLA DQB1*0301 and DQB1*06. Conclusion IVA consists of three groups of enteropathies with distinct clinical phenotypes and prognoses. Mortality in IVA is higher than in CD and mainly due to lymphoproliferative conditions necessitating more aggressive therapies

Primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma (PMLBCL): long-term results from a retrospective multicentre Italian experience in 138 patients treated with CHOP or MACOP-B/VACOP-B

The optimal treatment of primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma (PMLBCL) is still undefined. In the absence of randomised studies, we retrospectively analysed: (a) the effectiveness of two chemotherapy regimens (CHOP vs MACOP-B/VACOP-B) in complete remission (CR) achievement and event-free survival (EFS) and (b) the role of mediastinal involved-field radiotherapy (IF-RT) as consolidation. From 1982 to 1999, 138 consecutive patients affected by PMLBCL were treated in 13 Italian institutions with CHOP (43) or MACOP-B/VACOP-B (95). The two groups of patients were similar as regard to age, gender, presence of bulky mediastinal mass, pleural effusion, stage and international prognostic indexes category of risk. Overall, 75.5% of patients in CR received IF-RT as consolidation. Complete remission was 51.1% in the CHOP group and 80% in MACOP-B/VACOP-B (P<0.001). Relapse occurred in 22.7% of CHOP- and in 9.2% of MACOP-B/VACOP-B-treated patients (n.s.). Event-free patients were 39.5% in CHOP and 75.7% in the MACOP-B/VACOP-B group (P<0.001). The addition of IF-RT as consolidation improved the outcome, irrespectively of the type of chemotherapy (P=0.04). At a multivariate analysis, achievement of CR (P<0.0001) and type of CT (MACOP-B/VACOP-B) retained the significance for OS (P=0.008) and EFS (P=0.03). In our experience, MACOP-B/VACOP-B appears to positively influence OS and EFS in patients affected by PMLBCL, as compared to CHOP. Consolidation IF-RT on mediastinum further improves the outcome of CR patients

Gray zones around diffuse large B cell lymphoma. Conclusions based on the workshop of the XIV meeting of the European Association for Hematopathology and the Society of Hematopathology in Bordeaux, France

The term “gray-zone” lymphoma has been used to denote a group of lymphomas with overlapping histological, biological, and clinical features between various types of lymphomas. It has been used in the context of Hodgkin lymphomas (HL) and non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL), including classical HL (CHL), and primary mediastinal large B cell lymphoma, cases with overlapping features between nodular lymphocyte predominant Hodgkin lymphoma and T-cell/histiocyte-rich large B cell lymphoma, CHL, and Epstein–Barr-virus-positive lymphoproliferative disorders, and peripheral T cell lymphomas simulating CHL. A second group of gray-zone lymphomas includes B cell NHL with intermediate features between diffuse large B cell lymphoma and classical Burkitt lymphoma. In order to review controversial issues in gray-zone lymphomas, a joint Workshop of the European Association for Hematopathology and the Society for Hematopathology was held in Bordeaux, France, in September 2008. The panel members reviewed and discussed 145 submitted cases and reached consensus diagnoses. This Workshop summary is focused on the most controversial aspects of gray-zone lymphomas and describes the panel’s proposals regarding diagnostic criteria, terminology, and new prognostic and diagnostic parameters

Histopathology of nodal and extranodal non-hodgkin's lymphomas

This volume - Histopathology of Nodal and Extranodal Non-Hodgkin's Lymphomas - is an expanded and completely revised edition, now based on the WHO classification. The parallels to the updated Kiel classification and the REAL classification are indicated. The information is organized in organ-specific chapters, comprising the well-known nodal lymphoma entities as well as all known extranodal lymphomas and the different organ-specific clinico-pathological entities: lymphomas of the spleen, the gastrointestinal tract, the skin, etc. In addition to the morphology, the major immunohistochemical, molecular genetic, and clinical data are included in each chapter