Focal Epilepsy Associated with Glioneuronal Tumors

Glioneuronal tumors are an increasingly recognized cause of partial seizures that occur primarily in children and young adults. Focal epilepsy associated with glioneuronal tumors is often resistant to pharmacological treatment. The cellular mechanisms underlying the epileptogenicity of glioneuronal tumors remain largely unknown. The involved mechanisms are certain to be multifactorial and depend on specific tumor histology, integrity of the blood-brain barrier, characteristics of the peritumoral environment, circuit abnormalities, or cellular and molecular defects. Glioneuronal tumors presenting with epilepsy were observed to have relatively benign biological behavior. The completeness of the tumor resection is of paramount importance in avoiding tumor progression and malignant transformation, which are rare in cases of epileptogenic glioneuronal tumors. An evolving understanding of the various mechanisms of tumor-related epileptogenicity may also lead to a more defined surgical objective and effective therapeutic strategies, including antiepileptogenic treatments, to prevent epilepsy in at-risk patients

Cannabis Essential Oil: A Preliminary Study for the Evaluation of the Brain Effects

We examined the effects of essential oil from legal (THC <0.2% w/v) hemp variety on the nervous system in 5 healthy volunteers. GC/EIMS and GC/FID analysis of the EO showed that the main components were myrcene and β-caryophyllene. The experiment consisted of measuring autonomic nervous system (ANS) parameters; evaluations of the mood state; and electroencephalography (EEG) recording before treatment, during treatment, and after hemp inhalation periods as compared with control conditions. The results revealed decreased diastolic blood pressure, increased heart rate, and significant increased skin temperature. The subjects described themselves as more energetic, relaxed, and calm. The analysis EEG showed a significant increase in the mean frequency of alpha (8–13 Hz) and significant decreased mean frequency and relative power of beta 2 (18,5–30 Hz) waves. Moreover, an increased power, relative power, and amplitude of theta (4–8 Hz) and alpha brain waves activities and an increment in the delta wave (0,5–4 Hz) power and relative power was recorded in the posterior region of the brain. These results suggest that the brain wave activity and ANS are affected by the inhalation of the EO of Cannabis sativa suggesting a neuromodular activity in cases of stress, depression, and anxiety

Low elasticity of thyroid nodules at ultrasound elastography is correlated with malignancy, degree of fibrosis and high expression of galectin-3 and fibronectin-1

ackground: Thyroid ultrasound (US) elastography provides an estimation of tissue stiffness and is helpful to differentiate malignant from benign lesions. Tissue proprieties and molecules causing stiffness are not established. The aim of the study was to correlate US elastography findings with tissue properties in thyroid nodules. Methods: A total of 115 thyroid nodules from 112 patients who underwent surgery for the presence of Thy 3 (indeterminate) cytology (n = 67), Thy 4-5 (suspicious - indicative of carcinoma) cytology (n = 47), or large goiter in the presence of Thy 2 cytology (n = 1) and suspicious US features were examined by US elastography. Tissues obtained after surgery were characterized for cell number, microvessel density, fibrosis, and expression of galectin-3 (Gal-3) and fibronectin-1 (FN-1). Results: Low elasticity on qualitative US elastography (LoEl) was found in 66 nodules (one benign and 65 carcinomas); high elasticity (HiEl) was found in 49 nodules (46 benign and three carcinomas; p &lt; 0.0001). Quantitative analysis, performed in 24 nodules and expressed as elastic ratio between the strain of the nodule and that of the surrounding thyroid parenchyma, showed a mean of 1.90 (interquartile range [IQR] 1.18-2.77) in 14 nodules with LoEl, and a mean of 1.01 (IQR 0.91-1.10) in 10 nodules with HiEl (p = 0.002). Stiffness did not correlate with cell number and was inversely correlated with microvessel density. Fibrosis was higher in nodules with LoEl than in those with HiEl (p = 0.009) and in carcinomas than in benign nodules (p = 0.02). Fibrosis was higher in nodules with high expression of Gal-3 (p &lt; 0.001) and FN-1 (p = 0.004). Fibrosis and expression of Gal-3 and FN-1 were higher in the classic compared with the follicular variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma and lower in follicular adenomas. Conclusions: Low elasticity at US elastography is highly correlated with malignancy. Nodule stiffness is correlated with fibrosis and expression of Gal-3 and FN-1. These features are more evident in the classic than in the follicular variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma

Clinical investigation of former workers exposed to asbestos: the health surveillance experience of an Italian University Hospital

BackgroundThe need for health surveillance of former workers exposed to asbestos was provided by law in Italy after the asbestos ban in 1992.ObjectivesWe describe the results of the health surveillance of former workers exposed to asbestos, conducted over 27 years, from 1994 to 2020, at the Operative Unit of Occupational Medicine of the University Hospital of Bari.Materials and methodsWe adopted the health surveillance protocol, which was validated at the national level in 2018.ResultsA total of 1,405 former workers exposed to asbestos were examined. We proceeded with diagnosing pathologies in 339 cases (24% of the cohort subjected to surveillance), with diagnoses of some cases involving multiple pathologies. Specifically, pleural plaques were diagnosed in 49.2% of the 339 cases, asbestosis in 35.9%, malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) in 20.3%, mesothelioma of the vaginal tunic of the testis (MTVT) in 9.1%, lung cancer in 5.8%, and laryngeal cancer in 0.8%.ConclusionDespite the 1992 asbestos ban, asbestos-related diseases remain a serious public health issue. It is important to establish criteria that ensure the health surveillance of formerly exposed workers minimizes costs, reduces the number of invasive examinations, and optimizes achievable results

Biogeochemistry, grain size and mineralogy of the Central and Southern Adriatic Sea sediments: a review.

Volume 26 Supplement 1, January 2010

Hyperoxemia and excess oxygen use in early acute respiratory distress syndrome : Insights from the LUNG SAFE study

Publisher Copyright: © 2020 The Author(s). Copyright: Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.Background: Concerns exist regarding the prevalence and impact of unnecessary oxygen use in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). We examined this issue in patients with ARDS enrolled in the Large observational study to UNderstand the Global impact of Severe Acute respiratory FailurE (LUNG SAFE) study. Methods: In this secondary analysis of the LUNG SAFE study, we wished to determine the prevalence and the outcomes associated with hyperoxemia on day 1, sustained hyperoxemia, and excessive oxygen use in patients with early ARDS. Patients who fulfilled criteria of ARDS on day 1 and day 2 of acute hypoxemic respiratory failure were categorized based on the presence of hyperoxemia (PaO2 > 100 mmHg) on day 1, sustained (i.e., present on day 1 and day 2) hyperoxemia, or excessive oxygen use (FIO2 ≥ 0.60 during hyperoxemia). Results: Of 2005 patients that met the inclusion criteria, 131 (6.5%) were hypoxemic (PaO2 < 55 mmHg), 607 (30%) had hyperoxemia on day 1, and 250 (12%) had sustained hyperoxemia. Excess FIO2 use occurred in 400 (66%) out of 607 patients with hyperoxemia. Excess FIO2 use decreased from day 1 to day 2 of ARDS, with most hyperoxemic patients on day 2 receiving relatively low FIO2. Multivariate analyses found no independent relationship between day 1 hyperoxemia, sustained hyperoxemia, or excess FIO2 use and adverse clinical outcomes. Mortality was 42% in patients with excess FIO2 use, compared to 39% in a propensity-matched sample of normoxemic (PaO2 55-100 mmHg) patients (P = 0.47). Conclusions: Hyperoxemia and excess oxygen use are both prevalent in early ARDS but are most often non-sustained. No relationship was found between hyperoxemia or excessive oxygen use and patient outcome in this cohort. Trial registration: LUNG-SAFE is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02010073publishersversionPeer reviewe

Firms and Labor Markets : Essays in Development Economics

Matching with the Right Attitude: the Effect of Matching Firms with Refugee Workers We study the effect of contact in the workplace on firms' willingness to hire refugees and ultimately on refugees' labor market integration. We run an experiment in Uganda, where treated firms provide an internship of one week to a skilled refugee worker. We find that treated firms hire three times as many refugees than firms in the control group on the long run. Exposure to a refugee led firm managers to update their beliefs about refugees' skills in general. We find that positive matches, i.e., firms with a positive attitude toward refugees who were matched with a refugee with positive attitudes toward locals, resulted in a substantial increase in firms’ willingness to hire a refugee worker, while negative matches decrease firms’ willingness to hire. Our findings show that short-term exposure interventions can result in longer-term increases in employment for disadvantaged groups, but the size of this effect depends on the initial match quality. Can work contact improve social cohesion between refugees and locals? Evidence from an experiment in Uganda Does contact, through direct and indirect exposure in the workplace, promote social cohesion between refugees and natives? We answer to this question through an experiment with refugee and local workers in Uganda. We measure social cohesion through a compound measure incorporating attitudes, implicit and explicit biases and behaviors in real and hypothetical activities. We find that while implicit bias increases, explicit bias decreases for both groups, and behaviours towards the out-group are positive for both groups but differ slightly: natives want to have more refugee business partners and invest more in future businesses, while refugees want to work more for Ugandan firms and invest less in businesses of their own. Do Information Frictions Kill Competition? A Field Experiment On Public Procurement in Uganda We study whether information frictions deter firms from doing business with the government. We conduct two nation-wide randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in collaboration with the national anti-corruption and public procurement supervisory agency in Uganda. The first RCT aims to increase transparency, by providing firms with direct and timely access to information about government tenders over a two-year period. The second RCT additionally addresses mis-perceptions about the performance of government entities, by giving firms access to structured information on other firms' perceptions and on anti-corruption audits. We find that increasing transparency about tenders alone is not enough to increase firm participation in public procurement. However, additionally correcting firms' perceptions about the quality of public entities increases firms' total number of bids and total government contracts won. Overall, our findings point to the limits of transparency reforms that aim to increase competition in public procurement without accounting for firms' perceptions about government corruption and inefficiency. Credit contracts, Business Development and Gender: Evidence from Uganda We examine the effect of credit contract design on business growth. Entrepreneurs borrowing from one of Uganda's major lenders were randomly offered modified contracts with varying degrees of repayment schedule flexibility or an equivalent cash transfer. Our results indicate that enhanced flexibility in repayment schedules leads to higher profits 5 years later, with the optimal form of flexibility depending on the entrepreneur's gender. The cash transfer does not affect firm outcomes. Exploring the repayment flexibility effects, we find that male-owned businesses increase employee hiring and generate higher profit under flexible repayment contracts, whereas female-owned businesses benefit more from grace-period contracts. We present suggestive evidence that kinship taxation on female entrepreneurs drives these differences

Firms and Labor Markets : Essays in Development Economics

Matching with the Right Attitude: the Effect of Matching Firms with Refugee Workers We study the effect of contact in the workplace on firms' willingness to hire refugees and ultimately on refugees' labor market integration. We run an experiment in Uganda, where treated firms provide an internship of one week to a skilled refugee worker. We find that treated firms hire three times as many refugees than firms in the control group on the long run. Exposure to a refugee led firm managers to update their beliefs about refugees' skills in general. We find that positive matches, i.e., firms with a positive attitude toward refugees who were matched with a refugee with positive attitudes toward locals, resulted in a substantial increase in firms’ willingness to hire a refugee worker, while negative matches decrease firms’ willingness to hire. Our findings show that short-term exposure interventions can result in longer-term increases in employment for disadvantaged groups, but the size of this effect depends on the initial match quality. Can work contact improve social cohesion between refugees and locals? Evidence from an experiment in Uganda Does contact, through direct and indirect exposure in the workplace, promote social cohesion between refugees and natives? We answer to this question through an experiment with refugee and local workers in Uganda. We measure social cohesion through a compound measure incorporating attitudes, implicit and explicit biases and behaviors in real and hypothetical activities. We find that while implicit bias increases, explicit bias decreases for both groups, and behaviours towards the out-group are positive for both groups but differ slightly: natives want to have more refugee business partners and invest more in future businesses, while refugees want to work more for Ugandan firms and invest less in businesses of their own. Do Information Frictions Kill Competition? A Field Experiment On Public Procurement in Uganda We study whether information frictions deter firms from doing business with the government. We conduct two nation-wide randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in collaboration with the national anti-corruption and public procurement supervisory agency in Uganda. The first RCT aims to increase transparency, by providing firms with direct and timely access to information about government tenders over a two-year period. The second RCT additionally addresses mis-perceptions about the performance of government entities, by giving firms access to structured information on other firms' perceptions and on anti-corruption audits. We find that increasing transparency about tenders alone is not enough to increase firm participation in public procurement. However, additionally correcting firms' perceptions about the quality of public entities increases firms' total number of bids and total government contracts won. Overall, our findings point to the limits of transparency reforms that aim to increase competition in public procurement without accounting for firms' perceptions about government corruption and inefficiency. Credit contracts, Business Development and Gender: Evidence from Uganda We examine the effect of credit contract design on business growth. Entrepreneurs borrowing from one of Uganda's major lenders were randomly offered modified contracts with varying degrees of repayment schedule flexibility or an equivalent cash transfer. Our results indicate that enhanced flexibility in repayment schedules leads to higher profits 5 years later, with the optimal form of flexibility depending on the entrepreneur's gender. The cash transfer does not affect firm outcomes. Exploring the repayment flexibility effects, we find that male-owned businesses increase employee hiring and generate higher profit under flexible repayment contracts, whereas female-owned businesses benefit more from grace-period contracts. We present suggestive evidence that kinship taxation on female entrepreneurs drives these differences