ASSOCIAZIONE TRA ATEROSCLEROSI CAROTIDEA E FATTORI DI RISCHIO CARDIOVASCOLARE IN UNA POPOLAZIONE DI PAZIENTI DEL SUD ITALIA CON DIAGNOSI GENETICA DI IPERCOLESTEROLEMIA FAMILIARE

LO SCOPO DELLA TESI E' VALUTARE L'ASSOCIAZIONE TRA ATEROSCLEROSI CAROTIDEA E FATTORI DI RISCHIO CARDIOVASCOLARE IN UNA POPOLAZIONE DI PAZIENTI DEL SUD ITALIA CON DIAGNOSI GENETICA DI IPERCOLESTEROLEMIA FAMILIAR

Perceived climate change risk and global green activism among young people

In recent years, the increasing number of natural disasters has raised concerns about the sustainability of our planet’s future. As young people comprise the generation that will suffer from the negative effects of climate change, they have become involved in a new climate activism that is also gaining interest in the public debate thanks to the Fridays for Future (FFF) movement. This paper analyses the results of a survey of 1,138 young people in a southern Italian region to explore their perceptions of the extent of environmental problems and their participation in protests of green movements such as the FFF. The statistical analyses perform an ordinal classification tree using an original impurity measure considering both the ordinal nature of the response variable and the heterogeneity of its ordered categories. The results show that respondents are concerned about the threat of climate change and participate in the FFF to claim their right to a healthier planet and encourage people to adopt environmentally friendly practices in their lifestyles. Young people feel they are global citizens, connected through the Internet and social media, and show greater sensitivity to the planet’s environmental problems, so they are willing to take effective action to demand sustainable policies from decision-makers. When planning public policies that will affect future generations, it is important for policymakers to know the demands and opinions of key stakeholders, especially young people, in order to plan the most appropriate measures, such as climate change mitigation

Fracture Risk in Type 2 Diabetes: Current Perspectives and Gender Differences

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is associated with an increased risk of osteoporotic fractures, resulting in disabilities and increased mortality. The pathophysiological mechanisms linking diabetes to osteoporosis have not been fully explained, but alterations in bone structure and quality are well described in diabetic subjects, likely due to a combination of different factors. Insulin deficiency and dysfunction, obesity and hyperinsulinemia, altered level of oestrogen, leptin, and adiponectin as well as diabetes-related complications, especially peripheral neuropathy, orthostatic hypotension, or reduced vision due to retinopathy may all be associated with an impairment in bone metabolism and with the increased risk of fractures. Finally, medications commonly used in the treatment of T2DM may have an impact on bone metabolism and on fracture risk, particularly in postmenopausal women. When considering the impact of hypoglycaemic drugs on bone, it is important to balance their potential direct effects on bone quality with the risk of falling-related fractures due to the associated hypoglycaemic risk. In this review, experimental and clinical evidence connecting bone metabolism and fracture risk to T2DM is discussed, with particular emphasis on hypoglycaemic treatments and gender-specific implications

Dominant mutants of ceruloplasmin impair the copper loading machinery in aceruloplasminemia.

The multicopper oxidase ceruloplasmin plays a key role in iron homeostasis, and its ferroxidase activity is required to stabilize cell surface ferroportin, the only known mammalian iron exporter. Missense mutations causing the rare autosomal neurodegenerative disease aceruloplasminemia were investigated by testing their ability to prevent ferroportin degradation in rat glioma C6 cells silenced for endogenous ceruloplasmin. Most of the mutants did not complement (i.e. did not stabilize ferroportin) because of the irreversible loss of copper binding ability. Mutant R701W, which was found in a heterozygous very young patient with severe neurological problems, was unable to complement per se but did so in the presence of copper-glutathione or when the yeast copper ATPase Ccc2p was co-expressed, indicating that the protein was structurally able to bind copper but that metal loading involving the mammalian copper ATPase ATP7B was impaired. Notably, R701W exerted a dominant negative effect on wild type, and it induced the subcellular relocalization of ATP7B. Our results constitute the first evidence of "functional silencing" of ATP7B as a novel molecular defect in aceruloplasminemia. The possibility to reverse the deleterious effects of some aceruloplasminemia mutations may disclose new possible therapeutic strategies

Diarrhea Is a Hallmark of Inflammation in Pediatric COVID-19

: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a pathogen with enteric tropism. We compared the clinical, biochemical and radiological features of children hospitalized for acute SARS-CoV-2 infection, classified in two groups based on the presence of diarrhea. Logistic regression analyses were used to investigate the variables associated with diarrhea. Overall, 407 children were included in the study (226 males, 55.5%, mean age 3.9 ± 5.0 years), of whom 77 (18.9%) presented with diarrhea, which was mild in most cases. Diarrhea prevalence was higher during the Alpha (23.6%) and Delta waves (21.9%), and in children aged 5-11 y (23.8%). Other gastrointestinal symptoms were most commonly reported in children with diarrhea (p < 0.05). Children with diarrhea showed an increased systemic inflammatory state (higher C-reactive protein, procalcitonin and ferritin levels, p < 0.005), higher local inflammation as judged by mesenteric fat hyperechogenicity (adjusted Odds Ratio 3.31, 95%CI 1.13-9.70) and a lower chance of previous immunosuppressive state (adjusted Odds Ratio 0.19, 95%CI 0.05-0.70). Diarrhea is a frequent feature of pediatric COVID-19 and is associated with increased systemic inflammation, which is related to the local mesenteric fat inflammatory response, confirming the implication of the gut not only in multisystem inflammatory syndrome but also in the acute phase of the infection

differential tbxa2 receptor transcript stability is dependent on the c924t polymorphism

Abstract Background In order to better characterize the molecular mechanisms involved in processing mutated transcripts, we investigated the post-transcriptional role of the C924T polymorphism (rs4523) located in the 3′ region of the TBXA2R gene. Methods and Results Experiments of dose response with Actinomycin D on MEG-01 human cell line showed a significant decrease on cell viability that was more evident on cells treated for 24 h. In addition, we showed that treatments with 5–10 μM, 15 μM and 20 μM of actinomycin D reduced cell viability by 44%, 72% and 75%, respectively, compared to the control group. Conversely, the samples treated with 1 μM of actinomycin D did not show significant difference on cell viability as compared to the control group. Analysis of the steady state mRNA level of TBXA2R by qRT-PCR evidenced an increase in mRNA stability for the wild type (C) compared to the mutant (T) allele. Furthermore, the expression levels of TBXA2R on wild type (CC) and mutant type (TT) patients, based on C924T polymorphism, were analyzed. The wild type showed a higher expression of TBXA2 receptor also with two different degrees of glycosylation (55 and 64 kDa), when compared to the mutant. These observations correlated with platelet aggregation, which was reduced in TT, independently of the platelet aggregation stimuli. Conclusions The instability of the TBXA2R transcript and the lack of effect on platelet aggregation might suggest a protective role for the TBXA2R TT genotype against atherothrombosis and its complications in high-risk aspirin-treated patients

Il fenomeno delle dipendenze patologiche nella Provincia di Ragusa. Anno 2005. I Rapporto

Report on the state of legal and illegal substances use in the territory of Ragusa ProvinceIl Report analizza il fenomeno delle dipendenze nel territorio della Provincia di Ragusa. La descrizione del fenomeno si sviluppa intorno all\u27analisi degli indicatori individuati dall\u27Osservatorio Europeo delle Dipendenze di Lisbona (OEDT): 1-uso di sostanze nella popolazione generale (questo indicatore va a rilevare i comportamenti nei confronti di alcol e sostanze psicoattive da parte della popolazione generale); 2-prevalenza d\u27uso problematico delle sostanze psicoattive; 3-domanda di trattamento degli utilizzatori di sostanze; 4-mortalit? degli utilizzatori di sostanze; 5-malattie infettive. Altri due importanti indicatori che si stanno sviluppando, e che vengono qui illustrati, sono l\u27analisi delle Schede di Dimissione Ospedaliera (SDO) e gli indicatori relativi alle conseguenza sociali dell\u27uso di droghe (criminalit? droga correlata). Inoltre sono state applicate diverse metodologie standard di stima sia per quantificare la quota parte sconosciuta di utilizzatori di sostanze che non afferiscono ai servizi, sia per identificarne alcune caratteristiche

Treatment Outcome of metastatic lesions from renal cell carcinoma underGoing Extra-cranial stereotactic body radioTHERapy: The together retrospective study

Abstract Objectives stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) use has increased overtime for the management of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) patients, with a likely good control of irradiated lesions. We planned a retrospective multicenter Italian study, with the aim of investigating the outcome of treatment with SBRT for non-brain secondary lesions in mRCC patients. Methods all consecutive metastatic non-brain lesions from mRCC that underwent SBRT at nine Italian institutions from January 2015 to June 2017 were considered. The primary endpoint of the study was the lesion-PFS, calculated from SBRT initiation to the local progression of the irradiated lesion. Results 57 extracranial metastatic lesions from 48 patients with primary mRCC were treated with SBRT. At the median follow-up of 26.4 months, the median lesion-PFS was not reached (43 censored); 72.4% of lesions were progression-free at 40 months, with significantly better lesion-PFS for small metastatic lesions ( Conclusions consistently with the previous literature, our findings support the use of SBRT in selected mRCC patients