Neri Moxeriffo, console dei catalani a Castel di Castro nell'anno 1320

A document to be found in the Archive of the Crown of Aragon in Barcelona confirms that in spite of the hostility between the city of Pisa and Aragon by means of the Kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica conceded by Pope Boniface VIII to James II of Aragon (1297), in the first decades of the XIV century it was possible for a pisan to become cónsul of the Catalans at Castel di Castro. In the article in question the possible motivations which induced the Catalans to entrust a Pisan with the aforementioned task are mentioned along with an up-to date bibliography about the consul Neri Moxeriffo.[fr] Un document se trouvant actuellement aux Archives de la Couronne d'Aragon —à Barcelone— confirme qu'au début du IVᵉ siècle, il y avait la possibilité pour un pisan de devenir consul des catalans à Castel di Castro, et ce malgré l'hostilité qui existait alors entre la ville de Pise et la Couronne d'Aragon. Celle-ci était dûe à la concession féodal du Règne de Sardaigne et de Corse instaurée en 1297 par le Pape Boniface VIII en faveur de Jacques II d'Aragon. L'article en question examine les raisons qui pourraient amener les catalans à attribuer cette charge à un pisan et comporte plusieurs notes biographiques sur le consul Neri Moxeriffo

Isolamento e plurilinguismo. Il caso dell'Ogliastra in Sardegna (secoli XVII-XVIII)

Embedded between mountains and sea, in the eastern Sardinia, Ogliastra is often described as a fascinating region, an ideal place to spend a holiday, due to its rugged and wild natural landscapes, beautiful beaches and historical monuments. Ogliastra is also known for the longevity of its population and the high number of centenarians, but in the past it was considered one of the most isolated and underdeveloped areas in Sardinia. The isolation of Ogliastra, frequently highlighted by travel books, it was never absolute and was not an obstacle for the spread of Catalan and Castilian languages in the Modern Ages. The article, especially based on an analysis of notarial records, describes how these two languages were used in the writing context of Ogliastra and what was the role of Latin and Sardinian languages in the same context

Quetiapine as add-on treatment for bipolar I disorder: efficacy in preventing relapse of depressive episodes

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Objective</p> <p>To assess the long-term response to add-on quetiapine therapy in patients with bipolar I disorder who were not adequately responding to standard medications.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Outpatients with bipolar I disorder (DSM-IV-TR) responding inadequately to standard treatment were observed before and after the addition of quetiapine. Symptom severity was evaluated using the Clinical Global Impressions scale for Bipolar Disorder (CGI-BP) each month. Relapses included hospitalization, treatment in a day hospital or clinic, scores ≥ 1 point higher than previous CGI-BP scores and/or upward titration of quetiapine or other medications.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Sixty-one patients (age range of 18–68 years) were observed prospectively for an average of 7.5 months (range 3–18 months) prior to addition of quetiapine and subsequently followed for an average of 15.7 months (range 6–42 months). The final mean quetiapine dose was 537.1 ± 91.7 mg/d. Prior to quetiapine addition, an annual relapse rate of 2.09 episodes was recorded, relating to 0.94 depressive and 1.15 manic or mixed episodes. Following quetiapine addition, annual relapse rates were reduced to 0.61 episodes, representing 0.14 depressive and 0.46 manic or mixed episodes. Compared with the period of add-on quetiapine treatment, the relative risk of relapse <it>prior </it>to quetiapine therapy was 3.4 for all episodes (χ²= 24.8, <it>P </it>< 0.001), 6.7 for depressive episodes (χ²= 24.7, <it>P </it>< 0.001), and 2.5 for manic or mixed episodes (χ²= 9.0, <it>P </it>< 0.05).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This naturalistic follow-up study provides preliminary evidence for the efficacy of long-term add-on quetiapine treatment in the prevention of relapses of manic or mixed and depressive episodes of bipolar I disorder, and particularly in the prevention of depressive episodes.</p

23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPV23) for the prevention of invasive pneumococcal diseases (IPDs) in the elderly: is it really effective?

Introduction. Incidence of invasive pneumococcal diseases (IPDs) in Italy is constantly increasing and that is particularly true among the elderly. 23-valent polysaccharide pneumococcal vac- cine (PPV23) is recommended to this age group and offered in all Italian regions. However, efficacy of PPV23 on preventing IPDs is debated. We therefore performed a review of the most recent avail- able meta-analyses in order to assess the efficacy of PPVs. Methods. The literature search was conducted using PubMed and Scopus search engines. We used the following keywords: ?pneu- mococcal?, ?polysaccharide?, ?vaccine?, ?efficacy?, ?elderly?, ?meta analysis?. Only meta-analyses published in the last 7 years were selected. We examined the results of the selected meta-anal- yses and assessed their quality according to the PRISMA recom- mendations. Results. The search returned 16 results in PubMed and 12 in Scopus: among them we selected 3 meta-analyses. According to our quality assessment, all meta-analyses showed generally posi- tive results and almost all items of the PRISMA checklist were respected. However, the research protocol and the registration number were absent in all the 3 revisions and the flow-chart was not shown in Moberley?s and Melegaro?s works. In the study by Huss et al. the relative risk of developing IPDs among vaccinated subjects was 0.90 (95%CI: 0.46-1.77, I2 4.9%), indicating a very slight benefit after vaccination. This contrasts with the results of the Cochrane Review by Moberley et al., in which the PPVs showed a protective efficacy in reducing the risk of IPDs of 74% (OR 0.26, 95%CI: 0.15-0.46) with no statistical heterogeneity (I2 0%). Melegaro et al. found a reduction not statistically signifi- cant of the incidence of IPD of 65% (OR 0.35; 95%CI 0.08-1.49) among healthy elderly, while the global estimate of vaccine efficacy among high risk elderly was minimal (OR 0.80; 95%CI 0.22-2.88). Conclusions. Most of the studies suggest that the PPVs confer low protection against IPDs. Anyhow, their methodological het- erogeneity does not allow definitive conclusions. While waiting to see the results of new trials about the efficacy of PPVs, in particular of PPV23, and the extension of the use of conjugate vaccine among the population over 65, stakeholders should be aware of the results of the meta-analyses discussed in this paper during the implementation of the vaccination programs for the elderly in Public Health. The full article is free available on www.jpmh.or

differences in amino acid loss between high efficiency hemodialysis and postdilution and predilution hemodiafiltration using high convection volume exchange a new metabolic scenario a pilot study

Objective The objective of the study was to quantify the loss of total amino acids (TAAs), nonessential amino acids, essential amino acids, and branched chain amino acids (BCAAs) produced by high-efficiency hemodialysis (HEHD), postdilution hemodiafiltration (HDFpost), and predilution hemodiafiltration (HDFpre) using high ultrafiltration volumes; and to define the specific AA losses registered in HEHD, HDFpost, and HDFpre; to identify a potential metabolic and nutritional decline into protein energy wasting; to compare AA analysis of arterial blood samples taken from healthy controls and patients with end-stage renal disease undergoing hemodialysis. Design and Methods Identical dialysis monitors, membranes, and dialysate/infusate were used to homogenize extracorporeal body influence. Ten patients were recruited and randomized to receive treatment with HEHD, HDFpost, and HDFpre it was used on-line dialytic water methodologies (OL); patients' AA arterial concentrations were measured at the start and on completion of dialysis; TAA from the dialyzer filter was calculated, and baseline levels were subsequently compared with findings obtained 1 year later. Finally, the results obtained were compared with the data from a study of 8 healthy volunteers conducted using bioimpedance analysis and laboratory blood tests to assess nutritional status. Results A higher convective dose results in a higher weekly loss of TAA, nonessential AAs, essential AAs, and BCAAs (HEHD: 15.7 g; HDFpost-OL: 16.1 g; HDFpre-OL: 16.3 g, P P Conclusion The study shows that the AA losses in dialytic liquid are greater after high exchange volume HDF techniques, especially HDFpre. The AA losses are not metabolically compensated, so these increase the derangements of predialytic arterial plasma AA levels. Both AA losses and arterial AA perturbations further worsened body composition already after 12 months of additional dialysis

Helicobacter pylori and gastroesophageal reflux disease

Background: The nature of the relationship between Helicobacter pylori and reflux oesophagitis is still not clear. To investigate the correlation between Helicobacter pylori infection and GERD taking into account endoscopic, pH-metric and histopathological data. Methods: Between January 2001 and January 2003 a prospective study was performed in 146 patients with GERD in order to determine the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection at gastric mucosa; further the value of the De Meester score endoscopic, manometric and pH-metric parameters, i.e. reflux episodes, pathological reflux episodes and extent of oesophageal acid exposure, of the patients with and without Helicobacter pylori infection were studied and statistically compared. Finally, univariate analysis of the above mentioned data were performed in order to evaluate the statistical correlation with reflux esophagitis. Results: There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups, HP infected and HP negative patients, regarding age, gender and type of symptoms. There was no statistical difference between the two groups regarding severity of symptoms and manometric parameters. The value of the De Meester score and the ph-metric parameters were similar in both groups. On univariate analysis, we observed that hiatal hernia ( p = 0,01), LES size ( p = 0,05), oesophageal wave length ( p = 0,01) and pathological reflux number ( p = 0,05) were significantly related to the presence of reflux oesophagitis. Conclusion: Based on these findings, it seems that there is no significant evidence for an important role for H. pylori infection in the development of GERD and erosive esophagitis. Nevertheless, current data do not provide sufficient evidence to define the relationship between HP and GERD. Further assessments in prospective large studies are warranted

The accuracy of the Italian version of the Hypomania Checklist (HCL-32) for the screening of bipolar disorders and comparison with the Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ) in a clinical sample

BACKGROUND: The study measured the accuracy of the Italian version of the Hypomania Checklist (HCL-32) for self-assessment as a screening instrument for bipolar disorder (BPD) in a psychiatric setting and compared results with a previous study, carried out in a comparable sample and in the same setting, using the Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ). METHODS: 123 consecutive subjects attending a psychiatric division were screened for BPD using the Italian translation of the HCL-32, and diagnostically interviewed with the SCID by physicians. The sample of the previous study using the MDQ consisted of 154 subjects. RESULTS: On the basis of the SCID: 26 received a diagnosis of bipolar/schizoaffective disorder, 57 were diagnosed as having at least another psychiatric disorder in Axis-I, whilst 40 were unaffected by any type of psychiatric disorder. Comparing the bipolar with all other patients the HCL-32 showed a good accuracy: cut-off 8: sensitivity 0.92-specificity 0.48; cut-off 10: sensitivity 0.88-specificity 0.54; cut-off 12: sensitivity 0.85-specificity 0.61. The accuracy for BPD-II (10) remains good: cut-off 8: sensitivity 0.90-specificity 0.42; cut-off 10: sensitivity 0.80-specificity 0.47; cut-off 12: sensitivity 0.80-specificity 0.54. The comparison with the MDQ performance shows that both screening tools may show good results, but HCL-32 seems to be more sensitive in detecting BPD-II. CONCLUSION: Our results seem to indicate good accuracy of HCL-32 as a screening instrument for BPD in a psychiatric setting, with a low rate of false negatives, and a fairly good degree of identification of BPD-II

The link between thyroid autoimmunity (antithyroid peroxidase autoantibodies) with anxiety and mood disorders in the community: a field of interest for public health in the future

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the association between mood and anxiety disorders and thyroid autoimmunity in a community sample. Methods: A community based sample of 222 subjects was examined. Psychiatric diagnoses were formulated using the International Composite Diagnostic Interview Simplified (CIDIS), according to DSM-IV criteria. All subjects underwent a complete thyroid evaluation including physical examination, thyroid echography and measure of serum free T4 (FT4), free T3 (FT3), thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and anti-thyroid peroxidase autoantibodies (anti-TPO). RESULTS: 16.6% of the overall sample had an anti-TPO value above the normal cut-off. Subjects with at least one diagnosis of anxiety disorders (OR = 4.2, C.L. 95% 1.9–38.8) or mood disorders (OR = 2.9, Cl 95% 1.4–6.6, P < 0.011) were positive for serum anti-TPO more frequently than subjects without mood or anxiety disorders. A statistically significant association with anti-TPO+ was found in Anxiety Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (OR = 4.0, CL 95% 1.1–15.5), in Major Depressive Episode (OR = 2.7, CL 95% 1.1–6.7) and Depressive Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (OR = 4.4, S CL 95% 1–19.3). CONCLUSIONS: The study seems to suggest that individuals in the community with thyroid autoimmunity may be at high risk for mood and anxiety disorders. The psychiatric disorders and the autoimmune reaction seem to be rooted in a same (and not easy correctable) aberrancy in the immuno-endocrine system. Should our results be confirmed, the findings may be of great interest for future preventive and case finding projects