Molecular characterization of Prototheca strains isolated from Italian dairy herds.

One hundred sixty-one Prototheca spp. strains isolated from composite milk and barn-surrounding environmental samples (bedding, feces, drinking, or washing water, surface swabs) of 24 Italian dairy herds were characterized by genotype-specific PCR analysis. Overall, 97.2% of strains isolated from composite milk samples were characterized as Prototheca zopfii genotype 2, confirming its role as the main mastitis pathogen, whereas Prototheca blaschkeae was only sporadically isolated (2.8%). Regarding environmental sampling, 84.9% of isolates belonged to P. zopfii genotype 2, 13.2% to P. blaschkeae, and 1.9% to P. zopfii genotype 1. The data herein contradict previous hypotheses about the supposed exclusive role of P. zopfii genotype 2 as the causative agent of protothecal mastitis and, on the contrary, confirm the hypothesis that such pathology could be caused by P. blaschkeae in a few instances

Patients with paediatric-onset multiple sclerosis are at higher risk of cognitive impairment in adulthood: an Italian collaborative study

Background: Patients with paediatric-onset multiple sclerosis (POMS) could be at an increased risk for cognitive impairment (CI), given the potential harmful effects of disease activity in neurodevelopment. However, there is scarce information on their long-term cognitive outcomes. Objective: To compare the prevalence and profile of CI between adults with a history of POMS and those with classic, adult-onset multiple sclerosis (AOMS). Methods: Cognitive performance was assessed through the Brief Repeatable Battery (BRB) and the Stroop Test in consecutive patients referred to six Italian MS centres. CI was defined as impairment in ⩾2 cognitive domains. Results: In all, 119 patients with POMS and 712 with AOMS were included in this analysis. The prevalence of CI was 48.0% in AOMS, 44.5% in POMS; with similar neuropsychological profile between the two groups. However, when adjusting for current age, we found a significantly increased risk for CI (odds ratio (OR) = 1.71; p = 0.02) and for impairment in information processing speed (OR = 1.86; p < 0.01) in patients with POMS. A higher Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) was also identified in POMS (p = 0.03) compared with AOMS patients.The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article: This study was in part financed through an FISM (Italian Federation of Multiple Sclerosis) research grant

Cardiovascular risk rate in hypertensive patients attended in primary health care units: the influence of pharmaceutical care

Cardiovascular complications are relevant due to their frequency and severity on the hypertension scenario. Studies refer Pharmaceutical Care (PC) as capable of decreasing cardiovascular risk rate (%CVR) on hypertensive patients. This study aimed to investigate, through a randomized clinical assay, the influence of PC service on the %CVR of hypertensive patients assisted in a health primary care unit from Fortaleza-Ceará. Two study groups were formed: i. Intervention Group (IG), which received orientation about taking medicines, actions aiming to prevent/solve medicine interactions and adverse effects and non-pharmacological interventions for 9 months and, ii. Control Group (CG), which received traditional assistance of the unit and was monitored during the same period. It was observed a statistically significant reduction on %CVR (10.76 to 7.86; p=0.04) and systolic blood pressure levels (SBP) (137.69 to 131.54; pAs complicações cardiovasculares apresentam relevância devido à sua freqüência e gravidade no contexto da hipertensão. Estudos referem que a prestação do Cuidado Farmacêutico (CF) é capaz de reduzir a taxa de risco cardiovascular (%RCV) em hipertensos. Esse trabalho objetivou investigar, com um ensaio clínico randomizado, a influência da prestação do CF na %RCV em hipertensos atendidos em uma unidade de atenção primária à saúde de Fortaleza-Ceará. Formarm-se dois grupos de estudo: i. Grupo Intervenção (GI), que recebeu orientações sobre tomada dos medicamentos, ações visando prevenir/resolver interações medicamentosas e reações adversas e intervenções não-farmacológicas por 9 meses e ii. Grupo Controle (GC), que recebeu assistência tradicional da unidade e foi monitorado durante o mesmo período. Observou-se redução estatisticamente significativa nas %RCV (10,76 to 7,86; p=0,04) e nos níveis de pressão arterial sistólica (PAS) (137,69 to 131,54;

Fecal occult blood and calprotectin testing to prioritize primary care patients for colonoscopy referral: The advantage study

AbstractColonoscopy is the gold standard for colorectal cancer (CRC) diagnosis and screening, but endoscopy services are usually overburdened. This study aims to investigate the usefulness of fecal hemoglobin (fHb) and calprotectin (FC) for the identification of patients with high probability of CRC who need urgent referral.MethodsIn a multicenter prospective study, we enrolled symptomatic patients referred from primary care for colonoscopy. Prior to bowel preparation, fHb and FC quantitative tests were performed. The diagnostic performance was estimated for each biomarker/combination. We built a multivariable predictive model based on logistic regression, translated to a nomogram and a risk calculator to assist clinicians in the decision‐making process.ResultsThe study included 1224 patients, of whom 69 (5.6%) had CRC. At the fHb cut‐offs of &gt;0 and 10 μg/g, the negative predictive values for CRC were 98.8% (95% confidence interval 97.8%–99.3%) and 98.6% (95%CI 97.7%–99.1%), and the sensitivities were 85.5% (95%CI 75.0%–92.8%) and 79.7% (95%CI 68.3%–88.4%), respectively. When we added the cut‐off of 150 μg/g of FC to both fHb thresholds, the sensitivity of fecal tests improved. In the multivariate logistic regression model, the concentration of fHb was an independent predictor for CRC; age and gender were also independently associated with CRC.ConclusionsfHb and FC are useful as part of a triage tool to identify those symptomatic patients with high probability of CRC. This can be easily applied by physicians to prioritize high‐risk patients for urgent colonoscopy

Neuroprotection with Hypothermia and Allopurinol in an animal model of hypoxic-ischemic injury: Is it a gender question?

Abstract Background Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is one of the most important causes of neonatal brain injury. Therapeutic hypothermia (TH) is the standard treatment for term newborns after perinatal hypoxic ischemic injury (HI). Despite this, TH does not provide complete neuroprotection. Allopurinol seems to be a good neuroprotector in several animal studies, but it has never been tested in combination with hypothermia. Clinical findings show that male infants with (HI) fare more poorly than matched females in cognitive outcomes. However, there are few studies about neuroprotection taking gender into account in the results. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the potential additive neuroprotective effect of allopurinol when administrated in association with TH in a rodent model of moderate HI. Gender differences in neuroprotection were also evaluated Methods P10 male and female rat pups were subjected to HI (Vannucci model) and randomized into five groups: sham intervention (Control), no treatment (HI), hypothermia (HIH), allopurinol (HIA), and dual therapy (hypothermia and allopurinol) (HIHA). To evaluate a treatment's neuroprotective efficiency, 24 hours after the HI event caspase3 activation was measured. Damaged area and hippocampal volume were also measured 72 hours after the HI event. Negative geotaxis test was performed to evaluate early neurobehavioral reflexes. Learning and spatial memory were assessed via Morris Water Maze (MWM) test at 25 days of life. Results Damaged area and hippocampal volume were different among treatment groups (p = 0.001). The largest tissue lesion was observed in the HI group, followed by HIA. There were no differences between control, HIH, and HIHA. When learning process was analyzed, no differences were found. Females from the HIA group had similar results to the HIH and HIHA groups. Cleaved caspase 3 expression was increased in both HI and HIA. Despite this, in females cleaved caspase-3 was only differently increased in the HI group. All treated animals present an improvement in short-term (Negative geotaxis) and long-term (WMT) functional tests. Despite this, treated females present better long-term outcome. In short-term outcome no sex differences were observed. Conclusions Our results suggest that dual therapy confers great neuroprotection after an HI event. There were functional, histological, and molecular improvements in all treated groups. These differences were more important in females than in males. No statistically significant differences were found between HIHA and HIH; both of them present a great improvement. Our results support the idea of different regulation mechanisms and pathways of cell death, depending on gender

Amyloid PET as a marker of normal-appearing white matter early damage in multiple sclerosis: correlation with CSF β-amyloid levels and brain volumes

PURPOSE The disease course of multiple sclerosis (MS) is unpredictable, and reliable prognostic biomarkers are needed. Positron emission tomography (PET) with β-amyloid tracers is a promising tool for evaluating white matter (WM) damage and repair. Our aim was to investigate amyloid uptake in damaged (DWM) and normal-appearing WM (NAWM) of MS patients, and to evaluate possible correlations between cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) β-amyloid (Aβ) levels, amyloid tracer uptake, and brain volumes. METHODS Twelve MS patients were recruited and divided according to their disease activity into active and non-active groups. All participants underwent neurological examination, neuropsychological testing, lumbar puncture, brain magnetic resonance (MRI) imaging, and F-florbetapir PET. Aβ levels were determined in CSF samples from all patients. MRI and PET images were co-registered, and mean standardized uptake values (SUV) were calculated for each patient in the NAWM and in the DWM. To calculate brain volumes, brain segmentation was performed using statistical parametric mapping software. Nonparametric statistical analyses for between-group comparisons and regression analyses were conducted. RESULTS We found a lower SUV in DWM compared to NAWM (p < 0.001) in all patients. Decreased NAWM-SUV was observed in the active compared to non-active group (p < 0.05). Considering only active patients, NAWM volume correlated with NAWM-SUV (p = 0.01). Interestingly, CSF Aβ concentration was a predictor of both NAWM-SUV (r = 0.79; p = 0.01) and NAWM volume (r = 0.81, p = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS The correlation between CSF Aβ levels and NAWM-SUV suggests that the predictive role of β-amyloid may be linked to early myelin damage and may reflect disease activity and clinical progression

Innovaciones y mejoras en el proyecto tutoría entre compañeros. Curso 2015-2016

Memoria ID-0137. Ayudas de la Universidad de Salamanca para la innovación docente, curso 2015-2016

Gastronomic events as creative tourism experiences

8014-1B5A-933A | Goretti Silvainfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio