Impact of gastrointestinal side effects on patients’ reported quality of life trajectories after radiotherapy for prostate cancer: Data from the prospective, observational pros-it CNR study

Radiotherapy (RT) represents an important therapeutic option for the treatment of localized prostate cancer. The aim of the current study is to examine trajectories in patients’ reported quality of life (QoL) aspects related to bowel function and bother, considering data from the PROState cancer monitoring in ITaly from the National Research Council (Pros-IT CNR) study, analyzed with growth mixture models. Data for patients who underwent RT, either associated or not associated with androgen deprivation therapy, were considered. QoL outcomes were assessed over a 2-year period from the diagnosis, using the Italian version of the University of California Los Angeles-Prostate Cancer Index (Italian-UCLA-PCI). Three trajectories were identified for the bowel function; having three or more comorbidities and the use of 3D-CRT technique for RT were associated with the worst trajectory (OR = 3.80, 95% CI 2.04–7.08; OR = 2.17, 95% CI 1.22–3.87, respectively). Two trajectories were identified for the bowel bother scores; diabetes and the non-Image guided RT method were associated with being in the worst bowel bother trajectory group (OR = 1.69, 95% CI 1.06–2.67; OR = 2.57, 95% CI 1.70–3.86, respectively). The findings from this study suggest that the absence of comorbidities and the use of intensity modulated RT techniques with image guidance are related with a better tolerance to RT in terms of bowel side effects

Disease-specific and general health-related quality of life in newly diagnosed prostate cancer patients: The Pros-IT CNR study

Background: The National Research Council (CNR) prostate cancer monitoring project in Italy (Pros-IT CNR) is an observational, prospective, ongoing, multicentre study aiming to monitor a sample of Italian males diagnosed as new cases of prostate cancer. The present study aims to present data on the quality of life at time prostate cancer is diagnosed. Methods: One thousand seven hundred five patients were enrolled. Quality of life is evaluated at the time cancer was diagnosed and at subsequent assessments via the Italian version of the University of California Los Angeles-Prostate Cancer Index (UCLA-PCI) and the Short Form Health Survey (SF-12). Results: At diagnosis, lower scores on the physical component of the SF-12 were associated to older ages, obesity and the presence of 3+ moderate/severe comorbidities. Lower scores on the mental component were associated to younger ages, the presence of 3+ moderate/severe comorbidities and a T-score higher than one. Urinary and bowel functions according to UCLA-PCI were generally good. Almost 5% of the sample reported using at least one safety pad daily to control urinary loss; less than 3% reported moderate/severe problems attributable to bowel functions, and sexual function was a moderate/severe problem for 26.7%. Diabetes, 3+ moderate/severe comorbidities, T2 or T3-T4 categories and a Gleason score of eight or more were significantly associated with lower sexual function scores at diagnosis. Conclusions: Data collected by the Pros-IT CNR study have clarified the baseline status of newly diagnosed prostate cancer patients. A comprehensive assessment of quality of life will allow to objectively evaluate outcomes of different profile of care

A global point prevalence survey of antimicrobial use in neonatal intensive care units: The no-more-antibiotics and resistance (NO-MAS-R) study

Background: Global assessment of antimicrobial agents prescribed to infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) may inform antimicrobial stewardship efforts. Methods: We conducted a one-day global point prevalence study of all antimicrobials provided to NICU infants. Demographic, clinical, and microbiologic data were obtained including NICU level, census, birth weight, gestational/chronologic age, diagnoses, antimicrobial therapy (reason for use; length of therapy), antimicrobial stewardship program (ASP), and 30-day in-hospital mortality. Findings: On July 1, 2019, 26 of infants (580/2,265; range, 0�100; median gestational age, 33 weeks; median birth weight, 1800 g) in 84 NICUs (51, high-income; 33, low-to-middle income) from 29 countries (14, high-income; 15, low-to-middle income) in five continents received �1 antimicrobial agent (92, antibacterial; 19, antifungal; 4, antiviral). The most common reasons for antibiotic therapy were �rule-out� sepsis (32) and �culture-negative� sepsis (16) with ampicillin (40), gentamicin (35), amikacin (19), vancomycin (15), and meropenem (9) used most frequently. For definitive treatment of presumed/confirmed infection, vancomycin (26), amikacin (20), and meropenem (16) were the most prescribed agents. Length of therapy for culture-positive and �culture-negative� infections was 12 days (median; IQR, 8�14) and 7 days (median; IQR, 5�10), respectively. Mortality was 6 (42, infection-related). An NICU ASP was associated with lower rate of antibiotic utilization (p = 0·02). Interpretation: Global NICU antibiotic use was frequent and prolonged regardless of culture results. NICU-specific ASPs were associated with lower antibiotic utilization rates, suggesting the need for their implementation worldwide. Funding: Merck & Co.; The Ohio State University College of Medicine Barnes Medical Student Research Scholarship © 2021 The Author

Amount and speciation of N leached from a sandy soil fertilized with urea, liquid digestate, struvite and NH4-enriched chabazite zeolite-tuff

The large use and the bad management of fertilizers that are applied to soil for improving crop production have dramatically impaired soil, water, and air quality. To meet the requirements to reduce nitrogen (N) losses and all the related negative impacts on the environment and food production, it is mandatory to substitute or at least partially substitute the use of inefficient and unsustainable fertilizers with more efficient alternatives. The aim of this paper was to address the amount and speciation of the N released by a sandy soil fertilized with “slow-release fertilizers” and traditional fertilizers (urea and liquid digestate) by means of a series of column leaching experiments. The slow-release alternatives were represented by NH4-enriched zeolitic tuff and struvite, both obtained by recovering the N from liquid digestate. The treatments consisted of sandy soil fertilized with (i) urea (U) (ii) liquid digestate (LD), (iii) NH4-enriched zeolitic tuff (N-CHA) and (iv) struvite (STRV). Eight different flushing events were performed over 38 days, leachates were collected and analysed for total Kjeldahl N, organic- N, NH4 +-N, NO3 −-N, NO2 −-N and pH. U and LD lost the majority of N within the first 2 flushing events as organic N and NH4 +-N, respectively. On the other hand, STRV and N-CHA lost less N over the whole course of the experiment and with more balanced speciation. The mass balance outlined that after the experiment, native soil N was mined in U and LD treatments while in N-CHA and STRV a fraction of N from the fertilizers was still present. The results showed a slow release of N which can be used more efficiently in agricultural applications, minimizing the N losses

Esperienza di un sito WEB orientato alla didattica

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Equol and Resveratrol Improve Bone Turnover Biomarkers in Postmenopausal Women: A Clinical Trial

Estrogen deficiency is a major cause of loss of postmenopausal bone mineral density (BMD). This study aimed to evaluate the effects of equol and resveratrol on bone turnover biomarkers in postmenopausal women. Sixty healthy postmenopausal women were randomly assigned to receive 200 mg fermented soy containing 10 mg equol and 25 mg resveratrol or a placebo for 12 months. Whole-body BMD and bone turnover biomarkers, such as deoxypyridinoline (DPD), tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase 5b (TRACP-5b), osteocalcin, and bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (BAP), were measured at baseline and after 12 months of treatment. At the end of treatment, DPD, osteocalcin, and BAP significantly improved in the active group (p < 0.0001 for all) compared to the placebo group. Conversely, TRACP-5b levels were unaffected by supplementation (p = 0.051). Statistically significant changes in the concentrations of DPD (p < 0.0001), osteocalcin (p = 0.0001), and BAP (p < 0.0001) compared to baseline were also identified. Overall, the intervention significantly increased BMD measured in the whole body (p = 0.0220) compared with the placebo. These data indicate that the combination of equol and resveratrol may positively modulate bone turnover biomarkers and BMD, representing a potential approach to prevent age-related bone loss in postmenopausal women

Incidence of foliar treatments and geographical origin on the geochemical fingerprints of leaves and fruits in olive growing

Recently, food quality and safety has become of great interest, with a consequent demand for geographical identification of agri-food products and eco-friendly agricultural practices. In this study geochemical analyses of soils, leaves and olives from two areas in the Emilia-Romagna Region (Italy), Montiano and San Lazzaro were performed aiming at identifying geochemical fingerprints able to (1) univocally determine the locality of provenance and (2) the effect of different foliar treatments (control, dimethoate, and alternating of natural zeolitite and dimethoate in MN; Spinosad + Spyntor fly, natural zeolitite and NH4+-enriched zeolitite in SL). PCA and PLS-DA (including VIP analysis) were used to discriminate between localities and different treatments. Bioaccumulation and Translocation Coefficients (BA and TC) were studied to evaluate differences in the uptake of trace elements by plants. The PCA performed on soil data highlighted a total variance of 88.81%, allowing a good distinction between the two sites. Leaves and olives PCA showed that using trace elements it is possible to discriminate different foliar treatments (total variance: 95.64% and 91.08% in MN; 71.31% and 85.33% in SL of leaves and olives, respectively) better than the identification of their geographical origin (87.46% of leaves and 83.50% of total variance of olives). PLS-DA of all samples gave the largest contribution to the discrimination of different treatments and geographical identification. Among all elements, only Lu and Hf were able to correlate soil, leaf, and olive for geographical identification through VIP analyses, but also Rb and Sr were significant in the plant uptake (BA and TC). For the discrimination of different foliar treatments, Sm and Dy were identified in MN site, whereas Rb, Zr, La and Th correlated leaves and olives from SL. Based on trace element analyses, it can be put forward that (1) the geographical origin could be discriminated and (2) different foliar treatments applied for crop protection can be recognized, which means, reversing the reasoning that each farmer can develop a method to pinpoint his own product