Italian translation and cultural adaptation of the communication assessment tool in an outpatient surgical clinic

The aim of the study is to translate and cross-culturally adapt, for use in the Italian context, the Communication Assessment Tool (CAT) developed by Makoul and colleagues

Follow-up of patients with early breast cancer: Is it time to rewrite the story?

The guidelines for follow-up in breast cancer survivors support only performance of periodic physical examination and annual mammography. However, medical oncologists and primary care physicians routinely recommend both blood tests and non-mammographic imaging tests in asymptomatic patients, leading to an increased anxiety related to false-positive results and higher medical expenses. Recently, advanced imaging technologies have improved sensitivity/specificity to detect metastatic lesions before symptoms arise. Considering the progress made in the treatment of metastatic disease and the rapid evolution of targeted therapy, that requires customization of the strategy according to molecular characteristics of the disease, patients could derive real benefit to early detection of disease recurrence. This hypothesis must be tested in a prospective clinical trial

Road traffic pollution and childhood leukemia: a nationwide case-control study in Italy

Background The association of childhood leukemia with traffic pollution was considered in a number of studies from 1989 onwards, with results not entirely consistent and little information regarding subtypes. Aim of the study We used the data of the Italian SETIL case-control on childhood leukemia to explore the risk by leukemia subtypes associated to exposure to vehicular traffic. Methods We included in the analyses 648 cases of childhood leukemia (565 Acute lymphoblastic–ALL and 80 Acute non lymphoblastic-AnLL) and 980 controls. Information on traffic exposure was collected from questionnaire interviews and from the geocoding of house addresses, for all periods of life of the children. Results We observed an increase in risk for AnLL, and at a lower extent for ALL, with indicators of exposure to traffic pollutants. In particular, the risk was associated to the report of closeness of the house to traffic lights and to the passage of trucks (OR: 1.76; 95% CI 1.03–3.01 for ALL and 6.35; 95% CI 2.59–15.6 for AnLL). The association was shown also in the analyses limited to AML and in the stratified analyses and in respect to the house in different period of life. Conclusions Results from the SETIL study provide some support to the association of traffic related exposure and risk for AnLL, but at a lesser extent for ALL. Our conclusion highlights the need for leukemia type specific analyses in future studies. Results support the need of controlling exposure from traffic pollution, even if knowledge is not complete

Analysing the attributes of Comprehensive Cancer Centres and Cancer Centres across Europe to identify key hallmarks.

There is a persistent variation in cancer outcomes among and within European countries suggesting (among other causes) inequalities in access to or delivery of high-quality cancer care. European policy (EU Cancer Mission and Europe's Beating Cancer Plan) is currently moving towards a mission-oriented approach addressing these inequalities. In this study, we used the quantitative and qualitative data of the Organisation of European Cancer Institutes' Accreditation and Designation Programme, relating to 40 large European cancer centres, to describe their current compliance with quality standards, to identify the hallmarks common to all centres and to show the distinctive features of Comprehensive Cancer Centres. All Comprehensive Cancer Centres and Cancer Centres accredited by the Organisation of European Cancer Institutes show good compliance with quality standards related to care, multidisciplinarity and patient centredness. However, Comprehensive Cancer Centres on average showed significantly better scores on indicators related to the volume, quality and integration of translational research, such as high-impact publications, clinical trial activity (especially in phase I and phase IIa trials) and filing more patents as early indicators of innovation. However, irrespective of their size, centres show significant variability regarding effective governance when functioning as entities within larger hospitals

Evaluation of the potential of solar photovoltaic panels installed on vehicle body including temperature effect on efficiency

The integration of photovoltaic panels on electric and hybrid vehicles is gaining interest, due to the exigencies of reducing carbon footprint of road transportation. In order to develop mathematical models for making cost-benefit analysis in designing a solar assisted electric or hybrid vehicle and to achieve real-time optimal management of energy flows, a reliable estimation of the useful energy from PV is needed. In this paper a model able to estimate temperature effects for PV panels installed on a car under real meteorological conditions is developed. Results showed that the parking phases are the most critical, where the increase in the photovoltaic panels temperature to a sensible reduction of their efficiency. Nonetheless, the energy produced by the panels can represent the majority of the energy spent in the urban use of a vehicle

An Adaptable Learning Technology System for Mathematical Models

We propose an Adaptable Learning System named SIRMM (Searchable Information Repository of Mathematical Models), whose goal is to be an user friendly and easy to use educational environment, in which mathematics can be learned moving from real world applications; on the other way around, SIRMM can allow to deal with technical disciplines such as chemistry, engineering or economics from the mathematical modeling point of view