[Prevalence of acid burns among asylum seekers hosted in an initial reception centre as an example of health assessment in a fragile population]

OBJECTIVES: to evaluate the prevalence of acid burns among asylum seekers hosted in an initial reception centre and to evaluate if the prevalence is reduced after the introduction of the European Union (EU) regulation No. 29 (14th September 2016) that indirectly reduced the permanence time of the subjects on board of boats. DESIGN: cross-sectional study. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: 10,627 asylum seekers hosted in the centre for initial reception of Piedmont and Valle d\u2019Aosta Regions (Northern Italy) between June 2016 and May 2017. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: frequencies of health problems and prevalence of second and third grade acid burns identified on arrival. RESULTS: among the asylum seekers coming to the centre, about 25% suffered at least from a mild disease, mainly cutaneous, respiratory, or digestive; 69 acid burns were identified (prevalence: 6.7\u2030, 95%CI 5.2-8.3), mainly located in the lower limbs and in the glutes. Median time between disembarkation and treatment is 2 days. Prevalence is significantly higher in women compared to men and a not-significant 20% reduction was observed comparing the situation before and after the introduction of the EU regulation No. 29. CONCLUSION: an assessment of the health status of asylum seekers that takes into account more than the identification of the rare life-threatening or infective diseases allows to take prompt action and to invest economical resources in the fields where they are more useful. This would facilitate a good health care for asylum seekers, that is the basis of an efficient functioning of services for integration

Is it really advantageous to operate proximal femoral fractures within 48 h from diagnosis? – A multicentric retrospective study exploiting COVID pandemic-related delays in time to surgery

Objectives: Hip fractures in the elderly are common injuries that need timely surgical management. Since the beginning of the pandemic, patients with a proximal femoral fracture (PFF) experienced a delay in time to surgery. The primary aim of this study was to evaluate a possible variation in mortality in patients with PFF when comparing COVID-19 negative versus positive. Methods: This is a multicentric and retrospective study including 3232 patients with PFF who underwent surgical management. The variables taken into account were age, gender, the time elapsed between arrival at the emergency room and intervention, pre-operative American Society of Anesthesiology score, pre-operative cardiovascular and respiratory disease, and 10-day/1-month/6-month mortality. For 2020, we had an additional column, “COVID-19 swab positivity.” Results: COVID-19 infection represents an independent mortality risk factor in patients with PFFs. Despite the delay in time-to-surgery occurring in 2020, no statistically significant variation in terms of mortality was detected. Within our sample, a statistically significant difference was not detected in terms of mortality at 6 months, in patients operated within and beyond 48 h, as well as no difference between those operated within or after 12/24/72 h. The mortality rate among subjects with PFF who tested positive for COVID-19 was statistically significantly higher than in patients with PFF who tested. COVID-19 positivity resulted in an independent factor for mortality after PFF. Conclusion: Despite the most recent literature recommending operating PFF patients as soon as possible, no significant difference in mortality was found among patients operated before or after 48 h from diagnosis

Downstream Services for Rice Crop Monitoring in Europe: From Regional to Local Scale

The ERMES agromonitoring system for rice cultivations integrates EO data at different resolutions, crop models, and user-provided in situ data in a unified system, which drives two operational downstream services for rice monitoring. The first is aimed at providing information concerning the behavior of the current season at regional/rice district scale, while the second is dedicated to provide farmers with field-scale data useful to support more efficient and environmentally friendly crop practices. In this contribution, we describe the main characteristics of the system, in terms of overall architecture, technological solutions adopted, characteristics of the developed products, and functionalities provided to end users. Peculiarities of the system reside in its ability to cope with the needs of different stakeholders within a common platform, and in a tight integration between EO data processing and information retrieval, crop modeling, in situ data collection, and information dissemination. The ERMES system has been operationally tested in three European rice-producing countries (Italy, Spain, and Greece) during growing seasons 2015 and 2016, providing a great amount of near-real-time information concerning rice crops. Highlights of significant results are provided, with particular focus on real-world applications of ERMES products and services. Although developed with focus on European rice cultivations, solutions implemented in the ERMES system can be, and are already being, adapted to other crops and/or areas of the world, thus making it a valuable testing bed for the development of advanced, integrated agricultural monitoring systems

Colorectal Cancer Stage at Diagnosis Before vs During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy

IMPORTANCE Delays in screening programs and the reluctance of patients to seek medical attention because of the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 could be associated with the risk of more advanced colorectal cancers at diagnosis. OBJECTIVE To evaluate whether the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic was associated with more advanced oncologic stage and change in clinical presentation for patients with colorectal cancer. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This retrospective, multicenter cohort study included all 17 938 adult patients who underwent surgery for colorectal cancer from March 1, 2020, to December 31, 2021 (pandemic period), and from January 1, 2018, to February 29, 2020 (prepandemic period), in 81 participating centers in Italy, including tertiary centers and community hospitals. Follow-up was 30 days from surgery. EXPOSURES Any type of surgical procedure for colorectal cancer, including explorative surgery, palliative procedures, and atypical or segmental resections. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was advanced stage of colorectal cancer at diagnosis. Secondary outcomes were distant metastasis, T4 stage, aggressive biology (defined as cancer with at least 1 of the following characteristics: signet ring cells, mucinous tumor, budding, lymphovascular invasion, perineural invasion, and lymphangitis), stenotic lesion, emergency surgery, and palliative surgery. The independent association between the pandemic period and the outcomes was assessed using multivariate random-effects logistic regression, with hospital as the cluster variable. RESULTS A total of 17 938 patients (10 007 men [55.8%]; mean [SD] age, 70.6 [12.2] years) underwent surgery for colorectal cancer: 7796 (43.5%) during the pandemic period and 10 142 (56.5%) during the prepandemic period. Logistic regression indicated that the pandemic period was significantly associated with an increased rate of advanced-stage colorectal cancer (odds ratio [OR], 1.07; 95%CI, 1.01-1.13; P = .03), aggressive biology (OR, 1.32; 95%CI, 1.15-1.53; P < .001), and stenotic lesions (OR, 1.15; 95%CI, 1.01-1.31; P = .03). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE This cohort study suggests a significant association between the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and the risk of a more advanced oncologic stage at diagnosis among patients undergoing surgery for colorectal cancer and might indicate a potential reduction of survival for these patients

Impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular testing in the United States versus the rest of the world

Objectives: This study sought to quantify and compare the decline in volumes of cardiovascular procedures between the United States and non-US institutions during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the care of many non-COVID-19 illnesses. Reductions in diagnostic cardiovascular testing around the world have led to concerns over the implications of reduced testing for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Methods: Data were submitted to the INCAPS-COVID (International Atomic Energy Agency Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocols Study of COVID-19), a multinational registry comprising 909 institutions in 108 countries (including 155 facilities in 40 U.S. states), assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of diagnostic cardiovascular procedures. Data were obtained for April 2020 and compared with volumes of baseline procedures from March 2019. We compared laboratory characteristics, practices, and procedure volumes between U.S. and non-U.S. facilities and between U.S. geographic regions and identified factors associated with volume reduction in the United States. Results: Reductions in the volumes of procedures in the United States were similar to those in non-U.S. facilities (68% vs. 63%, respectively; p = 0.237), although U.S. facilities reported greater reductions in invasive coronary angiography (69% vs. 53%, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly more U.S. facilities reported increased use of telehealth and patient screening measures than non-U.S. facilities, such as temperature checks, symptom screenings, and COVID-19 testing. Reductions in volumes of procedures differed between U.S. regions, with larger declines observed in the Northeast (76%) and Midwest (74%) than in the South (62%) and West (44%). Prevalence of COVID-19, staff redeployments, outpatient centers, and urban centers were associated with greater reductions in volume in U.S. facilities in a multivariable analysis. Conclusions: We observed marked reductions in U.S. cardiovascular testing in the early phase of the pandemic and significant variability between U.S. regions. The association between reductions of volumes and COVID-19 prevalence in the United States highlighted the need for proactive efforts to maintain access to cardiovascular testing in areas most affected by outbreaks of COVID-19 infection

The neural correlates of familiar face recognition

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

"Journey of hope": a study on sexual gender-based violence reported by asylum-seeking women during their journey to Europe

to describe sexual gender-based violence (SGBV) reported by asylum-seeking women during their journey from their country of origin to Italy, using data obtained from medical record of asylum seekers hosted between June 2016 and December 2017 at the "T. Fenoglio" Red Cross Reception Centre, one of the largest Italian regional hubs; to evaluate if, based on these data, it is possible to hypothesize an underreporting of SGBV from these women

[Prevalence of acid burns among asylum seekers hosted in an initial reception centre as an example of health assessment in a fragile population]

to evaluate the prevalence of acid burns among asylum seekers hosted in an initial reception centre and to evaluate if the prevalence is reduced after the introduction of the European Union (EU) regulation No. 29 (14th September 2016) that indirectly reduced the permanence time of the subjects on board of boats