Helicobacter pylori Eradication Therapy: Current Availabilities.

Background. Though Helicobacter pylori (HP) infections have progressively declined throughout most of the industrialized countries, a gradual increase in failure of HP eradication treatments is observed. Aim. To critically review evidence on the efficacy of the therapeutic availabilities for HP eradication, as yet. Methods. A selection of Clinical Trials, Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses within the time period 2010-2012, was performed through a Medline search. Previous references were included when basically supporting the first selection. Results. An increasing rise in HP resistance rates for antimicrobial agents is currently observed. Further causes of HP treatment failure include polymorphisms of the CYP 2C19, an increased body mass index (BMI), smoking, poor compliance and re-infections. Alternative recent approaches to standard triple therapy have been attempted to increase the eradication rate, including bismuth-containing quadruple therapy, non-bismuth containing quadruple therapy, sequential therapy and levofloxacin-containing regimens. Conclusions. The main current aims should be the maintenance of a high eradication rate (>85%) of HP and the prevention of any increase in antimicrobial resistance. In the next future, the perspective of a tailored therapy could optimize eradication regimens within the different countries

Is there a relationship between joint hypermobility and gastrointestinal disorders in children?

Background. The main aim of the study was to assess the association between joint hypermobility (JH) and gastrointestinal (GI) disorders in children. Methods. All children aged 4-17 years attending the clinics of the participating Pediatric Gastroenterology Centres for functional GI disorders (FGIDs) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) were screened for joint laxity. JH diagnosis was inferred using the Beighton Score. JHS diagnosis was inferred based on the Brighton Criteria. Rome III Diagnostic Criteria were used to diagnose possible FGIDs. Ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease diagnoses were made according to the Porto Criteria. Age and sex- matched healthy children were enrolled as controls. Results. One-hundred-seventy children with GI disorders (70 with FGIDs, 50 with Crohn’s disease, and 50 with ulcerative colitis) and 100 healthy controls were enrolled in the study. JH was reported in 7/70 (10%) children with FGIDs (p=0.26 compared to controls), 4/50 (8%) children with Crohn’s disease (p=0.21 compared to controls) and 15/50 (30%) children with ulcerative colitis (p=0.09 compared to controls; p=0.01 compared to FGIDs; p=0.01 compared to Crohn’s). Conclusions. JH is more prevalent in patients suffering from ulcerative colitis compared to the healthy general population, yet the difference did not reach statistical significance. Likely, a proportion of children with ulcerative colitis and JH may show connective tissue abnormalities. However, whether JH can be considered a possible feature of pediatric GI disorders deserves further investigation

A comparison of methods for the evaluation of the physiological quality of soybean seeds with emphasis to the use of the electrical conductivity test.

Sementes de três cultivares de soja foram submetidas a testes de germinação, tetrazólio, frio, envelhecimento artificial, condutividade elétrica e emergência das plântulas em campo, nas instalações do Departamento de Agricultura da ESALQ/USP, entre os meses de outubro de 1987 e abril de 1988. Avaliaram-se diferentes períodos de embebição pré-leitura da condutividade elétrica, com o objetivo principal de verificar a possibilidade da redução da duração desse teste. Concluiu-se que a avaliação do potencial fisiológico das sementes em laboratório deve ser baseada no conjunto dos resultados de diferentes testes. Dentre eles, períodos mais curtos de embebição (4 e 8 horas) pré-leitura da condutividade podem ser utilizados para identificação de diferenças mais acentuadas de vigor, enquanto a embebição durante 16 ou 20 horas toma esse teste mais sensível às diferenças do vigor de sementes de sojaAn experiment was set at the Agriculture Dept., ESALQ/USP, Piracicaba, Brasil, between October/ 1987 and April 1988 with the purpose of comparing the efficiency of diferent tests in evaluating the physiological quality of seeds from three soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merrill) cultivars. The comparisons included the germination, tetrazolium, cold, accelerated aging, electrical conductivity and field emergence tests. Different imbibition periods for the electrical conductivity test were also compared. It was concluded that the physiological quality of soybean seeds is best estimated when based upon results from several different tests. Among them, the shorter imbibition periods (4 and 8 hours) for the bulk conductivity test can be used for the detection of wide vigor differences, while a 16 or 20 hours imbibition period can be used for identifying smaller differences among soybean seed lots

Phenotypic and genotypic characterisation of inflammatory bowel disease presenting before the age of 2 years

OBJECTIVES: Inflammatory bowel disease presenting in early childhood is extremely rare. More recently, progress has been made to identify children with monogenic forms of IBD predominantly presenting very early in life. In this study, we describe the heterogeneous phenotypes and genotypes of patients with IBD presenting before the age of two years and establish phenotypic features associated with underlying monogenicity. METHODS: Phenotype data of 62 children with disease-onset before the age of two years presenting over the last 20 years were reviewed. Children without previously established genetic diagnosis were prospectively recruited for next-generation sequencing. RESULTS: 62 patients (55% male) were identified. The median disease-onset was three months of age [IQR: 1 to 11]. Conventional IBD classification only applied to 15 patients with Crohn's disease-like (24%) and three with ulcerative colitis-like (5%) phenotype. Forty-four patients (71%) were diagnosed with otherwise unclassifiable IBD. Patients frequently required parenteral nutrition (40%), extensive immunosuppression (31%), hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (29%) and abdominal surgery (19%). In 31% of patients underlying monogenic diseases were established (EPCAM, IL10, IL10RA, IL10RB, FOXP3, LRBA, SKIV2L, TTC37, TTC7A). Phenotypic features significantly more prevalent in monogenic IBD were: consanguinity, disease-onset before the 6(th) month of life, stunting, extensive intestinal disease and histological evidence of epithelial abnormalities. CONCLUSION: IBD in children with disease-onset before the age of two years is frequently unclassifiable into Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, particularly treatment resistant and can be indistinguishable from monogenic diseases with IBD-like phenotype

Helicobacter pylori Eradication Therapy: Current Availabilities.

Background. Though Helicobacter pylori (HP) infections have progressively declined throughout most of the industrialized countries, a gradual increase in failure of HP eradication treatments is observed. Aim. To critically review evidence on the efficacy of the therapeutic availabilities for HP eradication, as yet. Methods. A selection of Clinical Trials, Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses within the time period 2010-2012, was performed through a Medline search. Previous references were included when basically supporting the first selection. Results. An increasing rise in HP resistance rates for antimicrobial agents is currently observed. Further causes of HP treatment failure include polymorphisms of the CYP 2C19, an increased body mass index (BMI), smoking, poor compliance and re-infections. Alternative recent approaches to standard triple therapy have been attempted to increase the eradication rate, including bismuth-containing quadruple therapy, non-bismuth containing quadruple therapy, sequential therapy and levofloxacin-containing regimens. Conclusions. The main current aims should be the maintenance of a high eradication rate (>85%) of HP and the prevention of any increase in antimicrobial resistance. In the next future, the perspective of a tailored therapy could optimize eradication regimens within the different countries

VR Applications, New Devices and Museums: Visitors’ Feedback and Learning. A Preliminary Report

Between the 15th of September 2005 and the 15th of November 2005, an exhibit on virtual and Roman archaeology was organized in Rome inside the Trajan's Market Museum. The event, “Building Virtual Rome” (“Immaginare Roma Antica”),was a great opportunity to show, inside an ancient monument, for the first time together, many different projects,applications and installations about VR and Cultural Heritage. The uniqueness of the event was at the same time an occasion to live a new experience, for visitors and for organizers as well, and to face some problematic aspects due, both, mainly by the meeting of high technological projects (some of them still at research level), cultural contents and also archaeological “container”. During the exhibit we tried to observe visitors and make some interviews, with the goal of understanding their expectations at the beginning, their experience during their visit and finally their satisfaction/unsatisfaction, learning, feedback, interaction level during and after the visit. The preliminary results of this analysis are showing that the embodiment and the diverse difficulties to use diverse devices and software depend on many factors and that “communicating” the virtual is not a technological issue, but it is an epistemological question