A cross-sectional study evaluating hospitalization rates for chronic limb-threatening ischemia during the COVID-19 outbreak in Campania, Italy

The expansion of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) prompted measures of disease containment by the Italian government with a national lockdown on March 9, 2020. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the rate of hospitalization and mode of in-hospital treatment of patients with chronic limb-threatening ischemia (CLTI) before and during lockdown in the Campania region of Italy. The study population includes all patients with CLTI hospitalized in Campania over a 10-week period: 5 weeks before and 5 weeks during lockdown (n = 453). Patients were treated medically and/or underwent urgent revascularization and/or major amputation of the lower extremities. Mean age was 69.2 +/- 10.6 years and 27.6% of the patients were women. During hospitalization, 21.9% of patients were treated medically, 78.1% underwent revascularization, and 17.4% required amputations. In the weeks during the lockdown, a reduced rate of hospitalization for CLTI was observed compared with the weeks before lockdown (25 vs 74/100,000 inhabitants/year; incidence rate ratio: 0.34, 95% CI 0.32-0.37). This effect persisted to the end of the study period. An increased amputation rate in the weeks during lockdown was observed (29.3% vs 13.4%; p < 0.001). This study reports a reduced rate of CLTI-related hospitalization and an increased in-hospital amputation rate during lockdown in Campania. Ensuring appropriate treatment for patients with CLTI should be prioritized, even during disease containment measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic or other similar conditions

Rendiconto di sorveglianza sismica anno 2004

Obiettivo principale di una rete sismica per il monitoraggio vulcanico è quello di rilevare una serie di segnali associabili a processi che si sviluppano all’interno del vulcano e che possono essere attribuiti a variazioni dello stato dinamico del sistema. I fenomeni rilevabili sono costituiti da eventi sismici, talvolta manifestati come sciami, ossia sequenze di terremoti concentrati nel tempo, formati anche da centinaia di eventi nell'arco di poche ore. Questi eventi, spesso di bassa energia, sono generati da processi fisici diversificati (meccanismi di sorgente) in grado di produrre segnali simili a quelli riscontrati in aree non vulcaniche (Vulcano Tettonici - VT), oppure segnali a bassa frequenza, detti Long Period (LP), e segnali con frequenze molto basse, con periodi anche di diverse decine di secondi, detti Very Long Period (VLP). Infine i processi interni alla struttura vulcanica sono in grado di generare anche un segnale continuo detto microtremore vulcanico. L’attività di sorveglianza vulcanica, attraverso il rilevamento, l'analisi e la corretta interpretazione di questi fenomeni, si pone l’obiettivo ultimo di segnalare l’evoluzione del vulcano verso una ripresa a breve-medio termine dell'attività eruttiva. Il Centro di Monitoraggio dell’Osservatorio Vesuviano (INGV) gestisce le reti per la sorveglianza sismica del Vesuvio, dei Campi Flegrei e di Ischia che sono, come è noto, vulcani ad alto rischio a causa del loro stile eruttivo, prevalentemente esplosivo, e della presenza nelle loro prossimità di vaste aree urbanizzate.INGV Sezione di Napoli "Osservatorio Vesuviano"Published1IT. Reti di monitoraggio e sorveglianz

Cannabidiol Reduces Intestinal Inflammation through the Control of Neuroimmune Axis

Enteric glial cells (EGC) actively mediate acute and chronic inflammation in the gut; EGC proliferate and release neurotrophins, growth factors, and pro-inflammatory cytokines which, in turn, may amplify the immune response, representing a very important link between the nervous and immune systems in the intestine. Cannabidiol (CBD) is an interesting compound because of its ability to control reactive gliosis in the CNS, without any unwanted psychotropic effects. Therefore the rationale of our study was to investigate the effect of CBD on intestinal biopsies from patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) and from intestinal segments of mice with LPS-induced intestinal inflammation. CBD markedly counteracted reactive enteric gliosis in LPS-mice trough the massive reduction of astroglial signalling neurotrophin S100B. Histological, biochemical and immunohistochemical data demonstrated that S100B decrease was associated with a considerable decrease in mast cell and macrophages in the intestine of LPS-treated mice after CBD treatment. Moreover the treatment of LPS-mice with CBD reduced TNF-α expression and the presence of cleaved caspase-3. Similar results were obtained in ex vivo cultured human derived colonic biopsies. In biopsies of UC patients, both during active inflammation and in remission stimulated with LPS+INF-γ, an increased glial cell activation and intestinal damage were evidenced. CBD reduced the expression of S100B and iNOS proteins in the human biopsies confirming its well documented effect in septic mice. The activity of CBD is, at least partly, mediated via the selective PPAR-gamma receptor pathway. CBD targets enteric reactive gliosis, counteracts the inflammatory environment induced by LPS in mice and in human colonic cultures derived from UC patients. These actions lead to a reduction of intestinal damage mediated by PPARgamma receptor pathway. Our results therefore indicate that CBD indeed unravels a new therapeutic strategy to treat inflammatory bowel diseases

Applications of Next-Generation Sequencing Technologies to Diagnostic Virology

Novel DNA sequencing techniques, referred to as “next-generation” sequencing (NGS), provide high speed and throughput that can produce an enormous volume of sequences with many possible applications in research and diagnostic settings. In this article, we provide an overview of the many applications of NGS in diagnostic virology. NGS techniques have been used for high-throughput whole viral genome sequencing, such as sequencing of new influenza viruses, for detection of viral genome variability and evolution within the host, such as investigation of human immunodeficiency virus and human hepatitis C virus quasispecies, and monitoring of low-abundance antiviral drug-resistance mutations. NGS techniques have been applied to metagenomics-based strategies for the detection of unexpected disease-associated viruses and for the discovery of novel human viruses, including cancer-related viruses. Finally, the human virome in healthy and disease conditions has been described by NGS-based metagenomics

Variation in acute phlogistic reactions in the skin of rabbit fetuses

There is little in the literature on cutaneous inflammatory reactions in mammal fetuses. The subject now has practical import since advances in medical science allow surgical intervention in premature infants. A study was performed on 45 rabbit fetuses. They were inoculated in the derma of the dorsum with 0.01 ml of a 1% solution of carrageenan, a strong inflammatory drug. Treatment was performed on the nineteenth, twenty-third, and twenty-seventh days of pregnancy. Two rabbits were treated twenty-four hours after birth, and 6 adult rabbits were treated. Histological examination and a count of inflammatory cells were performed on each fetus. The results showed that, during fetal life, the cellular inflammatory reaction is low in the earliest stages but increases gradually during gestation. It is only after birth that there is a great increase, and even then the level remains lower than in adults

Somma-Vesuvius’ activity: a mineral chemistry database

Clinopyroxene and olivine are ubiquitous phases in Somma-Vesuvius (SV) volcanics and for the first time they were systematically studied in several products younger than 40 ka. In this manuscript chemical compositions (major, trace and rare earth elements) of a large set of olivine and clinopyroxene crystals from selected rock samples are presented and discussed. Fourteen pumice samples from Plinian pyroclastic deposits as well as three scoriae and eight lava samples from inter-Plinian deposits were collected. A representative number of olivine and clinopyroxene crystals (n ~ 50) were selected for each sample and analysed by electron microprobe and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer, resulting in a large database, which is now available to the scientific community. All studied eruptive products contain olivine and clinopyroxene crystals spanning a wide range of compositions. Olivines show Fo content varying from 91 to 68, while clinopyroxenes display Mg# ranging from 93 to 71. In samples younger than A.D. 79, the more evolved (Mg#82–72) clinopyroxene crystals show clear Ca enrichment (~23.5–24.5 wt% CaO) with respect to those from older samples (before-A.D.79, ~23–21 wt% CaO). The results corroborate disequilibrium between olivine, clinopyroxene and the hosting melt, and an increasing role of carbonate assimilation in SV magma evolution in the last 2 ka. The database here produced is thought as a share product that makes available mineral data and can be used for further studies by researchers to investigate geochemical evolution of the SV system