Adverse Events Related to Vaccination (VAEs): How to Manage the Further Doses of Immunization and Parents’ Hesitancy

This study supports the evidence that after vaccine‐related reactions, it is still possible to carry out the immunization protocol

Mild Hypoxia Enhances Proliferation and Multipotency of Human Neural Stem Cells

Neural stem cells (NSCs) represent an optimal tool for studies and therapy of neurodegenerative diseases. We recently established a v-myc immortalized human NSC (IhNSC) line, which retains stem properties comparable to parental cells. Oxygen concentration is one of the most crucial environmental conditions for cell proliferation and differentiation both in vitro and in vivo. In the central nervous system, physiological concentrations of oxygen range from 0.55 to 8% oxygen. In particular, in the in the subventricular zone niche area, it's estimated to be 2.5 to 3%.We investigated in vitro the effects of 1, 2.5, 5, and 20% oxygen concentrations on IhNSCs both during proliferation and differentiation. The highest proliferation rate, evaluated through neurosphere formation assay, was obtained at 2.5 and 5% oxygen, while 1% oxygen was most noxious for cell survival. The differentiation assays showed that the percentages of β-tubIII+ or MAP2+ neuronal cells and of GalC+ oligodendrocytes were significantly higher at 2.5% compared with 1, 5, or 20% oxygen at 17 days in vitro. Mild hypoxia (2.5 to 5% oxygen) promoted differentiation into neuro-oligodendroglial progenitors as revealed by the higher percentage of MAP2+/Ki67+ and GalC+/Ki67+ residual proliferating progenitors, and enhanced the yield of GABAergic and slightly of glutamatergic neurons compared to 1% and 20% oxygen where a significant percentage of GFAP+/nestin+ cells were still present at 17 days of differentiation.These findings raise the possibility that reduced oxygen levels occurring in neuronal disorders like cerebral ischemia transiently lead to NSC remaining in a state of quiescence. Conversely, mild hypoxia favors NSC proliferation and neuronal and oligodendroglial differentiation, thus providing an important advance and a useful tool for NSC-mediated therapy of ischemic stroke and neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, and Alzheimer's disease

Multicentre Italian study of SARS-CoV-2 infection in children and adolescents, preliminary data as at 10 April 2020

Data on features of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in children and adolescents are scarce. We report preliminary results of an Italian multicentre study comprising 168 laboratory-confirmed paediatric cases (median: 2.3 years, range: 1 day-17.7 years, 55.9% males), of which 67.9% were hospitalised and 19.6% had comorbidities. Fever was the most common symptom, gastrointestinal manifestations were frequent; two children required intensive care, five had seizures, 49 received experimental treatments and all recovered

Breast Cancer-Initiating Cells: Insights into Novel Treatment Strategies

There is accumulating evidence that breast cancer may arise from mutated mammary stem/progenitor cells which have been termed breast cancer-initiating cells (BCIC). BCIC identified in clinical specimens based on membrane phenotype (CD44+/CD24−/low and/or CD133+ expression) or enzymatic activity of aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 (ALDH1+), have been demonstrated to have stem/progenitor cell properties, and are tumorigenic when injected in immunocompromized mice at very low concentrations. BCIC have also been isolated and in vitro propagated as non-adherent spheres of undifferentiated cells, and stem cell patterns have been recognized even in cancer cell lines. Recent findings indicate that aberrant regulation of self renewal is central to cancer stem cell biology. Alterations in genes involved in self-renewal pathways, such as Wnt, Notch, sonic hedgehog, PTEN and BMI, proved to play a role in breast cancer progression. Hence, targeting key elements mediating the self renewal of BCIC represents an attractive option, with a solid rationale, clearly identifiable molecular targets, and adequate knowledge of the involved pathways. Possible concerns are related to the poor knowledge of tolerance and efficacy of inhibiting self-renewal mechanisms, because the latter are key pathways for a variety of biological functions and it is unknown whether their interference would kill BCIC or simply temporarily stop them. Thus, efforts to develop BCIC-targeted therapies should not only be focused on interfering on self-renewal, but could seek to identify additional molecular targets, like those involved in regulating EMT-related pathways, in reversing the MDR phenotype, in inducing differentiation and controlling cell survival pathways

Are the PREFER project products devoted to support fire prevention and recovery suitable to South-America ?

PREFER (Space-based information support for the Prevention and Recovery of Forest Fires Emergency in the Mediterranean Area) is a three years project devoted to develop a satellite based service infrastructure capable to provide up-to-date information to support the preparedness, prevention, recovery and reconstruction phases of the Forest Fires emergency cycle in the European Mediterranean Region. The project has been successfully completed at the end of 2015. This paper aims at illustrating some of the project achievements and discuss their applicability to manage forest fires in South-America

Reliability of TMS-related measures of tibialis anterior muscle in patients with chronic stroke and healthy subjects

A lack of normative data for transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)-related measures of the lower limb muscles in patients with stroke prevents us from understanding whether changes in TMS-related measures are induced by treatment or are due to their variability and/or the natural evolution of the disease. The purpose of this study was to determine the reliability of three TMS-related measures: motor threshold (MT), motor evoked potential latency (MEP Lat) and MEP amplitude (MEP Amp), linked to the corticospinal control of the tibialis anterior (TA) muscle in sixteen patients with chronic stroke and in sixteen aged-matched healthy subjects. Test-retest reliability was estimated using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) with its 95% confidence interval (95% CI) and standard error of measurement (SEM). In healthy subjects the reliability of all the TMS-related measures yielded an ICC >= 0.75. Similar reproducibility levels were found in patients with chronic stroke, with the exception of MEP Amp on the paretic side (ICC = 0.38). These results suggest that the TMS-related measures investigated are reliable both in healthy subjects and, with the exception of MEP Amp on the paretic side, in patients with chronic stroke. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Cytomegalovirus in Bone Marrow Cells Correlates with Cytomegalovirus in Peripheral Blood Leukocytes

In allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients with Bone Marrow (BM) suppression, Cytomegalovirus (CMV) pp65-antigenemia and DNA were both detectable in peripheral blood leukocytes (PBL) and BM cells. A relationship between CMV infection of PBL and BM cells has been foun

Seasonal Influenza Vaccination in Health Care Workers. A Pre-Post Intervention Study in an Italian Paediatric Hospital

Despite relevant recommendations and evidences on the efficacy of influenza vaccination in health care workers (HCWs), vaccination coverage rates in Europe and Italy currently do not exceed 25%. Aim of the study is to measure the variations in vaccination coverage rates in an Italian pediatric hospital after a promotion campaign performed in the period October–December 2017. The design is a pre-post intervention study. The intervention is based on a wide communication campaign and an expanded offer of easy vaccination on site. The study was carried out at Bambino Gesù Children’s hospital in Rome, Italy, on the whole population of HCWs. Univariate and multivariate statistical analyses were performed. Vaccination coverage rate increased in 2017/18 campaign compared with the 2016/17 one (+95 HCWs vaccinated; +4.4%). The highest increases were detected in males (+45.7%), youngest employees (+142.9%), mean age of employment (+175%), other HCWs (+209.1%), Emergency Area (+151.6%) and Imaging Diagnostic Department (+200.0%). At multivariate logistic regression, working in some departments and being nurses represents a higher risk of being unvaccinated. Although the vaccination coverage rate remained low, a continuous increase of the coverage rate and development of a different consciousness in HCWs was highlighted. The study significantly identified the target for future campaigns