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

Patient Satisfaction in Italian Childhood Cancer Survivors: Human Aspects of Treatment as a Key Factor in Patients' Quality of Life

The purpose of this study was to illustrate childhood cancer survivors\u2019 perceptions about their experience with the health services and their perceived quality of life. Participants were 213 Northeast Italian childhood cancer survivors with a mean age of 19.4 years (SD = 2.95). Survivors were mostly affected by hematologic disorders (n = 114); 99 had different types of solid tumors. A 30-item questionnaire assessing patient satisfaction was given to the survivors, who had finished treatment on average 9.8 years previously (SD = 4.13). Socioeconomic, medical, and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) data were also collected. The authors ran a varimax rotated factor analysis on patient satisfaction questions and identified four psychometrically robust dimensions (58.15 percent of variance): medical communication and technical quality of care, accessibility and physical environment satisfaction, interpersonal manner, and empathy. Childhood cancer survivors over 18 years old mostly declared that they had a worse HRQOL compared with controls. Patients with the greatest number of years since treatment and who declared that they had more energy at present were also more satisfied with the health care they received. The questionnaire is a promising research tool to give direct voice to childhood cancer survivors

Phylogeography of the Chionodraco genus (Perciformes, Channichthydae) in the Southern Ocean

Antarctic fish of the suborder Notothenioidei represent one of the most notable examples of adaptive radiation in the marine environment. The evolutionary relationships between and within the eight families of this suborder have been well established by numerous studies, whereas the microevolutionary processes of notothenioid species remain largely unexplored. In the present paper we investigated the evolutionary relationships between three closely related species of the genus Chionodraco (family Channichthyidae), namely Chionodraco hamatus, Chionodraco rastrospinosus, and Chionodraco myersi by analysing portions of the mitochondrial genome (D-loop and 16S rRNA). The taxonomic status of C. hamatus and C. rastrospinosus as separate species has been questioned because of the limited number of key morphological characters that distinguish these two taxa. Our results, based on the analysis of several specimens belonging to both morphological groups revealed a small genetic differentiation among haplotypes, however, a clear separation between the two nominal species emerged since all individuals of each of the two taxa clustered together in distinct monophyletic groups. C. myersi appeared more distantly related in the phylogenetic analysis. For one species, C. hamatus, sampling was carried out at three different geographic locations in the area of the Ross Sea and Weddell Sea. The results showed that the partition of the genetic variation within this species is not compatible with the hypothesis of panmixia as gene flow between populations was significantly reduced

Nitrate and Ammonium A\ufb00ect the Overall Maize Response to Nitrogen Availability by Triggering Speci\ufb01c and Common Transcriptional Signatures in Roots

Nitrogen (N) is an essential macronutrient for crops. Plants have developed several responses to N \ufb02uctuations, thus optimizing the root architecture in response to N availability. Nitrate and ammonium are the main inorganic N forms taken up by plants, and act as both nutrients and signals, a\ufb00ecting gene expression and plant development. In this study, RNA-sequencing was applied to gain comprehensive information on the pathways underlying the response of maize root, pre-treated in an N-deprived solution, to the provision of nitrate or ammonium. The analysis of the transcriptome shows that nitrate and ammonium regulate overlapping and distinct pathways, thus leading to di\ufb00erent responses. Ammonium activates the response to stress, while nitrate acts as a negative regulator of transmembrane transport. Both the N-source repress genes related to the cytoskeletonandreactiveoxygenspeciesdetoxi\ufb01cation. Moreover,thepresenceofammoniuminduces the accumulation of anthocyanins, while also reducing biomass and chlorophyll and \ufb02avonoids accumulation. Furthermore, the later physiological e\ufb00ects of these nutrients were evaluated through the assessment of shoot and root growth, leaf pigment content and the amino acid concentrations in root and shoot, con\ufb01rming the existence of common and distinct features in response to the two nitrogen forms

How gene expression profiles disclose vital processes and immune responses in Mytilus spp.

Gene expression studies largely support the understanding of gene-environment interactions in humans and other living organisms but the lack of genomic and genetic information often complicates the analysis of functional responses in non-traditional model species. Nevertheless, the fast advancement of DNA microarray and sequencing technologies now makes global gene expression analysis possible in virtually any species of interest. As regards the Mytilus genus, tens of thousands Expressed Sequence Tags (ESTs) are currently available for M. californianus and M. galloprovincialis, and DNA microarrays have been developed. Among them, Immunochip 1.0 specifically includes 1,820 probes of genes centrally involved or modulated in the innate immune responses of the Mediterranean mussel. This review recalls peculiarities and applications of the existing mussel DNA microarrays and finally summarizes facts concerning a variety of transcript sequences likely involved in the mussel immunity. Beside DNA microarrays, Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technologies now offer new and broader research perspectives, from the whole transcriptome coverage to the Mytilus genome sequencing

Forcing host-pathogen interactions in C. gigas and M. galloprovincialis transplanted into the Goro lagoon (North Adriatic Sea, Italy)

Located south of the Po River Delta, the lagoon of Goro is one of the main clam farming areas in Italy and has been object of previous investigations. C. gigas is naturally present beyond the Scanno di Goro (off-shore) and has been reported inside the lagoon. In 2010, French oyster seed deployed locally resulted positive to OsHV-1 \u3bcVar, though no evidence of oyster mortality was recorded. For the monitoring purposes, juvenile native mussels and oysters obtained from French seed have been allowed to grow close, in sectors of baskets suspended in the lagoon water, hence more likely affected by potential pathogens and parasites. Bivalve mortality rates as well as biological and environmental parameters were monitored at each sampling. According to previous inter-laboratory calibration exercises, molecular and histological methods have been applied to the detection of OsHV-1 \u3bcVar and other typical pathogens. The presence of Vibrio splendidus and V. aestuarianus was analyzed in the bivalve flesh by culture-dependent and molecular assays. To better understand the effects of biotic and abiotic factors on the host defense mechanisms, selected paired sets of oyster and mussel tissues have been processed to purify the total RNA and perform comparative gene expression studies via advanced transcriptome sequencing (Illumina). The resulting output reads from both oysters and mussels have been re-assembled together with pre-existing sequence data in order to obtain a more comprehensive view of the species-specific transcriptomes

A prospective study on BK viral load: prediction of hemorrhagic cystitis after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Prospective study on the predictive value of BK viral load on blood on the occurrence of H