Media use during adolescence: the recommendations of the Italian Pediatric Society.

BACKGROUND: The use of media device, such as smartphone and tablet, is currently increasing, especially among the youngest. Adolescents spend more and more time with their smartphones consulting social media, mainly Facebook, Instagram and Twitter because. Adolescents often feel the necessity to use a media device as a means to construct a social identity and express themselves. For some children, smartphone ownership starts even sooner as young as 7 yrs, according to internet safety experts. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We analyzed the evidence on media use and its consequences in adolescence. RESULTS: In literature, smartphones and tablets use may negatively influences the psychophysical development of the adolescent, such as learning, sleep and sigh. Moreover, obesity, distraction, addiction, cyberbullism and Hikikomori phenomena are described in adolescents who use media device too frequently. The Italian Pediatric Society provide action-oriented recommendations for families and clinicians to avoid negative outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Both parents and clinicians should be aware of the widespread phenomenon of media device use among adolescents and try to avoid psychophysical consequences on the youngest

Technical standardization of MIS management of children with pilonidal sinus disease using pediatric endoscopic pilonidal sinus treatment (PEPSiT) and laser epilation

This study aimed to standardize the technique of pediatric endoscopic pilonidal sinus treatment (PEPSiT) associated with laser epilation. METHODS: All pediatric patients presenting with acute or chronic pilonidal sinus disease (PSD) who underwent PEPSiT in our institution over a 36-month period (July 2015-July 2018), were included in the study. Pre- and postoperative management, recurrence rate, postoperative pain, hospital stay, analgesic requirements, and patient satisfaction levels were evaluated. RESULTS: A total of 59 patients (23 girls and 36 boys) underwent PEPSiT during the study period. Ten/59 patients (16.9%) had recurrent PSD after open repair, and 4/59 (6.7%) presented a concomitant pilonidal cyst. All children underwent laser epilation pre- and postoperatively over the last 15 months. The average length of surgery was 27.5 min (range 20-45). The average pain score during the first 48 postoperative hours was 2.7 (range 2-5), and the average analgesic requirement was 20 h (range 16-24). The average hospitalization was 22.4 h (range 18-36). At 1 month postoperatively, external openings were healed in all patients. During follow-up, 1 recurrence (1.6%) was recorded and successfully re-treated with PEPSiT. CONCLUSIONS: We believe that PEPSiT represents the technique of choice for treatment of PSD in the pediatric population. It is crucial to standardize the technique consisting of pre- and postoperative laser epilation, PEPSiT, and accurate postoperative wound management with eosin and sulfadiazine spray

Indocyanine Green Fluorescence Lymphography: A New Technique to Perform Lymphatic Sparing Laparoscopic Palomo Varicocelectomy in Children

Laparoscopic Palomo varicocelectomy is one the most common approaches adopted to treat pediatric varicocele, but postoperative hydrocele still remains a potential problem with this procedure. This study aimed to evaluate the outcome of a new technique of lymphography using indocyanine green (ICG)-enhanced fluorescence to perform lymphatic sparing laparoscopic Palomo varicocelectomy

PET-Derived Radiomics and Artificial Intelligence in Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review

Breast cancer (BC) is a heterogeneous malignancy that still represents the second cause of cancer-related death among women worldwide. Due to the heterogeneity of BC, the correct identification of valuable biomarkers able to predict tumor biology and the best treatment approaches are still far from clear. Although molecular imaging with positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) has improved the characterization of BC, these methods are not free from drawbacks. In recent years, radiomics and artificial intelligence (AI) have been playing an important role in the detection of several features normally unseen by the human eye in medical images. The present review provides a summary of the current status of radiomics and AI in different clinical settings of BC. A systematic search of PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus was conducted, including all articles published in English that explored radiomics and AI analyses of PET/CT images in BC. Several studies have demonstrated the potential role of such new features for the staging and prognosis as well as the assessment of biological characteristics. Radiomics and AI features appear to be promising in different clinical settings of BC, although larger prospective trials are needed to confirm and to standardize this evidence

Brazilian spring wheat germplasm as source of genetic variability.

As part of a Canada-Brazil germplasm exchange, 106 modern and ancient Brazilian spring wheat cultivars have been genotyped and phenotypically evaluated in Canada since 201

Olfactory and gustatory function impairment in COVID-19 patients : Italian objective multicenter-study

Background: Objective data on chemosensitive disorders during COVID-19 are lacking in the Literature. Methods: Multicenter cohort study that involved four Italian hospitals. Three hundred and forty-five COVID-19 patients underwent objective chemosensitive evaluation. Results: Chemosensitive disorders self-reported by 256 patients (74.2%) but the 30.1% of the 89 patients who did not report dysfunctions proved objectively hyposmic. Twenty-five percentage of patients were seen serious long-lasting complaints. All asymptomatic patients had a slight lowering of the olfactory threshold. No significant correlations were found between the presence and severity of chemosensitive disorders and the severity of the clinical course. On the contrary, there is a significant correlation between the duration of the olfactory and gustatory symptoms and the development of severe COVID-19. Conclusions: Patients under-report the frequency of chemosensitive disorders. Contrary to recent reports, such objective testing refutes the proposal that the presence of olfactory and gustatory dysfunction may predict a milder course, but instead suggests that those with more severe disease neglect such symptoms in the setting of severe respiratory disease

From Biowaste to Lab-Bench: Low-Cost Magnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles for RNA Extraction and SARS-CoV-2 Diagnostics

The gold standard for diagnostics of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) virus is based on real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) using centralized PCR facilities and commercial viral RNA extraction kits. One of the key components of these kits are magnetic beads composed of silica coated magnetic iron oxide (Fe2O3 or Fe3O4 ) nanoparticles, needed for the selective extraction of RNA. At the beginning of the pandemic in 2019, due to a high demand across the world there were severe shortages of many reagents and consumables, including these magnetic beads required for testing for SARS-CoV-2. Laboratories needed to source these products elsewhere, preferably at a comparable or lower cost. Here, we describe the development of a simple, low-cost and scalable preparation of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) from biowaste and demonstrate their successful application in viral RNA extraction and the detection of COVID-19. These MNPs have a unique nanoplatelet shape with a high surface area, which are beneficial features, expected to provide improved RNA adsorption, better dispersion and processing ability compared with commercial spherical magnetic beads. Their performance in COVID-19 RNA extraction was evaluated in comparison with commercial magnetic beads and the results presented here showed comparable results for high throughput PCR analysis. The presented magnetic nanoplatelets generated from biomass waste are safe, low-cost, simple to produce in large scale and could provide a significantly reduced cost of nucleic acid extraction for SARS-CoV-2 and other DNA and RNA viruses.Le Yu, Penelope Adamson, Pei Lay Yap, Tran Tung, Shaheer Makar, Mark Turra, Geoff Higgins, and Dusan Losi

Development and Evaluation of the Magnetic Properties of a New Manganese (II) Complex: A Potential MRI Contrast Agent

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a non-invasive powerful modern clinical technique that is extensively used for the high-resolution imaging of soft tissues. To obtain high-definition pictures of tissues or of the whole organism this technique is enhanced by the use of contrast agents. Gadolinium-based contrast agents have an excellent safety profile. However, over the last two decades, some specific concerns have surfaced. Mn(II) has different favorable physicochemical characteristics and a good toxicity profile, which makes it a good alternative to the Gd(III)-based MRI contrast agents currently used in clinics. Mn(II)-disubstituted symmetrical complexes containing dithiocarbamates ligands were prepared under a nitrogen atmosphere. The magnetic measurements on Mn complexes were carried out with MRI phantom measurements at 1.5 T with a clinical magnetic resonance. Relaxivity values, contrast, and stability were evaluated by appropriate sequences. Studies conducted to evaluate the properties of paramagnetic imaging in water using a clinical magnetic resonance showed that the contrast, produced by the complex [Mn(II)(L’)2] × 2H2O (L’ = 1.4-dioxa-8-azaspiro[4.5]decane-8-carbodithioate), is comparable to that produced by gadolinium complexes currently used in medicine as a paramagnetic contrast agent

Evidence for the h_b(1P) meson in the decay Upsilon(3S) --> pi0 h_b(1P)

Using a sample of 122 million Upsilon(3S) events recorded with the BaBar detector at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy e+e- collider at SLAC, we search for the $h_b(1P)$ spin-singlet partner of the P-wave chi_{bJ}(1P) states in the sequential decay Upsilon(3S) --> pi0 h_b(1P), h_b(1P) --> gamma eta_b(1S). We observe an excess of events above background in the distribution of the recoil mass against the pi0 at mass 9902 +/- 4(stat.) +/- 2(syst.) MeV/c^2. The width of the observed signal is consistent with experimental resolution, and its significance is 3.1sigma, including systematic uncertainties. We obtain the value (4.3 +/- 1.1(stat.) +/- 0.9(syst.)) x 10^{-4} for the product branching fraction BF(Upsilon(3S)-->pi0 h_b) x BF(h_b-->gamma eta_b).Comment: 8 pages, 4 postscript figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. D (Rapid Communications