Italian immunization calendar implementation: Time to optimize number of vaccination appointments?

In the Italian vaccination schedule, at least six vaccination appointments are scheduled in the first year of life. This implies more discomfort for both the patient and the parents. This was particularly evident during the COVID-19 pandemic, during which several appointments were missed. A UK experience with three injectable vaccines and an oral one co-administered at the same appointment (4-in-1) at 2 and 4 months of age showed interesting results. The vaccination coverage was high, consistent with previous practice, and no relevant increase in adverse events was reported. Translating the UK experience into the Italian context would not be immediate, due to several organizational and social issues. Nevertheless, this option warrants some further considerations, which are discussed in this manuscript

Investigating the effects of COVID-19 lockdown on Italian children and adolescents with and without neurodevelopmental disorders: a cross-sectional study

We conducted a cross-sectional study to compare the impact of social distancing and lifestyle changes that occurred during Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdown on children and adolescents with and without Neurodevelopmental Disorders (NDDs). An online questionnaire was administered in order to investigate the effects of NDD condition, socio-demographic status, familiar/home environment and COVID-19 exposure on their lives during a two months period of social isolation. We used logistic regression, focusing on five endpoints (remote learning, lifestyle, stress/anxiety, sociality, scolding) to define the extent of these effects. Most questions were paired up to parents and children, to verify the occurrence of agreement. 8305 questionnaires were analyzed, 1362 of which completed by NDDs and 6943 by controls. Results showed that the presence of a NDD, compared to controls, had a significant impact on: Remote Learning (i.e. subjects with NDDs experienced more difficulties in attending online classes and studying), Sociality (i.e. subjects with NDDs missed their schoolmates less), Scolding (i.e. subjects with NDDs were scolded more often) and Anxiety (i.e. subjects with NDDs were perceived by their parents as more anxious). Substantial agreement between parents and children arose from questions concerning Remote learning, Lifestyle and Scolding. The current study actually points out that having a NDD gives account for a stronger influence on school performance and on behavioral and psychological aspects, during a two months lockdown. Such results may provide useful information to governments and school authorities on how carrying through supportive strategies for youth affected by NDDs

Sátira al libro de un viejo

Este libro satiriza, a través de de un relato fantástico, de un relato de ciencia ficción, y de dos relatos que podrían denominarse distópicos, la sociedad en que vivimos y el papel que, como en un “acto sacramental”, los individuos deben representar. Las imposiciones idealizadoras de la sociedad, reforzadas por los avances tecnológicos, contribuyen a que el hombre pierda su individualidad y, por ende, su libertad.This book satirizes, through a fantastic story, a science fiction story, and two stories that could be called dystopian, the society in which we live and the role that, as in a "sacramental act", individuals must represent . The idealizing impositions of society, reinforced by technological advances, contribute to man losing his individuality and, therefore, his freedom.Profesional en Estudios LiterariosPregrad

Atypical presentation of acute idiopathic megacolon in a 14-year-old patient

In clinical practice the term "megacolon" is used to indicate a marked dilatation of the cecum and the sigmoid colon (>12 and 6.5 cm, respectively) (1). From a clinical standpoint, a megacolon can be classified as chronic or acute depending on its clinical presentation. Chronic megacolon typically refers to a congenital disorder in which the enteric nervous system (ENS) supplying the colon does not develop properly, thereby leaving the distal segments of the viscus without myenteric and submucosal ganglia (i.e. Hirschsprung's disease) (2). Other cases of non-aganglionic chronic megacolon can be secondary to variety of conditions such as Chagas' disease and neurodegenerative diseases (e.g. Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases), leading to or associated with ENS abnormalities (3). The acute form of megacolon, also referred to as Ogilvie's syndrome, is characterized by a predominant involvement of the cecum and right colon usually affecting elderly patients undergoing surgery (e.g. orthopedic procedures) or taking medications altering gut motility (e.g. opioids or antidepressants) (4). Some forms of acute megacolon, however, can be idiopathic in origin since no underlying etiology can be identified. Patients with acute idiopathic megacolon usually have a longstanding history of constipation, often accompanied by laxative abuse, and their clinical presentation is characterized by abdominal distension and severe pain with radiological evidence of stool impacted in the colon and rectum (1, 4). The case herein reported represents an unusual form of acute idiopathic megacolon characterized by massive descending and sigmoid colon distension complicated with a volvulus in a 14-year-old boy with no Hirschsprung's disease. In addition, just to increase the peculiarity of this case report, the patient had an unremarkable clinical record, and never suffered from chronic constipation in the past

Information and vaccine hesitancy: Evidence from the early stage of the vaccine roll-out in 28 European countries.

The success of mass vaccination programs against SARS-CoV-2 hinges on the public's acceptance of the vaccines. During a vaccine roll-out, individuals have limited information about the potential side-effects and benefits. Given the public health concern of the COVID pandemic, providing appropriate information fast matters for the success of the campaign. In this paper, time-trends in vaccine hesitancy were examined using a sample of 35,390 respondents from the Eurofound's Living, Working and COVID-19 (LWC) data collected between 12 February and 28 March 2021 across 28 European countries. The data cover the initial stage of the vaccine roll-out. We exploit the fact that during this period, news about rare cases of blood clots with low blood platelets were potentially linked to the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine (or Vaxzeveria). Multivariate regression models were used to analyze i) vaccine hesitancy trends, and whether any trend-change was associated with the link between the AstraZeneca vaccine ii) and blood clots (AstraZeneca controversy), and iii) the suspension among several European countries. Our estimates show that vaccine hesitancy increased over the early stage of the vaccine roll-out (0·002, 95% CI: [0·002 to 0·003]), a positive shift took place in the likelihood of hesitancy following the controversy (0·230, 95% CI: [0·157 to 0·302]), with the trend subsequently turning negative (-0·007, 95% CI: [-0·010 to -0·005]). Countries deciding to suspend the AstraZeneca vaccine experienced an increase in vaccine hesitancy after the suspensions (0·068, 95% CI: [0·04 to 0·095]). Trust in institutions is negatively associated with vaccine hesitancy. The results suggest that SARS-CoV-2 vaccine hesitancy increased steadily since the beginning of the vaccine roll-out and the AstraZeneca controversy and its suspension, made modest (though significant) contributions to increased hesitancy

Replacement of miR-155 elicits tumor suppressive activity and antagonizes bortezomib resistance in multiple myeloma

Aberrant expression of microRNAs (miRNAs) has been associated to the pathogenesis of multiple myeloma (MM). While miR-155 is considered a therapeutic target in several malignancies, its role in MM is still unclear. The analysis of miR-155 expression indicates its down-regulation in MM patient-derived as compared to healthy plasma cells, thus pointing to a tumor suppressor role in this malignancy. On this finding, we investigated miR-155 replacement as a potential anti-tumor strategy in MM. The miR-155 enforced expression triggered anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic effects in vitro. Given the lower miR-155 levels in bortezomib-resistant as compared to sensitive MM cells, we analyzed the possible involvement of miR-155 in bortezomib resistance. Importantly, miR-155 replacement enhanced bortezomib anti-tumor activity both in vitro and in vivo in a xenograft model of human MM. In primary MM cells, we observed an inverse correlation between miR-155 and the mRNA encoding the proteasome subunit gene PSMβ5, whose dysregulation has been largely implicated in bortezomib resistance, and we validated PSMβ5 30UTR mRNA targeting, along with reduced proteasome activity, by miR-155. Collectively, our findings demonstrate that miR-155 elicits anti-MM activity, likely via proteasome inhibition, providing the framework for miR-155-based anti-MM therapeutic strategies

Dynamic correlations of the Coulomb Luttinger liquid

The dynamic density response function, form-factor, and spectral function of a Luttinger liquid with Coulomb electron-electron interaction are studied with the emphasis on the short-range electron correlations. The Coulomb interaction changes dramatically the density response function as compared to the case of the short-ranged interaction. The form of the density response function is smoothing with time, and the oscillatory structure appears. However, the spectral functions remain qualitatively the same. The dynamic form-factor contains the $\delta$-peak in the long-wave region, corresponding to one-boson excitations. Besides, the multi-boson-excitations band exists in the wave-number region near to $2k_F$. The dynamic form-factor diverges at the edges of this band, while the dielectric function goes to zero there, which indicates the appearance of a soft mode. We develop a method to analyze the asymptotics of the spectral functions near to the edges of the multi-boson-excitations band.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures, submitted to PR

Core binding factors are necessary for natural killer cell development, and cooperate with Notch signaling during T cell specification

CBF{beta} is the non-DNA binding subunit of the core binding factors (CBFs). Mice with reduced CBF{beta} levels display profound, early defects in T but not B cell development. Here we show that CBF{beta} is also required at very early stages of natural killer (NK) cell development. We also demonstrate that T cell development aborts during specification, as the expression of Gata3 and Tcf7, which encode key regulators of T lineage specification, is substantially reduced, as are functional thymic progenitors. Constitutively active Notch or IL-7 signaling cannot restore T cell expansion or differentiation of CBF{beta} insufficient cells, nor can overexpression of Runx1 or CBF{beta} overcome a lack of Notch signaling. Therefore the ability of the prethymic cell to respond appropriately to Notch is dependent on CBF{beta}, and both signals converge to activate the T cell developmental program

Twenty years of experience in juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibroma (JNA) preoperative endovascular embolization: An effective procedure with a low complications rate

Juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibroma (JNA) is a benign tumor of the nasal cavity that predominantly affects young boys. Surgical removal remains the gold standard for the management of this disease. Preoperative intra-arterial embolization (PIAE) is useful for reductions in intraoperative blood loss and surgical complications. In our series of 79 patients who underwent preoperative embolization from 1999 to 2020, demographics, procedural aspects, surgical management and follow-up outcome were analyzed. Embolization was performed in a similar fashion for all patients, with a superselective microcatheterization of external carotid artery (ECA) feeders and an injection of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) particles, followed, in some cases, by the deployment of coils. Procedural success was reached in 100% of cases, with no complications such as bleeding or thromboembolic occlusion, and surgical intraoperative blood loss was significantly decreased. In conclusion, PIAE is a safe and effective technique in JNA treatment, minimizing intraoperative bleeding